The Stolen Narrative of the Bulgarian Jews and the Holocaust, a compilation of eyewitness testimonies, archival documents, photographs, and researchers’ investigations, debunks a Holocaust myth that not only were the Jews of Bulgaria spared but it was thanks to a sympathetic government. This book provides a fresh
perspective on that time and place. This title is recommended for all Holocaust collections.
— Association of Jewish Libraries Reviews
Comforty, an award-winning filmmaker and oral historian, has written a counter narrative of Bulgarian Jews and Bulgaria’s role in the Final Solution, challenging the belief that the Bulgarian government prevented the deportation of its Jews to Auschwitz, except for those in the newly occupied lands of Thrace and Macedonia. Based on primary sources and interviews with more than 60 Bulgarian war survivors, Comforty argues that Bulgaria was an ally to Nazi Germany, and King Boris III, far from being the “Bulgarian Schindler,” was prepared to deport the Jews of mainland Bulgaria to the death camps. Moreover, the Bulgarian parliament passed the Law for the Defense of the Nation in 1941 (effective until 1944), which applied Nazi racial laws to Bulgaria's Jewish population. The deportation law, which would have initially deported some 8,000 Jews from Bulgaria to Auschwitz, was temporarily suspended because of the intervention of Bulgarian parliamentarians and members of the Orthodox hierarchy. Comforty notes that Bulgarians were not as anti-Semitic as their government, and in 1943, the king's death and the war's turning tide in favor of the Allies saved the Jews of Bulgaria from being sent to their deaths. The book includes valuable pictures, a time line of events, and an extensive bibliography. Recommended. General readers through faculty.
— Choice Reviews
Drawing on a rich collection of oral and visual sources, most previously unknown, this book presents an account of Bulgarian Jews and Bulgaria’s role in the Final Solution like no other book on its subject. First-person oral testimonies andaccompanying graphics make for engaging, gripping, reading. An historical narrative at its best!
— Alvin Rosenfeld, Indiana University
This valuable contribution to the history of Bulgarian Jews and those under Bulgarian rule during the Holocaust offers a patiently assembled and processed collection of individual voices which blend into a telling polyphonic narrative. The myriad personal memories convincingly demystify well-established canonical stories and pay a deserved tribute to human decency.
— Roumen Avramov, Centre for Advanced Studies Sofia
An excellent combination of rich documentation, critical study, responsible research and grounded insights. A flowing, important, fascinating historical narrative--the results of years of diligent work. Highly recommended!
— Shlomo Shealtiel, Yad Yaari Center of Hashomer Hatzair Research
Jacky Comforty is not only an avid collector of historical memories and visual sources of the Jews of Bulgaria, but also—as this book proves—the voice of the survivors. The book tells a story on the Shoah in the Balkans which is much more complex than the established varieties: a story of deportation and annihilation, but also one of solidarity and rescue.
— Stefan Troebst, Leipzig University
A compelling and very personal book whose rich, poignant testimonies provide a welcome addition to recent scholarship on writing and remembering Jewish history in Bulgaria. Alongside Jewish witness accounts, a wealth of photographs bring back to life the experiences of Jewish persecution during World War Two and successfully reclaim the Bulgarian Jews’ roles in their own ‘rescue.’ The social lives of this collection of testimonies may also invite scholars to consider this volume as an object of research in its own right.
— Nadège Ragaru, Sciences Po, Paris
Documentary filmmaker Jacky Comforty explores this heartwarming story in The Stolen Narrative of the Bulgarian Jews and Holocaust, which he wrote with Michigan writer Martha Aladjem Bloomfield. Comforty traveled the world to interview historians, political scientists, military analysts and other experts to develop an unvarnished picture of Bulgarian actions during the war.
— Detroit Jewish News
The Stolen Narrative of the Bulgarian Jews and the Holocaust fills a lacuna in Holocaust history and in Bulgarian collective memory. It serves as a reminder of both the fragility of memory, its susceptibility to reshaping, and the gravity of memory, its ability to affect a population’s view of itself and even affect a nation’s international and political standing. Altogether, the book is an essential record of a narrative, the memories of the survivors –that have been repressed for far too long.
— Sephardic Horizons
Jacky Comforty and Martha Bloomfield have done a service for the rest of us in shining a light on the dark and complex history of the Balkans. In an era of disinformation and fake news, their painstaking research has reclaimed this terrible episode in Jewish history for a wider audience and pushed aside those adept at manipulating it. It is an accessible and interesting read.
— Jerusalem Post
Amid a landscape of despair and death, Bulgaria was seen as a shining example of humanity during the Holocaust. Alone among European countries that were occupied by or aligned with Germany, Bulgaria saved its Jewish citizens from the clutch of the Nazis. Its wily monarch, King Boris III, was supposedly their chief protector and savior. Like the majority of Bulgarian Jews, my late parents-in-law bought into this appealing story. For decades after World War II, Bulgaria burnished these self-serving myths. While it is true that the 49,000 Jews of Bulgaria survived the war, the pro-German Bulgarian government was anything but philosemitic, writes Jacky Comforty in his illuminating book of essays, The Stolen Narrative of the Bulgarian Jews and the Holocaust. In fact, as he points out in his deeply researched and clearly written account, the Bulgarian fascist regime can justly be accused of ethnic cleansing. It subjected its Jewish population to horrendous antisemitic restrictions, made plans to deport a significant number of Jews to Nazi concentration camps, and facilitated the mass murder of almost 12,000 Jews in the Bulgarian-occupied areas of Thrace and Macedonia and the city of Pirot. Comforty, [having] explored the history of this community, he interviewed 150 people who represented a spectrum of experiences in Bulgaria before, during and after the Holocaust. These first-hand accounts underscore Bulgaria’s mistreatment of its Jewish citizens during the war and prove its collaboration with Germany in the Final Solution... Clearly, the Bulgarian government did not acquit itself nobly during the period under review. To his credit, Comforty debunks the myths related to the Holocaust in Bulgaria. No longer can Bulgaria smugly claim that it was a safe haven for Jews during this incredibly dark period.
— Sheldon Kirshner Journal