A PRAYER in the Sofia synagogue on Saturday officially noted the beginning of events commemorating Holocaust Day and the sixtieth anniversary of the rescue of the Bulgarian Jews from deportation to Nazi concentration camps.
"Bulgaria has reason to be proud of the rescue of its Jews, but this is not an isolated event, it is part of a consistent, decades-lasting policy of ethnic tolerance in Bulgaria," said President Georgi Purvanov on Friday at the beginning of former Israeli President Yitzhak Navon's visit to Bulgaria.
"The rescue of the Bulgarian Jews has profound historical and political meaning," Vice President Angel Marin said at a rally in Plovdiv. He added that the ethnic model in Bulgaria, which fills Bulgarians with pride today, goes back to the time when the nation saved the lives of its citizens of Jewish descent.
Navon expressed gratitude to all social groups in Bulgaria who had supported the Bulgarian Jews - the Orthodox Church, politicians, and professional associations. Purvanov reminded the public that this was yet another occasion to recall that the Bulgarian people, in their entirety of political parties, non-governmental structures and individual cultural figures, unanimously backed the defence of Bulgarian Jews.
Kyustendil hosted a national ceremony marking Holocaust Memorial Day. The city in Southwestern Bulgaria is the birthplace of Dimiter Peshev, who was deputy chairman of the 24th and 25th National Assemblies during World War Two. Tribute was also paid to other locals who assisted him - Peter Mihalev, Ivan Momchilov, Vladimir Kourtev, and Assen Souichmezov.
The ceremony was attended by Foreign Minister Solomon Passi, who is on the national memorial committee for the Holocaust, Interior Minister Georgi Petkanov, who chairs a Bulgarian-Jewish friendship association, MPs, former Israeli ambassador to Bulgaria David Cohen, Israeli Embassy officers, and members of an association of Bulgarian Jews in Israel.
The Cabinet set March 10 as the Day of Holocaust Victims. On that day in 1943, the country's leaders halted the implementation of a governmental decision dispatching the first groups of Bulgarian Jews to fascist concentration camps. The commemoration of the Holocaust was in line with the decision of the Council of Europe and took place under the patronage of Purvanov.
"Fifty thousand Bulgarian Jews, many of them and their descendants now living in Israel, have been rescued. From them, we have very warm and cordial feelings for Bulgaria and Bulgarians," Navon said.
"Bulgaria has reason to be proud of the rescue of its Jews, but this is not an isolated event, it is part of a consistent, decades-lasting policy of ethnic tolerance in Bulgaria," said President Georgi Purvanov on Friday at the beginning of former Israeli President Yitzhak Navon's visit to Bulgaria.
"The rescue of the Bulgarian Jews has profound historical and political meaning," Vice President Angel Marin said at a rally in Plovdiv. He added that the ethnic model in Bulgaria, which fills Bulgarians with pride today, goes back to the time when the nation saved the lives of its citizens of Jewish descent.
Navon expressed gratitude to all social groups in Bulgaria who had supported the Bulgarian Jews - the Orthodox Church, politicians, and professional associations. Purvanov reminded the public that this was yet another occasion to recall that the Bulgarian people, in their entirety of political parties, non-governmental structures and individual cultural figures, unanimously backed the defence of Bulgarian Jews.
Kyustendil hosted a national ceremony marking Holocaust Memorial Day. The city in Southwestern Bulgaria is the birthplace of Dimiter Peshev, who was deputy chairman of the 24th and 25th National Assemblies during World War Two. Tribute was also paid to other locals who assisted him - Peter Mihalev, Ivan Momchilov, Vladimir Kourtev, and Assen Souichmezov.
The ceremony was attended by Foreign Minister Solomon Passi, who is on the national memorial committee for the Holocaust, Interior Minister Georgi Petkanov, who chairs a Bulgarian-Jewish friendship association, MPs, former Israeli ambassador to Bulgaria David Cohen, Israeli Embassy officers, and members of an association of Bulgarian Jews in Israel.
The Cabinet set March 10 as the Day of Holocaust Victims. On that day in 1943, the country's leaders halted the implementation of a governmental decision dispatching the first groups of Bulgarian Jews to fascist concentration camps. The commemoration of the Holocaust was in line with the decision of the Council of Europe and took place under the patronage of Purvanov.
"Fifty thousand Bulgarian Jews, many of them and their descendants now living in Israel, have been rescued. From them, we have very warm and cordial feelings for Bulgaria and Bulgarians," Navon said.
