As in so many other countries, Jews in Bulgaria had something of a challenging time over the years. They are believed to have settled in the region after the Roman conquest in 46 CE, with another lot escaping Byzantine persecution and settling in the First Bulgarian empire (after 681). They were Romaniote (speaking Yevanic, a Greek dialect containing some Hebrew, Aramaic and Turkish words). In the Second Bulgarian Empire (14th century), Tsar Ivan Alexander married a Jewish woman who converted to Christianity.
The Sephardic exiles from Spain began arriving at the end of the fifteenth century at the same time as the Ashkenazim who had been banished from Bavaria. Under the Ottomans, they settled throughout the country and later men fought under the Bulgarian flag in the Balkan and First World Wars.
During the Second World War, Bulgaria was allied to Germany, so that didn’t make things easy. A law based on the Nuremberg Laws came into force in 1941 prohibiting Jews from voting, running for office, serving in the army, marrying ‘ethnic’ Bulgarians, using Bulgarian names, etc, etc, In 1942, the Bulgarian authorities signed an agreement with Germany that they hand over all Jews residing in Bulgaria and the larger area which the Bulgarians administered. They began with Jews in the administered areas first, but opposition politicians, members of the clergy and various intellectuals began to protest and the deportations were suspended in March, 1943. Instead, 20,000 Jews from Sofia were expelled and sent to the provinces, while men were conscripted as forced labour. In this way, they were said to have ‘rescued’ the Jews.
Most Bulgarian Jews left after the end of the Second World War and settled in Israel. Today, there are fewer than 1000 in the country. And we came across this desperately sad synagogue today in Samokov.
What a sad tale Miriam. The state of synagogue says it all. 😞
But so strange that the story that’s told is one of heroism. We saw a number of Israelis in Sofia who were, I suspect, returning to the ancestral land so I guess there is still a connection.
How sad and how familiar. Although, Bulgaria must be unique among the countries that were part of the German axis to insist on ‘suspending’ deportation. I wonder to what extent it’s true and to what extent it’s a post-war embellishment of the facts.
I think it’s true and suspect Bulgaria is given some praise for its actions at Yad Veshem in Israel. Vichy had a similarly weaselly approach at times I think.