Tag #127802 - Interview #97497 (Sami Schilton)

My mother’s father, Avram Danon, was born in Istanbul.  Again I do not remember any dates.  My mother’s family was called Danon and they never changed their name.  My mother’s father was a businessman and he advanced a great deal in life.  He used to dress very fashionably, whatever the fashion was, you could see on my grandfather.  He was of medium height; a very quiet and serious man. He was a seller of sundries.  He knew Judeo-Spanish, Turkish and French.  They always spoke in Judeo-Spanish amongst themselves.  My mother’s father had a white beard and he used to wear a kipa.  He wasn’t involved in any political or social activities.  They were simple people.

My mother’s mother, Sultana Danon, did not wear a wig but she wore a scarf.  Otherwise she dressed quite fashionably. She loved jewelry.  She always went around with necklaces and bracelets and kolanas.

My mother’s father’s side of the family lived in Kuzguncuk [a district in the Asian coast of the Bosphorus].  When my family and I came from Bursa to Istanbul, when I was about one year old, we lived with them for a couple of years.  They had a house with a garden and they had chickens in the garden.  There weren’t any servants.  Only a daily cleaning woman would come, probably once a week, to do the washing and the cleaning.  They were very religious.  They followed all precepts.  They practised kasherut, and Shabat. Friday night was very important.  They used to go to the synagogue every Friday night, and on all festivals.  All the festivals were always celebrated at home, too.  They had very good neighbors. They were mostly Jewish of course, but they had Greek neighbors, too.  They got along with their neighbors quite well.  I do not remember their ever going on holiday somewhere.  I do not have any information about their siblings either.