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We are in front of Haydarpasha train station with Gracia (first from left) and my mother’s older brother Oncle Simantov.
I know that my mother was part of 9 siblings, that four died when they were young, and that five were left. Their names: Estreya, Eugenie (Ceni), my mother Ester, Simantov and Nisim.
My mother's younger brother Simantov, was the manager of the famous Salty-Franko stores. He is buried in Haydarpasha cemetery. His wife who is an Italian Jew was named Colomba and she is buried in the Italian cemetery in Sisli.
My sister Gracia was born in 1919 in Istanbul Haydarpasha. They gave her the name of my father's daughter from his first wife who died at the age of 9. She is a graduate of the Jewish Highschool in1930 and Burgerschule (German Highschool) in 1937. She lived in Paris for a long time and in Milan in Italy. In 1939 she married Hayim Salmona, and in addition to Turkish, speaks Spanish, French, German and Italian. Gracia has a son named Güner Freddy and a daughter named Jessie. Jessie lives in Istanbul with her mother. Freddy is married with a Jewish girl in Italy, he had two children. He separated from his wife and came to Turkey. His children stayed in Italy. He is now married to a Muslim lady.
