The National Assembly President Tsetska Tsacheva and Members of the Parliament took part in the ceremony marking the Day of the Holocaust victims and the rescue of Bulgarian Jews during WWII.

The ceremony, held in front of the memorial plaque near the National Assembly’s main building, was attended also by the Minister of Education and Science, Prof. Todor Tanev, representatives of the diplomatic corps, NGOs, public figures and students of the capital’s “Dimcho Debelianov” secondary school No 134.

The head of the Organization of the Jews in Bulgaria “Shalom”, Mr Maxim Benvenisti, expressed deep gratitude towards the Bulgarian people, who in the course of three years had supported their Jewish compatriots and had encouraged the Bulgarian politicians, intellectuals and public figures to stand against the deportation of Bulgarian Jews. There were no other European people to support their Jews for as long as three years, Benvenisti stressed.
  
H.E. Shaul Kamissa Raz, Ambassador of the State of Israel, noted that the lessons of the Holocaust had not been learned yet and many anti-Semitic manifestations could be observed in many places throughout the world. He expressed his respect and gratitude to the government of Bulgaria and the political parties for preventing the occurrence of such events in Bulgaria.
 
At the ceremony were served flowers on behalf of the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, Mr. Rosen Plevneliev, on behalf of the Chair of the National Assembly Tsetska Tsacheva, on behalf of the Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, on the part of the parliamentary groups of the 43rd National Assembly, on behalf of diplomatic representations and public organizations.

The event attended by Mrs. Tsetska Tsacheva has marked the 72nd year since the salvation of Bulgarian Jews. It is organized by the Israeli- Bulgarian Institute under the patronage of the Chair of the National Assembly Tsetska Tsacheva. Students and teachers from all over the country attended the ceremony.

In one of the grimmest moments in human history the entire Bulgarian people dared not obey the Nazi orders for annihilation of the Bulgarian Jews, noted Tsetska Tsacheva. In her words this page of history should be remembered and reread as it was not only part of the past but was important in the present when the world continues to face phobias, hatred and intolerance. “We and mostly you, as citizens with an alert mind, should defend every day freedom, democracy and tolerance”, she stressed. In this fight held today and in the future you young Bulgarians should bear the inspiring example of your ancestors, of your glorious people who saved from extermination their compatriots during the Second World War, Tsacheva added.

The President of the National Assembly Tsetska Tsacheva met a delegation of the American Jewish Committee. She underscored that each year Bulgaria observes the International Holocaust Remembrance Day on 27 January and the Day of the Holocaust Victims and the Rescuing of Bulgarian Jewry during World War Two on March 10th.

The Executive Director of the American Jewish Committee, Mr. David Harris, declared that the Jewish community is grateful and will never forget what Bulgaria has done for the salvation of Bulgarian Jewry. He also noted that the organization represented by him appreciates highly the actions undertaken by Bulgaria with respect to the terrorist attack in the town of Burgas and expressed gratitude for the quick and adequate measures of the Bulgarian institutions.

The National Assembly President Tsetska Tsacheva expressed confidence that the traditionally good partnership between the Bulgarian institutions and the Jewish organizations, including the American Jewish Committee, is to further develop and deepen. She said that both parties were sharing the same values that were in the foundation of their long-standing cooperation.