This is a photo of Jews from Dupnitsa. The picture was taken around 1915. The women are wearing 'bindali' costumes. They were sewn from a cloth similar to velvet, in which tinsel was woven. This was the traditional Jewish costume. My mother also had one. My mother's costume was dark green.
First from right in the front row is my mother Tamara Pilosof (nee Konfort). My mother's siter Mazal is second from right in the second row. Other people are familiar to me only by face. I don't know their names. The men in the photo are wearing military uniforms. They were front-line soldiers during World War I. It seems that this picture was taken on the occasion of the ending of World War I. At that time my mother wasn’t married yet.
My maternal kin is from Dupnitsa. My maternal grandfather's name was Haim Konfort. I don't know what he was dealing with, as he had died before my birth. I remember my maternal grandmother. Her name was Roza Konfort. She was ill and confined to bed and she couldn't get up. The family brought her food and she was taken care of at Uncle Mordechai's place.
My mother had two sisters and four brothers. Her elder sister's name was Busa. My mother's other sister was Matilda or Mazal and she got married in Blagoevgrad. Her husband was Mordoch. This is his first name. I don't remember his family name. They had two children: Haim and Lora, who live in Israel. My mother's elder brother was called Mordechai, and then came Yosif, Eliezer, and there was another one, who was killed on the front during World War I: Mois.
My mother died in 1938 of a heart attack. My sisters were high school students then. We were all devastated. She was a very loving mother and in order to provide for the family, apart from sustaining the household, she also used to work in the tobacco warehouses.
