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Around 9th September 1944 [10] there were around 50,000 Jews in Bulgaria. About half of them lived in Sofia. [In 1945 a total of 49,172 Jews lived in Bulgaria, of who 27,000 were Sofia residents.] I’m not sure of the exact number. Besides the Great Synagogue [12], which still exists, there was another one, in our neighborhood in Iuchbunar, and another one which was destroyed during the bombings [during WWII]. There were synagogues on Ekzarh Yosif Street and a smaller one in another residential district near the ‘Krasno Selo’ district, but I’ve never been there. There was a rabbi, a shochet and a chazzan. For example, in the Central Synagogue besides the chief rabbi of Bulgaria, Dr. Hananel [Hananel, Asher (1895-1964): rabbi of Sofia, later Bulgaria’s chief rabbi (1949)], there were at least two or three other rabbis. There was one in our synagogue in Iuchbunar and two or three in the destroyed synagogue. There were two Jewish schools: the central one was near the present-day Rila Hotel. Its yard was very large and it consisted of three buildings. The nursery school was in a separate two-storey building. The main school which was up to fourth grade was in another two-storey building. The junior high school was in the third building which was the largest one. There were classrooms there and a gym. We played soccer in the yard. The other school was in the present-day Zona B-5 residential district. We studied the Torah, Jewish history and the subjects obligatory for the Bulgarian schools.
Some Jews lived outside the Jewish neighborhood Iuchbunar. There were also Bulgarians in Iuchbunar. The typical Jewish professionals were merchants, doctors, engineers, bankers, common workers, craftsmen, tailors, cobblers, carters, and even porters. There was electricity and running water in most of the houses. I didn’t feel anti-Semitic attitudes towards me when I was a child. We sang ‘Hubava si, moya goro’ [‘You are beautiful, my forest’ by Lyuben Karavelov], ‘Stani, stani, yunak Balkanski!’ [‘Rise, rise, Balkan hero!’ by Dobri Chintulov], and all other patriotic songs, which were taught in the Bulgarian schools. [These are songs from the Bulgarian Revival period (prior to the 1878 liberation) based on poems by Lyuben Karavelov and Dobri Chintulov respectively. Dobri Chintulov’s ‘Stani, stani, yunak Balkanski!’ was the hymn of the revolutionaries in the April Rebellion in 1876.]
There wasn’t a special market day. We went shopping every day. We, the children, bought the bread and milk and my mother all the rest. We had our favorite merchants: a grocer and a baker, from whom we bought food. As for the political events which took place during my childhood, I remember that once or twice there was a blockade in Sofia and there were a lot of policemen and soldiers. It must have been between 1934 and 1936. [These events are related to the period after the coup by Kimon Georgiev on 19th May 1934, with the participation of the political circle ‘Zveno’ (Link) and the Officers’ League. This coup suspended the Tarnovo Constitution, and the Parliament stopped working as a legislative body until 1938. A special law from 1934 dissolved all political parties and the property was confiscated by the state. The blockades in Sofia aimed to ban and stop the activities of the political formations.
Some Jews lived outside the Jewish neighborhood Iuchbunar. There were also Bulgarians in Iuchbunar. The typical Jewish professionals were merchants, doctors, engineers, bankers, common workers, craftsmen, tailors, cobblers, carters, and even porters. There was electricity and running water in most of the houses. I didn’t feel anti-Semitic attitudes towards me when I was a child. We sang ‘Hubava si, moya goro’ [‘You are beautiful, my forest’ by Lyuben Karavelov], ‘Stani, stani, yunak Balkanski!’ [‘Rise, rise, Balkan hero!’ by Dobri Chintulov], and all other patriotic songs, which were taught in the Bulgarian schools. [These are songs from the Bulgarian Revival period (prior to the 1878 liberation) based on poems by Lyuben Karavelov and Dobri Chintulov respectively. Dobri Chintulov’s ‘Stani, stani, yunak Balkanski!’ was the hymn of the revolutionaries in the April Rebellion in 1876.]
There wasn’t a special market day. We went shopping every day. We, the children, bought the bread and milk and my mother all the rest. We had our favorite merchants: a grocer and a baker, from whom we bought food. As for the political events which took place during my childhood, I remember that once or twice there was a blockade in Sofia and there were a lot of policemen and soldiers. It must have been between 1934 and 1936. [These events are related to the period after the coup by Kimon Georgiev on 19th May 1934, with the participation of the political circle ‘Zveno’ (Link) and the Officers’ League. This coup suspended the Tarnovo Constitution, and the Parliament stopped working as a legislative body until 1938. A special law from 1934 dissolved all political parties and the property was confiscated by the state. The blockades in Sofia aimed to ban and stop the activities of the political formations.
Location
Bulgaria
Interview
Leon Seliktar