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

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Conclusions Page | 26 1. Ultimately, the problem remains: While the Bulgarian government remains quick to mention they “saved” 50,000 Jews, they continually neglect to mention that they intentionally sent over 13,000 Jewish men, women and children, young and old, to their deaths. 2. In Bulgaria, the Jewish community suffered, lived in tremendous fear, and many indeed died— just like their brethren in other parts of Europe. Yes, it was in lower numbers, and yes, there was intervention, but the outright untruths saying that Bulgarian Jews were unharmed during the war and during the Holocaust is an injustice. 3. It is incorrect to state things such as: ‘Bulgaria refused to surrender a single Jew,’ 156 or ‘The Bulgarian Jewish community thrived while across Europe Jews were persecuted.’ 157 These short comments are all too often repeated without revealing in full disclosure that Bulgarian Jews were indeed rigorously persecuted by Bulgaria during the war, and that while Bulgaria resisted deporting 50,000 Jews from what was considered ‘Old’ Bulgaria, it deported 13,000 Jews from ‘New’ Bulgaria 158 to death camps in Poland. 159 In the latter, ‘New’ Bulgaria, Thrace and Macedonia, it was Bulgarian soldiers and Bulgarian police officers who handed the Jews over to the Germans, 160 who then deported these defenseless people who ultimately were killed. 156 Flannery, Edward H. The Anguish of The Jews: Twenty-Three Centuries of Antisemitism. Paulist Press, Mahwah, NJ, 1985. 223 157 Jerusalem Post (“Exclusive video: ‘Restoring the crown to former glory”) 12/20/2010 jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishFeatures/Article.aspx?id=200216 158 Rodogno, Davide. Fascism’s European Empire: Italian Occupation During the Second World War. Cambridge University Press, 2006. 387 159 Cohen, Sharon Kangisser. Child Survivors of the Holocaust in Israel: Finding Their Voice. Sussex Academic Press: Brighton, 2005. 31 160 Paldiel, Mordecai. Churches and the Holocaust: Unholy Teaching, Good Samaritans, and Reconciliation. Ktav: Jersey City, 2005. 306 Judaic Studies Academic Paper Series / Library of Congress ISSN No. 2156-0390 © Shelomo Alfassa (shelomo@alfassa.com)
Appendix 1. Suggested Redress for the Republic of Bulgaria In regard to their failure to continuously and openly disclose that they deported 13,000 Jews to their death from their territory of ‘New Bulgaria’ during World War II. Issued by The International Committee for Bulgarian Holocaust-Era Truth – March 1, 2011 A copy of this document has been submitted to 'The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme,' a project of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Page | 27 Suppression of the truth continues to undermine the legitimacy of the Republic of Bulgaria in their sincerity on human rights issues, even today, as it stands as a new member of the European Union. Failure to disclose the truth, at every opportunity, damages the legitimacy of any current or future Bulgarian government. The following are suggested measures Bulgaria should take to correct this long- standing historic injustice: 1. The intended exclusion and/or conscious denial of Bulgaria’s role in the harsh treatment, collection, incarceration and deportation of 13,000 Jews from then United Bulgaria aka ‘New’ Bulgaria (Thrace and Macedonia) should become a frequent and recurrent matter of public record—as much so as the often made ‘heroic’ (‘Bulgaria saved 50,000 Jews’) claim, repeatedly mentioned by Bulgarian government representatives and officials. 2. During any and all discussions in which explicit reference is made in regard to how Bulgaria “saved” tens of thousands of Jews, there should be a parallel reference to how Bulgaria deported 13,000 Jews from ‘New’ Bulgaria—Thrace and Macedonia—and how this Jewish population was sent to Treblinka where they were killed. This includes in all official documents and on all official Websites of the Bulgarian governement. 3. Bulgaria should use its voice, vote, and participation in matters relating to Holocaust education which would be consistent with the 2005 United Nations General Assembly resolution 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 and 22: The Bulgarian Government Propaganda
Page 23 and 24: Page | 23 obtain foreign economic a
Page 25: Page | 25 Jews of Bulgaria suffered
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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