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

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police. 68 Mass protests and violent clashes developed by Jews and non-Jews against King Boris. A leaflet
against the Bulgarian government said, “Stand in front of the houses of your Jewish neighbors and don’t
let them be taken away by force. Hide the children and do not give them to the assassins.” 69 Ultimately,
while all of the Bulgarian Jews suffered significantly, and even though an unknown number 70 were killed
or died because of their abuse and mistreatment, the greater bulk of the Jews were eventually not deported
to Poland. 71
Yet, while the Bulgarian government ultimately did the right thing by not sending the Jews from ‘Old’
Bulgaria to their deaths, they were undeniably complicit in sending over 13,000 other Jews to their death,
from ‘New’ Bulgaria,’ the area they so proudly reacquired during the war.
Bulgaria Sends 13,000 Jews to Their Death
Bulgaria joined the Axis on March 1 1941, explicitly requesting German support for its territorial claims
in regard to lands it (humiliatingly) had lost just a few decades earlier. 72 A month later on April 6,
Germany invaded Greece, prompting an immediate Bulgarian annexation of Eastern Aegean Macedonia
and part of Western Thrace. Thrace and Macedonia quickly became known as Bulgaria’s ‘New
Territories.’ Even so, Bulgaria simply looked at these ‘New’ areas as reclaiming what was originally
theirs.
On April 13, 1941, The New York Times reported that Bulgaria launched a massive celebration in
“Gratitude toward Germany for the liberation of Macedonia and Western Thrace, as well as other
Bulgarian lands.” 73 It was reported that the streets were lavishly decorated with German, Italian and
Bulgarian flags for the “festive occasion” while patriotic students, Macedonian and Thracian refugees,
numbering up to 100,000, were going to march to the German and Italian Legations, passing by the Royal
Palace yard where King Boris would receive the ovations of the crowd. The Bulgarians demonstrated
68 During the war, it’s known that at least 123 Bulgarian Jews, men and women, were killed fighting as partisan soldiers against
the Bulgarian government and that over 1,100 Jews were detained as political prisoners in concentration camps. (“The situation
of the Bulgarian Jews during the Fascist governments and after 9th September, 1944.” Statement. Central Consistory in Bulgaria.
Sofia, May 1946. 4)
69 Leaflet issued by the Borough Committee of the BCP of Juch Bunar. Annual. Vol. V 41
70 Carl Savich, a historian with an M.A. in History and a J.D. in Law, says that approximately 5,000 Jews were killed during the
Holocaust in ‘Old’ Bulgaria-proper between 1941 to 1944. Savich, Carl. “Greater Bulgaria, Macedonia, and the Holocaust.”
Serbianna.com October 24, 2004; Savich’s work has been cited on the US Holocaust Memorial Museum website in Washington,
DC and the Holocaust and Genocide Studies website of the University of Minnesota.
71 There is information on the investigation of atrocities in Bulgaria located in: NARA. Records of the Foreign Service Posts of
the Department of State (RG 84). Records of the Moscow Embassy Confidential Records 1941-1955 (Entry 3313A). Boxes 1-214
- 1944. #711.6.
72 The Bulgarians surrendered both Thrace and Macedonia, their beloved ‘New’ Bulgaria, with the signing of the Armistice
Agreement with Bulgaria and Russia (representing the Allies), on October 28, 1944. Article Two of that agreement read:
“Bulgarian armed forces and officials must be withdrawn within the specified time limit from the territory of Greece and
Yugoslavia in accordance with the pre-condition accepted by the Government of Bulgaria on October 11; the Bulgarian
authorities must immediately take steps to withdraw from Greek and Yugoslav territory [all] Bulgarians who were citizens of
Bulgaria on January 1, 1941, and to repeal legislative and administrative provisions relating to the annexation or incorporation in
Bulgaria of Greek or Yugoslav territory.”
73 (April 13, 1941) The Times reported patriotic students, Macedonian and Thracian refugees, numbering up to 100,000 would
march to the German and Italian Legations, passing by the Royal Palace yard where King Boris would receive the ovations of the
crowd. It was reported the streets were lavishly decorated with German, Italian and Bulgarian flags for the “festive occasion.”
Judaic Studies Academic Paper Series / Library of Congress ISSN No. 2156-0390 © Shelomo Alfassa (shelomo@alfassa.com)