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In Thessaloniki I registered in the French Lycée. It was near our house since we lived in Evzonon. I started from the second class of high school and studied for three years: the second, the first, and the baccalaureate. The baccalaureate studies lasted for two years. The last year was the premier ‘bachot’ [Baccalaureate], and the second year was the ‘deuxieme bachot.’
The Lycée was a school which was mainly attended by people of the middle class and higher. We considered it a privilege, something outstanding, a French school. But others thought of it as just a very good school. All the families tried to send their children there. One didn’t have to take an entrance examination to be admitted to the Lycée. One had to be registered to a class and then follow courses. But we took exams at the end of the year. Some passed them and others did not. These exams were difficult. But I wasn’t worried. I liked school, and I liked the courses, certain courses. It was nevertheless a difficult school, and it had French standards. And tuition wasn’t expensive.
The Italian school was very good too. And so was the German one. Both the Italian and the German school also had a commercial section. The French had a commercial section where all the students were incompetent. They didn’t do well in the regular school and that is why they went to the commercial section. Those attending the French school thought of the ones going to the Italian one as inferior, but it was not so. They were children from similar families to ours, but we were arrogant because we had been admitted to the Lycée.
All courses were French-oriented. In other words, History of France, Geography of France, all courses followed the French school curriculum. We didn’t have anything about Greece. I followed only the French curriculum. When I arrived in Thessaloniki I didn’t speak any Greek. We had gone to Paris and I forgot it, and before the war, before we went to Paris, I went to the French Lycée too. The rest of my classmates, though, either Jews of Christians, they all knew very good Greek. They followed courses in Greek. It was only one course twice a week, something like that. There were no other courses in Greek.
We had gym and music, and learned German, but not seriously. We didn’t care. In the Lycée we didn’t have a course on religion, neither did we have a morning prayer. Most of the students, 95 percent were Jewish. It was a secular school. In the morning we went straight to class. We had our own class. We also had chemistry labs. We didn’t raise a flag in the Lycée either. On 14th July the school was closed, but I cannot remember if it also closed during the Greek holidays.
I didn’t skip school, neither did my friends. We had no reason to do so. Classes were pleasant, and so was the environment, so why should we then? And it was also dangerous. What made school pleasant was that it had few students. And it was like a company, we were very attached to each other. And we were very competitive. Some did well and others did not. I studied a lot. Others may have studied less, but I liked studying.
I studied for the courses I liked. I mostly liked mathematics and philology. I was very good in those, but not so good in History and Geography. I was a top student because I was so good in Math and Philology, so it was overlooked if I didn’t do so well in the others. I didn’t have a good memory. I liked Philology because I read a lot, and I liked to write good essays.
I read French literature – literature in general. I especially liked what was fashionable then such as Balzac [1799-1850], Lamartine [1790-1869], poets. And the contemporaries, Jean Giono [1895-1970], Montherlant, and various others. I continued reading French books in Thessaloniki when I came back. There was an alumni association called ‘Associations des Anciens Elèves de la Mission Laique Francaise.’ It was in a building at the corner of Paraskevopoulou Street [a street at the eastern extramural district of the city]. It was a club with a huge space and had a library there. I did not buy books, I went there, borrowed them and read them.
For a certain period of time the librarian was my cousin Raul Benusiglio, who also lived in Lausanne. Raul asked me to help him, and he released himself, leaving me at his place as librarian, and so I read hours on end. I also read in Paris. I liked reading, this was my pastime.
We did not do any sports. Generally very few among the youth did sports at the time. Tennis was an expensive sport and was not very widespread, only a small elite exercised in it.
Most of the teachers were French. There was only one woman, the rest were all men. The French teachers stayed here permanently, in rented houses near the Lycée. We had one Greek teacher only, a certain Papadopoulos, who taught the Greek course which I did not attend. I liked him. He was young and closer to the students. He used to socialize with my classmates and this is how I knew him. I met him during the breaks.
In the Mission Laique we were around 20 youngsters in class. In the Premier [last year, the French Baccalaureate classes are counted conversely] we were around 12-13. Before the baccalaureate section there were also some girls. Among 15 students there were ten to eleven boys and around five girls. All 15 were Jews. We didn’t have any Christian classmates. Only one Armenian and one Christian girl.
It was not easy. We were brought up in the French language. In other words, apart from me, my other classmates spoke French at home since they were children. This did not happen with the Christians. One cannot learn it as easily when one is ten or twelve, if one does not know it. It was a bit tough.
I had a classmate named Botton, of the known Botton family who had the jewelry shop, Isaac de Botton. Another one was Moise Agi. And another was Charles Pessah, who is now in Barcelona. He was in the class of Mico Alvo [son of Simon Alvo, of the Alvo Bros business]. The Armenian was Arthuro Muzikian. There were also two siblings Sam and René Molho. René is also a man’s name. Nina Florentin was my classmate in the second class of the school, but during the second year of the baccalaureate she dropped out. She did not have the background to acquire it.
The courses were difficult and during the baccalaureate we were only five in class. We didn’t have too many girls in the last two grades. Before the war they left in order to get married. They didn’t care that much and their relatives were not so keen on educating the girls.
The teachers were very strict. They didn’t give in. This is because they were French and they thought of us as inferior. They were governed by French arrogance. They showed some liking to me because I was a good student. I was especially liked by the teacher of Math and he brought me books from home. Relations between teachers and students were generally very pleasant. They were not formal at all.
There was a great difference between the French school in Paris and the Lycée in Thessaloniki. A different school and under completely different conditions. Nothing to do. A different school and a different atmosphere. The courses, however, the curriculum were completely identical. This is because the Baccalaureate is one and the same in France and abroad. French teachers came from abroad to examine you, it was an identical program.
In France, of course, the teachers were better. Those that came here were not the best. Who would care to go to a foreign country to teach? There were a couple of young ones, the others were old. These teachers came and stayed for many years. Each one with his wife. But they didn’t get into the Greek world at all. One teacher, who was here with his wife for four years, didn’t know a word of Greek. I wondered how his wife went shopping since she didn’t know any Greek, not even how to say ‘Good morning.’ The French have always been conceited when it comes to their language. They never try to learn a foreign language. For them above everything is French.
This French education made me acquire some love feelings for the French culture. Since my mother tongue was French, I especially liked their literature. But I didn’t identify with the French Revolution. I read a lot of history, but I didn’t learn it by heart, I didn’t care much about it. The democratic spirit of the ‘Republique’ was taken for granted.
The Lycée was a school which was mainly attended by people of the middle class and higher. We considered it a privilege, something outstanding, a French school. But others thought of it as just a very good school. All the families tried to send their children there. One didn’t have to take an entrance examination to be admitted to the Lycée. One had to be registered to a class and then follow courses. But we took exams at the end of the year. Some passed them and others did not. These exams were difficult. But I wasn’t worried. I liked school, and I liked the courses, certain courses. It was nevertheless a difficult school, and it had French standards. And tuition wasn’t expensive.
The Italian school was very good too. And so was the German one. Both the Italian and the German school also had a commercial section. The French had a commercial section where all the students were incompetent. They didn’t do well in the regular school and that is why they went to the commercial section. Those attending the French school thought of the ones going to the Italian one as inferior, but it was not so. They were children from similar families to ours, but we were arrogant because we had been admitted to the Lycée.
All courses were French-oriented. In other words, History of France, Geography of France, all courses followed the French school curriculum. We didn’t have anything about Greece. I followed only the French curriculum. When I arrived in Thessaloniki I didn’t speak any Greek. We had gone to Paris and I forgot it, and before the war, before we went to Paris, I went to the French Lycée too. The rest of my classmates, though, either Jews of Christians, they all knew very good Greek. They followed courses in Greek. It was only one course twice a week, something like that. There were no other courses in Greek.
We had gym and music, and learned German, but not seriously. We didn’t care. In the Lycée we didn’t have a course on religion, neither did we have a morning prayer. Most of the students, 95 percent were Jewish. It was a secular school. In the morning we went straight to class. We had our own class. We also had chemistry labs. We didn’t raise a flag in the Lycée either. On 14th July the school was closed, but I cannot remember if it also closed during the Greek holidays.
I didn’t skip school, neither did my friends. We had no reason to do so. Classes were pleasant, and so was the environment, so why should we then? And it was also dangerous. What made school pleasant was that it had few students. And it was like a company, we were very attached to each other. And we were very competitive. Some did well and others did not. I studied a lot. Others may have studied less, but I liked studying.
I studied for the courses I liked. I mostly liked mathematics and philology. I was very good in those, but not so good in History and Geography. I was a top student because I was so good in Math and Philology, so it was overlooked if I didn’t do so well in the others. I didn’t have a good memory. I liked Philology because I read a lot, and I liked to write good essays.
I read French literature – literature in general. I especially liked what was fashionable then such as Balzac [1799-1850], Lamartine [1790-1869], poets. And the contemporaries, Jean Giono [1895-1970], Montherlant, and various others. I continued reading French books in Thessaloniki when I came back. There was an alumni association called ‘Associations des Anciens Elèves de la Mission Laique Francaise.’ It was in a building at the corner of Paraskevopoulou Street [a street at the eastern extramural district of the city]. It was a club with a huge space and had a library there. I did not buy books, I went there, borrowed them and read them.
For a certain period of time the librarian was my cousin Raul Benusiglio, who also lived in Lausanne. Raul asked me to help him, and he released himself, leaving me at his place as librarian, and so I read hours on end. I also read in Paris. I liked reading, this was my pastime.
We did not do any sports. Generally very few among the youth did sports at the time. Tennis was an expensive sport and was not very widespread, only a small elite exercised in it.
Most of the teachers were French. There was only one woman, the rest were all men. The French teachers stayed here permanently, in rented houses near the Lycée. We had one Greek teacher only, a certain Papadopoulos, who taught the Greek course which I did not attend. I liked him. He was young and closer to the students. He used to socialize with my classmates and this is how I knew him. I met him during the breaks.
In the Mission Laique we were around 20 youngsters in class. In the Premier [last year, the French Baccalaureate classes are counted conversely] we were around 12-13. Before the baccalaureate section there were also some girls. Among 15 students there were ten to eleven boys and around five girls. All 15 were Jews. We didn’t have any Christian classmates. Only one Armenian and one Christian girl.
It was not easy. We were brought up in the French language. In other words, apart from me, my other classmates spoke French at home since they were children. This did not happen with the Christians. One cannot learn it as easily when one is ten or twelve, if one does not know it. It was a bit tough.
I had a classmate named Botton, of the known Botton family who had the jewelry shop, Isaac de Botton. Another one was Moise Agi. And another was Charles Pessah, who is now in Barcelona. He was in the class of Mico Alvo [son of Simon Alvo, of the Alvo Bros business]. The Armenian was Arthuro Muzikian. There were also two siblings Sam and René Molho. René is also a man’s name. Nina Florentin was my classmate in the second class of the school, but during the second year of the baccalaureate she dropped out. She did not have the background to acquire it.
The courses were difficult and during the baccalaureate we were only five in class. We didn’t have too many girls in the last two grades. Before the war they left in order to get married. They didn’t care that much and their relatives were not so keen on educating the girls.
The teachers were very strict. They didn’t give in. This is because they were French and they thought of us as inferior. They were governed by French arrogance. They showed some liking to me because I was a good student. I was especially liked by the teacher of Math and he brought me books from home. Relations between teachers and students were generally very pleasant. They were not formal at all.
There was a great difference between the French school in Paris and the Lycée in Thessaloniki. A different school and under completely different conditions. Nothing to do. A different school and a different atmosphere. The courses, however, the curriculum were completely identical. This is because the Baccalaureate is one and the same in France and abroad. French teachers came from abroad to examine you, it was an identical program.
In France, of course, the teachers were better. Those that came here were not the best. Who would care to go to a foreign country to teach? There were a couple of young ones, the others were old. These teachers came and stayed for many years. Each one with his wife. But they didn’t get into the Greek world at all. One teacher, who was here with his wife for four years, didn’t know a word of Greek. I wondered how his wife went shopping since she didn’t know any Greek, not even how to say ‘Good morning.’ The French have always been conceited when it comes to their language. They never try to learn a foreign language. For them above everything is French.
This French education made me acquire some love feelings for the French culture. Since my mother tongue was French, I especially liked their literature. But I didn’t identify with the French Revolution. I read a lot of history, but I didn’t learn it by heart, I didn’t care much about it. The democratic spirit of the ‘Republique’ was taken for granted.
Period
Interview
Nico Saltiel