Aron Ishakh with friends in the forced labor camp in the village of Mikre

Aron Ishakh with friends in the forced labor camp in the village of Mikre

Here we are a group of young men in a Jewish forced labor camp in the village of Mikre, Lovech region, in 1942.

These were men from all over the country. I am the second from the left. The third man sitting from right to left is Pepo from Haskovo. Jacques Filkenstein is on the left side of Pepo. The first sitting from right to left is Miko Polidi, who was my friend from childhood. He died in Ramat Gan. He was married and he has two daughters, one of whom is a dentist. The first from right to left standing is Fiko Koen, who also died in Israel.

In 1942 my mother, Sofi Aron Ishakh died from stomach cancer and we, the four children, remained with my father Gavriel Samuel Ishakh. Her death coincided with another hard event in my life. In accordance with the Law for the Protection of the Nation, when I was 18, I was sent to a forced labor camp in the village of Mikre, in the Lovech region. I was there until November 1942. We were released on 16th November and spent December and January at home. In February we were sent to another camp - 'Sveti Vrach.' We were there until the end of the year. We were once again released for one or two months and in May we were sent to a third camp - in the village of Vesselinovo, in the Shumen region. 9th September 1944 came while we were there. In fact, we were used as a free labor force. At that time we were building the road Shumen-Burgas. It was very hard work.

Open this page