Alber Finanser

This is a picture of my uncle Alber Finanser, my mother's brother. The photo was taken in Istanbul in 1935. Alber Finanser opened a wholesale textile shop in Asirefendi caddesi. He had a partner called Katalan. Alber's first wife died when she was only 23. They had a daughter, Meri, who lives in the USA currently. Alber got married again - to Estrea from Kadiköy. They had a daughter, too, Ayten. They lived in Yazici sokak, two or three buildings away from the famous Dogan Apt., which used to be called Botton Han then. They did their shopping from the window, with a basket tied to a rope. Concerning the laundry, Meri told me that all the neighbors gathered on the roof terrace, lit up fires in the open, on which they heated water in enormous cauldrons, and did their washing all together. They then hung the washing to dry on ropes that were extended from each other's windows on opposite sides of the street, from one end to the other. I witnessed the laundry hanging in the streets thus all the time. Lots of photographs of this exist and attest to it, too. Alber Finanser lived in Istanbul, but moved to the USA, to live with his daughter Meri, after his wife died. He died there in 1988. My uncle Alber had many books written in Rashi letters, which were passed on to him from his father's household. Before going to America, he donated them to the Grand Rabbinate. I hope they kept them well.