Distortions of the Holocaust narrative in Bulgaria - Interview with Dr. Alexander Oscar, President of Bulgaria's Jewish community

Dr. Alexander Oscar, President of Bulgaria's Jewish Community (Photo Courtesy of the World Jewish Congress)

At a time when a growing number of examples of distortion of the Shoah narrative are being deplored in various Central European countries, a major symposium entitled "Controversies mémorielles et renouveau historiographique" was held on Sunday June 25th at the Shoah Memorial. The colloquium focused on Bulgaria, and was attended by leading specialist Professor Nadège Ragaru and the President of Bulgaria's Jewish community, Shalom, neuro-ophthalmologist Professor Alexander Oscar.

Michel Azaria: Where does Bulgaria's Jewish community stand today?

Prof. Alexander Oscar: The revival of our community dates back to 1990, after the fall of communism. We owe our rebirth to the generous contributions of the Joint and the Lauder Foundation. Today, we number around 6,000, including 5,000 in the capital, with the second-largest Sephardic synagogue in Europe after Amsterdam. We have a day nursery and a Jewish school for 200 children, and plans to extend capacity to 1,000. I'd like to emphasize that the land was donated by the Sofia municipality, with which we enjoy very good relations.

We are a vibrant community attached to freedoms and minority rights, and we stand shoulder to shoulder with the Ukrainians, welcoming 10 Ukrainian children to our Jewish school.

M. A.: What about the rescue of Bulgarian Jews during the war?

A. O.: That happened eighty years ago. Today, the interpretation of the events of March 1943 is controversial and used by our adversaries.

Before joining the Nazi axis, Bulgaria adopted very severe anti-Jewish legislation. Then, at the end of 1940, after joining the Axis countries, the 50,000 Jewish citizens were deprived of their civic rights and forced to wear the yellow star. In addition, 15,000 of them, aged between 16 and 60, were sent to labor camps.

Bulgaria, a Nazi ally, was allowed to annex territories in northern Macedonia and northern Greece, administering them as it saw fit and naturalizing all but the Jews.

In early 1943, following the agreement between Bulgarian Commissioner for Jewish Affairs Aleksandar Belev and Berlin envoy Theodor Dannecker, recently arrived from Paris, the Nazis demanded the deportation of Jews to the death camps, 12,000 from the annexed territories and 8,000 from the former Bulgaria, to reach a target of 20,000.

As soon as the first roundups were carried out, a movement of opposition to the deportation of Jews emerged. Local people, professional organizations such as the Writers' Union and the Bar Association, and above all the bishops of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, after several days of consultation, opposed the deportation of Bulgarian Jews and was soon as the first roundups were carried out, a movement of opposition to the deportation of the Jews emerged. Throughout the country, ordinary people, professional organizations such as the Writers' Union and the Bar Association, and above all the bishops of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, after several days of consultation, opposed the deportation of Bulgarian Jews and wrote a letter to the King. Dimitar Pechev, deputy speaker of parliament, and 42 other members of the Nazi governing party also publicly opposed the deportation.

Their action was the key to success against the Nazis. After the war, the two bishops, Metropolitan Kiril and Exarch Stephan I, together with Dimitar Pechev, were named Righteous Among the Nations.

The date of March 10th, 1943, the day after people gathered in a schoolyard in Plodviv, Bulgaria's second largest city, to oppose the deportation of the Jews, is commemorated every year.

Unfortunately, this national movement of defiance failed to stop the deportation of 12,000 Jews from the annexed territories, 4,000 from Greece and 8,000 from Serbia.

In September 1944, the Red Army entered Bulgaria and delivered it from the Nazis.

M. A.: Why all the controversy about saving the Jews?

A. O. : There are a number of statements that are commonplace in Bulgarian society today. Firstly, we find it unacceptable to assert that Bulgaria bears no responsibility for the tragic fate of the 12,000 Jews of Northern Greece and Macedonia. We systematically object, reminding our interlocutors of French president Jacques Chirac's speech at the Vel d'Hiv.  Secondly, crediting the King and his pro-Nazi government with the rescue of the Bulgarian Jews is problematic when we know that responsibility for the rescue lies with Bulgarian civil society, which took risks, and with the Church. Why did the king agree to the deportation of 12,000 Jews? History will judge, but today, the King's role remains in a grey area.

M. A.: What are your current relations with the Bulgarian government and parties?

A. O. : We have good relations with the pro-European parties and refuse any relations with the nationalist parties, which are generally pro-Russian. This has worsened over the last year or so. The current political landscape is characterized by the rise of nationalists on both the right and the left. The nationalist right accuses us of being communists, and the nationalist left uses the terms fascists and Nazis to describe us because of our stance on the war in Ukraine and our position on the distortions of Holocaust history advocated by our opponents.

This growing distortion of our history is comparable to the current situation in Poland, except that the pro-Russian dimension of our opponents gives it another dimension.

As a result, the current situation of the Jewish community has become difficult. Take the example of the Bulgarian Progression party. These are conspiracy theorists who dared to compare the anti-Covid certificate to wearing the yellow star. Their leader called me a Nazi on social networks and demanded that I be punished for what I inflicted on Bulgaria, calling us foreigners in our country.

I would like to thank the Anti-Defamation League and the World Jewish Congress for the support I have received. Finally, we remain vigilant and look forward to the arrival of a new pro-European government.