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My husband's name is Nissim Moiseev Kohenov, but everyone knew him as Simcho. He was born on 25th December 1922, the third son of a Jewish family of intellectuals. His father, Moisey Kohenov, was one of the very first doctors in Vidin and maybe one of the first doctors in Bulgaria. He was a very good specialist in internal diseases, very distinguished, having graduated in Vienna. Their family was quite well off; his mother didn't work. She had studied in some college in Vienna. They spoke German at home and Bulgarian too, of course. My father's family was Sephardim [see Sephardi Jewry] [27] and they spoke German, because Dr. Kohenov graduated in Vienna and his wife, my mother-in-law, was with him. They also spoke Ladino, but didn't use it much. The father took part in all wars. All the three sons are very intelligent. The eldest one, Santi, left for France to study and remained to live there. The other one, David, got a university degree in medicine in France and then moved to Israel.
While he was in the labor camps my husband was arrested for illegal activities and sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment. He spent more than a year and a half in Vidin prison - until 8th September 1944 when the prison was liberated and the authorities overthrown. He took an active part in that event and started work in the District Committee of the UYW becoming its secretary. After 9th September he devoted himself to political work, at first in the UYW and then in the Party. Later, after 1951, the Central Committee of the Party sent a group to the Military Ministry to organize and head the political departments in the army. So he was sent as a political officer and spent nine years in that position. While he was in the army, he graduated and defended his dissertation at the Military Political Academy. After the army he became a research secretary in the Contemporary and Social Theories Institute.
While he was in the labor camps my husband was arrested for illegal activities and sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment. He spent more than a year and a half in Vidin prison - until 8th September 1944 when the prison was liberated and the authorities overthrown. He took an active part in that event and started work in the District Committee of the UYW becoming its secretary. After 9th September he devoted himself to political work, at first in the UYW and then in the Party. Later, after 1951, the Central Committee of the Party sent a group to the Military Ministry to organize and head the political departments in the army. So he was sent as a political officer and spent nine years in that position. While he was in the army, he graduated and defended his dissertation at the Military Political Academy. After the army he became a research secretary in the Contemporary and Social Theories Institute.
Location
Bulgaria
Interview
sophie pinkas