Sofi Uziel on Vitosha mountain

This is a picture of me on Vitosha Mountain, taken sometime in the 1940s. When my father died in 1938 we closed our shop. We had no money then. I worked for the 'Bulgarian embroidery' along with doing my schooling and looking after a child. The man from 'Bulgarian silk' turned out to be a very noble man - he brought money for me in Pleven to save me from starving, found accommodation for me? He was a Bulgarian and had business deals with America; he used to send them embroidery from here. Then laws against us were introduced - the Law for the Protection of the Nation. First of all we were deprived of our jobs. I was working for the 'Invalid' Company. Then I became a governess. I was working as a governess for a Jewish family in Gorna Banya - the Moshes. They were Dodescos and we weren't. But I was fired because due to the Law for the Protection of the Nation I wasn't allowed to be a governess, either [to have two jobs at the same time]. We weren't allowed to walk beyond Krasno Selo up in the mountain, but the family I worked for as a governess lived in Gorna Banya, which was further on after Krasno Selo. Then I found a job with another family, looking after their little girl. Then I went to work for yet another family - Jewish again. The grandfather was a manufacturer - he had a toothbrush factory. Their daughter was studying at the French College. She embraced the Orthodox Christian religion and ran away to France. She gave birth to a boy, Zippo. Then she poisoned herself. Her husband hired me to look after the child and I took good care of him.