site.btaPresident Iotova: March 10 Reminds Us to Stand Against Hatred, Wherever It Appears

President Iliana Iotova on Tuesday described the rescue of the Bulgarian Jews from the Holocaust as “one of the most righteous pages in Bulgarian history.” She spoke at a ceremony in Sofia marking the Day of Rescue of Bulgarian Jews and of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust and of the Crimes against Humanity.

In a speech, the President said: “Eighty-three years ago the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, clergy, politicians, public figures, ordinary people showed that human life matters most. They showed solidarity, compassion and love for their fellow human beings, and prevented around 50,000 Bulgarian Jews from being sent to the death camps. This page is a righteous and golden one in Bulgarian history, because it is not only part of our history. It is part of world history, and its power in these difficult days is best expressed by what the saved Bulgarian Jews say: that Bulgarian soil gives birth to human beings.”

Iotova also recalled the words of Israeli historian and novelist Michael Bar-Zohar: “Bulgaria showed that a small David can defeat a giant Goliath when it comes to saving lives.”

“What would today be if we compare it with that history 83 years ago? Have we overcome hatred and denial? Sadly, our conclusion is a bleak one,” Iotova said.

According to her, the world today is once again torn by hatred, division and contradictions. “And it seems we do not remember the lessons of that history. Worse still, politicians who claim to lead their countries and the world do not stop this hatred at its source but appear to fuel it.”

“But we know very well that the Holocaust did not begin with Auschwitz. It began with words, with the deafening silence in societies, with averted eyes. And that is why today our great responsibility is to face hatred wherever it appears,” the President said.

According to Iotova, it is even more shameful when aggressive individuals today attempt to rewrite this history — to rewrite facts and to deny the existence of the Holocaust, the most sinister ideology in human memory. “That means desecrating the memory of six million. It means that by defending this shameful thesis, you once again sever their destinies,” Iotova said.

The President stated that our behaviour today must be directed most of all towards our children. “We must tell them that Bulgaria’s act of 1943 is not forgotten. It must be studied even more — in history, in memory, in school. Bulgarian children must know this history and tell it to their peers around the world,” she said.

“The days of rescue are light even in the deepest darkness. The days of rescue are enlightenment for peace and understanding, especially today in a world set ablaze by fires, wars and terrorism. Today we all want the air around us to echo with children’s laughter and joyful shouts, not with the cries of mothers who lose them. We want more reason and dialogue. If we bring back silence again, if we avert our eyes again, then we show we have no responsibility even to our children,” the President said.

Iotova added that she is certain each person carries their own prayer in their soul. It does not matter in what language or in which temple it is spoken; it must be a prayer for the future, she said.

“I am certain that our compatriots in Tel Aviv, at the same monument, also offer their prayer — for the souls of those who are no longer with us, for those whom we allowed to be exterminated. Those 11,343 who, in the territories under Bulgarian authority at the time, were not saved. But these are also prayers for tomorrow. For the tomorrow for which we bear responsibility,” Iotova said in her address.

“Honour to the victims of the Holocaust. Honour to the memory of Bulgaria’s righteous,” the President concluded.