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I didn't go on vacations with my family, but there was one very good thing within the Jewish community. I used to study in a Jewish school; actually all the children of the Bulgarian Jews used to study in the Jewish school, the former Ludmila Zhivkova [11] school. They used to organize vacations in colonies [school camps] at different places. I was sent to a colony in the village of Soli. Usually our lodging was in the local school of the place we went to. They especially furnished the rooms with beds. We had meals and went on excursions along the Iskar River. As we didn't have enough money for other vacations and this was a free stay, this was my only vacation before 9th September 1944 [12].
All the Jewish holidays were observed in my family, such as Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot. We used to keep the fast on Yom Kippur. All these holidays were celebrated in the synagogue. I didn't have a bar mitzvah and I didn't have a favorite holiday as a child either. My sisters loved Tu bi-Shevat.
Before the war civil marriage services didn't exist. At that time people got married only in the church and Jewish people in the synagogue. I personally have vague memories of these things because I was quite young then and I wasn't especially interested in that, moreover I never went to a Jewish wedding before the war.
My sister Sofka and her future husband Mois had been dating for quite a long time. One day my mother came to me and told me that Mois wanted to marry my sister. My mother asked me what I thought of it. I told her not to interfere in their relation, as it was their own business. If they had already decided that they loved each other we couldn't possibly stop them. Moreover I knew Mois - he was a decent man, well brought up. He would take care of her and they would make a good family. They had to take the decision without our 'help'. So it happened.
One day Sofka and Mois came and said they were going to get married and asked me to be their godfather. An odd thing happened then. There was an appointed hour for the ceremony in the synagogue. There was also a football match - as far as I remember, between Levski and CSKA, actually at that time it wasn't called CSKA but CVNA [the most popular Bulgarian football teams - eternal rivals]. So I went to the match and when I came back the ceremony was already over. Mois got very angry with me. I apologized for my absent-mindedness. Anyway, the wedding took place at Mois's sister's place - her name was Matushka - on Positano and Opalchenska Streets. They had a house with a yard where we celebrated the wedding with our friends. There were a lot of people.
All the Jewish holidays were observed in my family, such as Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot. We used to keep the fast on Yom Kippur. All these holidays were celebrated in the synagogue. I didn't have a bar mitzvah and I didn't have a favorite holiday as a child either. My sisters loved Tu bi-Shevat.
Before the war civil marriage services didn't exist. At that time people got married only in the church and Jewish people in the synagogue. I personally have vague memories of these things because I was quite young then and I wasn't especially interested in that, moreover I never went to a Jewish wedding before the war.
My sister Sofka and her future husband Mois had been dating for quite a long time. One day my mother came to me and told me that Mois wanted to marry my sister. My mother asked me what I thought of it. I told her not to interfere in their relation, as it was their own business. If they had already decided that they loved each other we couldn't possibly stop them. Moreover I knew Mois - he was a decent man, well brought up. He would take care of her and they would make a good family. They had to take the decision without our 'help'. So it happened.
One day Sofka and Mois came and said they were going to get married and asked me to be their godfather. An odd thing happened then. There was an appointed hour for the ceremony in the synagogue. There was also a football match - as far as I remember, between Levski and CSKA, actually at that time it wasn't called CSKA but CVNA [the most popular Bulgarian football teams - eternal rivals]. So I went to the match and when I came back the ceremony was already over. Mois got very angry with me. I apologized for my absent-mindedness. Anyway, the wedding took place at Mois's sister's place - her name was Matushka - on Positano and Opalchenska Streets. They had a house with a yard where we celebrated the wedding with our friends. There were a lot of people.
Location
Bulgaria
Interview
Leon Levi