site.btaBulgarian Jewish Organizations in Israel Mark Dimitar Peshev's 130th Anniversary

Bulgarian Jewish organizations in Israel the Bulgarian Embassy in Tel Aviv organized a commemoration of the 130th anniversary of the birth of Dimitar Peshev declared righteous among nations by the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Center in Jerusalem, the Embassy reported on its Facebook page on Monday. Bulgarian Ambassador in Tel Aviv Slavena Gergova, Prof. Michael Bar-Zohar and Dr Moti Kanari spoke at the event, which took place in Tel Aviv on June 26.

Gergova spoke about the story of the rescue of the Bulgarian Jews and the contribution made by Peshev and other Bulgarian statesmen, politicians, journalists, intellectuals and the Church. She said: "This is a story about personal responsibility and hope, about choice and the right side of history, which is not always easy to choose."

Gergova stressed that the aggressive manifestations of anti-Semitism around the world are absolutely unacceptable, and everyone has a duty to oppose them. "Choosing not to react and to remain silent turns us into accomplices, which we cannot afford to be," she said.

On March 17, 1943, the Deputy Chairman of the 25th National Assembly Dimitar Peshev wrote a letter of protest to Prime Minister Bogdan Filov against the deportation of the Bulgarian Jews. The letter was signed by 43 lawmakers. With the actions of Metropolitan Cyril of Plovdiv and Exarch Stefan of Sofia and the intervention of the public, nearly 50,000 Bulgarian Jews were saved from deportation.