Bulgaria marks the 80th anniversary of the rescue of Bulgarian Jews in World War II on Friday. The Day of Rescue of Bulgarian Jews and of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust and of the Crimes against Humanity has been marked since 2003, by a government decision of February 13, 2003. On March 17, 1943, Vice-President of the 25th National Assembly Dimitar Peshev initiated a sharp letter of protest to Prime Minister Bogdan Filov against the deportation of the Bulgarian Jews signed by a total of 43 lawmakers. With the actions of Metropolitan Cyril of Plovdiv and Exarch Stefan of Sofia and the intervention of the public, nearly 50,000 Bulgarian Jews were saved from deportation. In Sofia, the 80th anniversary was marked with several events. An exhibition of documents, books, periodicals, and memories of contemporaries was unveiled at the St St Cyril and Methodius National Library by Bulgarian President Rumen Radev. Having survived two national catastrophes, Bulgaria is doing everything possible to avoid being dragged into another war on the Old Continent. Despite Nazi Germany’s pressure on Bulgarian institutions, our people rejected anti-Semitism and on their own, fragmented and persecuted, sought the path to dialogue, to the peaceful revision of the unjust Treaty of Neuilly sur Seine, President Rumen Radev said Friday at the opening of the exhibition that presents documentary evidence of the life of the Jews in Bulgarian lands, including during the Second World War. ‘I am honored to open this exhibition in the presence of our Israeli friends and the esteemed, dear guest of honor Prof. Bar Zohar a public figure, historian, and loyal friend of Bulgaria. His remarkable book Beyond Hitler’s Grasp reveals in a unique way to the world the events of the spring of 1943 that led to the rescue of the Bulgarian Jews,’ Radev said. ‘Prof. Bar Zohar also reveals the tolerance, friendly feelings and humanism of the Bulgarian people in one of the darkest periods in human history, when Europe was crushed by Hitler,’ the Head of State added. In his words, ‘isolated and threatened by occupation, Bulgaria was forced to join the Tripartite Pact’. ‘The loss of neutrality led to the adoption of anti-Jewish legislation, but this did not change the attitude of our people towards friends, neighbours, fellow Jews,’ Radev said. The Head of State said that the Bulgarians never lost their tolerance and empathy towards those who suffer. ‘Bulgarian institutions continued to issue transit visas to the thousands of Jews fleeing occupied Europe. Our diplomats stress that the anti-Jewish legislation imposed from outside will be implemented in Bulgaria in such a way as to curb any attempt at violent anti-Semitism,’ the President said. ‘In days of ultimate hardship, the Bulgarian State and people passed a test of enormous historical value by not allowing a single Bulgarian Jew to perish in the death camps or be killed in Bulgaria,’ Radev said. He added that the rescue of the Bulgarian Jews remains an example of the power of public and political energy for a just cause. ‘The lesson of the statesmanship of the 43 deputies of the ruling majority in the National Assembly, who signed the letter of Parliament Deputy Chair Dimitar Peshev, the worthy spiritual leaders of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, which at that time was part of the state, the active public position of a number of scientific and professional associations, the moral role of the intellectual elite who remained faithful to the traditions of their nation and state will remain in our history forever. We will not forget the contribution of Bulgarian Jews to the anti-fascist resistance,’ the Head of State emphasized. Rumen Radev added that 80 years after those events, the unprecedented act of saving Bulgarian Jews remains ‘our strong moral foundation in the fight against hatred, xenophobia and present-day manifestations of anti-Semitism.’ Later, a wreath-laying ceremony took place in front of the Memorial Plaques of the Rescuers of the Bulgarian Jews at the St Sophia Basilica in Sofia. The participants in the ceremony reached the plaques in a procession from the Sts Cyril and Methodius National Library. Taking part in the procession were President Rumen Radev, Prime Minister Galab Donev, Vice President Iliana Iotova, former Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Israel’s Ambassador in Sofia Yoram Elron, prominent Israeli historian and public figure Michael Bar-Zohar, public figures, clergymen and members of the public. The Bulgarian News Agency, in partnership with the Alef Jewish-Bulgarian Cooperation Center, set itself the task of answering the many historical and historiographical questions raised by the anniversary, with the help of prominent scholars, public figures, and experts on the subject with a series of articles to recall the events of the past and the participants in them, and to present the importance of the rescue and the rescuers. According to information on the website of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Center, Bulgaria had 50,000 Jews before World War II and zero victims. It is the only country with zero victims.
Source: Ghana News Agency