I, Anad (wife of Yosif's son) and my wife Rositsa Georgieva Seliktar (nee Velcheva) (from left to right) in the town of Rehovot, Israel in 1995.
I have known my wife for a long time. We met during the youth brigades in 1945 or 1946 and in the Union of Young Workers. I was also a member of the Bulgarian Communist Party. We married in 1951. My wife was born in Sofia. She is a Bulgarian. She was born on 1st October 1930. She is a meteorologist. She graduated in meteorology and geography. She has two university degrees. We have a son, Ilya. He was born in Sofia in 1952. Now he lives in Sofia.
My wife worked until she retired. She was a meteorologist, and then she went to work for the Bulgarian Tourist Union. I was in the army. The severing of the diplomatic ties with Israel and the wars in 1967 and 1973 affected me in my duty. I was observed if I had ties with Israel and with whom, and if I received any letters.
I didn't go to Israel before 1989. I kept in touch with my relatives by phone. While I was in the army, I didn't receive any letters; after that I received letters regularly. One year while I was a colonel, my mother came to visit. Before that my sister and brother-in-law came, in 1962. Of course, they slept at my place. I reported to my superiors that some relatives of mine had come on a visit, but my chiefs respected me and didn't make any problems about that. My sister and brother-in-law came one more time and then my mother came in 1966. She was quite old by then. I was very happy when they came. My mother saw her grandchildren. My father died in 1961 and I wasn't able to see him again after he left for Israel.
