My Aunt Ita Castro Lizmi

Conversations with my Aunt about Jewish life in Egypt

By; Edgar Berebi

Edgar BerebiIta Castro Lizmi was born in 1923 in Alexandria.

To this day she is still a spirited woman who delights everyone around her with her eye witness accounts of the era when Jews were the fabric of cosmopolitan Egypt.

In 1956 Her husband Jimmy , who was born in Lebanon, was arrested for having a French passport. He was released with the promise that he would leave Egypt within a short time .

The Lizmi family came to the United States with the rest of the Castro family in 1957.

I sat with her recently to record stories from the era of the Jews in Egypt . Her 93 years and the descriptive details that she weaves in her stories illustrates the culture of Egyptian Jews beautifully. I asked her to tell me her stories in Arabic. I did this to show the nuances of the culture that I grew up with, a culture deeply rooted, a culture rich in color, a culture unique in this world .

 

Conversations with my Aunt about Jewish life in Egypt

A glimpse into the culture I grew up with My Aunt at 93 is the national treasure of the Jewish Egyptian community of Brooklyn

A glimpse into the culture I grew up with My Aunt at 93 is the national treasure of the Jewish Egyptian community of Brooklyn

Stanley beach... Recollections and conversations from the golden Era of Egyptian Jews Born in 1923

 

Published on Apr 15, 2016

LE Bey Joseph De Picciotto ...

My Aunt Ita at 93 is still the voice of a lost world and culture . She is our national and cultural treasure

I made this video to illustrate that our roots were firm in Egyptian soil .

I made it to remember a unique culture .. 3 languages in a sentence .. The wave of the hands .. The expressions that will be familiar to all of us born in that world .

This may be of greater interest to family and those of us born in Egypt ... I hope you like it , a like would be appreciated .

The Bey ... Conversations with my Aunt Ita about Jewish life in Egypt Alexandria.