Rumyana Chukova, Daniel Vachkov, The 1942/43 British Initiative: Emigration and Transit of Jews from and via Bulgaria

DANIEL VACHKOV, Institute for Historical Studies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia
TOME LXII 2024
p. 253-278
Online publication date: 
10/15/2024
Keywords: 
Bulgaria, British War Cabinet, Holocaust, 4 500 Bulgarian children, Jewish refugees, Final Solution
Abstract: 

The present study’s goal is, on the one hand, to trace how the specific negotiations on the British initiative from the period 1942–1943 aimed at the reception of 4,500 children and the accompanying 500 adults from and through Bulgaria fit into the Bulgarian Government’s general policy on the Jewish Question, at a time when the country was an ally to the Third Reich. On the other hand, another goal of this study is to outline the role of the initiative in the general British policy focused on the settling of Jews in Palestine throughout the years of the Second World War. In addition, it will examine the impact of some other external factors that would affect the implementation of the British proposal concerning the emigration and transit of Jews through Bulgaria.