1949 to 1952

I was born in 1949 née Edouard [my birth name] in Alexandria Egypt at a pivotal time in Egypt’s modern history. Two important events occurred around that period: 4 May 1948, the establishment of the state of Israel and 26 July 1956, Gamal Abdel Nasser, President of Egypt announced the nationalization of the Suez Canal which triggered the "Suez Canal Crisis'. This resulted in a major war conflict against Egypt launched jointly by France and the United Kingdom in collaboration with Israel to overtake control of the Suez Canal on 29 October 1956.

The political unrest at that time was the start of a decline of the Jewish community in Egypt. A great majority of the Jewish people were preparing to seek refuge in a country that would accept them. There were about 60,000 Jews living in Egypt during this period. At the time surrounding the Suez Canal Crisis, close to 40,000 Jews would leave the country between 1956-57 and France welcomed 5,000 Jews. We were part of that group as we were French protected without Egyptian nationality. Many families chose different countries in Europe, the UK, Italy, Spain, Australia and North and South America.

A good portion possessed a French passport and others were stateless as residents of Egypt. We were of the latter category, with the exception of my paternal Grandmother Rosa who had an Egyptian identity. I never saw formal documents for Grandma Rosa to ascertain why this was the case, except that this must have been by virtue of marital status. I was always interested to find out why Grandpa Boroda’s identity papers stated Tunisia as his country of origin, I later found out from my cousin Tino [oldest cousin] that the origin of Tunisia came from my paternal Grandfather, Abramino Boroda, (Grandma Rosa, née Shoushana's husband). It was the custom in Egypt to confer your nationality of origin, not where you were born..

Alexandria was a melting pot with many immigrants from various countries including sefardic Jews from around the mediterranean sea and the Balkans. There were many other Jews that also immigrated from the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Syria, and Iran. We often heard testimonials from Grandpa, Grandma, family and friends on how they lived comfortably in Alexandria which was a very diverse cosmopolitan city. Reminiscing on life in Egypt and learning about what life was like in the 40s and 50s became even more evident when we lived in France and later in the United States.

As time went on, I realized how difficult it must have been to uproot your family and leave everything behind. I became more interested in learning about this part of the world which I only knew and experienced for a small period of my life, yet it left me with vivid memories. In reading further about what it was like, I found out that Egypt had a very rich influence from Europe and Britain. Major languages were spoken; French, English, Arabic, Spanish and Italian, and there were even more languages spoken than these few. I witnessed that in many conversations multiple languages were spoken, but within our household, we spoke primarily in French which was our native language.

In schools, French was the main language taught. I attended l’école [school] Saint Gabriel, for primary studies, as did Albert, Sam et cousin Adrienne. I do not know what school my other cousins, Allegrina and Benny attended. The system was such that once you completed primary studies you had to take an admission test to be accepted in secondary classes at the collège Saint Marc. This is where Tino, our oldest cousin, and cousin André, his younger brother, attended their early studies in sciences and completed Pre Med until leaving Egypt. Cousin Eli also attended St Marc. Tino and Andre would both have to repeat studies and later entered medical school in France as much was the case with all of us coming in to a new country. This happened to me when I arrived in France and later when I came to the US. The second major languages spoken in Egypt and taught in schools were English and Arabic. Grandma Rosa only spoke Arabic, and would use some Spanish and Italian from time to time. We mainly heard her speaking in Arabic in conversations when Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Laura, and Uncle David [Doudou]. In later years, when we were living in France Grandma Rosa learned enough French words so she could converse with us. Arabic was not routinely spoken in our house, but definitely more prominent among friends and family. It was always interesting to also hear a lot of commingling in Spanish and Italian.

I never met my Grandpa [Nono Samuel] or Grandma [Nona Rifka also called Rebecca] Sades née Misrahi. They left Egypt for Israel in early 1948 before I was born, nor did I know Uncles and Aunts on my maternal side for the same reasons. I read several of their letters that were all written in perfect French. It made me realize that French was also the main language spoken. On my maternal side, Ladino, a form of Spanish dialect, also known as (Judéo-Spanish) was the other prominent language spoken, due to my maternal side’s origin from Spain. Ladino seemed to be the main language carried out in conversations which Grandma Rachel spoke with her brothers, David, Isaac and their spouses and her sister Aunt Mary. and her husband Uncle Isaac Anaf. It seemed that Ladino was also a major influence among many of Grandpa and Grandma’s friends as this language was used quite often in conversations. Grandpa spoke it as well. As I mentioned, Egypt was this melting pot from different origins which made it very multilingual.

A family that played an important role which I remember very briefly in Egypt was the Cassutos’. “Nona Cassuto”, as we called her, but not related, was very close to my maternal side. I vaguely remember her house, and visiting her. Nona Cassuto had a son Joe married to Rosie. Rosie was US born and her family was from New York. Rosie met Joe while visiting Egypt and they married in Alexandria. Joe worked for an international company “Japan Cotton Trading” which did import/export between Egypt, Europe, Asia and the US. Joe and Rosie would move to the US in the early 40s before any political tensions between Egypt and Israel. In the early 50’s as Nasser came into power, it became difficult and next to impossible to share information with Israel such as family news, events, pictures etc… Under Nasser’s regime the Egyptian government intercepted mail and packages going out or coming into the country. Being that the US was a neutral country, the Cassutos’ helped facilitate getting news through from Israel to us or vice versa. For example, in order to communicate with Grandma Rachel, Nona Rifka would send out letters from Israel to New York, in turn the Cassutos’ would rewrite the letters on US airmail (Aérogramme) stationary, and mail to Grandma in Egypt for it to get through. Complicated process! but unfortunately this is how things are when you live under an autocratic government, not as simple as the USPS. It was not until we arrived in France that mail coming from Israel could reach us and vice versa.

As far back as I can recall I learned that living in Alexandria was almost like being in a French city. We were surrounded by French culture and as I mentioned, the language primarily spoken was French. It was spoken everywhere; in stores, large and small, patisseries (pastry shops), theaters, banks etc… We enjoyed much of the French culture and influence. Elegance and haute couture was very prominent. Grandma always wore tailored and fine dresses, (always accessorizing) and Grandpa wore fancy shirts (starched collars and cuffs) and ties, sports jackets, or tailored suits complimented by a hat. Night life was very habitual. It seemed Grandpa and Grandma were frequently meeting up with friends. The days were leisurely, with lots of gatherings in outdoor cafés, beautiful sunshine as would be expected on the Mediterranean sea, authentic foods from multicultural backgrounds, and lots of Tawla games (Means Backgammon table game in Arabic) which Grandpa Soly was a real champion at. You could also smell chicha (Arabic for hookah) smoked in many areas of the city. All in all a pretty active scene.

Back in our apartment, I remember that we had live-in babysitters. It was so much more fun when we had one that was less strict with us. We had so much fun, and practically would drive her crazy, as we could get away with much more. Managing three boys and a baby could be rather overwhelming. So we did cycle through many live-in babysitters who did not last too long. One babysitter however did stand out as we grew up knowing her, and she appeared to be more part of the family so it seemed.

While living in Alexandria, we enjoyed a beautiful and tempered climate which was very pleasant. The warm season was tropical and seemed endless. Our life outdoors was the enjoyment of being on the beach. We had many choices of beaches, and of course there were some favorites which we frequented often. Summers seemed to last forever.

We lived in a high rise building on the corniche, (beach front) in the Ramleh section of Alexandria. Grandma Rosa lived with her daughter our Aunt Laura and three of Aunt Laura's children; my cousins, Albert [Tino], Andre and Adrienne They lived in the downtown Alexandria area in the Manchieh section. Grandpa's brother, Uncle David [Doudou], Aunt Esther and cousin Eli lived in the Sporting section of the city. On my maternal side, Aunt Mary and Uncle Isaac Anaf along with my cousins, Allegrina, Benny (Benoit) and Rebbie [Rebecca] also lived near Sporting.

Around 1948, my maternal Grandparents, Nono Samuel and Nona Rifka, moved to Eretz Israel along with Uncles David and Isaac shortly thereafter. I never met my maternal Grandparents, Uncle Isaac or my Aunts as they had moved to Israel. My cousins on my maternal side were all born in Israel. I only met Uncle David Sades at Stefan's Bar Mitzvah in March 1996, and cousin Sammy Sades, Uncle Isaac's son who I saw for the first time when we visited Israel in 2018. I would like to know more about my maternal side now that I met Sammy and do hope to learn more when I have the chance.

I described a harmonious part of life in Egypt, but I also have vivid memories of the unrest which developed with Arab/Jewish relations. I researched some of the history of the time to better understand the events of the period. This led me to the Egyptian revolution of 1952 with the toppling of King Farouk in a coup d’état by the Free Officers Movement, a group of army officers led by Gamal Abdel Nasser and his close allies. Nasser was the first president of Egypt and was elected with 99.8% vote after overthrowing the monarchy and overthrowing King Farouk.

In 1952, at barely three years old now that I look back, it was amazing that the years to follow would bring such turmoil. It would be the beginning of changes to come. As I grew to be a little older, I could sense that life around us was changing and that we were living under cautious conditions.

In my next section, I will share my recollection of what life was like from 1952 to our departure. I will pause here and hope to continue this chapter of family and life in Egypt.

Thank you for your interest.