Aron and Bela Ishakh with their first-born daughter Sonia


Here my husband Aron, our daughter Sonia and I are walking in the town's old garden, not far away from the Danube.The photo was taken in Ruse in 1947.

I met my husband Aron Alfandari in 1945. At that time we were members of the Union of the Young Workers, short UYW, and we had to prepare a wall-newspaper. We gathered on 6, Gurko Street in the UYW club. He accompanied me  to my house on the way home and we became friends. We married on 19th September the same year. Ours was one of the first civil marriages in Ruse.

I have two daughters: Sonia, born in 1946, and Roza, born in 1953. My children were brought up in line with the Jewish traditions by their grandfather and grandmother Menahem and Roza Alfandari. They were very religious people, observed all the traditions and thought very highly of the Jewry. That means they strictly observed Jewish rituals on holidays and on Sabbath.

My parents passed on to my children their knowledge, firstly, about the Jewish cuisine and, secondly, about our holidays Pesach, Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot, Lag-ba-Omer. They celebrated these at home. Of course, we used to attend services at the synagogue, but rarely. I mean, we visited the synagogue only for the high Jewish holidays, such as Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Chanukkah, Pesach, Sukkot etc.