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My aunt Flora Noah was born around 1900 in Thessaloniki. In 1920 she left with her husband for Naples. Before the war she never came to Thessaloniki. I didn’t meet her then, but my uncles corresponded with her frequently. And Uncle Sam went to visit them often in Naples, every two or three years.
I didn’t meet her husband because he was arrested in Italy and died in an extermination camp. But Flora managed to hide here and there. After the war my aunt Flora continued to live in Italy. She didn’t remarry. She had a daughter who died in 1965.
Flora visited Thessaloniki after the war. She came a couple of times. Her Greek was very good, but we spoke in French. We also corresponded in French. I think that her relationship with the Jewish religion was better after the war. Besides, before the war, such Jewish communities as were the ones in Paris, but also in Naples, were not closely tied; I don’t know how it was in Lyon. Distances were long and they were strangers. Naples is a big city, and she most probably had none to go with to the synagogue. While here it is much easier. Our synagogue was five minutes away from home.
I didn’t meet her husband because he was arrested in Italy and died in an extermination camp. But Flora managed to hide here and there. After the war my aunt Flora continued to live in Italy. She didn’t remarry. She had a daughter who died in 1965.
Flora visited Thessaloniki after the war. She came a couple of times. Her Greek was very good, but we spoke in French. We also corresponded in French. I think that her relationship with the Jewish religion was better after the war. Besides, before the war, such Jewish communities as were the ones in Paris, but also in Naples, were not closely tied; I don’t know how it was in Lyon. Distances were long and they were strangers. Naples is a big city, and she most probably had none to go with to the synagogue. While here it is much easier. Our synagogue was five minutes away from home.
Interview
Nico Saltiel