Transcription
Zacharias: That was the grandfather and my brother and the grandfathers had the grocery store and they took the photograph, I brought it here.
Michalis: Him, what's his name, do you remember?
Zacharias: Zacharias.
Michalis: Zacharias?
Zacharias: Yes, Zacharias.
Michalis: Your grandfather?
Zacharias: My grandfather.
Michalis: Grandfather Zacharias.
Zacharias: Zacharias had two boys and four girls, six somewhere around there, now I don't remember exactly. From those six girls and boys, he married off my children, my father entered the grocery store and his brother, the grandfather's son, he also entered. These three people had three-four girls. He married off the girls, and gave them houses, gifts, all these were ours.
Zacharias: Well, he gave them houses, from there, as soon as he gave them houses, he also sat in the grocery store, the grandfather. He was with the children, he kept the two children in the grocery store, because he didn't have. Well, let me not tell you everything I know and more.
Zacharias: Well, from there on he had, here he had a big door where the carts entered. He took the cart in the evening and went to Trikala to sell the groceries, from there on, since they went all like that, to the markets as we say, as I gave to those. He died like the men.
Zacharias: In '40 my father, in the '40s we were in Dougani. We left from here with the Italians, because they were bombing and we went to Dougani, to Agia here nearby. They stayed there and my father died. He was going well there in '38, he was going to Ipso etc when he was alive, my father. From there on we brought my father here.
Zacharias: My brother was in third year of gymnasium. The other one, Barmant, had three children, four, and four, five girls. Well, they married them off from this grocery store, like that. And all these worked until three o'clock in the evening and went to Karditsa, Soufades, what I wanted to say etc.
Zacharias: Then the Germans came. We had nothing to eat. Fortunately we had some fields there, we took a little wheat, we collected the... You know the chaff that they collected those things. They collected one by one and we took them and ground them. This story is real stories, it's not jokes. When we collected wheat and took it there where they cut at the coffee mill and I to make a little flour, they mocked us.
Zacharias: Well, from there on... I didn't have a father, I entered work, I cried, I worked with the drills. Mechanic. I was trained there. Well, anyway... We survived.
Zacharias: We left from... We were leaving from Dougani, the Germans came, we were in Ikaia. From Ikaia we go to Charki, from Charki we go to Agia. From there we left. The Germans came to Agia. At the peak of Kisavos the partisans told us. Don't go up, so they won't kill you.
Zacharias: There the Italians that the partisans had gathered them... After it broke... I don't know if you know. After it broke, it didn't surrender. The Italians, the partisans gathered all the... the Italians and took them to the mountains as much as they could survive. All these mountains of Italians. This is the story.
Zacharias: The war ended. A plane fell in Atharant. And they brought the Germans. From the time they brought the Germans... Don't let us bore you, I was so many years old then. Around 40. We took out... The Germans, two-three who died, they took them... They buried them, in the cemeteries. This story, I remember everything.
Zacharias: And from there we reached the peak, and then we returned to Larissa. Poverty began. Not poverty. My father died. You understand now. We searched, see what property he has, what this. We put an uncle there. He brought us a little bread and put it like that. And brought it to mother who was a widow.
Zacharias: And I didn't know all these children, the grandfathers. And now when my wife talks I will learn... how many girls there were and how many children to write them on the tree as they say. No one went through these things.
Zacharias: The Germans were chasing us. The Germans were chasing us. We threw those things. We opened the weapons and took out those macaroni. And we threw them. A German who was chasing us comes, he'll shoot us, he hides all these. I'd like to tell you. And my sisters came out the Italian women. They were hiding here inside the room. It's a big story.
Zacharias: And I have this with this grandfather and as my grandchildren are. It's our life. He had so many children. He married off his children. He worked like a porter in the villages that happened. And I took him from there. I brought her here.
Zacharias: This field there. It's two acres. I don't sell it because we ate from there. We made May Day. We made the one. All these. Poverty. No, we didn't have poverty. But we also don't just go to drink coffee now.
Michalis: When were you born?
Zacharias: I was born on August 31st. Now I'm turning 94. Fine, fine.
Michalis: Did you celebrate all the holidays?
Zacharias: Well, not about the holidays. My father had four girls. All married. When Easter came. When we had holidays. We gathered here. And we made molios. You understand these things. Second. As soon as Easter ended. We had a big sofa. Five by five to take them all. And all the grandfathers sang. And we are apostles. You know what beautiful songs. What they sang. Hebrew songs.
Zacharias, 94, shares his memories of his family's life during World War II. He recounts the story of his grandfather, also named Zacharias, who owned a grocery store and married off all his children, as well as the difficulties the family faced during the occupation. He describes fleeing Larissa due to the bombings, the death of his father in 1940, the hunger during the German occupation, and the constant moving to escape the occupiers. Despite the adversities, the family survived and maintained its traditions, gathering all the relatives for the big holidays.
Zacharias Sason
Transcription
Zacharias: That was the grandfather and my brother and the grandfathers had the grocery store and they took the photograph, I brought it here.
Michalis: Him, what's his name, do you remember?
Zacharias: Zacharias.
Michalis: Zacharias?
Zacharias: Yes, Zacharias.
Michalis: Your grandfather?
Zacharias: My grandfather.
Michalis: Grandfather Zacharias.
Zacharias: Zacharias had two boys and four girls, six somewhere around there, now I don't remember exactly. From those six girls and boys, he married off my children, my father entered the grocery store and his brother, the grandfather's son, he also entered. These three people had three-four girls. He married off the girls, and gave them houses, gifts, all these were ours.
Zacharias: Well, he gave them houses, from there, as soon as he gave them houses, he also sat in the grocery store, the grandfather. He was with the children, he kept the two children in the grocery store, because he didn't have. Well, let me not tell you everything I know and more.
Zacharias: Well, from there on he had, here he had a big door where the carts entered. He took the cart in the evening and went to Trikala to sell the groceries, from there on, since they went all like that, to the markets as we say, as I gave to those. He died like the men.
Zacharias: In '40 my father, in the '40s we were in Dougani. We left from here with the Italians, because they were bombing and we went to Dougani, to Agia here nearby. They stayed there and my father died. He was going well there in '38, he was going to Ipso etc when he was alive, my father. From there on we brought my father here.
Zacharias: My brother was in third year of gymnasium. The other one, Barmant, had three children, four, and four, five girls. Well, they married them off from this grocery store, like that. And all these worked until three o'clock in the evening and went to Karditsa, Soufades, what I wanted to say etc.
Zacharias: Then the Germans came. We had nothing to eat. Fortunately we had some fields there, we took a little wheat, we collected the... You know the chaff that they collected those things. They collected one by one and we took them and ground them. This story is real stories, it's not jokes. When we collected wheat and took it there where they cut at the coffee mill and I to make a little flour, they mocked us.
Zacharias: Well, from there on... I didn't have a father, I entered work, I cried, I worked with the drills. Mechanic. I was trained there. Well, anyway... We survived.
Zacharias: We left from... We were leaving from Dougani, the Germans came, we were in Ikaia. From Ikaia we go to Charki, from Charki we go to Agia. From there we left. The Germans came to Agia. At the peak of Kisavos the partisans told us. Don't go up, so they won't kill you.
Zacharias: There the Italians that the partisans had gathered them... After it broke... I don't know if you know. After it broke, it didn't surrender. The Italians, the partisans gathered all the... the Italians and took them to the mountains as much as they could survive. All these mountains of Italians. This is the story.
Zacharias: The war ended. A plane fell in Atharant. And they brought the Germans. From the time they brought the Germans... Don't let us bore you, I was so many years old then. Around 40. We took out... The Germans, two-three who died, they took them... They buried them, in the cemeteries. This story, I remember everything.
Zacharias: And from there we reached the peak, and then we returned to Larissa. Poverty began. Not poverty. My father died. You understand now. We searched, see what property he has, what this. We put an uncle there. He brought us a little bread and put it like that. And brought it to mother who was a widow.
Zacharias: And I didn't know all these children, the grandfathers. And now when my wife talks I will learn... how many girls there were and how many children to write them on the tree as they say. No one went through these things.
Zacharias: The Germans were chasing us. The Germans were chasing us. We threw those things. We opened the weapons and took out those macaroni. And we threw them. A German who was chasing us comes, he'll shoot us, he hides all these. I'd like to tell you. And my sisters came out the Italian women. They were hiding here inside the room. It's a big story.
Zacharias: And I have this with this grandfather and as my grandchildren are. It's our life. He had so many children. He married off his children. He worked like a porter in the villages that happened. And I took him from there. I brought her here.
Zacharias: This field there. It's two acres. I don't sell it because we ate from there. We made May Day. We made the one. All these. Poverty. No, we didn't have poverty. But we also don't just go to drink coffee now.
Michalis: When were you born?
Zacharias: I was born on August 31st. Now I'm turning 94. Fine, fine.
Michalis: Did you celebrate all the holidays?
Zacharias: Well, not about the holidays. My father had four girls. All married. When Easter came. When we had holidays. We gathered here. And we made molios. You understand these things. Second. As soon as Easter ended. We had a big sofa. Five by five to take them all. And all the grandfathers sang. And we are apostles. You know what beautiful songs. What they sang. Hebrew songs.