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After the war when I converted to Judaism I didn’t feel any difference. The Jewish religion is very similar to the Christian one. Almost the same holidays and the same ceremonies, the beginning of the holiday on the eve of the holiday. After the war, I started going to the synagogue with my husband, especially during the fasts but also on other festive occasions. I hadn’t been to church as many times as I’ve been to the synagogue.
The issue was never raised with Leo who would become Christian or Jewish. It never preoccupied me. I remember I was still young, when I heard my mother say, ‘We must respect all religions.’ I remember we were very young then but this impressed us very much. We were tolerant. We were not a religious family. My mother lit a candle, but very rarely lit incense, because it bothered us. I remember once I had fainted in the church.
What was really important for me was my love for Leo. I believe that if there is a God, he is there for the whole world. The priests divided the world for their own interest. They all say, ‘I spoke with God and this is what God told me.’ It is all a matter of power, that’s how all religions were formed. Everyone claimed that he was God’s representative. They did well to guide us to be good people. In the beginning we were like animals. Religion holds people back from evil doings.
I remember our wedding was among the first that took place in Thessaloniki after the war [16]. Before that the two sisters who had returned from the camp got married: Iza, who married Dario Pinhas and Marika, who married Jim.
After the war we went to stay with my sister-in-law for a while in the house my father had bought for Leo to hide in Charilaou. It was one of these houses that belonged to the allies, something like a bunker. It was at the end of Charilaou, during the occupation, when my father had bought it, it was almost in the countryside. It was going to be turned into a big park, but I don’t know what happened. The past owner had treated my father badly, and this made him decide that Leo should not hide there, because he considered it dangerous.
The issue was never raised with Leo who would become Christian or Jewish. It never preoccupied me. I remember I was still young, when I heard my mother say, ‘We must respect all religions.’ I remember we were very young then but this impressed us very much. We were tolerant. We were not a religious family. My mother lit a candle, but very rarely lit incense, because it bothered us. I remember once I had fainted in the church.
What was really important for me was my love for Leo. I believe that if there is a God, he is there for the whole world. The priests divided the world for their own interest. They all say, ‘I spoke with God and this is what God told me.’ It is all a matter of power, that’s how all religions were formed. Everyone claimed that he was God’s representative. They did well to guide us to be good people. In the beginning we were like animals. Religion holds people back from evil doings.
I remember our wedding was among the first that took place in Thessaloniki after the war [16]. Before that the two sisters who had returned from the camp got married: Iza, who married Dario Pinhas and Marika, who married Jim.
After the war we went to stay with my sister-in-law for a while in the house my father had bought for Leo to hide in Charilaou. It was one of these houses that belonged to the allies, something like a bunker. It was at the end of Charilaou, during the occupation, when my father had bought it, it was almost in the countryside. It was going to be turned into a big park, but I don’t know what happened. The past owner had treated my father badly, and this made him decide that Leo should not hide there, because he considered it dangerous.
Period
Interview
Eugenia Abravenel