The engagement photo of Gracia and Jack Albuhaire

This is me and my future husband Jack Albuhaire. The photo was taken by Robert, an artist-photographer, who was my husband's closest friend. They both worked in the Jewish community in Bourgas. He was the brother of a very popular artist. We were photographed in Robert's house, three months after our engagement. There was a saying after 9th September 1944: 'Work the whole day, go to a meeting in the evening and join the brigade on Sunday'. At a meeting where my future husband was a speaker, a friend called Albert was there, too. After the meeting there were dances. Everybody invited me because I was a guest. My husband didn't dance with anybody, and then he suddenly came and invited me. He asked me to wait for him after his meeting in the municipality, because he wanted to speak with me. I said 'Fine'. I left with Albert and told him that I was going to come back because Jack asked me to see him afterwards. At first he didn't say a word, then he snapped very angrily: 'Don't you see he is going to propose to you. Go, if you want.' I was mad at both of them. At Albert because he spoke sharply with me, and at Jack because he would ask me to marry him after only seeing me for the fist time. I took my suitcase and left for Karnobat. The following day Jack arrived in Karnobat with his friend Shimon. And there they took me to a football match. And then they left. Jack didn't say anything more to me at this point. He was very shy. Then we met at a meeting in Bourgas and Shimon said: 'Let me congratulate you on your engagement!'. And I shook hands with my husband. He said: 'Let me introduce you to my mother.' And so it all started. I went there and sent a telegram to my mother that I was getting married to Jack Albuhaire. We had a civil wedding on 5th December 1945. We didn't have a religious wedding and this was out of political reasons, because of the times we lived in. At that time we were both members of the UYW [The Union of Young Workers]. There was a synagogue in Bourgas, but after the Holocaust it was closed and never reopened. Now it is a museum, but no Jewish rituals are performed there.