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No one from my mother’s family had any formal education, but each of her brothers had his craft. The eldest one, Samuel, was a tobacco expert in the warehouses and bought tobacco. Rufel was a retailer. He had a grocery store, then a greengrocery, which he also set up in Sofia together with his father. Nissim was a hatter. He made bowler hats and had a workshop and a shop in Sofia. Alfred was a mechanic. Mois also had a grocery store. So although they were poor, they had their small businesses.
My mother and my father met in Dupnitsa. They told me that they were head over heels in love with each other. My father was made fun of, because every time he got home from work, he rode a donkey, which carried his things. So they used to say to my mother, ‘A donkey on a donkey! You will get a donkey for a fiancé!’ My mother was very young, around 17 years of age. I asked her whether she was asked for ‘contado’ [‘dowry’ in Ladino], but she told me that her father was very poor and could not even give her one lev. But my father loved her very much and married her without any dowry.
When they married, they were unable to have children for a long time. In fact, the children died immediately after their birth, due to some reason unknown to me and probably to my parents, too. So when my sister Sarina was born in 1920, they had to ‘sell’ her. That was an interesting ritual among Jews. When the children in one family died as newborns, the child was symbolically sold to a relative or a friend, probably to be distanced from the family. The ‘buyer’ gave some money and was obliged to visit the child and take care of it. So my sister was sold in this way. I was also sold to a relative of mine, with whom we were very close for many years. Maybe my parents believed that this would lift the curse.
My mother and my father met in Dupnitsa. They told me that they were head over heels in love with each other. My father was made fun of, because every time he got home from work, he rode a donkey, which carried his things. So they used to say to my mother, ‘A donkey on a donkey! You will get a donkey for a fiancé!’ My mother was very young, around 17 years of age. I asked her whether she was asked for ‘contado’ [‘dowry’ in Ladino], but she told me that her father was very poor and could not even give her one lev. But my father loved her very much and married her without any dowry.
When they married, they were unable to have children for a long time. In fact, the children died immediately after their birth, due to some reason unknown to me and probably to my parents, too. So when my sister Sarina was born in 1920, they had to ‘sell’ her. That was an interesting ritual among Jews. When the children in one family died as newborns, the child was symbolically sold to a relative or a friend, probably to be distanced from the family. The ‘buyer’ gave some money and was obliged to visit the child and take care of it. So my sister was sold in this way. I was also sold to a relative of mine, with whom we were very close for many years. Maybe my parents believed that this would lift the curse.
Location
Bulgaria
Interview
Leon Mordohay Madzhar