The modern city of Skikda was founded in 1838 by the French on the ruins of an ancient Phoenician city which later flourished as a large Roman city called Rusicade, a Punic word which means "Promontory of fire". In the 5th century, the Roman port was destroyed by the Vandals. On October 10, 1883, there was an earthquake at Philippeville. Towards the end of World War II, there was a UNRRA refugee camp at Philippeville which was known as Camp Jeanne d'Arc. On January 25, 1945, 200 Jews holding citizenship from countries in North and South America were sent from theBergen-Belsen concentration camp to Switzerland as part of a prisoner exchange group. They were later sent to this UNRRA camp in Philippeville, Algeria. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skikda