Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

By remembering the victims of the Holocaust today the world is demonstrating its alert conscience and sense of morality as well as its historical memory. This is why the imitative of the
Prime Minister of Sweden deserves our admiration and support.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am addressing you here and now but I would like to speak of another place and another time: Bulgaria at the time of the Second World War when six million Jews were sent to death by the Nazis, while my people remained committed to the European humanitarian values. By their dignified and courageous behavior, in the face of strong Nazi pressure, the citizens of Bulgaria rescued their entire Jewish population from deportation to the the death camps.

Many nations describing themselves as great, then and now, have every reason to be proud of their contribution to the European civilization – the world museums abound in prized specimens of their national arts and culture. My country, too, has a rich ancient culture that merits admiration. However, I believe that out greatest contribution to the European civilization in the outgoing century has been the saving of tens of thousands human lives each of whom is worth more than any precious work of art. What is more, the Bulgarians did that expecting no applause from anyone, least of all from history. Hardly anyone thought of rewards in those difficult times!

The Bulgarians committed this courageous act in the firm belief that they were doing the most natural thing on earth: helping someone in trouble, helping one’s Jewish fellow countryman, classmate, friend, neighbor, in fact doing one’s humane duty. One thing was certain: it was unique in the context of the Second World War, because the Bulgarians did that at a time when Bulgaria was an ally of Hitler’s Germany. The Bulgarian Jews have survived and all Bulgarians have helped for their rescue. The 47 members of Parliament helped, led by the deputy speaker Dimitar Peshev, by firmly resisting the deportation of the Jews from Bulgaria.

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church and its prelates helped: many public and political organizations and groups of intellectuals joined in this national effort. However, most of the credit goes to the Bulgarian people who have always been strangers to xenophobia, ethnic or religious intolerance. The centuries of suffering which history allotted to us, have made us tolerant to other ethnic groups and religions and sensitive to the issue of human rights., Earlier this century my country offered safe haven to the Armenians cast away from their land of birth.

The concrete fact from the dark years of the Second World War testify to the power of the public opinion, the ethics of tolerance, caring and compassion with people in need. Despite the restriction of Jewish rights endorsed by the Bulgarian government then, or the humiliating yellow stars Jews had to wear, the Bulgarian people today have every reason to feel proud of their courage to care and save from deportation and death nearly 50, 000 Bulgarian Jews. At the same time, they cannot but mourn for the millions of Jews who perished during the War, including the innocent victims from Aegean Thrace and Macedonia, whom no protests of the Bulgarian public could save and who passed through Bulgaria on their way to the Nazi camps.

I also feel proud that the Bulgarian Jews never forgot the country that gave them birth and rescued them. Bulgaria lives on in their memories and the memories of their children. Last week, during my visit to Israel, I participated in the dedication of a municipal square in Jerusalem in honor of the Bulgarian rescue. This and the war reception by the leaders and people of Israel were a dear recognition of Bulgaria.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I fully subscribe to the idea that the Holocaust needs to be studied widely and thoroughly; that the coming generations should remain alert to its causes and tragic effect. I would like to express my country’s readiness to participate actively in the Liaison Project of the International Task Force on the studying of the Holocaust. But while focusing on the dark pages of history, we should not overlook its brighter spots which could be viewed as a source of courage and a positive example. Only when read in its complexity does history become a source of wisdom and useful lessons!
Thank you for your attention.