This is a bit of a history lesson; read if so inclined!
Several things can be true at once: Bulgaria is the only European country that did not comply with Hitler’s demands to deport its Jews. It is also the only European country whose Jewish population increased during WWII. But Bulgaria did deport 10,000 Jews from its newly occupied lands in Macedonia and Greece, all of whom were murdered at Treblinka. So, already you’re asking – good guys or bad guys? Is the role of Tsar Boris tainted as he neither acceded to Hitler’s demands to deport Bulgarian Jews but participated in deporting non-Bulgarian Jews? But nobody disputes the impact of the Church’s role – unique in Europe at the time. Patriarch Kiril, the Exarch (Metropolitan) Stefan and their leadership of the Orthodox church in general, along with the pro-fascist (?!) speaker of Parliament, were critical in turning public opinion against the deportations of fellow citizens – in an active (and frequently dangerous) public campaign that went on for ten months in 1943 before the tide of the war turned against the Nazis in 1944. No other country either occupied by or allied with Hitler can make the same claim.
Below are some of the many memorial plaques commemorating the members of the church, parliament and ordinary people who helped to save Bulgaria’s Jewish citizens from Nazi deportations in 1943. They are enshrined in Yad Vashem as The Righteous Among Nations:
From top L to R and quoted in full:
1) “I won’t leave you.” March 10 1943. On this very site Kiril, Metropolitan Bishop of Plovdiv, later Patriarch of Bulgaria, stood by the Bulgarian Jews. From this place they were to be set out for the death camps. With dignity and humanity Bulgaria saved the lives of 49,000 Jews at a time when the world was in the grip of fear and hostility. We bow to this memory.
Note: I found this plaque particularly moving. Kiril pushed himself and 300 members of his congregation into the crowd of SS who had loaded the Jewish population of Plovdiv onto trains and threatened to lie down on the tracks. He is reported to have run up and down the trains assuring the terrified Jews “I will not leave you”.
2) “To all who helped to save us on 10 March 1943 from a grateful Plovdiv Jewish Community.”
3) “In the year 1943 while the Holocaust of European Jews was reaching its peak, a unique phenomenon occurred in Bulgaria. Eminent leaders of the Bulgarian people, the Heads of the Church, Enlightened public figures, writers, doctors, lawyers, workers, ordinary citizens, and the Royal Family all stood together and succeeded to to rescue all of Bulgaria’s 49,000 Jews from deportation to the death camps. The great majority of Bulgaria’s Jews immigrated to Israel in the years 1948-50 and took an active part in the rebirth of the Jewish State.”
4) Memorial Plaque at Bachkovo Church where Kiril and Stefan are buried: “In this Holy Monastery, the Patriarch Kiril and Exarch Stefan, who – in a selfless display of courage and humanity – played a decisive role in preventing the deportation of Bulgarian Jewry to the Nazi death camps in 1943. Were the world blessed with more individuals of such valor and nobility surely more Jews would have been spared their tragic end.” A heartbreaking aside: Exarch Stefan was arrested by the newly installed Communist government in 1948 and died in solitary confinement in prison in 1957.
5) In Memory of the noble Bulgarians, Metropolitan Stefan, Patriarch Kiril, Metropolitan Neofit, Metropolitan Sofroni, and other dignitaries of the Church; of Dimitar Peshev, the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, and other brave men and women who successfully struggled for the rescue of Bulgaria’s Jews during World War Two.
A moment of silence, please.
Bulgaria fell to the Red Army in 1944 and remained firmly in the Soviet sphere until 1990. The Jews who survived the war had no appetite for Communism – yet another master in an unrelenting series – and most of them left for British Palestine soon after the war. The rest followed by 1950, leaving behind a community of about 2,000. Today, Bulgaria is a favored destination for Israelis – it’s close, it’s very green with good hiking, lakes, mountains, skiing and no concentration camp memorials. I can report that there is actually a kosher section of the business class lounge in the Sofia airport!
The Sofia Synagogue, (below) one of the largest Sephardic Synagogues in Europe, was consecrated in 1909 and is now a national monument and a Jewish Museum, beautifully maintained. A Jewish community of approximately 1500 has services, a day school, a mikveh, and is open to visitors who make appointments with passports and – as everywhere in Europe – goes through security to enter the grounds. Sad but true.
The synagogue in the center of Sofia, just a few blocks from the main mosque and the main Catholic Basilica.
The Jewish history in Bulgaria goes back to Classical times and archeological finds in Plovdiv demonstrate a large and prosperous Greek-speaking Jewish community as far back as the 3rd century AD. The mosaic floor from a synagogue of that era features a menorah with the names of the donors listed at the bottom. (I love this detail! The more things change…)
Plovdiv Synagogue and cemetery: The Zion Synagogue in Plovdiv is nowhere near as grand as that in Sofia – it’s actually quite hidden down an alley and you need to make prior arrangements with the gabbai (custodian) to visit, but it is beautifully restored – with sky blue ceilings, Venetian glass chandeliers and elaborate wall stencils in a burst of turquoise and gold. Nearby is the Jewish cemetery, mostly overgrown and not much in use, as the community has dwindled to a few hundred members, many intermarried. A rabbi from Sofia comes several times a year for major services, otherwise Shabbat services are led by community members. These are the only two operating synagogues left in Bulgaria. And not because all the Jews were murdered – but because most of them and their descendants now live in Israel. Below are images from the shul: Top left: the gabbai with our guide, Philip.
If you are interested in additional information on Bulgaria’s role in WWII, check out these links:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17449057.2023.2216520#d1e280
Saving Bulgarian Jews from the Holocaust: The Role of National Identity. Deborah Mayersen. Published online June 13, 2024. Ethnopolitics Volume 23, Issue 5.
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/bulgaria
US Holocaust Memorial Museum