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My wife, Suzana Buko Madzhar [nee Levi], was born in Kyustendil in 1933. She is also a Jew and has a brother and sister. Her brother was a partisan and on 9th September he came down from the mountain, took part in the battles in Serbia and was killed there. He was only 21 years old. Her sister Vitka was also born in Kyustendil. She was a housewife and for some time she was a sales assistant. She and her husband have passed away. Suzana finished school in Kyustendil and came to Sofia to study Law. We met when she was in her first year. We became very good friends and married in 1954. We didn’t have a religious wedding, because there were no such weddings at that time. We married in Dupnitsa. Then she finished her education and she worked as a lawyer and legal adviser until she retired.
Around 1946-47 the Mass Aliyah [14] of the Jews to Israel started. All my parents’ brothers and sisters decided to leave. They wanted to take my maternal grandparents, but they didn’t know where they were going and what life they would lead there. My grandmother was sick so she decided to stay in Bulgaria with my grandfather until their children settled in Israel and she got better. I was asked to take care of them and I was left some money. Unfortunately, my grandmother had a sick heart and died soon after that. My grandfather also developed pneumonia and was hospitalized when my grandmother died. On the day of her funeral we decided to tell my grandfather the sad news and were told that he died the same day. So he died without knowing about the death of my grandmother.
When I finished my military service, I came back to Sofia and started work in the Ministry of Agriculture. At first I was an ordinary accountant. After a number of years I acquired more qualifications and knowledge and became head of department, then deputy chief accountant, chief accountant and then economic director of a co-operative which was repairing agricultural machines. In 1980 I started work as deputy director in chief of another co-operative, in poultry breeding, again at the Ministry of Agriculture. I retired in 1989. I was much respected, climbed up the career ladder and was valued by my colleagues. I could have retired when I was 55 years old, because my involvement in the UYW and my participation in the anti-fascist movement in Dupnitsa were taken into account. I was an Active Soldier, but I continued to work until I was 65 years old.
Around 1946-47 the Mass Aliyah [14] of the Jews to Israel started. All my parents’ brothers and sisters decided to leave. They wanted to take my maternal grandparents, but they didn’t know where they were going and what life they would lead there. My grandmother was sick so she decided to stay in Bulgaria with my grandfather until their children settled in Israel and she got better. I was asked to take care of them and I was left some money. Unfortunately, my grandmother had a sick heart and died soon after that. My grandfather also developed pneumonia and was hospitalized when my grandmother died. On the day of her funeral we decided to tell my grandfather the sad news and were told that he died the same day. So he died without knowing about the death of my grandmother.
When I finished my military service, I came back to Sofia and started work in the Ministry of Agriculture. At first I was an ordinary accountant. After a number of years I acquired more qualifications and knowledge and became head of department, then deputy chief accountant, chief accountant and then economic director of a co-operative which was repairing agricultural machines. In 1980 I started work as deputy director in chief of another co-operative, in poultry breeding, again at the Ministry of Agriculture. I retired in 1989. I was much respected, climbed up the career ladder and was valued by my colleagues. I could have retired when I was 55 years old, because my involvement in the UYW and my participation in the anti-fascist movement in Dupnitsa were taken into account. I was an Active Soldier, but I continued to work until I was 65 years old.
Location
Bulgaria
Interview
Leon Mordohay Madzhar