World War II Hero | Dimitar Peshev

World War II

Peshev had several Jewish friends and he was liked by Bulgaria’s Jewish community. However, when the “Law for Protection of the Nation (Закон за Защитата на Държавата/Zakon za Zashtitata na Durzhavata)” was instituted, Peshev did not object, because he was unaware that it was an anti-Jewish bill. He found out the truth after one of his Jewish friends, Jakob Brauch informed Peshev of the order for all Jews in Kyustendil to be deported. Peshev didn’t believe it at first, but after verifying with some high ranking government officials, he soon decided to stop the deportations. After several failed attempts to talk to Prime Minister Filov, Peshev and a colleague of his went to the Interior Minister of Bulgaria Petur Gabrovski desperately asking him to halt deportations. The Interior Minister eventually agreed and ordered the Governor of Kyustendil to cancel the order to deport the Jewish people. Unfortunately, the news did not spread fast enough. About 5200 Jewish people from Bulgarian-occupied Thrace and Macedonia were given up to the Germans and sent to extermination camps such as Treblinka and Auschwitz. The Jewish population of the occupied territories were beyond saving, but there was still hope for the Jews within the old borders of Bulgaria. On the 19 of March 1943, Dimitar Peshev wrote a letter to Prime Minister Filov aiming to prevent anti-Jewish legislation in Bulgaria. He managed to get 42 government deputies to sign the letter. Under pressure from the Prime Minister, 12 of the deputies withdrew their signatures. A vote was held which ended in support of the Prime Minister. Peshev was forced to step down from his position as vice president of the parliament and was politically ostracized. However, support for his protest grew and the Bulgarian government finally halted its plans to deport the Jewish population.


Law for Protection of the Nation	Bulgarian Occupied Land	Bulgaria's Interior Minister

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