In the Beginning...
|
| Photo 1 - Jak Kontente |
|
| Photo 2 - Jak and Margo Kontente |
I would like to take you back to Izmir, Turkey at the beginning of the
century. My father, Jak Kontente's family (1910-1969) settled there
after the Balkan war (See photo 1). Both my parent's families came from Salonica.
Their ancestors had fled from Spain and had been accepted as citizens
of the Ottoman empire.
Izmir was a promising wealthy trade port of Turkey on the Aegean
coast. Alas, their youth had to experience the big fire of Izmir in
1919 during the war of independence. My mother's family lost their
home in the fire. In 1930, my father's family which was doing quite
well in the tobacco business, was influenced by the depression. They
lost everything.
Their first years of marriage were difficult stormy ones, with a long
military service and a few unpleasant years in the tobacco business (See photo 2).
When my father finally got interested in rugs, he had already reached
a more mature age (See photo 2a).
|
