The Holocaust in Bulgaria

Memorial in Burgas to public figures who contributed to the saving of the city's Jews; erected by the Center for Jewish-Bulgarian cooperation Aleph.

Monument to Tsar Boris III and his wife Giovanna in Sofia, commemorating their efforts to protect Bulgarian Jews.

Memorial in Plovdiv

Kingdom of Bulgaria, as it existed between 1941 and 1944

The rescue of the Bulgarian Jews was a historical event that consisted of the prevention of about 50,000 Jews living on Bulgarian soil from deportation and extermination by Nazi-allied Bulgaria during World War II. The most notable people behind the rescue were Dimitar Peshev and Exarch Stefan of Bulgaria and Kiril, Metropolitan of Plovdiv, who managed to overcome Bulgaria's pro-Nazi bureaucracy and convince the then-tsar Boris III to stand behind Bulgarian Jewry and rescind his consent for the deportations. Historians are divided on whether the "eleventh hour" rescue, the halting of Holocaust trains should be considered a "remarkable act of defiance" or as a case of cynical opportunism, given that Macedonia and Thrace's Jews were indeed deported; however, it is not controversial that the "combined hostility of influential Bulgarians and the populace at large" to the anti-Semitic measures being proposed played a significant role in blocking the deportation of Bulgaria's Jews to death camps. The deportations of Jews from within Bulgaria's pre-war borders, set to take place after the arrival of the Holocaust trains on March 10, 1943, were never carried out. The rescue has been praised by public figures worldwide, including former Israeli President Shimon Peres. While most Bulgarian Jews survived the war, some 12,000 Jews were earlier imprisoned by the Bulgarian military and police, transported across Bulgaria and sent on to extermination at Treblinka. The Jews whose deportation from Bulgaria, including all Sofia's Jews was halted nonetheless had all their property confiscated, were forcibly deported to the provinces, and subjected to slave labour until 1944.

Historical background

The Bulgarian government under Tsar Boris III acted, to a large extent, as a puppet to Nazi Germany. The rise of Hitler saw an increasingly radicalised Bulgaria, as it eventually adopted German antisemitic policies. Bulgaria's alliance with Germany during World War II placed the former into a position of obedience and conformity. In addition, the Bulgarian government was over-ridden with politicians that held pro-fascist and anti-democratic sentiments. Such was the case of Prime Minister Bogdan Filov, who, on October 8, 1940, marginalised the country's Jewry by passing the Law for the Protection of the Nation (Bulgarian: Zakon za Zashtita na Naciyata), which restricted the rights and activities of Jews.

Monument in Israel to the Jews of Thrace, Macedonia, and Pirot who were murdered in Treblinka. It also thanks the Bulgarians who stood by their Jewish compatriots during the Holocaust.

Another crucial figure in the antisemitic movement in Bulgaria was the head of Jewish affairs for the government Alexander Belev, who was responsible for the expulsion of over 11,000 Jews from annexed Greek area of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, and Yugoslav areas of Vardar Macedonia and Pomoravlje to the Treblinka extermination camp. He signed a secret agreement with Germany's Theodor Dannecker on 22 February 1943 that aimed to achieve an efficient and unpublicised deportation of Jews from these regions, which had been taken over by Germany but were under administration by Bulgaria. The Jews of Greek Thrace, Eastern Macedonia, and Pirot in Serbia, were rounded up the night of 3–4 March 1943. They were transported by train to Lom on the Danube, then by boats to Vienna, and again by train to the killing camp of Treblinka. By 15 March, all but about a dozen of the Jews had been murdered at Treblinka.

The Bulgarian government was divided on the Jewish issue as pro-Nazi officials and those who valued collective security more, and were willing to compromise integrity, were in favour of antisemitic restrictions and laws; while the Orthodox Church, joined by progressive politicians and intellectuals, was opposed to the ongoing dehumanisation of the Jews. Nevertheless, the prevalent public opinion opposed the actions of the government. This led to internal political and social tensions that further divided people. In January 1942, Germany outlined what it called the Final Solution to the Jewish Question at the Wannsee Conference. This included the creation of camps designed, not to house deportees, but solely to execute them as quickly as possible after they arrived. Shortly thereafter, in June 1942, a Commissariat for the Jewish Problem was created within the Bulgarian Ministry of the Interior, and Alexander Belev, a notorious antisemite, was appointed its head. The Commissariat took swift action to satisfy the aims of the Nazis and promised the Germans that 20,000 Jews would be delivered to them. The plan was to deport Jews from the Bulgarian-controlled territories of Thrace and Macedonia to the Nazi extermination machine. But the Bulgarians overestimated the number of Jews living there and so were forced to come up with a plan to include approximately 8,000 Jews from Bulgaria itself.

Anti-Jewish propaganda and legislation

The beginning of anti-Jewish policies in Bulgaria could be traced back to 1939, but the escalation of those into a nationwide phenomenon was greatly contributed to by Alexander Belev and his Law for Protection of the Nation in 1940. The passing of the law by Parliament in January 1941 paved the way for the first deportations to take place in November of the same year.

Anti-Jewish propaganda gradually intensified with Bulgaria's rising economic and political dependence on Nazi Germany. This led to the introduction of anti-semitic legislation, starting with the Law for Protection of the Nation in 1940. This restricted the civil rights of Jews and was complemented by further laws, such as the establishment of a Commission on Jewish Affairs on 29 August 1942. The commission was tasked with the organisation of the expulsion of Jews and the liquidation of their property. This Act can be interpreted as the immediate precursor of the decision to deport Jews to extermination camps in March 1943.

The Bulgarian government worked on the optics of their message, terming the proposed deportation as a "resettlement," but Bulgarian citizens were not convinced. Expressions of dissent grew as Bulgarians protested against any Jews being deported from Bulgarian soil, and the Bulgarian government was flooded with petitions from organisations of writers and artists, lawyers, and religious leaders, among others. Former Bulgarian diplomat and attorney Dr. Ivan Dimitrov Strogov was one of those who petitioned Tsar Boris III. His letter admonishing the government's decision to deport Bulgarian Jewry is one such that moved the tsar to communicate his own change in perspective on the matter. Tsar Boris III was persuaded, after fierce and prolonged debate, to withdraw his decision to send Bulgarian Jews across the border. The anti-Nazi effort was headed by Dimitar Peshev, deputy speaker of the legislature. Metropolitans Kiril and Stefan led the protest by the religious community.

Rescue

Some who had previously supported deportation of Bulgarian Jews recanted and refused to co-operate when their imminent death became clear.

Bulgarian politicians, including Dimitar Peshev, were originally in favour of anti-Jewish legislation and only opposed requests for deportations of Bulgarian Jews. The Bulgarian government gave no protection at all to Jews living in Macedonia and Thrace. Alexander Belev, who was responsible for the Jewish problem in this region at the time, met little resistance when he sent Jews from there to the Treblinka extermination camp. Belev's actions were never scrutinised or morally questioned until he turned to Bulgarian Jewry when he could not meet the 20,000-person quota without including them. Moreover, Tsar Boris III neither acted to help Bulgarian Jews, nor showed any sympathy for them.

There was an intense national outcry. Protests were held throughout the country, with both ordinary citizens and religious leaders, including bishop Kiril of Plovdiv, threatening to block the path of Holocaust trains by lying on the railroad tracks.

Under immense pressure, Boris III was dissuaded from continuing the deportations and instead assigned Jews to forced labour groups throughout the country, telling Adolf Eichmann and Adolf Hitler that Bulgaria needed them for railroad construction and other industrial work.

Reception and legacy

Peshev memorial, Kyustendil

In 2002, the Dimitar Peshev House-Museum was inaugurated in Kyustendil, Peshev's home town, to commemorate his life and actions to prevent the deportation of Bulgarian Jews during the Holocaust.

In 2013, a street intersection outside the Bulgarian embassy in Washington DC was named Dimitar Peshev Plaza.

March 10, 2016 – the 73rd anniversary of the rescue – was commemorated in Bulgaria as Holocaust Memorial Day.

A monument of gratitude for the rescue of Bulgarian Jews from the Holocaust was dedicated in the presence of the Israeli Ambassador and other dignitaries in Bourgas, Bulgaria, 75 years after the rescue of the Bulgarian Jews and the deportation of Jews from areas of northern Greece and Yugoslavia under Bulgarian administration.

The rescue of the Bulgarian Jews has been feted by some historians, including Bulgarians and Jews alike, as a remarkable act of heroic defiance, while some other historians describe it as an "eleventh hour" episode of cynical opportunism that occurred due to the desire for favourable treatment if and when the Nazis lost the war, noting the much less rosy fate of Jews in Macedonia and Thrace, while still others take a middle position.

Bibliography

• Bar Zohar, Michael (1998). Beyond Hitler's Grasp. The Heroic Rescue of Bulgaria's Jews. Holbrook: Adams Media Corporation. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Boyadjieff, Christo (1989). Saving the Bulgarian Jews. Ottawa: Free Bulgarian Center. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Chary, Frederick B. (1972). The Bulgarian Jews and the final solution, 1940-1944. University of Pittsburgh Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Cohen, David (1995). Оцеляването [The Survival]. Sofia: Shalom. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Nissim, Gabriele (1998). L'uomo che fermo Hitler. Milan: Mondadori. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Oliver, Haim (1978). We Were Saved: How the Jews in Bulgaria Were Kept from the Death Camps. Sofia: Sofia Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Todorov, Tzvetan (2001). The Fragility of Goodness. Why Bulgaria's Jews Survived the Holocaust. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

See also

• Rescue of the Danish Jews
• The Holocaust
• History of Jews
• Nazi war crimes

External links

• aishcom website
• Newpol website
• Holocaustresearchproject website
• shalom website