With Dignity and Humanity, Bulgaria
saved the lives of 49-thousand Jews

The rescue of Bulgaria's Jewish population represented a unique chapter in Holocaust history, but its full story remained largely unknown until the fall of communism in 1989. Postwar propaganda had credited Communist Party leaders for having saved the Bulgarian Jews. During World War II, Bulgaria became an ally of Nazi Germany, largely so that it could occupy and annex neighboring territories it had lost in earlier wars - areas in what is today Macedonia, the Thrace region of Greece and parts of southern Serbia around the town of Pirot. In early 1943, the Bulgarian government signed a secret agreement with the Nazis to deport 20,000 Jews to death camps in Poland. The deportations started with Jews in the annexed territories. Between March 4 and March 11 of that year, soldiers rounded up thousands of Jews, loaded them into boxcars and shipped them en masse to Treblinka.

In March, 1943, boxcars were lined up to receive a first wave of 8,500 Jews in Bulgaria. Word of the imminent deportation leaked out, however, and this triggered protests throughout Bulgarian society. The vice president of Parliament, Dimitar Peshev, sprang into action when he was warned of the imminent deportation of Jews from his hometown, Kyustendil, on March 9. He made public the secret deportation deal and forced a temporary cancellation of the order. Meanwhile, Peshev brought together 42 fellow legislators to sign a protest petition to the king. In addition, the Orthodox Church leaders spoke out; numerous professors, doctors, lawyers, students, labor leaders and peasants alike staged protests, including marches and street demonstrations.

Within weeks, Boris III told the Nazi leadership that he needed the Jews as construction workers. He moved them into labor camps, but refused to deport them or hand them over to the Nazis. Most people are unaware that Bulgaria was successful in saving its Jews precisely because it was a Nazi ally and did not suffer occupation by the German army or terror from the Gestapo secret police. Many people in Europe saved Jews, says Sir Martin Gilbert, historian and author of several books on the Holocaust, most recently The Righteous.

What was unusual about the Bulgarians' response was the speed of the public reaction, says Sir Martin. There was no time for forming committees or discussions - the time between the issuing of the deportation order and when the trains were supposed to leave the station was just 16 days. Nazi Germany had the resources and organisation to deport Jews secretly and quickly, but only with no resistance.

In 1945, the Communists sentenced Peshev himself to 15 years of prison for collaborating with the Nazis as a member of the wartime Parliament. He was accused of having worked to save the Jews for money. Peshev was released after just one year. He lived in Kyustendil until his death in 1973, impoverished and largely forgotten until a remembrance of his Christian acts was raised in the 1990s. In October, 2002, a museum dedicated to his life was opened in the Kyustendil house where he was born. The Bulgarian Orthodox church, represented by eminent spiritual leaders such as the Sofia metropolitan Stefan, the Vidin metropolitan Neofit, the Plovdiv metropolitan Kiril and others contributed a lot to the preservation of the Jews. This was prompted by purely humanitarian Christian motivation. For in Bulgaria, the Jewish people were not tolerated; they were loved, and the Bulgarian people simply could not bear the injustice of what was happening.

In reality King Boris III was responsible for the release of the Bulgarian Jews on March 9th 1943. All measures before and after his mysterious death were steps for saving the Jewish people.

On April 5th 1943 the German legation in Sofia made a confidential report to the headquarters of the SS concerning the difficulty in deportation of the Jews from Bulgaria. Volf Oshlis concludes: "Bulgarian people are democratic and practice religious tolerance. Bulgaria is a country void of anti-semiticism and respects the achievements of all people".

Deportation of the Jews to the death camps in Poland was opposed by all Bulgaria. The church members, headed by Bishop Kiril of Plovdiv (later Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church), threatened to lie on the railway tracks in front of any train transporting the Jews to Poland. Some 42 members of parliament rebelled against the government. All leaders of the political parties sent protests to the government and the King, who - while secretly condoning the civil disobedience - yet had not cancelled the deportation order.

On 9 March, 1943 in Sofia at about 7.30 - 8 o'clock a member of parliament, Peter Mihalev, announced in a trembling voice, "For now the Jews are saved." On the 10th of March, the Jews were returned to their homes.

The historical record speaks clearly about Bulgaria's lack of anti-Semitism, particularly notable in Eastern Europe. Jews have always been integrated in Bulgaria: they never lived in separate villages or ghettoes as they did in Poland and Russia. Bulgaria is a multi-ethnic country with a tradition of accepting persecuted minorities, such as Armenians from Turkey.

On March 10, many of the Plovdiv Jews had reported to a school building in Plovdiv, while police sealed the doors of their houses. They all carried suitcases packed with clothes and food for a long trip. Treblinka, Poland was to be their destination. But they never reached it. After waiting all day long in the school yard, they were simply sent home.

The plaque shown above is found on the side of that school (at No. 18 Russki Boulevard) in Plovdiv and today, 60 years later, commemorates the spot where Kiril, Metropolitan Bishop of Plovdiv, stood by the Bulgarian Jews. "I won't leave you ..." are the words on the plaque.

Plovdiv Metropolitan Bishop Kiril
Metropolitan Bishop Kiril
of Plovdiv

Metropolit Kiril passed away in 1971. In 2003, Yad Vashem, recognized him as Righteous Among the Nations.

With Dignity and Humanity, Bulgaria saved the lives of 49-thousand Jews

With Dignity and Humanity, Bulgaria
saved the lives of 49-thousand Jews