Tag #127706 - Interview #78103 (Linka Isaeva)

I don't know exactly how many Jews were in Sofia before World War II. They were quite a consolidated community, although there was a considerable difference between the poorest Jews, the rich ones and the lower middle class, to which our family belonged. Charity organizations have always existed among Jews and formed the basis for their consolidation. There was a Jewish residential district in Sofia, but there were also many Jews, who lived outside it. I cannot say which were the most typical Jewish professions, but I know which were untypical jobs for Jews: there were hardly any military people, police officers, state clerks and agricultural workers. Jews could be found in commerce, in the industry as industrial employees and in liberal professions such as engineers, doctors, jurists, bankers and merchants. Commerce was a very popular domain among Jews.