Testimony of Rachel Sheli (Ashkenazi) Ben Chaim, born in Nikopol, Bulgaria, 1927, regarding her experiences in Nikopol, Sofia and Pleven

Testimony of Rachel Sheli (Ashkenazi) Ben Chaim, born in Nikopol, Bulgaria, 1927, regarding her experiences in Nikopol, Sofia and Pleven Family with hardships; witness's father is a cantor and ritual slaughterer; attends a Hebrew school; relations with the Bulgarian population; activities in Zionist youth movements including Hashomer Hatzair, Young Wizo and Beitar. Outbreak of the war; aliya of her sister to Eretz Israel with Youth Aliyah, 1941; anti-Jewish legilsation; termination of studies, 1941; yellow badge, from 1942; curfew; work as an apprentice seamstress; activities in the Communist youth movement, Ras; arrest; displays of antisemitism; detention; deportation from Sofia, 1943; demonstrations against deportation of the Jews; deportation to Pleven; cooperation between Jewish and Bulgarian partisans; liberation by the Red Army. Work in a militia; aliya attempt; deportation to Cyprus; aliya, 1948.