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Davit was born in Egypt in 1915. He also studied here in Saint-George. Later there was an important brokerage agent here, Davit Leon Farber, he worked there. But then there was an even more important agent, Emu Mayer, who was one of the wealthiest in Istanbul. This Emu Mayer was such a merchant that when he passed through Aşirefendi with his horse-carriage, all the merchants stood up. Because he was a good employee, he removed my brother out of his job and took him under his wing. He gave him double his salary. It was a huge place, there were a lot of employees. Later he also gave him his daughter. He married Berta Mayer. He had one daughter, Nadya. She died recently, she was in her 60’s maybe. My older brother and his wife had previously died in Istanbul. My brother died at 57 years of age. He had a myocardial infarction, he died while he was on a trip to Germany. He traveled a lot. He was here for one month, in Germany for one month, that is how his life was. His grave is in Germany, we went to visit it previously. The Jewish community there did not want to give him up. The Grand Rabbi there did not want to give him up. We talked on the phone, we will send him with cargo, we said, he did not give him up. The Grand Rabbi was very powerful among the Jews after Hitler, the government did not get involved. The Grand Rabbi said, according to our laws, we can only send him to Israel from here. As you know, in our tradition, the funeral cannot wait too much, you have to bury within 24 hours. At the time, Turkish citizens could not leave the country more than once a year. My older brother and I could not leave because our passports were not suitable. The brother of Berta was an Italian national, we sent him to get the funeral and bring it, they did not give it up and he returned. The Grand Rabbinate there sent pictures and this and that and placed the tombstone. About 20 years ago we left and went to Munich and visited his gravesite.
Location
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Türkiye
Interview
Jak Rutli