How Bulgaria Saved Its Jews
Hillel exhibition reveals little-known piece of Holocaust history
When Germany ordered Bulgaria to surrender its 50,000 Jews during World War II, the Bulgarian people refused, saving nearly all of them from deportation and death. Courtesy of Rubin-Frankel Gallery
While the Holocaust claimed the lives of six million Jews living across Europe, one country was able to shield nearly all of its Jewish citizens from deportation and death. That newly revealed godsend is the subject of a provocative exhibition at BU’s Florence and Chafetz Hillel House Rubin-Frankel Gallery.
The Power of Civil Society: The Fate of Jews in Bulgaria During the Holocaust, 1940–1944 chronicles the courageous refusal of that country’s citizenry to comply with government plans to surrender its Jews to Germany. In fact, individuals as well as some of Bulgaria’s most powerful institutions conspired to thwart the government’s efforts to deport the 50,000 Jews living inside its borders. First put together in 2008, the exhibition has never before been shown in the United States. A reception will be held at the gallery tomorrow, Thursday, September 27.
“I didn’t know this story at all,” says gallery director Holland Dieringer (CFA’05), noting that despite the heroic nature of the episode, the details remained hidden behind the Iron Curtain for decades.
Dieringer says it’s no coincidence that the exhibition coincides with the Jewish High Holy Days, a period of reflection and forgiveness. “During this sacred time, the exhibition not only inspires contemplation of the Holocaust and those millions of Jews who lost their lives,” she says, “it also stands as a bastion of hope, reminding us that even in the darkest of times, we are capable of making the right choices.”
The show emphasizes that this is not a story about good or bad nations, but “about the choices that each one of us makes…in any era…it’s about feeling sympathy for other people’s pain. It’s about solidarity.”
In a series of photographs and accompanying text, The Power of Civil Society traces efforts by Germany to force Bulgaria to surrender its Jews. By late 1940, the government had drafted and ratified anti-Semitic legislation, despite protests from citizens. Authorities began confiscating all radios and telephones owned by Jews, who were forced to pay a one-time tax of 20 percent of their net worth. Two years later, the government passed another discrimination law, giving the executive branch of the government authority to settle the “Jewish question” without having to seek parliamentary approval.
The Power of Civil Society: The Fate of Jews in Bulgaria During the Holocaust, 1940–1944 runs through October 15 at BU's Florence and Chafetz Hillel House Rubin-Frankel Gallery. Photo by Holland Dieringer
Despite the government’s acquiescence to the German demands, the people resisted. Some members of the Bulgarian Parliament spoke out in defense of the country’s Jews, and non-Jewish Bulgarian bankers secretly helped Jewish banks pay salaries to Jewish clerks who had been laid off. Perhaps most critically, the powerful Bulgarian Orthodox Church repeatedly denounced efforts to deport the country’s Jews, sheltering rabbis and even baptizing some Jews in an effort to spare their lives. The Holy Synod met with King Boris III and sent many letters of protest to the government, one of which ends with a line from the Gospel of Matthew: “The measure you give will be the measure you get.”
By 1944, it was clear to Germany that Bulgaria, which had joined the Axis powers in 1941, was an “unreliable ally” and by summer that year the country entered the war on the side of the Allies. Some 30,000 Bulgarian soldiers would die fighting the Germans.
The Power of Civil Society, says Dieringer, serves as a timely reminder “that you have a choice to either follow government dictums or defend what you believe is morally right.”
A reception for the exhibition The Power of Civil Society is being held tomorrow, Thursday, September 27, at the Florence and Chafetz Hillel House Rubin-Frankel Gallery, 213 Bay State Rd., from 7 to 9 p.m. The reception, free and open to the public, will feature a performance by the Bulgarian-Boston dance ensemble Ludo Mlado and refreshments will be served. The exhibition opened September 1 and runs through October 15. Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 3 to 9 p.m.
20 Comments
I wish the same strong civil society could react when their communist leader exiled millions of Turrkish people from BUlgaria in 1989. After leaving in Turkish rule about 600 years in peace and without oppressing, It would be more honorable action to do like that. Also it would be great If they didnt kill 5.000 wound Turkish soldier after surrendering Pleven to the Russians. There are hundred of atrocities like that. So It is really great to see that they could save some people life…
First of all, get your facts straight and learn about the history of Eastern Europe! The Jews didn’t oppress Bulgarians, and they lived in peace, therefore Bulgaria stood by their side. Turkey, also known as the Ottoman Empire at the time, invaded Bulgaria, as it swept through the entire Eastern Europe and killed millions. You say they lived in peace? Maybe you should visit Bulgaria and see all the damage that still exists from the Turks who gave Bulgarians the choice to either convert to the Muslim faith, or die. You can read about one of many examples of the “peace” you claim through the link below. After all, if there was no oppression like you said, and there was only peace, then there wouldn’t be a liberation, right?
http://wikibin.org/articles/bulgarian-genocide.html
Talat, you must not be familiar with the history of the Ottoman conquest. There was NO peace in Bulgaria for 500 years; the Turks not only oppressed but slaughtered the Christians at whim. That’s why history refers to it as the TURKISH YOKE. You must read William Gladstone’s Bulgarian Horrors and MacGahan’s The Turkish Atrocities in Bulgaria. The Turks were repatriated BACK to Turkey during the 1980s because they requested the formation of a separate Turkish province in Bulgaria. These Turks had taken the lands of the Bulgarians at the time of the Ottoman conquest and now wanted a separate Turkish province? They didn’t need a separate autonomous province in Bulgaria,when they had the entire Turkey at their disposal. As to the battle of Pelven? That was war and the Turks got off very lightly considering the atrocities they carried out at the time of the Ottoman conquest and during the five centuries of Turkish Yoke – the dismembering of bodies, babies stuck on yatagans, rape of Christian women, etc… Read about the battle of Nicopolis. AHave you forgotten about the Blood Tax?
PS:
Talat, It is a well documented fact that in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the communists employed Turks who professed atheism to vandalize and close churches and beat up clergy. For that they received various communist favors. No Bulgarian would ever stand up for the Turks because the Turks are FEARED and NOT TRUSTED. In contrast, the Bulgarians have a long tradition of mutual respect with the Jews – not only Bulgarian Jews but Jews of the world. Many are the instances where a Jew in some corner of the world has come to the aid of a Bulgarian fallen on hard times. During WWII the Bulgarian people, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, members of the Bulgarian parliament and above all, the Bulgarian king came together to protect their brother Jews. It was the most natural thing to do.
It is not true that Turkish people were exiled. They were given the option to emigrate to Turkey, if they wished so. Obviously many wanted to. The onliest thing that they were asked was to change their names, from Turkish, to Bulgarian. This was done in an effort to integrate the Turkish or Pomak communities into the Bulgarian society, because obviously the majority of these people were living in isolation, due to the fact they were “different”. (In fact – a fact that you cannot deny – after the fall of communism they could get back they Islamic names, but many chose to keep their given Bulgarian names. ) But what did they get in exchange? They received the status of “privileged people”: (1) infrastructure projets in their towns and villages – roads, electricity, water supply – something that Bulgarian villages of the same neighborhoods DID NOT, (2) priority for places in universities and employment – YES, much like the Afro Americans had such in the USA. IS THIS NOT TRUE ??? Why do you Turkish always speak half-true on that issue? Why do you never speak of the benefits you had? I am sorry that your dignity suffered, but you never refused the material compensation for that. Someone has to remind you and the world of that.
It is not truth that bulgarians lived 500 years without oppression. This is a lie. Bulgarians have made many massive revolts for freedom which had ended in horrific bloodsheds and massacres. The last one was in 1876 just 2 years before the freedom. Whole region was desolated. Ottoman empire was used to genocides and they had tried it in Bulgaria as well, not to mention that 500 years bulgarian were forced to exist in the backwardy medieval empire that was the Ottoman one.
Talat, I understand your feelings about the communist leader exiling turks from Bulgaria, but your statement that Bulgarians lived for 600 years (it was 500, actually) in peace and harmony under Ottoman rule is simply not true. Thousands of civilina bulgarians were massacred during the war of 1877/8 you mention, whole cities were burnt down; Islam was enforced by the sword during these 5 centuries – there might have been peaceful periods, but the assertion that the backword Ottoman empire was some kind of Renaissance paradise is simple propaganda. The occupiers were butchers at times, and simply rulers at other times, but always a foreign, unwanted, backward, restraining power. So cut the BS.
Very well put, Boris! :)
Correct. Except that the butchering and the pillaging was not only at time but ALL THE TIME. It was in the best interest of the British to keep the “Sick Man of Europe ” (Turkey) sick and that’s why they used the word tolerance to describe the life of the Turkish subjects. Yes, the Christians were tolerated in the same way American blacks were tolerated before the Civil Rights laws except worse – Bulgarians had absolutely no rights as human beings, they were giaurs…
I was in Hungary in 1944 and the Hungarians also shielded the Jews from Nazi persecution until the Regency (there was a regent, Nikolas Horty,) was ousted by the Germans. The Hungarians, and I believe the Bulgarians were at that time allies of the Axis.
Interesting history.
And what do you say to the Armenians, Talat?
Turkey has yet to admit to the Armenian genocide. Now, the Turkish party in Bulgaria is preventing the Bulgarians from voting on a resolution to recognize the Armenian genocide. Turkey also prevented the US from voting on such a resolution by threatening to deny use of Turkish air fields if the US Congress sighed a resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide.
Bulgaria? On my BU Today? I like it!
Talat definitely is in need of a visit to Bulgaria, especially some of the more rural areas where ethnic minorities were severely oppressed during Ottoman rule. I like Turkey a lot, but it’s hard to make an argument for the kindness of the Ottoman Turks…
This is a remarkable story that must be retold until it becomes common knowledge. Everyone should read Michael Bar-Zohar’s well documented book “Beyond Hitler’s Grasp – the Miraculous Saving of Bulgaria’s Jews.
Bar Zoar is a liar. The haft of the true is the biggest lie. This exibition also is showing the official Bulgarian propaganda. The Saving of the Bulgarian jews is in fact the Survive of them (but not from the occupied Macedonia and Thrace!!!!)
Bar Zohar’s book is researched in primary sources and very well documented. It is true that almost 12,000 Jews perished from Macedonia and Thrace because neither of these territories were within the borders of Bulgaria and therefore were directly under the jurisdiction of Germany. However, nearly 50,000 Bulgarian Jews survived. Official Bulgarian propaganda does not exist. There was absolutely no discussion or mention of anything about Jews, Bulgarian or otherwise during the communist regime. The people who witnessed the saving of the Bulgarian Jews (like my parents) could not say anything about it for fear of reprisals. If you know the history of communism you would know about the trial of the Jewish doctors in the Soviet Union on fabricated crimes. This precluded any mention of Jews in the communist countries. The generations after the collapse of communism simply are NOT familiar with that part of history in order to create propaganda. It is from scholars like Ban-Zohar that Bulgarians are learningabout their own history.
Here is the interview with Bar Zohar about the story of Bulgarian surviving. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-erlqy5PXxE
Look the original history! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28od0pCkuW4
here is a link to a documentary based on Bar-Zohar’s “Beyond Hitler’s Grasp – the Miraculous Saving of Bulgaria’s Jews”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28od0pCkuW4
More facts about the saving bulgarian jews. Which the communist propaganda want to delete.
Tzar(King) Boris III – concealed savoir of the Bulgarian Jews – 27.01.2011 20:42
http://mahatma.blog.bg/politika/2011/01/27/tzar-king-boris-iii-concealed-savoir-of-the-bulgarian-jews.674892
transated from|
Цар Борис III – низвергнатия спасител на българските евреи – 09.03.2010 18:40
http://watchtowerman.blog.bg/politika/2010/03/09/car-boris-iii-nizvergnatiia-spasitel-na-bylgarskite-evrei.507780