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I don’t think my mother went to the movies or to restaurants. Women didn’t go out unescorted in those days. There weren’t any places to go to. Apart from a couple of patisseries. It wasn’t common to go out. Of course she went to the synagogue, because my grandfather was religious and no doubt she followed the rules. She went to the synagogue during the holidays, but she didn’t pray at home. Besides the mezuzah, there weren’t any other religious objects.
Before we went to Paris, and after we came back, shopping was much easier because there were mobile merchants who came by the house. I remember that before the war, when we lived in Evzonon, the vegetable man would come by every morning. The fisherman and the fruit merchant, they would come by with their carriage. All shop owners before the war in the Modiano market [the covered market in the center of the city named after its architect, Elie Modiano] were Jewish. There were no special areas in the market where merchants were mainly Greek or others where they were mainly Jewish. But the majority were Jewish businesses.
Before we went to Paris, and after we came back, shopping was much easier because there were mobile merchants who came by the house. I remember that before the war, when we lived in Evzonon, the vegetable man would come by every morning. The fisherman and the fruit merchant, they would come by with their carriage. All shop owners before the war in the Modiano market [the covered market in the center of the city named after its architect, Elie Modiano] were Jewish. There were no special areas in the market where merchants were mainly Greek or others where they were mainly Jewish. But the majority were Jewish businesses.
Period
Interview
Nico Saltiel