Sofia – Historians Say Bulgaria Allowed the Killing of 11,000 Jews During Holocaust

Sofia – Bulgaria’s reputation for saving 48,000 Jews from Nazi death camps has been tarnished following revelations by historians that Bulgaria allowed the murder of over 11,000 Jews living in territories under its control, including in present-day Macedonia and Greece.

“You are a hero rescuer but also a brutal murderer and a cool persecutor. You cannot say one without saying the other, too,” Michael Berenbaum, founder of the United States Holocaust Museum said at a conference in Sofia this past Friday.
The AFP reports (http://bit.ly/SUXODf) that some historians believe that Bulgaria allowed the slaughter of Jews in its territories in order to save more of its own Jews. Bulgarian authorities have been careful to avoid discussing this dark chapter in its history, preferring instead to use its reputation as a savior of Jews to establish good relations with Israel.

Some 9,000 Jews were slated to be deported to Poland from Kyustendil in western Bulgaria and Plovdiv in the south on March 9, 1943, but Bulgarian officials and clergy intervened and managed to prevent the deportation. However, a total of 11,343 Jews were deported from western Macedonia, northern Greece, and southern Serbia by the Bulgarian army, including a baby named Isak, age “zero”, who was sent to Treblinka death camp where he, along with the others, was murdered.