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I was already married at the time. I met my husband at university, when I was still a student. At the time I was in Bourgas, my husband worked in the former Soviet Union. I stayed in Bourgas until my older daughter was born, and then I moved to Sliven in order to wait for my husband's return. I had favorite students among the students. I remember one - Hristo was his name. He was a nice guy, blond, with light eyes; I've always liked fair people. I didn't want the others to suspect my attraction to him; therefore I always lessened his marks.
The fact that my husband was of different faith has never bothered me. The times were such that we didn't pay much attention to these things. As a student I had one or two Jewish 'candidates'. The first one was older than I was and my relatives had introduced me to him. He was some very distant relative of mine. There was another one from Plovdiv, of whom I remember only that his name was Yosif. He wooed me, used to take me to theater performances, but I was in love with a Serb. This, of course, happened before I got married. Once we met the Serb on our way to the theater. I put off Yosif, hoping that the Serb would like me. Nothing like that happened. I had another worshipper from Bourgas. I was still a student and he was five years older than I was. I must have felt flattered that he wooed me. We used to write letters to each other, but frankly speaking I didn't have any feelings for him whatsoever. Once he tried to kiss me, which disgusted me and I washed myself with water and something else, I cannot remember what. It was so repulsive! I was still a young girl after all! I don't know how I fell in love with my future husband, but it happened so. I didn't have any love affairs, only him.
My mother didn't oppose to the fact that my husband wasn't Jewish. The first time I took him to Sliven in order to introduce him to my family, my aunt's father had died and I was worried that it wasn't a proper moment, but she told me to bring him there. He even slept at her place, as our house was a very small one - we had just one small room and a small kitchen. Everybody liked him a lot and they continued to like him, until the divorce that is. However, my granny wasn't very pleased. Perhaps my grandpa shared her feelings, but he was a tactful person and he would have never said anything that might have hurt me. My husband was called Vassil Lambrev Kolevski. He was born in the village of Yavorovo on 6th March 1925. He graduated in Russian philology just like me. He is a professor; he used to be rector at VITIZ [Higher Institute of Theater and Film Arts, now NATFIZ, National Academy of Theater and Film Arts], and he is also a writer. He wrote five or six books, most of them on communist topics. He has two sisters, Penka and Vesselina, and a brother, Iliya.
The fact that my husband was of different faith has never bothered me. The times were such that we didn't pay much attention to these things. As a student I had one or two Jewish 'candidates'. The first one was older than I was and my relatives had introduced me to him. He was some very distant relative of mine. There was another one from Plovdiv, of whom I remember only that his name was Yosif. He wooed me, used to take me to theater performances, but I was in love with a Serb. This, of course, happened before I got married. Once we met the Serb on our way to the theater. I put off Yosif, hoping that the Serb would like me. Nothing like that happened. I had another worshipper from Bourgas. I was still a student and he was five years older than I was. I must have felt flattered that he wooed me. We used to write letters to each other, but frankly speaking I didn't have any feelings for him whatsoever. Once he tried to kiss me, which disgusted me and I washed myself with water and something else, I cannot remember what. It was so repulsive! I was still a young girl after all! I don't know how I fell in love with my future husband, but it happened so. I didn't have any love affairs, only him.
My mother didn't oppose to the fact that my husband wasn't Jewish. The first time I took him to Sliven in order to introduce him to my family, my aunt's father had died and I was worried that it wasn't a proper moment, but she told me to bring him there. He even slept at her place, as our house was a very small one - we had just one small room and a small kitchen. Everybody liked him a lot and they continued to like him, until the divorce that is. However, my granny wasn't very pleased. Perhaps my grandpa shared her feelings, but he was a tactful person and he would have never said anything that might have hurt me. My husband was called Vassil Lambrev Kolevski. He was born in the village of Yavorovo on 6th March 1925. He graduated in Russian philology just like me. He is a professor; he used to be rector at VITIZ [Higher Institute of Theater and Film Arts, now NATFIZ, National Academy of Theater and Film Arts], and he is also a writer. He wrote five or six books, most of them on communist topics. He has two sisters, Penka and Vesselina, and a brother, Iliya.
Location
Bulgaria
Interview
Rosa Kolevska