Jews Rescuer's Grandson Campaigns for Memorial of Bulgarian Righteous Among Nations in Israel

Roman Stoyanov, grandson of Bulgarian Jews' rescuer Mladen Ivanov, is organizing an initiative committee for the establishment of a Memorial of the Bulgarian Righteous Among the Nations in Israel, Stoyanov said in a BTA interview.

"The process is long and complicated, and a site and funding need to be found," he specified.

A similar wall of the Bulgarian Righteous stands in the courtyard of Sofia's Dimcho Debelyanov School No. 134. "Not a single country has a memorial of all its citizens who are officially recognized as Righteous. There is a Wall of Honor in the Garden of the Righteous at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, but it lists their names only, while the wall in Sofia has bas reliefs," Stoyanov explained.
 
He designed the wall, and the artwork came from sculptor Boris Borisov of Veliko Tarnovo, the interviewee said.

Righteous Among the Nations

The honorary title is awarded by the Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center to the rescuers or their next of kin in Israel or in their countries of residence. "The honorees are Gentiles who saved Jews," Stoyanov explained. In his words, there are 20 Bulgarians who are officially recognized as Righteous Among the Nations, and work is underway on the recognition of more.

"About five years ago, when we celebrated the 75th anniversary of the rescue of the Bulgarian Jews [from the Holocaust], I was presented formally at an event to which we were invited. People were fascinated and grateful to meet me, as if the credit went to me personally. I felt awkward and decided that I must do something. I already had an idea of building a monument to my grandfather, but I decided that he is not the only one who deserved to be honoured, so I decided to build a monument to all Righteous Among the Nations who have been officially recognized by Yad Vashem," Stoyanov told BTA.

Mladen Ivanov

According to the Yad Vashem website, Mladen Ivanov rescued at least five Jews by giving them shelter and making false documents for them. Born in 1923, he grew up in Yuchbunar, Sofia's Jewish quarter, and a large part of his friends were Jews. He spoke Ladino and after the war he married a Jewish woman, Bucha. The couple immigrated to Israel in 1989. On February 11, 1991, Yad Vashem recognized Mladen Ivanov as Righteous Among the Nations.

Stoyanov said that the bond between Bulgarians and Jews is wonderful. "Bulgaria has a multi-ethnic model that does not exist elsewhere, and we judge people by their worth rather than by their ethnicity," the interviewee pointed out.

Bulgaria is marking the 80th anniversary of the salvation of Bulgarian Jews in 2023.

The anniversary raises many historical and historiographical questions about who the rescuers were, what made this great humanitarian act possible and why it happened in Bulgaria. The Bulgarian News Agency (BTA), in partnership with the Alef Jewish-Bulgarian Cooperation Center, set itself the task of answering these questions with the help of prominent scholars, public figures, and experts on the subject with a series of articles to recall the events of the past and the participants in them, and to present the importance of the rescue and the rescuers. Bulgaria and Denmark are believed to be the only countries that did not allow their Jewish citizens to be deported to Nazi death camps. Nearly 50,000 lives were saved in Bulgaria. According to information on the website of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Center, Bulgaria had 50,000 Jews before World War II and zero victims. It is the only country with zero victims.