"March 10 is a memorable day in the Bulgarian history, a day of worship and respect. It is a symbol of the victory of humanity and unity, demonstrated 80 years ago by the Bulgarian people, representatives of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, politicians, writers, doctors, public figures, intellectuals who opposed the Holocaust and saved their fellow citizens from the death camps.” Mayor Yordanka Fandakova said in her speech in front of the Salvation Monument in Sofia. Earlier today, the mayor attended the thanksgiving prayer service at the “Saint Sofia” Cathedral and joined the "March of Tolerance".
In front of the Monument of Salvation in the garden "St. Kliment Ohridski", a commemorative ceremony was held for the 80th anniversary of the salvation of the Bulgarian Jews and honoring the memory of the Jews who died in the Nazi camps. In hер speech, Mayor Fandakova also pointed out: "80 years ago, our grandfathers had courage, remained faithful to the laws of humanism and recorded one of the worthiest chapters in our national history. Today we bow down to their courage and bravery.
Many of their names are unknown, but they are alive in the hearts of the saved nearly 50,000 Bulgarian Jews. We should not forget those who were not saved - 11,343 Jews from Western Thrace and Macedonia. We humbly bow down our heads before their suffering and death."
"The persecuted Jewish minority calls out to us for help, and we cannot deny them a sincerely concerned Christian attitude" - says Metropolitan Stefan from Sofia, one of the most active clergyman to save the Jewish community in Bulgaria. "Our people do not tolerate injustice, cruelty and violence against anyone" - the Metropolitan from Sofia also points out and fights for the salvation of Bulgarian Jews. In his protest letter against the deportation of the Jews, Dimitar Peshev wrote that this "would stick an undeserved stain on the forehead of Bulgaria, which will not only weigh on it morally, but also politically..."
"80 years ago, our people and our city took their responsibility to preserve the lives of nearly 50,000 Bulgarian citizens and to preserve one of our greatest virtues - humanity, tolerance, harmony and understanding between people of different ethnicities and religions. This wisdom, legated to us by time, is in the spirit of Levski's testament for a pure and holy republic with equality before the law for all ethnicities and religions" - the capital's mayor also pointed out.
In her words, "today the institutions showed that if united we can oppose acts of hatred on the streets of our city and we did not allow the Lukovmarsh to take place. All residents of the city have an equal right to feel at home in Sofia. May our children grow up as worthy heirs who keep the testaments of our renaissance leaders with their European values, of those who stood up to the Holocaust and showed that good can win." "Let today's celebration remind us of the responsibilities we all have for the preservation of permanent human values ??and the power of unity for good in our city and in our country" - Yordanka Fandakova also said.
During the commemorative ceremony and the "March of Tolerance" were attended by the ambassador of Israel, Yoram Elron, the chairman of the Organization of the Jews in Bulgaria (OJB) "Shalom" Prof. Dr. Alexander Oscar, Robert Singer, chairman of the Center for Israeli Influence, member of the Board of Directors of the Combat Antisemitism Movement Ino Yitzhak, chairman of the Association of Bulgarian Jews in Israel “Ehud Olei Bulgaria”, Avram Paparo - Holocaust survivor, Georgi Georgiev - Chairman of the Metropolitan Municipal Council. Ruby Todorova, a 4th grade student from "Ronald Lauder" school also gave a speech in front of the monument. The host of the ceremony was PhD. Todor Chobanov.
Photographer: Adelina Angelova