My Palestinian Story

Exploring the Palestinian side of my family

Category: Family Stories (Page 1 of 2)

Family Stories

The Kassotis family in Nicosia, Cyprus

An Unresolved Loss

1 Sep 2024 / / 8 Comments

~ The story of my grandfather Manolis Kassotis—Part 2/2 ~

(The story continues from Part 1: An Unrecorded Death)

Last Days in Jerusalem

The clouds of war that had been gathering over the land for years became darker and more ominous after the conclusion of World War II. When, on 29 November 1947, the United Nations voted to partition Palestine, the tempest was unleashed. Explosions, snipers, barbed wire—physical manifestations of fear and hate—became everyday fare in the life of Jerusalem.

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Manolis Kassotis - Jerusalem, 1946 (Still from Nando Schtakleff's film)

An Unrecorded Death

18 Aug 2024 / / 12 Comments

~ The story of my grandfather Manolis Kassotis—Part 1/2 ~

My grandfather’s death was never recorded officially. He died on 5 April 1971 in our home in Nicosia. He used to live with us while our grandmother, Yiayia Vitsa, lived with the Eftys (Efthyvoulou), their youngest daughter’s family. On that day, both grandparents were at our home as our parents had gone abroad for two weeks and had left my brother (age 12) and myself (10) in the care of the elders.

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Census Stories

11 Aug 2023 / / 14 Comments

The brothers were both of medium height with “wheat-coloured” faces and grey-blue eyes. They hailed from Kalkandelen (as the town was known in the Ottoman Empire) and came to Jerusalem to create flour mills and bakeries—and families. 

Two unexpected snapshots of sorts, taken in 1905-1906, have added colour and detail to the picture I’ve been building over the years about these two brothers and their families. The younger brother was my great-great-grandfather George Schtakleff; the other, his brother Zacharia. 

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Demetris and Erifeely with some of their children in the garden of their house in Upper Baq’a Photographed by M Savvides (Jenny Gaitanopoulou photo collection)
Demetris and Erifeely with some of their children in the garden of their house in Upper Baq’a Photographed by M Savvides (Jenny Gaitanopoulou photo collection)

The Gaitanopoulos of Jerusalem

8 Sep 2022 / / 10 Comments

~ In Memoriam: John Thorogood (1933-2022) ~

*Note: Since its initial publication, this post has been edited at the request of a family member who wishes to remain private.

On a hot summer afternoon in London I made my way to the Thorogoods. A few months earlier, their eldest daughter, Cathie, who lives in Australia, had discovered this blog and my connection to her grandmother’s family—the Gaitanopoulos—and suggested I visit her parents next time I passed through town. I dropped them a line when I was planning a stopover and they invited me over without hesitation. 

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Vitsa Kassotou (née Schtakleff) (b Jerusalem 14 Mar 1905 - d Nicosia 5 Jul 1992)

Yiayia Vitsa’s German Biscuits

29 Dec 2021 / / 8 Comments

Before succumbing to the juggernaut of consumerism, the Christmas season was filled with the smells of baked goods wafting from home ovens. None evokes Christmas more vividly in my mind than the spicy, rich aroma of Yiayia Vitsa’s German Biscuits. (Biscuits in Brit speak, cookies in American lingo.)

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