Any Jew who
lived in Cairo remembers the Groppi establishments.
There was
“le grand Groppi” and “le petit Groppi.
Le Grand
Groppi was the Swiss cake shop famous
for its chocolate cakes and le Petit
Groppi, an inner garden not far from Shaar Hashamaim. (Gate to heaven)
Every
Saturday in winter, it was the meeting place of Jewish families, when we still
had a life as Jews
The women
went to that garden whereas the men went to the Synagogue.
After the
service, the men joined us. My two older uncles Leon and Jacques handsome in
their suits would pretend they did not know us and joined their friends inside
the
inner
salon. My nonno joined the women.
And the
chattering went on: ‘I saw that one or the other one at the synagogue or did
you hear what happened to that one.! It was the news exchange of the day,
particularly concerning Jewish families.
There was
no cooking on Saturdays because of Shabbat and everything had been prepared
beforehand. The food was re-heated by the ‘khadam’ or goy and we just put our
feet under the table and started eating.
Then one
day they had what they called their bloodless revolution. They did not kill us
in the streets but only fools walked the streets!
So the
weekly meetings at le petit Groppi vanished from our lives.
The great
Exodus started with the vast majority of Jewish families leaving.
Life was
never the same again!
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