Wreaths and flowers will be laid to mark 83 years since the rescue of the Bulgarian Jews. The memory of 11,343 Jews from Aegean Thrace, Vardar Macedonia and Pirot will also be honored, the Organization of Jews in Bulgaria “Shalom“ announced.
President Iliana Iotova will take part in a ceremony to lay flowers in front of the Memorial plaques to the rescuers of Bulgarian Jews near the “St. Sofia“ Cathedral, after which she will pay tribute to the Monument of Salvation in the “St. Kliment Ohridski“ garden and will deliver a speech, the press secretariat of the head of state informed.
Today is the Day of the Rescue of Bulgarian Jews and of the victims of the Holocaust and crimes against humanity, points out the “Reference“ department of BTA. The day has been marked since 2003. Today is the anniversary of the prevention (1943) of the deportation of the first groups of Bulgarian Jews to Nazi concentration camps. The determination of the date is related to the declaration adopted on October 18, 2002, by the education ministers of the member states of the Council of Europe, according to which each state marks a day in memory of the victims of the Holocaust and of those who suffered from crimes against humanity, according to its national history.
On March 17, 1943, the Deputy Chairman of the 25th National Assembly, Dimitar Peshev, sent an exposition to the Prime Minister, supported by 43 MPs, against the deportation of Bulgarian Jews. With the active actions of the Plovdiv Metropolitan Kiril and the Sofia Exarch Stefan and with the intervention of the public, nearly 50,000 Bulgarian Jews were saved from deportation.