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

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Abstract Page | 4 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)
Page | 5 partnership with the Nazis. 11 The Bulgarian government was the perpetrator in the deportation and extermination of 98% percent of Macedonia’s Jews. All of the families were destroyed, all of their possessions were confiscated, and their unique living Spanish Sephardic culture was made extinct. The Bulgarian government continues to whitewash its responsibility in these tragedies, as it annually celebrates saving 50,000 Jews while selectively overlooking the 13,000 lost souls it helped put to death. 12 When Bulgaria is spoken about in the media in relation to the Holocaust, it is almost criminal to report that the Bulgarians ‘saved 50,000’ Jews, while just a few miles over their border in their proud ‘New’ Bulgaria—territory they claimed was their ancient homeland, they themselves were conspirators in the torture, physical and emotional persecution, and eventual murder of over 13,000 defenseless Jewish men, women, and children. Fig. 1. Map of Bulgaria during World War II. 11 For a report on political conditions in Bulgaria and information that Nazi youth organizations persecuted the Jews, see: NARA. Interallied and Interservice Military Agencies Records - Records of the Office of Strategic Services (RG 226); Records of the Research and Analysis Branch, file #44324. 12 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.” (State Department and Foreign Affairs Records, Records of the Foreign Service Posts of the Department of State (RG 84) “Bulgaria”) 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: Contents Abstract 4 Background 6 In
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 and 22: The Bulgarian Government Propaganda
Page 23 and 24: Page | 23 obtain foreign economic a
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

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

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