Tag #137538 - Interview #79544 (Sofi Uziel)

I visited Israel three times – in 1960, 1994 and 1998. For some time I kept in touch with my relatives through letters and on the phone. My husband’s mother [Simha Levi] was very ill, but he couldn’t get a visa. My husband’s mother emigrated to Israel in 1949 during the Exodus [see Mass Aliyah] [12]. So, I went there and told them, ‘If you want to, you could put a tail on him. My husband is an honest and social person. The fact that he is a communist doesn’t mean he can’t go to Israel. His mother is very ill. Check it!’ So, within three days they let him go. The minister’s plenipotentiaries were Bulgarians and I said to them, ‘Please, understand, I’m talking about his mother!’ They let him go, however, they did put a tail on him; they safeguarded their country’s interest.

All of my friends are in Israel and most of my relatives are there, too. I also have some acquaintances there, but almost no friends. It wasn’t dangerous to maintain correspondence with Israel, but I haven’t done so because I had no time to spare. I communicated with my relatives in Israel mainly by phone. My husband didn’t want to emigrate to Israel because he had a good job here. He said, ‘I’m going to give our children good education. I don’t want to go and build a new country! What is going to happen to me there?’

I don’t have any contact with my relatives abroad. I only keep in touch with my brother’s younger daughter in Israel and with my grandchildren. They constantly call me. They respect me and love me very much because I’ve brought them up. They were brought here straight from the hospital. I have looked after them from the time they were babies to the age of seven. That was my delight… Everything! My daughter and son-in-law used to work, that’s why I looked after their children. At that time I was already a pensioner and was able to care of my grandchildren.