The Casablanca Children's Soup Kitchen (La Soupe Populaire pour Enfants; SP) was a children's soup kitchen in the Mellah (Jewish quarter) of Casablanca, Morocco. Founded in 1941 by local architect Elias Suraqui,Elias Suraqui is an architect who practiced mainly in Casablanca. He was born in Oran on September 17, 1893 and died in Lyon on January 24, 1977 the organization operated until 1964. The institution was financed and supported from the year 1948 by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JOINT or JDC), the Alliance Israélite Universelle (AIU), l'Œuvre de secours aux enfants (OSE), and private donors as well.
During its years of operation, approximately 6,000 childrenFrom 1948 to 1963 annual JDC reports shows that the number of SP children fluctuated between 300 and 315 (about 4900 children). In 1964 for the last year of operation, the number of children was 210 . From 1941 to 1947 the number of children is unknown, a figure of 1000 children during this eight years operation seems to be a reasonable assumption. Therefore, a global figure of 6000 children having beneficiated of the SP during 24 years is a realistic estimation. were supported and educated within the SP's framework. The staff consisted of a director and a dozen teachers, cooks, nurses and part-time or full-time educators.
Context
In 1941, with 40,000 inhabitants, the Mellah of Casablanca was the most populated in Morocco. Poverty was deep; families lived huddled together in a single room, with children in rags and often without shoes. Chronic malnutrition and epidemics were rampant especially among children who suffered from ringworm, trachoma and tuberculosis due to crowded living conditions.Bensoussan, David. Il Était Une Fois Le Maroc: Témoignages Du Passé Judéo-Marocain (French Edition) . iUniverse. Kindle Edition.
"Par ailleurs, le docteur Léon Benzaquen rapportait les statistiques suivantes relativement à la tuberculose infantile: «Au Mellah (de Casablanca), dans le quartier le plus entassé, une enquête a permis d’aboutir aux chiffres suivants: à 2 ans, 30% environ ont une cuti-réaction positive; à 5 ans, la proportion des cuti-réactions dépasse 70% . . . C’est toute la théorie des maladies cutanées du cuir chevelu ou oculaire que ces enfants se passent de l’un à l’autre: gales infectées, teigne, trachome sévissent et feraient l’ornement d’un musée dermatologique…" The situation regarding children malnutrition was alarming. The following anecdote illustrates the reality: in 1951 a journalist, Lawrence Resner, reported that the 300 children at the soup kitchen were given tags and were entitled to one meal a day. About 30 other children, without tags, waited outside in the hope of receiving a ration if there was any left over, and another child, who had not found a place in the queue, waited even longer outside. He waited for hours; sometimes he received a last ration and often was left empty-handed.Lawrence Resner, Report
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The French authorities under the Vichy rule were not inclined to finance a partial transfer of this Jewish population to salubrious dwellings in the European neighborhood. Even after the war, they focused primarily on the construction of cheap housing in the European city with the aim of accommodating Moroccan workers from the countryside, whom the city badly needed for its development. As for Jewish organizations, until 1945, they concentrated their efforts on Holocaust survivors.Laskier Michael The Alliance Israélite Universelle and the Jewish Communities of Morocco p.185
"Similar to the JDC, the AJC after the massacre of six million European Jews turned increasingly toward the "other" Jewry of the Middle East and North Africa: the "forgotten million" who were suddenly discovered and who now became one of the last important segments of world Jewry." It was only in the late 1940s that they started addressing the issue. From 1940 to 1960 internal immigration to Morocco occurred. The Jewish population in the countryside moved to large cities, mainly Casablanca, thus contributing to an increase in the urban population. In 1960, the census of the Jewish population in Morocco was as follows: Population Juive Marocaine 160,032Jewish Population Casablanca71,175 Jews of foreign nationality20,000Total Jewish population in Morocco 180,032
The Casablanca agglomeration comprised about 45% of the Jewish population among them 40,000 Jews living in the Mellah.
The Hedarim (Children's Study Classes)
In 1941, the only structures in the Mellah that dealt with children were the hedarim, also known as Cheder. These were closed rooms, with no ventilation, no furniture, often without windows. The young children (usually boys) were huddled together under the guidance of an adult instructor who taught them the Hebrew alphabet and prayers. Every Mellah in Morocco (or elsewhere) has his Cheder, even in the most remote corners of the Atlas Mountains where the Jewish communities had none or very few contact with the outside. The hedarim existence is a Jewish specificity that has endured throughout history. This singularity meant that for centuries, illiteracy, at least as far as men were concerned, did not exist among the Jews. From the end of the 1940s, Jewish organizations, led by the JOINT, fought hard against the hedarim institution, as the hedarim contributed to the spread of contagious diseases that ravaged the Mellah. In 1948, an internal Joint report stated, “The eventual plan is to remove about 2,000 children from the Hedarim of the Mellah and to give them decent nursery care during the day” The JOINT thus supported alternative structures (Talmud Torah, Lubawitch, SP and others) which would be able to compete with the hedarim. In 1952, the JOINT expressly asked these organizations to integrate children from the hedarim as an absolute priority. This policy finally paid off. At the end of 1952, there were no more hedarim in the Mellah of Casablanca.
Historical 1941–1947
The initiative for the SP creation started in 1941, when population growth in the Casablanca Mellah was raising concerns over poor hygiene and undernutrition conditions. Few documents remain of the SP first period; the number of children benefiting from the canteen at this time is unknown. Its goal was to provide hot meals as well as to educate underprivileged young Jewish children between the ages of 6 and 8. The SP received 300 childrenJDC Annual Report for Morocco 1959, page 74/95 table: Soupe Suraqui per year . At the very beginning, only one teacher was hired and only a single class of thirty children was in operation There are few press articles, about fifty photographic shots,La Soupe Populaire - Instagram photos of charity balls in which money collections took place as well as some shots of benefactors. They were wealthy Jewish donors from Casablanca. Armand Tordjman was the first director and Mr. Elbaz was the accountant. Some assistants and cooks were also hired. Merchants of the central food market in Casablanca donated surpluses and sold food at reduced prices. The Civil Region (of Casablanca) provided coupons for fabrics, which were cut free of charge by Jewish tailoring companies and volunteers distributed the clothes. Millers provided flour at low cost, with which a baker made bread for free. In 1941, when the SP was established, Jewish structures capable of integrating the children of the Mellah were not equipped to meet the needs. These structures: the JOINT, ORT, Alliance Israélite Universelle, OSE, and others were more active in the following years. After Morocco's independence in 1956, the Jewish population of the Mellah gradually left the ghetto, which became depopulated.
The SP was located in a dead end of the Mellah of Casablanca at 113 boulevard du 2e tirailleurs (currently bd Tahar el Alaoui). The premises were cramped, two classrooms which alternately served as a refectory for the canteen, an office, a playground and the dead end itself where outdoor activities were carried out. In the following two decades, there were some expansions,Soupe Suraqui Extra classes added, Staff Meeting - March 6, 1959 p. 4/11 lines 20-21 but the layout of the premises changed little. Throughout its history, the SP has suffered from overcrowded premises.
1948–1964 From 1948 on, there was some immigration to Israel, but its magnitude was less than the natural population increase.Minutes of Conference of JDC Directors October 1952 P. 132/496 lines 36-40 In addition, a number of Jews immigrated from the Mellahs located in the periphery to the Casablanca Mellah,Staff Meeting March 6 1959 p. 5/11 lines 8-10 which exacerbated the latter's demographic problem. In the immediate post-World War II period, Jewish philanthropic organizations focused on Europe to provide support and aid to Holocaust survivors. However, from the early 1950s onwards, international Jewish organizations began to direct their efforts towards the Jewish populations in Moslem countries. The main Jewish organization, JOINT, devoted considerable financial resources, set up administrative structures capable of supporting a policy of aid and employed hundreds of experts as advisors in health, nutrition, education, financial organization and in monitoring investments. With regards to Morocco, the JOINT realized that the task was too large and that the organization would have to set some specific goals. In the late 1940s, the strategic decision to focus on childhood was implemented.Milk - Bottling Plant for Children of Casa Mellah June 01 1953 Column 2, paragraph 2 In 1948, the JOINT agreed to collaborate and support the SP (and virtually all the other similar existing institutions for children) because these projects were in line with its overall strategy. This collaboration only increased over the years. The JOINT supported many children's institutions in Casablanca, mainly:MEMORANDUM, October 1, 1956 p.1/3 and 2/3
Talmud Torah1400 enfantsLubavitcher780 enfantsOzar Hatorah630 enfantsEm Habanim350 enfantsLa Maternelle350 enfantsSoup Kitchen300 enfantsFinzi day care center (AIU)185 enfants
Statutes and nomenclature A director appointed by the president and the committee headed SP. His role was to monitor accounting as well as the proper functioning of kitchens and classrooms, ensure the supply of products used in catering, manage stocks, negotiate with suppliers, place orders, and to receive goods. The JOINT controlled his activities, directed its criticisms and suggestions to the president who was ultimately responsible for the SP functioning and who in turn gave instructions to the director.Memorandum from R. Stern to Mr. S. L. Haber, February 11, 1957 p.1/4; lines 11-17 In the 50s and 60s the directors were Mr. Cohen and Mr. Teboul. In 1959, three years after Moroccan independence, the SP changed its statutes to adapt to the new legislation on humanitarian organizations.Nouveaux Statuts de La Soupe Populaire d’Enfants 25 avril 1959
The Joint (JDC)