Speaker of Parliament Tsveta Karayancheva and MPs attended the commemorative ceremony for the 75th anniversary of the rescue of Bulgarian Jews and paid respect to the memory of the 11,343 victims from Western Thrace, Vardar Macedonia and the town of Pirot.

The ceremony, which took place in front of the Monument of Salvation by the National Assembly, was hosted by the Municipality of Sofia and the Organisation of Jews in Bulgaria “Shalom”.

Speaker of Parliament Tsveta Karayancheva said before journalists that the ceremony was to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the rescue of Bulgarian Jews, when parliamentarians, the Bulgarian Church and the whole Bulgarian community stood as one to save their compatriots. This act is worthy of respect and admiration, she emphasised.

A delegation from Israel, involving representatives of all large organisations and associations of Bulgarian Jews, attended the event. Honorary Chair of the delegation Harry Sessler said that the Bulgarian Jews were part of the Bulgarian nation and there for it stood as one to protect them. Today we still feel this and do our best to help Bulgaria, to stay in touch with it and this will continue, emphasised Harry Sessler.

President of the Organisation of Jews in Bulgaria “Shalom” Dr Alexander Oscar said that among those who rescued the Bulgarian Jews were both well-known and unknown people at the time. It is our duty to remember all those respectable Bulgarians, who took the side of good and life, and upheld the long-standing Bulgarian traditions of tolerance and mutual understanding, he added.

Speaker of Parliament Tsveta Karayancheva and MPs laid wreaths and flowers at the Monument of Salvation.