Bayush Menegistu

Father's name: Ezra Menegistu

Mother's name: Enquow Perdan

Year of birth: 1935

Place of birth: Gada, Esga, Semien Malta, Semien

Region in Ethiopia: Simien

Main occupation in Ethiopia: Housewife and potter

The language of the interview: Amharic

Bayush Menegistu, nature, agriculture, shepherding, housewife, potter, criminals, robbers, murder, customs and traditions, holy sites, Kesim, injera, teff, housework, protection, ritual purity, food, spices, tella, beer, china, clay, housework, grinding, cooking, Italians, Derg, Emperor Haile Selassie, Gada, Esga, Semien Malta, Semien, Abba Tan-Tan, Belessa, Addis Ababa, Israel, Jerusalem.

Summary of the testimony:

Bayush describes her family tree and talks about the local history. She describes her village, the holy sites that surrounded it, and the nearby compound the Kesim (spiritual leaders) lived in. In her childhood, when Ethiopia was under Italian rule, crime escalated and her grandfather was murdered by one of the gangs that flourished unhindered. Only when Emperor Haile Selassie returned to power did the residents once again experience peace and have a feeling of security.

As a child, Bayush helped her mother with the housework and learned the art of pottery from her. Her father had many diverse vocations: farmer, weaver, and deputy to the district judge and tax collector, Yishai-Alka Marsha Nagado. Bayush talks about family and communal daily life in her village. She heard many stories about Jerusalem. She also talks about household tasks, the purification customs in the Jewish community, and the relationship between the community and their Christian neighbors. Bayush relates that there were many robberies and describes how they were resolved.

Bayush got married and started a family. After she was widowed, she continued to live with her husband’s family, who helped her bring up and support her five children. After the children grew up, Bayush remarried and moved with her husband to Belessa where she gave birth to their child.

To support her family, she made and sold clay vessels, such as pitchers, storage jugs and food utensils. Bayush describes the process of creating the vessels: finding the mud and bringing it home, processing it into clay, forming the vessel, finishing and firing it. She notes that, thanks to her occupation of pottery, her family lacked nothing. She could always trade in clay vessels.

Bayush talks at length about the way different types of teff were grown and about the process of preparing injera. She also describes the way spices, cheeses, butter, various sauces and the drink called tella were made.

When the waves of immigration to Israel began, Bayush sold all her possessions and immigrated to Israel via Addis Ababa.