Yomtov Bonjour Arguete

Yomtov Bonjour Arguete

Yomtov Bonjur Arguete  was the apple of the family's eye.  He was married to Keti Frankfort.  Keti was a German Jew.  Her father owned a bank.  He did not know Judeo Spanish, when this language was conversed within the family, his face became sullen.  The Frankfort family was an aristocratic family.  Komo se dize vuantes blankaz (How do you say this-white gloves.  It is a saying indicating you were speaking to someone from the upper crust, i.e. you need to have white gloves to be able to address them).  I would be amazed when I went to their house.  Starched white table cloths, starched napkins.  I would be face to face with a different world view.

My husband Avram Arguete was a very principled man, hard-working and honest.  At first they were very rich.  His father Albert Arguete's nickname was "Golden Bee".  They had a haberdashery store in Ortakoy.  He was born in Ortakoy.  That store was the one with the most variety at the time.  But I was not around for the times of wealth. Yo me topi en la aniyud (I was around for the poverty).  Wealth Tax erased all of this wealth.  My father-in-law did not have a single experience with the police in his life.  Police officers came to his store during the Wealth Tax.  He fell ill with that stress and died in 1946.   

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