Holocaust Memorial in Burgas Desecrated with Pro-Nazi Stickers

Jerusalem, 12 August, 2025 (TPS-IL) -- Burgas (BTA) – The general wave of antisemitism in Europe, unfortunately, has also reached Burgas, Alberta Alkalay, founder of the Aleph Center for Jewish-Bulgarian Cooperation, told BTA on the occasion of the desecration of a memorial in the city.

A monument in Burgas, erected in 2014 in honor of local residents who helped save Bulgarian Jews during the Holocaust, was desecrated with stickers featuring the face of Gen. Hristo Lukov, described as the leader of the pro-Nazi legionnaires in Bulgaria before 1944. The Aleph Center reported the case.

“Lukov is a figure followed by young people with Nazi and far-right beliefs. The stickers are stuck on the six-pointed star – the Star of David – and on the words with which we have expressed appreciation and gratitude to worthy Burgas residents who saved Jews during the Holocaust,” Alberta Alkalay told BTA, adding: “This is a direct message to us that our activity commemorating the feat of the Bulgarian people is unacceptable.”

According to her, the event is part of the “general wave of antisemitism in Europe, which, unfortunately, has also reached Burgas.”

Said Alkalay, “This monument is a symbol of humanism, of the courage to stand up against the system in order to extend a hand to those who are different from you. Burgas and Bulgaria have always been places without religious enmity, we want to preserve this and set an example for young people,” she added.

The Burgas Municipality, the prosecutor’s office and law enforcement agencies have already been notified of the case. “We can’t report everything, but this act is in the center of Burgas – a city that has always been a unifier and a haven for people of different ethnicities. We believe this is unacceptable,” said Alkalay.

The monument was built on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the rescue of Bulgarian Jews. Before its opening, a study was conducted to identify the names of 20-30 Burgas residents who actively defended their fellow Jews and prevented their deportation, she specified.

Alkalay also recalled that there have been other incidents in the city in the past – about 10-15 years ago, posters with the image of Hitler were pasted in front of the city courthouse, and graffiti with swastikas continue to appear quite often. “Until now, they have always been considered acts of vandalism, but this case is more serious. It is reminiscent of the act with the red, bloody hands on the Holocaust memorial in Paris, for which a Bulgarian was among the accused,” she noted.

“In a country that saved its Jews, such actions are unacceptable. Bulgarians must unite around unconditional values that transcend political differences, and preserve the memory of this historical act,” Alkalay said.

She pointed out that such manifestations are part of a broader European trend that has intensified since the start of the Gaza war: “One of the motives of anti-Semites is that all Jews are responsible for what is happening in Israel. This is absolutely unacceptable.”

BTA recalls that over the years, individual cases of vandalism with Nazi symbolism have been registered in Burgas – posters with the image of Hitler, swastikas and graffiti, which are usually quickly removed by municipal services, but the perpetrators are rarely identified. The most serious act against a Jewish target in the city remains the terrorist attack at Sarafovo Airport in 2012.