How exactly did it come to be that the Jews of Bulgaria were saved?
According to A Guide to Jewish Bulgaria, the mainstream theory promoted by the Communist government after the war was that the Communist Party and media played the decisive role in “preparing the general public for the protests against the Jews’ disenfranchisement and planned deportation.”
The book states that “at the present time, most Bulgarian politicians and statement try to avoid the controversies by claiming that the Bulgarian Jews were saved as a result of the efforts of ‘the whole nation.’”
Certainly all elements of the nation played a role. King Boris III, who sided with the Germans primarily in efforts to regain Bulgarian territories, refused to hand over his country’s Jews just as he resisted the German demand that he launch a military campaign against the Soviet Union. The Bulgarian Orthodox church took a stand on behalf of its Jewish neighbors and Bulgarian politicians stood up bravely to oppose the pro-German ministers who sought to appease the Nazis’ demands to deport the Jews.
In the book Beyond Hitler’s Grasp, Michael Bar-Zohar details the rescue of Bulgaria’s Jews in dramatic fashion, almost like a suspense thriller. In fact Bar Zohar, who was born in Bulgaria and served in the Knesset between 1981 – 1992, has written many spy novels and this true story comes across sounding almost like a work of fiction.
Bar-Zohar relates that in March 1943, camps had already been prepared for the country’s Jews and empty freight trains awaited their mission to transport the Jews to the east. At the last minute, a warning reached local politicians in the town of Kyustendil and they set off as a small delegation to Sofia to confront the Interior Minister and protest the plan. The deportation was delayed, but the rescue of Bulgaria’s Jews was not yet ensured.
Bar-Zohar explains that for most Bulgarians, the Jews were just like everyone else in the country. The Germans, who came to promote their Final Solution, discovered that in Bulgaria there was no problem that needed solving. In his book, written in 1998, Bar-Zohar points out the unique rescue of Bulgaria’s Jews, the largest and most dramatic rescue during World War II, is a story that is almost completely unknown.
In the years after the war, most of Bulgaria’s Jewish community made aliyah and moved to Israel. Today there are some 6,000 Jews living in Bulgaria. Bulgaria and Israel share a special relationship and Israelis of Bulgarian extract regularly visit their former homeland.
Two years of living in Bulgaria proved to me that the country remains remarkably free of anti-Semitism. At no time did I hesitate telling Bulgarians that I was Jewish, or that I came from Israel. The replies I heard were ones of welcome.
I was proud to live, even for a short time, in a country that refused to turn its Jews over to the Nazis. The heroism of Bulgaria’s citizens deserves to be shared with the world.
For further reading: What Happened to Macedonia's Jews during the Holocaust?
Picture: Sofia Synagogue
For further reading: What Happened to Macedonia's Jews during the Holocaust?
Picture: Sofia Synagogue