Bulgaria, the Jews, and the Holocaust : On the Origins of a Heroic Narrative

A profoundly original historical inquiry, this work offers a critical reflection on the silences of the past and the remembrance of the Holocaust. During World War II, even though Bulgaria was an ally of the Third Reich, it never deported its Jewish community. Until recently, this image of Bulgaria as a European exception has prevailed—but at a cost. For it ignored the roundup of almost all the Jews living in the Yugoslav and Greek territories under Bulgarian occupation between 1941 and 1944, who were in fact deported to Poland, where they were murdered. In this new English translation of her work originally published in French, Nadège Ragaru presents a riveting, wide-ranging archival investigation encompassing 80 years and six countries (Bulgaria, Germany, the United States, Israel, North Macedonia and Serbia), in doing so exploring the origins and perpetuation of this heroic narrative of Bulgaria's past. Moving between legal and political spheres, from artistic creations to museum exhibits, from the writing of history to transnational public controversies, she shows how the Holocaust north of the Danube became a'rescue'to the river's south. She traces how individual merits were turned into'national'achievements, while blame for the deportations was planted squarely on Nazi Germany. And she illuminates how discussions on the Holocaust in Bulgaria were held hostage to Cold War dynamics before 1989, only to yield to political and memorial struggles afterwards. Ultimately, she restores Jewish voices to the story of their own wartime suffering. On publication this book is available as an Open Access eBook under the Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND. A profoundly original historical inquiry, this work offersa critical reflection on the silences of the past and theremembrance of the Holocaust. During World War II, eventhough Bulgaria was an ally of the Third Reich, it never deportedits Jewish community. Until recently, this image of Bulgaria as aEuropean exception has prevailed-but at a cost. For it ignored theroundup of almost all the Jews living in the Yugoslav and Greekterritories under Bulgarian occupation between 1941 and 1944, whowere in fact deported to Poland, where they were murdered. In thisnew English translation of her work originally published in French,Nadège Ragaru presents a riveting, wide-ranging archivalinvestigation encompassing 80 years and six countries (Bulgaria,Germany, the United States, Israel, North Macedonia and Serbia), indoing so exploring the origins and perpetuation of this heroicnarrative of Bulgaria's past. Moving between legal and politicalspheres, from artistic creations to museum exhibits, from thewriting of history to transnational public controversies, she showshow the Holocaust north of the Danube became a "rescue" to theriver's south. She traces how individual merits were turned into"national" achievements, while blame for the deportations wasplanted squarely on Nazi Germany. And she illuminates howdiscussions on the Holocaust in Bulgaria were held hostage to ColdWar dynamics before 1989, only to yield to political and memorialstruggles afterwards. Ultimately, she restores Jewish voices to thestory of their own wartime suffering. On publication this book isavailable as an Open Access eBook under the Creative Commonslicense CC BY-NC-ND Front Cover Contents Illustrations Preface Introduction Chapter 1. The Judicial Production of an Account of Anti-Jewish Persecution Chapter 2. Deportation of the Jews, from Belomorie to the Screen Chapter 3. The Deportation of Jews from Northern Greece Chapter 4. Accounts of “Rescue” and Deportation in Dialogue Chapter 5. Fruitful Disputes? Conclusion Appendix. The March 1943 Deportations from Territories Occupied by Bulgaria Bibliography Index