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

From Publishers Weekly
At the outbreak of WWII, Bulgaria, an ally of Germany, issued anti-Semitic legislation that allowed for the deportation of 11,343 Jews from the provinces of Thrace and Macedonia; all but 12 of them died in concentration camps. This action was met with such outrage on the part of Jews and non-Jews, including many political insiders and the Orthodox Church, that the legislation was rescinded and no other Bulgarian Jews were sent to certain death. Although the government appeased Germany by claiming that this measure was merely temporary, shortly thereafter, Bulgaria fell to the Soviet Union, and its remaining Jews, nearly 50,000 strong, were spared. A French intellectual with Bulgarian roots, Tzvetan Todorov (Facing the Extreme: Moral Life in the Concentration Camps) explores the tenuous combination of circumstances that saved Bulgaria's Jews in The Fragility of Goodness: Why Bulgaria's Jews Survived the Holocaust (trans. by Arthur Denner). Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


Review
In reconstructing what happened to such decent men in his native Bulgaria, Todorov, a respected French philosopher and social critic, is also pursuing his longstanding aim of showing that goodness can thrive under atrocious conditions. In fact, he believes it is under such conditions that goodness is most genuinely present. . . .


Book Description
With the exception of Denmark, Bulgaria was the only country allied with Nazi Germany that did not annihilate or turn over its Jewish population. Here a prominent French intellectual with Bulgarian roots accounts for this singularity. Tzvetan Todorov assembles and interprets for the first time key evidence from this episode of Bulgarian history, including letters, diaries, government reports, and memoirs--most never before translated into any language. Through these documents, he reconstructs what happened in Bulgaria during World War II and interrogates collective memories of that time. He recounts the actions of individuals and groups that, ultimately and collectively, spared Bulgaria's Jews the fate of most European Jews. The Bulgaria that emerges is not a heroic country dramatically different from those countries where Jews did perish. Todorov does find heroes, especially parliament deputy Dimitar Peshev, certain writers and clergy, and--most inspiring--public opinion. Yet he is forced to conclude that the "good" triumphed to the extent that it did because of a tenuous chain of events. Any break in that chain--one intellectual who didn't speak up as forcefully, a different composition in Orthodox Church leadership, a misstep by a particular politician, a less wily king--would have undone all of the other efforts with disastrous results for almost 50,000 people. The meaning Todorov settles on is this: Once evil is introduced into public view, it spreads easily, whereas goodness is temporary, difficult, rare, and fragile. And yet possible.


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The meaning Todorov settles on is this: Once evil is introduced into public view, it spreads easily, whereas goodness is temporary, difficult, rare, and fragile. And yet possible.


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