• Monument of Gratitude
The »Monument of Gratitude«, established in 1998 in Plovdiv, the second-largest city of Bulgaria, commemorates the averted deportation of the Plovdiv Jews in March 1943.
Image: Plovdiv, undated, Jewish housing in the open, jewishpostcardcollection.com
Plovdiv, undated, Jewish housing in the open, jewishpostcardcollection.com

Image: Plovdiv, 2007, »Monument of Gratitude«, Shalom, Aleksander Oskar
Plovdiv, 2007, »Monument of Gratitude«, Shalom, Aleksander Oskar
Already in September 1939, the Bulgarian government expelled all foreign Jews from the country. The law for the »protection of the nation«, which came into effect in January 1941, marked the beginning of the persecution of Jews in Bulgaria. They had to wear a yellow star to identify themselves, they were expropriated and expelled from cities. Thousands of Jewish men had to conduct forced labour in camps under terrible conditions. Bulgaria moreover agreed to the deportation of its Jewish citizens who lived abroad to Auschwitz. When the Wehrmacht occupied Yugoslavia and Greece in the spring of 1941, Bulgaria occupied the Greek region of Thrace and parts of Macedonia and Serbia. Although the country wasn't occupied, Bulgarian authorities arrested nearly 11,500 Jews in March 1943 and handed them over to the SS, who deported them to the Treblinka death camp in occupied Poland and murdered them there. Mass arrests were also conducted in Bulgaria proper. At the beginning of March 1943, authorities interned about 7,400 of the 8,000 Jews of Plovdiv and brought them to labour camps in the countryside. It is not known whether this operation was to avert their deportation from Bulgaria or whether it served as a preparation for it. The Jews who remained in the city were temporarily hidden by the Orthodox metropolitan Cyril in his house. He wrote numerous letters to the Bulgarian parliament protesting against the prospective deportation of the Jews of Plovdiv. Politicians' protests - especially by Dimitar Peshev (1894–1973), the deputy speaker of the National Assembly of Bulgaria - and opposition from the church eventually prevented the planned deportation of Jews from the Bulgarian heartland. One reason for this success was probably the looming military victory of the Allies.
Image: Plovdiv, undated, Jewish housing in the open, jewishpostcardcollection.com
Plovdiv, undated, Jewish housing in the open, jewishpostcardcollection.com

Image: Plovdiv, 2007, »Monument of Gratitude«, Shalom, Aleksander Oskar
Plovdiv, 2007, »Monument of Gratitude«, Shalom, Aleksander Oskar
The monument is dedicated to the rescue of the Jews of Plovdiv, who, like most Bulgarian Jews, survived the war. However, the Bulgarian authorities delivered over 11,000 Jews from the occupied territories of Greece and Yugoslavia to the SS, who deported them to the Treblinka death camp and murdered them there.
Image: Bulgaria, 1941, Jewish forced labourers deployed in road construction, Yad Vashem
Bulgaria, 1941, Jewish forced labourers deployed in road construction, Yad Vashem

The »Monument of Gratitude« was dedicated on March 10, 1998, in the former Jewish quarter of Plovdiv. The inscription reads in Hebrew, English and Bulgarian: »To all who helped to save us on 10 March 1943 from the grateful Jewish community of Plovdiv«. The monument is shaped like a shofar, a musical horn used for Jewish religious purposes, and was designed by architects G. Georgieff and Kr. Karakasheff. Each year, a memorial service attended by the members of the Jewish community, the city council and the orthodox church takes place in March.
Image: Plovdiv, 2007, »Monument of Gratitude«, Shalom, Aleksander Oskar
Plovdiv, 2007, »Monument of Gratitude«, Shalom, Aleksander Oskar

Image: Plovdiv, 2007, Dedication on the pedestal of the monument, Shalom, Aleksander Oskar
Plovdiv, 2007, Dedication on the pedestal of the monument, Shalom, Aleksander Oskar
Name
Pamjetnik na Blagodarnostta
Address
Ploshchad Zar Kaloyan
Plowdiw
Open
The memorial is accessible at all times.