Outside of Sofia Synagogue

Following breakfast with our group, after even more team bonding and story sharing during our final night together, we headed back to Sofia.  While planning our trip, Joel and I arranged for a Jewish Walking Tour of Sofia.  At 2pm, we met our guide, Stefan, who proceeded to share stories and insights into the long history of Jews in this eastern European city.  From Romanian Jews to Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews, from Jewish royalty and Jewish leaders, from Jewish integration to Jewish presence during the Second World War, Stefan showed us where the Jews lived and explained both the history and culture of Jewish life in Bulgaria.  Jews were quite integrated in Bulgarian life, which created a conflict for non-Jewish friends, neighbors, and co-workers during the Holocaust.  When the Nazis wanted Bulgaria to send its 50,000 Jews to concentration camps, religious and political leaders pushed back and delayed the exportation, saving tens of thousands of lives.  However, Bulgaria did deport over 11,000 Greek and Northern Macedonian Jews to their deaths in the concentration camps.

Very old gravestone marking the early times of Jews in Sofia

Three stone tablets (only two shown) which were moved from Yad V’Shem to Bulgaria, marking how over 50,000 Bulgarian Jews were saved and acknowledging the deaths of over 11,000 Greek and Northern Macedonian Jews.

Memorial commemorating Bulgarian Jews and honoring those who died – on March 10, the US and Israeli embassies join Bulgarians in never forgetting.