Monument to Bulgarian Jews saved from Nazi death camps inaugurated in Sofia

The Israeli President met Thursday with his Bulgarian counterpart to inaugurate a monument commemorating the nearly 50,000 Jews saved from Nazi extermination during the Second World War.

Addressing a crowd of descendents of the survivors, Israel’s Reuven Rivlin and Rosen Plevneliev, recounted how Bulgaria reneged on it’s 1943 agreement with the Nazis to deport its Jewish population to extermination camps such as Auschwitz or Treblinka in Poland.

“Today we are witnesses to a strong wave of populism and nationalism in Europe, I hope this monument reminds us that we can resist hate with solidarity, friendship and humanism,” Plevneliev told the crowd.

The monument _ a modernist sculpture _ cofunded by the two countries, was designed by Momchil Tsvetkov.

Rivlin announced that an identical monument is due to be erected in Tel Aviv to celebrate “the wonder of the salvation of the Jews in Europe at a time when nobody had the courage to risk their life.”

During his official visit, Rivlin is also scheduled to meet with Bulgarian Prime Minister, Boiko Borisov, and Chairwoman of the National Assembly, Tsetska Tsacheva.

Plevneliev told the press on Thursday that those responsible for the 2012 airport attack in the Black Sea city of Burgas, will be brought to justice “within a few days.”

In the attack, attributed to the Lebanese extremist group Hezbollah, five Israelis and one Bulgarian lost their lives with another 25 Israelis left injured.