10 questions · Society & Everyday
Malika Oufkir is born in Morocco in 1953, the daughter of a powerful general. As a small girl she is taken to the royal court and grows up like an adoptive daughter of the king, alongside the princess: surrounded by luxury but far from her own family. Her childhood is like a gilded cage. In 1972 a single event plunges her life into misfortune: her father takes part in a failed coup attempt against King Hassan II and dies that same evening, officially by suicide, although his body bears several bullet wounds. As punishment the king makes the entire Oufkir family disappear: Malika, her mother and her siblings, including small children. Without charge or trial they are dragged off to secret locations and held for many years in desert prisons under wretched conditions. Malika Oufkir spends two decades in captivity. But the family does not give up. In 1987 they achieve a spectacular escape with their bare hands: over months they dig a tunnel with spoons and fingernails and flee. They are soon recaptured, but now their fate can no longer be kept secret: international pressure eventually secures their final release in the early 1990s. Malika Oufkir works through her 20 years of imprisonment in the book 'Stolen Lives', which becomes a worldwide bestseller. From a silent victim she becomes a voice against injustice: her story makes known the fate of the "disappeared" under the dictatorship and stands to this day for the will to survive under inhuman conditions.
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Stolen Lives
The book became a worldwide bestseller.
💡 Did you know? In her bestseller „Stolen Lives“ Oufkir described her nearly twenty years of imprisonment; the book was read worldwide.
about 20 years
She was held without charge or trial.
💡 Did you know? For about two decades the Moroccan regime held Oufkir and her family without trial, partly in total isolation.
Morocco
She was imprisoned with her family under King Hassan II.
💡 Did you know? Malika Oufkir's ordeal took place in Morocco under King Hassan II, who had opponents ruthlessly persecuted.
her father's coup attempt
Her father, a general, led a coup attempt against the king in 1972 and died that same evening; after it failed, the whole family was punished.
💡 Did you know? As punishment the king made the whole family disappear, including the children.
raised at the royal court
Her childhood was like a gilded cage, far from her own family.
💡 Did you know? As a child Malika lived at the royal court and was raised almost like a princess: a stark contrast to her later imprisonment.
dug a tunnel with bare hands
In 1987 Oufkir and her siblings dug a tunnel with their bare hands and spoons and made a spectacular escape.
💡 Did you know? They were recaptured, but now their fate could no longer be kept secret.
international pressure
Her case made known the fate of the "disappeared" under the dictatorship.
💡 Did you know? Only international pressure after their escape secured the family's release in 1991; Malika was not allowed to leave the country until 1996.
will to survive against injustice
Oufkir's story stands for the indomitable will to survive against tyranny and injustice.
💡 Did you know? From a silent victim she became an internationally heard voice.
Foto: Larry D. Moore · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Malika Oufkir
Malika Oufkir (b. 1953) is a Moroccan author who spent almost 20 years imprisoned with her family though innocent.
💡 Did you know? Her escape tunnel, dug with spoons and fingernails, made her story world-famous: told in her book „Stolen Lives.“
1953
Born: 2 April 1953 in Morocco
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