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| By: Associated Press |
| Published: March 12, 2006 |
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Hundreds of Bulgarians on Friday commemorated massive public protests that prevented the deportation of their Jewish countrymen to Nazi death camps during World War II.
Ceremonies in the capital, Sofia, and in other big cities marked the 63rd anniversary of protests held by Bulgarian clergymen, intellectuals, politicians and others.
In 1943, these protests ultimately stopped the Nazis from deporting the first group of 8,600 Jews and inspired a policy that prevented the deportation of any Jews from Bulgaria.
On Friday, people laid flowers at the memorial plaque near the parliament building in Sofia erected in honor of the efforts of the then vice president of parliament, Dimitar Peshev, for preventing his Jewish countrymen to be deported.
At the beginning of their regular session, lawmakers held a minute of silence for the Holocaust victims.
"The particular contribution of those members, headed by Dimitar Peshev, who were among the first and most active figures who adamantly opposed the planned extermination, will forever be an honor to the Bulgarian National Assembly," parliament speaker Georgi Pirinski told lawmakers.
Pirinski also said that "another truth should not be forgotten _ the fact that 11,343 innocent Jews from Macedonia and Aegean Thrace, which were territories then administrated by Bulgarian authorities, were exiled and found their death."
In 1943, the pro-fascist government of Germany's ally Bulgaria signed a secret agreement with the Nazis to deport 20,000 Jews to death camps in Poland. This plan was partially put into effect: 11,343 Jews from Macedonia and Thrace were placed on trains and sent to their deaths.
Peshev moved fast to publicize the secret deportation deal, forcing temporary cancellation of the order. He galvanized 42 fellow legislators to sign a protest petition to the king.
Orthodox Church leaders in Sofia and Plovdiv also spoke out, and professors, doctors, lawyers, students, labor leaders and peasants staged protests, including marches and street demonstrations.
Later, King Boris III told the Nazi leadership that he needed the Jews as construction workers. He moved them into labor camps but refused to deport them or hand them over to the Nazis.
Bulgaria's refusal to heed Nazi orders saved all of its 48,000 Jews from being deported to death camps.
Peshev and the archbishops of Sofia and Plovdiv have been honored as Righteous Gentiles by the Israeli Yad Vashem Institute for rescuing Jews.
About 45,000 of the country's Jews emigrated to Israel after that country was established in 1948, and today's Bulgarian Jewish community numbers about 6,000, most of whom live in Sofia. |
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