Selected text
Then laws against us were introduced – the Law for the Protection of the Nation [4]. We didn’t move to the ghetto, which for Sofia was in the district of Iuchbunar, because my father was a war invalid.
First of all we were deprived of our jobs. I was working for the ‘Invalid’ Company. Then I became a governess. I was working as a governess for a Jewish family in Gorna Banya – the Moshes. They were Dodescos and we weren’t. But I was fired because due to the Law for the Protection of the Nation I wasn’t allowed to be a governess, either [to have two jobs at the same time]. We weren’t allowed to walk beyond Krasno Selo up in the mountain, but the family I worked for as a governess lived in Gorna Banya, which was further on after Krasno Selo. Then I found a job with another family, looking after their little girl. Then I went to work for yet another family – Jewish again. The grandfather was a manufacturer – he had a toothbrush factory. Their daughter was studying at the French College [5]. She embraced the Orthodox Christian religion and ran away to France. She gave birth to a boy, Zippo. Then she poisoned herself. Her husband hired me to look after the child and I took good care of him. They wanted me to move to Israel with them, but I was already engaged to my husband and didn’t go with them. They emigrated in 1947 via France.
First of all we were deprived of our jobs. I was working for the ‘Invalid’ Company. Then I became a governess. I was working as a governess for a Jewish family in Gorna Banya – the Moshes. They were Dodescos and we weren’t. But I was fired because due to the Law for the Protection of the Nation I wasn’t allowed to be a governess, either [to have two jobs at the same time]. We weren’t allowed to walk beyond Krasno Selo up in the mountain, but the family I worked for as a governess lived in Gorna Banya, which was further on after Krasno Selo. Then I found a job with another family, looking after their little girl. Then I went to work for yet another family – Jewish again. The grandfather was a manufacturer – he had a toothbrush factory. Their daughter was studying at the French College [5]. She embraced the Orthodox Christian religion and ran away to France. She gave birth to a boy, Zippo. Then she poisoned herself. Her husband hired me to look after the child and I took good care of him. They wanted me to move to Israel with them, but I was already engaged to my husband and didn’t go with them. They emigrated in 1947 via France.
Location
Bulgaria
Interview
Sofi Uziel