Clarifying 70 Years of Whitewashing and ... - Shelomo Alfassa

Another accounts further describe life for Jews in Bulgarian slave labor camps:
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“Would send them to work hungry,” “Warm clothing was prohibited,” “Men were kept standing
on their feet in front of food laid out before them,” “Beatings were the order of the day,” Men
were forced to face the blazing sun, for several hours at a time with heavy loads on their backs,”
“Malaria victims, numerous in almost all camps, were ordered to work at the peak of their
fever,” “The cases of abuse and sadism were legion.” 49
On August 29, 1942 Aleksandur Belev sent an ominous letter to Bulgarian Interior Minister Peter
Gabrovsky advising, “The radical solution of our Jewish Question will be their emigration, which will
have to proceed hand in hand with the confiscation of their property…For the present time, until such
time as conditions arise that would enable the emigration of Jews to proceed, it is imperative to toughen
the measures against them.” 50
Bulgaria’s Intent to Deport Jews - Establishes Camps for its Jews
Between May 23 and June 23, 1943, all the Jews from Sofia 51 were deracinated and shipped like cattle by
Bulgarian police and soldiers from their homes to outlying provinces, 52 a total of 23,000 helpless people. 53
Many men were taken as slave labors to the towns of Rupel, Kresna and Iskar Gorges. 54 Relocation from
their homes meant the looting of their personal property such as jewelry 55 and belongings, their
commercial property and their communal property such as their synagogues. The removal of the Jews
from their homes caused “chaos” as the Jews were “horrified.” 56 From a 1963 memoir comes a firsthand
account:
The horror petrifying the otherwise lively street was incredible. Relatives, friends, full of anxiety
and in tears were running from house to house to say good-bye. I went to many houses. The
mothers and the fathers, brothers and sisters, stayed embraced for hours, parted with sobs, and
went with heads turned toward their dears and then again with loud cries ran back, embraced
them once more and sobbed in the arms of those whom cruelty wanted to separate them forever. 57
49 Tamir. 177
50 Savich, Carl. “Greater Bulgaria, Macedonia, and the Holocaust.” Serbianna.com October 24, 2004
51 On May 26, 1943, The New York Times reported that 25,000 Jews in the “three ghettos of Sofia,” received orders from the
government to evacuate their living quarters within 24 hours to “specified places of residence where they will be employed on
work of national interest.”
52 When a contingent of Sofia Jews was sent to Dupnitsa, the mayor complained there were too many Jews there to feed and that
“Bulgaria should be completely cleansed of its Jews” and that the “Jews be liquidated without delay.” (Tamir. 179)
53 They were taken and placed in isolated towns such as Belogradcik, Ferdinand, Lukovit, Bjala, Razgrad, Targoviste, Novi
Pazar, Petric, Sveti Vrac, Melnic, Breznic, Ihtiman and Novoselci. (Annual. Vol. V 19)
54 Annual. Vol. V 19
55 Anti-Semitic legislation enacted in Bulgaria facilitated the looting of gold from the Jews. The legislation, modeled after
Germany's Nuremberg laws, limited the right of Jews to participate in Bulgaria's economy and political life. See: Toshkova, Vita.
"Bulgaria: Anti-Semitic Legislation in Bulgaria, 1940-44: A Case Study of Some Aspects." In Nazi Gold: The London
Conference. 2-4 December 1997, 73-77. London: HMSO, 1997.
56 Testimony before the 7 th People’s Court by defendant Ivan Mitsev, reproduced in Annual. Vol. V 36
57 Testimony of Dimo Kazasov about the Jews in Juch Bunar from the newspaper Evreisky Vesty, No. 8(494) May 17, 1963
reproduced in Annual. Vol. V 36
Judaic Studies Academic Paper Series / Library of Congress ISSN No. 2156-0390 © Shelomo Alfassa (shelomo@alfassa.com)