During the Corona season in Jerusalem, in April and May 2020, I had the privilege to read Vassilis Tzaferis’ autobiographical book in Greek titled “Η Πορεία μου,” “My Course.”
In “My Course” Tzaferis takes us on a journey from his childhood at the Greek island of Samos to his adulthood in Jerusalem.
I love the book and decided to dedicate a few blog posts to it, sharing excerpts from Tzaferis’ diary with my readers.
In this and over the coming blog posts, I will be sharing videos of me reading excerpts from Tzaferis’ book pertaining to Greeks of Jerusalem; some of whom I had the pleasure of meeting myself.
Moreover, I will be including a translation of the Greek text into English so that Tzaferis’ words can be accessible to all.
Should you or your close ones are part of this special community and have photos and stories you would like to share with the blog’s community, please feel free to add them in the comments’ part of the blog for everyone to enjoy.
A special Thank You to Eftychia Tzaferis and her children for their support in this project!
I am honored to invite you to watch the first video below in which Vassilis Tzaferis mentions Nikos Nikolaidis, a Greek Jerusalemite and his business located at the Greek Compound of Jerusalem.
The below story must have taken place around 1958 to 1960 per Zoe Nikolaidis, Nikolas Nikolaidis’ daughter who was herself a Greek student of Tzaferis and resides in the Greek Colony.
Below please find my translation of the story’s text into English:
“On the days I taught (at the Greek Community) I would go to the newly established Greek school a bit ahead of time, so that to meet the aged Nikolaidis, who maintained a grocery store at a small, corner-building, located within the Greek Compound. Nikolaidis knew everything on the community and the Greeks of Jerusalem.
His shop was small with wooden shelves, containing cigarettes, canned foods, cleaning materials, soft drinks, beers, and all kinds of nuts. His shop was a passers by locale for all Greeks and the information center of community members on communal issues. Before the lesson, I would sit in his shop for half an hour, where I would drink my beers, and catch up on the community’s news.”
I hope you enjoyed this first entry on Nikos Nikolaidis and the Greek Community of Jerusalem an excerpt from the autobiographical book “My Course” by Vassilis Tzaferis.
From Jerusalem with love,
Yvette Nahmia-Messinas