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Group portrait of members of the Shomer Hazair youth movement in Sofia.

Photograph | Digitized | Photograph Number: 64738

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    Group portrait of members of the Shomer Hazair youth movement in Sofia.
    Group portrait of members of the Shomer Hazair youth movement in Sofia.

Among those pictured are Avraham Alajem (middle row, far right) and a youth group counsellor, Dan Pelli (back row, third from the left).

    Overview

    Caption
    Group portrait of members of the Shomer Hazair youth movement in Sofia.

    Among those pictured are Avraham Alajem (middle row, far right) and a youth group counsellor, Dan Pelli (back row, third from the left).
    Date
    Circa 1943
    Locale
    Sofia, Bulgaria
    Variant Locale
    Sofiya
    Sophia
    Sardica
    Photo Credit
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Talma Ofek

    Rights & Restrictions

    Photo Source
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
    Copyright: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
    Provenance: Talma Ofek

    Keywords & Subjects

    Administrative Notes

    Biography
    Avraham Ofek was born on August 14, 1935 in Burgas, Bulgaria to parents Yaakov and Dina Rubanov. He had two older brothers, Reuven (b. 1924) and Meir (b. 1928). Yaakov worked in the port of Burgas and sold lemonade on a cart to supplement his income. Dina, who was the daughter of refugees from Istanbul, took care of the children and gave private lessons in French occasionally. In 1936, Yaakov died suddenly. Nine months later, Dina died as well, probably from liver cancer.

    After the death of their parents, the brothers were separated. Reuven was taken in by a neighbor, who was a shoemaker and made Reuven his apprentice. Meir was sent to an orphanage for a year before being adopted by the Krispin family from Sliven. Avraham, who was just seven months old, was put in the care of the Jewish community until he could be adopted. An ad was placed in a local Jewish newspaper about a healthy child from Burgas who needed a home, which was answered by Leon and Buka (later Miriam) Alajem, of the city of Ferdinand (now Montana). Leon had been in the military and worked in a textile business owned by two of Buka’s brothers, and Buka had completed a teacher’s seminary. They were in their forties and had no children. On September 30, 1937 they officially adopted Avraham, and soon afterward moved to a large family home in Sofia.

    In March 1941, Bulgaria entered into a military alliance with the Axis Powers. Antisemitic measures were put into effect, and by the spring of 1943 deportations of non-Bulgarian Jews began. Jews from Sofia were told to leave the city, and Avraham’s family decided to move back to Ferdinand, where Avraham was able to attend a Jewish school. There were restrictions on Jews, and they were forced to wear the Star of David, but they were able to survive in Ferdinand until the end of the war. Avraham’s brother Meir spent the war in Slevin, and after the war’s end began to study medicine. He immigrated to Israel in 1949, and completed his medical studies at Hebrew University. Reuven survived the war as well.

    On May 10, 1949 Avraham and his parents immigrated to Israel, departing from Varna. They initially settled in the community of Pardes Hanna, and later in Jaffa. Avraham joined the Kibbutz Ein HaMifratz, where his artistic talent was discovered. He studied with the artist Aryeh Rothman, and some of his early works focused on the Aliyah ships and refugees. It was also on the kibbutz that he met his future wife Talma, and they were married in 1957. The same year, Avraham’s father died. He discovered that he was adopted and had two older brothers, one in Bulgaria and one in Israel. He found that his brother Meir was working in a hospital in Jaffa, and was reunited with him.

    In 1954 Avraham was drafted into the IDF, and served in the Nahal until 1956. After the army he continued studying art. In 1958, he traveled to Florence to study the art of fresco in the Academy of Fine Arts. He went on to establish himself as an internationally prominent artist, creating frescos displayed at Tel Aviv University and the main post office in downtown Jerusalem. Avraham died in 1990.
    Record last modified:
    2019-06-27 00:00:00
    This page:
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