Obj. ID: 58002
Memorials Gratitude Memorial to the Bulgarian people for salvation of Jews during the Holocaust in Varna, Bulgaria, 2013
Memorial name:
No official name.
Who/What is Commemorated?
People of Bulgaria who contributed to the salvation of fellow Jewish citizens from the Holocaust.
Description
The memorial has the shape of a monumental shofar lying on the base, which bears a memorial plaque with three almost identical inscriptions in Bulgarian, English and Hebrew.
Inscription
In Bulgarian
С признателност към Българския
народ за спасяването ни в
годните на Холокоста!
От варненските евреи
Ние помним!
Translation: With gratitude to the Bulgarian / people for saving us during / the years of the Holocaust! / From the Jews of Varna. / We remember!
In English
With appreciation to the people
of Bulgaria for our salvation
during the Holocaust!
The Jews from the city
of Varna
We remember!
In Hebrew
בהוקרה רבה לעם הבולגרי
על הצלת יהודים בזמן השואה
מיהודי העיר ורנה
לא נשכח
10.03.2013
Translation: In great appreciation to the Bulgarian people / for saving Jews during the Holocaust / from the Jews of the city of Varna / We will not forget / 10.03.2013.
Commissioned by
The Jews of Varna.
sub-set tree: 
"In March 1941, Bulgaria allied itself with Nazi Germany and was rewarded with parts of Greek Thrace and Yugoslavian Macedonia, which both had Jewish populations. Following its patron’s lead, the Bulgarian government promulgated racial laws against its Jewish citizens. Although these laws were not strictly enforced, the Bulgarian authorities deported Jewish men to forced labor camps around the country and in the middle of 1942 required Jews to wear the Jewish star. In early 1943 the government acceded to Germany’s demands to deport the Jews of Thrace and Macedonia to the extermination camps in Poland and prepared for the first deportation from Bulgaria itself. A group of parliamentarians, church leaders, public figures and ordinary citizens came together and pressured the king and his government not to comply. On May 24, the plan for the deportation of 48,000 Bulgarian Jews was revoked, and Bulgaria’s Jews survived the war" [Yad Vashem].
The present monument was erected in honour of the Bulgarian people who saved the Jews during the Holocaust. It dates back to March 10, 2013, and is located in the park area next to the Archaeological Museum. The monument's creator is Luidmil Blazhev [visit.varna.bg].
Today, the monument serves as a venue for commemorative ceremonies.
"Bulgaria: Historical Background during the Holocaust,"
Yad Vashem, https://www.yadvashem.org/righteous/stories/bulgaria.html.
For the original image, see
Wikipedia, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Jews_salvation_memorial,_Varna#/media/File:Monuments_and_memorials_in_Varna_03.jpg/2.
"Gratitude monument," visit.varna.bg., https://visit.varna.bg/en/pametnik_na_blagodarnostta.html (accessed September 3, 2025)