Editorial Review

During World War II, hundreds of thousands of Jews were deported from the Balkan states to labor and extermination camps in Germany and Poland. Bulgaria, with a Jewish population of only 50,000, sided with Hitler's government early on, its king having become convinced that only with German aid could he successfully press his territorial claims to land lost to Greece and Romania. Yet, in the face of constant German demands, Bulgaria's government refused to deport the nation's Jewish citizens. Instead, as the Bulgarian-born Israeli politician Michael Bar-Zohar writes in this fine contribution to Holocaust studies, "the Bulgarian Jews became the only Jewish community in the Nazi sphere of influence whose number increased during World War II." Bar-Zohar attributes the Bulgarian government's successful resistance to a general absence of anti- Semitism among the populace: most Bulgarian Jews were of the working class and had long since been culturally assimilated; even many of the ardent fascists in the government opposed their being murdered. To be sure, Bar-Zohar writes, the Jews of Bulgaria were persecuted--yet thanks to the efforts of leaders like the parliamentarian Dimiter Peshev and the cleric Metropolitan Stefan, they were spared the terrible fate of so many other Jews in the region. Bar-Zohar's book recounts an almost unknown episode of World War II history through a well-told, fast-paced narrative.Read more

Reviews (18)

highly derivative, revisionist onBulgarian pogroms
I really wonder about the expertise of the author and the rave reviews of this volume. first of all it is extremely derivativ of Groueff's work. but it leaves one important episode and glosses over another. FirstlyBulgaria's Jewish population was the victim of one of the worst pogroms in Eastern Europe in the early 20th century. Most Bulgarian Jews had fled to Greece and Turkey by the the 1920's. The Bulgarians considered us a foreign element, and Bulgria was convulsed by an exremely, andcertainly for the Balkans, a uniquely, nasty anti-Semitism.
Beyond Hitler's Grasp
Serious errors in documentation and unnecessary repetition mar this otherwise interesting work.Bar-Zohar cited Groueff's Crown of Thorns repeatedly, yet even more often copies large sections from Groueff's work verbatim and without acknowledgement.This is extremely disturbing in a supposedly professional historical study.The only area in which Bar-Zohar seems to go out on his own is the period following King Boris' death, an area outside the scope of Groueff's study.For that time period the work is useful; otherwise, read Crown of Thorns instead, or at least, read it first.

How decent people behave
This story, nearly invisible in the Western World, is one that deserves to be told. The outline is basic. In 1943, after prolonging the acceptance of a partially coerced alliance with Nazi Germany, Bulgaria found itself ordered to deport its Jewish population to Poland. After recently being essentially handed new territories in what later became Yugoslavia (the main reason Bulgaria accepted the alliance), Bulgaria did `turn over' the Jews living in the new territory. But the somewhat nervous and timid King Boris III managed at the last minute to cancel the order for deportation of the Jewish population within Bulgaria itself. Twice. And at the end of the war, none of Bulgaria's Jews had been sent away, a saving of over fifty thousand lives that would otherwise have met the same fate as millions of others. What happened?Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Bulgaria    3. Eastern Europe - General    4. History    5. History - General History    6. History Of Jews    7. History: World    8. Holocaust    9. Jews    10. Rescue    11. World War II - Europe    12. World War, 1939-1945    13. Jewish studies    14. Second World War, 1939-1945    15. The Holocaust    16. World history: Second World War   

Reviews (2)

Great writing
Rice makes reading an ethnography a pleasure.All ethnomusicologists seeking to undertake their own writing project ought to read this book first.His accounts about studying with Kostadin make you feel like youwere there learning the gaida, too. Rice's model makes a good case forlearning an instrument while conducting fieldwork. Particulary insightfulis the author's interpretation of the emic/etic distinction as it relatesto the ethnomusicologist.

Read this book!
If you have the slightest interest in music, Eastern Europe in transition, and intellectual thought, then you owe it to yourself to read this book.Proper obeisance is made to the academic gods - Ricoeur, Clifford, Bourdieu, Geertz, Gadamer and the rest - and the references are sincere and thoughtful.But most of all you will be enthralled by Rice's personal account of his discovery of Bulgarian music, and of the lives of a wonderful couple who perform that music and became not just his 'informants' but his friends, indeed his family.The book is personal, revelatory, and stimulating.If only all musical scholarship were this good! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bulgaria    2. Ethnomusicology    3. Folk dancing, Bulgarian    4. Folk music    5. Folk songs, Bulgarian    6. Genres & Styles - Folk & Traditional    7. History and criticism    8. Music    9. Music/Songbooks    10. Anthropology    11. Cultural studies    12. Inter-war period, 1918-1939    13. Music / Folk & Traditional    14. Postwar period, 1945 to c 2000    15. Second World War, 1939-1945   

Reviews (1)

the story of the reign of boris III of bulgaria (1918-1943)
The author of this book is the son of an official of the government of royalist Bulgaria.Even though he states his story as unbiased, his defense of the Boris III leaves the reader wondering. Boris suceeded hisfather Ferdinand after the first World War.Boris was very inexperiencedwhen he suceeded, and the government went from far left to far right.Inthe 1930s, a royal dictatorship was established by the King, and thegovernment went to the far right.Throughout this story the author defendsthe King and lambasts the politicians.Eventually the country drifted intoan alliance with Nazi Germany due to the economic and political situationin Europe.With the outbreak of World War II, the King chose to back NaziGermany, and enlarge the territory of the country.This brought thecountry into conflict with the Allies, and the enslavement of the countryby Soviet Russia. Boris III was not the evil ruler like Stalin and Hitler. His choice brought disaster to Bulgaria. The author's defense of the Kingis obvious.The book could have been more objective. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    2. Eastern Europe - General    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Biography: historical    7. Bulgaria    8. European history: from c 1900 -    9. Non-Classifiable    10. World history   

Reviews (9)

Excellent review of Bulgarian history
As other reviewers have already said - this book is surprisingly thorough. The author goes through the most important events in Bulgarian history and puts things very nicely in perspective, so that readers can get a good understanding of the driving forces behind these events.
A solid review of Bulgarian history
This book provides a nice review of Bulgarian history, though at times it gets bogged down in a sea of place and people names, losing, for me the reader, the main thesis. I would like to have seen more time spent on ancient history, which was skimmed over quickly. And sadly, this book was written about ten years ago, just when change was rapidly occurring in Bulgaria. On the other hand, the information presented is generally quite accessible and presented in a balanced fashion focusing on important topics.
Thorough and easy to read
This book presents the history of this country in a surprisingly thorough manner for a shorter history book. The struggles and strife of a people and a country are excellently portrayed with clarity and a hint at the emotions they must have felt. The struggle to protect the borders of the land from powerful enemies coming from all directions provides an interesting theme which kept me reading. I was also emotionally touched by the bravery of these people in defying Hitler and refusing to send Jews to their deaths during WWII.Read more

Subjects:  1. Bulgaria    2. Eastern Europe - General    3. Europe - General    4. History    5. History - General History    6. History: World    7. Europe    8. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    9. History / Russia (pre- & post-Soviet Union)    10. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT   

Subjects:  1. Bulgaria    2. Ethnomusicology    3. Folk music    4. Folk songs, Bulgarian    5. Genres & Styles - Folk & Traditional    6. History and criticism    7. Music    8. Music/Songbooks    9. Social aspects    10. Music / Ethnomusicology   

Subjects:  1. Ambassadors    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Bulgaria    5. Garthoff, Raymond L    6. Historical - General    7. History    8. Intelligence officers    9. Military    10. Military - Other    11. Modern - 20th Century/Nuclear Age    12. Political    13. United States   

Subjects:  1. 1762-1878    2. 19th century    3. Bulgaria    4. Eastern Europe - General    5. Europe - Baltic States    6. Historiography    7. History    8. History - General History    9. History: World    10. Nationalism    11. Eastern Europe    12. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)   

Subjects:  1. Asia - Southeast Asia    2. Crusades    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Later, 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries    7. Medieval    8. Sources    9. Varna, Battle of, Varna, Bulgaria, 1444    10. Holy war    11. Warfare & Defence    12. World history: c 500 to C 1500   

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Armed Forces    3. Collaborationists    4. Europe    5. Europe - Germany    6. Germany    7. History    8. History - General History    9. Military History - World War II    10. Uniforms    11. World War, 1939-1945    12. Land forces & warfare    13. Second World War, 1939-1945    14. World history: Second World War   

Reviews (2)

Interesting Look at a Forgotten Axis Partner!
The little-known story of Hungary's fighter pilots in WW2 is covered in this book by author Gyorgy Punka, #50 in Osprey's Aircraft of the Aces series.
A good book
Complete and well illustrated book (like all the books of aces serie) about the fighter units and pilots of this forgotten axis air force in world war II. We can found all: history, combattactics, italian and german aircrafts, awards...but, were are the Bulgarian aces? Read more

Subjects:  1. History    2. History - Military / War    3. Military    4. Military - Aviation    5. Military - World War II    6. Air forces & warfare    7. Bulgaria    8. European history: Second World War    9. History / Military / Aviation    10. Hungary    11. Second World War, 1939-1945   

Subjects:  1. 1882-1949    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Bulgaria    4. Communists    5. Diaries    6. Dimitrov, Georgi,    7. General    8. History    9. History: World    10. Personal Memoirs    11. Political    12. Statesmen    13. 20th century    14. Biography & Autobiography / Political    15. Biography: historical    16. Dimitrov, Georgi    17. European history: from c 1900 -    18. Former Soviet Union, USSR (Europe)    19. Marxism & Communism    20. Other prose: from c 1900 -   

Reviews (1)

A short but fairly detailed introduction for non-ethnographers
Timothy Rice's MUSIC IN BULGARIA, part of Oxford University Press' "Global Music" series, is a concise introduction to the world of Bulgarian musical life from peasant traditions of centuries past to the pop-folk ("chalga") combination enjoyed by modern urban listeners. Unlike Rice's earlier work on the subject, MAY IT FILL YOUR SOUL: Experiencing Bulgarian Music, this volume assumes no prior study of enthography, but a knowledge of basic music theory is vital to making the most out of it.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Bulgaria    2. Ethnomusicology    3. History & Criticism - General    4. History and criticism    5. Music    6. Music/Songbooks    7. Social aspects    8. Cultural studies    9. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    10. Music / Ethnomusicology    11. Music | World Music, Ethnomusicology    12. World music   

Subjects:  1. Alphabet    2. Balkan Peninsula    3. Foreign Language Study    4. Grammar    5. Grammar, Comparative    6. Language    7. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    8. Languages    9. Linguistics    10. Miscellaneous    11. Syntax    12. Albanian    13. Bulgarian    14. Grammar, syntax, linguistic structure    15. Historical & comparative linguistics    16. Language Arts & Disciplines / Linguistics    17. Linguistics | Syntax & Morphology    18. Modern Greek    19. Romanian    20. Southeast Europe   

Reviews (1)

Solid
This book thoroughly covers the economic and legal implications of the return of property stolen by the Communist regimes in post-Soviet Central Europe. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bulgaria    2. Business/Economics    3. Czech Republic    4. General    5. History - General History    6. International - Economics    7. Poland    8. Privatization    9. Real Estate - General    10. Real Property    11. Political Science / General   

Subjects:  1. Bulgaria    2. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    3. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    4. Europe - Scandinavia    5. History    6. History - General History    7. History: American    8. European history: c 1500 to c 1750    9. History / Russia (pre- & post-Soviet Union)    10. c 1700 to c 1800    11. c 1800 to c 1900   

Reviews (1)

A pre WWII peek into a Balkan family
This book, while perhaps not of general interest, was fascinating to me, since my husband was born in Sofia, Bulgaria and was a distant relative of the author.The blindness of the participants to the events swirling around them in Europe was startling.Their concerns with business and success overrode any concern with the outside world.Marriage between cousins, uncles and nieces, was common emphasizing the clannishness of the Jewish population.This world ended with the commencement of WW II. The book definitely has a limited audience. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1863-1939    2. Arie, Gabriel,    3. Ariâe, Gabriel,    4. Biography    5. Biography & Autobiography    6. Biography / Autobiography    7. Bulgaria    8. Eastern Europe - General    9. Historical - General    10. History Of Jews    11. Jews    12. Judaism - History    13. Religious    14. Sephardim    15. Sociology    16. Sofia    17. Arié, Gabriel    18. Biography: historical    19. Biography: political    20. Jewish studies    21. Social history   

Reviews (3)

Disappointing
The Fragility of Goodness: Why Bulgaria's Jews Survived the Holocaust by Tzvetan Todorov (Editor) fails in the essential task created by the title - explainig how fragile was the set of circumstances that led to the Jews of Bulgaria being saved. The first 40 or so pages of the book is a concise history of Bulgaria and the Second World War with the remainer of the book restricted to primary historical documents and memories of the major participants. Ambiguous book
It is no big surprise that Todorov published a book on the Bulgarian Jews' salvation issue. First, it goes within the major topic of his later research: the value of ethics in extreme circumstances. Second, his Bulgarian origin should made him, even for simply methodological reasons, pay more attention to the country where he comes from (and which one would expect him to know well). The book follows a scheme that Todorov already employed ten years ago in compiling the witnesses' tales of three Bulgarian citizens severely (and unreasonably) persecuted by the Communist secret police in the early 60's: no place for comments, the floor is given to the "historical figures" themselves. Yet, while in the previous "Bulgarian" book the historical figures spoke with their own words, here Todorov is constricted to the existing documentation (no one of the participants in the '43 events is still alive). And this is why he, everything taken into acount, fails. The texts are insufficient to build a complete picture of WWII Bulgaria because of their "official" character: they do not present in detail the motivation even of those main figures that were most deeply involved in the salvation (or effective dispatch to the camps of death), yet they are not adjoined by any commentary by the author wich to elucidate them better. The author's position is limited (and this is quite a particular case!) to the title itself which, however, is misleading, too. Shall we interpret it literally in the sense that Bulgarians should not really boast about saving the Jews; or shall we understand it within the broader context of Todorov's work, as just one more argument in favor of Todorov's general concept of the relativity of morality? The truth is even now I cannot choose the correct answer.

Great historical factual analysis; makes a reader think
The author thoroughly explores the chain of events and actions that led to the rescue of Bulgarian Jews from Holocaust. In addition to his own remarks, the author provides a set of documents relevant to the period of persecution and possible deportation of Bulgarian Jews.The memoirs and diaries of political (and moral) adversaries describing the same events are put together. The clash of individual / group actions and opinions reveals the struggle between good and evil, courage and cowardliness in the Bulgarian society and government of 1940s.The author puts special emphasis on the brave attempt of Dimitar Peshev, the Vice-Chairman of National Assembly, to prevent Jewish deportation. His actions cost him the political post, but his goal was eventually achieved.I believe the author underestimated the role of Bulgarian king Boris in the eventual cancellation of deportation plans. Without his decision, the protests of Peshev, the opposition, and Bulgarian society would be in vain. I think his decision was more than just a calculated move done in Bulgarian national interests. His efforts to defend Jewish lives in the personal meetings with Nazi officials (including Hitler) are evident and should be recognized. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. History    2. History - General History    3. History: World    4. Holocaust    5. Jewish - General    6. Military - Canada    7. European History    8. History / Military / Canada    9. Jewish Studies   

Reviews (1)

A very innovative treatment...
of the comparative historical grammar of the Slavic languages. The complicated phonological changes are presented in taut and concise fashion. The morphology, as often happens, is more resistant to a satisfactory,integrated presentation. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. History    2. Inflection    3. Language    4. Phonology, Comparative    5. Phonology, Historical    6. Proto-Slavic language    7. Slavic languages    8. Language teaching & learning material & coursework   

Reviews (1)

Gorgeously photographed, one-of-a-kind book!
This is the first book that captures the unique culture of Thrace throughextensive photographs of ancient treasures from museums throughoutBulgaria. I am happy to see that all photographs are accompanied withcaptions providing a wealth of information about the objects as well asinfo in which museums they can be seen. The preface details the history,culture, and religion of Thrace, and it's filled with fascinating facts. Itgives you deeper understanding of the political and cultural complexity ofthe ancient world and the relationships among Thracians, Greeks,Phoenicians, Romans, etc. There is a timetable at the end that convinientlydisplays the various periods in the development of Thrace parallel tofamous world events.Read more

Subjects:  1. Antiques & Collectibles    2. Antiquities    3. Art    4. Art & Art Instruction    5. Bulgaria    6. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions - General    7. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions - Museum    8. European    9. Exhibition Catalogs    10. Exhibitions    11. Goldwork, Thracian    12. History - Ancient & Classical    13. Silver, Gold & Other Metals    14. Silverwork, Thracian    15. Ancient Greece    16. History of art: BCE to c 500 CE, ancient & classical world    17. Museum, historic sites, gallery & art guides   

Subjects:  1. History & Theory - General    2. International Relations - Arms Control    3. International Relations - Diplomacy    4. Political Process - General    5. Political Science    6. Politics / Current Events    7. Politics/International Relations    8. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT    9. Political Science / History & Theory