The Power of Civil Society

 

– The Fate of Jews in Bulgaria During the Holocaust 

An exhibition and presentation held on the 9 of December 2013,

 in the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Room,

 in the House of Commons

 

This event was dedicated to the 70th Anniversary of the Rescue of the Bulgarian Jews at the time of the Holocaust.  It was organised by the Bulgarian Embassy in London and the Ambassador of Bulgaria – H.E. Mr Konstantin Dimitrov.  The guests included survivors form the Holocaust; representatives form the House of Lords, British MPs, HRH Prince Kyril, the Israeli Ambassador, journalists, representatives of the British-Bulgarian Society, local people with interest towards the event as well as specially invited Bulgarian citizens, residing in the UK.

The evening was opened by the Right Hon. Keith Baron, MP – Chairman of the British-Bulgarian All-Party Parliamentary Group.  He introduced the Rt. Hon. David Lidington, Minister for Europe to start the proceedings.

Mr Lidington spoke about the work of the Commission for Preservation of Heritage in the UK, which studied the Holocaust and tracked its origins.  It began with discrimination, when the Governments in Europe turned against their own people.  The research revealed how easy it was to stir up hatred towards people, who were different.

Mr Lidington also spoke about the work of the International Holocaust Research Association.  Thirty one counties are members of this organisation; there are several observer countries, amongst which is Bulgaria.  Next year, the UK will accept the Chairmanship of the organisation and it will continue to educate, research, share the know-how, etc, to ensure this does not happen again.  He praised the efforts of Bulgaria in saving its Jewish citizens.

H.E. Mr Konstnatin Dimitrov thanked the audience for coming to view the exhibition and introduced the main speaker – Assoc. Prof. Albena Taneva, who had been awarded the Shalom Prize for her contribution to the Exhibition.

She spoken about the Exhibition and suggested it was about choices.  When The Law of Protection of the Nation was proposed by the Bulgarian Parliament in 1940ies, it provoked a vehement opposition from the people.  People protested, wrote letter against it, suggesting it was unconstitutional, but despite this, it was accepted.  The Policy of Persecution which mascaraded as a Policy of Protection produced a very negative reaction amongst the whole population of Bulgaria.  In 1942 a new law was passed – a Secrecy Law.  This meant that decisions were taken to deport Jews, but the population knew nothing about them.  By this time, the Bulgarian army had taken Macedonia.  So the deportation included not only the Bulgarian Jews, but those from Macedonia.  Despite the news black-out, thе fact that the Jews were going to be deported from Bulgaria was known to a small number of people and a delegation of four people started from Kyustendil – a small town, south of Sofia.  They were an MP, a teacher, a doctor and a businessman.  In Sofia, they met with the Deputy Speaker of the Bulgarian Parliament – Mr Dimiter Peshev.  They insisted on the cancellation of the order of the deportation of 8,000 Jews on the following days.  Their protests were added to those of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church Synod, represented by the Metropolitans Kiril and Stefan.  Due to the secrecy, it was not known that the same fate awaited the Macedonian Jews.

Mrs Taneva described the role of the people – the civil society, which was engaged in fighting the deportation – some of whom were illiterate; this of the Church Synod, which had many sessions, to try and change the policies.  In 1945, Tsar Boris III was given two choices – one to send the Jews to concentration camps and the other to deport them to the provinces – he selected the second choice.  When finally the Law of Persecution was dropped, the 50,000 strong Jews in Bulgaria were saved.  Assoc. Prof Taneva also suggested that the Bulgarian population did not consider this as an extraordinary event, as Jews were considered as part of the integral fabric of the Bulgarian society.

The exhibition presented, tracked these events and elaborated on the facts.

Then H.E. the Bulgarian Ambassador introduced H.E. the Ambassador of Israel Daniel Taub, whospoke.  He pointed out the 2,000 years of history ofthe Jews in the Balkans.  Through the years, they found refuge there from other places in Europe, where they had been persecuted.  The Balkans always offered a safe haven to the Jews.  He touched on the support of the Bulgarian civil society for their Jewish friends and neighbours; pointed out that Dimiter Peshev lost his job, as a result of his action to protect them.

He reminded the audience, that when the State of Israel was created, Bulgaria was one of the first 20 countries in 1948, to recognise it.  He discussed the recent co-operation between firemen from both countries, when dangerous large fires erupted and the gratitude to the Bulgarians for their handling of the Burgas bomb attack on Jewish citizens recently.

The guests were then invited to view the exhibition and enjoy a glass of Bulgarian wine.

 

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