Obj. ID: 40077
Memorials Plaque in memory of the fallen Jews in the fight against fascism and anti-semitism in 1923-1945 on the wall of Zion Synagogue in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 2000
To the main object: Zion Synagogue in Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Memorial name:
No official name.
Who/What is Commemorated?
Jews who fell in the fight against fascism and anti-semitism in 1923-1945.
Description
On the wall of Zion Synagogue in Plovdiv, a monumental granite plaque bears a Bulgarian inscription and two lists of victims, each topped with the Magen David. Above the lists, a menorah is shown, and below them, two branches are depicted. Under the monumental plaque, there is another, smaller one with the date of the main plaque's opening.
On the right side of the monumental plaque, there are two additional plaques with the identical inscription as that on the main plaque, in both English and Hebrew.
The two granite vases stand at the foot of the plaques.
Inscription
In Bulgaria
В памет на загиналите евреи
в борбата против фашизма и
антисемитизма 1923-1945 г.
[List of victims]
Translation: In memory of the fallen Jews / in the fight against fascism / and anti-semitism 1923-1945.
In English
In memory of the fallen
Jews in the fight against
fascism and anti-semitism
1923-1945.
In Hebrew
בחוקרה ליהודים שנפלו במאבק
נגד הפשיזם והאנטישמיות
1923-1945
Translation: In memory of the fallen Jews in the fight / against fascism and anti-semitism / 1923-1945.
Commissioned by
The Jewish community of Plovdiv.
sub-set tree: 
In 1923, a coup d’état took place against the agrarian leader of Bulgaria, Aleksandăr Stambolijski. It "prepared the ground for the spread of antisemitism and its intensification. In the difficult years that followed the Bulgarian people's wrath was channeled toward the minority groups, especially the Jews, whom they held responsible for their hardships. Antisemitic nationalist associations sprang up. In 1936 the Ratnik ("Warrior") antisemitic association was founded; it was structured on the lines of Hitlerite organizations, accepting their theory of race and adapting it to its own ideological concepts" [jewishvirtuallibrary.org]. Furthermore, "throughout the 1930s Bulgaria under the leadership of the Tsar [Boris III] became more closely tied to Germany economically, politically, and militarily and in March, 1941 it formally allied with Nazi Germany" [Hoffman, 2]. Soon after that, the resistance to the government of Tsar Boris III and his anti-Semitic, pro-Nazi policies had become. It included a significant number of Jewish participants [Hoffman, 2].
The present plaque is dedicated to Jewish participants of the resistance who fell in the fight against fascism and anti-semitism in 1923-1945. The plaque was unveiled on August 25, 2000, on the wall of Zion Synagogue in Plovdiv.
"Bulgaria," jewishvirtuallibrary.org, https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/bulgaria (accessed September 15, 2025)
Hoffman, Michael L., "Jewish Resistance in World War II Bulgaria: An Introduction and Reference Materials," jewishgen.org, https://www.jewishgen.org/databases/holocaust/Bulgarian_Partisans_(JMC)_(03-Jun-2021).pdf (accessed September 15, 2025)