Testimony of Shlomo Aladgem, born in Komotini, Greece, 1925, regarding his experiences during the persecution of Pazardzhik Jews in Bulgaria

Testimony of Shlomo Aladgem, born in Komotini, Greece, 1925, regarding his experiences during the persecution of Pazardzhik Jews in Bulgaria Family background; move to Bulgaria in 1930; living in Varna and Pazardzhik; outbreak of World War II in September 1939; anti-Jewish legislation from 1941; wearing a yellow badge; antisemitism on the part of the local population in Pazardzhik; activity in Beitar; curfew; antisemitic propaganda; confiscation of businesses and property; receiving help from Bulgarian friends; information regarding deportation of family members from Thrace to Auschwitz in 1943; arrival of refugees from Sofia; deportation to forced labor in Vetren in summer 1943; release from forced labor in April 1944 due to a forged medical document in September 1943; deportation to forced labor in Surdulica in April 1944; labor in the construction of a railroad; hunger; liberation by the Red Army in September 1944; life after the war; antisemitism; aliya to Israel in 1949; absorption.