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My paternal grandparents come from Svishtov [a small Bulgarian town on the Danube] and later they moved to Pleven. My grandfather, Iakov Haimov Moyseev, was a corn dealer. He had grapevines and also produced wine. He fought in the Russian-Turkish war [1877-1878], which liberated the Bulgarian people and he took part in the defense of Pleven in 1877, and his name is even inscribed on a memorial plate in Pleven. I didn’t know Iakov very well. He lived in Pleven, and I lived in Sofia. I remember only two occasions when I visited his home. He lived in a nice house. Iakov wasn’t religious, but he probably observed the traditional religious holidays. He lived to 101 years of age, but unfortunately we didn’t get in touch very often. I have no memories of my grandmother.
Iakov’s eldest son was named Haim. His next child was a daughter, Bohora; my father, Mois, was the third child. The fourth one was Rica and the youngest was Mordo. From all the children, only Haim helped his father with the business. Almost all of them left town, only Haim, who had two children, remained in Pleven. We didn’t keep in touch with them.
Bohora had a son, Mayer Djine, and a daughter. The son joined the socialist movement very early and in 1925 after the bombing of the Sveta Nedelia Church in Sofia [1], Mayer Djine escaped to Turkey, afraid of repression. From there he went to France, where he married an Armenian. After Stalin’s address in the middle of the 1930s, in which he appealed to all Armenians to come back and help build socialism [the appeal was also addressed to all Soviet citizens living abroad], Mayer Djine and his wife went to Soviet Armenia.
I heard this story after 9th September 1944 [2] when Mayer Djine came to Bulgaria. It impressed me quite a lot. He told us that he went to the USSR with his wife and another family, in which the husband was a dentist. But at the border, the dentist disappeared and he was never seen again. Probably, he was sent to a camp. Mayer Djine remained in Armenia during World War II, where he was drafted to the army. His wife died during the war of typhus, and when the war was over he came back to Bulgaria with his two children.
Even as early as 1945 we were shocked by the things he told us about the Soviet repressions, the dictatorship and Stalinism. At that time my husband, Pepo, and I, believed strongly in the new order. So we regarded Mayer Djine as a Trotskyite and we avoided contact with him. When Djine decided to move to Israel in 1949, he suggested that my husband should go to see him off at the railway station to hear some more facts. But the real reason was that he was afraid of someone stopping him from leaving. However, my husband didn’t go to the station, because he didn’t trust Djine. Later, when we went to Israel for the first time in the middle of the 1960s, we met with Djine and Pepo apologized to him for not meeting him.
Iakov’s eldest son was named Haim. His next child was a daughter, Bohora; my father, Mois, was the third child. The fourth one was Rica and the youngest was Mordo. From all the children, only Haim helped his father with the business. Almost all of them left town, only Haim, who had two children, remained in Pleven. We didn’t keep in touch with them.
Bohora had a son, Mayer Djine, and a daughter. The son joined the socialist movement very early and in 1925 after the bombing of the Sveta Nedelia Church in Sofia [1], Mayer Djine escaped to Turkey, afraid of repression. From there he went to France, where he married an Armenian. After Stalin’s address in the middle of the 1930s, in which he appealed to all Armenians to come back and help build socialism [the appeal was also addressed to all Soviet citizens living abroad], Mayer Djine and his wife went to Soviet Armenia.
I heard this story after 9th September 1944 [2] when Mayer Djine came to Bulgaria. It impressed me quite a lot. He told us that he went to the USSR with his wife and another family, in which the husband was a dentist. But at the border, the dentist disappeared and he was never seen again. Probably, he was sent to a camp. Mayer Djine remained in Armenia during World War II, where he was drafted to the army. His wife died during the war of typhus, and when the war was over he came back to Bulgaria with his two children.
Even as early as 1945 we were shocked by the things he told us about the Soviet repressions, the dictatorship and Stalinism. At that time my husband, Pepo, and I, believed strongly in the new order. So we regarded Mayer Djine as a Trotskyite and we avoided contact with him. When Djine decided to move to Israel in 1949, he suggested that my husband should go to see him off at the railway station to hear some more facts. But the real reason was that he was afraid of someone stopping him from leaving. However, my husband didn’t go to the station, because he didn’t trust Djine. Later, when we went to Israel for the first time in the middle of the 1960s, we met with Djine and Pepo apologized to him for not meeting him.
Location
Bulgaria
Interview
Tinka Kohen
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