Tag #124019 - Interview #88421 (Nico Saltiel)

The shop wasn’t close to the house; it was 20 minutes away by subway. It was in a neighborhood called Sentier, in the Rue des Rosiers [the most Jewish street in Paris]. And my father continued to deal in textiles and ties. Mother was sewing the ties at home and Father sold them at the shop. Having never worked before, she started to work out of need. She seized the opportunity to find models that helped her cut the material. These were good ties. They sold because they were made of good quality silk material. She was a good and sophisticated craftswoman. She sat and worked in the living room. In the afternoons, when I didn’t go to school, I often watched her work.

I guess my father kept the shop by himself. The working hours were pretty long and I remember that when in 1935 the government applied the 40-hour week it was a revolution. It was a great thing, and was applied gradually. Before that, people worked for 15 hours a day.