The Stolen Narrative of the Bulgarian Jews and the Holocaust collects narratives of Bulgarian Jews who survived the Holocaust. Through the analysis of eye-witness testimonies, archival documents, photographs, and researchers' investigations, the authors weave a complex tapestry of voices that were previously underrepresented, ignored, and denied. Taken together, the collected memories offer an alternative perspective that counters official accounts and corroborates war crimes.
Jacky Comforty is an award-winning filmmaker, oral historian, and media creator who has worked for over thirty-five years creating films and videos in the United States, Germany, Israel, and Bulgaria. Martha Bloomfield is an award-winning author, oral historian, photographer, and independent scholar who has written several books about immigrants, migrants, and the formerly homeless.
List of Figures Foreword by Omer Bartov Preface Acknowledgments 00 Introduction Part 1 Identity - Who We Are 01 The Jewish Diaspora 02 The Jews of the Iberian Peninsula 03 The Jews of the Balkans 04 Jewish Migration waves to the Balkans 05 Jewish Life 15-19th centuries Part 2 Collective Memory of the Balkan Jews 06 Multicultural Multi religious and multi ethnic Balkans 07 Shared History 08 Religious Tolerance and Freedom of Conscience 09 The Balkan Wars and World War I 10 Bulgarians and Jews 11 Jewish Traditions, Heritage and Community 12 How Life Was 13 Zionism And Patriotism Part 3 The Bulgarian Jews during Hitlerism 1933-1945 14 Clouds on the Horizon 15 Growing Threats 16 Escaping Anti-Semitism 17 Law for the Defense of the Nation 18 The Fox in the Chicken Coop 19 Life under the Swastika: Deteriorating Conditions 20 Jewish Forced Labor Part 4 The Final Solution and Bulgaria 21 Bulgaria Prepares for the Final Solution 22 Deportations 23 Friends and Neighbors 24 Roundups and Continued Resistance 25 Train to Treblinka 26 My Father's Injury Story 27 Between Deportations 28 Deportations and Ghettoization 29 Meanwhile in Labor Camp 30 Resistance 31 Concentration Camps 32 Game of Nerves Part 5 The Silenced Narrative of Bulgaria's Victims 33 "Instincts of an Animal"-Jennie Lebl's Survival Story 34 "To and Through Hell and Back" - Israel Behar's Survival Story 35 "Burdensome to this Moment"--Rudi Abarbanel's Escape Story Part 6 The Aftermath of the Holocaust 36 Rivers of Tears--After the War 1945-1948 37 "We Overcame It!" Bulgaria in Jaffa Part 7 The Stolen Narrative of the Bulgarian Jews 38 A Myth is Born 39 "Who Saved the Jews?" 40 The Balkan Fox 41 Territory and Accountability 42 Wheeling and Dealing Memory 43 Anti-Semitism and Holocaust Denial Part 8 The Reclaimed Narrative 44 Reflections--Mixed Accounts 45 The Moral Lesson 46 "To Be a Mensch!" Epilogue: Tribute to Decency Appendix I: List of Interviewees Appendix II: Timelines Appendix III: Further Reading Bibliography Index About the Authors
The Stolen Narrative of the Bulgarian Jews and the Holocaust, a compilation of eyewitness testimonies, archival documents, photographs, and researchers' investigations, debunks a Holocaust myth that not only were the Jews of Bulgaria spared but it was thanks to a sympathetic government. This book provides a fresh perspective on that time and place. This title is recommended for all Holocaust collections. * Association of Jewish Libraries Reviews * Comforty, an award-winning filmmaker and oral historian, has written a counter narrative of Bulgarian Jews and Bulgaria's role in the Final Solution, challenging the belief that the Bulgarian government prevented the deportation of its Jews to Auschwitz, except for those in the newly occupied lands of Thrace and Macedonia. Based on primary sources and interviews with more than 60 Bulgarian war survivors, Comforty argues that Bulgaria was an ally to Nazi Germany, and King Boris III, far from being the "Bulgarian Schindler," was prepared to deport the Jews of mainland Bulgaria to the death camps. Moreover, the Bulgarian parliament passed the Law for the Defense of the Nation in 1941 (effective until 1944), which applied Nazi racial laws to Bulgaria's Jewish population. The deportation law, which would have initially deported some 8,000 Jews from Bulgaria to Auschwitz, was temporarily suspended because of the intervention of Bulgarian parliamentarians and members of the Orthodox hierarchy. Comforty notes that Bulgarians were not as anti-Semitic as their government, and in 1943, the king's death and the war's turning tide in favor of the Allies saved the Jews of Bulgaria from being sent to their deaths. The book includes valuable pictures, a time line of events, and an extensive bibliography. Recommended. General readers through faculty. * Choice Reviews * Drawing on a rich collection of oral and visual sources, most previously unknown, this book presents an account of Bulgarian Jews and Bulgaria's role in the Final Solution like no other book on its subject. First-person oral testimonies and accompanying graphics make for engaging, gripping, reading. An historical narrative at its best! -- Alvin Rosenfeld, Indiana University This valuable contribution to the history of Bulgarian Jews and those under Bulgarian rule during the Holocaust offers a patiently assembled and processed collection of individual voices which blend into a telling polyphonic narrative. The myriad personal memories convincingly demystify well-established canonical stories and pay a deserved tribute to human decency. -- Roumen Avramov, Centre for Advanced Studies Sofia An excellent combination of rich documentation, critical study, responsible research and grounded insights. A flowing, important, fascinating historical narrative--the results of years of diligent work. Highly recommended! -- Shlomo Shealtiel, Yad Yaari Center of Hashomer Hatzair Research Jacky Comforty is not only an avid collector of historical memories and visual sources of the Jews of Bulgaria, but also-as this book proves-the voice of the survivors. The book tells a story on the Shoah in the Balkans which is much more complex than the established varieties: a story of deportation and annihilation, but also one of solidarity and rescue. -- Stefan Troebst, Leipzig University A compelling and very personal book whose rich, poignant testimonies provide a welcome addition to recent scholarship on writing and remembering Jewish history in Bulgaria. Alongside Jewish witness accounts, a wealth of photographs bring back to life the experiences of Jewish persecution during World War Two and successfully reclaim the Bulgarian Jews' roles in their own 'rescue.' The social lives of this collection of testimonies may also invite scholars to consider this volume as an object of research in its own right. -- Nadege Ragaru, Sciences Po, Paris Documentary filmmaker Jacky Comforty explores this heartwarming story in The Stolen Narrative of the Bulgarian Jews and Holocaust, which he wrote with Michigan writer Martha Aladjem Bloomfield. Comforty traveled the world to interview historians, political scientists, military analysts and other experts to develop an unvarnished picture of Bulgarian actions during the war. * Detroit Jewish News * The Stolen Narrative of the Bulgarian Jews and the Holocaust fills a lacuna in Holocaust history and in Bulgarian collective memory. It serves as a reminder of both the fragility of memory, its susceptibility to reshaping, and the gravity of memory, its ability to affect a population's view of itself and even affect a nation's international and political standing. Altogether, the book is an essential record of a narrative, the memories of the survivors -that have been repressed for far too long. * Sephardic Horizons * Jacky Comforty and Martha Bloomfield have done a service for the rest of us in shining a light on the dark and complex history of the Balkans. In an era of disinformation and fake news, their painstaking research has reclaimed this terrible episode in Jewish history for a wider audience and pushed aside those adept at manipulating it. It is an accessible and interesting read. * Jerusalem Post *
