Yolanda with her husband Solon Eliakim

In this photograph you can see my sister Yolanda with her husband Solon Eliakim. She sent it to me while I was in exile. That is why on the back is written: ‘To our dear brother. To bring him happiness when he remembers us. Yolanda Solon, 6th October 1948.’ 

Yolanda was my second sister, my favorite one. We were very close and the only two of the siblings that resembled each other a little; the rest of the children were like strangers. We were similar, in a way that you could tell that we were of the same parents. 

Yolanda helped me a lot with my homework. I remember a year that we had to write an essay on our homeland, and I stayed up until two in the morning and I simply couldn’t think of anything nice to write. She got up and told me that the following day, with a clear mind, I would be able to write something good. I said that I had to write something that night. And we sat together and wrote the essay.

Yolanda was a teacher, she remained loyal to her family, and she came up with us to the mountains, to the partisans. She was a very good person. She was baptized in the name of Maria, because we always had a pseudonym. Yolanda came to the mountains with Father, whereas I had gone earlier.