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I was born [in 1920] in a rented house in the Jewish neighborhood. My grandfather’s house and most of the other houses were small and there wasn’t enough space in them. I remember there was a dark room for the luggage, something like a closet, in which Uncle Mordo used to sleep. Sometimes he took me to sleep there too. We always lived in nearby quarters. We used to live in different neighborhoods of the town. We also lived with Bulgarians. When I was a little child there wasn’t electricity in the houses we lived in. We used to light a gas lamp. We used charcoal stoves for heating. We had a separate stove for cooking, and also for burning charcoal. I remember we had a very old cooker. When my mother worked in the tobacco store a lottery was organized there. My mother won a little money from this lottery. Then my father and she decided to buy a new cooker. My father had a friend, a tinker, so he went to him and ordered it. He prepaid a certain amount, and the rest was paid in installments. Thus we obtained a new and nice cooker with an oven.
My maternal kin is also from Dupnitsa. My maternal grandfather’s name was Haim Konfort. I don’t know what he was dealing with, as he had died before my birth. I remember my maternal grandmother. Her name was Roza Konfort. She was ill and confined to bed and she couldn’t get up. The family brought her food and she was taken care of at Uncle Mordechai’s place.
My mother had two sisters and four brothers. Her elder sister’s name was Busa. She got married in Sofia. She had a lot of children, who left for Israel. Two of them were called Mois and Regina. I can’t remember the others. My mother’s other sister was Matilda and she got married in Blagoevgrad [then Gorna Dzhumaya]. Her husband was Mordoch. This is his first name. I don’t remember his family name. They had two children: Haim and Lora, who live in Israel. My mother’s elder brother was called Mordechai, and then came Yosif, Eliezer, and there was another one, who was killed on the front [during WWI]: Mois. Mordechai made quilts. Yosif was a tobacco worker in Dupnitsa. Later he moved to Sofia, where he continued to work in a tobacco warehouse. Eliezer used to sew padded jackets: working winter clothes with padding. I have no information about their families.
My maternal kin is also from Dupnitsa. My maternal grandfather’s name was Haim Konfort. I don’t know what he was dealing with, as he had died before my birth. I remember my maternal grandmother. Her name was Roza Konfort. She was ill and confined to bed and she couldn’t get up. The family brought her food and she was taken care of at Uncle Mordechai’s place.
My mother had two sisters and four brothers. Her elder sister’s name was Busa. She got married in Sofia. She had a lot of children, who left for Israel. Two of them were called Mois and Regina. I can’t remember the others. My mother’s other sister was Matilda and she got married in Blagoevgrad [then Gorna Dzhumaya]. Her husband was Mordoch. This is his first name. I don’t remember his family name. They had two children: Haim and Lora, who live in Israel. My mother’s elder brother was called Mordechai, and then came Yosif, Eliezer, and there was another one, who was killed on the front [during WWI]: Mois. Mordechai made quilts. Yosif was a tobacco worker in Dupnitsa. Later he moved to Sofia, where he continued to work in a tobacco warehouse. Eliezer used to sew padded jackets: working winter clothes with padding. I have no information about their families.
Location
Bulgaria
Interview
Sabat Pilosof