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In 1955 my parents left for Israel. They were very afraid that my brother might marry a Bulgarian too and after he graduated from technical school, they prepared to leave. I didn’t receive any help from them. They hadn’t forgiven me for marrying a Bulgarian yet. They sold the apartment, but told me that they needed the money for the trip. They left me nothing.
My mother even took the books from the enormous library, put them in big boxes and loaded them on their ship. They didn’t need these books at all. But that was her way of punishing me. The only book she left me was [Margaret Mitchell’s] ‘Gone with the Wind.’ Later, when we visited them in Israel, we found the books still unpacked in the big boxes and we took out some of them to read. Later, she gave all the books to a library.
My parents weren’t very happy in Israel because my father had to go to an ulpan [26] in Jerusalem. Not every town had an ulpan at that time. It was very hard and he had a stroke six months after their arrival. My mother looked after him for eleven years, which meant she couldn’t work and achieve anything. She ironed clothes for richer people at home in order to earn some money. They brought shirts and bed sheets, which she ironed and folded.
After papa died in 1966, she started babysitting. It was very hard for her because she was no longer young but she never thought about returning to Bulgaria. She was a firm Zionist. She always believed that there was no better country than Israel.
My mother even took the books from the enormous library, put them in big boxes and loaded them on their ship. They didn’t need these books at all. But that was her way of punishing me. The only book she left me was [Margaret Mitchell’s] ‘Gone with the Wind.’ Later, when we visited them in Israel, we found the books still unpacked in the big boxes and we took out some of them to read. Later, she gave all the books to a library.
My parents weren’t very happy in Israel because my father had to go to an ulpan [26] in Jerusalem. Not every town had an ulpan at that time. It was very hard and he had a stroke six months after their arrival. My mother looked after him for eleven years, which meant she couldn’t work and achieve anything. She ironed clothes for richer people at home in order to earn some money. They brought shirts and bed sheets, which she ironed and folded.
After papa died in 1966, she started babysitting. It was very hard for her because she was no longer young but she never thought about returning to Bulgaria. She was a firm Zionist. She always believed that there was no better country than Israel.
Period
Year
1955
Location
Israel
Interview
Sarina Chelibakova