Erika Levi was 18 years old and attended a French boarding school in the Bulgarian town of Rousse with her younger sister Nina. In May 1943 the sisters returned to their parents in Sofia. Like all Jewish people in the city, the family had to move to the provinces.
Shortly before their move a family friend, the doctor Pavel Gerdjikov, warned the Levis that the Jews were to be deported abroad. They trusted Gerdjikov and hid in his medical practice.
In January 1944 the house where they were hiding was hit by a bomb. Erika Levi suffered a severe head injury. Gerdjikov carried her to a hospital and managed to get her operated on immediately. Over the next month, he cared for her in the hospital where he worked, passing her off as a relative. Levi wore a crucifix to conceal her identity. Once she recovered she moved back to her family. Gerdjikov had rented accommodation for them in a village and provided them with forged papers.
In 1947 Erika Levi married Gerdjikov; their marriage lasted only a few years. Erika Levi emigrated to Israel, where she married again. She is now called Erika Rosenkranz.