Embassy of Bulgaria Washington DC

Homepage	Remarks of Richard Schifter on being awarded the Bulgarian Order of “Stara Planina” First Class at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC, March 26, 2003. I want to extend my thanks to you, Madam Ambassador, and through you to the Government of Bulgaria, for the honor that has just been bestowed upon me. I deem it particularly meaningful that the award of this decoration has been linked with the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of Bulgaria’s decision to refuse Hitler’s demand to send Bulgaria’s 50,000 Jews to the Nazi death camps. Last November I spoke at my synagogue to mark the 60th anniversary of the days in which I believe my own father and mother were killed in the death camp of Majdanek. It is, therefore, a matter of special meaning to me that very shortly after my parents became victims, the entire Jewish population of a country, a population that was to be murdered as well, was saved from that fate. Let me us this opportunity to emphasize one point, a point that is highly relevant to the present: the Jews were saved because of the inherent decency of the Bulgarian people. It was the people who rose up at a point when the orders for the arrest of Bulgaria’s Jews had already been given and preparations were in place for their deportation to the death camps. It was the leaders of civil society, intellectuals, members of the professions, parliamentarians, the leadership of the Orthodox Church, but also many ordinary citizens that showed no hesitation to speak out and press for the cancellation of what were in effect death warrants. It was Hitler’s ambassador in Sofia who unintentionally bestowed appropriate praise on the Bulgarian people. As he put it in one of his reports: “Partly raised with Greeks, Armenians, Turks and Gypsies, the average Bulgarian does not understand the meaning of the struggle against the Jews, the more so as the racial question is totally foreign to him.” What better testimony can there be to the openness of Bulgarian society? Regrettably, history did not treat Bulgaria well during the decades immediately following World War II. Of all the countries that were part of the Warsaw Pact, Bulgaria was destined to live longest under a system of government that imitated that of Joseph Stalin. Even so, the basic character of Bulgarians could not be changed. When I first went to the UN Human Rights Commission I thought it would be a good idea to make personal contact with someone from the Warsaw Pact delegations. As I looked around and wondered who of the Soviet bloc diplomats might be a good person to talk to, it struck me that the Bulgarian representative seemed more human and less of an automaton than any of the others. We met, got to know each other and remained friends across the years. As it is, the Communist dictatorship of Bulgaria finally came to an end, an end brought on, interestingly enough, by Bulgarian environmentalists who took advantage of an international meeting to demonstrate in the streets of Sofia against the environmental policies of their government. Recently a columnist with no real understanding of international affairs sought to denigrate Bulgaria. Let me, therefore, use this opportunity to point out that when the Communists were overthrown in November 1989, Bulgaria became overnight a vibrant democracy, demonstrating that not even forty-five years Communist rule could quench that spirit of independence. Since 1990 has had a series of Parliamentary and Presidential elections, elections that have often resulted in changes of government. These elections have unquestionably been free and fair. Civil liberties are respected in the country now. Bulgaria is today indeed a valued member of the family of democratic nations. As a member of the United Nations Security Council, it has in recent months demonstrated that it understands the threat posed to humanity by the availability of weapons of mass destruction to totalitarian dictators. That experience of the last few months, including the help extended by Bulgaria in the war in Iraq, has certainly cemented the friendship of Bulgaria and the United States. And everyone who knows you, Madam Ambassador, recognizes that a person of your talents will serve to strengthen the ties that bind us.

Remarks of Richard Schifter

on being awarded the Bulgarian Order of “Stara Planina” First Class

at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC, March 26, 2003.

I want to extend my thanks to you, Madam Ambassador, and through you to the Government of Bulgaria, for the honor that has just been bestowed upon me. I deem it particularly meaningful that the award of this decoration has been linked with the commemoration of the 60th anniversary of Bulgaria’s decision to refuse Hitler’s demand to send Bulgaria’s 50,000 Jews to the Nazi death camps.

Last November I spoke at my synagogue to mark the 60th anniversary of the days in which I believe my own father and mother were killed in the death camp of Majdanek. It is, therefore, a matter of special meaning to me that very shortly after my parents became victims, the entire Jewish population of a country, a population that was to be murdered as well, was saved from that fate.

Let me us this opportunity to emphasize one point, a point that is highly relevant to the present: the Jews were saved because of the inherent decency of the Bulgarian people. It was the people who rose up at a point when the orders for the arrest of Bulgaria’s Jews had already been given and preparations were in place for their deportation to the death camps. It was the leaders of civil society, intellectuals, members of the professions, parliamentarians, the leadership of the Orthodox Church, but also many ordinary citizens that showed no hesitation to speak out and press for the cancellation of what were in effect death warrants.

It was Hitler’s ambassador in Sofia who unintentionally bestowed appropriate praise on the Bulgarian people. As he put it in one of his reports: “Partly raised with Greeks, Armenians, Turks and Gypsies, the average Bulgarian does not understand the meaning of the struggle against the Jews, the more so as the racial question is totally foreign to him.” What better testimony can there be to the openness of Bulgarian society?

Regrettably, history did not treat Bulgaria well during the decades immediately following World War II. Of all the countries that were part of the Warsaw Pact, Bulgaria was destined to live longest under a system of government that imitated that of Joseph Stalin. Even so, the basic character of Bulgarians could not be changed. When I first went to the UN Human Rights Commission I thought it would be a good idea to make personal contact with someone from the Warsaw Pact delegations. As I looked around and wondered who of the Soviet bloc diplomats might be a good person to talk to, it struck me that the Bulgarian representative seemed more human and less of an automaton than any of the others. We met, got to know each other and remained friends across the years. As it is, the Communist dictatorship of Bulgaria finally came to an end, an end brought on, interestingly enough, by Bulgarian environmentalists who took advantage of an international meeting to demonstrate in the streets of Sofia against the environmental policies of their government.

Recently a columnist with no real understanding of international affairs sought to denigrate Bulgaria. Let me, therefore, use this opportunity to point out that when the Communists were overthrown in November 1989, Bulgaria became overnight a vibrant democracy, demonstrating that not even forty-five years Communist rule could quench that spirit of independence. Since 1990 has had a series of Parliamentary and Presidential elections, elections that have often resulted in changes of government. These elections have unquestionably been free and fair. Civil liberties are respected in the country now. Bulgaria is today indeed a valued member of the family of democratic nations. As a member of the United Nations Security Council, it has in recent months demonstrated that it understands the threat posed to humanity by the availability of weapons of mass destruction to totalitarian dictators.

That experience of the last few months, including the help extended by Bulgaria in the war in Iraq, has certainly cemented the friendship of Bulgaria and the United States. And everyone who knows you, Madam Ambassador, recognizes that a person of your talents will serve to strengthen the ties that bind us.