For 80 years, the Jewish narrative was hijacked for domestic and international exploits of ‘political moral credit to Bulgaria’ for ‘saving the Jews.’ Fabricated myths have glorified perpetrators and non-heroes as rescuers next to continued official denial of responsibility for crimes against humanity committed by Bulgaria’s wartime government, as Hitler’s ally. Crediting the perpetrators as rescuers deprived not only the Bulgarian Jews of their narrative but also the real friends who helped defend them, and wiped the narrative of victims from manipulated statistics.
These glorifying myths take advantage of the good will of audiences who welcome stories of kindness and rescue without being able to probe to what degree they are truthful. The aggressive campaign to make heroes of perpetrators sews confusion is misleading. Downplaying the Holocaust in Bulgaria and labeling critics of the denial as haters and “bad Jews” is anti-Semitic and foments violence and hatred.
“Today we say no to the nihilism and the birthlessness that crashed in their dishonor while attempting to slander and break this initiative” This statement from Bulgaria’s president Rumen Radev reflects the antisemitic tendencies in Bulgaria today. Among his initiatives is deflecting Bulgaria’s responsibility for its government’s policies during the holocaust. https://m.president.bg/en/news7302/prezidentat-radev-balgariya-visoko-tseni-prinosa-na-prof-bar-zoar-za-otstoyavaneto-na-istoricheskata-istina-i-populyariziraneto-na-unikalniya-akt-na-spasyavaneto-na-balgarskite-evrei
Earlier this spring Bulgaria’s Ambassador to Israel tried to sabotage an international conference in May in Israel. The conference Persecution and Collaboration, Rescue and Survival: New perspectives on Bulgaria and the Holocaust after eighty years, was co-organized by the Learning Project with Yad Vashem’s International Institute for Holocaust Research; the Dahan Center, Bar Ilan University; and the Tel Aviv Cinematheque in collaboration with the Bulgarian Jewish Heritage Center, Jaffa; the Union of Bulgarian Jews; The Salvador Foundation; the Israel-Bulgaria Friendship and Collaboration Association: The Claims Conference; and the Herzelina Jaeger Foundation.
The Bulgarian attempts to sabotage the conference were received with condemnations and accusations of holocaust denial and the use of antisemitic language. https://www.jta.org/2023/06/02/global/bulgarias-ambassador-to-israel-condemned-for-skipping-holocaust-history-conference?fbclid=IwAR3eRMmQiyQvdz9QhlwLRBnAFDfC0NtlIg7MskNvcRgbVSqSMYhiaJpoY1M
The conference featured twenty-three leading scholars in the field of research on the Holocaust and Bulgaria—eleven from Israel, and twelve from other countries including Bulgaria, Germany, Switzerland, France, Greece, and the United States. They spoke about multiple aspects of Bulgaria and the Holocaust and the disputes around them: historiography, public commemoration and museums; the role of King Boris III in conducting policies and decision-making; the labor camps; the role of Bulgarian authorities in the deportations to Treblinka of the Jews in the annexed territories; the circumstances that allowed for the survival of the Bulgarian Jews; and more.
“The Holocaust encompassed almost the entire European continent and even beyond and there are still many black spots to research. Regarding many countries much research is still to be done, and it is important for scholars to meet and discuss what is missing, and also cope with aspects of public commemoration that do not always fit with the historical facts. This conference is an important opportunity to do so regarding Bulgaria.“, says Prof. Dan Michman, Head of the Yad Vashem International Institute for Holocaust Research.
The Bulgarian attempt to undermine the conference presented the present initiative to call on the Bulgarian government to stop the denial and distortion of Bulgaria’s role during the Holocaust.
“The policies of the Bulgarian president and his ‘Initiatives’ sowe anti-Semitism, attacks on the Jewish community and its leaders are common in Bulgaria today. I hope the new Bulgarian government adheres to civil and legal standards and stops the state sponsorship of Holocaust denial and distortion, which recently received broad international attention.” says Jacky Comforty, one of the manin conference organizers, a Researcher and documentarian who’s Book with Martha Aladjem Bloomfield The Stolen Narrative of the Bulgarian Jews and the Holocaust, published by Rowman and Littlefield, addresses the very same problem of holocaust denial and hijacked narrative.