Niko Mayerov: Many People Helped Bulgarian Jews in Shumen

Many people protested against the restrictions in the Law for the Protection of the Nation and helped the Bulgarian Jews in Shumen, said Niko Mayerov in an interview to BTA on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the rescue of Bulgarian Jews. The 93-year-old Mayerov was a direct witness of the events from 1941 to 1944 in Shumen, when under the Law for the Protection of the Nation the rights of Bulgarian Jews were restricted. 

In the first months, we did not feel any serious restrictions. After the autumn of 1941, however, badges were introduced for Jews, restrictions on movement, on work, on study," Mayerov said. "There were older students who tried to insult us. We put up with them, we had to, but I am very grateful to my teacher and class teacher Vasil Ostrev," he continues, adding, "He was a very kind person. It was like he was saying - children, don't be afraid, I am with you". 

On March 10, 1943, 52 people were detained in Shumen, who had to be put on a train and taken away, Mayerov recalls. "Among them was my uncle, a well-known tailor. We found out that they had arrested the three daughters of a cabman, who were members of the Left movement. We didn't know what their fate would be, nobody said anything. Late in the evening the arrested started to return," he says. After September 9, 1944, they found out who had ordered the detention and who were against. 

"This year we unveiled a plaque of gratitude to the people of Shumen for saving the Jews during World War II. I know one of them - Stiliyan Chilingirov, but we should also mention several Shumen MPs such as Marin Tyutundzhiev, Lyuben Dyukmedzhiev, Nikolai Nikolaev, who objected to this law, not only when it was adopted, but acted to limit what it envisaged," Mayerov noted.