The Alfandari family

The Alfandari family


These are my parents Roza and Menahem Alfandari (on the left) together with my mother's sister, Auntie Matilda (first from right), who lived with her family in the town of Byala. Here she had come to visit us, which was the occasion for taking the picture. One can see the fence of our old house in Ruse. It was 1941, that is - days before the Law for the Protection of the Nation was introduced. I can't recall anything else about Auntie Matilda.

My parents were called Menahem and Roza Alfandari. They were born in Istanbul and Silistra, respectively. My father was born in 1889 and died in 1969, and my mother was born in 1903 and died in 1968. They were buried in the Jewish cemetery in one and the same grave. Dad was in the trade with grain crops, wheat, rice, and Mom had always been a housewife. They had elementary education.

My parents were religious people and this was what my children inherited, too, since my father and mother actively helped me with the bringing-up of my own children. We attended services at the synagogue quite regularly, especially on the high Jewish holidays such as Yom Kippur, Pesach, Chanukkah, Lag ba-Omer, Purim, and Rosh Hashanah.

We moved to live in Ruse when I was still very young. I remember that Ruse always had nice markets. Villagers from the nearby settlements came to sell their goods and the citizens crowded to buy things. We had a big and a small market there. We preferred the small one. Tuesdays and Fridays were the market days. 

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