History of the Jews in Bulgaria
Encyclopedia
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
in Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
dates to at least as early as the 2nd century CE. Since then, the Jews have had a continuous presence in the Bulgarian lands and have played an often considerable part in the history of Bulgaria
History of Bulgaria
The history of Bulgaria spans from the first settlements on the lands of modern Bulgaria to its formation as a nation-state and includes the history of the Bulgarian people and their origin. The first traces of human presence on what is today Bulgaria date from 44,000 BC...
from ancient times through the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
until today.
Antiquity
The earliest written trace of Jewish communities in what is today Bulgaria date to the late 2nd century BCE. A LatinLatin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
inscription found at Ulpia Oescus (modern day Gigen
Gigen
Gigen is a village in northern Bulgaria, part of Gulyantsi Municipality, Pleven Province. It is located near to the Danube River, close to the place where the Iskar River empties into it, opposite the Romanian town of Corabia....
, Pleven Province
Pleven Province
Pleven Province is a province located in central northern Bulgaria, bordering the Danube river, Romania and the Bulgarian provinces of Vratsa, Veliko Tarnovo and Lovech. It is divided into 11 subdivisions, called municipalities, that embrace a territory of 4,333.54 km² with a population, as...
) bearing a menorah and mentioning archisynagogos Joseph testifies to the presence of a Jewish population in the city. A decree of Roman Emperor
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
Theodosius I
Theodosius I
Theodosius I , also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman Emperor from 379 to 395. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule over both the eastern and the western halves of the Roman Empire. During his reign, the Goths secured control of Illyricum after the Gothic War, establishing their homeland...
from 379 regarding the persecution of Jews and destruction of synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
s in Illyria
Illyria
In classical antiquity, Illyria was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by the Illyrians....
and Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
is also a proof of earlier Jewish settlement in Bulgaria.
Bulgarian Empire
After the establishment of the First Bulgarian EmpireFirst Bulgarian Empire
The First Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state founded in the north-eastern Balkans in c. 680 by the Bulgars, uniting with seven South Slavic tribes...
and its recognition in 681
681
Year 681 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 681 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Byzantine Empire :* The Bulgars under Asparukh win...
, a number of Jews persecuted in the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
may have settled in Bulgaria. During the rule of Boris I there may have been attempts to convert the pagan Bulgarians to judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, but in the end the Bulgarian Orthodox Church
Bulgarian Orthodox Church
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church - Bulgarian Patriarchate is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church with some 6.5 million members in the Republic of Bulgaria and between 1.5 and 2.0 million members in a number of European countries, the Americas and Australia...
was established and the population of the Bulgarian Empire was Christianized
Christianization of Bulgaria
The Christianization of Bulgaria was the process by which 9th-century medieval Bulgaria converted to Christianity. It was influenced by the khan's shifting political alliances with the kingdom of the East Franks and the Byzantine Empire, as well as his reception by the Pope of the Roman Catholic...
in the 9th century. The names of many members of the 10th-11th-century Comitopuli dynasty
Comitopuli dynasty
The Cometopuli dynasty was the last royal dynasty in the First Bulgarian Empire, ruling from ca. 976 until the fall of Bulgaria under Byzantine rule in 1018. The most notable member of the dynasty, tsar Samuel is famous for successfully resisting Byzantine conquest for more than 40 years.-Origin...
—such as Samuil
Samuil of Bulgaria
Samuel was the Emperor of the First Bulgarian Empire from 997 to 6 October 1014. From 980 to 997, he was a general under Roman I of Bulgaria, the second surviving son of Emperor Peter I of Bulgaria, and co-ruled with him, as Roman bestowed upon him the command of the army and the effective royal...
, Moses, David—could indicate partial Jewish origin, most likely maternal, though this is disputed.
Jews also settled in Nikopol
Nikopol, Bulgaria
Nikopol is a town in northern Bulgaria, the administrative center of Nikopol municipality, part of Pleven Province, on the right bank of the Danube river, 4 km downstream from the mouth of the Osam river. It spreads at the foot of steep chalk cliffs along the Danube and up a narrow valley...
in 967, as well as from the Republic of Ragusa
Republic of Ragusa
The Republic of Ragusa or Republic of Dubrovnik was a maritime republic centered on the city of Dubrovnik in Dalmatia , that existed from 1358 to 1808...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, when merchants from these lands were allowed to trade in the Second Bulgarian Empire
Second Bulgarian Empire
The Second Bulgarian Empire was a medieval Bulgarian state which existed between 1185 and 1396 . A successor of the First Bulgarian Empire, it reached the peak of its power under Kaloyan and Ivan Asen II before gradually being conquered by the Ottomans in the late 14th-early 15th century...
by Ivan Asen II. Later, Tsar Ivan Alexander
Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria
Ivan Alexander , also known as John Alexander, ruled as Emperor of Bulgaria from 1331 to 1371, during the Second Bulgarian Empire. The date of his birth is unknown. He died on February 17, 1371. The long reign of Ivan Alexander is considered a transitional period in Bulgarian medieval history...
married a Jewish woman, Sarah (renamed Theodora), who had converted to Christianity and had considerable influence in the court. A church council of 1352 led to the excommunication of the heretics and the Jews and the death sentence of three Jews, who were killed by the mob despite the verdict's having been repealed by the tsar.
The medieval Jewish population of Bulgaria was Romaniote
Romaniotes
The Romaniotes or Romaniots are a Jewish population who have lived in the territory of today's Greece and neighboring areas with large Greek populations for more than 2,000 years. Their languages were Yevanic, a Greek dialect, and Greek. They derived their name from the old name for the people...
until the 14th-15th century, when Ashkenazim from Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
(1376) and other parts of Europe settled.
Ottoman rule
By the time the OttomansOttoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
overran the Bulgarian Empire, there were sizable Jewish communities in Vidin
Vidin
Vidin is a port town on the southern bank of the Danube in northwestern Bulgaria. It is close to the borders with Serbia and Romania, and is also the administrative centre of Vidin Province, as well as of the Metropolitan of Vidin...
, Nikopol, Silistra
Silistra
Silistra is a port city of northeastern Bulgaria, lying on the southern bank of the lower Danube at the country's border with Romania. Silistra is the administrative centre of Silistra Province and one of the important cities of the historical region of Southern Dobrudzha...
, Pleven
Pleven
Pleven is the seventh most populous city in Bulgaria. Located in the northern part of the country, it is the administrative centre of Pleven Province, as well as of the subordinate Pleven municipality...
, Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
, Yambol
Yambol
Yambol is a city in southeastern Bulgaria, an administrative centre of Yambol Province. It lies on both banks of the Tundzha river in the historical region of Thrace. As of February 2011, the town has a population of 72,843 inhabitants. It is occasionally spelt 'Jambol'.The administrative centres...
, Plovdiv
Plovdiv
Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia with a population of 338,153 inhabitants according to Census 2011. Plovdiv's history spans some 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC; it is one of the oldest cities in Europe...
(Philippopolis) and Stara Zagora
Stara Zagora
Stara Zagora is the sixth largest city in Bulgaria, and a nationally important economic center. Located in Southern Bulgaria, it is the administrative capital of the homonymous Stara Zagora Province...
. Another wave of Ashkenazim, from Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, arrived after being banished from this country in 1470, and Yiddish could often be heard in Sofia according to contemporary travellers. An ashkenazi prayer book was printed in Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
by the rabbi of Sofia in the middle of the 16th century.
The first waves of Sephardim came from various places (through Thessaloniki, Macedonia
Macedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
, Italy, Ragusa, Bosnia
Bosnia (region)
Bosnia is a eponomous region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It lies mainly in the Dinaric Alps, ranging to the southern borders of the Pannonian plain, with the rivers Sava and Drina marking its northern and eastern borders. The other eponomous region, the southern, other half of the country is...
) after 1494, with Jews settling in the already established centres of Jewish population — the major trade centres of Ottoman-ruled Bulgaria. The modern capital, Sofia, had communities of Romaniotes, Ashkenazim and Sephardim until 1640, when a single rabbi was appointed for all three.
In the 17th century, the ideas of Sabbatai Zevi
Sabbatai Zevi
Sabbatai Zevi, , was a Sephardic Rabbi and kabbalist who claimed to be the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. He was the founder of the Jewish Sabbatean movement...
became popular in Bulgaria, with supporters of his movement like Nathan of Gaza
Nathan of Gaza
Nathan Benjamin ben Elisha ha-Levi Ghazzati or Nathan of Gaza was a theologian and author of Hemdat Yamim, born in Jerusalem, then in the Ottoman Empire, who became famous as a prophet for the alleged messiah, Sabbatai Zevi.-Biography:...
and Samuel Primo being active in Sofia. Jews continued to settle in various parts of the country (such as the new trade centres like Pazardzhik
Pazardzhik
Pazardzhik is a city situated along the banks of the Maritsa river, Southern Bulgaria. It is the capital of Pazardzhik Province and centre for the homonymous Pazardzhik Municipality...
), extending their economic activities due to the privileges they were given and the banishment of many ragusan merchants after they took part in the Chiprovtsi Uprising
Chiprovtsi Uprising
The Chiprovtsi Uprising was an uprising against Ottoman rule organized in northwestern Bulgaria by Roman Catholic Bulgarians, but also involving many Eastern Orthodox Christians...
of 1688.
Independent Bulgaria
With Bulgaria being liberatedLiberation of Bulgaria
In Bulgarian historiography, the term Liberation of Bulgaria is used to denote the events of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 that led to the re-establishment of Bulgarian state with the Treaty of San Stefano of March 3, 1878, after the complete conquest of the Second Bulgarian Empire, which...
from Ottoman rule after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 and some small-scale looting of Jewish property by people regarding them as supporters of the Ottomans, the Jews in Bulgaria were secured equal rights by the Treaty of Berlin. The rabbi of Sofia, Gabriel Mercado Almosnino, together with three other Jews welcomed the Russian forces in the city and took part in the Constituent National Assembly of Bulgaria
National Assembly of Bulgaria
The National Assembly of Bulgaria is the unicameral parliament and body of the legislative of the Republic of Bulgaria.The National Assembly of Bulgaria was established in 1879 with the Constitution of Bulgaria.-Ordinary National Assembly:...
in 1879.
Jews were drafted in the Bulgarian army and participated in the Serbo-Bulgarian War
Serbo-Bulgarian War
The Serbo-Bulgarian War was a war between Serbia and Bulgaria that erupted on 14 November 1885 and lasted until 28 November the same year. Final peace was signed on 19 February 1886 in Bucharest...
in 1885. The Treaty of Neuilly
Treaty of Neuilly
The Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine, dealing with Bulgaria for its role as one of the Central Powers in World War I, was signed on 27 November 1919 at Neuilly-sur-Seine, France....
after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
emphasized their equality. After 1923 the government of Aleksandar Tsankov
Aleksandar Tsankov
Aleksander Tsolov Tsankov was a leading Bulgarian right wing politician between the two World Wars.-Biography:...
first introduced anti-semitism indirectly. In 1936, the nationalist and anti-semitic organization Ratnik
Ratnik
Ratniks for the Advancement of the Bulgarian National Spirit or "Ратник" was a Bulgarian Nationalist organization founded in 1936. Its ideas were close to the German National Socialism, including far-right Nationalism, Antisemitism, but also loyalty to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. Ratnik was a...
was established.
Before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the percentage of Jews steadily declined compared to that of other ethnic groups, however they still grew in number. In 1920 the 16,000 Jews were 0.9% of all citizens of Bulgaria, and in 1934 there were 48,565 (or 0.8%), with more than half living in Sofia. Ladino was the dominant language in most communities, but the young often preferred Bulgarian
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
. The Zionist movement was completely dominant among the local population ever since Hovevei Zion
Hovevei Zion
Hovevei Zion , also known as Hibbat Zion , refers to organizations that are now considered the forerunners and foundation-builders of modern Zionism....
.
Bulgarian Jews during World War II
During World War II, the Bulgarian ParliamentNational Assembly of Bulgaria
The National Assembly of Bulgaria is the unicameral parliament and body of the legislative of the Republic of Bulgaria.The National Assembly of Bulgaria was established in 1879 with the Constitution of Bulgaria.-Ordinary National Assembly:...
and Tsar Boris III enacted the 1941 Law for the Protection of the Nation
Law for protection of the nation
The Law for protection of the nation was a Bulgarian law, effective from 23 January 1941 to 27 November 1944, which directed measures against Jews and others...
, which introduced numerous legal restrictions on Jews in Bulgaria. Specifically, the law prohibited Jews from voting, running for office, working in government positions, serving in the army, marrying or cohabitating with ethnic Bulgarians, using Bulgarian names, or owning rural land. The legislation also established quotas that limited the number of Jews in Bulgarian universities. Not only did Jewish leaders protest the law, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Bulgarian Workers' Party
Bulgarian Communist Party
The Bulgarian Communist Party was the communist and Marxist-Leninist ruling party of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from 1946 until 1990 when the country ceased to be a communist state...
officials, twenty-one writers, and professional organizations also opposed.
Unlike some other Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
allies or German-occupied countries excluding Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Bulgaria managed to save its entire 48,000-strong Jewish population during World War II from deportation to concentration camps, with Dimitar Peshev
Dimitar Peshev
Dimitar Peshev was the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Bulgaria and Minister of Justice during World War II...
playing a crucial role in preventing the deportations, as well as Bulgarian Church officials and ordinary citizens. The story of the Bulgarian Jews during World War II has been told in "Beyond Hitler's Grasp: The Heroic Rescue of Bulgaria's Jews" by Michael Bar-Zohar
Michael Bar-Zohar
Dr Michael Bar-Zohar is an Israeli historian, novelist and politician. His World War II-era nonfiction and fiction works have been published in English, French, Hebrew, and other languages. He was also a member of the Knesset on behalf of the Alignment and Labor Party during the 1980s and early...
, an Israeli historian, politician and former Knesset member who was born in Bulgaria. On the subject is also a book by Tzvetan Todorov, a French intellectual born in Bulgaria and the Director of Research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (C.N.R.S.) in Paris. Todorov wrote "The Fragility of Goodness: Why Bulgaria's Jews Survived the Holocaust" (published by Princeton Univ. Press), where he uses letters, diaries, government reports and memoirs to reconstruct what happened in Bulgaria during World War II, which led to the preservation of the lives of 50,000 Bulgarian Jews.
Bulgarian authorities deported the majority of the Jews (non-Bulgarian citizens) in the areas of Bulgarian occupation zone in Greece and Yugoslavia which were under Bulgarian administration during the war. Thus, 4,500 Jews from Greek Thrace and Eastern Macedonia reached Poland guarded by Bulgarian policemen, while 7,144 from Bulgarian occupied Vardar Macedonia and Pomoravlje
Pomoravlje
Pomoravlje may refer to:* Pomoravlje , a geographical area around the Morava river, Serbia* Pomoravlje District, a district in Serbia...
reached Treblinka
Treblinka extermination camp
Treblinka was a Nazi extermination camp in occupied Poland during World War II near the village of Treblinka in the modern-day Masovian Voivodeship of Poland. The camp, which was constructed as part of Operation Reinhard, operated between and ,. During this time, approximately 850,000 men, women...
. None of them survived. Although Bulgaria had effectively occupied the region, German authorities, who were in charge, recognised only the Bulgarian military administration and not the civil one. Bulgaria granted citizenship both to all ethnic Bulgarians and to others who wished so in those territories, excluding the Jews though.
The Bulgarian occupational zone included neither Thessaloniki, with its over 55,000 Jews, neither the Western-most part of Macedonia, including the towns of Debar
Debar
Debar is a city in the western part of the Republic of Macedonia, near the border with Albania, on the road from Struga to Gostivar. It is the seat of Debar Municipality.-Geography:...
, Struga
Struga
Struga is a town and popular tourist destination situated in the south-western region of the Republic of Macedonia, lying on the shore of Lake Ohrid. The town of Struga is the seat of Struga Municipality.-Etymology:...
, and Tetovo
Tetovo
Tetovo is a city in the northwestern part of Macedonia, built on the foothills of Šar Mountain and divided by the Pena River.The city covers an area of at above sea level, with a population of 86,580 citizens in the municipality. Tetovo is home to the State University of Tetovo and South East...
, which were part of Italian-occupied Albania. Bulgarian authorities did offer protection to Jews with no Bulgarians nationality, including those who had fled to Bulgaria from Nazi occupation elsewhere. Approximately 14,000, including nearly all the Jews of Bulgarian-occupied Macedonia and Thrace, were arrested by Bulgarian authorities and deported through Bulgaria, transferred to German control and then shipped to Treblinka for extermination.
After the war and the establishment of a communist government, most of the Jewish population left
Aliyah
Aliyah is the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel . It is a basic tenet of Zionist ideology. The opposite action, emigration from Israel, is referred to as yerida . The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile...
for Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, leaving only several thousand today (1,363 according to the 2001 census). According to Israeli government statistics, 43,961 people from Bulgaria have emigrated to Israel between 1948 and 2006, which is the fourth largest number of all European countries, behind the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
and Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
.
Famous Bulgarian Jews
- Albert AftalionAlbert AftalionAlbert Abram Aftalion was a French Jewish economist.He taught at the Paris University . He co-founded the academic journal Revue économique in 1950 and presided over its board of directors....
(1874–1956), economist, from Ruse - Mira AroyoMira AroyoMira Aroyo , born in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 1977, and now living in London, is a member of the electropop band Ladytron. She is also keyboardist, songwriter and producer. She writes and sings her songs for Ladytron in her native Bulgarian as well as in English....
(b. 1977), musician and member of LadytronLadytronLadytron are an English electronic band formed in 1999 in Liverpool, Merseyside. The group consists of Helen Marnie , Mira Aroyo , Daniel Hunt and Reuben Wu .Their sound blends electropop with New Wave and shoegazing elements. Ladytron described their sound as "electronic pop"...
, from Sofia - Elias CanettiElias CanettiElias Canetti was a Bulgarian-born modernist novelist, playwright, memoirist, and non-fiction writer. He wrote in German and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1981, "for writings marked by a broad outlook, a wealth of ideas and artistic power".-Life:...
(1905–1994), Nobel Prize-winning writer, from Ruse - Itzhak Fintzi (b. 1933), actor, from Sofia
- Solomon GoldsteinSolomon GoldsteinSolomon Lazarov Goldstein or Solomon Lazarevič Gol'dštejn was a Jewish Bulgarian politician, one of the founders of the Bulgarian Metal Workers’ Union and of the Swiss Communist Party.-Life:...
(1884–1968/1969), communist politician, from Shumen - Nikolay KaufmanNikolay KaufmanNikolay Yankov Kaufman is a Bulgarian musicologist, folklorist and composer, sometimes cited as Bulgaria's foremost scholar in his field.Kaufman was born in the Danubian town of Ruse to an Ashkenazi Jewish Bulgarian family. In 1952, he graduated in trumpet and music theory from the National...
(b. 1925), musicologist and composer, from Ruse - Milcho LevievMilcho LevievMilcho Leviev is a Bulgarian composer, arranger, jazz performer and pianist.Milcho Leviev graduated from the State Academy of Music in 1960 majoring in Composition under Professor Pancho Vladigerov and in Piano under Professor Andrei Stoyanov...
(b. 1937), composer and musician, from Plovdiv - Jacob L. MorenoJacob L. MorenoJacob Levy Moreno was a Jewish Romanian-born Austrian-American leading psychiatrist and psychosociologist, thinker and educator, the founder of psychodrama, and the foremost pioneer of group psychotherapy...
(1889–1974), founder of psychodramaPsychodramaPsychodrama is a method of psychotherapy in which clients utilize spontaneous dramatization, role playing and dramatic self-presentation to investigate and gain insight into their lives. Developed by Jacob L. Moreno, M.D. psychodrama includes elements of theater, often conducted on a stage where...
, father from Pleven - Jules PascinPascinJulius Mordecai Pincas, known as Pascin, Jules Pascin, or the "Prince of Montparnasse", was born in Bulgaria to parents of four ethnicities. During World War I, he worked in the United States. He is best known as a painter in Paris, where he was strongly identified with the Modernist movement and...
(1885–1930), modernist painter, from Vidin - Isaac PassyIsaac PassyIsaac Passy was a Bulgarian philosopher specializing in aesthetics. He was a professor at Sofia University from 1952 until 1993. He was the most prolific philosopher in the history of Bulgaria. He published over 40 monographs and over 80 volumes of the philosophical classics...
(1928–2010), philosopher, from Plovdiv - Solomon PassySolomon PassySolomon Isaac Passy is a Bulgarian politician, foreign minister of Bulgaria from July 2001 until August 2005, and the Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE in 2004. Dr. Passy is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy.- Summary :Solomon Passy was born in Plovdiv. He...
(b. 1956), politician and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, from Plovdiv - Valeri PetrovValeri PetrovValeri Petrov , pseudonym of Valeri Nisim Mevorah is a popular Bulgarian poet, screenplay writer, playwright and translator of paternal Jewish origin....
(b. 1920), writer, from Sofia - Sarah-TheodoraSarah-TheodoraSarah, Theodora or Sarah-Theodora is the name that the second wife of Tsar Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria is known under nowadays. There are some Greek and French sources claiming her to be a daughter of a Venetian banker. Sources agree that she was Jewish, having lived with her family in the Jewish...
(14th century), wife of Tsar Ivan Alexander - Angel Wagenstein (b. 1922), film director, from Plovdiv
- Alexis WeissenbergAlexis Weissenberg-Early life and career:Born into a Jewish family in Sofia, Weissenberg began taking piano lessons at the age of three from Pancho Vladigerov. He gave his first public performance at the age of eight. After escaping to what was then Palestine in 1945, where he studied under Leo Kestenberg, he went...
(b. 1929), pianist, from Plovdiv
Knesset members
- Binyamin ArditiBinyamin ArditiBinyamin Arditi was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Herut and Gahal between 1955 and 1965.-Biography:Born in Vienna, Arditi attended high school in Sofia in Bulgaria. In 1917 he became a member of the central committee of the Zionist Organization of Bulgaria, on...
(1897–1981), from Sofia - Michael Bar-ZoharMichael Bar-ZoharDr Michael Bar-Zohar is an Israeli historian, novelist and politician. His World War II-era nonfiction and fiction works have been published in English, French, Hebrew, and other languages. He was also a member of the Knesset on behalf of the Alignment and Labor Party during the 1980s and early...
(b. 1938), from Sofia - Shimon BejarnoShimon BejarnoShimon Bejarno was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the General Zionists between 1951 and 1959.-Biography:Born in Plovdiv in Bulgaria, Bejarno was educated at a gymnasium in Switzerland before studying economics at the University of Milan. He made aliyah to Mandate...
(1910–1971), from Plovdiv - Ya'akov Nehoshtan (b. 1925)
- Ya'akov NitzaniYa'akov NitzaniYa'akov Nitzani was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Mapai from 1952 until 1959.-Biography:Born in Plovdiv in Bulgaria, Nitzani studied law at the University of Sofia, and also attended a Hebrew teachers seminary. He worked as a teacher from 1920 until 1925, and was...
(1900–1962), from Plovdiv - Victor Shem-TovVictor Shem-TovVictor Shem-Tov is a former Israeli politician who held several ministerial portfolios in the late 1960s and 1970s.-Biography:Born in Bulgaria to a family of Samokov goldsmiths, Shem-Tov mostly lived in the capital Sofia and was a member of the Maccabi Youth movement. He made aliyah in 1939, the...
(b. 1915), from Samokov - Emanuel ZismanEmanuel ZismanEmanuel Zisman was an Israeli politician and ambassador. He served as a member of the Knesset between 1988 and 1999.-Biography:...
(1935–2009)
Further reading
- Avraham Ben-Yakov, Encyclopaedia of the HolocaustEncyclopaedia of the HolocaustThe Encyclopedia of the Holocaust was published in 1990, in tandem Hebrew and English editions, by Yad Vashem , the Holocaust Remembrance Authority in Israel....
vol. 1, pp. 263–272 (map, illus.) - Frederick B. Chary, The Bulgarian Jews and the Final Solution 1940–1944. University of Pittsburg Press, 1972. ISBN 0-8229-3251-2
- Michael Bar-Zohar, Beyond Hitler's Grasp: The Heroic Rescue of Bulgaria's Jews. Holbrook, MA: Adams Media, 2001. ISBN 158062541X
- Pavel Stefanov, "Bulgarians and Jews throughout History," Religion in Eastern Europe, XXII,6 (2002), 1-11; http://www.georgefox.edu/academics/undergrad/departments/soc-swk/ree/Stefanov_Bulgarian%20and%20Jews_Dec%202002.pdf.
- Tzvetan Todorov, "The Fragility of Goodness: Why Bulgaria's Jews Survived the Holocaust." Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press, 2003. ISBN13: 978-0-691-11564-1
- Pavel Stefanov, "The Bulgarian Orthodox Church and the Holocaust: Addressing Common Misconceptions," Religion in Eastern Europe, XXVI,2 (2006), 10-19; http://www.georgefox.edu/academics/undergrad/departments/soc-swk/ree/Stefanov_The%20Bulgarian_May%202006.pdf.
- Dimana Trankova, Anthony Georgieff, "A Guide to Jewish Bulgaria," published by Vagabond Media Sofia in 2011, http://www.vagabond.bg/jewishbulgaria
External links
- Bulgarian Subject Files - Social Issues: Minorities: Jews Open Society Archives, Budapest