Grandpa Eliya Gambash was born in Turkey in 1881, to Mazaltov and Nisim Gambash. He had a brother, Vitali.

In 1907, he married Zimbul Alkulumbre.
Eliya and Zimbul Gambash had four children: Fortune (Mazaltov), Mordo, Nisim (my father-in-law) and Regina.

Eliya and Zimbul Gambash with their daughter Regina

During the First World War, Grandpa Eliya was a soldier in the Ottoman (Turkish) army who fought against the British military in the Middle East. It happened that Grandpa Eliya fell into the hands of the British forces as a prisoner of war. When in the capture, he met a British Jew guard named Simon (Shimon), Lurie. The guard had some sympathy towards POW Eliya Gambash and even presented him a matchbox holder with details engraved.

The present Grandpa received

from Simon Lurie

Grandpa Eliya and his brother Vitali owned a toy shop in Istanbul in the 1940s. In November 1942 they lost the store and all their assets since they had to pay the massive "wealth tax" (in Turkish: Varlık Vergisi).

In 1953, Eliya and Zimbul Gambash left Turkey and immigrated to Thonon-Les-Bains, France.

Grandpa Eliya widowed in 1955. He left France and moved to Israel around the year 1960.

Year: 1970

He passed away on December 21, 1970, in Petah Tikva, in the apartment of Nisim and Palomba Gambash. His grave is in Segula cemetery, Petah Tikva.

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