Selected text
I remember that in Thessaloniki there was a vivid religious and social Jewish life. There was Maccabi [9]. It was a club were Jewish children were gathered. It had a very good library, too. We would have scouts meetings, went on excursions, played ball games and things like that. I started going there at the age of ten. And although in the meantime we changed houses, I still continued going to Maccabi. Our house on Italias Street was not very far from our old house.
The Zionist [10] issue was very developed there. We had meetings where they were talking to us about Zionism and Palestine. As Maccabi group we took part at the National Parades on Greek National Holidays such as 25th March [11] and the rest. We would wear our scouts uniform which included a green color neckerchief and the various Maccabi scouts emblems.
These scouts meeting were something very strong in our childhood years. We would go on excursions to Chortiatis [a mountain area in the Thessaloniki Prefecture, Greece, consisting of the villages of Asvestohori, Exochi, Chortiatis and Filyro]. There we would go for walks in the forest. We went on excursions to the School of Agriculture [12] and to the sea for swimming.
Our team leader would urge us to get involved in the various activities organized. We would gather approximately 30 children. I remember Salomon Molho, Fiko Nissim, Joseph Nissim, Elie Sciaky, Elie Cohen, Tory Beza, Harry Perez, and Marsel Natzari who all came to Maccabi. I also remember our leader Saragoussi.
We could also find very interesting books at the Maccabi library. I served as a librarian for a period of time there. I liked reading very much. Back then we didn't have television and things like that.
There was another Jewish scout organization called Hakoah [13], but we were not involved with it. They did the same activities as we did. But Maccabi was much more popular. All the Jewish scout organizations were under the auspices of The Greek Union of Scouts and not under the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki. I don't remember the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki organizing events for children.
The Zionist [10] issue was very developed there. We had meetings where they were talking to us about Zionism and Palestine. As Maccabi group we took part at the National Parades on Greek National Holidays such as 25th March [11] and the rest. We would wear our scouts uniform which included a green color neckerchief and the various Maccabi scouts emblems.
These scouts meeting were something very strong in our childhood years. We would go on excursions to Chortiatis [a mountain area in the Thessaloniki Prefecture, Greece, consisting of the villages of Asvestohori, Exochi, Chortiatis and Filyro]. There we would go for walks in the forest. We went on excursions to the School of Agriculture [12] and to the sea for swimming.
Our team leader would urge us to get involved in the various activities organized. We would gather approximately 30 children. I remember Salomon Molho, Fiko Nissim, Joseph Nissim, Elie Sciaky, Elie Cohen, Tory Beza, Harry Perez, and Marsel Natzari who all came to Maccabi. I also remember our leader Saragoussi.
We could also find very interesting books at the Maccabi library. I served as a librarian for a period of time there. I liked reading very much. Back then we didn't have television and things like that.
There was another Jewish scout organization called Hakoah [13], but we were not involved with it. They did the same activities as we did. But Maccabi was much more popular. All the Jewish scout organizations were under the auspices of The Greek Union of Scouts and not under the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki. I don't remember the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki organizing events for children.
Period
Interview
Maurice Leon