Moscu Mizrahy

This is my father, Moscu Mizrahy, in 1918. On the back of the photograph there is a dedication for my mother, whom he called 'his best friend.’ The picture was taken in Bucharest.

My father was born on 12th April 1897 in Bucharest. He was what they call a 'self-made man'. He went to the Evangelic School, then to the Commerce Academy in Bucharest. Right after he graduated from the former, he started to provide for himself by doing bookkeeping for various employers; he did this all the way through college. In 1924 he was hired as a clerk by a company owned by a very rich family, Marcus Pincas & Co. In just a few years, through hard work and competence, he made it to proxy. Over the years, his career developed further: authorized accountant, expert accountant, and PhD in economics. 

He was drafted at the end of World War I, went to an officer's school, and graduated as a second lieutenant. After a call-up in 1927, he was promoted to lieutenant. There were some more call-ups in 1939, to Sibiu and Lipova, Arad County - he was with the 5th Heavy Artillery Regiment. He remained in the army until 15th August 1940, when Jews were kicked out from the armed forces. 

My father observed the main holidays of the Hebrew calendar, fasted once a year, for Yom Kippur, didn't eat bread during the seven days of Pesach, and, if he came back from work in time to catch the Friday night service, he went to the temple and read from the prayer book alongside the others. He wasn't devout, but had had a religious education. I have his old prayer books, where he thoroughly marked over the years the time of the Kol Nidrei prayer, the time of the shofar, and the time when the service ended. I carry on this tradition and I mark the times when the services begin and end.