INT: Did you like Scotland? ED: Yes, I think so. They were more open, you know. I worked in a school in Scotland, in East Kilbride. That came after, really, Sandhurst wasn’t it? And they were very, very nice, you know. The headmaster was nice, a retired army officer, sergeant major, so the school was … Read more
INT: Did you find it easy to integrate into Scottish society, or did you feel different? ED: Jewish society or anything? INT: Jewish and the wider society. ED: Well, the wider society, I went back to work when we had another… INT2: You had a son in between all that. ED: A son in between, … Read more
INT: Yeah, and he got a job in Scotland in what year? ED: Well David was still doing his apprenticeship but to have an Honours degree wasn’t enough to be a chartered engineer, so there was a big concern, an electrical factory, the Brush [Electrical Engineering Company], so he was doing it there, and I … Read more
INT: We haven’t heard about your husband, how did you meet him? ED: Well, that’s a long story, isn’t it? [Laughter]. ED: Well, while I was in Israel on my first visit, I was staying with my mum and dad, obviously, but my brother got married and his wife was five months’ pregnant and they … Read more
INT: So you must, you were in Britain… INT: They were in Israel, building the, when did you see them again? ED: 1953. INT: So, you studied? ED: I finished my study, then I was teaching. INT: Oh you were a teacher? ED: I was teaching. INT: In London? ED: In London, I was teaching … Read more
So the regent and his family were killed by that coup [in 1958] by them [by the Revolutionists], because there was a coup in the government at that time. So, from a kingdom, that was done away, literally done away, killed all of them, and they established the republic and, from then on, it became … Read more
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