The persecution of Jews in Bulgaria

The legation has the honour of dispatching to the Royal Ministry a report received from the Consulate of Sofia, No. 56. of 28 May 1943, on the above-quoted topic.

With reference to previous reports, the Consulate hereby has the honour to report that according to a regulation of the Minister of the Interior, published in the current Press on the 25th of this month, all Jews in Sofia must be moved to the Province. As written in the Consulate's Report no. 94 from 1.9.1942 all unemployed Jews were to leave Sofia. However, since only a few Jews have left Sofia, the Commission on Jewish Affairs is now carrying out an expulsion. Every Jewish family in Sofia is given a 3-day time limit to leave Sofia, during which the provincial town is announced to which they have to relocate. Those Jews who do not comply with this regulation will be expelled from the country immediately.

About 23,000 Jews are affected by this Regulation. In Sofia, there are approx. 25,000 Jews, and only Jews who are foreign nationals, and Jews who are civilized mobilized can still remain in Sofia. In old Bulgaria, there are approx. 41,000 Jews, including 18,000 in the Province. About 10,000 Jews are mobilized, and the majority are employed by road construction workers.

Erik Andreas Mathias Biering