Agadir

Synagogue Beth-El of Agadir

Agadir is a beach resort and the entrance point to Southern Morocco and the desert. It has a small Jewish community, and a small group of Amazigh Jews lives in the neighboring town of Inezgane. Agadir Jews were active in trade with Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe before the 1760’s, when the Sultan moved 2,000 of them to Essaouira. The community gradually rebuilt itself.

However, an earthquake hit the city on February 29, 1960 killing more than half the population, including 1,200 Jews. Jewish, Muslim and Christian cemeteries were set up side by side to bury the victims. Two-thirds of the tombs in the Jewish cemetery are from earthquake victims.

Jewish Cemetery Entrance
Tombs in the Jewish Cemetery
Tomb of 12 Year-old Boy Killed in the 1960 Earthquake
Tomb of 70 Year-old Victim of Earthquake
Jewish Saint in Agadir Cemetery
Muslim and Jewish Women of Tetouan Collecting Money for the Victims of the Agadir Earthquake, 1960
From ANU Museum of the Jewish People Photo Archive, Avraham Zarfati, Netania