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My father did not live long after that. When he passed away, I was in middle school. My older sister Sara was in the institute. My stepbrother Avram Babaoglu took us under his wing and told us that it was imperative for us to come to Istanbul. The year is 1949, I am 14 years old, I left Adana with my mother and my older sister Sara, ending an era, and moving towards a new adventure. It was time for me to say goodbye to beautiful Adana where I spent my childhood years and my youth.
We boarded the train in Adana. It was midnight. My mother had thought of making big quantities of citrus, orange and pumpkin jams, and tomato and pepper sauces, and bring them to Istanbul. I settled on the window seat and watched the road in awe. First we came to Eskishehir [a city in central Anatolia]. My mother had prepared some stuff to eat. We took them out in the compartment. We put it between bread slices and ate. In the morning we arrived to Istanbul. It is December of 1949, there is knee-high snow on the ground, and it is snowing in big flakes, and I am seeing snow for the first time in my life. I am imagining Topkapi Palace, Dolmabahce Palace [touristic spots in Istanbul, the former being the residence of the sultans, and the latter the residence of the first president of Turkey, Ataturk] in my mind. I am very excited because I will get to see Istanbul.
Haydarpasa [The last station in Istanbul for all the trains coming from Anatolia. It is both a train station and a dock for boats. You can cross from the European side to the Asian side with the boats taking off from there. In this regard, Haydarpasa is where Istanbul’s heart beats. Both the dock and the station are like historical treasures] seemed big and magnificent to me. We disembarked from the train, and boarded a boat. I did not understand what the boat was. I thought we had arrived home. First we came to Karakoy [a neighborhood on the shores of the opening of the Bosphorus to Marmara sea], then we took a taxi and came home. It was the first time for me in a taxi then. Istanbul was empty then, there were no houses on its hills. There was no trace of the crowds of now.
We started living with my uncle but we absolutely need money. My uncle took me to Karakoy every day. I learned handywork there. After a while, my uncle started frowning upon my going to work. I was an attractive girl even though I was young. There could be people hitting on me during the commute from home to workplace, in those conditions. It wasn’t easily acceptable for a girl to go and come from work. Just like the mentality that the books I read would be detrimental to me, going to work was considered a potential to change my mindset.
This time, a machine was bought for the house. They bring the merchandise home every day, I sew it and send it back. They bring rolls of fabric home. They pick it up sewn in the evening. I had to help with the family budget. In the meantime I was dreaming of going to Israel. I was only 15 years old. I started corresponding with my older brother. I was torn between my mother, my older sister, and going to Israel, I was constantly crying. My uncle told me that my older brother was telling me to stay there in his letter. I was devastated, was my older brother giving up on me? While all these developments were happening, my brother-in-law’s brother Mordehay Murat asked for my hand. Mordehay Murat was a prospect approved by the family. For what it’s worth, the older brother had married my older sister Sara. I would get to preserve the family ties by agreeing to this marriage, and my mother was going to stay with us.
Mordehay Murat was a handsome young man. He was respectful. Even though later he seemed to be an authoritative father in his relations with his children, he doted on them. His philosphy in life was honesty and living with your principles. He paid a lot of importance to his children’s education. He wanted his son to obtain a career and his daughter to study in a foreign school no matter what. When we started this marriage, when I took the first step by getting engaged, I had a condition, we would move into my older sister’s house too when we got engaged.
We boarded the train in Adana. It was midnight. My mother had thought of making big quantities of citrus, orange and pumpkin jams, and tomato and pepper sauces, and bring them to Istanbul. I settled on the window seat and watched the road in awe. First we came to Eskishehir [a city in central Anatolia]. My mother had prepared some stuff to eat. We took them out in the compartment. We put it between bread slices and ate. In the morning we arrived to Istanbul. It is December of 1949, there is knee-high snow on the ground, and it is snowing in big flakes, and I am seeing snow for the first time in my life. I am imagining Topkapi Palace, Dolmabahce Palace [touristic spots in Istanbul, the former being the residence of the sultans, and the latter the residence of the first president of Turkey, Ataturk] in my mind. I am very excited because I will get to see Istanbul.
Haydarpasa [The last station in Istanbul for all the trains coming from Anatolia. It is both a train station and a dock for boats. You can cross from the European side to the Asian side with the boats taking off from there. In this regard, Haydarpasa is where Istanbul’s heart beats. Both the dock and the station are like historical treasures] seemed big and magnificent to me. We disembarked from the train, and boarded a boat. I did not understand what the boat was. I thought we had arrived home. First we came to Karakoy [a neighborhood on the shores of the opening of the Bosphorus to Marmara sea], then we took a taxi and came home. It was the first time for me in a taxi then. Istanbul was empty then, there were no houses on its hills. There was no trace of the crowds of now.
We started living with my uncle but we absolutely need money. My uncle took me to Karakoy every day. I learned handywork there. After a while, my uncle started frowning upon my going to work. I was an attractive girl even though I was young. There could be people hitting on me during the commute from home to workplace, in those conditions. It wasn’t easily acceptable for a girl to go and come from work. Just like the mentality that the books I read would be detrimental to me, going to work was considered a potential to change my mindset.
This time, a machine was bought for the house. They bring the merchandise home every day, I sew it and send it back. They bring rolls of fabric home. They pick it up sewn in the evening. I had to help with the family budget. In the meantime I was dreaming of going to Israel. I was only 15 years old. I started corresponding with my older brother. I was torn between my mother, my older sister, and going to Israel, I was constantly crying. My uncle told me that my older brother was telling me to stay there in his letter. I was devastated, was my older brother giving up on me? While all these developments were happening, my brother-in-law’s brother Mordehay Murat asked for my hand. Mordehay Murat was a prospect approved by the family. For what it’s worth, the older brother had married my older sister Sara. I would get to preserve the family ties by agreeing to this marriage, and my mother was going to stay with us.
Mordehay Murat was a handsome young man. He was respectful. Even though later he seemed to be an authoritative father in his relations with his children, he doted on them. His philosphy in life was honesty and living with your principles. He paid a lot of importance to his children’s education. He wanted his son to obtain a career and his daughter to study in a foreign school no matter what. When we started this marriage, when I took the first step by getting engaged, I had a condition, we would move into my older sister’s house too when we got engaged.
Period
Location
/İstanbul
Türkiye
Interview
Rebeka Evgin