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This is my eldest brother Yosif Kalaora together with his wife Elena Kalaora. The photo was taken in Buenos Aires in 1939 because in 1930 my brother decided to leave for Argentina, because of the world economic crisis at that time. The truth is that our family was very poor in Bulgaria and everyone could rely only on himself or herself.
Yosif and Elena Kalaora did not have children. After his death she was living in misery so I went to the Bulgarian People's Bank [the bank servicing the Bulgarian society during communist times] and asked them to allow me to give her as a donation 3,000 or 4,000 levs in dollars.
Yosif Kalaora died an absurd death. In 1953 he went to the embassy to ask for permission to visit Bulgaria. They gave him the permission right away. Mostly, because he was an activist at the Slav Association. He took his documents to buy tickets and on his way from the embassy to his home a truck appeared out of nowhere and run over three people, including my brother. I was told the news by a friend of his, who came back to live in Bulgaria. He found me, invited me to his place and crying told me, 'I don't think that was an accident.'
