site.btaUPDATED The Jews in Bulgarian Lands Exhibition Opens in Odesa

An exhibition entitled "The Jews in Bulgarian Lands - Documentary Evidence of the Life of the Jewish Community in the Archives of the St St Cyril and Methodius National Library" opened in Odesa's Union International Cultural Centre on Monday.

At the opening, Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) Director General Kiril Valchev said there is something similar in the fate of the Jews and the Bulgarians in Odesa.

Valchev said in his address: "We have gathered on the Day of Bessarabian Bulgarians at a landmark exhibition in a landmark place. The exhibition is devoted to the Jews in Bulgarian lands and the place is Odesa's Union Centre, which was built by the city's Jewish community."

"When the city was founded, 10% of the population of Odesa were Jews, and a little later the first Bessarabian Bulgarians arrived in the region. Throughout the 19th century, both Jews and Bulgarians participated in the building of this remarkable city. At the beginning of the 20th century, one third of its population were Jews," Valchev said.

"In those years, there were persecutions, of which there is much historical evidence, there were anti-Jewish pogroms, and this is a history that makes a connection with what we are presenting here today," BTA's Director General said.

"Because in the mid-20th century, the persecutions of Jews across Europe claimed nearly 6 million lives. And Bulgaria was the only country which saved its Jews. 50,000 Jews were part of Bulgaria's population in the 1940s, and in 1943 the Bulgarian people did not allow their deportation to concentration camps," he said.

Valchev noted that this is recognized by Israel's Yad Vashem Center, which studies the Holocaust. Its website states that only Bulgaria had zero victims in the Nazi concentration camps during World War II.

"This is a story that the fellow citizens of the Bulgarians here, the Ukrainians and other peoples living in Odesa, should know because it is an example of empathy, a story that we should all remember," BTA's Director General said.

Valchev said the Union International Cultural Centre was founded at the beginning of the 20th century and was built with donations from the city's Jewish community. Its renovation resulting in "the magnificent halls for various events, in one of which we are now" is symbolic, he said.

He also said: "When I first came here for the opening of the BTA National Press Club on June 24, 2023, the City Hall showed me this centre. I was genuinely amazed and asked how, in wartime, you invested in a cultural centre, and a splendid one at that, so the hosts recalled the story about Britain's Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who was shown a budget proposal in which the arts funding was crossed out. He asked: 'Why so?'. They said: 'Because we are at war. How are we going to spend money on culture?' To which Churchill replied: 'Then what are we fighting for?'"

"This is also a very good example for us, Bulgarians, about the investments we should make in culture. We must especially thank the Union Centre for making these two halls available for this very truthful, historically authentic exhibition of the St St Cyril and Methodius National Library," BTA's Director General said.

National Library Director Krasimira Aleksandrova said at the opening: "As you know, this year marks the 80th anniversary of the historic moment when the Bulgarian Jews were rescued. On the initiative of Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, a National Committee was set up to plan a national programme commemorating this significant event. As part of the programme, Bulgaria's National Library prepared this exhibition."

This was a very serious task. The National Library selected documents from its archives which present history as it was. The documents are arranged chronologically and are intended to give a full picture of the life of the Jews and the Jewish community in Bulgaria.

Aleksandrova quoted the Talmud: "He who saves one life saves the whole world." She added that this was the overarching motto of the exhibition because many of the documents lend themselves to ambivalent interpretation. "It was this very objectivity that was the biggest responsibility we took on, and I believe we did an excellent job," the National Library's Director said.