For the first time in English, this book is for anyone with an interest in Jewish history in Eastern Europe in general and Bulgaria in particular.
Bulgaria, one of Europe’s least known lands, famously did not deport about 48,000 Jews during the Second World War. Many Bulgarians now extol this as a heroic deed, possibly omitting to mention the fate of 11,343 Jews from Aegean Thrace, Vardar Macedonia and Pirot who were sent to concentration camps by the pro-Nazi Kingdom of Bulgaria. Similarly to other countries in Eastern Europe, history is being interpreted according to whoever is in power and does the talking. The debate, if there is any, focuses on who is to take the credit for the rescue: the Communist Party, the Orthodox Church, a bunch of forthright MPs who openly opposed the planned deportations, or the power of Bulgaria’s civil society.
These questions generate other questions. If the Bulgarians were so good to their Jews during the war, why were there so few Jews left in the Bulgaria of the Warsaw Pact? What happened to their heritage, a remnant of at least 18 centuries of Jewish presence in these lands?
"A Guide to Jewish Bulgaria" will take you to the relatively well-known Jewish heritage sites in Sofia, Plovdiv, Samokov, Pazardzhik, Ruse and Shumen, but will also detour off the beaten track to the lesser and sometimes unexpected sites of Jewish interest in Vidin, Lom, Silistra, Dobrich, Varna, Burgas, Yambol, Stara Zagora, Dupnitsa, Kyustendil, Gotse Delchev and many others.
Richly illustrated with superb photography and voicing independent research and opinion, "A Guide to Jewish Bulgaria" is designed to be a journey through both territory and time: illuminating the backgrounds while directing through the topography. Many of the monuments described are hard to find and in various stages of disrepair.
Some are poignant, others are stomach-churning. But once discovered, they will hold a reward as they will open up the gateways to a fascinating if largely forgotten part of Europe’s Jewish heritage.
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