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My Jewish origin never influenced neither my surrounding nor my marriages. I've always insisted on my own point of view. I'm a Jew and I firmly hold on to this fact. I've never hidden it. For example, most Jews with the family name of Levi have Bulgarianized it to Leviev. I've never thought of doing such a thing because I wanted it to be the way it was. I am Levi and I will remain Levi. Many of my friends and relatives have become Leviev. But apart from being a Jew, I am first of all a human being and this means that I should treat all human beings equally despite their nationality. Both my marriages were with Bulgarian women. It definitely wasn't a deliberate choice.
My first wedding was somehow different. I'm not religious and I didn't want to marry in a temple. Therefore Lilia [Levi, nee Bunjulova] and I went to the district council for the signing, with a limited circle of relatives and friends and after that we organized a great party in a large hall at my work place. The American embassy is situated there now; it's opposite the National Bank. I had an office there. I gathered my friends. There were lots of people. We had a lot of fun. Everybody brought a present, as we didn't have anything for our new household. Till then I didn't even have a room to live in. I used to live at my friend's places. We managed to find a room in an apartment on 6th September Street - it was a three-bedroom apartment - along with four other families. We didn't possess anything. There was no furniture to buy in the shops. Therefore we went to the city hall because newly-weds were given coupons for buying a mattress. In our first night we slept in an almost empty room; there was only a mattress and a blanket. Only slowly we began to furnish our home.
I have a daughter from my first marriage; I don't have any kids from my second one. My daughter's name is Galia. She graduated in electronics in the former German Democratic Republic. Her specialty is bionics. She married her fellow student Rusimir Padalski. He has the same degree. They have two children, Milena and Silvia.
Galia was born in 1951 in Sofia and so was her husband. Milena was born in 1976 and Silvia in 1980, both in Sofia. Milena has a degree in international economic relations. Silvia currently studies Scandinavian philology specializing in Sweden at the time being. Milena is fluent in English and German, while Silvia knows German and now also Norwegian and Swedish. My son-in-law speaks German, English and Russian and so does my daughter. They own a company dealing with electronics. They organize training courses for companies for distribution and trade of electronic equipment in Bulgaria.
I've never hidden from them the fact that they are Jews. When my daughter was eight years old, I told her that her mother was Bulgarian and I was a Jew and that she was a child of a mixed marriage.
My first wedding was somehow different. I'm not religious and I didn't want to marry in a temple. Therefore Lilia [Levi, nee Bunjulova] and I went to the district council for the signing, with a limited circle of relatives and friends and after that we organized a great party in a large hall at my work place. The American embassy is situated there now; it's opposite the National Bank. I had an office there. I gathered my friends. There were lots of people. We had a lot of fun. Everybody brought a present, as we didn't have anything for our new household. Till then I didn't even have a room to live in. I used to live at my friend's places. We managed to find a room in an apartment on 6th September Street - it was a three-bedroom apartment - along with four other families. We didn't possess anything. There was no furniture to buy in the shops. Therefore we went to the city hall because newly-weds were given coupons for buying a mattress. In our first night we slept in an almost empty room; there was only a mattress and a blanket. Only slowly we began to furnish our home.
I have a daughter from my first marriage; I don't have any kids from my second one. My daughter's name is Galia. She graduated in electronics in the former German Democratic Republic. Her specialty is bionics. She married her fellow student Rusimir Padalski. He has the same degree. They have two children, Milena and Silvia.
Galia was born in 1951 in Sofia and so was her husband. Milena was born in 1976 and Silvia in 1980, both in Sofia. Milena has a degree in international economic relations. Silvia currently studies Scandinavian philology specializing in Sweden at the time being. Milena is fluent in English and German, while Silvia knows German and now also Norwegian and Swedish. My son-in-law speaks German, English and Russian and so does my daughter. They own a company dealing with electronics. They organize training courses for companies for distribution and trade of electronic equipment in Bulgaria.
I've never hidden from them the fact that they are Jews. When my daughter was eight years old, I told her that her mother was Bulgarian and I was a Jew and that she was a child of a mixed marriage.
Location
Bulgaria
Interview
Leon Levi