Съдбата на еврейските общности в Казанлък и Стара Загора по време на Руско-турската война от 1877–1878 г.
The Fate of the Jewish Communities of Kazanlık and Eski-Zaĝra in the 1877/8 War

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of this article is to shed light on one of the darker episodes of Jewish history, namely the pogrom against the Jews of Kazanlık and Stara-Zagora (in those days, Eski-Zaĝra) in present-day Bulgaria. The tragic story of these Jews, who fell victim to hatred and prejudice, has virtually remained untold: These two cities were the scenes of cruel battles and witnessed the transfer of power from the Russian Army to the Ottoman Army, that did all it could to repulse the Russian aggressors. The course of these battles has been described at length in many publications and is beyond the scope of this presentation. Rather, I wish to focus here on the respective fates of these two communities in the early days of the war. Attacks against the non-Christian population (Muslims and Jews) began already in the early days of the war. In the context of the unfolding drama, the Jews were often perceived as a non-entity. They were not considered a significant minority, both because of their small size and their isolation from their Christian and Muslim neighbors. It is not therefore surprising that the European press chose to focus on the suffering of the Christian Bulgarians or even of the Muslims, who formed a large minority in Bulgaria — the main arena of war — rather than on the Jews. I felt it was only right, therefore, to open up this tragic and neglected chapter of Bulgarian Jewish history, in which local citizens and soldiers of the victorious army were jointly implicated. Although all those involved in the war — Christians and Muslims, the warring armies, and the Bulgarians who fought to liberate their homeland — suffered the traumas of the war, they at least, unlike the Jews, had records of the acts of heroism or of the atrocities they experienced. I felt it only right, therefore, to expose the trauma experienced by some Bulgarian Jews in remote and hostile localities during the Russian-Turkish War, resulting in the death and pauperization of many, and in their expulsion from cities where they had lived for many generations. This elegy is a tribute to those Jews whom history not only wronged, but almost overlooked, too.

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