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At the end of 1943, Italy was already out of the war, terminating its alliance with the Germans. Both the Americans and British had entered Italy. So, from Italy they started bombarding Sofia and most of all Romania. But things changed and instead of symbolically, as the Bulgarian Government hoped, the Americans started bombarding Sofia for real in October. They were passing through Bulgaria and on their way to Romania they bombarded Sofia, Vratsa and some other towns. So, bombs were falling down in Sofia including around the central prison. One day the wall near my place was destroyed by a bomb because next to the prison there were barracks. The planes bombarded the barracks and the raids ruined part of the prison as well. Therefore, on a freezing January day in 1944 around 800 people from Sofia prison were loaded up in horse wagons and taken to Sliven prison.
We traveled for around 30 hours because of the damaged railway road. It was terribly cold and all of us were frozen in the train. Finally, we reached Sliven civil prison: it was called a civil prison, as there was a military one there also. Once it used to be some kind of a Turkish prison or an inn. In Sofia prison our cells were very narrow: 1.5 meters wide by 7-8 meters long. This accommodated around eight people. Sliven prison had larger cells and accommodated 30 to 35 people in one room. There were no beds so we slept on the floor, and everyone covered themselves with whatever they had at hand. Life became somehow easier, I mean that we were a larger group of people in Sliven and it was warmer. Moreover, we started receiving aid: mostly food and clothes. On the other hand we didn’t waste our time there, as we began to learn languages and read, and we also formed various groups, in which we studied different things. This is how time passed for us until August 1944. The Soviet troops were already by the Danube and on 2nd September the last Bulgarian Government before 9th September 1944 [10], fell from power. In order to enter Bulgaria, the Soviet Union declared war on Bulgaria and it was then that I was set free.
The Soviet army crossed Bulgaria not as a conqueror but as a liberator and it was very well accepted by the people. Every power has its good and bad sides. Fascism was good for its upholders, giving them rights and privileges. But the more progressive people wanted to oppose this policy of supporting the Germans. Therefore, a partisan movement was developed in Bulgaria in order to fight against the Germans. The Government, in its turn, murdered the partisans and burnt their houses. There was a great terror during this period, especially in 1943 and 1944. A lot of young people, among them many Jews, were killed in Plovdiv and Sofia. Besides, there was a concentration camp in Pleven [see Kailuka camp] [11], where close relatives of the partisans were imprisoned. This camp was set on fire and burnt by some fascist organizations in the summer of 1944. Around ten Jews were killed in this fire. There were elderly people there, who couldn’t escape.
We traveled for around 30 hours because of the damaged railway road. It was terribly cold and all of us were frozen in the train. Finally, we reached Sliven civil prison: it was called a civil prison, as there was a military one there also. Once it used to be some kind of a Turkish prison or an inn. In Sofia prison our cells were very narrow: 1.5 meters wide by 7-8 meters long. This accommodated around eight people. Sliven prison had larger cells and accommodated 30 to 35 people in one room. There were no beds so we slept on the floor, and everyone covered themselves with whatever they had at hand. Life became somehow easier, I mean that we were a larger group of people in Sliven and it was warmer. Moreover, we started receiving aid: mostly food and clothes. On the other hand we didn’t waste our time there, as we began to learn languages and read, and we also formed various groups, in which we studied different things. This is how time passed for us until August 1944. The Soviet troops were already by the Danube and on 2nd September the last Bulgarian Government before 9th September 1944 [10], fell from power. In order to enter Bulgaria, the Soviet Union declared war on Bulgaria and it was then that I was set free.
The Soviet army crossed Bulgaria not as a conqueror but as a liberator and it was very well accepted by the people. Every power has its good and bad sides. Fascism was good for its upholders, giving them rights and privileges. But the more progressive people wanted to oppose this policy of supporting the Germans. Therefore, a partisan movement was developed in Bulgaria in order to fight against the Germans. The Government, in its turn, murdered the partisans and burnt their houses. There was a great terror during this period, especially in 1943 and 1944. A lot of young people, among them many Jews, were killed in Plovdiv and Sofia. Besides, there was a concentration camp in Pleven [see Kailuka camp] [11], where close relatives of the partisans were imprisoned. This camp was set on fire and burnt by some fascist organizations in the summer of 1944. Around ten Jews were killed in this fire. There were elderly people there, who couldn’t escape.
Location
Bulgaria
Interview
Yosif Avram Levi