Transcription
Interview with Iosif Gerson
ΓΚΕΡΣΩΝ ΣΙΜΟΝ: Tell me your name.
ΙΩΣΗΦ ΓΚΕΡΣΟΝ: Iosif Gerson — or Gershon, depending on how one reads it.
ΓΚΕΡΣΩΝ ΣΙΜΟΝ: Could you briefly share some childhood memories from growing up in a Jewish family? For example, preparations for Shabbat or other holidays?
ΙΩΣΗΦ ΓΚΕΡΣΟΝ: I grew up in a neighborhood of Thessaloniki that used to be Jewish, but in my time it was barely Jewish and mostly Greek.
Our first home was in the Jewish Community building at 19 Sarantaporou Street. That alone exposed us to the community’s past. Other Jewish families lived there too, and we spent time together.
The environment was petty bourgeois. Children lived and played together, but we generally avoided openly expressing our Jewish identity because the neighborhood included quite a few very devout Christians.
Our mother gave us nicknames that sounded Greek. Iosif became Iosifakos Fakos, Palomba became Nena, and Estrea became Stella.
That’s how our Jewish identity began. As children of a father who had survived the camps, we tried to keep the memories alive, because our father wanted that very much.
ΓΚΕΡΣΩΝ ΣΙΜΟΝ: So you kept Jewish customs at home?
ΙΩΣΗΦ ΓΚΕΡΣΟΝ: Yes, but since we lived in a mixed neighborhood, we also adapted to Greek reality.
There wasn’t what we would call racism today, but among children there was an idea that Jews were “a bit strange.” So there was caution.
ΓΚΕΡΣΩΝ ΣΙΜΟΝ: What kind of relationship did your family have with the Community?
ΙΩΣΗΦ ΓΚΕΡΣΟΝ: My father worked for the Community, so naturally we had a close relationship.
We visited the Community building at 24 Vasileos Herakleiou, which at that time was the center of Jewish life in Thessaloniki. There was a synagogue beneath it, as there still is today. Around it were Jewish shops, and we tried to support fellow community members.
ΓΚΕΡΣΩΝ ΣΙΜΟΝ: Do you remember important community events, such as summer camp or Kabbalat Shabbat?
ΙΩΣΗΦ ΓΚΕΡΣΟΝ: We participated actively in the children’s center and in summer camp.
The first time I went, I was named best camper and received a book as a prize — a history book, in Hebrew, about the founding of Israel. It presented figures such as Ben-Gurion and Moshe Dayan, and those who fought for independence.
ΓΚΕΡΣΩΝ ΣΙΜΟΝ: Do you think community participation was stronger back then?
ΙΩΣΗΦ ΓΚΕΡΣΟΝ: Yes. Not only because religious connection was stronger, but also because the Jewish population was larger.
Before the war, Jewish life was more present. Every Jewish neighborhood had its synagogue. People were more united.
My father used to give a simple example: many Jews worked at the port in shifts. If someone earned enough for the day’s food — even something as simple as beans and bread — he would give up his shift to help another family.
After the war, that no longer happened. The community had been dismantled and relationships became looser.
ΓΚΕΡΣΩΝ ΣΙΜΟΝ: Did you mostly spend time with Jewish children or with Greeks?
ΙΩΣΗΦ ΓΚΕΡΣΟΝ: After the war, the Community tried to gather Jewish children into specific schools.
My sisters and I attended the private school of Mrs. Aglaia Schina. Along with Korais School, these were the two schools that accepted Jewish children.
We also had Hebrew classes three times a week, since the Community ensured there was a teacher.
In our neighborhood, however, there were no other Jewish children. We played with the local children and had excellent relationships. Families were of the same social class. Children had few toys, so games were collective — soccer and sports for boys, dolls and handmade games for girls.
ΓΚΕΡΣΩΝ ΣΙΜΟΝ: Did you observe Kabbalat Shabbat at home?
ΙΩΣΗΦ ΓΚΕΡΣΟΝ: Not fully. Kabbalat Shabbat was part of our Saturday routine. My father went to the synagogue almost daily. When he returned, we gathered, but it wasn’t the classic Kabbalat Shabbat as practiced today.
ΓΚΕΡΣΩΝ ΣΙΜΟΝ: Was there anything particular about your clothing or diet because of your Jewish heritage?
ΙΩΣΗΦ ΓΚΕΡΣΟΝ: Clothing was no different after the war. We followed Greek norms.
In diet, yes. My father insisted on certain things — for example, we didn’t eat pork.
Before the war, kosher food was available in special shops. In our time, especially until 1970, kosher products were not available on the market.
ΓΚΕΡΣΩΝ ΣΙΜΟΝ: Do you observe holidays such as Pesach or Hanukkah as fervently as your grandfather did?
ΙΩΣΗΦ ΓΚΕΡΣΟΝ: No. Daily life influences us more now.
In recent years, we’ve returned somewhat to our roots — especially influenced by my sister in America, where traditions are more strictly observed.
We participate in major holidays such as Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah, but not as intensely as our parents did, particularly my father, who came from a very devout Sephardic family.
ΓΚΕΡΣΩΝ ΣΙΜΟΝ: Have you attended ceremonies like bar mitzvahs, bat mitzvahs, or weddings? How were they different in the past?
ΙΩΣΗΦ ΓΚΕΡΣΟΝ: Before the war, ceremonies such as brit milah, bar mitzvah, bat mitzvah, and weddings were both religious and social gatherings.
After the war, things became more relaxed. In the 1950s and 1960s, bar mitzvahs were simple and depended on each family’s finances.
Later, as our connection to the Community strengthened, bar mitzvahs became true celebrations — especially in America and in my own children’s ceremonies here in Thessaloniki.
ΓΚΕΡΣΩΝ ΣΙΜΟΝ: Did you speak Ladino at home?
ΙΩΣΗΦ ΓΚΕΡΣΟΝ: Yes. Ladino was a distinctive trait of our community.
My father, a true Thessalonian Sephardic Jew, spoke it fluently. My mother, from Athens, learned it from him.
By constantly hearing them speak Ladino, I picked up enough to understand — even though they thought I understood nothing.
ΓΚΕΡΣΩΝ ΣΙΜΟΝ: Do your children speak Ladino?
ΙΩΣΗΦ ΓΚΕΡΣΟΝ: No. Unfortunately, Ladino is a tradition that is gradually fading among the younger generation.
A personal testimony by Joseph Gerson about his childhood in postwar Thessaloniki. Raised in a neighborhood that had once been predominantly Jewish but had become mostly Greek, he recalls the careful balance between preserving Jewish identity at home and adapting to the mixed social reality of the time. He speaks about living in the Jewish Community building, his family’s close connection to the Community — where his father worked — and the importance of the Jewish center on Vasileos Irakleiou Street. He remembers summer camps, children’s activities, and the strong sense of solidarity that characterized the community before and after the war. Despite the poverty of the era, he describes a daily life filled with human connection, shared games, and companionship, both with Jewish children and with neighborhood friends. A testimony about memory, resilience, and the gradual transformation of Jewish life in Thessaloniki after the war.
Transcription
Interview with Iosif Gerson
ΓΚΕΡΣΩΝ ΣΙΜΟΝ: Tell me your name.
ΙΩΣΗΦ ΓΚΕΡΣΟΝ: Iosif Gerson — or Gershon, depending on how one reads it.
ΓΚΕΡΣΩΝ ΣΙΜΟΝ: Could you briefly share some childhood memories from growing up in a Jewish family? For example, preparations for Shabbat or other holidays?
ΙΩΣΗΦ ΓΚΕΡΣΟΝ: I grew up in a neighborhood of Thessaloniki that used to be Jewish, but in my time it was barely Jewish and mostly Greek.
Our first home was in the Jewish Community building at 19 Sarantaporou Street. That alone exposed us to the community’s past. Other Jewish families lived there too, and we spent time together.
The environment was petty bourgeois. Children lived and played together, but we generally avoided openly expressing our Jewish identity because the neighborhood included quite a few very devout Christians.
Our mother gave us nicknames that sounded Greek. Iosif became Iosifakos Fakos, Palomba became Nena, and Estrea became Stella.
That’s how our Jewish identity began. As children of a father who had survived the camps, we tried to keep the memories alive, because our father wanted that very much.
ΓΚΕΡΣΩΝ ΣΙΜΟΝ: So you kept Jewish customs at home?
ΙΩΣΗΦ ΓΚΕΡΣΟΝ: Yes, but since we lived in a mixed neighborhood, we also adapted to Greek reality.
There wasn’t what we would call racism today, but among children there was an idea that Jews were “a bit strange.” So there was caution.
ΓΚΕΡΣΩΝ ΣΙΜΟΝ: What kind of relationship did your family have with the Community?
ΙΩΣΗΦ ΓΚΕΡΣΟΝ: My father worked for the Community, so naturally we had a close relationship.
We visited the Community building at 24 Vasileos Herakleiou, which at that time was the center of Jewish life in Thessaloniki. There was a synagogue beneath it, as there still is today. Around it were Jewish shops, and we tried to support fellow community members.
ΓΚΕΡΣΩΝ ΣΙΜΟΝ: Do you remember important community events, such as summer camp or Kabbalat Shabbat?
ΙΩΣΗΦ ΓΚΕΡΣΟΝ: We participated actively in the children’s center and in summer camp.
The first time I went, I was named best camper and received a book as a prize — a history book, in Hebrew, about the founding of Israel. It presented figures such as Ben-Gurion and Moshe Dayan, and those who fought for independence.
ΓΚΕΡΣΩΝ ΣΙΜΟΝ: Do you think community participation was stronger back then?
ΙΩΣΗΦ ΓΚΕΡΣΟΝ: Yes. Not only because religious connection was stronger, but also because the Jewish population was larger.
Before the war, Jewish life was more present. Every Jewish neighborhood had its synagogue. People were more united.
My father used to give a simple example: many Jews worked at the port in shifts. If someone earned enough for the day’s food — even something as simple as beans and bread — he would give up his shift to help another family.
After the war, that no longer happened. The community had been dismantled and relationships became looser.
ΓΚΕΡΣΩΝ ΣΙΜΟΝ: Did you mostly spend time with Jewish children or with Greeks?
ΙΩΣΗΦ ΓΚΕΡΣΟΝ: After the war, the Community tried to gather Jewish children into specific schools.
My sisters and I attended the private school of Mrs. Aglaia Schina. Along with Korais School, these were the two schools that accepted Jewish children.
We also had Hebrew classes three times a week, since the Community ensured there was a teacher.
In our neighborhood, however, there were no other Jewish children. We played with the local children and had excellent relationships. Families were of the same social class. Children had few toys, so games were collective — soccer and sports for boys, dolls and handmade games for girls.
ΓΚΕΡΣΩΝ ΣΙΜΟΝ: Did you observe Kabbalat Shabbat at home?
ΙΩΣΗΦ ΓΚΕΡΣΟΝ: Not fully. Kabbalat Shabbat was part of our Saturday routine. My father went to the synagogue almost daily. When he returned, we gathered, but it wasn’t the classic Kabbalat Shabbat as practiced today.
ΓΚΕΡΣΩΝ ΣΙΜΟΝ: Was there anything particular about your clothing or diet because of your Jewish heritage?
ΙΩΣΗΦ ΓΚΕΡΣΟΝ: Clothing was no different after the war. We followed Greek norms.
In diet, yes. My father insisted on certain things — for example, we didn’t eat pork.
Before the war, kosher food was available in special shops. In our time, especially until 1970, kosher products were not available on the market.
ΓΚΕΡΣΩΝ ΣΙΜΟΝ: Do you observe holidays such as Pesach or Hanukkah as fervently as your grandfather did?
ΙΩΣΗΦ ΓΚΕΡΣΟΝ: No. Daily life influences us more now.
In recent years, we’ve returned somewhat to our roots — especially influenced by my sister in America, where traditions are more strictly observed.
We participate in major holidays such as Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah, but not as intensely as our parents did, particularly my father, who came from a very devout Sephardic family.
ΓΚΕΡΣΩΝ ΣΙΜΟΝ: Have you attended ceremonies like bar mitzvahs, bat mitzvahs, or weddings? How were they different in the past?
ΙΩΣΗΦ ΓΚΕΡΣΟΝ: Before the war, ceremonies such as brit milah, bar mitzvah, bat mitzvah, and weddings were both religious and social gatherings.
After the war, things became more relaxed. In the 1950s and 1960s, bar mitzvahs were simple and depended on each family’s finances.
Later, as our connection to the Community strengthened, bar mitzvahs became true celebrations — especially in America and in my own children’s ceremonies here in Thessaloniki.
ΓΚΕΡΣΩΝ ΣΙΜΟΝ: Did you speak Ladino at home?
ΙΩΣΗΦ ΓΚΕΡΣΟΝ: Yes. Ladino was a distinctive trait of our community.
My father, a true Thessalonian Sephardic Jew, spoke it fluently. My mother, from Athens, learned it from him.
By constantly hearing them speak Ladino, I picked up enough to understand — even though they thought I understood nothing.
ΓΚΕΡΣΩΝ ΣΙΜΟΝ: Do your children speak Ladino?
ΙΩΣΗΦ ΓΚΕΡΣΟΝ: No. Unfortunately, Ladino is a tradition that is gradually fading among the younger generation.