My wife Fani’s older sister Roza and her spouse

Roza, my wife Fani's older sister, who was born in 1925, worked in the glove factory like my older brother Davit, she stitched ladies' gloves.  On her way to and from work, Roza met Izak Bener who was a drover, and they married after dating for long years.  They were married in 1948 in the Zulfaris Synagogue.  Because Izak was a drover, he would leave very early in the morning for work and return home early in the afternoon.  He loved cooking and feeding people.  They lived in Pangalti in winters and in Heybeliada (third one of the Princess Islands on the Marmara Sea, south of Istanbul) in rentals. Their daughter Rika was born in 1950, and their son Salvo in 1956.  Unfortunately both of her children did not like studying.  Rika started working as a cashier with me (in Lazar's store) when she was only 15 or 16 years old.  Like a lot of other girls at the time, Rika married a young man named Leon Birisi in 1968 when she was only 18 years old in Neve Shalom Synagogue.  Rika had to live with her mother and father-in-law and her brother-in-law for long years.  Their son Alper was born within the same year.  A few years after that, their daughter Inci was born in 1971.  When it became difficult to live and get along with her husband's family, the young couple started having problems.  This situation forced them to move out of the house, only after this did peaceful days reign among the two of them.  The political crises in Turkey during the 1978's, led Rika and family to immigrate to Israel this time.  Even though they struggled seriously for 4 years there as a family, they could not keep up with the lifestyle there.  They returned to Istanbul again in 1981 and settled down in their new environment.  The children also struggled hard to get used to Istanbul.  Now both Alper and Inci are married and are parents.

Their son Salvo on the other hand married Lizet (unfortunately I do not remember her last name) in 1978 in Neve Shalom. From their union, Rozi was born in 1980, and Sheli in 1986.  Unfortunately they did not get along during their marriage and divorced in 1995.  The courts gave custody of the children to their mother Lizet naturally.  Lizet married again a short while later with a divorced gentleman with two sons.  In 2001, Salvo married for a second time with a lady named Ester who works in the Ashkenazi community.

Salvo's older daughter finished University of Istanbul, Faculty of Business Administration after graduating from Ulus Jewish Highschool. She always tutored while she was a student.  When she graduated she worked at a firm.  She married in Neve Shalom Synagogue in 2003 and had a son in July of 2006 (I have no information about her spouse).  Salvo's younger daughter Sheli is also a graduate of Ulus Jewish Highschool.  Currently she attends the University of Istanbul (I do not know what she is studying).

We lost Izak in 1995 unfortunately from lung cancer, we interned him in the Haskoy cemetery.  Roza lived in her home for a while after losing her husband, but she had to adapt to what life brought her.  Now she lives at the Old People's Home.  Even though being there saddens her a little, she consoles herself saying it is better to be around people her age then being alone at home at times.  Her daughter Rika picks her up for holidays, for the Sabbath, or on special occasions and hosts her at her home for a few days or weeks.

Photos from this interviewee