Obj. ID: 58028
Memorials Memorial dedicated to the salvation of the Bulgarian Jews during the Holocaust in Sofia, Bulgaria, 1990s-2000s
Memorial name:
No official name.
Who/What is Commemorated?
The salvation of the Bulgarian Jews during the Holocaust.
Description
The memorial consists of three identical monuments, each shaped like an upright stele. All of them bear three non-identical inscriptions in Hebrew, English, and Bulgarian. Near the three monuments, there is a memorial stone that features a Bulgarian inscription.
Inscription
Memorial stone:
In Bulgarian
По инициатива на
Националния комитет за
защита на историческата
истина в България и със
средствата и благородното
начинание на Столичната
община и родолюбиви
граждани на столицата,
бяха възстановени в точно
копие тези плочи,
издигнати в Българската
гора край Йерусалим от
човеколюбиви
благодетели и от
Българските евреи в света
като признателност за
тяхното спасяване през
1943 година от България и
Българския народ.
Никой не може да заличи
историческата памет,
както за спасяването,
така и за признателността
на спасените
Translation: By the initiative of / the National Committee for / the Defense of Historical / Truth in Bulgaria and with / the means and noble / initiative of the Capital / Municipality and patriotic / citizens of the capital, / these plaques were restored as exact / copies of those / erected in the Bulgarian / Forest near Jerusalem by / philanthropic benefactors and by / Bulgarian Jews around the world / as gratitude for / their salvation in / 1943 by Bulgaria and / the Bulgarian people. / No one can erase / the historical memory, / both of the salvation / and of the gratitude / of those who were saved.
The first monument:
In Hebrew
בשנת 1943 בעיצומת של שואת
יהודי אירופא, קמו יחד
מנהיגים בולטים מכל שורות
העם הבולגרי. אנשי כמורה,
נציגי ציבור נאורים, אנשי רוח,
אזרחים מן השורה והזוג המלכותי
והצליחו להציל את כל 49.000
יהודי בולגריה מהשמדה בידי הנצים.
רובם המכריע של יהודי
בולגריה עלו לארץ בשנים
1948-50 והיה שותף בתקומת
ישראל
Translation: In 1943, at the height of the Holocaust of European Jews, prominent leaders from all walks of Bulgarian society rose up together. / Clergy, / enlightened public representatives, / intellectuals, / ordinary citizens, and the royal couple / and succeeded in saving all 49,000 / Jews of Bulgaria from extermination by the Nazis. / The vast majority of Bulgarian Jews / immigrated to Israel in the years / 1948-50 and were partners in Israel's revival."
In English
In the year 1943, while the Holocaust of Europe's Jews
was reaching its peak, a unique phenomenon occurred in
Bulgaria. Eminent leaders of the Bulgarian
people, the heads of the Church, enlightened public
figures, writers, doctors,
lawyers, workers, ordinary citizens and the Royal family
they all stood together and succeeded to rescue all of
the Bulgaria's 49.000 Jews
from deportation to the death camps.
The great majority of Bulgaria's Jews immigrated to Israel
in the years 1948-1950 and took an active part in the
rebirth of the Jewish state.
In Bulgarian
През 1943 год по време на унищожението, което
сполетя еврейския народ, изтъкнати деятели от
всички кръгове на българския народ църковни
служители, общественици представители
на интелигенцията, обикновени граждани и
Царското семейство,
успяха с общи усилия да спасят всичките 49.000
евреи в България от неизбежна гибел.
Почти всички евреи от България имигрираха в
Израел през 1948-1950 и взеха активно участие в
изграждането на еврейската държава.
Translation: In 1943, during the destruction that / befell the Jewish people, prominent figures from / all circles of the Bulgarian people - clergy, / public figures, / representatives of the intelligentsia, / ordinary citizens, and / the Royal family, / succeeded through joint efforts in saving all 49,000 / Jews in Bulgaria from inevitable death. / Almost all Jews from Bulgaria immigrated to Israel in 1948-1950 and took an active part in / building the Jewish state.
The second monument:
In Hebrew
לזכר בוריס ה-III
מלך בולגריה
1894-1943
ורעיתו המלכה יואנה
על פעולתם להצלת יהודי בולגריה
בימי השואה
Translation: In memory of Boris III / King of Bulgaria / 1894-1943 / and his wife, Queen Ioana / for their actions aimed at saving the Jews of Bulgaria / during the Holocaust.
In English
In memory of
Boris III, King of Bulgaria
1894-1943
and in honor of
Queen Giovanna
A tribute to their contribution to
the rescue of Bulgarian Jews
during the dark days of the Holocaust
In Bulgarian
В памет на
Цар Борис Трети
1894-1943
и в чест на Царица Йоанна,
за техния принос
в спасяването на евреите в България
през мрачните дни на Холокоста
Translation: In memory of / Tsar Boris the third / 1894-1943 / and in honor of Tsarina Ioanna, / for their contribution / to saving the Jews in Bulgaria / during the dark days of the Holocaust.
The third monument:
In Hebrew
לזכר בולגרים אצילי נפש
אקזרכך-המטרופוליט סטפן
המטרופוליט סופרוני, המטרופוליט קיריל, המטרופוליט נאופיט
ואחרים מראשי הכנסייה
לזכרו של דימיטר פשב סגן-יושב ראש הפרלמנט ואחרים
אשר נאבקו בהצלחה להצלת יהודי בולגריה
בתקופת השואה 1941-1944
Translation: In memory of noble Bulgarians / Ekzarkh-Metropolitan Stefan, / Metropolitan Sofroni, Metropolitan Kyril, Metropolitan Neofit, / and other Church leaders / In memory of Dimitar Peshev, the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament and others / who successfully struggled for the rescue of Bulgaria's Jews / during the Holocaust 1941-1944.
In English
In memory of noble Bulgarians
Ekzarkh-Metropolitan Stefan,
Metropolitan Kyril, Metropolitan Neofit, Metropolitan Sofroni
and other dignitaries of the Church;
of Dimitar Peshev, the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament
and other brave men and women,
who successfully struggled for the rescue of Bulgaria's Jews
during World War Two
In Bulgarian
В памет на Благородните българи
Екзарх - Стефан Софийски,
Митрополитите Кирил Пловдивски, Неофит Видински,
Софроний Търновски,
други духовници
и Димитър Пешев - подпредседател на Народното Събрание,
които се бориха и успяха да спасят евреите в България
по време на Втората Световна Война 1941-1944.
Translation: In memory of noble Bulgarians / Ekzarkh - Stefan of Sofia, / the Metropolitans Kiril of Plovdiv, Neofit of Vidin / Sofroniy of Tarnovo, / other clergy / and Dimitar Peshev - Vice President of the National Assembly, / who fought and succeeded in saving the Jews in Bulgaria / during World War Two 1941-1944.
Commissioned by
The National Committee for the Defence of Historical Truth in Bulgaria, the Jews from Bulgaria in Israel.
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. At the same time, over 11,000 Jews of Thrace and Macedonia were deported by the Bulgarians to Poland. Only a few hundred of them survived" [Yad Vashem].
The present memorial is dedicated to the salvation of the Bulgarian Jews during the Holocaust and is located on the north side of St. Sophia Church, in front of the Sofia City Council. Its history dates back to the late 1990s and early 2000s. At that time, it was decided to erect three gratitude memorials at the Bulgarian Forest near Jerusalem: the first one was dedicated to Boris II, King of Bulgaria and Queen Giovanna, the second one to the Bulgarian Church leaders, Dimitar Peshev (the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament), and other people of Bulgaria who contributed to the salvation of Jewish citizens from the Holocaust, and the third one commemorated the history of salvation of the Bulgarian Jews. However, relatives of the Greek and Macedonian Jews, who were deported by the Bulgarian authorities to Nazi-occupied Poland, protested the existence of the gratitude monument to the Bulgarian royal family. On January 17, 2000, the public commission was tasked with discussing the issue. According to its decision announced on July 13, 2000, this stone, and presumably the other two, was removed. Instead, the monument in memory of the Jewish victims from Thrace and Macedonia and in honour of all the Bulgarian people who contributed to the salvation of Jews was installed [Ofer, 195].
According to the Free Speech International Foundation, the three monuments were relocated to Sofia from the Bulgarian Forest [jewishbalkans.eu]. At the same time, the memorial stone near the monuments says that they are exact copies of those erected near Jerusalem.
Today, the place where the memorial stands 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_stones,_Sofia#/media/File:20140614_Sofia_065.jpg.
Ofer, Dalia, "Zihronot Meunim," in Mishakei Zikaron: Tfisot shel' zman ve zikaron be-tarbut ha-yehudit. ed. Yotam Benziman (Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing House, 2008), 189-203., https://kotar.cet.ac.il/KotarApp/Viewer.aspx?nBookID=93413048#205.6395.8.fitwidth (accessed September 10, 2025)
"Plaques to King Boris III and Queen Giovanna," jewishbalkans.eu., https://jewishbalkans.eu/listing/plaques-king-boris-iii-and-queen-giovanna., https://jewishbalkans.eu/listing/plaques-king-boris-iii-and-queen-giovanna (accessed September 4, 2025)