Selected text
My mother waited 10 years for my father to return from the military to be able to marry him. According to rumor, they were neighbors already, and they reunited 10 years later. My mother’s family was superior, culturally. The people in my mother’s family were bankers or teachers.
My father’s family on the other hand, belonged to the lower classes. But he was a handsome, blond and blue-eyed man. He was very lovable. Young people congregated around him; he would tell stories. They used to tell me that I took after my father. I always loved talking and listening. He could be considered cultured even though he did not have much of an education.
He wrote French very well. He knew old Turkish too and he wrote it. His calligraphy was good. He used to write letters then, he had a sibling who I never met, living in the United States then. He corresponded with them. When I was in the military, he wrote me a few times too.
My father’s family on the other hand, belonged to the lower classes. But he was a handsome, blond and blue-eyed man. He was very lovable. Young people congregated around him; he would tell stories. They used to tell me that I took after my father. I always loved talking and listening. He could be considered cultured even though he did not have much of an education.
He wrote French very well. He knew old Turkish too and he wrote it. His calligraphy was good. He used to write letters then, he had a sibling who I never met, living in the United States then. He corresponded with them. When I was in the military, he wrote me a few times too.
Period
Location
Beyoğlu/İstanbul
Türkiye
Interview
Nesim Levi