The Organization of the Jews in Bulgaria “Shalom” has an official position on the issue of the fate of the Jews under Bulgarian administration during the years of the Holocaust in Europe.
This position was adopted by the governing body of “Shalom” — the Consistory — on December 23, 2021.
Our position is as follows:
- During the years of the Second World War, Bulgarian Jews were subjected to persecution and suffering as a result of the “Law for the Protection of the Nation,” adopted at the beginning of 1941, and the subsequent anti-Jewish legislation.
Nearly 30,000 Jews from the city of Sofia and other cities were displaced and forced to live far from their homes; 13,000 men were interned and compelled to perform hard physical labor in labor battalions.
- Bulgarian Jews were saved from deportation to the Nazi death camps.
Their rescue was the result of the actions of the greater part of the Bulgarian people, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, and the Bulgarian anti-fascist public. For this act of solidarity and determination, Bulgarian Jews will always remain grateful.
- The deportation of the Jews from Aegean Thrace, Vardar Macedonia, and the city of Pirot during the Second World War is a historical fact that cannot be denied.
We, the Bulgarian Jews, mourn the innocent victims, honor, and will continue to honor their memory.
Responsibility for the deportation of the Jews from these territories lies with the German authorities together with the Bulgarian pro-Nazi government.
- The historical facts concerning the fate of the Jews during the Second World War in the Kingdom of Bulgaria and in the territories under the administration of the Bulgarian pro-Nazi government cannot serve as grounds for anti-Bulgarian propaganda today or in the future.
The peoples of a new, united Europe have understood the lessons of the Second World War and are building their relations on the basis of mutual understanding, respect, and a forward-looking perspective, without assigning responsibility to today’s generations.
We call upon the Bulgarian state, at a time and in a manner it deems appropriate, to assume moral responsibility for the actions of the pro-Nazi government toward the Jews during the period 1941–1944.
