Position regarding attempts to rewrite the history of the Holocaust

Organization of the Jews in Bulgaria “Shalom”, representing the Bulgarian Jewish community, part of the family of the World Jewish Congress and a partner of all major organizations dedicated to Holocaust research and remembrance, considers it its duty, on the eve of March 10 — the Day of the Rescue of the Bulgarian Jews and the Day of Remembrance for the deported Jews from Macedonia, the Aegean region, and Pirot — to declare the following:

• We remember, honor, and pass on the history and legacy of the worthy Bulgarians, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, intellectuals, and public figures, among whom are 20 Righteous Among the Nations. Their actions led to the extraordinary events that took place 80 years ago.
• We will not remain indifferent to the attempts in recent weeks to alter the history of the Holocaust in Bulgaria by portraying the severe antisemitic laws and state measures enacted by the Bulgarian government at the time as merely nominally adopted but nonexistent in practice. Let us not forget that these were laws and decrees that caused suffering to thousands of people during the Holocaust.

This is an insult both to the memory of our ancestors and to the merits of all righteous Bulgarians from that period, and we will not remain silent in the face of such disregard for the Holocaust, which in many countries of the European Union is considered a crime.

We are alarmed by the institutional support that these revisionists of history are receiving, and we call upon all state institutions to adhere to the already established historical truth.