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Full Description
With the exception of Denmark, Bulgaria was the only country allied with Nazi Germany that did not annihilate or turn over its Jewish population. Here, a prominent French intellectual with Bulgarian roots accounts for this singularity. Tzvetan Todorov assembles and interprets for the first time key evidence from this episode of Bulgarian history, including letters, diaries, government reports, and memoirs - most never before translated into any language. Through these documents, he reconstructs what happened in Bulgaria during World War II and interrogates collective memories of that time. He recounts the actions of individuals and groups that, ultimately and collectively, spared Bulgaria's Jews the fate of most European Jews.The Bulgaria that emerges is not a heroic country dramatically different from those countries where Jews did perish. Todorov does find heroes, especially parliament deputy Dimitar Peshev, certain writers and clergy, and - most inspiring - public opinion. Yet he is forced to conclude that the "good" triumphed to the extent that it did because of a tenuous chain of events.Any break in that chain - one intellectual who didn't speak up as forcefully, a different composition in Orthodox Church leadership, a misstep by a particular politician, a less wily king - would have undone all of the other efforts with disastrous results for almost 50,000 people. The meaning Todorov settles on is this: Once evil is introduced into public view, it spreads easily, whereas goodness is temporary, difficult, rare, and fragile. And yet possible.
Contents
Introduction 1 The Sequence of Events 3 Memories in Competition 14 Why and How 27 Documents Exclusion 43 1. Statement by the Bulgarian Writers' Union to the Prime Minister and the Chairman of the National Assembly 45 2. Statement by the Governing Board of the Bulgarian Lawyers' Union to the Chairman of the National Assembly 47 3. Open Letter from Christo Punev to the National Assembly Deputies 50 4. Statement by the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church to the Prime Minister 54 5. Open Letter from Dimo Kazasov to the Prime Minister 58 6. Petko Stainov's Speech in the National Assembly 62 7. Todor Polyakov's Speech in the National Assembly 65 Deportation 7I 1. Article from the Fatherland Front 73 2. A Leaflet of the Sofia District Committee of the Workers' Party 75 3. Protest Letter by the Vice-Chairman of the 25th Session of the National Assembly, Dimitar Peshev, and Forty-two Other Deputies 78 4. Petko Stainov's Interrogatory, Sent to the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Filov 81 5. Bogdan Filov's Diary 84 6. Charles Redard's Report to the Federal Political Department in Berne 92 Internment 95 1. Minutes of a Special Session of the Holy Synod 97 2. Protocol No. q, 6 June I943, on King Boris's Speech to the Small Cabinet of the Holy Synod 102 3. Letter from Nikola Mushanov and Petko Stainov to King Boris 104 4. Letter from Public Figures to King Boris 106 5. 'Mad Assault against the Jews': An Article from the Workers' Cause 108 Memoirs 113 1. Dimo Kazasov 117 2. Metropolitan Stefan 125 3. Asen Suichmezov 132 4 Dimitar Peshev I37 Bibliographical Note 185 Translator's Note 187 Index 189
