On Wednesday, 20 November, 2024, the Ambassador of Bulgaria to the State of Israel, H.E. Ms. Slavena Gergova, hosted a commemorative ceremony in honour of "130th Anniversary of the Birth of Dimitar Peshev, Vice President of the 25thNational Assembly of Bulgaria, Righteous Among the Nations" at the Museum of the Jewish People – ANU in Tel Aviv.
Dimitar Peshev was Minister of Justice (1935 - 1936) and Deputy Speaker of the 25th National Assembly of Bulgaria (1940 - 1943). He rebelled against the intentions of the government to deport Bulgarian Jews to the Nazi extermination camps and in his capacity as Deputy Speaker of the Parliament wrote a protest letter to the then Prime Minister, Bogdan Filov, which was also signed by 42 other deputies. On 17 March 1943, the letter, submitted by Dimitar Peshev, institutionalized the disagreement of Bulgarian society with German imposed Antisemitism.
This act had a sobering effect and the secretly planned deportation was cancelled. More than 48 000 Bulgarian Jews were saved. On 25 March 1943, Dimitar Peshev was removed from his post in the National Assembly.
After the communist coup d'etat on 9 September 1944, he was sentenced by the People's Court to 15 years of solitary confinement in prison. In December 1945 he was released butdeprived of the opportunity to practice his profession. The communist authorities confiscated his property and from 1965 till his death in 1973 he received money and letters of gratitude from rescued Bulgarian Jews living in Israel.
In 1973 Yad Vashem awarded Dimiter Peshev the title of "Righteous Among the Nations" for his role in saving Bulgaria's Jews at considerable risk to himself. He died a few months later and has since then been recognized as having performed a great service to humanity.
The Master of Ceremonies, Mr. Yulian Yakimov, Minister Plenipotentiary and Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of Bulgaria, spoke and introduced the Ambassador who followed suit in welcoming everyone present and mentioning how important it is to host the evening despite the difficult period Israel finds itself in. She expressed special gratitude to the panel of guests who participated in the panel discussion. Mentioning "Whatever is said about Peshev, is not enough as he was a high ranking state official who used all means at his disposal in order to achieve his goal in saving Bulgaria's Jews". Although close to 50 000 Bulgarian Jews were saved, unfortunately Bulgaria was unable to prevent the deportation of 11 343 Jews from the region of Thrace in northern Greece and parts of former Yugoslavia. She concluded her speech stating that there is no Antisemitism in Bulgaria and when such incidents occur, they are handled with the rigor of the law.
A 20 minute documentary produced by the Bulgarian Academy of Science was shown followed by a panel discussion which included Assoc. Prof. Angel Dzhonev, from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and author of the permanent exhibition of the House Museum "Dimitar Peshev" who flew from Sofia specially for the event, Dr. Angel Chorapchiev, head of the archival acquisitions in the Balkans and Central Europe at the Yad Vashem Archives in Jerusalemand Ms.Ruth Cohen-Dar
, Director of the Department for Combating Antisemitism and Holocaust Remembrance at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel. She emphasized the need for governments to invest in Holocaust education.
After the panel discussion guests were invited to ask questionsand make comments. The Head of the EU Delegation to Israel, Mr. Dimiter Tzantchev who also served formerly as Bulgaria's Ambassador to Israel and speaks Hebrew and Arabic said that the European Union bequeathed Yad Vashem with 10 million euro for projects in the field of Holocaust remembrance and combatting Antisemitism.
Among the many present were : Gilad Shadmon - General in the ministry of Regional Cooperation; Ruth Daar- Director of the department for the fight against anti-Semitism in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ambassadors of the European Union to Israel, Mr. Dimiter Tzantchev, Greece, Albania, Austria, Rwanda and Ireland, representatives of the diplomatic missions in Israel, Bahai International Community representative in Jerusalem, Mr. David Freeman and his wife Tracy, as well as Mr. Moni Bar - Honorary Consul General of Bulgaria in Israel, Mr. Yossi Gevir, Director of Governmental and External Affairs and Senior Advisor to the Chairman at Yad Vashem,Representatives of Kiddush Hashem Archives in Bnei Brak, Mr. David Cohen - a former Israeli Ambassador to Bulgaria, Mr. Itzhak Itzhak - President of the Union of Bulgarian Jews in Israel, representatives of other Bulgarian Jewish organizations , Ms. Antoanet
Levy - External Relations HIT Holon Institute of Technology( president office), Mr. Gilad Shadman - Director General of the Ministry of Regional Cooperation, Ms. Levana Finkelstein - a prominent stage actress and sculptor and others. www.diplomacy.co.il is thankful to the Ambassador of Bulgaria for taking the initiative in hosting an evening of such importance, especially in times where deeply seated antisemitic sentiment is visible and conspicuous more than ever in the international arena. A special mention of thanks to Silvia, the Ambassador's P.A. for inviting and welcoming us so graciously.
https://www.mfa.bg/en/embassies/israel
Photos by Silvia G. Golan
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