Iosef , Ietti and Moritz Leibovici

The one on the right is my husband, Iosef Leibovici, the one on the left is my father-in-law, Moritz Leibovici, and I, Ietti Leibovici, am the one in the middle. The photograph was taken around 1955 in Botosani.

My husband's name was Iosef Leibovici. He was born in Botosani in 1924. We met at a youth party. People organized balls, reunions. We met through a third party and we liked each other. The balls were very nice, with Wienese waltzes - the waltzes of Johann Strauss -, tangos, with 'damen waltz' - meaning a waltz like all others, but it was the women who invited the men to dance.

Our wedding took place in 1954 and, since it was during communism, and the system was very strict about religions, we had the religious ceremony performed - we had the civil ceremony performed in advance - among family members, at uncle Buium and my aunt's place. That's where the religious ceremony was performed. That's how it happened to be, because there had to be not too many people present. There were a few relatives of my husband's, there probably weren't more than 12 persons at the ceremony.

I had a daughter, Claudia, who was born in 1968, and died in a car accident together with my husband in 1978.

I knew my husband's father, my father-in-law, we even lived together. His name was Moritz Leibovici, he was from Botosani, he was married around 1897. [Before World War II,] he was an agent for the company Singer, the one selling sewing machines. We lived separately during the years after we got married - from 1954 until 1972. My father-in-law had his own house, but systematization came, and his house was to be demolished. It was located on Calea Nationala St., on the way to the train station, close to the tramline. And we lived in a rented house not far from there, on a street a bit to a side, it was called Casin St. And in 1971, when my father-in-law's house was demolished, we decided to move in a somewhat larger house, where he could have his own room, where we could be together. And we moved in a house located on Calea Nationala as well, but closer to the downtown area, where we had 4 rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, a verandah, a pantry - it was still rented. I lived there until 1981, until my father-in-law's death. As I was alone, I moved here in 1981 [in an apartment in a block of flats].