The Jewish community in Algeria had always been in a fragile position. After World War II, the Algerian Jewish community formed a number of organizations for support and safeguarding of religious institutions. The fate of the community was determined by the Algerian nationalist struggle for independence. Already in 1956 the Algerian National Liberation Front had appealed to "Algerians of Jewish origin" to choose Algerian nationality. Fears increased in 1958, when the FLN kidnapped and killed two officials of the Jewish Agency, and in 1960 with desecrations of the Great Synagogue of Algiers and the Jewish cemetery in Oran, and others were killed by the FLN.