This is in front of the death bed of Georgi Dimitrov (the communist prime minister of Bulgaria) I am the first on the right, the man on the left is Haim Oliver - writer and journalist.
After the 9th September victory the communists started following closely the Soviet and pro-Stalinist policy. After 9th September 1944 the attitude towards Jews was wonderful. Unlike my father I joined the left wing of the social democratic party, which united with the communists. I became a member of the Communist Party.
While I was still studying at the university in 1945, I started working as a journalist for the 'Sotsialisticheska Mladej' ['Socialist Youth'] newspaper, then for the 'Narod' 'Nation'] newspaper, published by the social democratic party and when it stopped appearing in 1947, I started working for the newly founded 'Narodna Mladej' ['National Youth']. I headed the Interior Affairs department and the Sports department there and worked there until 1958.
After 9th September 1944 youth brigades were organized aimed at building new roads, dams, railway lines, plants, etc. In the summer of 1948 I was involved by the Central Committee of the Komsomol [youth branch of the Communist Party], as I spoke French, as a translator of the young French people who came to Bulgaria in order to join the youth brigades as volunteers. I went about through various construction sites with them. When we were at the construction site of the 'Koprinka' dam in the central part of Bulgaria, Georgi Dimitrov came on a visit. I was introduced to him then, and later also met him as a young journalist. When he died, he was lying in state, and I and the others in the picture were chosen by the heads of Komsomol as young journalists, members of the Komsomol to be at a post in front of his death bed. Different people of various age and profession took turns there.
