test - The Optimists

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From the moment the Nazis came to power, the Bulgarian regime allied itself with Germany. In 1934, King Boris III assumed dictatorial power in Bulgaria.	Bulgaria’s alliance with Germany grew ever stronger. Germany was its main partner in trade. Bulgaria sold agricultural products and bought, in return, machinery and weapons. But it imported more than equipment. Nazi ideology and propaganda, anti-Semitism, and a national arrogance were imported as well. Young Bulgarians joined youth movements in imitation of Hitler youth groups. Bulgarian children learned to give the Nazi salute.
Nir Baruch: “Before Bulgaria hooked up with the Nazis, anti- Semitism was not orchestrated by the Bulgarian regime. Only after 1936, with the founding of anti-Semitic, pro- Nazi youth organizations—Branik, Ratnik and others— was there a guiding hand behind the anti-Semitism in Bulgaria. As part of a policy. Even though some of the people who ran this policy were not whole-hearted about it.”	As of 1939 the Bulgarian police demanded that all resident Jews without Bulgarian citizenship leave the country. Many of these people were born in Bulgaria or had lived there all their lives. They had nowhere to go. Early in 1940, the King appointed the anti-Semitic professor, Bogdan Filov, to be prime minister. Filov’s government was filled with some of Bulgaria’s most notorious anti-Semites. The Bulgarian Jews began to feel what it was like to live under the swastika.
Yoram Aharoni: “We always had problems with the Bulgarian gangs in the neighborhood. They used to call us derogatory names. There were always little wars going on. The problem got much worse around 1939-40. There were movements called Ratniks and Legionnaires. They broke windows at our house and at the Jewish club. Sometimes small groups beat each other up pretty badly.”	By mid-1940, Germany had occupied Norway, Denmark, Belgium, and Holland. The war raged throughout Europe. My maternal grandfather, Jacques Ovadia, wanted to emmigrate to the United States with another family, but they could not obtain visas. Many Jews who did not have Bulgarian citizenship were exiled by the Bulgarian police to a “no–man’s land” between Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, where they suffered harsh conditions and abuse.
	The harbors were crowded with refugees trying to escape the Nazi occupation of Europe. There were not many countries willing to give visas to Jews. The Spanish and the Italian embassies gave some. Many refugees tried to emmigrate illegally to Palestine. My mother had two cousins who boarded a rickety boat to Palestine. It was named “Salvador”— The Savior. The boat broke apart and sank in the Sea of Marmara near the Turkish shore. 233 people of 355 on board sank with
Filov	Late in 1940, the Bulgarian government announced its intention to pass the Law for the Defense of the Nation. This Bulgarian version of the Nuremberg Laws was designed to strip away the human rights of Bulgaria’s Jewish citizens.
letter of writers	People of all religions were outraged by the proposed law. Bulgaria’s writers protested. They wrote that the laws harmed Bulgaria’s democracy, integrity, and reputation. Doctors, tradesmen, Parliament members, and people from all walks of life spoke out. The lawyers wrote, “All Bulgarian citizens are equal before the law. . . . [This law] violates the Constitution.”
Leadership f B church	The leaders of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church wrote, “This law causes injustice and violence to others.” The bishop of Sofia, Metropolitan Stephan, even met with the king to try and persuade him to revoke the law, but to no avail.
David Eskin: “We couldn’t go out in the street after 9:00 in the evening, until 6 the next morning, which made us virtually prisoners. And then they introduced the Jewish star—small yellow star—which we were forced to wear all the time.”	The yellow star all Bulgarian Jews older than 12 had to wear during the Holocaust.
Vera Kocheva: “The persecution of the Jews started with banning them from the main streets. I suffered from our government’s attitude towards the Jews. So, I started going with them to protest meetings. I went to the synagogue. I even wore the yellow star when I was with Jews—out of solidarity, out of sorrow at seeing our dearest friends being insulted.”	Sign in Bulgarian: “Entrance for Jews Forbidden”.
Nir Baruch: “From the moment Bulgaria joined the pro-Nazi camp, it followed Germany blindly. What were the king’s basic policies? First, he wanted to protect the monarchy. A second goal was to add territories to Bulgaria from Greece, Yugoslavia, and Romania. These three territories were promised to Bulgaria by the Nazis—by Hitler. And the last goal: not to send Bulgarian soldiers to the front. Which meant for the lowest price, get the maximum possible—the territories.”
Table	In April and May of 1941, after the German Army defeated Greece and Yugoslavia, Hitler made good on his promise to King Boris. He “gave” Bulgaria the regions of Macedonia in Yugoslavia and Thrace in Greece. The Bulgarian Parliament applauded. The Bulgarian people rejoiced.
Jewish appartment	Meanwhile, restrictions on the Jews increased. Jews could not leave Bulgaria. They were confined to certain cities and neighborhoods.
A two-day march to labor camp in Trunska Klisura, near the Yugoslav border, 1942.	All young men were drafted into forced labor. People lost their jobs and had to pay heavy taxes. That’s how my maternal grandfather, Jacques Ovadia, lost his apartment. Everyone stopped going to public restaurants, theaters, and concerts. Their cars were confiscated. And without their radios they felt cut off from the world.
David Eskin in Forced Labor Camp, on the right David Eskin: “We were all mobilized, young men between 18-56, to go to labor camps, forced labor camps. I used to dig stones. I used to break stones. You know, you have to put stones on the railroad. And we used to make work, three men—one loading, one digging, and one unloading it. It was a very difficult job.	Hard physical work in forced labor camp, 1942. “The guards were former policemen and former officers of the labor force. The attitude was not bad, not brutal. Once the manager chased me with a . . . chased me all around. I was faster than he was . . . He couldn’t catch me. But he chased me. There were some beatings but not very very brutal.”
Jacky Comforty’s father, Betoush, delousing a shirt in labor camp, 1942.	David Eskin: “We used to go in the river and with ice cold water to wash your stuff. And the toilet facilities were a disaster. And we used to sleep in tents, 50, 60 in a tent. Very narrow. And we got lice you know . . . and then also bed bugs.”
Issac Comforty in as slave labor in 1943 From spring until late fall they worked at hard, physical labor. In the early war years, they did not work in winter. The first snow was their sign. They were sent home then. They were finally able to learn what was happening to their families.