Les Français israélites et l'accession au pouvoir de Léon Blum, à travers L'Univers israélite

Résumé 0

The coming to power of Léon Blum, the first Israelite to reach executive power in France, in June 1936, figures an important event in the lives of the French Israelites. The reaction to that event – as related by the most distributed communautary weekly, the Univers israélite – are mixed. During the electoral campaign, as a means to lessen the anti-Semitic critics, the Univers endeavors to divide politics from religion : it suggests its readers not to elect Léon Blum only because they are biased toward him. The consistorial weekly devotes few lines to the first reforms of the Prime Minister. It just relates about a meeting held by traders, industry managers and craftsmen who worry about them not being able to maintain their observance of Shabbat because of the law which determines the 40 hours weekly work. However, this attitude of neutrality of the Univers is questioned by some of the Jews, specifically members of the LICA. The controversy grows more acrimonious when, upon June 14th 1936, the consistory of Paris agrees to organize a commemoration for the Israelites killed on the field of honor during the First World War in order to meet the demand of the Nationalist Organization, the “ Croix de Feu ”.