Préfecture de Constantine. Service des questions juives et des sociétés secrètes

After having consolidated the documents relating to the organisation and operation of the department in general, the classification of the fonds restores the two areas of intervention of the department as defined by the Note of 4 March 1942: the status of Jews and secret societies. Original documents are freely available for consultation. Although it is not particularly large ( 3 linear metres), the archives of the Jewish Affairs and Secret Societies Department of the Prefecture of Constantine have unique characteristics among the archives transferred to France before Algeria's independence. First of all, it is the only example of a prefectural department archive in Algeria that has been identified to date. It was also relatively spared from post-Liberation document disposals. Finally, even if the files are often made up of only a few documents, a very large number of cases were processed, and these can be useful for research purposes. This last observation has led to the drafting of a detailed digital directory, which was made possible due to the small volume of documents held within the fonds. The Jewish Affairs and Secret Societies Department was created in the Prefecture of Constantine at the beginning of 1942. Previously, cases dealing with these issues were divided between the prefect's office and the various prefectural divisions. The files processed by the latter were transferred to the new department in order to ensure continuity. For example, the department inherited the archives of the Jewish census operations (application of the Decree of 18 July 1941), which had previously been the responsibility of the 2nd Division. A decision of the Prefect of Constantine, Louis Valin, dated 20 January 1942 (FR ANOM 93/3G1) clarified the creation of the department, revisiting the reasons that led him to establish this department in his letter to the Governor-General dated 14 February 1942 (FR ANOM 93/3G1). This department, which was attached to the 5th Division (General Police Section), would remain in operation until 1943. Reproduction is subject to the conditions laid down in the internal regulations of the National Archives branch for overseas colonies. A note to the Secretary General for Administration dated 4 March 1942 (FR ANOM 93/3G1) details its remit: A - Status of Jews: requests to maintain the political status of French citizens, prohibited professions, requests to remain in prohibited professions, studies and interpretation of texts concerning Jews, directives to be provided to divisions B - Secret societies: Among other things, note to the Secretary General, undated, but written after March 1942 (FR ANOM 93/3G1), reviews the department’s establishment and reports on the department at that moment. It is worthwhile giving providing the full content of the report below as it makes it possible to understand the volume and nature of the cases handled by the department specifically related to Jewish affairs. However, it is appropriate for the researcher to check the accuracy of the data provided by the administration in this case. Due to the large number of texts concerning Jewish affairs and the multiplicity of issues to be studied, a special department has been set up at the prefecture. This department has its own responsibilities: 1) handling requests for the preservation of political status, 2) handling requests to remain in prohibited jobs, 3) studying particular cases of belonging or not belonging to the Jewish race, 4) studying all general questions relating to the status of Jews, 5) liaising with the 'departmental' economic aryanization departments and also examining all Jewish cases processed in the divisions to which it will may provide any necessary instructions. As things stand at present, the main ongoing Jewish issues are as follows: I - Requests to preserve the political status of French citizens (Article 5 of the Law of 7 October 1940) II - Requests to remain in prohibited occupations (Article 8 of the Law of 2 June 1941) III - Creation of a Jewish craft company in Constantine IV - Jewish-operated pubs: all Jewish-operated pubs were closed by individual prefectural decrees last March. This measure is the result of the government decision of 10 February 1942 (General Security Directorate). V - Jewish private schools: 22 receipts for opening notices were issued. The schools currently open are: in Bougie: 1 boys' school (16 pupils), 1 girls' school (11 pupils); in Sétif: 1 boys' school (112 pupils); in Bône: 1 boys' school (65 pupils), 1 girls' school (90 pupils); in Guelma: 1 boys' school (36 pupils), 1 girls' school (45 pupils). The schools to be opened shortly are: in Constantine: 3 boys' schools, 3 girls' schools; in Aïn-Beïda: 1 boys' school, 1 girls' school; in Batna: 1 boys' school, 1 girls' school; in Biskra: 1 boys' school, 1 girls' school; in Khenchela: 1 girls' school; in Souk-Ahras: 1 girls' school; in Tébessa: 1 boys' school. VI- Jewish Doctors: 29 Jewish doctors who did not meet the conditions set out in Article 3 of the Law of 3 June 1941 were not relieved of their positions. Notification of this was made to the interested parties by the President of the Council of the Medical Association on 14 April 1942. With regard to Jewish midwives, a nominal roll was sent to the Governor-General on 27 March 1942 proposing that two midwives (one from Constantine and the other from Bône) be retained by the Council of the Medical Association as they meet the conditions laid down in the instructions on this subject. As the total number of midwives in Constantine department is less than 100, the percentage set by law would be achieved. VII - Real estate transactions: pending the publication of the texts concerning Jewish access to land ownership, no real estate transactions are authorised as soon as one of the parties involved is identified as Jewish in accordance with the instructions of Government Dispatch no. 763 of 3 April 1942 (Directorate of Colonisation and Hydraulics). As for business assets, their acquisition by Jews is now subject to prefectural authorisation under the conditions provided for by the Decree of 3 March 1942 and the Order of the Governor General dated 13 April this year. VIII - Census of Foreign Jews: by Dispatch no. 2A505 QJ of 21 March 1942, the Governor-General commissioned a census of foreign Jews who had arrived in France since 1 January 1936 in each département. The municipalities that have received the necessary instructions are currently carrying out this operation.