My paternal grandmother, Cevahir Babaoglu, was a woman who lived in Russia, and who had escaped the Bolshevik Revolution [1]. She would poke her eyes with needles when she saw the picture of Stalin in the newspapers.
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Major events (political and historical)
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Displaying 42001 - 42030 of 50826 results
Yasef Romano
I talk Turkish with my wife ninetyfive percent of the time, and Spanish the rest of the time, I use the Turkish language with my friends and children all the time.
We were very upset with the bombing of Neve Shalom in 1986[11] and in November of 2003[12], we got calls from our Turkish friends, they all conveyed their condolences. Everyone was in a panic. Our Turkish friends were as affected as we were.
I do not get involved in politics. Cem Boyner had formed a party. He offered me to form his party’s Thrace section. I did not accept this. He was going to give me all the responsibility for Thrace. I was the president of Rotary. Rotary is always on a higher level. Of course he wanted support from me as a Rotarian to increase his financial power. I did not accept it. Only, I have a point of view, for a rich person and a poor person to be equal. For a poor person to get the same care and to live as a rich person does. You might say, he has money, the other doesn’t, but I believe in supporting the poor. I think I lean towards the left a little with that point of view. I live a regular life, but the poor person there cannot, my conscience bothers me. That is why there are differences of class all the time unfortunately.
When I come to Istanbul for the weekends, the friends who came from Edirne get together as a group, we eat our meal. We learn our ideas about the community. I put out this struggle so the Jewish community can be more active. I put them under pressure. I have a very good group of friends.
I am very loyal to the Jewish religion, but I do not advertise it. My life cannot consist only with Jews. Because I am in Edirne. I even educate my children continually about religion. Religion bonds us. If we are loyal to it, everything turns out better. I am as loyal as I can be. My wife is more religious than I am. She follows all the holidays, everything. But I do not pressure my grandchildren to own their religion.
My grandchildren go to the Jewish school and will graduate from there. They take part in all the activities.
My grandchildren go to the Jewish school and will graduate from there. They take part in all the activities.
Here once a month, once every two weeks and during the holidays I go to Ortakoy synagogue, and once in a while to Sisli synagogue.
I am in the council of representatives, once a month, or once every 15 days, a letter comes so we will participate in the meetings. The council of representatives meet at some places. Once at Or-ahayim[10], once in the building of the Grand Rabbinate, another time at Barinyurt. We would be approximately 50 – 100 people. Most of the times it was presided by Naim Guleryuz. Whoever wanted to speak spoke. I got up, talked about assimilation, come let’s tackle this problem together, I said. What more can we do for these people, we form associations, we will work at it, they say, nothing comes of it. Three months later, five months later, records are kept, nothing happens.
I gave a conference only at the council of representatives.
I wanted to take part in a social program voluntarily, I wanted to work together too. They called me, I gave a speech. Two or three years ago there was Ida Ben Romano, “Yasef you are an expert on the subject of the disabled, in this Jewish community of ours, there is no place for the disabled”. They wanted a conference from me. A school serving 2,000 people opened in a place like Edirne. I did not spend a penny out of my pocket. Our Turkish friends are very emotional about this. When I say I want to do something like this, a disabled children center opened in Edirne that is not only one of the few in Turkey but one of the few in the world. There are 2.000 disabled children. I am the administrator, the founder, there are 30-40 doctors working there. They are all under me. I didn’t know this business either, but I worked there voluntarily. Come. Let’s do something similar for the Istanbul Jewish community, I said. We also have very emotional people. Let’s start with one lira, I said. There are disabled children among us too. The families are ashamed, they don’t take them out. I wanted to work, Ida Benromano encouraged me in this, she helped me. A lot of people came, listened, it did not happen.
I gave a conference only at the council of representatives.
I wanted to take part in a social program voluntarily, I wanted to work together too. They called me, I gave a speech. Two or three years ago there was Ida Ben Romano, “Yasef you are an expert on the subject of the disabled, in this Jewish community of ours, there is no place for the disabled”. They wanted a conference from me. A school serving 2,000 people opened in a place like Edirne. I did not spend a penny out of my pocket. Our Turkish friends are very emotional about this. When I say I want to do something like this, a disabled children center opened in Edirne that is not only one of the few in Turkey but one of the few in the world. There are 2.000 disabled children. I am the administrator, the founder, there are 30-40 doctors working there. They are all under me. I didn’t know this business either, but I worked there voluntarily. Come. Let’s do something similar for the Istanbul Jewish community, I said. We also have very emotional people. Let’s start with one lira, I said. There are disabled children among us too. The families are ashamed, they don’t take them out. I wanted to work, Ida Benromano encouraged me in this, she helped me. A lot of people came, listened, it did not happen.
, Türkiye
There is a synagogue in Edirne, it is demolished, I told the Grand Rabbinate, I am the only Jew left in Edirne, I am not able to do much of anything. I gave the mayor’s office an ultimatum and I said you cannot touch this place as long as I am alive. This is my legal right. I told the Rabbinate in order to save it. We cannot do it, they said. This temple is a historical building. Then I found a friend of mine who is a dean in the university. The dean says o.k., we went and talked to the foundations, we turned it over to the university, I will do it, he said. But the dean got scared, when there are so many mosques, if they say the university is doing this, it would reflect negatively on me. But let’s say the repair costs 100 liras, I will provide 99 liras, have your community pay the other one lira. Let’s say the university and Jewish community are working hand in hand. It might work if they say this is how it happened. I went ahead and brought the great dean to Istanbul. The Grand Rabbi was Asseo then. Of course he did not participate in the meetings, he had lawyers. The dean explains, I will have this synagogue built for Yasef’s sake, he says. Do you know what the people there answered? “Do not ask for money from us, use our opinions and advice”. The dean said, this, I have, I have the money too, I can build one hundred percent of it, but public opinion is important. An event was done in Istanbul for the synagogue. To fundraise, the people in Edirne came by buses, so money could be collected and used. But when nothing came from the community, it didn’t happen. In the end the building collapsed. I can never forget the day that building collapsed, how I was distressed. In our community they only ask for money. No one took charge. They could have asked for a little support from outside. So that at least the synagogue could stand erect.
Let me tell you about another event. There is a bazaar in Edirne called Kapalicarsi (Closed Bazaar). That bazaar was built during the Ottomans. The bazaar belongs entirely to the religious foundations. This event is one we lived through three to five months ago. All of the stores belong to the foundations. The treasury examines all the foundations. One of the stores is registered as belonging to the Edirne Jewish community. I have a very good relationship with the attorney for the Treasury. The attorney said, I discovered something; one store belongs to you as a community. You can have it reinstated from the foundations, he said. For a year now, the foundations have been renting the place out and receiving the money. I have in my hand a certificate starting I am part of the Edirne Jewish community, I can open a lawsuit, sell the store in the name of the Jewish community and take the money. I did not do this. I informed the Grand Rabbinate immediately, come, let’s take care of this, I said. They send a lawyer to Edirne, open the lawsuit. The foundations say, you leave, we will pay you 180 billion liras. There are some snags that arise, I become part of the talks. The affair is concluded, the money arrives to Istanbul to the Grand Rabbinate. I discovered this, I informed you, can’t you even say thank you? But when problems arise, the lawyer can call me at nights, I am the one who brought this to light, I don’t want anything. But our Jewish community never, until they conclude their business, pashaiko, when the business is taken care of, the friendship is also done. That is why I am a bit distanced from and offended by the community.
, Türkiye
We don’t have such a good dialogue with the community. I am on the council of representatives. Why am I there. Edirne is a community. Their president is automatically a member of the council of representatives. Edirne is also accepted as a community, even if it is one person or five people. I go to all the meetings. I give speeches too. But I saw that the speeches stay there. Everyone speaks up, there are some very good proposals, but nothing is done. No one was involved in the event of the Edirne synagogue. The collapse of that synagogue made us very sad. Right now there are people in the community staying on top of it, the dean’s office in the university, and Unicef stepped in. G-d willing, something will happen this year, I am very hopeful. There is always hope.
, Türkiye
We were very affected by the revolts against Greeks in 1955 and 1964. My wife’s older sister was getting married then. The wedding was going to take place, we were going to get the wedding dress that we had orderd, the owner was Greek. When we went to get the dress, we did not find any wedding dress, everything was looted. Of course we had to buy another wedding dress later.
The birth of the nation of Israel makes me very emotional. For a person to have a country is wonderful. It gives you a lot of confidence. However we manage here, we live with that confidence. If they did not exist maybe we would be seen in a different light. My wife never forgets, when the six-day war[4] started in Israel, the b’ris of our relative Niso was taking place at home in Edirne. That day the war started, we are very agitated, very scared, very impatient, the circumcision was done, we dispersed to our homes. We all decided none of us should leave our homes. There was a panic that they might do something to us. We were the subject of a lot of discussions. A lot of things were being said, this scared us, we were relieved when the war ended. Of course the fact that they were stable gave us a big peace of mind. More than a peace of mind, it is the place where we would find shelter.
One year we had the intention to do aliyah there. When we were in Edirne, before we moved to Istanbul, first my mother and father, we made our preparations that we would all go together, in the meantime my mother and father went to Israel for the wedding of their grandchild, my mother suffered a stroke, we thought that the atmosphere did not sit well with her, and we changed our minds. The government of Israel had provided my father with a furnished house to settle there. But it wasn’t meant to be. We have friends and relatives who have gone to Israel to settle there. We still keep in touch with them.
One year we had the intention to do aliyah there. When we were in Edirne, before we moved to Istanbul, first my mother and father, we made our preparations that we would all go together, in the meantime my mother and father went to Israel for the wedding of their grandchild, my mother suffered a stroke, we thought that the atmosphere did not sit well with her, and we changed our minds. The government of Israel had provided my father with a furnished house to settle there. But it wasn’t meant to be. We have friends and relatives who have gone to Israel to settle there. We still keep in touch with them.
Of course my wife, she goes to Dostluk yurdu on Mondays, and prepares seminars at Ulus on Thursdays, for women, she goes there.
The biggest project in my life is establishing a center for disabled children. It was established with the name “Edirne Therapy Center for Mentally and Physically Disabled Children”. You might say, what relationship do you have with disabled people. I am very socially active in Edirne. One day, I am sitting at work, a family came with all of its children. I am looking for Mr. Yasef, they said. “Mr. Yasef, you serve everyone, but you do not do anything for families with disabled children”. I had not thought of such a thing until that moment. “My son is disabled, but we cannot get him the care he needs in Edirne, we cannot get it in Istanbul either. I take my child to Eskisehir every ten days and bring him back. Would you please give a hand for disabled also?” she said. Next to me was the Textiles Central manager of the famous Bezmen group, Erdal Bey. We came face to face and said why shouldn’t we do this job, we said. We could do it, but with what. That day the word disabled imprinted on our minds. That person affected us. One day I receive a call from international Rotary. There are 25-30 young people coming from Germany who will transit through Edirne, they needed help in Kapikule. But they were a little late . I could not send them to Istanbul that day, I hosted them in Edirne. I was very useful to them, and I did not take a penny. One of them was a governor, he asked me if I had a project from Rotary when he was leaving. “I really want to be involved in disabled people” I said. The guy took note of it. He visited Turkey, went to Syria, and returned to Germany.
A week, ten days later, I received a letter, “There are very big schools in Germany for the disabled” he said, “send me a team, I will host them for 15 days, I will provide you support with the help of the university, and you send your doctors here”. We sent them a team of doctors led by Sait Erdem. They stayed 20 days in Germany. We made an international project, worth 20.000 dollars. The dean of the time gave up, I will not do this job, he said. All of our efforts were messed up, we sent the doctors to Germany. We were completely disillusioned I did not lose my conviction. I had a friend in Ankara. I called him. I told him about the project. I told him I found 20.000 dollars too. “But I cannot find anyone to implement the project”, I said. His answer was “ If you find Ihsan Dogramaci, he will take care of your business”. Dogramaci was president of YOK(Committee for Higher Education) then, a very good friend of his. He finds Dogramaci at his place, tells him the situation, we will take care of it right away, he says. He immediately calls the dean in Edirne, Ahmet Karadeniz, on the phone and says; “Dear Ahmet, I congratulate you, I heard that you are cooperating with the Rotary Club. You embraced them, wonderful. I am sending you a letter of commendation for the work you do, he said. But things did not progress fast after this. The dean provided a doctor for the clinic, we have seven patients, we cannot accept more. We don’t have money either, I started sitting at tables in mosques. I am collecting donations for the disabled. There, one citizen who does not know me, asks the reason. I explained the situation. We started a center, but it is not enough, if we find around 5 millions, then we can do something, I said. This friend gave us the five million, he was very touched when he saw me. The Jews are collecting money in the mosque for the disabled. We could only do excavations with this five million liras. We could not do anything else. He gave a place in the university of course. He asks me what is happening. My dear friend, you gave this money, we did the excavation, we have to wait for the rest from the government, I said. Would you lead this job, he asked me, I accepted. If you are going to be on top of this job, I will support you, he said. He gave 1.000.000 Swiss franks. This is a very big amount. With this money, we established the biggest disabled center not only of Turkey, but of the Balkans under my management, and it is still currently under my management, and it is very important for me, I am attached. In this hospital where we started with 5 childreen, now there are 2,000 disabled children. There are mentally challenged and physically challenged. This is a project as big as Turkey. I go there three to four days a week. The approximately 15 doctors that work there work under me. This provides me with the greatest happiness, I am so attached to these disabled, that I even built a park for them. Because the families of the disabled children are ashamed of their children. In reality it is nothing to be ashamed of but unfortunately they are. We built a park just for them on the road to Karaagac, on a 10 acre plot, which this citizen donated again, we built a big park for the disabled children’s families. The families come with their children, everything is free. Now, that is my biggest happiness. There are ceramic and art workshops inside the school. All the rooms are spotless, the families participate in the education and everything is taught to the children including getting dressed. There are two psychologists for these children and their families are visited too. Our therapy is free.
Outside of the Rotary, I am involved in the disabled. When the Edirne community was crowded, we had a lot of friends, and we did a lot of activities. The families of Kalvo and so on, all came here. We continue our friendship here too. Now we are friends with people who came from Edirne. We could not become part of the community of Istanbul.
A week, ten days later, I received a letter, “There are very big schools in Germany for the disabled” he said, “send me a team, I will host them for 15 days, I will provide you support with the help of the university, and you send your doctors here”. We sent them a team of doctors led by Sait Erdem. They stayed 20 days in Germany. We made an international project, worth 20.000 dollars. The dean of the time gave up, I will not do this job, he said. All of our efforts were messed up, we sent the doctors to Germany. We were completely disillusioned I did not lose my conviction. I had a friend in Ankara. I called him. I told him about the project. I told him I found 20.000 dollars too. “But I cannot find anyone to implement the project”, I said. His answer was “ If you find Ihsan Dogramaci, he will take care of your business”. Dogramaci was president of YOK(Committee for Higher Education) then, a very good friend of his. He finds Dogramaci at his place, tells him the situation, we will take care of it right away, he says. He immediately calls the dean in Edirne, Ahmet Karadeniz, on the phone and says; “Dear Ahmet, I congratulate you, I heard that you are cooperating with the Rotary Club. You embraced them, wonderful. I am sending you a letter of commendation for the work you do, he said. But things did not progress fast after this. The dean provided a doctor for the clinic, we have seven patients, we cannot accept more. We don’t have money either, I started sitting at tables in mosques. I am collecting donations for the disabled. There, one citizen who does not know me, asks the reason. I explained the situation. We started a center, but it is not enough, if we find around 5 millions, then we can do something, I said. This friend gave us the five million, he was very touched when he saw me. The Jews are collecting money in the mosque for the disabled. We could only do excavations with this five million liras. We could not do anything else. He gave a place in the university of course. He asks me what is happening. My dear friend, you gave this money, we did the excavation, we have to wait for the rest from the government, I said. Would you lead this job, he asked me, I accepted. If you are going to be on top of this job, I will support you, he said. He gave 1.000.000 Swiss franks. This is a very big amount. With this money, we established the biggest disabled center not only of Turkey, but of the Balkans under my management, and it is still currently under my management, and it is very important for me, I am attached. In this hospital where we started with 5 childreen, now there are 2,000 disabled children. There are mentally challenged and physically challenged. This is a project as big as Turkey. I go there three to four days a week. The approximately 15 doctors that work there work under me. This provides me with the greatest happiness, I am so attached to these disabled, that I even built a park for them. Because the families of the disabled children are ashamed of their children. In reality it is nothing to be ashamed of but unfortunately they are. We built a park just for them on the road to Karaagac, on a 10 acre plot, which this citizen donated again, we built a big park for the disabled children’s families. The families come with their children, everything is free. Now, that is my biggest happiness. There are ceramic and art workshops inside the school. All the rooms are spotless, the families participate in the education and everything is taught to the children including getting dressed. There are two psychologists for these children and their families are visited too. Our therapy is free.
Outside of the Rotary, I am involved in the disabled. When the Edirne community was crowded, we had a lot of friends, and we did a lot of activities. The families of Kalvo and so on, all came here. We continue our friendship here too. Now we are friends with people who came from Edirne. We could not become part of the community of Istanbul.
, Türkiye
I took positions in a lot of organisations. I carried the presidency of the elementary school after the birth of Ines. I was president for thirty years. There was a change I brought to this school That is why they did not want me to leave he presidency. When there was no television even in homes, we were working together with the wife of the mayor Unal Erkan (he also was chief of security, and president of Diyarbakir section management among other things) in Sehit Tahsin school. We put a television in every classroom, and we put a video in the room of the principal. Whatever the subject of the day was, the cassette would be put inthe principal’s room, that subject could be followed in every classroom at the same time. This system did not exist in Istanbul even, not just in Thrace. We entered the computer age in our school when no school had such technology.
I started in the Rotary in 1977 to be of service and I am still continuing to serve. I became the founder of Edirne Rotary club. We started it with 20-25 people. When the Rotary was going to be founded in Edirne in 1977, I did not know what Rotary was. I had an older mentor, he is a lawyer. The attorney Altinel, my dear Yasef, we will take you into the Rotary, they said. We are creating it, we will take you into the founders, he said. I said let me read about its philosophy. Don’t read at all, he said, let’s make you a member first, you will read later. I entered without knowing, after starting it I read about its philosophy, I was really very happy. I became a secretary after it was established. I served as secretary for 13 years which can be a world record. After becoming president, I became assistant to the governor. And I am still continuing. I have been working actively since I started. This year, 2005-2006, I see as my “Golden Year”. I will serve not only Edirne but all of Thrace.
I started in the Rotary in 1977 to be of service and I am still continuing to serve. I became the founder of Edirne Rotary club. We started it with 20-25 people. When the Rotary was going to be founded in Edirne in 1977, I did not know what Rotary was. I had an older mentor, he is a lawyer. The attorney Altinel, my dear Yasef, we will take you into the Rotary, they said. We are creating it, we will take you into the founders, he said. I said let me read about its philosophy. Don’t read at all, he said, let’s make you a member first, you will read later. I entered without knowing, after starting it I read about its philosophy, I was really very happy. I became a secretary after it was established. I served as secretary for 13 years which can be a world record. After becoming president, I became assistant to the governor. And I am still continuing. I have been working actively since I started. This year, 2005-2006, I see as my “Golden Year”. I will serve not only Edirne but all of Thrace.
, Türkiye
My close friend from a large community Tekin Sayinbas was born in 1935, knows Jewish history more than I do and knows the Jews who live in Edirne better than I. He has books on this subject. Our friendship started before I went to the military. For 55 years we keep in touch every morning either with phone or other means. He is my beloved friend. He loves Jews a lot. He even has books about this subject.
There is one more person but I cannot stay in touch with him as before. Rifat Mitrani. He lived in Edirne too.
There is one more person but I cannot stay in touch with him as before. Rifat Mitrani. He lived in Edirne too.
, Türkiye
My father is buried in Israel, my mother in Ulus Jewish cemetery. Kaddish was recited at the funeral. We do the yartzheit every year on the anniversary of their death.
,
After WW2
See text in interview
My wife continues her traditional cooking at home.
The nights of seder that we held when we were married were magnificent. My father would gather all of us. Because he had more knowledge than rabbis, he could read the prayers with the right tone. We were very crowded. The whole family read. Now in Istanbul, we try to apply the traditions but we are not as crowded as we were.
His wife relates: “In my family, the relatives would gather like that, my mother would cook a lot of different foods, the kids would come, a wonderful table would be prepared. My mother was also a very orthodox, religious person. She would not touch fire on Saturdays, she would look for a person to light the stove on Saturdays, people would pass on the street, she would make them light it. The nights of Passover truly constitute memories that we cannot erase from our minds”.
His wife relates: “In my family, the relatives would gather like that, my mother would cook a lot of different foods, the kids would come, a wonderful table would be prepared. My mother was also a very orthodox, religious person. She would not touch fire on Saturdays, she would look for a person to light the stove on Saturdays, people would pass on the street, she would make them light it. The nights of Passover truly constitute memories that we cannot erase from our minds”.
, Türkiye
I raised my children according to Jewish traditioins. They go to synagogue often, bat-mitzvah was not known in Edirne, therefore we did not do it.
We lived in a villa type house in Edirne after we got married. We would come to Istanbul very often. We would come to Istanbul almost every weekend. When I come, I go to the movies, theatre, to meetings. I don’t have any free time. We go to Enes and Saroz for vacations with my family. And we also go to Antalya in the month of May.
I had a lot of trips out of the country. Mostly Greece, Bulgaria, Netherlands, England and Israel. I went to Greece and Bulgaria alone for social activities. To Israel with my wife.
The islands seemed very far to us. Tekirdag, Sarkoy, that’s where we would go.
In our trips out of the country, the children would accompany us. There were groups of friends in Saroz.
I had a lot of trips out of the country. Mostly Greece, Bulgaria, Netherlands, England and Israel. I went to Greece and Bulgaria alone for social activities. To Israel with my wife.
The islands seemed very far to us. Tekirdag, Sarkoy, that’s where we would go.
In our trips out of the country, the children would accompany us. There were groups of friends in Saroz.
My older daughter likes Turkish folk dancing a lot, there were some international competitions, she even participated in them. My younger daughter Sima also likes folk dancing, but she especially likes Israeli folk dancing. She even taught Israeli folk dancing in the Jewish highschool.
My children had Jewish friends until they started school. It was necessary to come to Istanbul, and that is difficult after a certain age. My younger daughter was the only Jew in her school. There was even an incident there. She entered religion class. In the religion class, her teacher told them that Jews were bad people. This happened in the first year of junior high.
She knows my younger daughter is Jewish, of course. Of course, the next day she did not go to school. The principal of the school was a good friend. Another friend also got involved. That teacher was laid off after a while. My daughters did not have to go to religion class, but to prevent separatism, they never refrained from going and memorized the prayers.
She knows my younger daughter is Jewish, of course. Of course, the next day she did not go to school. The principal of the school was a good friend. Another friend also got involved. That teacher was laid off after a while. My daughters did not have to go to religion class, but to prevent separatism, they never refrained from going and memorized the prayers.
My older daughter Ines Romano, was born in 1964 in Istanbul, in Guzelbahce clinic. She grew up in Edirne. She finished elementary school, junior high, highschool and university in Edirne. She is a metallurgical engineer. She married Moris Aldis and has a daughter named Doris. Aldis family is also from Edirne. She had a very happy life in Edirne. The children grew up in open air and gardens. My younger daughter Sima is born in 1974. She was born in Istanbul too. She finished elementary school in Edirne. She attended junior high, highschool and university in Istanbul. She finished Besiktas Anadolu Lisesi. She studied sociology in Mimar Sinan University. Currently she is a teacher in Marmaris. She is married to Tansel Cetin. She has a daughter named Melis. They live in Marmaris. She is married and has a daughter.
My wife tries to continue the traditions she learned from her mother and father in Edirne. Even if she is not as religious as them, what is important is that she continues the habit. She does not eat treyf, she likes applying things that are religiously required. I pray to G-d that our children will be like that.
, Türkiye
You did not do anything on Tish ha Beaf, you would sit and fast. The weather would be hot anyways. You don’t go in water. This habit is still in use. We wouldn’t even go to the riverbank to sit. That is a relief, it cannot be done on a day of mourning.
, Türkiye
My wife’s mother would make a special pastry from pumpkins for Rosh hashana. My wife still cannot manage that. Because the dough was special, she would roll it herself with her hands. She would cook the pumpkin with sugar and make a special pastry. She would also cook leeks. Because these are the first vegetables to come out. Rosh hashana has a special meal. Of course there is no fish in Edirne but carp. Sheatfish cannot be eaten because it does not have bones. As you know, boneless fish cannot be eaten in Judaism. Carp really was prepared deliciously. I still remember the delicious taste. My wife’s mother would make any sweets you can think of in Rosh hashana. We had a cupboard, that cupboard would fill up with sweets. My older brother had a sweet tooth. One day he had eaten enough sweets, but because he wanted more, he had climbed on top of the cupboard, and when he climbed on top, the cupboard fell on him. Those sweets became inedible then.
, Türkiye
When you say Passover, cleaning up started a month before. Everything would be unstitched, would be washed. Anything you could think of would be washed. We had a special cupboard for Passover. In that cupboard, the pots and pans, plates that were to be used only in Passover were kept separately. When Passover came, they would all be taken out, washed, the old ones put away, and the ones for Pesah arranged in place. You could not find flour ready to use in Edirne in Passover. The matzos were thick and hard. They were so hard, that there was a bakery in Edirne called Has firin. That bakery would be washed, cleaned, prepared for Passover and matzos were produced. This was a bakery with arrangement but we, the Jews bought it in 1964. The matzos would be baked there after they were prepared. Yuda Romano participated in the preparing. The matzos looked like round breads and were flat. But they became hard when they waited, we ate it with difficulty. We always softened it to eat. Since there was no matzo meal, we would grate this bread. My mother made us grate it all the time, so it would be ready. Cakes, tezpistis have to be prepared, there is no flour. We would grate, and we would add it to other meals.
Later we would start preparing the food. Among the Passover foods, the one made with spinach was called ‘Minas d’ispanaka”. Now this meal that is baked in ovens, was fried at the time. It was fried on a pan, burmelos (fried matzo and egg balls), fritaz de ispanak, pirasa, patates (frittatas of spinach, leeks, and potatoes). Potatoes wasn’t popular then, later it became more popular. It left us the impression that you don’t eat it. Kilos of spinach were bought, washed (he tells while laughing) and cooked. We did not eat rice. We did not eat feta cheese or kasheri even. There wasn’t much then like today. Our wine came from Istanbul. We would also make Sarope (jam-like candy made with sugar and water).
Later we would start preparing the food. Among the Passover foods, the one made with spinach was called ‘Minas d’ispanaka”. Now this meal that is baked in ovens, was fried at the time. It was fried on a pan, burmelos (fried matzo and egg balls), fritaz de ispanak, pirasa, patates (frittatas of spinach, leeks, and potatoes). Potatoes wasn’t popular then, later it became more popular. It left us the impression that you don’t eat it. Kilos of spinach were bought, washed (he tells while laughing) and cooked. We did not eat rice. We did not eat feta cheese or kasheri even. There wasn’t much then like today. Our wine came from Istanbul. We would also make Sarope (jam-like candy made with sugar and water).
, Türkiye
My wife’s family celebrated every holiday with all the details. During Purim, relatives and friends in Edirne would give out Purim candy. It was red and white Purim candy. They made different shapes from Purim candy, the six corner star, a heart and so on. He would make candy as big as a tray, there was an old candymaker, he used to make the candy, the name of the candymaker was Sami Kanetti (father of Soli Avigdor) and he would decorate the tray beautifully. We would put our best tablecloths on the tray and arranged the candy on it. At the same time, you would put tezpisti (a syrup-soaked cake) and an orange in the middle, I do not know the meaning of this. This was sent especially to those who were in mourning. The women who worked for us distributed it to houses. They would be tipped in houses. So many sweets were made for Purim that we had a cupboard, during those holidays, it would be filled with sweets from one end to the other. Especially during Rosh hashana borekitas, tatli de muez(walnut sweets), tezpisti, mekikler (a kind of muffin), so many, many things were made. Because there were a lot of guests coming and going, a lot of sweets were made at their house.
, Türkiye