Peppi Bernescu with her family

Lady (on the left), child (standing, on a chair), gentleman (on the right), this is aunt Peppi, my aunt, one of my father's sisters with her husband and child.

The photo was taken in 29.th of March.1912, in the "FOTOGLOB" studio, in the Modern Photography Institute, Academiei Boulevard 3, Bucharest.

Aunt Peppi, my father's sister, whose married name was Bernescu, then lived in Bucharest; she resembled aunt Rebeca very much.

My father had many brothers and sisters: Joseph, Maurice, Rebeca, Peppi. All of them were born in Braila, after my grandfather had moved there.

Peppi Bernescu was married to Hermann Bernescu, director of the Leonida, and they had two daughters. They lived in Bucharest and they enjoyed a special financial situation; they had an exquisite house in Filipescu park, on Alexandru Alley, near the quarters of the Central Committee; the house was taken away from them and now they claimed it back. I've been in that house myself. They entered a decline after they were forced to have tenants, for they were called bourgeois.

I can say that we were closer to the relatives from my mother's side than to those of my father. The relatives from my father's side considered us "the black sheep" as we were poorer. They pushed us away without having any special reasons, but merely because it was a layering due to financial situation. However, after they were persecuted because they had belonged to the higher bourgeoisie, because they were some of the great rich people of that time, they turned to me for help as I was working at the Oil Factory, in the fuel department. One of the brothers was arrested for possession of gold and he hid some of the jewelry with me, valuable items - as he knew no one would come to me to look for them, for I wasn't rich - which, of course, I returned to him after he was released from prison. Back then, owning gold was a great crime.