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There were good families in Kuledibi. 80% of the Eastern European Jews lived in Kuledibi. There were no Ashkenazi Jews living in places like Hasköy or Balat. They were all at Kuledibi and Tunel. Later they slowly left. I was in Kuledibi until I was 16. All my friends were from there. There was Benhabib, there was Levi, Yonas Kohen, Lazar Arovas. We all lived close to each other there. There were all Jews.
I cannot say anything as far as numbers but Istanbul was close to 100,000 people but I cannot know about Kuledibi, it was crowded. The Ashkenazim had 3 synagogues only. An Ashkenazi synagogue at Yüksek Kaldirim (a hilly neighborhood on the European side where the Jews did commerce), Schneider Temple next to Saint-George hospital and one more behind Yüksek Kaldirim but the environment was bad, there were brothels, and it closed.
There was a rabbi, an usher, a cantor, there was everything. There was mikveh, Talmud Torah, and Yeshiva.
There was one great rabbi, Rav Shapira. Then there was the Ashkenazi colony. There was the colony of Ashkenazi Jews on the other side, we would go there. This is how we grew up.
I cannot say anything as far as numbers but Istanbul was close to 100,000 people but I cannot know about Kuledibi, it was crowded. The Ashkenazim had 3 synagogues only. An Ashkenazi synagogue at Yüksek Kaldirim (a hilly neighborhood on the European side where the Jews did commerce), Schneider Temple next to Saint-George hospital and one more behind Yüksek Kaldirim but the environment was bad, there were brothels, and it closed.
There was a rabbi, an usher, a cantor, there was everything. There was mikveh, Talmud Torah, and Yeshiva.
There was one great rabbi, Rav Shapira. Then there was the Ashkenazi colony. There was the colony of Ashkenazi Jews on the other side, we would go there. This is how we grew up.
Location
Beyoğlu/İstanbul
Türkiye
Interview
Jak Rutli