Megilath Hitler [“Scroll of Hitler”]

(HOLOCAUST).

P. Hassine

Casablanca

(1943)

Square Hebrew characters, unvocalized (see below)

Remarkable composition written in the style of the Biblical Esther story, recounting the tyranny of Nazism and its defeat. Concludes in traditional style, cursing the wicked (Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo) and blessing the righteous (Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin). To be read on the second day of Kislev, Casablanca's special "Purim," celebrating the city’s liberation by the American forces, November 11th, 1942. The date of publication may be surmised from the last events described in the Megilah: the defeat of the Axis forces in Tunisia (May, 1943) and the Allied invasion of Sicily (July, 1943). The author was a Hebrew teacher in Casablanca. He apologizes for failing to provide vowel points within the text, saying that none were available in all of Morocco's Hebrew presses