This photograph was taken around 1950-1951 in Saveni, when my parents wanted to immigrate to Israel and had a family photograph taken for the drawing up of official formalities. My father, Mochiu Rotaru, is on the left, my mother, Leia Rotaru, is on the right, and in the back, from left to right: me, Saul Rotariu, and my brother, Avram Rotaru. It is written on the back side: ‘This photograph shows the following persons:’ and the names are listed, it is signed by the Commandant of Militia, Saveni.
These photographs were taken in a particular location, by a photographer specifically designated by the militia. And all those who wanted to file a request for immigrating to Israel were scheduled on a particular day to have their photograph taken, and someone from the militia was present giving instructions as to how the photograph should look like so that the personal data required for an official paper was properly recorded. And the militia man would then stamp the back of the photograph to certify the identity of the persons in it, with their names written on the back. But my parents eventually abandoned this project, and we stayed in Romania. They scolded us when this picture was taken, as we started playing with some children and went who knows where, and that man had to wait for us… and the time it took until they found us…
It was around 1950-1951 - we were living in Saveni then - that my parents wanted to immigrate to Israel, but in the end they gave up this undertaking because my father's relatives - he had three sisters - didn't want to leave anymore, they hadn't made up their mind. And then my father said: 'If my sisters aren't leaving, neither am I.' And it was decided. Later on, they left and stayed here. They each left one by one, but we didn't leave after all.
