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I have three brothers and two sisters. My eldest brother is called Isak Levi and he is a textile technician. He is a widower already with a daughter: Ema. They both live in Sofia. My second brother is Mordechai Levi and he used to work as a printer. My sister Oro Morits Frank didn’t have any special profession and she used to work in a glass shop as a laborer. She finished secondary school and had no other qualifications. She married in 1938 and her wedding was a disappointment for us because in accordance with our traditions, when a girl is getting married she is supposed to bring a dowry into her new family. We had no money and had to take loans. Mordechai had to work for a whole year in order to pay off the loan.
My other brother is called David Levi. He wasn’t very ambitious, he remained uneducated and he used to be a laborer. He used to sell seeds, ice-cream or something like that. He felt underprivileged in our family because we didn’t pay much attention to him. We treated him well, although as a child he began speaking only when he was four or five years old. He got married in Bulgaria and had four children: his two daughters were born here. He used to work in a textile factory then and was given a small room, which he used to live in. He moved to Israel as early as 1949, where he continued to work: he did whatever job he got. But his kids are very good. One of his daughters used to be a bank clerk, and the other one has a career as well and they both have nice families. The kids born in Israel aren’t as skillful as their parents.
My sister Oro had two children before leaving for Israel: Morits and Lily. Morits finished technical school and built a car garage. He was successful. He is 65 years old and leads a good life. The daughter is also alright. She became a bank clerk; she used to work for a long time in an Israeli bank. She is now retired, had two daughters, granddaughters, etc. My sister died quite early, before her 70th birthday, and my brother-in-law remained alone. He is of Russian origin. During the Russian-Turkish war [see Liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman rule] [19] some Jews went to Bulgaria and settled there. He loved drinking and it seems like it had affected him because in the last years of his life his children took great care of him. They placed him in an elderly people’s home. They were very good kids. Now, I visit my nephews in Israel.
Mordechai married Sofia. She was a seamstress, and they got two sons: Avram and Emil. They lived in Sofia on Dimitar Petkov and Albert Antonov Streets. They used to have a house there, which has already been destroyed and replaced by an estate. Each of them bought an apartment on Dimitar Petkov Street. Meanwhile, my brother managed to somehow get an apartment in ‘Mladost’ residential quarter near the Regional Hospital. He passed away a year ago. Now one of his sons, Avram, has a problem because both his sons left for Israel. My brother’s children stayed in Sofia. Avram finished military school, but he was unemployed and he became an insurer. His wife wants to be closer to her kids and she visits Israel on a regular basis and stays there for quite a long time. She wants him to leave for Israel also, but he thinks that he has nothing to do there. He is already 54 or 55 years old, doesn’t receive a pension, and would have to learn the language and find a job there, so he considered all these aspects as extremely difficult.
My other brother is called David Levi. He wasn’t very ambitious, he remained uneducated and he used to be a laborer. He used to sell seeds, ice-cream or something like that. He felt underprivileged in our family because we didn’t pay much attention to him. We treated him well, although as a child he began speaking only when he was four or five years old. He got married in Bulgaria and had four children: his two daughters were born here. He used to work in a textile factory then and was given a small room, which he used to live in. He moved to Israel as early as 1949, where he continued to work: he did whatever job he got. But his kids are very good. One of his daughters used to be a bank clerk, and the other one has a career as well and they both have nice families. The kids born in Israel aren’t as skillful as their parents.
My sister Oro had two children before leaving for Israel: Morits and Lily. Morits finished technical school and built a car garage. He was successful. He is 65 years old and leads a good life. The daughter is also alright. She became a bank clerk; she used to work for a long time in an Israeli bank. She is now retired, had two daughters, granddaughters, etc. My sister died quite early, before her 70th birthday, and my brother-in-law remained alone. He is of Russian origin. During the Russian-Turkish war [see Liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman rule] [19] some Jews went to Bulgaria and settled there. He loved drinking and it seems like it had affected him because in the last years of his life his children took great care of him. They placed him in an elderly people’s home. They were very good kids. Now, I visit my nephews in Israel.
Mordechai married Sofia. She was a seamstress, and they got two sons: Avram and Emil. They lived in Sofia on Dimitar Petkov and Albert Antonov Streets. They used to have a house there, which has already been destroyed and replaced by an estate. Each of them bought an apartment on Dimitar Petkov Street. Meanwhile, my brother managed to somehow get an apartment in ‘Mladost’ residential quarter near the Regional Hospital. He passed away a year ago. Now one of his sons, Avram, has a problem because both his sons left for Israel. My brother’s children stayed in Sofia. Avram finished military school, but he was unemployed and he became an insurer. His wife wants to be closer to her kids and she visits Israel on a regular basis and stays there for quite a long time. She wants him to leave for Israel also, but he thinks that he has nothing to do there. He is already 54 or 55 years old, doesn’t receive a pension, and would have to learn the language and find a job there, so he considered all these aspects as extremely difficult.
Location
Bulgaria
Interview
Yosif Avram Levi