The Power of Civil Society: The fate of Jews in Bulgaria during the Holocaust Bulgaria saves its Jewish community from the Nazis By Dr Albena Taneva, Centre for Jewish Studies, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” Besides its present, every people has its past. many train stations in various Bulgarian cities under a puzzling veil To create its present, it must know its past. of secrecy. Their destination, however, was not the usual. They had To have a future, it must understand its past. been ordered to deport thousands of defenseless civilians from Bulgaria so they could be murdered. Every single person born into This motto is the most synthesized expression for the need for the world as a Jew merely by fate, had suddenly become a victim mentioning and returning to the topic of the Holocaust and the of the murderous policies of Hitler and Nazi Germany. historic rescue of the Jews in Bulgaria. What was actually happening? March 10, 1943 was a day like any other. The weather was typical At that time in Europe, Nazi Germany’s plan for the so-called Final for March: chilly and at times even cold. In some places it was Solution to the Jewish Question was being carried out in full force sleeting. A few days earlier, freight trains had begun arriving at –the murder of Jews wherever they could be found. At the infamous Wannsee Conference, the Nazis made a list that included the Jewish population of every country in Europe. This number in Bulgaria was 48,000. According to Hitler’s plan, not one person from that list was to escape extermination. During World War II, Bulgaria, in view of historic circumstances, was allied with Nazi Germany, though it never fought on Germany’s side. Under Nazi pressure, in February 1943 the Bulgarian Government agreed to deport its Jewish population to Nazi concentration camps. The initial agreement included the deportation of 20,000 Jews. Of those, 12,000 were Jews who lived in the so called “new territories” – Aegean Thrace and Vardar Macedonia, put under Bulgarian administration, and promised to be returned to Bulgaria as compensation for being a Nazi ally. The other 8,000 were to be chosen from the Jewish population living within the old Bulgarian borders. To carry out the plot, a special secret organization was created. The Jews living in the so-called “new territories” did not receive Bulgarian citizenship because of the new racist laws; the territories themselves were considered German occupation zones. The Jewish population in the “new territories” fell victim to Hitler’s policies during the Holocaust. The Monument in the centre of Plovdiv, with the inscription: ‘To all who helped to save us , on 10 March, 1943. perpetrators of this horrific and shameful act were several From the grateful Jewish Community of Plovdiv’. representatives of the Bulgarian government. The Power of Civil Society:, The Fate of Jews in Bulgaria during the Holocaust The concentration camps Treblinka and Maydanek were where 11,342 Jews from Aegean Trace and Vardar Macedonia ultimately lost their lives. Similar events unfolded throughout Europe. Forcefully and with unfathomable cruelty, Jews from all over Europe were murdered in multiple concentration and death camps. However, the 48,000 Jews living within the old borders of Bulgaria, noted on the list made at the Wannsee Conference, managed to not only stay in their homeland, Plaque on the site where Kiril, Metropolitan Bishop of Plovdiv ("I won't leave you”), stood by the Bulgarian Jews. but even increase their number during the War. How was such an exception to the widespread apocalypse possible? special signs on their homes and businesses. They were no longer free to go wherever they wanted and they even had a curfew. The Government order to deport the remaining 8,000 Jews from different parts of Bulgaria was retracted at the last minute. Thus What happened then is a real lesson in human dignity. As the first deportation attempt of March 1943 failed. Then, a second early as 1940, the same year the Bulgarian government began to attempt to deport all 48,000 Jews in May of the same year also impose restrictions on the Jews, there was a huge upheaval in failed. Finally, the special police branch called the Commissariat on Bulgairan society against the government’s actions. Jewish Issues, headed by Bulgaria’s most infamous anti-Semite Alexander Belev, attempted to deport the Jewish population a Civil society protested against the anti-Jewish laws. Many third time. Again, the plan failed. professional guilds publicly denounced the anti-Semitic measures. These included writers, doctors, lawyers, artists, teachers, What undermined this plan and ultimately stopped it? After all, businessmen, shoemakers, hairdressers and journalists. Some Bulgaria and Nazi Germany were allies! The Bulgarian government government representatives, many intellectuals and youth had signed a secret agreement and was ready to carry out the organizations also joined the cause. Even illiterate villagers signed plan. Both the Bulgarian police and the Gestapo were at the petitions against these policies by leaving their thumbprint in place authorities’ disposal; even before Bulgaria became allied with of a signature. Germany, the government had approved several laws restricting the rights of the Jewish minority. The authorities basically drove A very decisive and persistent supporter of the Jewish population the Jews to poverty. They took away their homes, they no longer was the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. It is worthy to note that not allowed them to work, and they collected a 20% tax on all their just a few separate priests voiced opinions against the possessions. In 1942, they had to wear yellow stars and put government, but rather the Church as a whole stood strongly united behind the same cause of averting the unjustified deportation and killing of the innocent Jewish minority. Between 1940 and 1943, the repression was mainly political and economic and the opposition was mainly through petitions and written statements. Afterwards, things began to change. The secret pact between the Bulgarian government and the Germans for the deportation of Jews did not remain hidden. The Jews of Kyustendil were the first to find out the full extent of the plan to exterminate them. Concerned for their lives, Jews were joined by their Bulgarian compatriots in active opposition against the government. Four brave and selfless men stood out for their determination in this critical and dangerous time. Their names are Petar Mihalev, a parlimentarian from the majority; Ivan Momchilov, a lawyer and a former parlimentarian; Assen Souichmezov, a businessman; and Vladimir Kourtev – a teacher. They travelled to Sofia and on Monday, March 9, they met with Dimitar Peshev, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, and through him succeeded in compelling the Bulgarian government to retract its orders for Jewish deportation. King Boris III and Metropolitan Stefan of Sofia. 2 The Power of Civil Society:, The Fate of Jews in Bulgaria during the Holocaust However, another dramatic event followed. In the town of Plovdiv, To summarize this story full of events, names, and facts, it is the second largest city of Bulgaria, local authorities had not worthy to mention that the opposition of Bulgarian society as a received the retracted order and began rounding up the Jewish whole was so active, energetic and successful, that in the end population in the middle of the night. To express their disgust with even the German ambassador, Beckerle, gave up. He wrote the these actions, the local Bulgarian population crowded around the following to his bosses at the German Foreign Ministry as an school where the Jews were being collected. The huge mass of excuse for his failure: “…I am thoroughly convinced that the Prime people that soon gathered began shouting anti-governmental Minister and his cabinet wish and aim to reach the ultimate and slogans and slogans in support of the persecuted Jews. irreversible solution to the Jewish problem. However, they have been affected by the mentality of the Bulgarian people, who lack As a result of the public’s opposition, Dimitar Peshev, Deputy the ideological clarity that we have. Growing up alongside Speaker of the National Assembly took a dignified and crucial Armenians, Greeks, and Gypsies, the Bulgarian finds no flaws in position. In order to prevent another attempt to deport the the Jews that justify in their minds measures against them…” In Jewish population, he decided to make the issue both public and reality, that was the end of the attempts for deportation of political. He wrote a letter to the then Prime Minister, Bogdan Filov Bulgarian Jews. and got 43 other parliamentarians from the majority to back him and sign the letter. Aside from those representatives, the Prime This incredible story tells us something very important. There is a Minister received written protests from a few opposition wise saying that people must know their history in order to avoid politicians, including Petko Staynov and Nikola Mushanov. making its mistakes. We are not immune to the emergence of xenophobia and other types of hatred among peoples. The story Because of this opposing action, the Bulgarian government fiercely of the saving of the Jews in Bulgaria shows us that the positive punished Dimitar Peshev and removed him from the post of results a society can achieve depend on the determination of Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly in a scandalous plenary every one of its members. Today, therefore, we must not turn our session. However, his move had widespread political implications. heads away when we see hatred and racial and ethnic violence. Thanks to him, the rest of the National Assembly was informed of Our ancestors, whether Bulgarian, Jewish, or other, have given us the secret actions of the Filov cabinet.