Stories
Here you will find extracts of interviews with the Jews of Sudan. They are arranged in a vaguely chronological order, although this is by no means exact.
All of these 'stories' come from interviews with members of the community that I carried out between 2015 and 2019. I have redacted, edited and in some cases rearranged their content, to make them easily readable online. I haven't added or changed any information from the original conversations, and I hope that each person's voice comes through in these very short extracts.
All stories have kindly been translated into Arabic by the Sudan Memory Project.
Shirley's grandfather was the famous Musa Bassiouni; a Masalma, and one of the first Jewish people to live in Sudan.
So They Gave Him the Name Bassiouni
In early years, before even radio was mainstream, people had to find ways to pass the time
This Game Used to Last Months and Months
When you're a woman in a patriarchal society and your nickname is 'the Générale', people listen
The Générale
Rabbi Malka began formerly serving the community as their Rabbi in 1908, and remained popular until he passed away in 1949
The House Of The Rabbi: Open To All Strangers
There are some characters that seem to come out of a story book. Haroon (Aaron) Levy is one of them.
Haroon Musa Levy. Acquitted!
There are many stories told of Elias Benno, my great grandfather. As a child, this one always made me laugh.
He Told Her to Cook the Shoe