Tag #139892 - Interview #96750 (Sabat Pilosof)

My grandfather had five brothers: Eliezer, Yako, Sasson, Haim and Avram. Yako and Sasson were agricultural workers. Avram lived in Sofia. The rest lived and died in Dupnitsa. Eliezer and Yako had vineyards around Dupnitsa. I’m not sure whether they produced wine, but they sold it. Their vineyards, especially Yako’s were model ones. They grew different sorts of grapes, both white and red. Yako’s vineyard was in the Balanovski Hill area near Dupnitsa. Eliezer Pilosof had three children, all born in Dupnitsa: Leon, who lived in Dupnitsa and had a flour and forage shop, Mois, who was a teacher in the Jewish school, and Linda, who was a housewife. Yako had one son: Mois, about whom I know nothing. The other brother, Sasson, used to raise corn. I remember his wife was called Duda. Sasson had three children: Mordo, who was a pharmacist in Dupnitsa and Varna, Isak, who used to work as a shop assistant in Sofia, and Avram, who was a hatter in Dupnitsa. They all left for Israel.

All I know about Haim is that he was a sandal maker: he used to make flat sandals with leather shoelaces. Haim had one son, Mois, and two daughters, whose names I don’t remember. I have no information about Avram’s family. Some of the Jews rented houses, others lived in their own. My grandfather lived in his own house. He was accustomed to gathering his children’s families every Saturday evening. He had eight children. This was a tradition he kept strictly and even if the youth, like me, wanted to go out somewhere on Saturday evening, we waited for the dinner to end and then went out. My mother was the oldest daughter-in-law and she used to prepare a doughy dish for dinner. The other daughters-in-law cooked rice or something else. Everyone used to bring something in order to help the old people. My mother used to make a big pastry with cheese or leek. I can still remember the old large baking tin, in which my mother used to cook the pastries.