Tag #141538 - Interview #78604 (Adela Nissimova Levi)

We played mostly a game called ‘people’s ball’ at the orphanage. ‘People’s ball’ is played by two teams. There is no fixed number of players. The playing field is divided into two by a line, but no net is placed in the middle. Each team stays in their own part of the field. There are two players of the teams who stay outside the field behind the players. The player who has the ball throws it hard at the player of his team who is outside the field and aims to hit a player from the other team in the process. The player who is hit by the ball leaves the game. If he catches the ball, however, it passes to his team and it is their turn to try to eliminate the players from the other team. The team which has the most players remaining in the field wins the game. This game is played mostly by girls because the boys prefer either football or volleyball. There was a yard where we played and danced even during the winter, when it was cold outside. There was a square corridor in front of the dining hall and we danced to Bulgarian folk songs especially rachenitsas [one kind of Bulgarian folk dance]. When we went back home, our mothers would take us out to some relatives or to the nearest park or prepared us something to eat. We couldn’t afford to go to restaurants.

Every Saturday we were taken to the synagogue. We observed the traditions. Our sponsors came on Purim. Holidays, when there was food, were our favorite times. When Pesach approached, the supervisors made us wash and clean everything. Then the rich Jews took us to their homes to spend the holidays. For some years a family, the Weinstocks, took me to their home for the holidays. They were German Jews and lived on Oborishte Street in the center of Sofia. I spent eight days there, but I was always bored, because I felt lonely. The people were so nice and caring. We communicated in Bulgarian: they were German Jews but also Bulgarian citizens and they knew the language. Then I spent the holidays with another family: Haimov, who lived on Bratia Miladinovi Street. Maybe I also went to other homes but I don’t remember. On Chanukkah and Purim we were at the orphanage and we had a good time.