The Sofia radio today broadcast a lengthy explanatory statement concerning the abolition yesterday by the Bulgarian Government of anti-Jewish legislation, emphasizing that all confiscated property will be returned to Jews and that the decree covers all anti-Jewish measures whether of a “political, moral or police character.”
The statement says that the abolition applies to all decrees issued under the “law for defense of the state” as well as the cabinet order of August 29, 1942. All restrictions are abolished including the wearing of yellow badges, prohibitions on freedom of movement, places of residence or practice of professions.
The functions of the dissolved Commissariat for Jewish Affairs have been transferred to various ministries. The Ministries of Finance and Agriculture will deal with the question of Jewish property, while the Ministry of the Interior will issue instructions and legislative decrees covering the resettlement of exiled Jews and the legal problems arising from the restitution of Jewish possessions.
The statement revealed that on August 24 the Minister of the Interior received the executive council of the Jewish Consistory to whom he explained the government’s decision to rescind anti-Jewish legislation. The council expressed full satisfaction and declared their support of the Bulgarian State, to which, they said, they had never ceased their allegiance.
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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.
