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We were four boys, having just escaped from the camp to become partisans: Miko Yulzari from Ruse, Miko Israel from Sofia, I and one boy from Lom, whose real name I don't know, but his partisan name was Gosho. We walked along the main street of Gorna Dzhumaya and suddenly the boy from Lom said, ‘That girl across the street is one of our girls, I remember her.’ We caught up with her and violated all rules of conspiracy; we told her we had escaped from the camp and wanted to get in touch with the partisans. She told us, ‘You, boys, are very lucky. On Friday Dzheki [Angel Vagenshtain] became a partisan. He is not coming back. I have replaced him and you met the right person!’ It was like in the movies!
She took us back to Vagenshtain's house, his mother welcomed us, gave us food and we spent the night there. Then she took us to a boy at the end of the town, in a vineyard. An old woman, Gina, and her two daughters hid us in a hole and we, the four of us, spent 28 days in that hole. This woman brought us food all that time. Well, the UYW organization also helped us, gave us bread. They knew that the four of us were waiting to be contacted by the partisans. On the 28th day the political commissioner of the Gorna Dzhumaya partisan team came and together with him we crossed the Struma River on foot.
Our fate after we escaped from the camp was the following: Gosho died, Miko Yulzari immigrated to Israel and became a merchant, but he was not successful and he committed suicide; Miko Israel taught Russian for many years in Gorna Dzhumaya and I returned to Ruse. I spent part of my life in the army in Varna as a fleet officer, and my rank is colonel, captain.
My fate after 9th September 1944 was interesting. In 1944-46 I worked as an organizer in the District Committee of the UYW in Ruse. In 1946 I led the first permanent brigade [24] of Samuil-Silistra. At that time young people came to work for free on the road Samuil-Silistra for 20 days and I was their leader. The following year I became a commander; after I finished a course for brigade commanders in Beli Bryag.
Then my team became the national champions of Pernik-Voluyak [The construction of the path between Pernik and Voluyak was done by a number of youth brigades, who competed with each other in terms of quality and speed.] Afterwards I was asked to go to Sofia where I was appointed at first as an inspector and then as head of the ‘Competitions and Awards’ department in the headquarters of the brigadiers [the competitions were labor ones]. Around 400,000 youths took part in the brigades in 1947. Our team was a national champion again [competing with five national teams]. Our prize was a red flag with the words ‘national champion’ and a parade in front of the National Assembly [on Georgi Dimitrov Blvd] in Sofia.
At the end of 1947 I was assigned to go to the army. I went there, passed a course for political officers and was appointed to the headquarters of the Ist army in Sofia. The political officer's job is to be in charge of the moral and political preparation of the soldiers and officers. Said in ‘Soviet’ style, this is a commissar – at that time we copied the Soviet army, like we copy the American one now. There was one political officer in every battalion and on every ship. We had to be familiar with military science and know as much as the officers who had graduated from staff colleges and we also had to prepare the servicemen entrusted to us both morally and politically.
She took us back to Vagenshtain's house, his mother welcomed us, gave us food and we spent the night there. Then she took us to a boy at the end of the town, in a vineyard. An old woman, Gina, and her two daughters hid us in a hole and we, the four of us, spent 28 days in that hole. This woman brought us food all that time. Well, the UYW organization also helped us, gave us bread. They knew that the four of us were waiting to be contacted by the partisans. On the 28th day the political commissioner of the Gorna Dzhumaya partisan team came and together with him we crossed the Struma River on foot.
Our fate after we escaped from the camp was the following: Gosho died, Miko Yulzari immigrated to Israel and became a merchant, but he was not successful and he committed suicide; Miko Israel taught Russian for many years in Gorna Dzhumaya and I returned to Ruse. I spent part of my life in the army in Varna as a fleet officer, and my rank is colonel, captain.
My fate after 9th September 1944 was interesting. In 1944-46 I worked as an organizer in the District Committee of the UYW in Ruse. In 1946 I led the first permanent brigade [24] of Samuil-Silistra. At that time young people came to work for free on the road Samuil-Silistra for 20 days and I was their leader. The following year I became a commander; after I finished a course for brigade commanders in Beli Bryag.
Then my team became the national champions of Pernik-Voluyak [The construction of the path between Pernik and Voluyak was done by a number of youth brigades, who competed with each other in terms of quality and speed.] Afterwards I was asked to go to Sofia where I was appointed at first as an inspector and then as head of the ‘Competitions and Awards’ department in the headquarters of the brigadiers [the competitions were labor ones]. Around 400,000 youths took part in the brigades in 1947. Our team was a national champion again [competing with five national teams]. Our prize was a red flag with the words ‘national champion’ and a parade in front of the National Assembly [on Georgi Dimitrov Blvd] in Sofia.
At the end of 1947 I was assigned to go to the army. I went there, passed a course for political officers and was appointed to the headquarters of the Ist army in Sofia. The political officer's job is to be in charge of the moral and political preparation of the soldiers and officers. Said in ‘Soviet’ style, this is a commissar – at that time we copied the Soviet army, like we copy the American one now. There was one political officer in every battalion and on every ship. We had to be familiar with military science and know as much as the officers who had graduated from staff colleges and we also had to prepare the servicemen entrusted to us both morally and politically.
Location
Bulgaria
Interview
Yako Yakov