The photograph was taken in 1918 in Bucharest. From right to left: an unknown person, then my mother, Henriette Mizrahy [nee Schonfeld] in the middle, and her sister Annie Schonfeld. In the front row you can see Renne Wagner [nee Schonfeld], the niece from their step-brother's side, Iosef Schonfeld.
My mother was born in 1898 in Bucharest. From the moment I could understand and judge, I realized that the day of 29th March - my mother's birthday - was a holiday in our home. The house filled with flowers, the phone didn't cease to ring, and, in the evening, when all preparations had been finished, the family gathered together with some couples of friends who were as close to my parents as their brothers and sisters. The ties between the three Schonfeld sisters were very strong.
Annie Schonfeld was born in 1900 in Bucharest. She was the most religious of the sisters, but she had her limits; she didn't wear a wig. She married Eugen Segalescu, with whom she had a son, Gabriel Segalescu, born in 1926 in Bucharest, seven weeks after I was born. She got divorced in 1939, remarried, but kept her maiden name. She emigrated to France and died in Paris in 1982.
My maternal grandfather had two older children from his first marriage: Iosef Schonfeld and Lisa Zilberman [nee Schonfeld]. Renne Wagner [nee Schonfeld] was the daughter of Iosef Schonfeld, who was a hatter and owned a fashion design house in Bucharest, on Lipscani Street. My parents got married on 31st October 1920. The religious ceremony took place in the fashion design shop of Iosef Schonfeld.
