The wedding day of Ester Fintsi

These are my relatives. The photo was taken in Vidin [port city on the right bank of the Danube in Bulgaria, 220 km. away from Sofia] in 1952. My sister Ester Fintsi (nee Levi) is second from right to left with the light dress, next to her, first on the right is her husband Zhak Fintsi. I am in the middle, my husband Mayer Alhalel is next to me (first on the left, up). Below are my cousin Ana Stancheva (the child first on the left), my uncle Kiril Stanchev, who is a Bulgarian and my aunt Rebecca (nee Levi), who is my father's younger sister. Below on the right are my mother Rashel (the woman with the glasses) and my father David Levi (the first man on the right), to his right is Neli Stancheva, daughter of Kiril and Rebecca Stanchevi and Ana's sister. The child in the center is my daughter Streya born in 1949. She is around 3 years old on this photo. At the moment the elder Stanchevi are dead, Ana (nee Stancheva) lives in Sofia, Neli is still in Vidin where she has a mixed marriage like her mother, i.e. she is married to a Bulgarian and has two daughters who are also married to Bulgarians (I do not know their names). My brother-in-law Jak Fintsi died 4-5 years ago and my sister with her young daughter have immigrated to Israel recently.

My husband also has a sister, with whom I have always got on very well. Her name is Lea Yosef Halfon (nee Alhalel). She was also born in Vidin in 1915. She has always been a housewife and she lives in Beit-Avot (Israel) with her family. Her husband's name is Yosef Halfon. Their son is Simanto Yosef Halfon. I remember clearly the relatives of my husband, because we were neighbors. His grandfather was a confectioner and the Jewish children loved him very much. He owned a small confectionery in Kale and sold ice cream and Jewish sweets made by my husband's grandmother Mazal. For Pesach she made biskuchicos con lokum [Ladino: pastries with Turkish delight], roskitas [Ladino: ring-shaped buns], petikas de almendra [Ladino: almond sweets], which we, the children, loved a lot. His grandmother Mazal was famous as one of the most beautiful women in Vidin. His mother [Bulisa Rafael Alhalel] was a seamstress, she sewed ladies' underwear and men's shirts.