Buq Buq labor camp
| Buq Buq labor camp | |
|---|---|
| Italian concentration camp, labor camp | |
 A signboard at the entrance to Buq Buq labor camp. The Hebrew text reads "שדי" (Shaddai, meaning 'God almighty'). The abbreviated Italian text means "labor camp for Jewish workers". The name "Mose Haddad" refers to the senior overseeing prisoner of the camp, a Jewish engineer named Moshe Hadad. | |
  Buq Buq within Egypt | |
| Coordinates | 31°30′39″N 25°32′03″E / 31.510806°N 25.53425°E |
| Other names | Buqbuq, Buk Buk, Bukbuk, Bug Bug, Boq Boq, Bog Bog, Baq Baq |
| Location | Buq Buq, Matrouh Governorate, Egypt |
| Operated by | Fascist Italy |
| Inmates | Libyan Jewish males aged 18–45 |
| Number of inmates | 350 (approximate) |
The labor camp at Buq Buq[a] was a forced labor camp for Libyan Jews, operated by Italy between August and November 1942 at the Egyptian-Libyan border in Buq Buq in Egypt's Matrouh Governorate. The camp was established in the context of the Axis occupation of Egypt in World War II. Buq Buq's 350 prisoners were exclusively Libyan Jewish men between the ages of 18 and 45, mostly from Tripoli and the surrounding area, who were transferred to Buq Buq from the Libyan Sidi Azaz labor camp.[1]
The facility was opened at the end of August 1942, when the prisoners were sent to Buq Buq to build and repair roads to transport supplies for Axis forces between Cyrenaica and Egypt.[2] The labor—primarily crushing boulders and transporting gravel for the road repairs—was ordered and used exclusively by the Italian military.[1] The prisoners also dug trenches to protect themselves from attacks by the British Royal Air Force, a task organized by the senior overseeing prisoner (capo, referred to in some sources as a kapo)[3] Moshe Hadad, an engineer.[1] Hadad had also been the one to select the 350 men from Sidi Azaz to work at Buq Buq. The camp was operated under the command of the commandant of Sidi Azaz, and had no permanent guard force, with an Italian military doctor being the only permanent official at the camp. Though the camp had no fence, escape for its prisoners was impossible, because it was situated with a road heavily trafficked by Axis troops on one side, and the desert on the other. Malnutrition, water shortages, and the heavy labor led to widespread illness (primarily skin diseases) among the prisoners. Sick and injured laborers (as well as those feigning illness) were transported back to Tripoli after being evaluated by the Italian military doctor, causing the population of the camp to dwindle from 350 to just over 200 by the end of October. The prisoners all lived in tents housing 4 to 8 men each. Prisoners resisted their internment with slowdowns and an attempt by one crew to hinder the passage of Italian troops.[1] The camp was bombed at the end of October 1942, and Italian forces dissolved Buq Buq and evacuated its prisoners on November 6, 1942, following the British victory of the Battle of El Alamein.[2] Italy retreated to Libya, and the remaining Buq Buq prisoners were ordered back to Tripoli; with the exceptions of Hadad and some other Jews who made the trip with the Italian guards, the prisoners had to trek across Cyrenaica, Syrtica, and Tripolitania on their own to reach the city.[2] There have been no trials of Italian military personnel relating to Buq Buq labor camp.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e "ITALIAN-OCCUPIED NORTH AFRICA". The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933–1945, vol. III: Camps and Ghettos under European Regimes Aligned with Nazi Germany. Indiana University Press. 2018. ISBN 978-0-253-02373-5.
- ^ a b c Roumani, Maurice M. (2021). Jews of Libya: Coexistence, Persecution, Resettlement. Liverpool University Press. ISBN 978-1-84519-137-5.
- ^ Hoppe, Jens (2018-11-06), "2. The Persecution of Jews in Libya Between 1938 and 1945: An Italian Affair?", 2. The Persecution of Jews in Libya Between 1938 and 1945: An Italian Affair?, Stanford University Press, pp. 50–75, doi:10.1515/9781503607064-003/html?lang=en, ISBN 978-1-5036-0706-4, retrieved 2024-06-27
- ^ (translated variously as Buqbuq, Bukbuk, Bug Bug, Buk Buk, Bog Bog, and Baq Baq)