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

Abstract
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Proclamations are oft-repeated in the contemporary media, in books 2 and films 3 such as: “Bulgaria
became the only Nazi-allied country in World War II to protect its entire Jewish population from the
death camps…” 4 and “Bulgaria is the only country in Europe, except Denmark, which rescued its Jews
from extermination during World War II…” 5 however, both of these statements are not accurate.
While, ultimately members of the Bulgarian government, the Bulgarian public, and the Bulgarian
Orthodox Church, did in fact take laudable actions which halted the deportation of between 48,000-
55,000 6 Jews from ‘Old’ Bulgaria to German death camps in Poland—there is no reason why the
Bulgarian government should continue to cover up the fact that they were indeed directly complicit in the
dispossession, imprisonment and death of an unknown number of Bulgarian Jews in the major cities and
slave labor camps of ‘Old’ Bulgaria such as Pleven and Sofia.
In United Bulgaria aka ‘New’ Bulgaria (Thrace and Macedonia) 7 , the Bulgarians rounded up over 13,000
Jews from their homes, confiscated their possessions, loaded them into rail cars, and deported them to
Treblinka where they were murdered. There are different statistics which indicate the number of Jews
deported from ‘New’ Bulgaria and murdered at 11,000-14,000 Jews. The U.S. National Archives and
Records Administration states: “It is estimated that some 14,000 Bulgarian Jews of an estimated 64,000
pre-Final Solution population were exterminated.” 8 For the sake of this paper, the number 13,000, (both
used by Sir Martin Gilbert and Prof. Howard Sachar 9 ) is used. 10
These 13,000 Jews, which have too often been overlooked by history, suffered horrible deaths with the
direct participation and knowledge of the Bulgarian government in their alliance and volunteer
2
By way of example: Raikin, Spas T. Rebel with a Just Cause: A Political Journey Against the Winds of the 20th Century. (2
Vols.) Pensoft Publishers: Sofia, 2001. II:129-130 (This book, published in Bulgaria as late as in 2001, tells that King Boris
saved 50,000 Jews. The author then down-plays the murder of the 13,000 other Jews (the author minimizes the figure to 11,000)
indicating Bulgaria had “no jurisdiction” in Macedonian and Thrace—which this report shall demonstrate is not correct; Brustein
William. Roots of Hate: Anti-Semitism In Europe Before The Holocaust. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: 2003. 338
(This book mentions how King Boris saved 50,000 Jews but makes absolutely no mention of how King Boris deported 13,000
Jews from Thrace in Greece and Macedonia, those Jews are just ‘forgotten’ about.);
3
Jerusalem Post (“Exclusive video: ‘Restoring the crown to former glory”) 12/20/2010
jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishFeatures/Article.aspx?id=200216
4
Molotsky, Irvin. “Film Tells How Nazi Ally Saved Its 50,000 Jews” The New York Times; April 17, 1988.
5
"Bulgaria Stands Proud as World Remembers Holocaust." Bulgarian News Agency; March 5, 2003.
6
Dear, Ian. ed., The Oxford companion to World War II. Oxford UP, Oxford, 1995. 133
7
Officially called the “New Bulgarian Territories” or ‘New’ Bulgaria, it was made up of Thrace which included: Serrai, Drama,
Kavala, Xanthi, Komotini and Alexandropolis and Macedonia which included: Skopje, Shtip. Veles, Prilep, Ohrid and Monastir
(Bitola).
8
NARA. State Department and Foreign Affairs Records, Records of the Foreign Service Posts of the Department of State (RG
84) “Bulgaria”
9
Gilbert, Martin. Holocaust Journey: Traveling in Search of the Past. Columbia UP: New York, 1999. 334 and Sachar, Howard
Morley. A History of the Jews in the Modern World. Knopf: New York, 2005. n.p.
10
Yitzchak Kerem indicates there were 11,306 (7,123 from Macedonia {Monastir , Shtipo and Skopje} and 4,058 from Greek
Thrace including 158 Jews from Pirot.) The Shoa in the Sephardic Communities. 144; Itamar Levin’s number is 12,000 combined
from Thrace and Macedonia. His Majesty's Enemies: Great Britain's War Against Holocaust Victims and Survivors. 38. Cohen in
Last Century of a Sephardic Community indicates there were 3,276 Jews from Monastir deported to Treblinka. Levy in And the
World Stood Silent (12-13) indicates there was over 8.000 Jews from Macedonia deported and Martin Gilbert in Final Journey:
The Fate of the Jews in Nazi Europe (124-125) says that out of 5,000 who were deported from Thrace, several hundred died in
transit to Treblinka due to horrible conditions enroute. Chary indicates there were 8,000 from Macedonia and 6,000 from Thrace.
The Bulgarian Jews and the final solution, 1940-1944. 80
Judaic Studies Academic Paper Series / Library of Congress ISSN No. 2156-0390 © Shelomo Alfassa (shelomo@alfassa.com)