In the week of interfaith Harmony and Tolerance let us acknowledge and support the great achievement of Bulgaria during the Second World War –over 50,000 Jews and 150,000 Roma people were saved from being deported to a “Nazi death camp”. Bulgaria was the only country with a naturally increasing population of Jews after the Second World War, though it was anally of Germany during the war.
BRIDGES CC calls for your support of the nomination of Bulgaria, and its people, before the European Council for the Nobel Peace Prize Award with a letter of support. We trust that the WIHW founders would lobby before the European Council and all EU leaders who signed the EPP “Declaration on Interfaith and Intercultural Dialogue” to support our nomination and spread it worldwide.
You could contact us via: [email protected] – Angelina Vladikova (Chair); [email protected] – PetarGramatikoff (Vice President),
or use our Facebook page: http://facebook.com/bridges.forum
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The Forgotten Holocaust
(70thanniversaryof the saving of Bulgarian Roma people during the Second World War)
As a commemoration of the great humanitarian act of saving over 50,000 Jews and 150,000 Roma people from being deported to a “Nazi death camp”, BRIDGES CC –“Eastern European Forum for Dialogue” calls for the support of all the CCs in the global network of the United Religions Initiatives (URI Europe) for nominating Bulgaria, and the Bulgarian people, before the European Council for the Nobel Peace Prize Award.
The persecutions of Roma people in Europe started in the beginning of 16th century, however, its peak was during the World War II (1939-1945);in fact, in 1938 Himmler created a special office for Roma extermination in Germany. Although it is not clear how many Roma people were killed during the Holocaust, this number varies between 220,000 and 500,000. After the end of the war, the public’s attention was on the 6 million killed Jews, until in 1982 the West Germany chancellor Helmut Schmidt spoke about the crimes over Roma people in the years of WWII.
When the German government started its policies against the Roma people and Jews, Nazi officials came to Bulgaria and asked King Boris III to deport th Bulgarian Jews and Roma people to the Labor camps. However, the king refused and thus saved more than 200,000 people.
This unknown to the world fact – an act of courage from the whole Bulgarian population –deserves to be honored as an example of tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
Probably the reason why such a historical fact was forgotten is the isolation of Bulgaria in the Eastern bloc during the Soviet era. Communist could never acknowledge such an act of bravery from the Orthodox Church, the monarchy and the Pro-Fascist, simple because of the natureof the communist ideology.
Such a world recognition will further support the efforts of integrating Roma people in the big European family.
We trust that you would endorse our initiative!
BRIDGES CC
