Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev and his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres are to address Wednesday an official celebration at the European Parliament in Brussels to mark the 70th anniversary of the rescue of the Bulgarian Jews during the Nazi period.
On this occasion, President Peres, who will start Tuesday in Brussels a weeklong state visit to the EU, will mark the official opening of an exhibition especially prepared for the anniversary by the Bulgaria’s Archives State Agency.
Through documents and photographs, the exhibition - entitled "Though choice that make a difference: The fate of the Bulgarian Jews" - presents the life of Jews in Bulgaria and their full integration into society.
It depicts the rise of anti-Semitism in Germany and Europe, which led to the adoption of anti-Jewish legislation in Bulgaria, especially after Bulgaria joined the Axis alliance. Special attention is paid to the rescue of the 4Bulgarian Jews through the protests by all of Bulgarian society - members of Parliament, the clergy, community and professional associations and individuals.
An exhibition specially prepared for the anniversary by the Archives State Agency will be presented at the European Parliament.
Through documents and photographs, the exhibition - entitled "Though choice that make a difference: The fate of the Bulgarian Jews" - presents the life of Jews in Bulgaria and their full integration into society.
It depicts the rise of anti-Semitism in Germany and Europe, which led to the adoption of anti-Jewish legislation in Bulgaria, especially after Bulgaria joined the Axis alliance.
Special attention is paid to the rescue of 48,000 Bulgarian Jews who were saved from deportation to the concentration camps through protests by the entire Bulgarian society - members of Parliament,the clergy, community and professional associations and individuals.
Among them, Dimitar Peshev, who was the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Bulgaria and Minister of Justice during WWII, rebelled against the pro-Nazi cabinet and played a great role in preventing the deportation of Bulgaria's Jews.
"This is one of the stellar moments of Bulgaria's history. We have to pay tribute to those individuals who stood up to Hitler's madness and showed that the Shoah could have been stopped by the power of civil society. It is also an occasion to remember the fate of all those who were killed by the Nazis and their collaborators across Europe and in the Balkans", said Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nickolay Mladenov, who will introduce the event.
The exhibition also shows the rescue of Jews from Europe through the issuing of transit visas by Bulgarian diplomats.
Recent research in the archives of the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs shows that between 1941 and 1943, more than 10 000 transit visas were issued to Jews in Bulgaria seeking to escape from the Holocaust.
In spite of the official ban at the time of WWII, many Bulgarian consuls in diplomatic missions throughout Europe found ways to issue visas to fleeing Jews.