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When I visited Israel in 1957 the situation there resembled that in which Bulgaria finds itself today. For example, there were elections there during my first visit. My brother had a job at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and he had to participate in the holding of the elections. He was asked, ‘How many parties do you have?’ And he answered, ’57.. I couldn’t believe my ears because there was only one party in Bulgaria then – the communist one, BCP. And now we have even more.
In Israel I was astonished that there were a lot of beggars. Whereas we, in Bulgaria, did not have beggars beforehand. And now it is the opposite. I couldn’t explain it to myself – was it a hidden unemployment in Israel? There was neither unemployment nor deficit in Bulgaria in those days. As a whole, before 10th November 1989 [17] everybody had a job. It is true – low salaries and low pensions, but we had enough for everything.
For example I participated for 20 years in a physical training group in Ruse, part of the sports club ‘Lokomotiv’ [Locomotive]. I had a lot of friends, who were also members, and we often met apart from our activity in that group. Two times a year we used to go on a 14-day holiday to some picturesque place in Bulgaria. And our pensions were enough for that.
The events of 10th November 1989 did not turn into a disaster for my family and me since my pension is not small. Besides, my sister from Houston sends something from time to time and this also helps. But I am very pitiful towards the sick and unemployed people, towards my friends who receive small pensions and hardly manage to make ends meet.
As far as the Jewish community in Ruse is concerned, if there are still Jews in Ruse who haven’t immigrated to Israel, the situation is almost the same. True, they gave us back the estates that were expropriated from us during the communist period. And in contrast to the past, the members of the community now gather to celebrate the important Jewish holidays as religious ones. Before 1989 we always used to celebrate them as a sort of national, historical holidays. Such as Pesach, Chanukkah, Purim. This is the basic difference for me – the shift of perception.
In Israel I was astonished that there were a lot of beggars. Whereas we, in Bulgaria, did not have beggars beforehand. And now it is the opposite. I couldn’t explain it to myself – was it a hidden unemployment in Israel? There was neither unemployment nor deficit in Bulgaria in those days. As a whole, before 10th November 1989 [17] everybody had a job. It is true – low salaries and low pensions, but we had enough for everything.
For example I participated for 20 years in a physical training group in Ruse, part of the sports club ‘Lokomotiv’ [Locomotive]. I had a lot of friends, who were also members, and we often met apart from our activity in that group. Two times a year we used to go on a 14-day holiday to some picturesque place in Bulgaria. And our pensions were enough for that.
The events of 10th November 1989 did not turn into a disaster for my family and me since my pension is not small. Besides, my sister from Houston sends something from time to time and this also helps. But I am very pitiful towards the sick and unemployed people, towards my friends who receive small pensions and hardly manage to make ends meet.
As far as the Jewish community in Ruse is concerned, if there are still Jews in Ruse who haven’t immigrated to Israel, the situation is almost the same. True, they gave us back the estates that were expropriated from us during the communist period. And in contrast to the past, the members of the community now gather to celebrate the important Jewish holidays as religious ones. Before 1989 we always used to celebrate them as a sort of national, historical holidays. Such as Pesach, Chanukkah, Purim. This is the basic difference for me – the shift of perception.
Location
Bulgaria
Interview
Sultana Yulzari