Sonya Lazarova with her relatives in one of the commercial streets in Sofia

In the photo from left to right are: Elma - my aunt Erma's daughter, my mother's younger sister, Aunt Liza, my mother's eldest sister, and I. On the back of the photo there is an inscription in pencil saying '1942,' but the photo was probably taken earlier, because at that time my family was already interned to Karnobat. The picture was taken on one of the commercial streets in Sofia. We were probably going shopping. There are hats on our heads, which were made by my two sisters, Gizela and Liza. My mother had two sisters. The elder one, Liza, had four children, and the younger one Erma, had one daughter. Later, during the Holocaust, Erma burned to death in a camp near Pleven, set on fire by the Branniks, while she was helping to save people. Liza's family was richer than ours. Some of her five children had good jobs and earned well. Their family used to live close to us, on Ekzarh Yosif Street. Erma's family was really well-off. They had a bakery for bread, buns and sweetmeats on Dondukov Street and they often used to help us with money and various things. We were closer to aunt Liza's family and used to walk together in the Borisova Garden, or used to visit a tripe-shop, and I hate tripe soup. Tanti [aunt] Liza was religious and on holidays she often visited us with her children. I remember Yom Kippur and the taanit. It was difficult for me to fast, as I was the youngest and I was always tempted to eat something delicious, yet I wouldn't dare. My mother forbade us and kept an eye on us. My eldest sister Gizela initially worked in the famous dress atelier of Otto Seiner on Lege Street. There she sewed, cut, and worked as a model and sometimes, because imagination was among her greatest gifts, she designed her own clothes. As early as her work in Otto Seiner's fashion atelier she used to play in the Jewish amateur theater. My other sister Lili or Liza also worked as a seamstress in the fashion atelier of Otto Seiner.