Jewish Memories. Berkeley: University of California Press, c In the camp, I had this idea of coming to France. In the camp at that time, you couldn't have anything in your pockets because there was a search every other day.
If they found a piece of paper, anything, they beat you. My cousin [ met for the first time in Auschwitz ] gave me his girlfriend's address: "I can't give you my own address because I don't know where my parents are. Well, when I was liberated, in Sweden, he [ the cousin ] was already in Paris. He was a survivor. I wrote to his girlfriend. She went to his house and told him: "I got this letter from Stockholm. We got in touch and he told me: "If you don't want to go back to Salonika, come to France.
Then later, I met Salonikans who were there from before the war. One day, they introduced me to a lady: "You like her, that lady? She is also a stall-keeper. Her husband was deported. If you like, I'll put you in touch. See if it suits you. If not, you needn't do anything. If it does, we'll introduce you to her. In the cohort of Jews who have told us of their youth here or there on the shores of the Mediterranean, a first group came to France between the two world wars, those of the eastern Mediterranean.
In North Africa, the colonial regime appeared firmly established and destined to last. Social mobility, westernization, and secularization reached new strata of the Jewish population. Those who left for France went for a little adventure and stayed only temporarily, returning with some new asset, a university diploma, for example.
In Egypt, the formal independence the country enjoyed since opened new vistas to the most enterprising. In Greece and Turkey, by contrast, political conditions became unstable.
