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The Fragility of Goodness: Why Bulgaria's Jews Survived the Holocaust

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It is no big surprise that Todorov published a book on the Bulgarian Jews' salvation issue. First, it goes within the major topic of his later research: the value of ethics in extreme circumstances. Second, his Bulgarian origin should made him, even for simply methodological reasons, pay more attention to the country where he comes from (and which one would expect him to know well). The book follows a scheme that Todorov already employed ten years ago in compiling the witnesses' tales of three Bulgarian citizens severely (and unreasonably) persecuted by the Communist secret police in the early 60's: no place for comments, the floor is given to the "historical figures" themselves. Yet, while in the previous "Bulgarian" book the historical figures spoke with their own words, here Todorov is constricted to the existing documentation (no one of the participants in the '43 events is still alive). And this is why he, everything taken into acount, fails. The texts are insufficient to build a complete picture of WWII Bulgaria because of their "official" character: they do not present in detail the motivation even of those main figures that were most deeply involved in the salvation (or effective dispatch to the camps of death), yet they are not adjoined by any commentary by the author wich to elucidate them better. The author's position is limited (and this is quite a particular case!) to the title itself which, however, is misleading, too. Shall we interpret it literally in the sense that Bulgarians should not really boast about saving the Jews; or shall we understand it within the broader context of Todorov's work, as just one more argument in favor of Todorov's general concept of the relativity of morality? The truth is even now I cannot choose the correct answer.

The author thoroughly explores the chain of events and actions that led to the rescue of Bulgarian Jews from Holocaust. In addition to his own remarks, the author provides a set of documents relevant to the period of persecution and possible deportation of Bulgarian Jews. The memoirs and diaries of political (and moral) adversaries describing the same events are put together. The clash of individual / group actions and opinions reveals the struggle between good and evil, courage and cowardliness in the Bulgarian society and government of 1940s. The author puts special emphasis on the brave attempt of Dimitar Peshev, the Vice-Chairman of National Assembly, to prevent Jewish deportation. His actions cost him the political post, but his goal was eventually achieved. I believe the author underestimated the role of Bulgarian king Boris in the eventual cancellation of deportation plans. Without his decision, the protests of Peshev, the opposition, and Bulgarian society would be in vain. I think his decision was more than just a calculated move done in Bulgarian national interests. His efforts to defend Jewish lives in the personal meetings with Nazi officials (including Hitler) are evident and should be recognized.

The Fragility of Goodness: Why Bulgaria's Jews Survived the Holocaust by Tzvetan Todorov (Editor) fails in the essential task created by the title - explainig how fragile was the set of circumstances that led to the Jews of Bulgaria being saved. The first 40 or so pages of the book is a concise history of Bulgaria and the Second World War with the remainer of the book restricted to primary historical documents and memories of the major participants.

The stated premise of the book is that goodness is fragile and that the saving of Bulgarian's Jews was not a forgone conclusion. The author ignores that fact that few historical events were forgone conclusions. Even the rise of Hitler was not preordianed and but for the acts of Hindengurg and a few Weimar leaders who thought that they could control Hitler there might not have been a Holocaust. Todorov does not explain why the events in Bulgaria are any different from every other historical event.

If one want to read a comprehensive history of Bulgaria during World War II, I would suggest Beyond Hitler's Grasp: The Heroic Rescue of Bulgaria's Jews by Michael Bar-Zohar. The Fragility of Goodness is wothwhile for the presence of the primary sources, but not much else.

There are two elements to this fascinating book. One is the basic facts, including lengthy excerpts from primary sources, of a story that deserves to be much better-known than it is in the West. The other is the author's philosophical observations on those basic facts. There is heroism here, but do not expect a simple depiction of good guys and bad guys. As the title suggests, Todorov believes it all could have gone much differently, and quite easily. In this book, history is as much about luck, happenstance, and coincidence as it is about intention. The book is worth reading for the story alone, whether or not you accept Todorov's analysis, but even if you disagree with him, his views are thought-provoking.