Sephardic Jews in Bulgaria by Marcel Israel

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Community and Social Life of the Sephardic Jews in Bulgaria during the 19. and 20. Centuries  and the Relationship to the the Jewish Culture of Central Europe
By  Dr. Marcel Israel,  Sofia / Madrid – June 2012

This article describes the community and social life of the Sephardic Jews in Bulgaria from 1878 up to recent days and the relationship to the Jewish Culture in Europe.
Subjects like the Community Centers and the Rabbis, as well as the Contrubution of the Sephardim to Bulgaria’s Culture are separately treated.
Other chapter presents the bases of a study on the particularities of the language Djudezmo as spoken in Bulgaria and the impacts of other languages on it and vice versa.
The multiple factors leading to the miraculaos Salvation of the Bulgarian Jews during the Holocaust are briefly analyzed.
Finaly , today’s Jewish Life in Bulgaria is briefly presented.

Index

1. Bulgaria’s Independence (1878) and Reunification (1885) and the Sephardic Jews – Community Centers and Cultural Life
2. Bulgarian Jews’ contribution to science and culture and Europe’s cultural impact on them
3. The Judeo-Spanish language (Djudezmo) as spoken in Bulgaria and the efforts to preserve it.
4. The rescue of Bulgaria’s Jews during the Holocaust
5. Today’s Life of the Sephardic Jews in Bulgaria
6. Bibliography and other Sources

1- Bulgaria’s Independence (1878) and the Sephardic Jews – Community Centers and Cultural Life

The Independence and Reunification of Bulgaria (1878-1885) were important factors for the development of jewish life. The Jewish Population in Bulgaria was 23,541 at that time. The numbers were provided by the czech/bulgarian professor Konstantine Iretchek and, also,  the judeo-sephardíc scientist Dr. Saul Mezan /1/. In 1893 this number increased to 27,531 , from these aprroximately 26,000 were Sephardim and 1,500 – Ashkenazim.

Most important Community Centers were (in 1893):
– Sofía : 6,409 Sephardic Jews , Plovdiv : 2,696 , Ruse : 811 , Pazardjik: 1,277, Shumen : 1,117 It’s interesting , that there were also cities with important jewish factories end trading companies
but without any established communities, e.g. in the case of Gabrovo.

In 1910 lived already in Sofía :13,844 , Plovdiv : 6,273 , Ruse : 4,444 ,  Burgas: 3,432, Varna : 2,456, Vidin : 2,242 Sephardic Jews /1/ , /13/
Before 2.World War , in 1934 the Jewish Population in Bulgaria became 48,398 , 0.8% of the total bulgarian population. After the war, between 1946 and 1956 , a huge group of 39,206 jews (88.9% of the jewish population) did aliah to Israel and in 1965 up to recent days about 5,000 jews reside in Bulgaria

Existing statistics show the labor occupation of the Jews. In 1938, especially in Sofia, the active jewish population was 9,000 , as follows :  329 medical doctors, lawyers, engineers, 1,170 trade and 1,780 industry employees, 2,411 small businessmen, 828 unemployed and only 128 really rich people (bankers, industrials etc.) Generally: 2/3 of the jewish population of Bulgaria lived alike or below the subsistence /1/ , /13/

Next, a map of Bulgaria with important cities of sephardic life , like Sofía, Plovdiv, Ruse, Pleven, Pazardjik, Stara Zagora, Yambol, Burgas, Varna, Vidin, etc

The Synagogues were the community centers of the jews. Important synagogues were built in : Sofia, Plovdiv, Ruse, Vidin, Pazardjik, Samokov.
The most emblematic ones are: the Great Sephardic Synagogue of Sofía, inaugurated September 09th,1909 and the beautiful Synagogue of Plovdiv.

 

The Great Synagogue of Sofia is the third largest in Europe after Budapest and Amsterdam. It was designed by the austrian architect Friedrich Gruenanger and was built in a traditional Spanish-Moorish Stile, but with clear additional Elements of the Viennese “Secession Art” period.
Unforgettable will remain some of his inaugurating words of the Chief Rabbi Dr. Markus Ehrenpreis:

“This is a house, where religion and morality will reign,
where the sorrowful will be comforted,
the desperate will find belief,
the pursued – peace ,
the oppressed – enlightenment,
the confused – the right path in life.”

 

A historical photo of the inauguration , September 09th , 1909 , in the presence of King Ferdinad of Bulgaria

Bulgaria was the birth place of important Rabbis – leaders of the jewish communities. They enjoyed recognition and respect worldwide, like Rabbi Gabriel Almosnino (1805 -1889) , Rabbi Markus (Mordekhay) Ehrenpreis (1869-1951) , Rabbi Daniel Tzión (1881-1976), Rabbi Asher Hananel (1895-1964)

With Rabbi Dr. Markus (Mordekhay) Ehrenpreis the Jewish Community reached the peak of cultural and social work. Rabbi Ehrenpreis maintained a friendly relationship to the court of the King, to the Government and to all bulgarian intelectuals .

Rabbis Daniel Tzion and Asher Hananel acted as important political activists and contributed to the rescue of the bulgarian jews during the Holocaust.

The famous Rabbi Dr. Isaac Abraham Alkalay was also born in Bulgaria (Samokov 1882 – USA 1978) , He became the Grand Rabbi of Yugoslavia , 1923 until 1941 , could escape from the nazis and from 1943 until 1968 he acted as the Grand Rabbi of the “Central Sephardic Communities of America “

The Grand Rabbi (1902 – 1936 ) of the Ashkenazic Jews in Bulgaria, Rabbi Tzemakh Rabiner (1862-1936) was an important jewish scientist, philologist and a convinced zionist.

Religious , cultural and political life of the Jews in Bulgaria

During the Ottoman rule of 5 centuries (1396 -1878), Bulgaria was quite isolated from the rest of Europe, almost without any impact from the Renaissance, the Reformism or the Jewish Movement of Haskallah (Ilumination) of Moses Mendelssohn. Neither the ortodox Judaism of Eastern Europe could settle here , with little exceptions , like at the Jewish Community of Silistra , beginning of the 19th century, where the ethic movement “Mussar” was spread out by Rabbi Eliezer Papo (follower of Rabbi Israel Salanter).

Amongst the sephardim in Bulgaria there were both, religious and also secular, but all jews used to respect Shabbat , the jewish festivals and spoke , as a main language, the Djudezmo (Jewish Spanish).Moreover, they maintained a very friendly relationship to people of different religions, so that the jews lived highly integrated in the society and were in general very respected and beloved citizens.

Late 19th century many jewish communities based on Religión, on Social Work , Education and Culture were established in the country. Moreover, Bulgaria was a genuine home of the Zionist Movement in the Balkans. The first Zionist Club was established in 1864 en Ruse (Rustchuk) and in 1897 Rabbi Ehrenpreis led the bugarian delegation to the First Zionist Congress in Basel.

In 1896 , in Plovdiv, Sofía and Khaskovo a Society of 50 members was fouded , in order to help the Colonization of Palestine. This Foundation bought there a land of 450 hectars and named it Hartuf. Until 1918 they kept on financing it and , evenmore, many young jews were doing studies , preferably In Agricuture, Civil Engineering and Medicine , in order to become one day real Chalutzim (Pioneers) in a future Jewish State. Some of them emigrated to Palestine in the 30’s, e.g. in 1936 on the occasion of the Maccabiade, celebrated at that time.

Multiple newspapers and magazines with zionist content were published in Bulgaria in Djudezmo (Ladino), such as:“El día” , 1897-1914, “Ha Shofar” , 1901-1931 , Ha-Tikva”1923-1932, “El Djudijo” , 1927-1929 , Evenmore, in some of them there was a marxist inclination, like: “El ovrador judio” y “El pueblo”

In general, one could tell a lot about the Press published in Djudezmo (Ladino) and Hebrew between 1882 and 1944. The first printng house in Spanish-Jewish was inauguratedin Ruse (Rustchuk) in 1893.

For the sephardic Journalism and Press,4 time periods could be defined :

1.1882 – 1903 :7 newspapers and magazines were published in Djudezmo, 4 in Bulgarian and 1 in French , like:El amigo del puevlo, El día, Carmel, La verdad, Zionisto,  La Alvorada , led by Abraham Kapon in the first printing house ,1893, in Ruse.
2. 1904-1918 :23 in Djudezmo and 1 en Bulgarian, e.g.La Consensia, La Pasensia, Buletino de la comunidad djudia de Sofia, La renesensia , La tribuna , El pasatiempo, etc.
3. 1919 – 1923:4 in Ladino , 1 en Bulgarian: Nueva Palestina, Menorá, etc.
4. 1924 – 1944 : 13 in Ladino: El Djudió, Hashomer Hatzair etc.

In Total : 53 diferent newspapers and magazines, published in Sofia, Plovdiv, Pazardjik, Ruse, Vidin,  Shumen. More than the half of them were dedicated to Zionist issues.

Currently , the jewish community of Bugariais publshing a newspaper :Evreiski Vesti and a magazine :la Estreyain Bulgarian Language.

2 – Bulgarian Jews’ contribution to science and culture and Europe’s cultural impact on them

Bulgaria was and still is a country of important sephardic jewish scholars andwriters.

In the centuries 16. and 19.two very famous sephardic Rabbis lived and worked in Bulgaria :
Joseph Caro, in Nikopol and Eliezer Papo, in Silistra . They were important scientists, creators of fundamental works in Jewish Law and Ethics.

After 1878, with the fast growth of the communities, many important historians , writers and Djudezmo-linguists created emblematic works of language, literature, history and culture , some of them are:

Solomon Abraham Rosanes (Ruse 1862-Sofia 1938), Historian : “Istoria di la Komunidad Israelita di Rustchuk” , 1914

Abraham Moshé Tadjer (1858-1937) , Historian :“Notas istorikas sovre los djudiós de Bulgaria i la Komunita di Sofia”, 1932

Dr. Saul Mezan ,1893-1944 Historian , “Les Juifs Espagnols en Bulgaria”, 1925 /1/and Poet:“Canciones de Jerusalen” , Under the artistic name : Oram ben Ner

Albért David Pipáno , who created and published the very first dictionary: “Diksionaryo Zhudeo-Espanyol-Búlgaro”, Sofia 1913, which was of a big help for the sephardic scholars and writers and also for the businessmen, who at that time scarcely spoke the bulgarian language.

Yosef Abraham Basat . autor of a literarian essay in Judeo-Spanish , highly original and internationally recognized: “La mujer Sefardí y sus deberes en la Nueva Sociedad”,  (The sephardic woman and her duties in the New Society ) published in La Alvorada, Ruse 1899 , /20/

The sephardic – jewish writer of greatest fame from Bulgaria, was the 1981 Winner of Nobelprize for Literature :Elias Canetti, (Ruse 1905 – Zürich 1994), his masterwork was: “The Tongue Set Free”, his mothertongue – Sephardic Spanish.

Nowadays , the two famous writers of sephardic origin , living and working in Bulgaria, are :

Valeri Nisismov Mevorah (Valery Petrov) , 1920 , is a prominent bulgarian poet and translator of the complete Shakespeare’s work. From2003he is being a permament member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

Angel Raimond Wagenstein , 1922,is an outstandingwiriter of prosa and screenplays. His book “Far from Toledo” is a nostalgic sephardic novell . Asuccessful film was based on it.Moreover, it gives answers to many questions about how the Bulgarian Jews could survive the Holocaust

 

 

Sephardic Jewish Music and Theatre in Bulgaria

There were important cultural program activities in the sephardic communities. At the Community of Sofia , in 1908, the Jewish Choir Zadikov was founded. It was internationally acclaimed. Also, the great pianist Alexis Weissenberg made his debut at the age of 8 in 1937 in the jewish Bet Aaam in Sofia.

In the begining of the 20th century mutiple theatre works were created in , or translated into Djudezmo. Evenmore , an important number of them were performed in different cities. /19/.

The dramatic works of Aharón Menahem : “Dreyfus”, “Léa”and ofYacov Haimov : “Abravanel”, “Hamaránim”,  is well as several plays of Moliére, translated into Djudezmo , e.g. “El hazino imaginario”, were presented in Ruse, 1889-1900, but also in Sofía, Shumen, Plovdiv, and other cities.

Sephardic Jews- prominent Directores y Actors in Film and Theatre in Bulgaria

Directors: Buko Danon (Boyan Danovski), Zako Heskiya, Leon Daniel, Edi Schwartz
Actors: Leo Conforti, Luna Davidova, Itzhaq Finzi

Bulgarian Jews – Musicians with international acknowledgement

There are several bulgarian-jewish musicians , who enjoy a high international recognition , like :

The Composers Pancho Vladigerov (Pasternak),Milcho Leviev, Jules Leví and Benedict Molho.
The Pianists : Alexis Weissenberg and Emmi Behar
The Opera singers :Raffaele Arié,Sabetay Markov
The Violinist Leon Surujon

Bulgarian Sephardimin Art

There were very fewPainters of sephardic origin in Bulgaria, but, two of them reached international fame:
Julius Mordekhai Pinkhas(Jules Pascin), a prominent french expressionist/21/
Other sephardic – jewish painterwasYoan Leviev , Plovdiv (1934 -1994), highly acclaimed between the60-90’s

3 – The Judeo-Spanish language (Djudezmo) as spoken in Bulgaria and the efforts to preserve it

The spoken Djudezmo in Bulgaria has got, like in every Balkan country, its particularities , which we are constantly studying. The best known bulgarian Ladino linguist was Isaac Mosconá (1904-1985) /22/

In Djudezmo of Bulgaria there were numerous words and expressions introducedfrom other languages,  like Turkish, Italian, Greek, Arnaut (Albanese) , French, but also from Bulgarian, Rumanian, Germanor Yidish.

Furthermore, lots of sayings,expressions, funny anecdotes and jokes were created in the social and community environment of the Sephardim in Bulgaria.

Bulgaria is a small country , but there is a great mix of ethnic groups and people. The coexistence of the jews with all them enriched the language Djudezmo much stronger than in Yugoslavia,Greece or Turkey.

We are aware, that the Judeo-Spanish from Saray,Thessaloniki, Edirne or Smirna probably was more developed and genuine , but in Bulgaria it was richer, funnier and beautiful, because of the impact of so many different languages spoken around it. Even more, there were a lot of Jews from other countries living in Bulgaria , who “put colour” to Djudezmo, e.g. in Sofía in 1938, from 24,000 Jews, 1,260 were foreigners.

At the begining we should mention the important education work done by the Alliance Israélite Universelle for the sephardic communities in Bulgaria. Due to statistics, in 1908, 53% of the total bulgarian male and 80% of the female population were analphabets. /17/

However, the situation amongst the jewish communities was completely different. Of a great help were the education centers created byl’Alliance Israélite Universelle. Important centers were inauguratedbetween 1874 and 1896 in 7 cities : Ruse, Plovdiv, Sofia, Shumen, Varna , Burgas and Samokov.

As a consequence , a considerable part of the sephardim spoke French as principal foreign language. Moreover, many french words were introducedinto Djudezmo , e.g.:

-muncho mercí, korazhe , enverso , elevo, regretar, orozo, malorozo, danzherozo, reushita , etc.

In the Djudezmo language of Bulgaria one can find some everyday words of international origin:

– Bizeria, Djurguelo, Gyuvetch, Andjinara , Halva y (Bozá – from Albainian)– from Turkish
– Shlemlach, Chole, Hamantaschen- from Yidish
– Agristada , Bugácha – from Spanish, Italian,
– Faytón – from French

There are also words , borrowed from Bulgarian or Rumanian , like: :

-Shayné (bg) (snow sleigh) , Taralezh (bg.) (porcupine, igel – for a person of a strong personality)
-Mechkadar (bg.) ( A Tamer of wild Bears ) – a guy , who is a little bit stupid , acting as a clown
-Pungásh (rum.) – an indivudual , who is not honest, not sincere

In the different regions of Bulgaria the Jewish-Spanishwas strongly influenced by the local bulgarian dialect , for example in the town of Dupnitza, the sephardim used to speak like this:

-“Tia Rebeca, da mi un Olgúzhi para que mi Púnchi el dedo y me Kíti una spiga”o
“ TuAblas Bavazhadis”

There is a lot of fun and humour in many Djudezmo expressions , for example the sephardim from different cities or towns were called by special nicknames, like:

The jews from Plovdiv (Filibé) :Patchas di Guma ( rubber legs) – because this anciant city was built on many hills (tepés) , so one has got to walk a lot…

Anecdote from Plovdiv:

“ Andi vás? – A vizhitar a mi tio Bohor. (Where are you going to?)
– I’m going to visit my uncle Bohor.- Es muy leshos? ( – Is it too far ?) – No, asta comermi una
aldukuera entera di pipitas di calavasa.” (No, until I have emptied a pocket of pumpkin pipes)
Eating pumpkin seeds ( the good ones – “sakiz”)too much and constantly , was a quite
unquestionable custom of the ”djudiós” from Plovdiv.

The jews from Pleven: Harraganis (Lazy people) di Plevna- “siempri pasando tiempo en los kavanés” “allways sitting in the coffeehouses.”

The jews from Yambol: Horfetanis (Boasters) di Yambol o :“ Es Djudió di Yámbol. ama habla como si fuera di Stámbol”- He is a jew from Yambol , but boasts as he would come from Stambol

The jews from Karnobat(or Karnabat): Mechkadaris??? di Karnabat – This is complicated to explain : In the small town of Karnobat there was a unique coexistence of many ethnic groups:

Bulgarians,Jews, Turks, Gipsies, Armenians.

The Mechkadar was a Tamer of wild Bears, this was run mostly by the gipsy people. They used to capture a bear in the mountains , tamed it and then tied it to a string and came downtown, fiddeling on a “Gadulka” ( a kind of a rustic violin ) and the Bear was showing some “intelligence” in dancing!!

”Mechkadar” comes from“Mechka (bulg.) = Bear” and is a wordof bulgarianDjudezmo .

Other funny examples , e.g. inmixed sephardí-ashkenazí families:

– Achild crying for nothing -they use to call it in Djudezmo : “ZURO”
– Furthermore , the word“short or brief “ means in Djudezmo : “CURTO”

And here some German (or Yidish) is applied , in order to emphasize this issue:

If the child keeps on crying , they use to say:
¡¡Haide Basta , ZURKOVICH!!(Go!, enough! – Zuro – Zurkovich)

Other issue: if someone is getting too annoying (nudnik) , one uses tu say:

¡¡Haide , Pezgado , más CURTOVICH!! ( Go, enogh .- be brief- Curtovich)

Or, after a bad theatre performance the djudios of Sofia used to say:

“ No fue Shakespeare , ama fue Eshek – Ispir !!!( Shakespeare- (Eshek –Ispir) – a donkey from Ispir)

Now , some sephardic black humour: In Karnobata jew is asking a question:

-Cuantos anios tiene Haribí Shemuel ? -Ya 100. -Tanto?- Sí,comió Tutkal y se le pego la alma….
( How old is Haribi Shemuel – Already 100 – So old?- Yes he ate some glue and his soul has been pasted…

And … we are wondering: 
Can Djudezmo be preserved ?

This is the very question of all sephardic jews in the world and the answer is quite dificult :
First of all – are today’s generations willing to learn and practice this language?
In fact – No , because it is considered less practical for their life, business , carrier , etc.
However, there are young university students, who dedicate themselves to topics , which are trans-cultural or simply trans-linguistic, where studying and using Ladino is important . /18/

This is a good issue for us, in order to keep from feeling sad and nostalgic after a performance of the well known Ladino Club from Sofia.

4 – 2013 will mark 70 years since the salvation of the Bulgarian Jews during the Holocaust (1939-1945)

There are many works by well known historians, politicians and writers, profoundly analyzing this subject . However we keep on wondering : How could this miracle ever happen?

Facts and Events :
1. In 1939-1944 Bulgaria was an allied of Germany , therefore it was not ocupied by the nazis.
2. The bulgarian population was very tolerant to all ethnics and religions.
3. The Bulgarian Jews were completely integrated in the society.
3. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church fully supported the jews.
4. In the Bulgarian Parlamentan important group for support of the jews was formed.
5. Bulgarian Key Personalitiesmanifested themselves strongly against the deportation.
6. King Boris III of Bulgaria , even as an allied of Germany,was not pro-nazi , although the government was a nazi-supporter.
7. Thepolitical parties out of the law at that time, e.g. the communist party supported firmly the jews..

During the Second World War , Bulgaria became allied to Germany and after the occupation of Yugoslavia and Greece by the nazis, bulgarian troops entered into a part of Yugoslavia (between Pirot, Skopie, Ohrid and Bitolya) and of Greece(e.g. Drama , Xanty , Kavala), according to the map below (the part occupied by Bulgaria – coloured in pale brown)

In those so difficult times an enormous role played the Vicepresident the Parlament – Dimitar Peshev.

He formed within the Parlament a group for support of the jews. On the other hand he revealed the government’s plans for secret and immediate deporation of the jews in colaboration with the special envoy – the nazi-comissary for jewish affaires for the Balkans Theodor Danneker (a captain of SS)

On behalf of the Orthodox Church a great help to the jews provided the Archbishops of Sofia -Stefanand of Plovdiv – Kiril.

We must emphasize here also the great work and leadership of the Rabbis Daniel Tzión and Asher Hannanel, who, personally, were good friends of Peshev and the Archbishops, as well and also very respected personalities in the bulgarian society. The Rabbis had got to calm and organize the jewish population – an extremely difficult task to fulfil. /8/ , /9/.

In March, 1943 all the Jews from Greece and Macedonia were deported to the Camps of Death , so most important sephardic communities like that one of Thessaloniki vanished completely.

In Bulgaria there were three failed intents for deportation, until June , 1943.  Finally, the Jews were forced to leave the big cities, they weregrouped together in smaller towns, in order to be deported ”later on”.

All of them had got to wear the yellow “David Star” during the years 1941 – 1944.  Many jews were taken to specially established camps of forced labour, in general the males between 20 and 42years of age.

A considerable number of jews joined the resistance agaist the regime that ruled Bulgaria at that time. Nearly 10% of all mortal victims in the period of 1941-1944 were jewish, which is a very high percentage , as the jewish population was just 0.8% of the total bulgarian population.

They were killed in armed combats and also in the war , which Bulgaria declared on Nazi Germany (September 1944 – May 1945).

5 – Today’s Life of the Sephardic Jews in Bulgaria

About 5,000 jews are residing in Bulgaria today and almost all of them belong to the Regional Jewish Community Centers. The community and social life is being jointly coordinated by the Organization of the Jews in Bulgaria “Shalom”and the Central Israelite Religious Council. Intensive work and efforts are dedicated to retired people. In order to organize their social and cultural life, there are several clubs, like “Ladino Club” , “Golden Age Club”, etc.A residence of a good quality provides excellent life conditions to aged people.

On the other hand , the young people have lots of education and development programs for Judaísm and Jewish Culture, however, at the moment, very little is happening regarding the Sephardic Culture, what, we are constantly trying to improve.

We maintain a very good relationship to state and governmental authorities , in order to resolve various social and urbanistic problems, like reconstruction and restructuring of synagogues, the jewish cemeteries and the creation of a new Sephardic Jewish Museum.

Additionally, we have got a very good friendship and cooperation with different religious communities, particularly in combating intollerance and antisemitism.

Today’s Bulgarian Jewsas outstandingpoliticians , musicians and actors

A new generation of outstanding businessmen , politicians and artists amongst the jews was created during the last 20 years. Some of them are:

• Dr. Solomon Pasí – Ex – Minister of Foreign Affaire of Bulgaria (2001-2005)
• Vesco Panteleev ( EshkenaziI) : Violinist y Concertino at Concertgebow Orchestra, Amsterdam
• Martin Panteleev (Eshkenazi) , Principal Conductor and Music Director of Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra
• Maxim Eshkenazi: Prinicpal Conductor atPacific Youth Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles, USA
• Dilian Molho : Orchestra Conductor, Conductor of “Hagadá”Choir(foloower of “Tzadikov” Choir)
• Niko Isakov :Opera Singer, Baríton, Professor at Music Academy of Sofia
• Itzhaq Finzi :A famous Actor on the Theatre Stage in Bulgaria
• Eva Volitzer:Actress , performs jewish theatre works , some of them at the Bet- Aam, Sofia.

 

A real challenge for us is the reconstruction of some emblematic synagogues, which still exist , however in a very bad condition – almost a ruin. We are talking about the synagogues in Vidin andSamokov, which were splendid in the past-genuine architectonic and cultural jewels and important religious centers.

Today no jews living in those two cities. That’s why we are talking to the correspondent authorities and to private funds and companies , in order to reconstruct those buildings as museums.

 

Today , in the 21. century , the members of the Jewish Community in Bulgaria are living with the pride of being jews. The young people belong to several clubs and enjoy a quite broad education of judaism, moreover they learn Hebrew and Jewish Tradition.

In Sofia , there is a modern jewish school : The Lauder Elementary&Highschool /ORT Multimedia&Technology Center.

Also, we are trying to get fellowships for young people interested in studying in Spanish speaking countries , in order to encourage them to follow up studies or/and research in the area of the sephardic culture, language and traditions.

We are quite convinced to be able to achive this goal.

Dr. Marcel Israel,Sofia / Madrid, June 2012
6 -Bibliography

1. Les Juifs Espagnols en Bulgaria – Dr. Saül Mézan, Sofia 1925
2. Jüdisches Lexikon , Jüdsischer Verlag Berlin, 1930 (Enciclopedia judía)
3. Volkstümliche Geschichte der Juden – Dr. H. Graetz, Löwit Verlag , Wien und Berlin , 1930 (Historia de los Judíos)
4. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/bulgaria.html
5. http://www.sephardicgen.com/databases/bulgariaChiefRabbis.html
6. http://www.sephardicstudies.org/benbassat.html
7. http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimitar_Peschew
8. L’uomo che fermo Hitler. La storia de Dimitar Peshev che salvo gli ebrei di una nazione intera – Gabriele Nissim , ed. Mondadori , Milano , 1998
9. Beyond Hitler’s Grasp, The Heroic Rescue of Bulgaria’s Jews -Michael Bar-Zohar , 1998
10. La historia de Ladino – P. H. Bumaschni, Buenos Aires 1968
11. Synagogues and Cultural Heritage of the Jews in Bulgaria (Bulg.) –S.Raichevski, Sofia, 2009
12. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/synbulgaria.html
13. La verdad sobre la situación (económica y social)de los judíos en Bulgaria – (Bulg.) Sofia,1938 Serie “Probuda , B.Piti
14. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-erlqy5PXxE&feature=related -Beyond Hitler’s Grasp
15. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-83wBkb2cNo- Rab. Daniel Tzion-1
16. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYs0Bms5_aA&feature=related – Rab. Daniel Tzion-2
17. From Iberia to Diaspora – Studies in Sephardic History and Culture, edited by Yedida & Norman Stillman, Brill Series in Jewish Studies , 1946 – 1998. p.36 The dissolution of Sephardic Culture in Bulgaria, by Guy H. Haskell
18. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn57jcugyVMEmma Morgenstern: The Dying Language of a Surviver
19. Repertorio de noticias sobre el mundo teatral de los sefardíes orientales , Elena Romero , CSIC , Madrid 1983.
20. “La Mujer Moderna “ por Y.A.Basat (La Alvorada Ruse. 1899) : La Mujer Sefardí y sus Deberes en la Nueva Sociedad ,Amor Ayala, FreieUniversität Berlin , 2006
21. Artículo sobre Jules Pascinhttp://www.anajnu.cl/pascin.htm
22. Idioma, Vida y Espiritualidad de los Judíos en los Balkanes , Isaac Mosconá , Sofía 2004 (el libro publicado en idioma búlgaro)