Tag #126002 - Interview #78405 (Rafael Beraha)

In Kazanlak my family lived in the Karenska neighborhood at the end of the town. The Jewish houses were there. There was no anti-Semitism in our neighborhood. We were very united, surrounded by Bulgarians and Gypsies. In addition, Kazanlak was a town of military servicemen – the armory, the aviation and some infantry departments were stationed there. There were a lot of officers. And anti-Semitism was instilled among them. I remember that as a child I witnessed the argument between an officer and a villager. The officer mentioned that Jews were cowards. And the villager, who was a little older than the officer, said, ‘Have you been to war? No, you haven’t. And do you know what the Jews did during the war?’ I remember how the villager disproved the officer’s words and he blushed all over. That impressed me very much.