I also remember the Wealth Tax [12], but as we had foreign nationality they did not take anything from us. They did not interfere in our business because we had foreign passports. For us, it was as if the Wealth Tax did not happen. It did not affect us at all. However, we did hear about what was happening to others. We heard about acquaintances being sent to Askale, but we did not live any of this.
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Displaying 41791 - 41820 of 50826 results
Suzi Sarhon
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Both my father and my mother studied in French. In those times, most people studied in French. My parents’ mother tongue was Ladino, they learned Turkish later on but they could never speak it like we did. My father was alittle better but my mother spoke very little Turkish. She spoke Greek, French and Ladino. My parents spoke Ladino with each other.
, Türkiye
My mother, Fortune Danon, (I don’t know when she was born), was born in Salonica. She came to Istanbul when she was 13. My mother was a quiet person, she did not speak too much. She spoke Greek very well and French, too. She had studied in Greek in Salonica. Then here, she studied in French, I don’t know which schools, maybe there was a French school in Bakirkoy. Her French was very excellent. She was very intelligent.
She was not a very authoritarian mother. She raised us all with great economic difficulties after my father died. After being really well-off with maids and nannies, it was douby difficult for her to raise 4 children. She did it all on her own. My uncles also helped of course, moneywise. My grandfather (mother’s father) had 4 houses in Bakirkoy, 4 houses for each of his 4 children. When my grandfather went to Germany to live with his son, he rented out those houses. When my father died, my grandfather was no longer alive. My mother had 2 brothers in Germany and they immediately wrote to her and said: “we do not want our share of the rents of the houses”. The brother who was living here said the same thing and they made it possible for my mother and us to live on these rents. She would go to Bakirkoy every month to collect the rents, and the tenants would sometimes give her the money and sometimes not. My uncles in Germany would send her money from abroad, too until Hitler came. When Hitler came, they came back here. I do not remember exactly when they came back but it must have been a little before the war.
She was not a very authoritarian mother. She raised us all with great economic difficulties after my father died. After being really well-off with maids and nannies, it was douby difficult for her to raise 4 children. She did it all on her own. My uncles also helped of course, moneywise. My grandfather (mother’s father) had 4 houses in Bakirkoy, 4 houses for each of his 4 children. When my grandfather went to Germany to live with his son, he rented out those houses. When my father died, my grandfather was no longer alive. My mother had 2 brothers in Germany and they immediately wrote to her and said: “we do not want our share of the rents of the houses”. The brother who was living here said the same thing and they made it possible for my mother and us to live on these rents. She would go to Bakirkoy every month to collect the rents, and the tenants would sometimes give her the money and sometimes not. My uncles in Germany would send her money from abroad, too until Hitler came. When Hitler came, they came back here. I do not remember exactly when they came back but it must have been a little before the war.
, Türkiye
My father had a hardware shop. He was the only one then; there were no other hardware shops around. He used to do a lot of business with Anatolia and his business was very good. We were very well-off. I grew up with a nanny and we had a maid, too. Unfortunately my dad died in January 1936. I was 9 at the time. He had a heart disease. In fact, when he and my mother got married, he already had heart problems. He was not very young when he got married. I used to see him feel uncomfortable and open the window to get some fresh air. He would breathe deeply to relieve his distress. “What’s the matter, Jozef?”, my mother would ask him at those times and he would reply, “Oh, nothing, it’s nothing”. He wouldn’t tell her anything. He just exhausted himself running around for other people. One day he had a heart attack. The doctor warned him: “Mr. Danon, you will not bend down to even tie your shoes, let your children tie your shoes. Don’t tire yourself and don’t go out”. But in the meantime my father’s business was not going well because he used to gamble with his friends and neighbors every night till morning. He ruined his business in that way. He and my mother would have fights about this gambling of his. He would even go to neighbors in our apartment and not come back for hours on end. In that way, the shop and the business was ruined. When he died, he had a lot of money owed to him because he had sold a lot of goods to a lot of people but we did not know anything about the business and how were we to find those people? So we couldn’t collect any of those debts. No one came forward and said anything. He had a lot of clients in Anatolia and they all disappeared. If we, the children, had been older, then we could have followed and dealt with these problems but we were all so very young and we did not have anything.
, Türkiye
My father Jozef Danon, I don’t know his date of birth, was born in Istanbul. My Dad was a very good man, and he did a lot of good deeds for people. His sister, Viktorya Danon (I don’t know her birth and death dates) married Rober Schilton and went to live in Bursa. A few years later, they returned to Istanbul. I do not have much information about her. I just know that she was older than my father and that my father sent them sacks full of food because their economic situation was not very good. My father looked after both our family and hers. He was always doing good to people in need. He exhausted himself trying to help people. He was also a member of one of the charity organizations of the Jewish community, called “Sedaka u marpe” [charity and healing]. He used to take a lot of things there, like hats. I distinctly remember him taking them hats, I don’t know why or what they were doing with those hats but hats it was. He worked very hard for this organization of the community and tried very hard to help.
My father was a very talkative person. He was skillful and hardworking. I remember, when we went to my uncle’s (my mother’s brother) for the New Year celebrations, it was my father who prepared the table and organized the food etc...
On Sundays my father would set the table beautifully and he would make us all coffee with milk and call us to the table. He would do all that so my mother would not get tired; not because she was ill or anything, just because he loved her so. He would prepare everything and then he would say: “Come on Tutuni, the table is ready”. My father called my mother “Tutuni” instead of “Fortune”.
My father was a very talkative person. He was skillful and hardworking. I remember, when we went to my uncle’s (my mother’s brother) for the New Year celebrations, it was my father who prepared the table and organized the food etc...
On Sundays my father would set the table beautifully and he would make us all coffee with milk and call us to the table. He would do all that so my mother would not get tired; not because she was ill or anything, just because he loved her so. He would prepare everything and then he would say: “Come on Tutuni, the table is ready”. My father called my mother “Tutuni” instead of “Fortune”.
, Türkiye
During the holidays, they gathered within the family and would visit each other in their homes. There were a lot of cousins, big families on both sides.
, Türkiye
My mother and her brothers grew up in Bakirkoy, then the years went by. My eldest uncle, Alber Benmayor went to Germany on business and he lived there for years. Then some years after my grandmother had died, my grandfather went to live with his son in Germany. My uncle bought a beautiful house in Germany, a house with 6 floors. He was in the razor blade business. He had a factory. My uncle, Alber Benmayor, (I don’t know his birth date) died in Istanbul in 1951. He was married to Lidya Benmayor and had a son, Mario Benmayor. Mario was born in Germany in 1929 and came to Turkey when he was 8 years old. Here he studied at a British school [probably English High School for Boys]. [1] We did not use to frequent them. His father had a textile business in Mahmutpasha [a business district in the Euopean side of Istanbul]. When my uncle died, Mario took over the business but he was not successful and quit. Then I remember he went into the automobile spare parts industry. He married a Christian German girl here, and had 2 sons but I don’t have any more information as we did not use to see them. I think Mario died recently.
, Türkiye
My mother’s family had very good relations with their neighbours. The neighbours were Jewish, too. There were a lot of Jews in Bakirkoy. They used to call this district “Makrikoy”. The Greeks who lived there used to say that “Makrikoy” meant “little village”. The name later changed into “Bakirkoy”.
, Türkiye
When my mother’s father, Hayim Benmayor came from Salonica they settled in Bakirkoy [an old Jewish district on the European side of Istanbul]. My mother and her brothers, Avram, Mishel, Jak and Daniel all grew up there. When my grandfather came from Salonica, he bought 4 houses there.
The houses had wells in their gardens. There was no tap water then and they used to get their water with a pump from the wells. According to what my mother told me, they had two maids in their home, so I guess they were quite well-off.
The houses had wells in their gardens. There was no tap water then and they used to get their water with a pump from the wells. According to what my mother told me, they had two maids in their home, so I guess they were quite well-off.
, Türkiye
I never got to know my mother’s mother, Sara Benmayor (nee Faraci). She was a sick woman. She had a very high degree of diabetes and went blind consequently. She had 3 more siblings but I do not know anything about them. My grandmother used to wear long-sleeved dresses of her time. She used to wear jewelry and had a “kolana” [Ladino term for “long gold chain”] which laterbecame my mother’s. She would wear her jewelry when she went out to go somewhere; not that they would go on outings very often. They had a lot of family, cousins, sisters, brothers, and they would gather in one another’s homes. One other thing I remember about grandmother Benmayor is her going into a depression after her son Jak Benmayor went to the USA to settle there. She died when she was 52-53 years old.
, Türkiye
My mother’s father, Hayim Benmayor, (I do not know his birth or death dates) was a very nice man. He was from the best of families. When I say “the best of families” I mean “rich and educated”. They were quite a big family. He had two other siblings about whom I know nothing. Hayim Benmayor studied in Salonica because he was born there. He was a well-educated man and quite talkative. He was tall and dressed very fashionably in clothes that were the highest fashion of the time. I do not know what he did for a living. My mother’s side of the family spoke French and Greek because they had all been born and raised in Salonica. They all spoke Greek perfectly.
My mother’s side of the family had all come to Istanbul from Salonica. The whole family on that side was from Salonica. I know that they arrived in 1910, but I do not know why they moved here. I do not have much information about them except that they were very religious, just like my father’s side of the family.
My father’s father, Avram Danon, was from a very good family. They were 3 siblings but I do not know anything about them. I do not know what my grandfather did for a living. He was a well-educated and talkative person. He was quite tall apparently. He had died a long time before I was born so I do not have much information about that side of the family except that they were very religious. As I never met my father’s father, I do not really know how he used to dress. I was told that they were quite well-off and that they used to speak French and Ladino.
My father’s mother, Sultana Danon had 4 siblings but I do not know their names. This grandmother died of cholera. I do not know when and where, but apparently there was a kind of epidemic and she died. My grandfather then remarried (I do not remember the name of his second wife) and had another son called Beno Danon.
My father’s side of the family was from Istanbul. I do not know exactly where they lived, but it might have been in Ortakoy because my father was from Ortakoy [a district where Jews used to live on the European side of the Bosphorus].
My father’s mother, Sultana Danon had 4 siblings but I do not know their names. This grandmother died of cholera. I do not know when and where, but apparently there was a kind of epidemic and she died. My grandfather then remarried (I do not remember the name of his second wife) and had another son called Beno Danon.
My father’s side of the family was from Istanbul. I do not know exactly where they lived, but it might have been in Ortakoy because my father was from Ortakoy [a district where Jews used to live on the European side of the Bosphorus].
, Türkiye
I had many greek friends outside school. We were very very good friends. After Osmanbey, we moved to a house in Kurtulus when my father died. My uncle wanted us to live close to him. I continued to go to the same primary school because there were no schools in Kurtulus then. We used to walk from Kurtulus to Bomonti [a ten-minute walk]. I had wonderful friends in Kurtulus and I learned to speak Greek perfectly from them. We often went to each other’s homes. I remember one of my friends’ parents had a pharmacy and we would go to the pharmacy to help when they were open one night every week. The pharmacy was close to our home.
My best friends were Greek. There was Zorka, for example. They lived in my uncle’s apartment. There was a big vacant lot at the end of the Kurtulus Street where we played ball, jumped ropes and had a good time. The Greeks were so lively, we would often hear music coming from the hand organ. After we finished our homework, we would go out together or play with dolls at home. One of my friends had a piano and we would go to her house to listen to her playing the piano. They were rich, that’s why she had a piano.
My best friends were Greek. There was Zorka, for example. They lived in my uncle’s apartment. There was a big vacant lot at the end of the Kurtulus Street where we played ball, jumped ropes and had a good time. The Greeks were so lively, we would often hear music coming from the hand organ. After we finished our homework, we would go out together or play with dolls at home. One of my friends had a piano and we would go to her house to listen to her playing the piano. They were rich, that’s why she had a piano.
, Türkiye
The most colorful memory I have of my childhood was having seen Ataturk himself in the flesh. I saw him in Florya [a sea side resort on the European side]. My uncle Daniel used to take me to the beach in Florya. As my uncle and his wife did not have any children, they loved me very much. And my mother, as the kids were very naughty, would say, “please come and get Suzi” and I woıuld go to my uncle’s. His wife would dress me in beautiful clothes and I would stay with them. In the summer, they would take me to florya to swim. We used to hire a cabin and spend the day swimming. Ataturk had a house in Florya then and we would see him. One day, when I was 7, we saw him walking on the beach. He was dressed beautifully. He had a little girl with him, I think it was his adopted daughter, Ulku. She was very sweet. I used to see her there, too. Anyway, I went to him and gave him my hand. He shook my hand and said “my dear child”. This was quite a memory.
What I most remember of those days were the military parades, special national days and independence days [Turkish Independence Day]. [9] We would go to Taksim square on 29th October or 23rd April [The Turkish National Assembly and Children’s Day] [10] to see the parades. I had even memorized the marches.
, Türkiye
My father first sent us to some sort of preschool. The law that said we had to study at a Turkish primary school [8] had not started yet. So Vitali and I went to St. Benoit for a couple of years. There were nuns at this school and I had a round cap. Then the law was passed and I went to the state school called “44. Ilkokul” [44th Primary School] in Bomonti [a district very near Osmanbey]. There weren’t many private schools then. All my brothers and I studied in that school. Of my classes, I liked Turkish best of all. We also had history, geography and citizenship classes. It was inetersting because we would learn about all the things that Ataturk had done. The I went to the “Arts and Crafts School” where I learned sewing and household management.
There was a teacher I did not like in primary school. Why didn’t I like her? Well, it was like this: in our school they used to give lunch to the poor kids. One day, there were chick peas for lunch. I asked for some and they gave me a plate but I saw some stones in the food. I told my friend: “the people here are very dirty”. She immediately went and told this to the teacher whose name was Nahide. “Sultana said this about you”. So the teacher called me and asked me what the problem was. I said it was nothing but from that day on she disliked me. We would go out into the garden and if anything fell or was dirtied she called me to pick things up or cleans things up. Then when we were in fifth grade, we had finishing exams [to get primary school diploma]. This teacher asked me the most difficult questions so she could flunk me but my own teacher did not let her do that. He protected me and I passed.
We had music and gym classes, too but no language classes. I did not feel any antisemitism on the part of my teacher or my friends. There were very few Jews in that school, most of them were Turks. I had some very good friends among them. I remember one girl called Remziye for example.
There was a teacher I did not like in primary school. Why didn’t I like her? Well, it was like this: in our school they used to give lunch to the poor kids. One day, there were chick peas for lunch. I asked for some and they gave me a plate but I saw some stones in the food. I told my friend: “the people here are very dirty”. She immediately went and told this to the teacher whose name was Nahide. “Sultana said this about you”. So the teacher called me and asked me what the problem was. I said it was nothing but from that day on she disliked me. We would go out into the garden and if anything fell or was dirtied she called me to pick things up or cleans things up. Then when we were in fifth grade, we had finishing exams [to get primary school diploma]. This teacher asked me the most difficult questions so she could flunk me but my own teacher did not let her do that. He protected me and I passed.
We had music and gym classes, too but no language classes. I did not feel any antisemitism on the part of my teacher or my friends. There were very few Jews in that school, most of them were Turks. I had some very good friends among them. I remember one girl called Remziye for example.
When I was a young girl, a friend of mine and I would go to the Sisli Synagogue [7] at Yom Kippur. We would go near the time it would be finished. We went to see who was at the synagogue. We went up to the women’s place and watched the people. I don’t remember my friend’s name, but she lived near us and we would go to the synagogue on foot of course. We rarely took the tram. Not if we could walk.
, Türkiye
The day we liked best was Roshashana [Rosh Hashashanah]. It was the new year and my mother bought us new clothes and we would wear our new clothes. We had new and clean shoes and we would all dress up. We would have a very good breakfast that morning and we knew it was Roshashana [Rosh Hashanah]. There would be a lot of guests. My mother’s cousins would come, my aunt (my father’s sister) would come to visit. Or we would go and visit them. We were a big family.
Apart from Yom Kippur and Roshashana, we also celebrated Pesah [Pesach] and “beraha las frutas” [Ladino term for Sukkoth]. My mother would do a lot of cleaning before the holidays. We even painted the house before Pesah. Even I did some painting in the house before Pesah.
Apart from Yom Kippur and Roshashana, we also celebrated Pesah [Pesach] and “beraha las frutas” [Ladino term for Sukkoth]. My mother would do a lot of cleaning before the holidays. We even painted the house before Pesah. Even I did some painting in the house before Pesah.
, Türkiye
There was a synagogue in Tunel then, before coming to the Neve-Shalom synagogue. [It was opened in 1923 in the location of the previous Apollon cinema. Although it was officially called the Knesset Synagogue people kept on refering to it as the Apollon synagogue.] It does not exist any more. [it was completely burned down in a fire in 1941] I don’t remember what it was called. Well, haham, hazzan, shohet, they all existed then. When my sister was stillborn, my father went to the synagogue to have a rooster sacrificed, in case something else terrible happened to the family.
We had all the Jewish traditions in our home when we were kids. Kipur, Roshashana [Rosh Hashanah] were great celebrations in our home.
, Türkiye
My mother raised me. At first I had both my Mum and my Dad. I had a governess and a maid. The governess would teach us French, had us play games and taught us poetry. The governess would teach and the maid would do the cleaning and the housework, that’s how it was then. The governess was Jewish and she left in the evening. We used to sleep with the maid.
, Türkiye
We moved to Tunel from Tepebasi when I was very young. We lived on the top floor of an apartment building. We had both electricity and tap water as far as I remember. I also remember the tram. There were trams on the roads but I do not remember any cars. The roads were asphalted then. There were big stones. No cars.
There were a lot of Jews in Tunel then but we did not have much contact with them because our family was quite extensive and we usually met with them. The Jews would usually gather in Sishane [very near the Galata Tower]. They used to speak in Ladino in the streets. There were fisherman, street sellers etc... who would shout in Ladino in the streets. There were people of every trade; hat makers, shoemakers etc... My father had a cousin, Viktorya Danon, who had a big shop (I don’t know where) where she sold and repaired paintings.
There were a lot of Jews in Tunel then but we did not have much contact with them because our family was quite extensive and we usually met with them. The Jews would usually gather in Sishane [very near the Galata Tower]. They used to speak in Ladino in the streets. There were fisherman, street sellers etc... who would shout in Ladino in the streets. There were people of every trade; hat makers, shoemakers etc... My father had a cousin, Viktorya Danon, who had a big shop (I don’t know where) where she sold and repaired paintings.
, Türkiye
My parents were going to have another sibling actually. When we were living in Tunel, I was 5 at the time, my mother got sick. She got the flu and was coughing terribly. We had a Jewish maid and she gave her the wrong medicine. Instead of the cough syrup the doctor had given her, she gave her an enema to drink! She did not realize it was the wrong medicine and my mother was 8 months pregnant at the time. The medicine killed the baby inside her. My mother screamed for 3 days and 3 nights. There were no gynaecologists then. My father called the midwife. The midwife said the child had died inside anyway and then she made my mother give birth like a normal birth. They pressed on her tummy and made her give birth. She was in such a lot of pain. I cannot forget her screams for days after that. If the baby had lived, she would have been 5 years younger than me. They were going to name her after my mother’s mother, too. She died because of the maid’s mistake. In spite of this, the maid continued to come and work for us.
I had 3 brothers, 2 older than me and one younger.
My brother Alber was born in Istanbul in 1917. He had meningitis when he was 5. One day he was visiting our grandmother (my mother’s mother). He was jumping on the cushions and then he hit his head on something. My grandmother put him to sleep and he slept till morning. When he woke up, he couldn’t speak. My Dad took him to the doctor, and the doctor said: “you will not tire this child; he will start to speak very slowly”. After a couple of years, we had a cousin in Tunel, Viktorya Danon, my father asked her: “Please, let Albertiko come to you for a while, you have cats”. So Alber went to stay with her for a while and indeed he started to speak there. He did not go to school. There were teachers who came to the house to teach him French. He would beat the teachers, he was sick really. He actually started to speak when he was 10. What a pity, because when he was little he was one of the smartest kids ever. Now, the doctors tell us not to put a child to sleep if he takes a fall or hits his head etc... But my grandmother did not know that. When my grandfather came home that night she even told him: “Please, Hayim, do not make any noise, Albertiko took a fall” and she had him sleep till morning. And he got meningitis. But later on, he grew up and he even did his military service for 2 years. Then, when my uncle came back from Germany and opened his jersey factory, he took Alber to the factory where he worked until my uncle died in 1951. Then he went to work for the Kastro family as an office boy and retired from that job. Then when my mother died, we took him to the Old People’s Home [6] in Haskoy. He lived there for 10 years, then took a fall and died in 1999.
Vitali was born in Istanbul in 1922. He studied primary school and the secondary school until my father died. He was 14 when my father died, and had to start working. He worked for a florist in Osmanbey near our home, and brought home some money. He would take flowers to clients. Later on he worked at a big shop in Beyoglu [very famous district, otherwise called “Pera”, in the European side of Istanbul], called “Galeri Kristal” as salesman. They sold glassware and crystalware there. When he was 14, Vitali met an Armenian girl called Adirne Donaloglu, who lived in Ferikoy [a district between Osmanbey and Kurtulus, where a lot of non-Muslims, especially Armenians used to and still live]. They fell in love and later got married. The families did not want this marriage of course but while Vitali was doing his military service, he came on leave once and they got married secretly, by civil marriage only of course. The families did not know but I did because Adirne was my friend. They had two daughters, Linda and Rita. Linda was born in 1949 and Rita in 1954. They studied in state schools. Linda married an Armenian, Simon Kokyan and she became Armenian, which means she became a Christian. They had two daughters as well, Karolin and Karin. Rita, on the other hand, married a Moslem boy, Emin Kaplan and she converted and became a Moslem. They had a son called Akin. Vitali died in Istanbul in 1982. His wife, Adirne, died many years before him, I don’t remember exactly when.
My third brother Sami was 1.5 years younger than me. We grew up together and we were in the same school. After he finished primary school, my mother sent him to Saint Michel [a French Catholic high school in Osmanbey]. I do not know why, but he did not finish St. Michel. Then he started working and later he opened a perfume shop with a partner. Then he got married. He married Fortune Algazi. They had two children, a girl, Sara and a boy Yasef. Sara was born in Istanbul in 1956. I do not know where she studied but she got married in her early twenties. Then after 18 years of marriage, she got divorced. She never had any children. Yasef was born in Istanbul in 1962. He also got married and then divorced. He has a daughter. My brother Sami always worked in the same job. Then he had heart problems and then one day, one Friday in 1989, he was coming home from Sirkeci [a business district in the european side of Istanbul] in a taxi and he had a heart attack and died in the taxi. The following day was the Bar-Mitzvah of my grandson, Izel and we were preparing for that. It was a terrible time for me. On the one side I was grieving for my brother and on the other side there was the happiness of the Bar-Mitzvah of my only grandson. It was a terrible clash of emotions. On the Saturday night, we celebrated the Bar-Mitzvah among the family members but it was entirely spoiled for me.
None of my brothers are alive today.
My brother Alber was born in Istanbul in 1917. He had meningitis when he was 5. One day he was visiting our grandmother (my mother’s mother). He was jumping on the cushions and then he hit his head on something. My grandmother put him to sleep and he slept till morning. When he woke up, he couldn’t speak. My Dad took him to the doctor, and the doctor said: “you will not tire this child; he will start to speak very slowly”. After a couple of years, we had a cousin in Tunel, Viktorya Danon, my father asked her: “Please, let Albertiko come to you for a while, you have cats”. So Alber went to stay with her for a while and indeed he started to speak there. He did not go to school. There were teachers who came to the house to teach him French. He would beat the teachers, he was sick really. He actually started to speak when he was 10. What a pity, because when he was little he was one of the smartest kids ever. Now, the doctors tell us not to put a child to sleep if he takes a fall or hits his head etc... But my grandmother did not know that. When my grandfather came home that night she even told him: “Please, Hayim, do not make any noise, Albertiko took a fall” and she had him sleep till morning. And he got meningitis. But later on, he grew up and he even did his military service for 2 years. Then, when my uncle came back from Germany and opened his jersey factory, he took Alber to the factory where he worked until my uncle died in 1951. Then he went to work for the Kastro family as an office boy and retired from that job. Then when my mother died, we took him to the Old People’s Home [6] in Haskoy. He lived there for 10 years, then took a fall and died in 1999.
Vitali was born in Istanbul in 1922. He studied primary school and the secondary school until my father died. He was 14 when my father died, and had to start working. He worked for a florist in Osmanbey near our home, and brought home some money. He would take flowers to clients. Later on he worked at a big shop in Beyoglu [very famous district, otherwise called “Pera”, in the European side of Istanbul], called “Galeri Kristal” as salesman. They sold glassware and crystalware there. When he was 14, Vitali met an Armenian girl called Adirne Donaloglu, who lived in Ferikoy [a district between Osmanbey and Kurtulus, where a lot of non-Muslims, especially Armenians used to and still live]. They fell in love and later got married. The families did not want this marriage of course but while Vitali was doing his military service, he came on leave once and they got married secretly, by civil marriage only of course. The families did not know but I did because Adirne was my friend. They had two daughters, Linda and Rita. Linda was born in 1949 and Rita in 1954. They studied in state schools. Linda married an Armenian, Simon Kokyan and she became Armenian, which means she became a Christian. They had two daughters as well, Karolin and Karin. Rita, on the other hand, married a Moslem boy, Emin Kaplan and she converted and became a Moslem. They had a son called Akin. Vitali died in Istanbul in 1982. His wife, Adirne, died many years before him, I don’t remember exactly when.
My third brother Sami was 1.5 years younger than me. We grew up together and we were in the same school. After he finished primary school, my mother sent him to Saint Michel [a French Catholic high school in Osmanbey]. I do not know why, but he did not finish St. Michel. Then he started working and later he opened a perfume shop with a partner. Then he got married. He married Fortune Algazi. They had two children, a girl, Sara and a boy Yasef. Sara was born in Istanbul in 1956. I do not know where she studied but she got married in her early twenties. Then after 18 years of marriage, she got divorced. She never had any children. Yasef was born in Istanbul in 1962. He also got married and then divorced. He has a daughter. My brother Sami always worked in the same job. Then he had heart problems and then one day, one Friday in 1989, he was coming home from Sirkeci [a business district in the european side of Istanbul] in a taxi and he had a heart attack and died in the taxi. The following day was the Bar-Mitzvah of my grandson, Izel and we were preparing for that. It was a terrible time for me. On the one side I was grieving for my brother and on the other side there was the happiness of the Bar-Mitzvah of my only grandson. It was a terrible clash of emotions. On the Saturday night, we celebrated the Bar-Mitzvah among the family members but it was entirely spoiled for me.
None of my brothers are alive today.
, Türkiye
My parents are buried in the Jewish cemetery in Ulus [a district in the European side of Istanbul]. They were buried with a religious ceremony. And of course there was a rabbi and a hazan [chazzan] at the funeral. The sons of the family sang the Kadish and I always do their “meldado” [yahrzeit] every year.
, Türkiye
My family had Jewish neighbors now and again. There were a lot of Jews in Tunel. When I was 5 or 6 we moved to Osmanbey [a district in the European side of Istanbul]. Thre were Jews there, too. We had Jewish neighbors there, too. My father used to go and play cards with them. There were 2 Jewish families at that apartment. One family was called Behar, the other I don’t remember. They all used to play together, either at their homes or at ours, but more often than not they would go and play outside, where I don’t know. My mother did not go because she did not know how to play cards.
, Türkiye
Neither my mum nor my dad were members of any political party or any social or cultural organization. Just my father worked as a volunteer at the charity.
, Türkiye
My parents were religious but not fanatical. They did all the Jewish holidays and never did anything on Saturdays. On Saturdays, we would either sit down and read books or go and visit my aunt. They were careful with kasherut. They did not go to the synagogue every Friday; just on the holidays or when somebody got married or for funerals. My mother also had the “loksa”. She had these beautiful special kitchenware for Pesah [Pesach]. When Pesah was over, these would be put into a special chest used only to keep the “loksa”. Then when my father died my mother did not have the will to go to all this trouble and she left all this.
, Türkiye
I was born in the house opposite Pera Palas, but then they moved to a house in Tunel. I was too young to remember when. When you went into that house, there were 3 rooms downstairs, you went up a flight of stairs and there were 2 more rooms and then you went up again and it was the attic. It was a beautiful house but quite tiring. We had a big stove downstairs and another one upstairs. We used to sit upstairs, near the stove and watch the people coming and going in and out of the underground, and others getting on and off the tramway, because Tunel was the last stop. We used to entertain ourselves watching all these people.
We did not have a garden. We could not have a pet because my mother did not like pets and would never permit such a thing.
I remember my father bringing home some fruit like dates. I can’t remember its name now. He brought those and then hung them. My brothers and I would go and pick the fruit before it was done. They weren’t dates but some yellow fruit. They would hang them and then they would dry and we would eat them. When they were done they got red. We would eat them before they got red. My father would hang them at a place that got a lot of sunshine. I thought they were called “ziruelikas” [a Ladino word meaning “plums”] but they weren’t.
My mother used to do the shopping. She would go to the open market to do her shopping. There would be sellers who came to the door of course, but she preferred to go to the open market. Sometimes she would take me and my brothers, too and we would carry everything back.
We did not have a garden. We could not have a pet because my mother did not like pets and would never permit such a thing.
I remember my father bringing home some fruit like dates. I can’t remember its name now. He brought those and then hung them. My brothers and I would go and pick the fruit before it was done. They weren’t dates but some yellow fruit. They would hang them and then they would dry and we would eat them. When they were done they got red. We would eat them before they got red. My father would hang them at a place that got a lot of sunshine. I thought they were called “ziruelikas” [a Ladino word meaning “plums”] but they weren’t.
My mother used to do the shopping. She would go to the open market to do her shopping. There would be sellers who came to the door of course, but she preferred to go to the open market. Sometimes she would take me and my brothers, too and we would carry everything back.
, Türkiye