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It was interesting that Jewish families always went somewhere during the summer holidays, no matter how well-off they were. Every summer we went to Sapareva Banya. It was a village with mineral baths. We spend two to three months there. There were some families there who were our friends, who gave us a room to rent. A bull’s cart came from the village, onto which we loaded our luggage and slowly made our way to Sapareva Banya. My mother also went very often to the mineral baths in Ovcha Kupel [district in Sofia]. Our family wasn’t the only one who went on such vacations, all Jews did that. Sometimes during the vacations I visited my grandmother Sara in Sofia. They had a house in the neighborhood Fakulteta, which was a suburb of Sofia, it was like a village. They had two rooms and a kitchen.
After the first four grades in the Jewish school, I went to junior high school in Dupnitsa until it was time to apply for high school. My father decided that I had to study in the trade high school in Sofia. That was a very practical school. It gave qualifications for being an accountant, a merchant, on the whole, to do business.
At that time a number of anti-fascist organizations were set up in Sofia and one of them was the Union of Youth Workers – UYW [7], of which I was a member. All members were progressive young people, from whom I learned a lot. In Sofia I was also a member of Betar [8], a Zionist youth organization. It was very strict, resembling a military organization. It was also involved in educational activities. I was also a member of Hashomer Hatzair [9]. It was a Zionist organization with leftist views, which were more modern compared to those of Betar.
After the first four grades in the Jewish school, I went to junior high school in Dupnitsa until it was time to apply for high school. My father decided that I had to study in the trade high school in Sofia. That was a very practical school. It gave qualifications for being an accountant, a merchant, on the whole, to do business.
At that time a number of anti-fascist organizations were set up in Sofia and one of them was the Union of Youth Workers – UYW [7], of which I was a member. All members were progressive young people, from whom I learned a lot. In Sofia I was also a member of Betar [8], a Zionist youth organization. It was very strict, resembling a military organization. It was also involved in educational activities. I was also a member of Hashomer Hatzair [9]. It was a Zionist organization with leftist views, which were more modern compared to those of Betar.
Location
Bulgaria
Interview
Leon Mordohay Madzhar