Hélène Cazes Benatar
Paving the Way: Moroccan Jewish Woman Lawyer and Advocate for Individual Rights
Based in Casablanca, Hélène Cazes Benatar not only assisted a great number of refugees fleeing from Europe to North Africa, but also helped with the liberation of internees in Saharan forced labor and internment camps run by the Vichy regime.
Her son-in-law titled a report about her appropriately: ‘Nelly Cazes-Benathar, une femme de tête, de coeur et de courage’–a strong-minded and witty woman of compassion and courage.1) Rather than presenting Hélène Cazes Benatar’s biography in strict chronological order, this brief profile aims to examine facets of her life as a Moroccan Jewish woman, lawyer, and activist, focusing on her ‘years of glory’2).
Photograph of Hélène Cazes Benatar © American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Archives–Item ID 27107–Reference Code NY_16211
A Well-Educated and Dedicated Moroccan Jewish Woman, Spouse, and Mother
Hélène Cazes Benatar was born into and raised by a Jewish family with Sephardic ancestry in Tangier (Morocco) on 27 October 1898. Hélène Cazes spoke Spanish as well as Haketia, a variety of Spanish, Arabic, and Hebrew, and even added French and Italian to her linguistic repertoire later on.3) She attended the Tangier primary school of the Alliance Israélite Universelle (AIU), an international Jewish organization headquartered in Paris, where she was educated in French literature, language, and history, as well as Jewish subjects including the Hebrew Bible, language, and history.4) After the French conquest of Morocco in 1912,5) the Cazes family obtained French citizenship.6) Susan Gilson Miller encapsulates Hélène Cazes’ education and overall upbringing as follows:
‘Born in a Muslim country, impregnated with Judeo-Spanish customs and mores, Moroccan in sensibility, Western in intellect and outlook, French by citizenship and taste, Nelly Benatar had an upbringing that was a diverse mix of beliefs, loyalties, cultures, and histories.’7)
After living in Turin (Italy) and Seville (Spain) in the 1910s, the Cazes family moved to Casablanca in 1916. There, Hélène Cazes enrolled in the all-girls Lycée Mers Sultan and obtained her baccalauréat (French high-school diploma) in 1917. This was an extraordinary achievement for a Moroccan woman during that time,8)only accomplished by few Jewish women in Morocco9). Four years later, Hélène Cazes married Moyses Benatar. Based in Casablanca, the couple started a family soon after. Both committed themselves to social and political activities in Casablanca’s Jewish community alongside their professional work.10)Within the community, Hélène Cazes Benatar made contact with women such as the French jurist and president of the WIZO (Women’s International Zionist Organization) Sasia Erlich, who inspired her to co-found and preside over the WIZO’s local branch in Casablanca.11)
Unexpectedly, Moyses Benatar passed away in the beginning of 1939, leaving his family behind. Hence, Hélène Cazes Benatar was now solely responsible for the support of her children. Her daughter Myriam accompanied and supported her mother in her wartime activities.12) Post-war and Morocco’s independence in 1956, many–including her daughter–left Morocco for France, and in 1962, Hélène Cazes Benatar joined her family in Paris, where she passed in 1979.13)
First Licensed and Native-Born Moroccan Jewish Woman Lawyer
Already a spouse and mother in her early thirties, Hélène Cazes Benatar pursued a degree in French law from the University of Bordeaux. A special agreement between its faculty of law and the French dominion allowed holders of the baccalauréat to pursue a law degree.14) Earning her degree and passing the French bar in 1933,15) Hélène Cazes Benatar became the first certified native Moroccan Jewish female lawyer and ‘paved the way for Jewish people and women’.16) She launched her legal career by starting a law office and joining the cour de cassation (French court of cassation) in Casablanca as a member.17) In the French judicial system, the cour de cassation forms the supreme court in civil and commercial matters.18)Under colonial rule, a dualistic Moroccan legal system was established according to which either European-derived (i.e., Spanish or French) law or indigenous law was administered in Moroccan courts.19) To Hélène Cazes Benatar, a French citizen and bred to the French law, this was ‘a prestigious post for a beginner, signaling her competence in the details of French jurisprudence.’20)
Subsequent to the Franco-German armistice in June 1940, the Vichy regime gained control over parts of France as well as its colonies until the allied forces arrived in North Africa in November 1942. As a result of the antisemitic legislation of the Vichy regime, Moroccan Jewish people were officially prohibited from carrying out certain independent professions, including lawyers, doctors and others, due to dahirs (royal decrees) implementing numeri clausi (strict quotas) established by the second Statut de juifs (anti-Jewish law).21) It is likely that Hélène Cazes Benatar was no longer allowed to practice her legal profession.22) In the first reinstatement order in 1943, her name, unlike the names of her male lawyer colleagues, was omitted, which was why she reprimanded her name’s inscription swiftly.23)
After the war, she returned to her legal career, first in Casablanca, and then–following the end of colonial rule in Morocco in 1956 and changes in the Moroccan legal system as well as the requirements for the legal profession24)–in Paris. When she was already in her sixties, she took the French bar exam again and passed it for the second time.25)
A Relentless Advocate for the Rights of Refugees and Displaced Persons during and after WWII
Following the outset of WWII in the year of her spouse’s untimely death, Hélène Cazes Benatar underwent local Red Cross nursing training at a military hospital in Casablanca.26) The ascending number of refugees arriving in Casablanca soon caught her attention, and she instituted the Comité d’Assistance aux Réfugies Etrangers (Committee of Assistance to [Foreign] Refugees) to aid refugees by providing food, shelter, medical assistance and help in emigrating abroad.27) In order to finance the work of her committee, Hélène Cazes Benatar raised financial aid within the Jewish community and received donations from Jewish and non-Jewish private individuals.28)
She collaborated with various aid organizations, among them the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), HIAS-HICEM,