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In 1942 I was forced to return to Dupnitsa, because I was no longer a student and all Jews were interned from Sofia. There were other interned Jews in Dupnitsa. Some of them lived in Jewish families, others in the houses of Bulgarian families. My mother’s sister was at our place. We even prepared the basement to be good enough to live in. My parents’ financial situation was very bad, because according to those laws Jews couldn’t have a business of their own, so they couldn’t work and earn their living. Then I started working as a sausage maker for a man who had taken my father’s business after he won a tender. I stayed with him for five or six months. Then I worked for a while in the tobacco warehouses until some friends offered for me to start work as an apprentice in a barber’s. So in 1943 I started working there.
The owner said he would give me 5-6 levs a week, which was a minimal sum, but he assured me that I would receive more from tips. I knew that I would learn the craft quickly and I would pass the apprentice period. After three or four months I worked for a percentage of the total earnings; I received half of the earned money and the other half I gave to my employer. I was already 16-17 years old at that time and the municipality mobilized us to dig hiding-places against the bombardments around Dupnitsa. We dug holes in the earth and took out the soil with trolleys [wagons] and we made tunnels.
The other Jews were sent to labor camps [11], but I was not old enough so I remained in the town. All my uncles were sent to labor camps during the war. They built roads and railroads: for example, they built the Sofia-Kulata line. They were sent far away: Svoge, Lovech and other places. We were very close to town and in the evenings we went home. We were given lunch, but a very small sum of money. All Jews were mobilized; if someone refused, they were sent to court. Only some of the rich boys sometimes found ways to be released from work. We were usually mobilized in March when the weather got warmer and we worked until September. In the winter I worked in the barber’s.
The owner said he would give me 5-6 levs a week, which was a minimal sum, but he assured me that I would receive more from tips. I knew that I would learn the craft quickly and I would pass the apprentice period. After three or four months I worked for a percentage of the total earnings; I received half of the earned money and the other half I gave to my employer. I was already 16-17 years old at that time and the municipality mobilized us to dig hiding-places against the bombardments around Dupnitsa. We dug holes in the earth and took out the soil with trolleys [wagons] and we made tunnels.
The other Jews were sent to labor camps [11], but I was not old enough so I remained in the town. All my uncles were sent to labor camps during the war. They built roads and railroads: for example, they built the Sofia-Kulata line. They were sent far away: Svoge, Lovech and other places. We were very close to town and in the evenings we went home. We were given lunch, but a very small sum of money. All Jews were mobilized; if someone refused, they were sent to court. Only some of the rich boys sometimes found ways to be released from work. We were usually mobilized in March when the weather got warmer and we worked until September. In the winter I worked in the barber’s.
Location
Bulgaria
Interview
Leon Mordohay Madzhar