The Jewish community in Bulgaria dates back to before the destruction of the second Temple (70 C.E.). Jews settled on Bulgarian soil during the Middle Ages and the Byzantine era, but the Jewish community grew most significantly after the expulsion of Spanish Jewry in 1492. The Turkish Sultan allowed Jews fleeing the Inquisition to settle in the Ottoman Empire, where they were treated with tolerance both by the authorities and by the population of the Peninsula as a whole. These Ladino-speaking migrants, known as Sepharades, are the ancestors of almost 90 percent of the Jews in Bulgaria today.

JDC Begins Working in Bulgaria
JDC’s work in Bulgaria began in the aftermath of World War I, when it sent funds to help support refugees and newly impoverished families. In 1921, JDC helped build the Queen Eleanora Jewish Orphan Home in Sofia, and it continued to fund a reconstruction program until 1930, when the community regained financial stability. On the eve of World War II, Bulgaria was home to approximately 48,000 Jews, who were living primarily in the capital, Sofia, and in Plovdiv.

The Holocaust
Anti-Jewish legislation was introduced after World War I, and popular anti-Semitism intensified throughout the 1920s, setting the stage for Bulgaria’s eventual alliance with Nazi Germany. As part of this alliance, Bulgaria deported 20,000 Jews from Thrace and Macedonia, areas then under Bulgarian rule, to German concentration camps. In 1943, under pressure from the Third Reich, the Bulgarian Parliament passed a deportation order for the Jews in Bulgaria proper. However, all segments of Bulgarian society – the general population, the press, the intelligentsia, key members of Parliament, the Church, and the king – protested, causing the government to rescind the deportation order. Not a single Bulgarian Jew was deported.

During the war years, Jews were prohibited from traveling and participating in commerce; they were forced to wear yellow stars; and some were sent to forced labor camps. The Jews of Sofia were forcibly resettled in the provinces. In response, JDC established a credit program to enable displaced Jews to purchase food and other basic necessities.

JDC During the Communist Regime
In 1944, a new government repealed all anti-Jewish legislation and began to withdraw from the war. That same year, the Russians invaded Bulgaria and installed a Communist government. To aid Bulgaria’s 48,000 Jews, JDC immediately began a full-scale relief operation, distributing more than 5,000 bales of clothing and more than $2.8 million in cash assistance. We opened soup kitchens to feed the needy; subsidized care for Jews in old age homes; and helped reopen the Jewish Memorial Hospital. We also set up work cooperatives to help Jews find employment.

With the establishment of the Jewish state, over 40,000 Bulgarian Jews made aliyah to Israel, leaving behind a small community of 9,695 Jews. By the 1950s, all Jewish activities not officially sanctioned by the Communist Party were abolished. Jewish holidays could not be celebrated except for Purim and Hanukkah, which could only be observed in specified ways. However, in private, Bulgaria’s Jews remained connected to Jewish life, closely following events in Israel and maintaining a strong feeling of solidarity with their relatives in the Jewish State.

A New Beginning
Since 1990, Bulgaria’s Jews have been writing a new chapter in their history. They are represented today by SHALOM – an organization established to improve Jewish life. The Jewish Community in Bulgaria has been growing steadily as unaffiliated Jews have awakened to the diverse and exciting activities that SHALOM has developed with support from JDC. Children, adults, and the elderly—especially those with no family ties-- now look to the Jewish community for social activities, cultural life, and a range of supportive social welfare programs.

Now 6,000 strong, the Jewish Community of Bulgaria takes pride in its Sephardic heritage, its ties with Israel, its position in Bulgarian society, and its commitment to the revival of Bulgarian Jewish life.

2005