My Dad's Dad and Mom

 

Yvonne and Emil Horesh lived in Tehran, Iran with their three children, Allen, Joseph, and Cindy.  Their parents were born in Iraq and had lived there for about 400 years. Their parents had left Iraq when life became bad for Jews.  In Iran, they lived in a community of Iraqi Jews and they lived a prosperous life.  Emil had his own business where he imported fabrics into Iran.  When Yvonne and Emil were children, they attended the international school where they were taught in English.  Their three children, Allen, Joseph, and Cindy, attended the same school.  They had a full staff of employees at their home, including housekeepers, a cook, and a driver.  At home, they spoke in both Farsi and English.  Yvonne and Emil would sometimes speak to each other and their relatives in Arabic.  However, their children were only taught English and Farsi.

 

Life in Iran started changing when the Iranian citizens started becoming angry with the shah.  Life for Jewish people became difficult and the Jews started fearing for their safety.  Emil and Yvonne started talking amongst themselves and their relatives about leaving Iran.  In January, 1979, they left Iran and moved to America.  The chose America because one of Emil's brothers was living in Atlanta.  One other brother also moved to Atlanta.  Emil's other siblings moved to London, England and Montreal, Canada. Yvonne's siblings all moved to California.

 

When they left Iran, the Horesh family thought they would eventually move back to Iran. Emil still owned his home and business in Iran.  When he realized that he was going to stay in America, he took a trip to Iran to try to sell his home and business.  His Iranian business partner had taken over the control of his business.  The people who had worked for him in his home had taken over his house and shot at him from the house.  He decided that his life was more important to him than his possessions in Iran, so he returned to the U.S.

 

At first, life in America was difficult.  This was the time of the Iranian Hostage Crisis and the Americans did not think favorably of Iranians.  The Horesh's spoke with middle eastern accents, and everyone knew that they were immigrants.  Yvonne said that people thought that they were uneducated and were not cultured since they came from the middle east.  However, the truth is that they were well educated and they had travelled all over the world so they were very cultured.  In Iran, their whole family lived in the same neighborhood.  After they left Iran, they lived all over the world.  Their family used to spend time together on a daily basis as the children would go from one relative's home to the next.  Now they lived in a completely different environment surrounded by strangers with different customs.

 

Emil and Yvonne started a business with their brother.  They bought a home in Buckhead and sent their children to private school.  They slowly became more and more Americanized.  However, they still keep their traditions alive in their home.  Most of their dinners are either traditional Persian or Arabic food.  Although they do speak in English to each other and their children, they also speak in Farsi and Arabic, especially when they are with their siblings.  Since Yvonne and Emil spoke in English to Allen, Joseph, and Cindy, the children are no longer able to speak in Farsi. 

 

Being an Iraqi/Iranian Jew is still a defining factor in the lives of Yvonne and Emil. Their children all married Americans, so although the traditions and food can still be found in the lives of their children and grandchildren, the family has become more integrated into the American society.