History of the Jews in Bulgaria
The history of the Jews in Bulgaria goes back almost 2,000 years. Jews have had a continuous presence in historic Bulgarian lands since before the 2nd century CE, and have often played an important part in the history of Bulgaria.
Burgas Synagogue (now an art gallery)
Sofia Synagogue designed by Austrian architect Friedrich Grünanger, established in 1909
Mosaic fragment from the ancient synagogue of Philippopolis in the Regional Archeological Museum of Plovdiv
Tsar Boris III and Adolf Hitler in 1943
The Holocaust in Bulgaria
The Holocaust in Bulgaria was the persecution of Jews between 1941 and 1944 in the Tsardom of Bulgaria and their deportation and annihilation in the Bulgarian-occupied regions of Yugoslavia and Greece during World War II, arranged by the Nazi Germany-allied government of Tsar Boris III and prime minister Bogdan Filov. The persecution began in 1941 with the passing of anti-Jewish legislation and culminated in March 1943 with the detention and deportation of almost all – 11,343 – of the Jews living in Bulgarian-occupied regions of Northern Greece, Yugoslav Macedonia and Pirot. These were deported by the Bulgarian authorities to Vienna and ultimately sent to extermination camps in Nazi-occupied Poland.
Rescue memorial at Charles Clore Park in Tel Aviv in memory of the salvation of the Jews in Bulgaria.
Boris III with Axis ally Adolf Hitler in 1941.
Monument in honor of the Bulgarian people who fought for the salvation of the Bulgarian Jews and in memory of the Jews of Thrace, Macedonia, and Pirot, who were murdered in the Treblinka Nazi death camp.
Shmuel Benjamin Bachar, Chief Rabbi of Plovdiv's Jews, at a reception for David Ben-Gurion during Ben-Gurion's December 1944 visit to the city
