Mihail Mihaylov and Matilda Mihaylova

This is a photo of my parents, Mihail Mihaylov and Matilda Mihaylova, nee Kohen, at the Sliven spa resort in 1932. They are the first from the left. My younger sister Soli Semova, nee Solomonova, is also in the picture - she is the little girl in the center. She was three years old then. At that time my father owned a factory producing socks. He inherited it from his father. My mother was a housewife. My mother finished high school in Sofia. She always dressed fashionably. Her family was modern and could afford to dress well. My parents' wedding was arranged: my father's sister, Klara, who was married in Sofia, introduced my parents to each other. My father and grandfather needed modern machines to improve the production at their factory, and my grandfather decided that my father should marry a woman with dowry. So they introduced my mother to my father. My mother had another suitor in Sofia, but his family wanted too big a dowry. My parents liked each other; besides they were both very good-looking. Their wedding was in Sliven, probably in 1922. My mother went to live in my father's house in Sliven. After they married, they needed money in order to renovate the factory, which my grandfather passed to my father. My mother's dowry was very welcome: they used it to buy many modern and bigger machines to make socks, which increased the production. Around 60 people worked in the factory. This was how our family earned their living before World War II.