Ekaterina Zaharieva: The rescue of Bulgarian Jews was an unprecedented show of courage on the part of society
05 April 2018 News
’75 years ago, the Bulgarian people rose to the historic occasion, and protected its Jewish population. This act marked one of the brightest periods in our history. The rescue of the Jews who lived on the old territory of Bulgaria was an unprecedented show of courage on the part of society, and the result of coordination between politicians, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, intellectuals, and common Bulgarians.’ This is how Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva addressed leaders of the Jewish communities in Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Bulgaria during an official dinner on the occasion of Passover, the Jewish festival of Liberation, which took place in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The gala was attended by ambassadors of the members of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, and other guests.
In her address, Minister Zaharieva noted that no other European ally of Nazi Germany was able to protect the vast majority of its Jewish community. She expressed her regret over the fact that more than 11 000 Jews were deported from the territories in Northern Greece, Macedonia along the Vardar River and Pirot, which used to be run by Bulgarian authorities back in the day.
‘I would like to thank you for joining us precisely on this day, Maundy Thursday, to send a common message: that we are working together to have the Balkans peaceful, stable, and acting wisely, to ensure that they do not serve as a problem driver, but look confidently toward the future. This will serve as a modern-day expression of the ethnic and religious tolerance we have inherited from the past,’ Minister Zaharieva highlighted.
The Minister also stated that Bulgaria shared in the worries of the international Jewish community, and the international community at large, over the spread of antisemitism in Europe and on the other side of the Atlantic, as well as over the attempts to rewrite and skew 20th-century history. ‘We condemn and reject these recent developments. That is why Bulgaria has stated its firm commitment to join the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. Further, we fully commit to ensuring transparent debate and in-depth research into the history of the Holocaust, and to showing zero tolerance to any and all forms of antisemitism and hate speech,’ she added.
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