Sefrou

Sefrou was once a significant center for Moroccan Jewish life. It was known as the "little Jerusalem" of Morocco because of the plurality of faiths living in the town. Around 8000 Jewish people lived in Sefrou in the 1930s-40s which was the height of the community; they came to a little less than half the town's population. By the middle 1960s, due to a changing political landscape and Israel's wars, all the Jewish people of Sefrou had left.

In Morocco, the Jewish people most often lived in a Mellah, a walled Jewish quarter, distinct from the surrounding Muslim or Christian population. They were typically located near the royal palace for both protection and observation.

We spent an afternoon visiting the remnants of Jewish life in Sefrou. Ghosts and broken buildings are all that remain. Security forces monitor the graveyard. Security guards sit at the entrance to the old school and synagogue, calling for a family to let in visitors. We saw little preservation, little memory, lots of abandoned Jewish life.Read more