President Radev: Bulgaria is proud it did not allow deportation of a single Bulgarian Jew during WW II

The rescue of the Bulgarian Jewish community during the Second World War is a source of national pride for all Bulgarians because not a single Bulgarian Jew was deported to the Nazi death camps, President Rumen Radev said on March 9 during a meeting with representatives of organisations of Bulgarian Jews in Israel.

The meeting was held on the initiative of the Union of Bulgarian Emigrants in Israel ("Ihud Oley Bulgaria"), the Bulgarian Cultural Information Center and the Israel-Bulgaria Friendship Society. The occasion was the 80th anniversary of the rescue of Bulgarian Jews during World War II. The meeting was attended by the famous historian and public figure from Israel prof. Michael Bar-Zohar and the Ambassador of the State of Israel to Bulgaria, Yoram Elron.

"A small nation, together with its government, church and intelligentsia, succeeded in saving its Jewish compatriots in one of the darkest periods of human history, and it is incumbent upon us to continue this legacy by preventing new manifestations of anti-Semitism," said the Head of State.

Rumen Radev recalled that thanks to the act of bravery and tolerance carried out by Bulgaria during the Second World War, the entire Jewish community in the country, numbering about 50 thousand people, survived the war.

The President pointed out that the rescued Bulgarian Jews and their descendants in Israel are a solid foundation for the development of bilateral relations and the strategic partnership between Bulgaria and Israel. In his words, Bulgaria can use Israel's example for development in science, technology and economy.

The representatives of the organisations of the Bulgarian Jews expressed gratitude to Bulgaria and the Bulgarian people for saving the entire Jewish community in the country from deportation during the Second World War. They raised the need to speed up the procedure for acquiring Bulgarian citizenship and to strengthen cooperation in the fields of education, science and culture.

They also discussed the challenges related to the manipulation of historical facts about Bulgaria's actions during the Second World War. The common position was that a united effort is needed to defend the historical truth about the rescue of Bulgarian Jews by Bulgaria and the Bulgarian people, and the representatives of the organisations of Bulgarian Jews expressed their determination to contribute to this.