Bulgarians commemorate salvation of Jews during WWII

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Bulgarians on Monday commemorated the massive protests that saved their Jewish countrymen from deportation to Nazi death camps during World War II. Laying flowers at memorials in the capital, Sofia, and in other big cities, they marked the 65th anniversary of protests held by Bulgarian clergymen, intellectuals, politicians and others. In 1943, the pro-fascist government of Germany's ally Bulgaria signed a secret agreement with the Nazis to deport 20,000 Jews to death camps in Poland. This plan was partially put into effect: 11,343 Jews from Macedonia and Thrace, which were territories then administrated by Bulgarian authorities, were placed on trains and sent to their deaths.