Law to Protect the Nation

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Basic data
Title: Law for the Protection of the Nation
Zakon za zaščista na nacijata
Abbreviation: ZZN
Type: National law
Scope: Bulgaria
Legal matter: Racial Law
Original version from:
Entry into force on: January 1941
New announcement from: January 23, 1941
Expiry: 1944
Please note the note on the applicable legal version.

The Law for the Protection of the Nation (Bulgarian: Zakon za zaščista na nacijata ) was an anti-Jewish Bulgarian law that was in force from January 1941 to 1944.

History of origin

When Petar Gabrowski was appointed Minister of the Interior, numerous right-wing extremist Ratniki joined the Ministry of the Interior in February 1940 and shaped its anti-Semitic orientation. The fundamental decision for an anti-Jewish law based on the German model was made by Tsar Boris III. and the government that is dependent on it, assuming that with the support of the German Reich, border shifts in favor of Bulgaria could be achieved. German pressure was not necessary. After Alexander Belev traveled to Germany in the summer of 1940 to study the Nuremberg Laws , Gabrowski announced the submission of a law on the Jewish question in July 1940 . After heated debates and minor changes, it was passed by parliament in December, approved by the Tsar in January and published in the State Gazette on January 23, 1941.

After the Hungarian accession to the Tripartite Pact and the permission to march through for German troops during the Balkan campaign in April 1941, Italy and Germany granted Bulgaria parts of Macedonia , Thrace and Pirot .

Content and application

Law to Protect the Nation

The law stipulated that persons of Jewish descent should have at least one Jewish parent

  • must be registered within one month in the population register and a police file,
  • lose active and passive voting rights,
  • must resign from public office within one month,
  • are not allowed to enter into marriages with persons of Bulgarian voting,
  • have to sell the property and have to declare all of their property,
  • the exercise of certain professional activities is denied or only permitted to a limited extent,
  • should only have a limited share in the school system,
  • freedom of movement - in particular moving to Sofia - has been denied,
  • instead of military service, they had to do labor in Jewish labor groups.

Initially, the law was frequently circumvented. The confiscation of Jewish property, on the other hand, was strictly carried out. After the Balkan campaign at the end of April, it was also used in the quasi-annexed areas. The law was perceived at the time as a symbolic act of opportunism towards Germany, but at the same time it was a legal basis for presenting anti-Jewish measures as preventive restrictions.

Further legal regulations

Further anti-Semitic regulations followed:

  • In July 1941 the Jewish property tax
  • In February 1942 the law against speculation in real estate

On August 26, the Council of Ministers was authorized to regulate Jewish affairs without the consent of parliament. Thus, by government decree of August 26, 1942, the Commissariat for Jewish Affairs was created . With the exception of the Anti-Speculation Law and the Law on Taxation of Jews, it was responsible for all measures against the Jews . Belev was appointed director. The commissariat planned to deport all Jews and confiscate their property after registration . One of the main tasks of the commissariat was the liquidation or “Bulgarization” of Jewish companies.

On March 2, 1943, based on Belev's proposals for the deportation of Jews from the annexed areas, the Bulgarian cabinet passed a series of deportation decrees on the secondment of staff, free transportation, loss of citizenship and confiscation of Jewish property. Almost 11,500 Jews were deported from the annexed areas in March 1943 and extradited to the German Reich at the border. Interior Minister Gabrowski postponed further deportation preparations for the Bulgarian heartland at the suggestion of the throne, but Belev drafted a step-by-step deportation plan to Poland, which Gabrowski presented to the Tsar on May 20, 1943 for information. The Jews from Sofia were only asked to leave the capital and their property was auctioned.

Repeal

On August 31, 1944, the Jewish laws were partially repealed. The new government under Konstantin Muraviev issued an amnesty for violations of the law and in October 1944 the new government under Prime Minister Kimon Georgiev canceled all anti-Jewish measures.

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Jens Hoppe: Bulgaria . In: Handbook of Antisemitism . Ed .: Benz and Mihok, Saur Verlag 2008, ISBN 978-3-598-24071-3 , p. 67.
  2. ^ Hans-Joachim Hoppe: Bulgaria. In: Wolfgang Benz (Ed.): Dimension of the genocide. Oldenbourg, 1991, ISBN 3-486-54631-7 , p. 280 ff. / Printed as document VEJ 13/286 in: Mariana Hausleitner u. a. (Ed.): The persecution and murder of European Jews by National Socialist Germany 1933–1945 (collection of sources) Volume 13: Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria . Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-11-036500-9 , pp. 593–600.
  3. ↑ Nadège Ragaru: Nationalizing the Holocaust . In: The Holocaust and European Societies . Ed .: Bajohr and Löw, Palgrave 2016, ISBN 978-1-137-56983-7 , p. 109.
  4. ↑ Mariana Hausleitner u. a. (Ed.): The persecution and murder of European Jews ... Volume 13, Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-11-036500-9 , p. 77.
  5. ^ Hans-Joachim Hoppe: Bulgaria. In: Wolfgang Benz (Ed.): Dimension of the genocide. Oldenbourg, 1991, ISBN 3-486-54631-7 , p. 280 ff.
  6. ↑ Rossitza Ivkova: Rescue and murder in genocidal decision-making processes: Bulgaria 1941-1943 . Dissertation. Bielefeld University 2004, p. 35.
  7. ↑ Rossitza Ivkova: Rescue and murder in genocidal decision-making processes: Bulgaria 1941-1943 . P. 44.
  8. ↑ VEJ 13/289.
  9. ^ Hans-Joachim Hoppe: Bulgaria. P. 283 f.
  10. ^ Jens Hoppe: Bulgaria . P. 68.
  11. ^ Hans-Joachim Hoppe: Bulgaria. P. 283 f.
  12. ^ Hans-Joachim Hoppe: Bulgaria. P. 287 f.
  13. ↑ VEJ 13/328.
  14. ^ Hans-Joachim Hoppe: Bulgaria. P. 303 f.
  15. ^ Hutzelmann, Hausleitner, Hazan: Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria . De Gruyter 2018, ISBN 978-3-11-036500-9 . P. 92.