From: lb@ra.cs.man.ac.uk (Luben Boyanov)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.bulgaria
Subject: About the Bulgarian Jews and the Bulgarian people
Keywords: Bulgarian Jews, Macedonian and Thracian Jews, King Boris III
Date: 26 Jul 92 13:35:11 GMT
Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of Manchester UK


Hello everybody,

Sorry to bother those, who have read some of the text (I have included 
text I've posted in the past) but as I promised, I'm posting some material
on the the Bulgarian Jews. I'm quoting Christo Boyadjieff and his book
"Saving the Bulgarian Jews in World War II". The author has used
over 60 titles in his bibliography and has emphasised the role of the
Bulgarian people, and the spirit of the country, concerning this noble act.
The author doesn't skip (and writes a lot about) the Law for the Defense
of the Nation, under which Bulgarians Jews were deprived (but not sent to
Nazi's camps) from citizen's rights - after 1940. It is also explained why it
was not possible to avoid this law and how the Jewish community accepted it.

I have included text from Chapter IV - where the author gives examples of
persecutions of Jews in Bulgaria. The stange thing, which I found, is that
Vidin (as quoted by 'KELLY' or whoever, who wrote about an imaginative
genocide) is not mentioned amongst the cities where there were some problems
with the Jews. This raises a question about the original reference mentioned
above, but it may be assumed that it's Vratza and not Vidin - I don't know.
Amongst the quoted titles in the bibliography of "Saving the Bulgarian Jews
in World War II" are:

Caleb, J.,     'La Situation des Juifs en Bulgarie', Paris, 1919.
Oschilies, W., 'Bulgarien - Land ohne Antisemitismus!' Ner Tamid Verlag,
                Erlagen, 1976.
Oschilies, W., 'Bulgariens Juden, in Vergangenheit und, Gegenwart' Bulgarische
                Jahrbuch, (II) Bulgarische Akademishe Geselshaft, Dr. Petar
		Beron, Wien, 1974.
Oren, N.,       'The Salvation of Bulgarian Jews', Yad Yashem Studies, Vol. VII
		Jerusalem, 1968.
Sanning, W.,	'The Dissolution of Eastern Europe Jewry', Institut for
		Historical Review, 1983.
Tamir, V.,	'Bulgaria and her Jews - The History of a Dubious Symbiosis',
		Yeshuva University Press, New York, 1979.

I have included few comments of mine in {{{ }}}.

-------------------
Introduction

[page 1]

...
   "One of the greatests events in Bulgarian history in relation to universal
virtues happened first in the IXth century when the disciples of St. St.
Cyril and Methodius spread the old Bulgarian language and culture
throughout Eastern Europe, including Russian and Rumanian lands. The second
happened recently when the Bulgarian people saved their Jews".
...

[page 2]
...
   Dr. Samuel H. Romano, now an attorney in Israel, wrote, "This organised
defence of a defenceless minority represents the most noble and hopeful
manifestation of humaneness known to History".
   For Wolf Oschlies, Bulgaria and Denmark were the only European countries
that succeeded in preserving their Jewish communities. For him, "The entire
country presented a united front to the Nazis; from the King to the
Communists, the Bulgarians did everything possible to protect their Jews."
   Oschlies was right. Bulgaria was not the only country to protect her Jews,
neither was Denmark, as claimed by Ib Nathan Bamberg and Denis Wepman. Certain
circumstances made the job of the Danes easier: the number of Danish Jews was
8,000 as against 48,000 in Bulgaria, and a friendly neighbour Sweden,
facilitated the Jewish exodus.
...

[page 3]
...
   In Nazi-dominated Europe (1940-1944) there existed a community of
peoples, each trying to help their unfortunate brethern. The Bulgarian
people as a whole possess enough credentials to claim the leading role. It
was an uninterrupted fight undertaken by all strata of the nation, started
spontaneously to last until the day when the danger disappeared completely.
  The rescue of the Bulgarian Jews represents a rare event in the history
of the civilized world. A small country of only 8 million people had the

[page 4]
courage to withstand the constant pressure exercised by the Nazis, whose
aim was to exterminate a defencesless minority. The pressure lasted four
years. An entire nation arose against the inhuman theory of race
superiority and risked security and lives in a fight that was long and
exhausting. It was based solely on a human feeling, love for one's
neighbour. The challenge of a new Goliath was met by another David this
time of Christian faith. How the rescue took place, how the game of "yes,
but.." proceeded, how the Germans were led to believe that "if not today,
the deportation will take place tomorrow", to be postponed again to the
next day, week, or month is the story of an astute policy of
procrastination that the Germans never quite grasped.
  Among the European Jews that escaped the German gas chambers were the
Bulgarian Jews, some 48,000 persons. The price they paid for remaining
alive was considerable. They passed through great moral and physical
suffering, yet they never doubted that the Bulgarian people would not
abandon them. An extraordinary epic, still in search of its narrator....
...

   The rescue represents a real miracle in war time, as the Nazis were
present everywhere in the country and their military supremacy was still
uncontested. The polemics that followed after the war about, for example,
the questionable Communist participation in the rescue, and the role played
by King Boris III, are important but not essential. They will be presented
to the reader once the latter becomes acquainted with the events which took
place during this human drama and with the persons that were part of it.
Some day, when the Bulgarian people breathe freely again, may be a kind of
a Nobel prize will be awarded them for the rescue of 48,000 innocent men,
women and children - an act of humaneness, unprecedented in world history.
....

Chapter III - The Jewish community

[page 22]

   Between the Liberation (1878) and WWII, the Jewish commuinity in Bulgaria
showed a substantial social and cultural expansion. Talented individuals
occupied high positions. They progressed and were treated as equals by
Bulgarian society.
   Professor Yossif Fadenchecht became Minister of Justice; Yossef Herbst - 
Director of the Press at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Boris Schatz -
Director of the Academy of Fine Arts; Dora Gabe - a leading poetess.
...

{{{ for me it was very curious to read that Stefan Zweig's ancestors came from
Vidin. I here is the reference to this curious fact }}

[page 25]
...
   Stefan Zweig. At a reception given in 1927 by the German Chancellor, Gustav
Stresemann, he approached the Bulgarian Opera singer, Petur Raitchev, to whom
he explained that his ancestors came from Vidin and that he planned to write
a novel on the life of King Shishman of Vidin.
...


Chapter IV - The beginnings of persecution

[page 30]

   Before 1940's, anti-Semitism in Bulgaria was sporadic and artificial,
introduced in most cases from abroad. Russian troops that fought on Bulgarian
soil in 1877-78 had brought with them the legends of Jewish ritual murders of
children (on the eve of Passover), which served as calls to persecution in
some Bulgarian towns such as Pazardjik in 1884, Vratza in 1890, Lom in 1903
and Kustendil in 1904. In all cases the Jewish population was abolished after
legally proving the falsehood of the accusations. In Vratza case, it was
Dr. Konstantin Stoilov who in 1894 became Prime Minister, who successfully
defended the accused Jews.

{{{ So - this was the history of the "genocide" !!! }}}


{{{ Because there has been some fuss about the deportation on the Jews from
teritories returned (or given - let's not argue here) to Bulgaria in WWII -
i.e. Thrace and Vardar Macedonia, it must be made clear that the Bulgarian
authorities there had no real power in those lands in fact, and all was
dependant on the German troops situated there.}}}

Chapter VII - The deportation of the Thracian and Macedonian Jews

...

[page 70]
...

 ... the legal status of both Thrace and Macedonia had played a major role.
They had been conquered by GERMAN TROOPS (capitalization is mine) and the
civil and military administration had been handed over to the Bulgarian
authorities whose apparent sovereignty was tolerated but NEVER RECOGNIZED
OFFICIALLY by the Third Reich. 
...
[page 71]
...

   According to the minuted of the People's Court (1945), during the trial of
those accused of abuses against the Jews during WWII, the Minister of 
Propaganda Dimo Kazassov was called to testify. To a question raised by the
Defense Attorney. 'Could the Bulgarian people have intervened to save the
Thracian and Macedonian Jews?'. Kazassof replied, 'It was impossible to
intercede because the measures were taken suddenly, surprising everybody. When
the Bulgarian people learned about them, it was too late; the special trains
were already arriving in Lom. The political influence of the Bulgarian people
had not reached the newly liberated regions'. Defense Attorney: 'Whose was
the initiative for this deportation?'. Kazassof: 'There was no initiative;
the deportation was carried into effect by German agents'.
  Prof. Nissan Oren has written: 'Since the Jews of these territories were
never given Bulgarian citizenship, the Bulgarian Government could not
effectively oppose German pressure'.
...

{{{ i.e. IN FACT BULGARIA HAD NO WORD ON THE DEPORTATION OF THE JEWS FROM THE
LIBERATED TERRITORIES. }}}


Chapter XII - Conclussion

[page 140]


   The rescue of the Bulgarian Jews as related in this book was the result
of a series of actions by popular forces. Large or small, all deserve the
same attention. They were wonderful because they were genuine. The Bulgarian
Jews were lucky to be caught by the hurricane while living on Bulgarian soil;
and fortunately - as Benjamin Arditti has said - to have a head of State
such as a King Boris III.
...
   Many observers and scholars admit that, alone, the King couldn't have
achieved his aim. The contrary was also true. Neither the Church, nor the
politicians of any color, not even D. Peshev and the 42 members of the
National Assembly, could give orders to Prime Miniter Bogdan Filov. These
had to come from the King. He, however, needed as much support as possible.
He had to convince the Germans that his decision to stop or delay deportation
was the result of a series of strong protests that coming, as they did, from
very influential circles, could not be ignored.

...
[page 146]

...
   During the entire WWII the King (Boris III) had to deal with a colossus
who, in a short space of time, made the whole of Europe tremble, Adolf
Hitler. Boris' main task was to convince the Germans, and particularly
Hitler, that he was their ally and friend, a most faithful one.
...
   In this game of chess the King used people around him as his pawns, such
were the Prime Minister Bogdan Filov and the Minister of the interior,
Petur Gabrovski. Neither of them understood the Royal tactics. Both were
inspired germanophiles with absolute faith in a German victory. They
were entirely trusted by the Nazis and could never admit that the King was
capable of betraying the Germans. Boris needed exactly such specimens as
collaborators.
...

-------------------------------------------------------------------
From "Saving the Bulgarian Jews in World War II" by Christo Boyadjieff,
Free Bulgarian Center, 5540 North Ocean Drive - 9B, Singer Island, USA, 1989

The book has been published in Bulgarian as well, in 1990 or 1991.



Regards 

Luben