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Initially I was in charge of the basketball team; thеn I took up the Bulgarian folk dances group [in the Hakoah]. That was in 1941 and 1942, when Hakoah, which was part of the Slavia Sports Club, was closed because of the Law for the Protection of the Nation. My husband was a basketball player for Slavia.
When the authorities started interning Jews Bishop Stefan, Bishop Kiril [7], and another Bishop from Kiustendil – I don’t remember his name, but he is highly respected in Israel now and a monument was erected in his memory – raised their voice against it. When the authorities started interning us, the people began to protest straight away. We were surrounded and the Bulgarians who defended the Jews, as well as some of the more eminent Jews, that is whomever they could lay their hands on were sent to Somovit and was interned in the school. We protested, too. And then the authorities arrested the priest and the Jewish leaders and interned them initially in Somovit, then in Kailuka [8]. Then the Bulgarians who defended the Jews and some of the more eminent Jews were sent to Kailuka and on the eve of 9th September 1944 [9] the camp commandant set the camp on fire. Eleven people burned to death then.
We were interned in May 1943. I was robbed of my whole luggage. I went to Pleven with 20 kilos of luggage – I was one of the first ones to be interned. The bed, the wardrobe, the small table, the divan … we were robbed of everything. When we were interned to Pleven in 1943, I was in a group of five girls who were put on the train. We were told: ‘Don’t you dare get out of here!’ and we were locked in order to prevent us from escaping to the partisans. Then we were taken to the school and given hay to sleep on. We weren’t allowed to rent an apartment. We couldn’t walk on the main street, where bread was sold, so we used to ask ordinary people to buy bread for us.
When the authorities started interning Jews Bishop Stefan, Bishop Kiril [7], and another Bishop from Kiustendil – I don’t remember his name, but he is highly respected in Israel now and a monument was erected in his memory – raised their voice against it. When the authorities started interning us, the people began to protest straight away. We were surrounded and the Bulgarians who defended the Jews, as well as some of the more eminent Jews, that is whomever they could lay their hands on were sent to Somovit and was interned in the school. We protested, too. And then the authorities arrested the priest and the Jewish leaders and interned them initially in Somovit, then in Kailuka [8]. Then the Bulgarians who defended the Jews and some of the more eminent Jews were sent to Kailuka and on the eve of 9th September 1944 [9] the camp commandant set the camp on fire. Eleven people burned to death then.
We were interned in May 1943. I was robbed of my whole luggage. I went to Pleven with 20 kilos of luggage – I was one of the first ones to be interned. The bed, the wardrobe, the small table, the divan … we were robbed of everything. When we were interned to Pleven in 1943, I was in a group of five girls who were put on the train. We were told: ‘Don’t you dare get out of here!’ and we were locked in order to prevent us from escaping to the partisans. Then we were taken to the school and given hay to sleep on. We weren’t allowed to rent an apartment. We couldn’t walk on the main street, where bread was sold, so we used to ask ordinary people to buy bread for us.
Location
Bulgaria
Interview
Sofi Uziel