Selected text
I got divorced in 1979. I retired in 1984. I didn't want to, but that's what the new director of my school suggested that I did. Then I started working as a lecturer in various higher institutes and that lasted until 1990. It was very nice. Students cannot be compared to pupils. They have a deeper interest and sometimes they even made me stay in the breaks in order to talk with me on different interesting topics. This is quite unlikely to happen among pupils. Moreover the 1980s were extremely exciting - the changes in Russia, Gorbachev [15], the books that had been banned or had been locked away in drawers, were finally published. Although I was divorced, I had enough money because I worked a lot.
The changes in 1989 [see 10th November 1989] [16], the fall of communism in Bulgaria, affected me financially. All prices rose and it became very difficult to get supplies of any kind of products. The situation was just like the one right before 9th September 1944.
I wanted very much to leave for Israel. I went there for the first time in 1979 together with my younger daughter Bisserka. My mother and my sister had already been there before. I liked it very much and I was very well accepted. I have many relatives there - my mother's brother and sister, my father's siblings and a lot of former classmates. During my first visit to Israel all Sliven-born fellow citizens gathered for a celebration. My strongest impressions from Israel were from that very first visit. My relatives invited me to stay there, but I couldn't. I wasn't ready; my divorce wasn't yet finalized. I wasn't mature enough for such a step. Later I did want to do so a lot, but I didn't dare go there all by myself. It was already too late! I am deeply sorry! I like life in Israel very much! Of course, there are unpleasant things there too, but I like even only inhaling the air there.
The changes in 1989 [see 10th November 1989] [16], the fall of communism in Bulgaria, affected me financially. All prices rose and it became very difficult to get supplies of any kind of products. The situation was just like the one right before 9th September 1944.
I wanted very much to leave for Israel. I went there for the first time in 1979 together with my younger daughter Bisserka. My mother and my sister had already been there before. I liked it very much and I was very well accepted. I have many relatives there - my mother's brother and sister, my father's siblings and a lot of former classmates. During my first visit to Israel all Sliven-born fellow citizens gathered for a celebration. My strongest impressions from Israel were from that very first visit. My relatives invited me to stay there, but I couldn't. I wasn't ready; my divorce wasn't yet finalized. I wasn't mature enough for such a step. Later I did want to do so a lot, but I didn't dare go there all by myself. It was already too late! I am deeply sorry! I like life in Israel very much! Of course, there are unpleasant things there too, but I like even only inhaling the air there.
Location
Bulgaria
Interview
Rosa Kolevska