INT: Can I ask you, again, about the pogrom that you lived through, as a child? Do you think that was directly related to what was happening in Europe? ED: Yes, because my dad says, and I have a vision of that, although I don’t remember seeing it, about half a dozen Gestapo people walked … Read more
INT: So you were in London, and you’re sending letters to your parents? ED: Well that came after INT: Could they tell you about what was happening in Baghdad? ED: No, no. In, [they ]kind of, covered [up], what do you call it, enigmatic? INT: Code? ED: Yeah, very little. But I did something that … Read more
ED: Well there was a very bad persecution when I was there, when I was about ten, eleven years old, in the early 40’s, when we had a terrible uprising. That was awful. It started one afternoon and my cousin came, they usually came at any time, and he said, shouting, “Batten [down] your windows … Read more
Int: Today is the 18th May 2015, and we are here to interview Esperance David. Hello Esperance. ED: Hello. Int: Could you begin and tell us when you were born? ED: The 7th of May, 1929. (laughter). Int: Where were you born? And what was your name at birth? ED: I was born in Baghdad, … Read more
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Sonja talks more about her family and describes the fate of her grandparents. INT: And Marion, you’re Sonja’s daughter, would you like to add anything? M: Well one thing mum didn’t mention was when my grandfather flew off in this jet with the woman from the Thai embassy somehow or another they ended up in … Read more
Sonja explains how she feels in relation to Scotland. INT: Tell me if you look back on your time here in Scotland what would you say were the high points for you? SH: Probably acceptance. Nobody ever asked me…….they thought I was just foreign, you know. But I could have been Italian or Spanish or… … Read more
Sonja tells the interviewer why she ended up in Scotland and about her life here. INT: And…So what, after all these apprenticeships, what job did you end up doing? SH: I became a milliner. INT: Oh. SH: Because that was part of my mother’s – what she did in the shops. INT: Right, and yet … Read more
