Clarifying 70 Years of Whitewashing and ... - Shelomo Alfassa

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Page | 22 Nazi Germany. This dramatic historic legacy has far from been wasted. Moreover, we realize we must live up to it and keep up the respect for human life and human dignity. 138 While testifying as a witness in regard to human rights matters in front of a Congressional Commission, this politician, a shining star to the Bulgarian government, a person of many awards and distinctions, committed a shame of great enormity. Remarking about how Bulgaria somehow was responsible for “the largest rescue in the Holocaust!!” [sic] she selectively suppressed another piece of history—that her country was directly responsible for the incarceration, torture and a number of deaths of Jewish Bulgarians during WWII, and that her country deported to their deaths, over 13,000 Jews from their proud land of ‘New’ Bulgaria. Poptodorova addressed students and faculty at Cornell University in 2004, again repeating that, “Bulgarians were responsible for saving the lives of approximately 50,000 Jews...” with nothing further mentioned about Bulgaria’s reprehensible interaction with the Jews. 139 In 2004, appearing before a subcommittee of the US Committee on International Relations in the House of Representatives, Poptodorova said upon closing, that she would like to, “…Remind everybody of the years of the Holocaust when Bulgaria saved its 50,000 Jews and not a single one was deported to the gas chambers." 140 There is only one way a politician of such stature can continually omit atrocities and responsibilities of her country, and that is by intentionally overlooking them. The Bulgarian-born writer Shlomo Alboher, author of the 2010 book: The Jews of Monastir Macedonia: The Life and Times of the Departed Jewish Community of Bitola, tells: The Bulgarians began denying the holocaust, for which they themselves were responsible. They would make assertions as if the Jews belonged to the Germans and they could not prevent the deportation. But it is known that the German army and these areas were under full Bulgarian control and not annexed by the con- quering Germans.These areas were part of the “United Bulgaria” of 1943 at the time of the holocaust. By creating and spreading the false myth that Bulgaria saved its Jewish populace, when in reality 20 percent were sent to the death camps, Bulgaria has been helped by Jews, including those from Bulgaria, who know the truth and thus are aiding the Bulgarian holocaust deniers… 141 In 2010, Rossen V. Vassilev, a former diplomat with the Bulgarian Mission to the United Nations in New York City (1980-1988), who is today a lecturer in political science at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, wrote: All of Bulgaria's post-Communist governments have shamelessly exploited these grisly events [death which came to Jews through Bulgarian interaction] either to score political points at home or to ingratiate themselves in the eyes of their Western mentors and patrons in a campaign to 138 Transcript: Hearing 60 139 “Ambassador Visits Cornell” The Cornell Daily Sun. February 12, 2004 140 NATO Enlargement: A View From the Candidate Countries. Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Europe of the Committee on International Relations in the House of Representatives. 107 Congress / Second Session May 1, 2002 Serial no. 107–81 141 Published in Hebrew in Jerusualem. (Skopje: Holocaust Fund of the Jews from Macedonia, 2010.) Judaic Studies Academic Paper Series / Library of Congress ISSN No. 2156-0390 © Shelomo Alfassa (shelomo@alfassa.com)
Page | 23 obtain foreign economic assistance and investments as well as membership in coveted Euro- Atlantic institutions such as NATO and the EU. 142 Many Bulgarian-born Jews were outraged when Bulgarian Ambassador Elena Poptodorova falsely claimed in a May 1, 2003 speech delivered during the Holocaust Days of Remembrance at the Lincoln Theatre in Washington, D.C. that Bulgaria's Jewish population actually increased during World War II and that in those years many Slavic Bulgarians wore the yellow Star of David in a show of solidarity with their Jewish friends and neighbors. 143 Bulgaria’s suppression of the truth makes a mockery of the 2005 United Nations General Assembly resolution (A/RES/60/7) 144 which designated an annual International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust. 145 This resolution—which, ironically, Bulgaria was a co-sponsor of— called for UN Member States (including Bulgaria) to “develop educational programmes to instill the memory of the tragedy” as well as take “measures to mobilize civil society for Holocaust remembrance and education.” Conscious suppression is a form of denial—and on the eve of the second International Day of Commemoration, U.S. Ambassador Alejandro Wolff, declared that denying the Holocaust is tantamount to approving genocide. Wolff, acting head of the U.S. delegation, said: “Those who will deny the Holocaust -- and sadly there are some who do -- reveal not only ignorance but their moral failure….To deny the events of the Holocaust is tantamount to the approval of genocide in all its forms.” 146 The European Commission has also condemned attempts to deny the Holocaust. In a statement to mark the 2007 International Day of Commemoration of victims, European Commissioner Franco Frattini said on behalf the Commission: 'I want to restate the Commission's firm condemnation of any attempt to deny, trivialize or minimise the Shoah, war crimes and crimes against humanity. These views constitute an unacceptable affront not only to the victims of that tragedy and their descendants, but also to the whole democratic world. 147 While the US, UK, Israel, Germany, Greece, Romania, Croatia, Denmark and other countries are members of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, an organization affiliated with United Nations, Bulgaria is not a member state nor has it ever been. Membership in the Task Force is open to all countries as long as they are committed to the Declaration of the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust, and must accept the principles adopted by the Task Force regarding membership. They must also be committed to the implementation of national policies and programs in support of Holocaust education, remembrance, and research. Why Bulgaria has elected to not participate, remains a mystery. 142 Vassilev, Rossen. "The Rescue of Bulgaria's Jews in World War II." New Politics. Vol:XII-4; Winter 2010. n.p. 143 Vassilev, Rossen. "The Rescue of Bulgaria's Jews in World War II." New Politics. Vol:XII-4; Winter 2010. f.n.9 144 GA 60th Session, 42nd plenary meeting, Tuesday, 1 November 2005 New York 145 January 27 146 “United Nations Condemns Denial of the Holocaust.” January 26, 2007 America.gov - The US State Department’s Bureau of International Information Programs. 147 ec.europa.eu/unitedkingdom/press/news_en.htm#13 Judaic Studies Academic Paper Series / Library of Congress ISSN No. 2156-0390 © Shelomo Alfassa (shelomo@alfassa.com)
Page 1 and 2: Clarifying 70 Years of Whitewashing
Page 3 and 4: Contents Abstract 4 Background 6 In
Page 5 and 6: Page | 5 partnership with the Nazis
Page 7 and 8: Bulgaria Officially Partners with t
Page 9 and 10: Bulgarian Jews Made Slave Laborers
Page 11 and 12: Page | 11 These Bulgarian Jews were
Page 13 and 14: Page | 13 their excitement and thei
Page 15 and 16: Page | 15 property was looted and s
Page 17 and 18: Page | 17 journey of great torment.
Page 19 and 20: Page | 19 deaths. These 50,000 Bulg
Page 21: The Bulgarian Government Propaganda
Page 25 and 26: Page | 25 Jews of Bulgaria suffered
Page 27 and 28: Appendix 1. Suggested Redress for t
Page 29 and 30: Newspaper Clippings Appendix 2. Pag
Page 31 and 32: Page | 31 Judaic Studies Academic P
Page 33 and 34: Page | 33 Judaic Studies Academic P
Page 35 and 36: Skopje, Yugoslavia, Jews rounded up
Page 37 and 38: Lom, Bulgaria, Bulgarian officials
Page 39: This paper resides at http://www.al

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