Selected text
Sam was the most successful in the family and was the big boss. He was very active, authoritarian and had principles. He had partners that were Christian, and this is why his Greek was excellent. He also dealt in other businesses in association with his partners.
Before the war it was common for a Jew to go into partnership with a non-Jew. Jews were very appreciated, especially as commercial representatives, because people trusted them. They were trustworthy. Before the war, commercial deals were based on word of honor. One gave his hand and it was his word of honor.
Sam, for example, had many partnerships with many Christians in Thessaloniki, with whom he didn’t have a contract, nor common companies, or anything else. For example, he exported agricultural goods with a company name Dimitrakopoulos-Xenakis, with whom he had no contract. It was simply based on mutual trust. Their collaboration must have started in 1930. They bought the agricultural products, we exported them through my uncle’s company, and figured out the accounts at the end of each month easily with no problem.
Sam did business with other friends too. Since he had many contacts with Austria and Germany, he came up with the idea to manufacture velvet tablecloths in Greece. So he made an association with a friend of his – he had many friends, close ones – someone named Konstandinidis Kostas. Konstandinidis was from Asia Minor and had a factory producing textiles on Langada Street [an industrial street on the western outskirts of Thessaloniki]. So my uncle proposed to him to bring the machinery from Austria, special machinery to produce tablecloths. And so they started the business in partnership. This must have taken place in 1930.
The business did very well and continued after the war, but not in partnership. Konstandinidis continued on his own. When the import of special threads for the tablecloths stopped, because of the war, my uncle decided to sell the machinery to Konstandinidis and to walk out.
My uncle did business with Jews too. It didn’t make any difference. He had very close collaborations. With a certain friend, Molho, he imported certain products which he represented. He brought them under the name of a friend of his because he didn’t want to bring them on his own. He didn’t want to bring them under his name because he distributed them to clients and didn’t want to raise competition.
Before the war it was common for a Jew to go into partnership with a non-Jew. Jews were very appreciated, especially as commercial representatives, because people trusted them. They were trustworthy. Before the war, commercial deals were based on word of honor. One gave his hand and it was his word of honor.
Sam, for example, had many partnerships with many Christians in Thessaloniki, with whom he didn’t have a contract, nor common companies, or anything else. For example, he exported agricultural goods with a company name Dimitrakopoulos-Xenakis, with whom he had no contract. It was simply based on mutual trust. Their collaboration must have started in 1930. They bought the agricultural products, we exported them through my uncle’s company, and figured out the accounts at the end of each month easily with no problem.
Sam did business with other friends too. Since he had many contacts with Austria and Germany, he came up with the idea to manufacture velvet tablecloths in Greece. So he made an association with a friend of his – he had many friends, close ones – someone named Konstandinidis Kostas. Konstandinidis was from Asia Minor and had a factory producing textiles on Langada Street [an industrial street on the western outskirts of Thessaloniki]. So my uncle proposed to him to bring the machinery from Austria, special machinery to produce tablecloths. And so they started the business in partnership. This must have taken place in 1930.
The business did very well and continued after the war, but not in partnership. Konstandinidis continued on his own. When the import of special threads for the tablecloths stopped, because of the war, my uncle decided to sell the machinery to Konstandinidis and to walk out.
My uncle did business with Jews too. It didn’t make any difference. He had very close collaborations. With a certain friend, Molho, he imported certain products which he represented. He brought them under the name of a friend of his because he didn’t want to bring them on his own. He didn’t want to bring them under his name because he distributed them to clients and didn’t want to raise competition.
Period
Interview
Nico Saltiel