This is my maternal grandmother Ester Elazar, nee Beraha. The picture was taken in Tel Baruch, Israel, in the 1950s.
My grandmother was born in the town of Nish in today's Serbia in 1879. She had a big family there and she kept in touch with them until World War II. Unfortunately all her relatives were deported and killed in the death camps. She was really lucky that she went to the town of Kiustendil when she was 16. She got married to my grandfather, Josef Elazar, who was born there. They had six daughters and a son.
My grandfather was born in the village of Sovoleno near Kiustendil in 1875 and he traded with chick-peas. I've heard stories that the courtyard of his house was filled with sacks of chick-peas that my grandfather sold. My grandparents' family lived quite poorly. My grandfather was the only one who provided for their living. My grandmother was a housewife. Later on my grandfather became a chazzan at the synagogue in Kiustendil until the whole family moved to Sofia.
All my relatives from Kiustendil went to Israel after 1948.
