BULGARIA is to become part of the Holocaust Remembrance Day initiative, said Minister of Education Vladimir Atanassov.
“Bulgarian schools will hold a Remembrance Day on March 10, 2003 by having history lessons dedicated to the 1943 events,” he said.
Atanassov said that March 10, 1943 was the Day of the Rescue of Bulgarian Jews, which the country marked this year under the patronage of President Georgi Purvanov and the Shalom Jewish organisation.
Atanassov attended a meeting in Strasbourg last week of European education ministers, where it was decided that the Council of Europe’s Culture Convention signatories would hold a Day for Holocaust Remembrance and for the Prevention of Crimes against Humanity.
The meeting was organised by the Council of Europe and a foundation for remembrance of the Holocaust.
There were also education ministers from the Czech Republic, Lithuania, France, Belgium, Andorra and Albania, and official representatives of the signatories to the Council of Europe’s Culture Convention.
“Bulgaria is proud that it saved its Jews and that there was no Holocaust in the country,” said Atanassov.
He noted the role of Dimitar Peshev, chairman of the National Assembly, in the 1943 events. A bust of Peshev is placed in the Palace of Europe.
Out of Hitler’s Grip, a Bulgarian documentary on the rescue of the Bulgarian Jews, was screened as part of a cultural programme on the sidelines of the forum.
“Bulgarian schools will hold a Remembrance Day on March 10, 2003 by having history lessons dedicated to the 1943 events,” he said.
Atanassov said that March 10, 1943 was the Day of the Rescue of Bulgarian Jews, which the country marked this year under the patronage of President Georgi Purvanov and the Shalom Jewish organisation.
Atanassov attended a meeting in Strasbourg last week of European education ministers, where it was decided that the Council of Europe’s Culture Convention signatories would hold a Day for Holocaust Remembrance and for the Prevention of Crimes against Humanity.
The meeting was organised by the Council of Europe and a foundation for remembrance of the Holocaust.
There were also education ministers from the Czech Republic, Lithuania, France, Belgium, Andorra and Albania, and official representatives of the signatories to the Council of Europe’s Culture Convention.
“Bulgaria is proud that it saved its Jews and that there was no Holocaust in the country,” said Atanassov.
He noted the role of Dimitar Peshev, chairman of the National Assembly, in the 1943 events. A bust of Peshev is placed in the Palace of Europe.
Out of Hitler’s Grip, a Bulgarian documentary on the rescue of the Bulgarian Jews, was screened as part of a cultural programme on the sidelines of the forum.
