The Holocaust in Bulgaria

Kingdom of Bulgaria, as it existed between 1941 and 1944

The Holocaust in Bulgaria was the persecution of Jews between 1941 and 1944 in the Tsardom of Bulgaria and their deportation and annihilation in the Bulgarian-occupied regions of Yugoslavia and Greece during World War II, arranged by the Nazi Germany-allied government of Tsar Boris III and prime minister Bogdan Filov.^[1] The persecution began in 1941 with the passing of anti-Jewish legislation and culminated in March 1943 with the detention and deportation of almost all^[2] – 11,343 – of the Jews living in Bulgarian-occupied regions of Northern Greece, Yugoslav Macedonia and Pirot. These were deported by the Bulgarian authorities to Vienna and ultimately sent to extermination camps in Nazi-occupied Poland.

The deportation of the 48,000 Jews from Bulgaria proper also began at the same time but was found out and halted following the intervention of a group of government members of parliament led by Dimitar Peshev. Subsequent public protests and pressure from prominent figures persuaded the Tsar to reject further plans for the deportation.^[3]^[4]^[5] Instead Sofia's 25,743 Jews^[6]^[7] were internally deported to the countryside and had their property confiscated.^[8]^[9]^[10] Jewish males between the ages of 20 and 46 were conscripted into the Labour Corps until September 1944.^[11]^[12]^[10]^[9] The events that prevented the deportation to extermination camps of about 48,000^[13] Jews in Spring 1943 are termed the "Rescue of the Bulgarian Jews". The survival rate of the Jewish population in Bulgaria as a result was one of the highest in Axis Europe.

^ Brustein, William I.; Brustein, Professor William (13 October 2003). Roots of Hate: Anti-Semitism in Europe Before the Holocaust. Cambridge University Press. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-521-77478-9.
^ Monastir During the Holocaust article from Yad Vashem
^ Ragaru, Nadège (19 March 2017). "Contrasting Destinies: The Plight of Bulgarian Jews and the Jews in Bulgarian-occupied Greek and Yugoslav Territories during World War Two". Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violence. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
^ "Factsheet of historical information regarding the Holocaust". www.worldjewishcongress.org. Shalom. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
^ "The Rescue of Bulgarian Jewry". aishcom. 23 October 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
^ Did Bulgaria Save All of its Jews? article by Angel Wagenstein (in Bulgarian)
^ Crowe, David M. (4 May 2018). The Holocaust: Roots, History, and Aftermath. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-96498-5.
^ Sage, Steven S. (2018). "Bulgaria". In Megargee, Geoffrey P.; White, Joseph R. (eds.). The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933–1945, Volume III: Camps and Ghettos under European Regimes Aligned with Nazi Germany. Indiana University Press. pp. 7, 10, 12. ISBN 978-0-253-02386-5.
^ ^a ^b "Bulgaria". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
^ ^a ^b Chary, Frederick B. (1972). The Bulgarian Jews and the final solution, 1940-1944. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 9780822976011. OCLC 878136358.
^ Lacqueur, Walter; Baumel, Judith Tydor (2001). The Holocaust Encyclopedia. Yale University Press. pp. 98–104. ISBN 978-0-300-13811-5.
^ Ioanid, Radu (25 November 2010). Occupied and Satellite States. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199211869.003.0022.
^ Sofia: Double-Faced Bulgaria Civil Society and the Holocaust: International Perspectives on Resistance and Rescue

[1] Brustein, William I.; Brustein, Professor William (13 October 2003). Roots of Hate: Anti-Semitism in Europe Before the Holocaust. Cambridge University Press. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-521-77478-9.

[2] Monastir During the Holocaust article from Yad Vashem

[ragaru2-3] Ragaru, Nadège (19 March 2017). "Contrasting Destinies: The Plight of Bulgarian Jews and the Jews in Bulgarian-occupied Greek and Yugoslav Territories during World War Two". Online Encyclopedia of Mass Violence. Retrieved 8 March 2020.

[4] "Factsheet of historical information regarding the Holocaust". www.worldjewishcongress.org. Shalom. Retrieved 8 March 2020.

[5] "The Rescue of Bulgarian Jewry". aishcom. 23 October 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2015.

[wagenstein-6] Did Bulgaria Save All of its Jews? article by Angel Wagenstein (in Bulgarian)

[:22-7] Crowe, David M. (4 May 2018). The Holocaust: Roots, History, and Aftermath. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-96498-5.

[8] Sage, Steven S. (2018). "Bulgaria". In Megargee, Geoffrey P.; White, Joseph R. (eds.). The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933–1945, Volume III: Camps and Ghettos under European Regimes Aligned with Nazi Germany. Indiana University Press. pp. 7, 10, 12. ISBN 978-0-253-02386-5.

[:32-9] "Bulgaria". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia. Retrieved 6 March 2020.

[:12-10] Chary, Frederick B. (1972). The Bulgarian Jews and the final solution, 1940-1944. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 9780822976011. OCLC 878136358.

[11] Lacqueur, Walter; Baumel, Judith Tydor (2001). The Holocaust Encyclopedia. Yale University Press. pp. 98–104. ISBN 978-0-300-13811-5.

[:02-12] Ioanid, Radu (25 November 2010). Occupied and Satellite States. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199211869.003.0022.

[humanityinaction-13] Sofia: Double-Faced Bulgaria Civil Society and the Holocaust: International Perspectives on Resistance and Rescue

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