The JDC Archives invites you to a free public program:
In 1943, Bulgaria complied with German demands and deported nearly 11,400 Jews from occupied territories in northern Greece and Yugoslavia (Macedonia). At the same time, Bulgaria successfully resisted repeated German pressures to deport the 50,000 Jews living in Bulgaria. Dr. Benatov will offer an overview of the facts surrounding these historical events and will focus on the conflicting opinions about the roles played by King Boris III, church officials, and politicians in the rescue of Bulgaria’s Jewish population. Dr. Benatov will also discuss the international debate over the way in which this historical moment should be interpreted, remembered, and commemorated.
Dr. Joseph Benatov teaches at the University of Pennsylvania and is the recipient of the 2017 Fred and Ellen Lewis / JDC Archives Fellowship. His research in the JDC Archives is on JDC activities in Bulgaria in the postwar period, 1945-1949, and its support of the Jewish community and involvement in the mass immigration of the Bulgarian Jewish community to Israel.
Admission is complimentary, but an RSVP is required.
The event is cosponsored by the Center for Jewish History.