Trunegu Ezra

Father's name: Blembares Ezra Ashata

Mother's name: Kesiah Twabe

Year of birth: 1963

Place of birth: Intali, Ayemba Ayesus, Gondar

Region in Ethiopia: Gondar

Main occupation in Ethiopia: Student

The language of the interview: Amharic

Trunegu Ezra, nature, pupil, well, Christians, housework, Dr. Faitlovitch, commander, eulogy, festivals and sabbaths, customs and traditions, leasing land, agriculture, court, Pokhara, the Jewish Agency, Hebrew, Amharic, English, ORT, ritual purity, menstruation house, midwife, longing for Jerusalem, Italians, Derg, Haile Selassie, EHAPA, Intali, Ayemba Ayesus, Gondar, Ambover, Israel, Jerusalem, Kenya, Sudan, Kfar Batya, her husband Geshi Tawal, Yonah Bugala, Zimna.

Summary of the testimony:

Trunegu describes her family tree, her village, and the local history. She relates how her family and the other Jewish families in the area dug their own well to avoid coming into contact with the Christian neighbors. Trunegu describes the housework she used to do as a child, such as collecting wood, grinding spices, and scrubbing laundry on the riverbank. She also describes customs connected to the sabbath and festivals.

Trunegu’s father was an officer in the Italian army and a district leader of the Jewish community who even met Dr. Faitlovitch. Trunegu reads excerpts from the eulogy for Dr. Faitlovitch that her father wrote and sent to Emperor Haile Selassie after Dr. Faitlovitch’s death.

Trunegu’s mother was the village midwife. Trunegu describes how she delivered babies, especially births with complications, and customs after birth such as special foods. She explains the ritual purity customs, such as daily life in the menstruation house, and when a woman could leave it, such as to comfort mourners.

During the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie, the Jews in Trunegu’s village were forbidden from owning lands. Her family rented land from Christian neighbors in exchange for a quarter of the produce. Trunegu recalls an incident when the owner of the land suddenly wanted to change the lease contract. The dispute was brought before a high court, which ruled that her father was in the right.

When she was nine, she moved to live with her uncles in Ambover and studied until eighth grade in the Jewish school there. She describes life in the Jewish community and the activities of the Jewish Agency and ORT, such as establishing and operating the schools and health clinics. She describes her studies in Hebrew, Amharic, and English at length, and talks about the social life in the school.

Her sister was a member of a delegation of students sent to be educated in the Kfar Batya youth village in Israel. Trunegu talks about how she, her family, and the Beta Israel community had a strong yearning and great desire to immigrate to Israel and to visit Jerusalem. Her husband, Geshi Tawal Zeru, was arrested and imprisoned on the Kenyan border while attempting to smuggle his family out of Ethiopia to immigrate to Israel. Several years later, Trunegu and her family managed to immigrate to Israel via Sudan.