Selected text
Our neighbors were Jewish. They were very fond of me. After school, my older sister was generally not home. She was either at my aunts, or working. My neighbor Mrs. Roza: “Nesimiko [Judeo-Spanish for: little Nesim], did you eat?”, she would ask. They spoke to me in Spanish.
There was no heat, I could not use a gas stove, I could not heat food, that is why they would invite me to their home sometimes. In general the neighbors around us were all Jewish. We lived in a ghetto-like place.
I learned Turkish at school. Around 8 – 9 years old, I spoke and read Turkish very well, and made fun of the adults because of their pronunciation.
There were a lot of Jewish ghettos dispersed in Turkey. There were Jews speaking different languages in Maras, Gaziantep, Diyarbakir, Tekirdag, Bursa, Canakkale, Corlu, and Antakya. The ones speaking Arabic, Georgian, the ones like us who came from Spain spoke Ladino [Judeo Spanish] mostly.
There was no heat, I could not use a gas stove, I could not heat food, that is why they would invite me to their home sometimes. In general the neighbors around us were all Jewish. We lived in a ghetto-like place.
I learned Turkish at school. Around 8 – 9 years old, I spoke and read Turkish very well, and made fun of the adults because of their pronunciation.
There were a lot of Jewish ghettos dispersed in Turkey. There were Jews speaking different languages in Maras, Gaziantep, Diyarbakir, Tekirdag, Bursa, Canakkale, Corlu, and Antakya. The ones speaking Arabic, Georgian, the ones like us who came from Spain spoke Ladino [Judeo Spanish] mostly.
Period
Location
Beyoğlu/İstanbul
Türkiye
Interview
Nesim Levi