Jews in Sofia, capital of Nazi-dominated Bulgaria, were told yesterday that they had three days to leave the city “voluntarily.” If they do not depart for specially designated provincial districts before then, they will be deported from the country, an official announcement said.
The Bulgarian Minister of Interior, when issuing this order which affects 25,000 Jews, declared that “the measure has become necessary in the interests of the nation.” The Jews, he stated, have repeatedly ignored the requests of the authorities to leave the capital voluntarily. “Moreover, they are spreading rumors which cause political insecurity, and they constitute the most dangerous element among those causing disturbances, “he charged.
The position of the Jews in Bulgaria becomes worse daily as the German authorities seem to be pressing the Bulgarian Government for more drastic anti-Jewish measures. Anti-Jewish demonstrations are now staged with the consent of the Government in practically every large city in Bulgaria on the pretext that Jews are behind political assassinations. A number of enterprises have notified Jews that nothing will be sold to them in the future, while some stores already refuse to sell commodities to Jews.
A report from Rumania reaching here today states that five hundred Jews were arrested during the week-end in Bucharest and sent to a concentration camp on the pretext that they were frequenting gambling houses.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
