International Jewish committee calls on Bulgaria to clarify their role
in the deportation and subsequent murder of 13,000 Jews in Treblinka.

A public program will be held on March 1, 2011 in New York, on the Bulgarian government and its interaction with Jews during the Holocaust. The Bulgarian government will be presented with a list of “Suggested Redress” in regard to the deportation of 13,000 Jews to the Nazi concentration camp of Treblinka.

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NEW YORK, NY (February 26, 2011) A public program on the questionable truthfulness of the Bulgarian government and its interaction with Jews during the era of the Holocaust, will take place on March 1, 2011 at 7pm, (exactly 70 years to-the-day, of the pact uniting Bulgaria with Germany as Axis partners, March 1, 1941). The event will be held at ‘The Sephardic Temple’ (775 Branch Blvd. Cedarhurst, NY 11516), before an audience of community members, activists, scholars and Holocaust survivors. Media and members of the press are encouraged to participate in a pre-event press conference which will take place at 6pm.

The Hon. Radoslav Totchev, Consul General of the Consulate General of Bulgaria in New York City is among the list of invitees. The Consul General will be presented by the ‘International Committee for Bulgarian Holocaust-Era Truth’ with a document entitled: “Suggested Redress for the Republic of Bulgaria” which has been submitted to 'The Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme,' a project of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

On this day, the program’s Keynote Speaker, Sephardic historian, author and independent scholar, Mr. Shelomo Alfassa, will issue a Special Report documenting how during WWII, the Bulgarian government was complicit in the dispossession, deportation and eventual murder of thousands of Jews. Mr. Alfassa will also give thanks to the citizens of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Orthodox Church for their assistance in convincing the government of Bulgaria not to deport some 50,000 Jews during WWII.

While it is frequently retold that the Bulgarian government elected not to deport some 50,000 Jews from Bulgaria to German concentration camps in Poland, what is generally not revealed, is that Bulgaria was complicit in the deportation and eventual murder of some 13,000 other Jews from their lands of Bulgarian Thrace and Macedonia--mostly, Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) speaking Jews of Greek and Ottoman-Turkish descent.

Marcia Haddad Ikonomopoulos, President of the ‘Association of Friends of Greek Jewry’ said, "These 13,000 Jews, which have been too often overlooked by history, suffered and was tortured with the direct participation and knowledge of the Bulgarian government in their alliance and volunteer partnership with the Nazis-it is time for Bulgaria to set the record straight."

The March 1, 2011 event will be subsequently followed by a Northeast Regional Colloquium, that will discuss final remedies to the Republic of Bulgaria's overlooking of their direct role in the deportation of some 13,000 Jews. The summer 2011 colloquium, entitled: "Ending 70 Years of Inaccuracies: the Bulgarian Government and its Interaction with Jews During the Holocaust," will have as its Keynote speaker, internationally acclaimed author and Holocaust researcher Edwin Black.

Mr. Alfassa said, "The Bulgarian government continues to promote the fact that they "saved" (did not deport) one group of Jews (50,000), while not openly disclosing the fact they indeed deported another group of Jews (13,000). The latter group was sent to Treblinka where they were murdered, a subject which is historically well documented by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and Yad Vashem in Israel.”

There is no charge for this program, sponsored by the ‘International Committee for Bulgarian Holocaust-Era Truth,’ in cooperation with the ‘Association of Friends of Greek Jewry,’ ‘National Association of Jewish Child Holocaust Survivors,’ ‘Fondo de Holocausto de los Judíos de Macedonia (The Holocaust Fund of the Jews from Macedonia),’ ‘Kahal Kedosha Janina,’ ‘The Sephardic Temple’ and the ‘International Sephardic Leadership Council.’

More information can be found at: www.alfassa.com/bulgaria.html

 

TRANSPORTATION FROM MANHATTAN TO THE EVENT

Note: Transportation is available to the event via the Long Island Railroad to the 'Woodmere' station, approximately 40 minutes from NY Penn station. On March 1, 2011, the 5:46pm train departing Penn Station arrives in Woodmere at 6:33pm and he 6:02pm train from Penn arrives 6:45 in Woodmere. It is 9 dollars from the train station to the synagogue, call Woodmere car service - (516) 295-2222. (Map)

 

March 1, 2011 - Press conference at 6pm sharp - Public event 7pm


German and Bulgarian officials processing Jews to be put on trains to be deported


Bulgarian soldiers loading Jews on boats to be taken up the Danube River on their way to Treblinka


Jews in 'New' Bulgaria being prepared for their deportation


The beginning of the end


Bulgarian officials speaking with Jewish women who soon would be transported to Treblinka where they would be killed


Bulgarian and German officials in front of box cars filled with Jewish families sent to Treblinka to be gassed alive


One of hundreds of families deported by Bulgaria only to be murdered in a death camp POWERPOINT WITH SOUND

We Still Can See Their Faces Photos courtesy of Yad Vashem

 

International Committee for Bulgarian Holocaust-Era Truth

 

Executive Staff

Mr. Shelomo Alfassa, Co-Chair, Founder
Rabbi Nissim Elnecavé, Rabbinical Advisor
Ms. Marcia Haddad Ikonomopoulos, Co-Chair
Ms. Racquel Reinstein, Esq., General Counsel
Ms. Irina Tsukerman, Esq., General Counsel

National and International Representation

Dr Michel Azaria, Vice-president, Judeo-Espagnol A Auschwitz (JEAA) (Paris, France)

Dr. Yael Kassorla, Clarke-Atlanta Univeristy (Atlanta, Georgia)

Mr. Valery Novoselsky, Editor of Roma Virtual Network (Israel)

Dr. Eliezer Papo, Rabbi & Vice-Director, Center for Ladino Culture Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Bosnia & Herzegovina)

Prof. Sari E. Simon, poet and instructor of Literature and History (Israel)

 

Event Sponsors:

International Committee for Bulgarian Holocaust-Era Truth
Association of Friends of Greek Jewry
National Association of Jewish Child Holocaust Survivors
Fondo de Holocausto de los Judíos de Macedonia (The Holocaust Fund of the Jews from Macedonia)
Kahal Kedosha Janina
The Sephardic Temple
International Sephardic Leadership Council
 

© International Committee for Bulgarian Holocaust-Era Truth