Customer Reviews

Beyond Hitler's Grasp: The Heroic Rescue of Bulgaria's Jews

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1 star:		(4)

 

 

Mr. Bar Zohar intricate and well researched study of the rescue of Bulgaria's Jews is an insightful look into how a nation saved its own citizens from the death camps. The book is well written and at times flows like a novel. It is a must for any serious student of the holocaust or of Bulgaria.

What I found most interesting is the juxtaposition of the treatment of Bulgarian's own Jews with their abandonment of the Jews of Macedonia to the Nazis. While the Bulgarians, from the King down to common citizens stood up and placed their lives in jeopardy in order to save the Jewish citizens of Bulgaria, they hardly lent a hand to save from deportation to the death camps the Jews of the territories that they annexed. Bar-Zohar does not extensively discuss this dichotomy, even though it reenforces his central thesis that Bulgarians saw Bulgarian-Jews as Bulgarians and not as Jews.

The story of the rescue has a larger message beyond that of a single nation. It makes one question what might have happened had more leaders had the courage of King Boris III in standing up to Hitler. It is a pity that Bar-Zohar did not spend more time discussing the wider implications.

Finally, the book is worth reading if only to remind one that there were people when faced with the Nazi horror who did the right thing. That there were Christians who stood up, and based on their religious beliefs, rescued non-Christians because their faith compelled them to do so.

Michael Bar-Zochar has written a well researched detailed account of the Bulgarian resistance to shipping off the 50,000 Bulgarian Jews to certain death in Eastern Europe (Poland). The book has political, historical, religious, sociologic, personal and emotional layers of understanding of Bulgaria, its people, king, church, and even its fascists. As an example it teaches how Bulgaria became an ally of Germany (to recapture provinces lost to Greece, Yugoslovia and Romania after World War I) but never declared war on Russia (who had liberated Bulgaria from Turkish rule half a century before World War II)

An exciting part was the ability to hang the reader on the edge of the chair as the deportations approached and then were stopped at the last moment.

An emotional part was a Holocaust story in which the righteous Christian Bulgarians (with some help from communists and even some Bulgarian Fascists) stood up for decency, for democratic principles, for protection of the minorities, for behavior that wouldn't shame their country after it was done...I cried.

This book takes the reader beyond the usual Poland-Western Russia Holocaust to a German ally,Bulgaria, and the actions of the citizens of Bulgaria in saving all the Jews in their country. Mr. Bar-Zohar details how an entire country from King Boris III to the various Metropolitans, working in unison, were able to stop Hitler's demand for the deportation of Bulgarian Jewry. This book is well written, well researched, and ranks as one of the very best stories dealing with the Holocaust. The heroic deeds presented in this book are a turn from the usual Holocaust writings in that they present the difference a people can make in preventing what so many other countries failed to do. The reader is left with a strong feel for the Bulgarian people, and with questions for the countries where large segments of the population cooperated with the Nazi plan for the extermination of the Jews. I strongly recommend this complete story of the Holocaust in Bulgaria as must reading for anyone with an interest in the Holocaust, as a comparison of where prejudice can lead or not lead if absent,and where real heroes take their actions for granted.

Beyond Hitler's Grasp is a fine account of Bulgaria's position during the Holocaust. Michael Bar Zohar gives a good summary of the events that led to Bulgaria's controversial alliance with Hitler's Germany. However, there were certainly enough humanitarians in Bulgaria to spare the Jews of the fate that their bretheren in other countries suffered.

What is certainly captivating is King Boris' role in trying to appease all sides. He want Bulgaria to recapture the land it lost to Turkey therefore leading to the temporary alliance with Germany. However, there were still some common relations with the Russians that kept Bulgaria from fully participating in Word War II on a military basis.

King Boris never had any problem with the Jews. The King had many Jewish associates. Furthermore, many of the Jews blended into Bulgarian society without calling attention to themselves except when being persecuted by Belev and his cronies. Even though Boris was described as weak willed, somehow his non-confrontational atitude held Hitler at bay to save the lives of 50,000 Jews. Its too bad he did not extend himself for the Jews of Thrace and Macedonia.

Nonetheless, its a shame and a travesty that more of an attempt to thwart Hitler's reign of terror did not occur. Countries like Poland and France could have learned something from Bulgaria's unique relationship with its mainland Jews.

This is an easy to read but detailed account of this critical period of World History. I would highly recommend this Bulgarian perspective as a comprehensive overview of the events of the Holocaust.

There were acts of courage that took place during the course of the Holocaust that are not very well known. Many of those courageous acts occured in a surprising place: the nation of Bulgaria in Eastern Europe. During the war Bulgaria was an ally of Nazi Germany, and under intense pressure to surrender its' 50,000 Jewish citizens to Germany. The Jews would then be taken to their deaths in Poland. Early in 1943 plans for the deportation of the Bulgarian Jews were drawn up by Bulgarian and Nazi leaders, and the deadly process was well under way. Long empty trains began arriving at key stations in Bulgaria, ready to take the Jews to Poland. Everything was prepared for the purpose of death; meticulously planned. Within a few short hours, the Jews would be brutally herded to the trains and taken away. The Jews of Bulgaria would disappear forever in Poland, and it seemed that there was nothing that could be done to help them. But then, almost literally at the eleventh hour, the process of deportation was stopped and the Jews of Bulgaria were saved. The trains had to leave the stations, completely empty. The story of the Bulgarian leaders and citizens that moved to save the Jews at that final hour is tense and nerve-wracking. This book tells that story, and the constant battle of wits and wills between those that wished to destroy life; and those that wished to save it. This book reaches a very deep level, because it shows what can happen when people act on what they know is right. This is a book of great moral courage, at a time when it was most desperately needed.

It is very difficult to read about the horrors of the Holocost. But this is a fascinating and uplifting story that gives one hope about human nature. The King and some brave leaders of the Bulgarian legislature and Christian Church successfully resisted the attempts of Hitler and his deputies to deport and exterminate the Jews of Bulgaria. The deportation of the Jews from Thrace and Macedonia is chillingly described and is a vivid reminder of what happened to most of the Jews in Europe because no one had the courage to question or resist the actions of the state. The fact that the common citizens and leaders of Bulgaria refused to buy into the antisemitic rhetoric and legislation of the Nazi's will accrue to their credit because of the true story recounted in this well researched and well documented book.

Serious errors in documentation and unnecessary repetition mar this otherwise interesting work. Bar-Zohar cited Groueff's Crown of Thorns repeatedly, yet even more often copies large sections from Groueff's work verbatim and without acknowledgement. This is extremely disturbing in a supposedly professional historical study. The only area in which Bar-Zohar seems to go out on his own is the period following King Boris' death, an area outside the scope of Groueff's study. For that time period the work is useful; otherwise, read Crown of Thorns instead, or at least, read it first.

This book is truly unique in Holocaust literature. To read a true story about an entire nation that actively resisted the Nazi pressure to transport Jews to the death camps is almost unbelievable, considering the tragedies that occurred in countless other countries. And to discover that all classes in Bulgarian society were determined to protect the Jews, that they considered them above all else human beings and Bulgarian citizens, is awe-inspiring. Especially impressive was the Orthodox Church's concern for and constant striving to protect the Jews. After reading Bar-Zohar's splendid book, one can only ask: why weren't other European countries more like the Bulgarians? Bravo to the author for writing about this fascinating and little-known piece of history. Well-researched and written; I can't recommend this book highly enough. An absolute must for any serious student of the Holocaust, or for anyone who wants to read a history book that unfolds like an exciting novel.

The retelling of the tragedy of the Holocost is always difficult to read. But to learn about the actions of many brave people in Bulgaria including the King, members of the clergy and the legislature that successfully thwarted the Germans is both fascinating and satisfying. The added feature that the story is told by someone who lived the drama makes the story even more compelling. Highly recommended!

A must read. The author has obviously done his homework. This translates into a richly detailed account of the events surrounding the persecution of Bulgarian Jews in WWII, as well as insight into the motivations of the key players of the whole affair, including Tsar Boris, Peshev, and Metropolitan Stefan. Unfortunately, the book is poorly edited, with simple grammar and organizational mistakes throughout. The translations of the quoted passages, those originally in Bulgarian, at least, sometimes leave much to be desired. This is not to take away from the author's most compelling argument, that the non-Jewish Bulgarians' lack of anti-Semitism and sense of moral decency are what saved their fellow Jewish citizens from being carted off to Treblinka. This lends historical credence to Goldhagen's assertion that the German people's indifference and anti-Semitism aided Hitler's crazed dream of "racial purification".