Yosif Avramov Kalaora

Yosif Avramov Kalaora

This is my eldest brother, Yosif Kalaora. The photo was taken in Buenos Aires in 1931 because in 1930 my brother decided to leave for Argentina, because of the severe world economic crisis at that time. The truth is that our family was very poor in Bulgaria and everyone could rely only on himself or herself. I have five brothers and one sister. My family was very united. I remember that my brothers often read the Varna dailies at home, as well as the ‘Echo’ newspaper, which was progressive, that is, presenting left, communist ideas. I remember that when I was young, in order to make me go and buy them the newspaper one of my brothers would tell me, ‘I will spit right here on the pavement, let’s see if you can come back before it gets dry. Come on!’ And so I ran. I remember that my brother Perets read the works of Maxim Gorky, ‘Mother’ and others. Jacques and David read mostly ‘leftist’ books. David worked very much. He gave all his salary to our mother. My other brothers would always find some work to do on Sundays. For example, people hired them to build the electrical installation in their houses. I also helped them when they laid the pipes in the walls. All my brothers had interesting lives. Yosif moved to Argentina in 1930. He died in Buenos Aires in 1953. David emigrated to France in 1929 and lived in Paris. Perets also lived in France and died there in 1997. Jacques and Izak emigrated to Israel in 1948. My parents also moved there after 1953. So, only my sister and I remained in Bulgaria.

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