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The first time I got on a train was before that, when we went to Bankya. Our family also went to restaurants. There was a restaurant called ‘Batenberg’ which we visited. There was another restaurant on the so-called ‘Fourth Kilometer’ in Sofia where we went to eat barbeque: kebapcheta [grilled oblong rissoles, a national dish in Bulgaria]. Sometimes on Sundays, after a walk in the park, we went there to have dinner. We had dinner early, while it was still daylight, and walked home, although our house wasn’t very near. We usually went to that restaurant once a month, or more seldom.
I have a brother and a sister. My brother Albert was four years older than me. He was very smart and an excellent student. He had a degree in medicine. He was the head physician of the Infections Hospital. He died at fifty in 1973. He has a son [Nikolay] from his first marriage and a daughter [Irma] from the second one. They live in Sofia. We went to school together and walked back along Pozitano Street. There wasn’t so much traffic there as now, but there were some cars, especially around Solni Market: it was dangerous. So, initially I wasn’t allowed to go to school by myself. My sister is six years younger than me. She was born in 1933. She also studied in the Jewish school. Her name is Adela and she is now in Israel. She has two children: a boy [Meyron] and a girl [Egmonda], and five grandchildren. She married in Israel after she immigrated. We loved all Jewish holidays, because we had so much fun. We received new clothes. There is a holiday, on which children receive money. It was nice.
I have a brother and a sister. My brother Albert was four years older than me. He was very smart and an excellent student. He had a degree in medicine. He was the head physician of the Infections Hospital. He died at fifty in 1973. He has a son [Nikolay] from his first marriage and a daughter [Irma] from the second one. They live in Sofia. We went to school together and walked back along Pozitano Street. There wasn’t so much traffic there as now, but there were some cars, especially around Solni Market: it was dangerous. So, initially I wasn’t allowed to go to school by myself. My sister is six years younger than me. She was born in 1933. She also studied in the Jewish school. Her name is Adela and she is now in Israel. She has two children: a boy [Meyron] and a girl [Egmonda], and five grandchildren. She married in Israel after she immigrated. We loved all Jewish holidays, because we had so much fun. We received new clothes. There is a holiday, on which children receive money. It was nice.
Location
Bulgaria
Interview
Leon Seliktar