Klara Kohen with her mother Zhana Santo Solomonova

This is a picture of my mother Zhana Santo Solomonova, nee Almalech, and I in front of our house in Stara Zagora. The photo was probably taken around 1952. I studied in the high school in Stara Zagora until 1947, and then I applied and began studying French philology in Sofia. My parents stayed in Stara Zagora. After the end of my studies in 1951 my parents and especially my mother insisted on leaving for Israel in order to get together with my sister, who had already moved there before. I already had a relationship with my future husband and although I had an international passport, I decided to stay. I got married and stayed, while my parents left. I stayed because of my husband, as his brothers were also here. One of them was a pharmacist, the other one was a doctor and they didn't want to leave Bulgaria. And so I stayed and my family and I got separated. I married a month before my parents left. They had already sold the house. I tried to persuade them to stay, but my father said, 'It's over, we are leaving, it's already decided and it's final.' He said that although he didn't really want to leave. Anyway, finally they left because my mother wanted to get together with my sister. This happened in 1955 when the immigration wave had already blown over.