Tag #121337 - Interview #101947 (Saul Rotariu)

Nowadays – after the Revolution – I have only been to Israel lately, together with my wife. I went there a few times. I have relatives there – almost all my relatives live in Israel. At present, I only have cousins and female cousins from my father’s and mother’s brothers and sisters. The first time I traveled there was around 1980. My relatives sent me an official invite [6], I went to the proper authorities, they investigated my case, saw that I posed no risk, I knew no state secrets – for this is how it was: if you worked in a field dealing with matters of state security, you would have a very hard time obtaining permission to visit foreign countries.

I returned with a good impression every time I traveled there. I went there before and after the Revolution and I enjoyed my stay there.
But I went there, I’ve been there a few times, even my wife was there two or three times. After my retirement, I went there and stayed for three months together with my wife. From Haifa, in the north, we traveled as far as Tel Aviv, Petach Tiqva, a few rural settlements. I have relatives throughout the country. We didn’t go there during the summer season, we went there during winter, in November. We didn’t travel during the summer because we like to visit, travel, move about and it goes without saying that during the hot season you must stay indoors with the air-conditioning turned on, you can’t walk in the street, ride the bus, travel by train or even on the highway. Every time we went there, it was in October, November, December. The climate is milder during this time of the year, as it is in Romania in August and September.