Dimitar Peshev (Bulgarian: Димитър Пешев) (25 June 1894 - 25 February 1973) was the Bulgarian Parliament Deputy Speaker and Minister of Justice during World War II. He rebelled against the pro-Nazi cabinet and prevented the deportation of Bulgaria's 48,000 Jews. June 25 is the 176th day of the year (177th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 189 days remaining. ... 1894 (MDCCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... February 25 is the 56th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... States currently utilizing parliamentary systems are denoted in orange and red—the former being constitutional monarchies where authority is vested in a parliament, and the latter being parliamentary republics whose parliaments are effectively supreme over a separate head of state. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, the use of images on this page may require cleanup, involving adjustment of image placement, formatting, size, or other adjustments. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Deportation is the expelling of someone from a country. ...

Context of Bulgaria during World War Two

King Boris of Bulgaria joined in an alliance with Hitler in 1940 agreeing to follow his anti-Semitic course. On September 7, 1940, Romania and Bulgaria, under the auspices of Germany, signed the "Law for the Defense of the Nation", which was modeled off the Nuremberg Laws. These laws depicted the Jews as the country's most vile enemies and defined anybody who had at least one Jewish parent as a Jew. Under the law, Jews were no longer eligible for Bulgarian citizenship, had to change their last names if they resembled anything Bulgarian and could not intermarry with non-Jews. A strict quota of less than 1% was instituted dictating how many Jews could study in universities, and Jews could not employ the majority of occupations. The ZZN was supported by Bulgaria's bourgeoisie who wanted the Jews removed from the trade alliance with Germany and economic life in general. However, the majority of Bulgarians, including the Communist Party, the Eastern Orthodox Church, writers, artists, lawyers and other members of the intelligentsia opposed the law. Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria, (photographed in 1933) Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria (January 30, 1894 – August 28, 1943), originally Boris Klemens Robert Maria Pius Ludwig Stanislaus Xaver, son of Ferdinand I, came to the throne in 1918 upon the abdication of his father, following Bulgarias defeat in World... Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945, standard German pronunciation in the IPA) was the Führer (leader) of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) and of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. ... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ... bourgeoisie is basically a trem that meens middle class. ... In modern usage, a communist party is a political party which promotes communism, the sociopolitical ideology based on Marxism. ... The Eastern Orthodox Church is a Christian body that encompasses national jurisdictions such as the Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Serbian Orthodoxand other Churches (see Eastern Orthodox Church organization). ... The term writer can apply to anyone who creates a written work, but the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... Look up artist in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... British barrister 16th century painting of a civil law notary, by Flemish painter Quentin Massys. ... The word intelligentsia came into the modern global vocabulary from Russia. ...

The Bulgarian government signed an agreement declaring that, on March 10, 1943, all of Bulgaria's 48,000 Jews would be deported from the Kyustendil train station and sent to death camps in Poland. This deportation was organized under the leadership of Teodor Danecker, an SS officer very close to Eichmann. Jews in the Bulgarian territories of Thrace and Macedonia would also be rounded up and deported. Kyustendil Kyustendil (Bulgarian: Кюстендил, historically Велбъжд, Velbazhd) is a town in the very west of Bulgaria, the capital of Kyustendil Province, with a population of 47,196 (2005 calculation). ... Majdanek - crematorium Extermination camp (German Vernichtungslager) was the term applied to a group of camps set up by Nazi Germany during World War II for the express purpose of killing the Jews of Europe, although members of some other groups whom the Nazis wished to exterminate, such as Roma (Gypsies... The infamous double-sig rune SS insignia. ... Adolf Eichmann (March 19, 1906 — June 1, 1962) was a high-ranking official in Nazi Germany, and served as an Obersturmbannführer in the S.S.. He was largely responsible for the logistics of the extermination of millions of people during the Holocaust, in particular Jews, which was called the final... Thrace (Greek Θράκη, ThrákÄ“, Latin: Thracia or Threcia, Turkish Trakya, Bulgarian Тракия, Trakiya) is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. ...

Peshev's personal background

Born in 1894 in Kyustendil to an affluent family, Dimitar Peshev had studied languages in Saloniki and law in Sofia. He fought in World War One on the southern front and, a year after the war, completed his law studies and became a judge. He was known in Parliament and politics as being an honest and honorable man and, in 1938, won the position of Deputy Speaker. His main interests were in safeguarding human rights and the Constitution. He was strongly disliked by Prime Minister Bogdan Filov. Kyustendil Kyustendil (Bulgarian: Кюстендил, historically Велбъжд, Velbazhd) is a town in the very west of Bulgaria, the capital of Kyustendil Province, with a population of 47,196 (2005 calculation). ... Thessaloníki (Θεσσαλονίκη; pronounced IPA /θɛ.sa. ... Flag Seal Location Position of Sofia in Bulgaria Government Country  Province Bulgaria  Sofia-City Mayor Boyko Borisov Geographical characteristics Area    - City 1,310 km²    - Land   (?) km²    - Water   (?) km² Population    - City (2006) 1,376,742    - Density   907/km² Coordinates , Elevation 550 m Time zone - Summer (DST) EET (UTC+2) EEST (UTC... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... A judge or justice is an official who presides over a court. ... States currently utilizing parliamentary systems are denoted in orange and red—the former being constitutional monarchies where authority is vested in a parliament, and the latter being parliamentary republics whose parliaments are effectively supreme over a separate head of state. ... Human rights are rights which some hold to be inalienable and belonging to all humans. ... Bogdan Filov (1883 - 1945) was a powerful politician in Bulgaria during Germany and became a university professor and historian in Bulgaria. ...

Peshev's Role in the Jewish Deportation

Peshev was a good friend of Bulgaria's Jewish community. However, he had not objected to the institution of the ZZN. In the beginning of March 1943, the Jews of Kyustendil were ordered by the Commissariat on the Jewish Issues to leave their homes with only a few belongings. Understanding the implications of this order, the citizens of Kyustendil appointed a delegation to ask the government to repeal this evacuation order. On March 8, 1943, the delegation marched into Dimitar Peshev's office. One of the delegates, Peshev's Jewish friend, Jakob Baruch, informed him of the government's plan to deport the Jews. At first, Peshev thought Baruch's words to be untrue until he called several high government officials who confirmed the rumor. By the morning of March 9, Peshev had made up his mind to halt the deportations. Kyustendil Kyustendil (Bulgarian: Кюстендил, historically Велбъжд, Velbazhd) is a town in the very west of Bulgaria, the capital of Kyustendil Province, with a population of 47,196 (2005 calculation). ... Kyustendil Kyustendil (Bulgarian: Кюстендил, historically Велбъжд, Velbazhd) is a town in the very west of Bulgaria, the capital of Kyustendil Province, with a population of 47,196 (2005 calculation). ...

Peshev tried several times to see Filov but the prime minster refused. Next, he and his close friend and colleague, Peter Mikhalev, went to see Interior Minister Gabrovski insisting that he cancel the deportations. After much persuasion, Gabrovski finally called the governor of Kyustendil and instructed him to stop preparations for the Jewish deportations. By 5:30 p.m. on March 9th, the order had been cancelled. However, the order did not reach all the Bulgarian cities on time and, on the morning of March 10th, police began to round up Jews in Thrace and Macedonia.

Once Peshev learned about this, he wrote a letter to Filov on March 19th which aimed to prevent any future anti-Jewish legislation in Bulgaria. He, along with the Kyustendil delegates, got 43 government deputies to sign the letter. These signatures were only from members of the pro-government majority so that no one could accuse Peshev of acting against the government.

Under the pressure from the King and the Prime Minister, who was furious at Peshev's letter, 42 of the deputies withdrew their signatures. Peshev was the only official to refuse to do this and, as a result, was censured and dismissed from his position of Minister of Justice on March 24th.

Post-War accusations

After the war, the Communists brought forth charges on the Old Bulgarian Parliament for collaboration with the Germans. Peshev was tried for being both an anti-Semite and anti-Communist and was even accused of having been bribed by the Jews in exchange for halting the deportation. However, his Jewish friends from the Kyustendil delegation, led by Joseph Nissim Yasharoff, testified on his behalf and saved him from a death sentence. He was sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment but was released after one year. This article is about communism as a form of society, as an ideology advocating that form of society, and as a popular movement. ...

Righteous Among the Nations

Peshev's deeds went unrecognized for years after the war as he lived an empty, destitute and isolated life. In January 1973, Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust Museum, awarded him the title of "Righteous Among the Nations," for his role in saving Bulgaria's Jews at considerable risk to himself. He died that same year and has only been since recognized by Bulgaria as having performed a great service to humanity during the war years. Yad Vashem memorial sculpture Yad Vashem (יד ושם) is Israels official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust established in 1953 through the Memorial Law passed by the Knesset, Israels parliament. ...

When asked about his rationale for preventing the Jewish deportation, Peshev once stated: "My human conscious and my understanding of the fateful consequences both for the people involved and the policy of our country now and in the future did not allow me to remain idle. And I decided to do all in my power to prevent what was being planned from happening; I knew that this action was going to shame Bulgaria in the eyes of the world and brand her with a stain she didn't deserve" (Bar-Zohar 119).

Honours

Peshev Ridge on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named for Dimitar Peshev. Livingston Island (62°36′ S 060°30′ W) is 61 km (38 mi) long and from 3 to 32 km (2 to 20 mi) wide, lying between Greenwich and Snow Islands in the South Shetland Islands. ... The South Shetland Islands or Iles Shetland du Sud or Islas Shetland del Sur or New South Britain or New South Shetland or Shetland Islands or South Shetlands or Sydshetland or Süd-Shetland Inseln are a chain of islands in the Southern Ocean lying about 120 kilometres northward of...

References

• Assa, A. & Cohen, A. Saving of the Jews in Bulgaria 1941-1944. Sofia: State Publishing House, 1977.
• Bar-Zohar, M. Beyond Hitler's Grasp: The Heroic Rescue of Bulgaria's Jews. Holbrook: Adams Media Corporation, 1998.
• Gilbert, M. The Righteous: The Unsung Heroes of the Holocaust. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2003.
• Yasharoff, Norbert. Bulgaria's Heroes. The Washington Post, December 30, 1999, pg A.30.