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Now I live alone: from time to time my grandchildren visit me but they live in Dragalevtsi [a village near Sofia, at the foot of the Vitosha Mountain]. My husband died on 6th May 1993, but he was very sick for the last twelve years of his life: he was on hemodialysis. I looked after him, there was no other way. He went to have hemodialysis three times a week, and I took him there and back. My daughter lived here and a year before my husband died we bought a small apartment in the neighboring surroundings. We went to live there and my daughter remained here with the children. But my husband was sick, very sick.
Now I have many friends whom I know and who are very close to me. But I gather mostly with the women. We are around 14. They are colleagues of mine from the places I had worked. From time to time we also invite some of our male colleagues. There are two other Jewish women among us, but all the others are Bulgarians. I get along perfectly well with all of them: we love each other a lot. On Saturdays I go to the Jewish Home [see Bet Am] [27], where I’m a member of the ‘Golden Age’ club: it’s for Jews only. I also have friends there. All of my parents’ relatives have passed away. When I went to Israel I visited those who were alive. I went six or seven times to Israel. I still keep in touch with my sisters.
I didn’t think about leaving for Israel but my sisters, who were married and whose relatives were leaving, also had to leave. The boyfriend of my younger sister, Mimi, had to leave with his parents; his sister was already there. So, Mimi married him and immigrated. My other sister, Rashel, was already married and since her husband was leaving with his mother and his father had already died, she also immigrated. Now during the second mass aliyah six or seven years ago my sister Sofka also immigrated [see Severing the diplomatic ties between the Eastern Block and Israel] [28]. My husband and I didn’t think about immigrating, but we always felt something pull us towards Israel and my husband went there every year. We didn’t immigrate because there was nothing we could do there. We didn’t expect to find work there.
Now I have many friends whom I know and who are very close to me. But I gather mostly with the women. We are around 14. They are colleagues of mine from the places I had worked. From time to time we also invite some of our male colleagues. There are two other Jewish women among us, but all the others are Bulgarians. I get along perfectly well with all of them: we love each other a lot. On Saturdays I go to the Jewish Home [see Bet Am] [27], where I’m a member of the ‘Golden Age’ club: it’s for Jews only. I also have friends there. All of my parents’ relatives have passed away. When I went to Israel I visited those who were alive. I went six or seven times to Israel. I still keep in touch with my sisters.
I didn’t think about leaving for Israel but my sisters, who were married and whose relatives were leaving, also had to leave. The boyfriend of my younger sister, Mimi, had to leave with his parents; his sister was already there. So, Mimi married him and immigrated. My other sister, Rashel, was already married and since her husband was leaving with his mother and his father had already died, she also immigrated. Now during the second mass aliyah six or seven years ago my sister Sofka also immigrated [see Severing the diplomatic ties between the Eastern Block and Israel] [28]. My husband and I didn’t think about immigrating, but we always felt something pull us towards Israel and my husband went there every year. We didn’t immigrate because there was nothing we could do there. We didn’t expect to find work there.
Location
Bulgaria
Interview
Adela Nissimova Levi