A company of friends from the Jewish school

A company of friends from the Jewish school

This is a company of friends from the Jewish school during an excursion. I am in the middle, Zako Samuilov is up left and next to him is Zako Albert. Above me is Yosif Kalish and in front of me are Isak Ninyo and others. The picture was taken in the 1930s in Sofia.

I had many friends, most of whom were Jews and classmates of mine. I can name Professor Shimon Ninyo, Тiko Israel, Solomon Haimov and many others. I spent my free time in the Jewish organizations. I met my future wife, Juliet Fridman, there, because we went out with the same friends from the Jewish community center.

At that time there was an association named ‘Tоshavim,’ which means ‘Natives.’ It was a nonpolitical Zionist association whose members gathered regularly to discuss contemporary issues related to Israel. Its head office was at Stamboliiski Blvd. opposite the Bet Am. It had a small library and young people went there to borrow books and read various papers. Different youth groups formed there. The leader of our group was Albert Kohen – a future writer, who is no longer alive. Other members were David Elazar, Zacho Benvenisti and others.

In fact, my journalist career started there in 1941, when I made the first ‘live’ newspaper in the form of a notebook, including articles, short stories and poems. The newspaper had only one issue – a notebook, which was handed from one person to the other between the members of the association. Unfortunately, the police banned it. Everything was done with educational purposes, but they said we were engaged in anti-fascist activities.

As a student I was also a member of Hashomer Hatzair. As scouts we learned the history of the Jewish people, prepared for our departure for our own land there, and on the whole did everything that the present members of Hashomer Hatzair do.

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