Abraham Levi lived in the Bulgarian capital Sofia with his wife Mary and their daughters Nina and Erika. The Bulgarian government passed anti-Jewish laws in 1941. As a former officer in the Bulgarian army, however, Levi was not affected by them. He was allowed to remain in the family home in the city center, instead of having to move to poorer areas like most Jews.
In 1943 Abraham Levi was warned by a doctor friend, Pavel Gerdjikov, that the deportation of the Jewish population was planned. The doctor offered to hide the Levis in his medical practice. From May 1943 to January 1944, Abraham Levi and his family hid there in a locked room with a window and toilet. An additional emergency hiding place was set up behind a bookcase.
When the building was hit during an Allied air raid, Gerdjikov arranged forged papers for the Levis and found new accommodation for them. Abraham Levi and his family survived there and emigrated to Israel in 1948.