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My best memories are from my hometown. It is still in my heart and many
times my husband and I have been to Vidin, we have traveled with the
steamboat to Lom and Rousse, and back to Sofia. When I was a child, Vidin
had a European look, because of the river and the harbor, and because of
the customs, as well. It was a large frontier town. All foreigners used to
stop there before they began traveling around Bulgaria. It is a lovely
town. Its garden is magnificent. The Baba Vida's towers are also well-
preserved. All the time, they maintain them, so they won't collapse. And
the Jewish synagogue has the sound of an opera; the acoustics are opera-
like.
The Jews in Vidin used to live in Kaleto; it was a famous Jewish quarter.
There was a cinema hall in Kaleto. There were always dances there. There
was only one synagogue, but there was a Jewish community with
administrative officials and a chairman of the consistory. I remember they
did circumcisions on the boys as well as celebrations of the 13th year - a
very special birthday party in the temple in the presence of almost the
whole community. And it was very beautiful. They put the tallit on them and
they gave them the Ten Commandments to carry around the temple.
There wasn't any anti-Semitism in Vidin, even in deportation times; we felt
no difference at all in the attitude. The military band used to pass
through the town and we ran after it. And in the center, there was a
monument for the soldiers who perished in the war. The band was escorted to
that monument, both by the children and the adults. I remember it very
clearly, yet I don't remember any patriotic songs.
Friday was the market day and all the people from the villages around Vidin
came to sell their products. My mother used to buy large baskets with
cherries, apples, etc. I remember very well the cherries because after she
had given the basket back to the man who was helping her, she would spread
a rag in a very cool room. Then she would raise part of the carpet and
spread the cherries over that rag, so that they wouldn't rot.
times my husband and I have been to Vidin, we have traveled with the
steamboat to Lom and Rousse, and back to Sofia. When I was a child, Vidin
had a European look, because of the river and the harbor, and because of
the customs, as well. It was a large frontier town. All foreigners used to
stop there before they began traveling around Bulgaria. It is a lovely
town. Its garden is magnificent. The Baba Vida's towers are also well-
preserved. All the time, they maintain them, so they won't collapse. And
the Jewish synagogue has the sound of an opera; the acoustics are opera-
like.
The Jews in Vidin used to live in Kaleto; it was a famous Jewish quarter.
There was a cinema hall in Kaleto. There were always dances there. There
was only one synagogue, but there was a Jewish community with
administrative officials and a chairman of the consistory. I remember they
did circumcisions on the boys as well as celebrations of the 13th year - a
very special birthday party in the temple in the presence of almost the
whole community. And it was very beautiful. They put the tallit on them and
they gave them the Ten Commandments to carry around the temple.
There wasn't any anti-Semitism in Vidin, even in deportation times; we felt
no difference at all in the attitude. The military band used to pass
through the town and we ran after it. And in the center, there was a
monument for the soldiers who perished in the war. The band was escorted to
that monument, both by the children and the adults. I remember it very
clearly, yet I don't remember any patriotic songs.
Friday was the market day and all the people from the villages around Vidin
came to sell their products. My mother used to buy large baskets with
cherries, apples, etc. I remember very well the cherries because after she
had given the basket back to the man who was helping her, she would spread
a rag in a very cool room. Then she would raise part of the carpet and
spread the cherries over that rag, so that they wouldn't rot.
Location
Bulgaria
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