About the rescuing of Danish and Bulgarian Jews in the years of World War II
At present more and more people learn about the
Holocaust - the tragedy of 6 million people, Jews in the main. Were the
countries in the years of occupation by fascists, where the mass destruction of
Jews was possible to avoid? Yes, they were. I'd like to tell you about
this.
1. Denmark
How did it become possible to save almost all Danish Jews? The
marine attache of German embassy in Copenhagen George Ferdinand Dukvitz played up a large role in the rescuing of Jewish
people. He did not carry out the order about the deportation of Jews in the
camps of destruction. The result was that more than 7, 000 Danish
Jews were ferried by the small fishing vessels into
Sweden.
How did this occur? Next day when an order to begin the
deportation of Jews was obtained, George Dukvitz met with the leaders of the
social-democratic party of Denmark whom he knew well before the war,
and he reported them about the danger threatening for the Jews: in
three days German ships will arrive into the Copenhagen
port for an exile of Jews in the camps of destruction.
"A
warning of Dukvitz gave to Danes time of 72 hours during which they
could to forestall of Germans and to foil their plans. "This had
a decisive importance for the success of famous rescue operation", - Werner
David Melkhior wrote in a quarter of century after the described
events, at that time he was twenty-five year old student, the son of the
chief rabbi of Denmark. It is not excluded what Dukvitz acted for the
taciturn consent of Werner
Best (his chief - note V. ),
Melkhior added, but if the Gestapo established an information source, then
marine attache would risk by himself - the fault of reichscomissar
would be impossible to prove. " (
http://berkovich-zametki.com/Nomer8/Duckwitz.htm)Evgeniy Berkovich writes in the article
"The turned upside-down world (George Ferdinand Dukvitz and the
rescuing of Jews in Denmark)", "Danish Lutheran church played up here. Bishop
hid a chief rabbi Marcus Melkhior with a wife in his
house in the Falster island. The majorities of Jews escaped in Sweden, where Danish fishermen
ferried them secretly on the
boats.
In order to take the refugees to the coast,
all forms of transport were operated, even ambulances. Danish policemen
helped people to reach the boats unnoticeably. It was necessary to intersect a strait carefulIy, patrol German launches could verify who
would hide under the tarpaulin. "
(http://berkovich-zametki.com/Nomer8/Duckwitz.htm)
Danes
showed the living example of a love, a true love for the
neighbor! Was it possible to rescue the thousands of people
without the aid of
people?!! Almost all Danes participated in this noble
matter.
In the years of World War 2 in
Denmark almost all Jews (more 7000 people) were
rescued, Nazis took about 500 people only, who
were exiled in the Tereziyenshtadt camp. It was possible to save
many these Jews also . "A count F. Bernadotte, Swedish political figure, the
member of the royal house of Sweden, the president of the Swedish Red
Cross, conducted the negotiations on behalf of this organization with
Himmler. As a result of these negotiations during March-April 1945 more than 7
thousands the citizens of the Scandinavian countries were freed of
Tereziyenshtadt, among them were 400 Danish Jews. Bernadotte contributed
also to the release of several thousands Jewish women from Ravensbryuk
concentration camp ." (http://www.il4u.org.il/history/40/Shoa/9.htm)
2. Bulgaria
In Bulgaria during the war the
order was promulgated about that to gather all Jews, to transport them
to the central station in Sofia, in order to exile them then in deathly
camps. "The all class of the intellectuals of the country headed by
priests, by journalists, by scientists arrived at that
station, stopped on that platform and said - NOT. No, we willn't
be partners in this... And they did not allow this." (http://www.wolua.org/israel/antisemitizm/antisem.htm)However
the military government of Bulgaria "was characterized" also on other hand.
"Jews were forced to wear the yellow stars and to work at
the
construction of the ways and the bridges. Thousands of
Jewish families were banished from their houses in Sofia and they were forced
to move out of the city." (http://www.inostranets.ru/cgi-bin/materials.cgi?id=6061&chapter=8)And some more. In the years of war Sofia gave away more than
11, 000 Jews to fascists from Yugoslavian Macedonia and Greek Frakia
occupied by it.
But in Bulgaria all Jewish community (50, 000
people) was rescued thanks to the firm position of local legislators, the
leaders of Bulgarian orthodox church,
writers, citizens.
Let me to tell you about this in
detail. In the beginning of March of 1943 the government of
Bulgaria promulgated an agreement about the exile
of 20, 000 Jews
into the gas chambers. This caused storm of indignation in the country. A
petition was directed to government signed by the vice- chairman of
parliament Dimitr Peshev and more than
40 deputies.
Bulgarian Orthodox church, Catholic priests,
pastors-evangelists come out in the defense of Jews.
A head of Bulgarian Orthodox church Sofia's metropolitan
Stephan showed a courageous position when he found out about the
planned exile of Jews in the deathly camps: "I will hide all Jews in the
churches and monasteries but I willn't give them away.
"
He wrote in the letter to tsar: "Let don't do the abominations
for which sometime our good-natured
people will be feel a shame and may be other
adversities ". Metropolitan threatened that he himself would be under home arrest if the arrested Jews willn't be
freed. (http://www.jig.ru/anti/003.html)
Plovdiv metropolitan Cyril, then - Bulgarian
patriarch, directed a message to the tsar also, in which he
required that tsar would immediately abolish the barbarous order,
otherwise he wouldn't answer for the actions of people and
clergy. He pointed out in the letter to the Filov (prime minister of
Bulgaria Bogdan Filov in those years - note V.) that he would go into the
deathly camp in Poland with the cross in the hands in front of the escort
with the Jews.
In September 1940 the sacred synod of Bulgarian Orthodox church
promulgated the declaration of protest against the "commissariat on the Jewish
problems". Vice-chairmen of sinod and all Bulgarian metropolitans
signed it. The sacred synod protested also against the prohibition for the
"persons of Jewish origin" to marry with the Christians and to cross
children from these marriages.
Bulgarian writers came out with the protest too. It was said in it
in particular: "We are utterly amazed and even confused by the
fact that in Bulgaria the matter came to the adoption of "The law
about the protection of nation" which no one attacked and to which no one
threatened. We consider this law unacceptable. In our legislation we mustn't
have a law enslaving at least the part of Bulgarian citizen, otherwise a
black page will be entered into the newest history of the fatherland. "
(Sofia, October of 1940). " (http://www.jig.ru/anti/003.html)
The statement was signed by 22 most important persons of Bulgarian
literature including well-known writers as Yelin Pelin, Ludmil
Stoyanov, Elisaveta Bagryana.
But local nazis did not stop. According to their plan, they intended each month to exile 16, 000 Jews from
Bulgaria to the deathly camps. They published such notice in the printing
house: "You are to come at
the necessary station within the three-day period from the moment
of receipt of this notice with the manual luggage not more than 30
kg". (http://www.jig.ru/anti/003.html)
Operation was fixed on 24 May, 1943 in Sofia. One worker of printing house
took one copy of leaflet
and gave it to underground people. After this in the main streets
of Sofia the leaflets were circulated with the call to the fight.
This caused of the protests. Tsar left Sofia. "Jewish population prepared
to resist. The large group of Jews started the struggle with the
police at the Revival square. 450 people were arrested. Arrests
continued several days. The special camp "Somovit" was created for the
prisoners . " (http://www.jig.ru/anti/003.html)
But it was impossible to stop resistance of Jewish people. The plans
of deportation were failed.
Michael Bar-Zokhar, the author of the book "People who avoided the
death", remember that spring evening 1943 when Bulgarian Jews was
ordered be gathered and to await the arrival of the police: "I remember the
infinite freight trains..., people wept, all were in the despair, the
terrible feeling of inevitable loss reigned around, somebody spoke
about the "Polish camps" where the people were
destroyed cruelly".
"But we were not take away. The freight railway
carriages left the station empty. We do not know accurately what
it occurred but fact is fact: Bulgarian Jews were rescued in the last
minute."
"Jews were rescued thanks to... church and to tsarist court.
Communist regime couldn't recognize this in no way because
of this