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We started thinking of returning. Mum left for Sofia first in order to prepare things and there she accidentally met my uncle Mois Beniesh who had been interned to Montana [she means Ferdinand]. She succeeded in finding some lodgings and came back on a train full of Russian soldiers. We packed our luggage and left for Sofia, settled into the lodgings but the conditions were horrible. A friend of mine put us up temporarily at her place. Her name was Florentina Presenti. Meanwhile, mum managed to find a room on 22 ‘Macedonia’ square where we lived for thirty-four years.
My mother started work at the Insurance Company, which after the nationalization, became SIC (State Insurance Company). She retired there. I started the sixth grade in the Fifth Girls’ High School in ‘Tzar Ivan Shishman’ street. At that time uncle Mois starts work at Radio ‘Sofia’. Later, in 1946, he left for Moscow as a spokesman for Georgi Dimitrov, an announcer at Radio ‘Moscow’, and there he enroled at GITIS (The State Institute for Drama Arts). He graduated in 1950 and came back to Bulgaria with finished theater education and became a drama director at the National Theater. Uncle Miko, on the other hand, immediately after 1944 started some technical job. Auntie Rashel was in Bregovo village. Sarah, Clara, Solomon and their mother Dzhamila were already in Israel. They left as early as 1941. In 1948 my friend Viska Lazarova, whom I haven’t seen since 1944, left for Israel. I know that she had been interned to Pleven and after 1944 we went to different schools. I was probably sad but the events were tempestuous and the vortex big to leave us any room for such feelings. My other friend, Eti Rahamimova, also left for Israel with the first wave [Mass Aliyah [23]. She became a doctor there. Immediately after uncle Miko’s death his son Isak left for Israel in 1949 and his sister Sarah left in 1951. His brother, Mony, left in 1961 or 1962 and Yakim – in 1966.
The migration of Jews to Israel wasn’t an issue of interest for us because my incle Mois, who was regarded with great respect by my mother, was a communist and his life was entirely devoted to the building of the new life here in Bulgaria. Moreover, she insisted very much on my studying and at that time I was only in my second year at university.
My mother started work at the Insurance Company, which after the nationalization, became SIC (State Insurance Company). She retired there. I started the sixth grade in the Fifth Girls’ High School in ‘Tzar Ivan Shishman’ street. At that time uncle Mois starts work at Radio ‘Sofia’. Later, in 1946, he left for Moscow as a spokesman for Georgi Dimitrov, an announcer at Radio ‘Moscow’, and there he enroled at GITIS (The State Institute for Drama Arts). He graduated in 1950 and came back to Bulgaria with finished theater education and became a drama director at the National Theater. Uncle Miko, on the other hand, immediately after 1944 started some technical job. Auntie Rashel was in Bregovo village. Sarah, Clara, Solomon and their mother Dzhamila were already in Israel. They left as early as 1941. In 1948 my friend Viska Lazarova, whom I haven’t seen since 1944, left for Israel. I know that she had been interned to Pleven and after 1944 we went to different schools. I was probably sad but the events were tempestuous and the vortex big to leave us any room for such feelings. My other friend, Eti Rahamimova, also left for Israel with the first wave [Mass Aliyah [23]. She became a doctor there. Immediately after uncle Miko’s death his son Isak left for Israel in 1949 and his sister Sarah left in 1951. His brother, Mony, left in 1961 or 1962 and Yakim – in 1966.
The migration of Jews to Israel wasn’t an issue of interest for us because my incle Mois, who was regarded with great respect by my mother, was a communist and his life was entirely devoted to the building of the new life here in Bulgaria. Moreover, she insisted very much on my studying and at that time I was only in my second year at university.
Location
Bulgaria
Interview
Reyna Lidgi