[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 41 (Thursday, March 13, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E458-E459]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 COMMEMORATING 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF HISTORIC RESCUE OF 50,000 BULGARIAN 
                        JEWS FROM THE HOLOCAUST

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 11, 2003

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, during the Holocaust, the 
Jews of Europe were subjected to persecution and, ultimately, targeted 
for total genocide--not only by foreign occupiers, but also at the 
hands of erstwhile friends and even their own governments. In the face 
of this atrocity, Bulgaria stands out for protecting its indigenous 
Jewish population from the evil machinery of the Holocaust. Despite 
official allied status with Nazi Germany, Bulgarian leaders, religious 
figures, intellectuals and average citizens resisted pressure from the 
Nazis to deport Bulgarian Jews to certain death in the concentration 
camps of Eastern Europe. Thanks to the compassion and courage of broad 
sectors of Bulgarian society, approximately 50,000 Jews survived the 
Holocaust.
  Once an ally of Nazi Germany in March 1941, the Bulgarian Government 
and Parliament came under pressure from the Nazi regime and enacted 
legislation severely curtailing the rights of the Jewish population. In 
February 1943, a secret meeting between, Hitler's envoy to Bulgaria, 
and Bulgaria's Commissar on Jewish Affairs, established a timetable for 
exporting to Germany the Jews in Aegean Thrace and Macedonia, 
territories then under Bulgarian administration, and deportation of 
Jews from Bulgarian cities. The deportations were to begin on March 9, 
1943.
  Trains and boats to be used in the deportations were in place, and 
assembly points in Poland had already been selected when word of the 
plans was leaked. Almost immediately, 43 members of the Bulgarian 
Parliament led by Deputy Speaker Dimiter Peshev signed a petition to 
condemn this action. This, coupled with widespread public outcry from 
active citizens, political and professional organizations, 
intellectuals, and prominent leaders of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, 
led the Minster of the Interior to stay the deportation orders. Later 
that month, Peshev again took a bold step in drafting a letter, signed 
by members of the ruling coalition, which condemned the possible 
deportation of Jews, calling this an ``inadmissable act'' with ``grave 
moral consequences.''

  In May 1943, the plan for deportation of the Bulgarian Jews was 
finally aborted. King Boris III resisted Nazi pressure to advance the 
plan, arguing that the Jews were an essential component of the 
workforce. While some 20,000 Jews from Sofia were then sent to work 
camps in the countryside for the remainder of the war and subjected to 
squalid conditions, they nevertheless survived.
  Tragically, there was no such reversal of fate for the estimated 
11,000 Jews from Aegean Thrace and Macedonia, who did not have the 
protection afforded by Bulgarian citizenship. Already driven from their 
homes in March 1943, these individuals were transported through 
Bulgarian territory to the Nazi death camps. Madam Speaker, this month 
marks the 60th anniversary of Bulgarian resistance to the Holocaust. 
The people of Bulgaria

[[Page E459]]

deserve our commendation for their selfless efforts to preserve such a 
threatened religious community, and in fact, the number of Jews living 
in Bulgaria actually increased during the Holocaust.
  Bulgaria's record of tolerance was distorted by 40 years of communist 
misrule which culminated in the 1984-89 forcible assimilation campaign 
against its largest minority, the Turks. One of the first initiatives 
of the government following the fall of communism in November 1989 was 
the reversal of this brutal campaign. A return to the wholesale 
suppression of minority groups as exemplified by the forcible 
assimilation campaign is inconceivable today, and Bulgaria is a 
democracy that promotes respect for fundamental rights.
  Last year, Bulgaria's Ambassador to the United States, Elena 
Poptodorova, testified before the Helsinki Commission regarding the 
ongoing efforts of her government to promote tolerance, consistent with 
Bulgaria's historical traditions. I have been particularly encouraged 
by Bulgaria's initiatives, in cooperation with leading non-governmental 
organizations, to promote the integration of Roma and non-Roma in 
schools. This work deserves the full support of the Bulgarian 
Government.

  I am disappointed, however, that the Bulgarian Government has not yet 
adopted and implemented comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation, 
even though it pledged to do so in early 1999 in a platform of action 
on Roma issues, and committed to do so in the 1999 OSCE Istanbul Summit 
document. Four years have come and gone since Bulgaria made those 
pledges, and it is past time for those pledges to be honored.
  I am hopeful the Bulgarian Government will do more to combat violence 
motivated by racial or religious intolerance. Two cases of such 
violence, against Romani Pentecostals in Pazardjik, appear to have 
received only superficial attention from the authorities.
  Madam Speaker, I also was disappointed to learn of the recent passage 
of a new religion law in Bulgaria. Several drafts of a religion law had 
laid relatively dormant until the last months of 2002, when the process 
was expedited. As a result, it is my understanding that minority faith 
communities were excluded from the drafting process and assurances to 
have the Council of Europe review the text again were ignored. The law 
is prejudiced against certain religious groups and falls well short of 
Bulgaria's OSCE commitments. The law also jeopardizes the legal status 
of the Orthodox synod not favored by the Government and its property 
holdings, as well as threatens fines for using the name of an existing 
religious organization without permission. New religious communities 
seeking to gain legal personality are now required to go through 
intrusive doctrinal reviews and cumbersome registration procedures, and 
co-religionists from abroad have been denied visas based on poorly 
written provisions.
  Bulgaria's leadership on these various issues would be welcomed, 
especially in light of their plans to serve as Chair-in-Office of the 
OSCE in 2004. The United States is particularly appreciative of 
Bulgaria's firm stand against terrorism at this time, and we look 
forward to continued strong relations between our countries. The proud 
heritage stemming from the days of the Holocaust serves as a good 
reminder of the importance of taking stands which are right and true. 
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that this Congress is able to recognize that 
heritage and historical fact.

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