Selected text
The ‘151’ [10], ‘Baron de Hirsch’ and ‘Campbell’ were Jewish neighborhoods. Poor neighborhoods, very needy people. I never went there, I only heard about them, especially ‘151,’ which was on Aghia Triada Street; I remember the girls that came from there and were my clients. They would come on Saturday when they received their weekly salary and would buy cosmetics, their face cream and their eau de cologne.
The rich neighborhoods were situated beyond Markou Botsari Street, and area which was known as ‘countryside’ – Exohes in Greek. Many of the houses there were Jewish. We then considered this area as out of town, and it would reach up to the Votsi area.
I remember that when we came from Mytilene, we could buy a house in Votsi quarter with the money we had, but it seemed very far away to us. I remember that I had gone only once to the Old City to a visit my sister-in-law Mari, who had an aunt there. One could only go there on foot because there was no tram connection. The tram would only reach Depo, even before one gets to the municipality building. There was also a line that would go through 25is Martiou [25th March Street] Harilaou, and Vassilissis Olgas.
Most of the time, even up to the age of 20, we went by climbing the back of the tram ‘Scala Maria’ and traveled without paying. Why should we pay [the interviewee chuckles]. Until the ticket collector reached us, we would climb out on the stairs and hold on to the door knob. Then we would let go and jump down on the ground, and run to greet him. Follies, many follies. We played ‘cherki,’ ‘snail’ [something like hopscotch with stones] and ‘pendovolo’ [with five stones].
I remember the seaside road reached all the way up to Antheon Street, back then it was called Georgiou Papandreou. Whatever construction waste was there would be thrown away to the shore. I remember we intended to buy a plot of land on Gravias Street, which was then a ship courtyard. Back then, if one wanted to take a walk by the seaside the only way was towards Nikis Avenue. All the brothels were in the Vardari area, and so were the whole sellers. It wasn’t a well reputed area. In what is today the Ladadika there were also wholesale commercial houses.
There were refugee neighborhoods in Constandinopolitika, beyond Harilaou. I was never there. The 3E [11] set the Campbell neighborhood on fire [12]. It was a nationalist organization. I remember that people were very upset after that. Thessaloniki had so many Jewish schools as well as synagogues. They were all destroyed during the German occupation. The people would travel by tram; there were very few cars until the war. My family didn’t own a car. Leo bought one only after the war.
The rich neighborhoods were situated beyond Markou Botsari Street, and area which was known as ‘countryside’ – Exohes in Greek. Many of the houses there were Jewish. We then considered this area as out of town, and it would reach up to the Votsi area.
I remember that when we came from Mytilene, we could buy a house in Votsi quarter with the money we had, but it seemed very far away to us. I remember that I had gone only once to the Old City to a visit my sister-in-law Mari, who had an aunt there. One could only go there on foot because there was no tram connection. The tram would only reach Depo, even before one gets to the municipality building. There was also a line that would go through 25is Martiou [25th March Street] Harilaou, and Vassilissis Olgas.
Most of the time, even up to the age of 20, we went by climbing the back of the tram ‘Scala Maria’ and traveled without paying. Why should we pay [the interviewee chuckles]. Until the ticket collector reached us, we would climb out on the stairs and hold on to the door knob. Then we would let go and jump down on the ground, and run to greet him. Follies, many follies. We played ‘cherki,’ ‘snail’ [something like hopscotch with stones] and ‘pendovolo’ [with five stones].
I remember the seaside road reached all the way up to Antheon Street, back then it was called Georgiou Papandreou. Whatever construction waste was there would be thrown away to the shore. I remember we intended to buy a plot of land on Gravias Street, which was then a ship courtyard. Back then, if one wanted to take a walk by the seaside the only way was towards Nikis Avenue. All the brothels were in the Vardari area, and so were the whole sellers. It wasn’t a well reputed area. In what is today the Ladadika there were also wholesale commercial houses.
There were refugee neighborhoods in Constandinopolitika, beyond Harilaou. I was never there. The 3E [11] set the Campbell neighborhood on fire [12]. It was a nationalist organization. I remember that people were very upset after that. Thessaloniki had so many Jewish schools as well as synagogues. They were all destroyed during the German occupation. The people would travel by tram; there were very few cars until the war. My family didn’t own a car. Leo bought one only after the war.
Period
Interview
Eugenia Abravenel