Selected text
After the war, I didn’t notice any change in the way that Christians treated me. We had not faced a problem from that point of view. Neither did I face a problem because of my identity card where my religion was registered as Jewish. I didn’t speak a lot with my Christian friends about the Holocaust, or about the Jews of Thessaloniki. In the first years we didn’t even talk about the State of Israel.
When the State of Israel was created we were all very happy. It was a very pleasant development. In other words, let me say that the state of mind of the Jews changed completely. They finally had their own state. This I felt too, but not especially in connection to Zionism. I never contributed in any way to the State of Israel.
We have been to Israel a few times. These trips are like a pilgrimage. We went for general purposes. First to see Tony who was there. Afterwards we went a couple of times to see Rosy’s relatives, and some friends of my own who live there. The first time it was an extraordinary feeling. A very well-organized state, very laborious and very developed. And the museum in Jerusalem. The Jewish Museum. In the first years these people worked like crazy to build roads, houses, the kibbutzim, extraordinary agricultural cultivations. A great development. This made me feel very proud as a Jew. I felt differently as a Jew.
There are some places of reference that every Jew who visits Israel has to see. The Wailing Wall, the Jewish Museum in Jerusalem, is of course very important, Yad Vashem [34]. In addition there is a very beautiful museum in Jerusalem, the museum Beth Hatefusoth, which is near the house of our friends, the Florentin family.
I didn’t relate to the Wailing Wall as if it was an archaeological site. I was extremely moved because it is a site of pilgrimage. There is no doubt that when one is there one feels the religious atmosphere. I have never placed a wishing note.
We also went to the Holy Places, and to the Muslim temples. I visited them some time ago when it wasn’t restricted. And I did this even though Rosy’s relatives told me not to go. I went because I wanted to see them.
Most of the people we met there were not the most fervent Jews, and they were not religious. I’m pointing this out because one also meets a small minority of 5-6 percent who are extremely religious. In other words, these are those that for the most part do not work and are dressed differently, as they used to dress in Poland when they lived in their ghettos. Our people there, however, that is Rosy’s relatives and my cousin, are liberal and normal.
When the State of Israel was created we were all very happy. It was a very pleasant development. In other words, let me say that the state of mind of the Jews changed completely. They finally had their own state. This I felt too, but not especially in connection to Zionism. I never contributed in any way to the State of Israel.
We have been to Israel a few times. These trips are like a pilgrimage. We went for general purposes. First to see Tony who was there. Afterwards we went a couple of times to see Rosy’s relatives, and some friends of my own who live there. The first time it was an extraordinary feeling. A very well-organized state, very laborious and very developed. And the museum in Jerusalem. The Jewish Museum. In the first years these people worked like crazy to build roads, houses, the kibbutzim, extraordinary agricultural cultivations. A great development. This made me feel very proud as a Jew. I felt differently as a Jew.
There are some places of reference that every Jew who visits Israel has to see. The Wailing Wall, the Jewish Museum in Jerusalem, is of course very important, Yad Vashem [34]. In addition there is a very beautiful museum in Jerusalem, the museum Beth Hatefusoth, which is near the house of our friends, the Florentin family.
I didn’t relate to the Wailing Wall as if it was an archaeological site. I was extremely moved because it is a site of pilgrimage. There is no doubt that when one is there one feels the religious atmosphere. I have never placed a wishing note.
We also went to the Holy Places, and to the Muslim temples. I visited them some time ago when it wasn’t restricted. And I did this even though Rosy’s relatives told me not to go. I went because I wanted to see them.
Most of the people we met there were not the most fervent Jews, and they were not religious. I’m pointing this out because one also meets a small minority of 5-6 percent who are extremely religious. In other words, these are those that for the most part do not work and are dressed differently, as they used to dress in Poland when they lived in their ghettos. Our people there, however, that is Rosy’s relatives and my cousin, are liberal and normal.
Period
Interview
Nico Saltiel