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In the morning we heard on the radio that the Fatherland Front [16] had assumed power and the names of the people in the government were announced. Apart from Kimon Georgiev, we knew Damian Velchev and Dobri Terpeshev. The man who heard the news on the radio started to shout that Bai [an expression for an elder brother or a very close pal] Dobri had become a minister. In a fast march we reached the village of Dobroslav close to Giueshevo in Kiustendil district. There we freed the Bulgarian soldiers. We stayed in the barracks, which were the property of the 4th guards' regiment.
Then they asked us if there were any volunteers among us to become political officers - they wanted to 'clean up' this guards' regiment from the young tsarist officers. I volunteered along with Nissim Melamed, a friend of mine, also a Jew, and some other friends. We stayed there. Each of us was given a horse. It was the first time I mounted a horse so I asked them to give me a calmer one. We passed through every company. We kept some of the officers and dismissed others. We were preparing ourselves for the front line at Stratsin. At that time I didn't wear my glasses, as a horse had hit me and broken them. I had to return to Sofia because of my strong shortsightedness. I left for Sofia in the carriage of a truck along with three other soldiers. Somewhere near Kiustendil someone started shooting at us and my cap was pierced. I was lucky the bullet didn't hit my head. I arrived in Sofia and my friends insisted that I should stay as a social worker there.
I arrived in Sofia at nighttime. There were no lights at all. The whole city was ruined starting from the railway station to our quarter. Kniaginia Klementina Street [now Stamboliiski Street] had no electricity. The streets were bumpy. I found great misery. The next day, while I was walking through the center, I saw that everything had been ruined. I saw completely or half- destroyed buildings everywhere. The whole quarter around the National Bank was completely demolished. Our house - actually it wasn't our property, we rented it - hadn't been destroyed although it was a frame-built one.
Then they asked us if there were any volunteers among us to become political officers - they wanted to 'clean up' this guards' regiment from the young tsarist officers. I volunteered along with Nissim Melamed, a friend of mine, also a Jew, and some other friends. We stayed there. Each of us was given a horse. It was the first time I mounted a horse so I asked them to give me a calmer one. We passed through every company. We kept some of the officers and dismissed others. We were preparing ourselves for the front line at Stratsin. At that time I didn't wear my glasses, as a horse had hit me and broken them. I had to return to Sofia because of my strong shortsightedness. I left for Sofia in the carriage of a truck along with three other soldiers. Somewhere near Kiustendil someone started shooting at us and my cap was pierced. I was lucky the bullet didn't hit my head. I arrived in Sofia and my friends insisted that I should stay as a social worker there.
I arrived in Sofia at nighttime. There were no lights at all. The whole city was ruined starting from the railway station to our quarter. Kniaginia Klementina Street [now Stamboliiski Street] had no electricity. The streets were bumpy. I found great misery. The next day, while I was walking through the center, I saw that everything had been ruined. I saw completely or half- destroyed buildings everywhere. The whole quarter around the National Bank was completely demolished. Our house - actually it wasn't our property, we rented it - hadn't been destroyed although it was a frame-built one.
Location
Bulgaria
Interview
Leon Levi