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This is my school. This is the building of Anatolia College in Thessaloniki. The photo was taken in 1938.
I went to the French school here in Thessaloniki, the Lycee Francais. I finished the Mission Laique Francaise and then I went to the American school, Anatolia College. I never went to a Jewish or a Greek school.
I was an excellent student and my teachers appreciated me and loved me. At Anatolia we also celebrated the so-called commencement and we all dressed in white and everything. [Commencement: an event organized by Anatolia College every year, upon the graduation of its new alumni; something like the debutantes? ball.] My dress for the commencement was pleated all over and it had a big belt. You can see it in the picture that is still hanging in the hall of the school today.
We also used to wear hats; we called them ?shishia.? I had a green one, a very nice one. We wouldn't go out of the house without a hat. The hat, the scarf, the gloves. Yes, we also wore gloves.
When we finished the American school, the Anatolia College, we went on a five-day excursion with the Anatolia College; all the girls of my class and my teacher. We were 13-14 girls, three of us were Jewish: Germain Alvo, Roza Kohen, who now is married and lives in Athens, and I. What did I think of it? It was normal. I had finished school and went on a trip with everybody else.
This is where I learned English and how to type and to take stenography.
