Commissariat for Jewish questions

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The Commissariat for Jewish Affairs (Bulgarian: Komisasrstvo za evreiskite vuprosi for short: KEV) was established in Bulgaria by government decree of August 26, 1942. It was supposed to be responsible for all measures against Jews with the exception of the taxation of Jews and the anti-speculation law and worked out the deportation plans in Bulgaria.

Bulgarian Race Law and the Jewish Question

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. From 1940, Alexander Belev headed an initially unofficial department for Jewish issues. 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 and after a heated debate the law to protect the nation was approved by the Tsar in January 1941.

The law was initially handled laxly and often circumvented by bypassing Belev's department. 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.

Commissariat

While the Wannsee Conference was in session, Belev traveled to Berlin on the instructions of Gabrowki and reported in June 1942 that the Bulgarian government also had to make preparations for the deportation. On August 26, 1942, the Council of Ministers was authorized to regulate Jewish affairs without the consent of parliament. The Commissariat for Jewish Questions (KEV) was created by government decree of August 26, 1942 . Belev was appointed director. The Council of Ministers only had oversight over the decisions of the KEV and the Parliament only over the decisions of the government, which according to the law was in most cases post factum. The commissariat planned to deport all Jews and confiscate their property after registration . One of the main tasks of the KEV was the liquidation or “Bulgarization” of Jewish companies.

Belev and SS-Hauptsturmführer Theodor Dannecker agreed in February 1943 to deport 8,000 Jews from Macedonia and 6,000 Jews from Thrace, as the Jewish minority there were seen as an obstacle to the Bulgarization plans, as well as 6,000 Jews from Old Bulgaria. Based on Belev's proposals for the deportation of Jews from the annexed areas, the Bulgarian cabinet passed a series of deportation decrees on March 2, 1943, 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.

During the main campaigns in spring 1943, the KEV comprised over 100 permanent and almost 60 temporary employees. It was financed through Jewish bank accounts, taxes and other levies.

After the sudden death of Tsar Boris in August 1943, Italy's change of front after the Cassibile armistice and the setbacks on the German Eastern Front, a three-member Regency Council took over the Bulgarian leadership. Interior minister was the anti-Semite Dočo Christov and Christo Stomaniskov took over the management of the KEV. The Bulgarians moved the Jewish question to a higher level and the actual pressure on the Jews eased. The debates about deportations stopped.

Work-up

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. At the end of the war, Belev fled to Kyustendil , where he was caught and shot in September 1944 on the way to Sofia for his planned trial. On April 3, 1945, Belev was posthumously sentenced to death by People's Court VII .

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.
  3. ^ Hans-Joachim Hoppe: Bulgaria. In: Wolfgang Benz (Ed.): Dimension of the genocide. Oldenbourg, 1991, ISBN 3-486-54631-7 , p. 280 ff.
  4. ↑ Rossitza Ivkova: Rescue and murder in genocidal decision-making processes: Bulgaria 1941-1943 . P.56.
  5. ^ Hans-Joachim Hoppe: Bulgaria. P. 283 f.
  6. ^ Jens Hoppe: Bulgaria . P. 68.
  7. ^ Hans-Joachim Hoppe: Bulgaria. P. 283 f.
  8. ^ Hagen Fleischer: Greece. In: Dimension of Genocide. Ed .: Benz, dtv1996, ISBN 3-423-04690-2 , p. 255 f.
  9. ^ Hans-Joachim Hoppe: Bulgaria. P. 287 f.
  10. ^ Hans-Joachim Hoppe: Bulgaria. P. 303 f.
  11. ^ Hans Joachim Hoppe: Bulgaria . P. 283.
  12. ^ Hans-Joachim Hoppe: Bulgaria . P. 305 f.
  13. ^ Hutzelmann, Hausleitner, Hazan: Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria . De Gruyter 2018, ISBN 978-3-11-036500-9 . P. 92.
  14. ^ Daniel S. Maraschin: Saving Bulgarian Jewry: 75 years later . In: Times of Israel. March 25, 2018, accessed March 10, 2019.
  15. ↑ Michael Bar-Zohar: Beyond Hitler's Grasp: The Heroic Rescue of Bulgaria's Jews . Adams Media 1998, p. 250.