site.btaUPDATED 82 Years Later: Bulgaria Pays Tribute to Rescue of Its Jewish Community
On March 10, Bulgaria and the Jewish communities in this country commemorate the Day of Rescue of Bulgarian Jews and of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust and Crimes Against Humanity. On Monday, the 82nd anniversary of the rescue of Bulgarian Jews and the memory of those who perished in Nazi death camps were honoured with official ceremonies across Bulgaria.
In Sofia, the event was marked with a ceremony in the courtyard of 134th Secondary School "Dimcho Debelyanov". It was attended by Roman Stoyanov, grandson of late Bulgarian public figure and participant in the rescue of Bulgarian Jews – Mladen Ivanov, Justice Minister Georgi Georgiev, Vesela Paldamova-Kovacheva – headmaster of 134th Secondary School "Dimcho Debelyanov", as well as the Deputy Ambassador of Israel to Bulgaria, Tadian Poplinger.
President Rumen Radev laid a wreath in front of the memorial plaques of the saviours of the Bulgarian Jews next to Church of St. Sophia, the head of State's press secretariat said. The ceremony was attended by the Secretary General of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church Bishop Gerasim of Melnik, representatives of institutions, a number of NGOs and citizens. During the ceremony, Bulgarian historians traced the chronology of the events that led to the rescue of Bulgarian Jews in the context of the historical era.
The Jewish community in Plovdiv marked 82 years since the rescue of Bulgarian Jews from death camps with a ceremony, organized by the Shalom Organization of Jews in Bulgaria, which took place at the Monument of Gratitude in Tsar Kaloyan Square.
Addressing the event, Shalom Chair Svetlozar Kalev, said that March 10 is a very significant date for Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Jewish community. "82 years ago, something incredible happened in European history. During World War II, suddenly a miracle occurred – 50,000 Jews in Bulgaria were saved. They were saved by the Bulgarian people, the Orthodox Church, and the efforts of civil society," said Kalev.
According to him, the Jewish community in Plovdiv currently numbers around 250 people.
In a BTA interview on the occasion, Oleg Calderon, Chair of the Organization of Jews in Varna, said that one of the lessons of the Day of the Rescue of Bulgarian Jews is that people must not forget and should be reminded of what happened to prevent those horrors from being repeated.
The 82nd anniversary of the rescue of Bulgarian Jews was also commemorated by dozens of public figures, students, citizens, and descendants of surviving Jews from Burgas and the region. Flowers and wreaths were laid at the Monument of Gratitude in the city by representatives of several state institutions, the local municipal authorities, Metropolitan Arseny of Sliven and the Burgas clergy, the regional branch of the Shalom organization, the historical museum, the state archive, as well as several high schools and primary schools from the coastal city.
Attending the ceremony in Burgas, Alberta Alkalay, founder and president of the Jewish-Bulgarian Center Alef, said: "We remember. Never again. We bow to the victims of the Holocaust. Bulgaria is the only country in the world that has an official day to commemorate the rescue of Jews, because only here, thanks to civil pressure, an entire ethnicity was saved, preserved, and rescued. We bow to the saviours of the Bulgarian Jews, because whoever saves one human life, saves an entire universe".
The anniversary was also marked with a commemorative ceremony in Ruse. The initiative was organized by the regional branch of the Shalom organization, ahead with its Chair Panayot Totev. Among the attendees were Ruse Deputy Regional Governor Georgi Georgiev, Deputy Mayor Dimitar Nedev, Member of Parliament and leader of the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) Roumen Hristov, as well as representatives of the Ruse Municipal Council.
"Today, 82 years have passed since the rescue of 48,000 Bulgarian Jews. We see how a union between intellectuals, politicians, and the church led to it, and we can only be proud. This is a shining example that when we unite as a people and as a nation, we can achieve such great deeds," said Hristov.
The memory and work of Dimitar Ikonomov – one of the people who started the fight to save Bulgarian Jews – were honoured in the town of Dupnitsa. At the monument in the park in Dupnitsa, which was unveiled in 2024, a tribute was paid by MRF-New Beginning MP Nikolay Zlatarski, Dupnitsa Deputy Mayor Valentina Karaganova, Dupnitsa Municipal Council Chair Kostadin Kostadinov, as well as municipal councillors.
Wreaths and flowers were also laid by Prof. Rahamin Shekerdzhiyski, Shalom Vice President Leonid Hazday, as well as by representatives of the museum in Dupnitsa, the Commission for Protection Against Discrimination, as well as by grateful citizens.
On the anniversary day, a photo-documentary exhibition titled "History of the Jewish Community in Dupnitsa - Centuries of Coexistence" was opened in the foyer of the Dupnitsa Municipality building.
In connection with the 82nd anniversary of the rescue of Bulgarian Jews, the Embassy of Bulgaria in the United States announced on Facebook that an informational plaque dedicated to Dimitar Peshev and his key role in the rescue of Bulgarian Jews will be placed in Washington. The plaque will be located near the Dimitar Peshev Square in Washington. This is a symbolic place that reminds of his courage and principled position during one of the darkest periods in human history, the Bulgarian Embassy in the US underscored.
On the occasion, Bulgaria's Ambassador to Israel, Slavena Gergova, was an honoured guest at a ceremony presenting the results of a school project by a group of 11th-grade students from Albert Einstein High School in Rishon LeTsiyon, dedicated to the rescue of Bulgarian Jews during World War II, the Bulgarian Embassy in Israel said on Facebook.
/KK/
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