Holocaust Day in Bulgaria

March 10 was declared by resolution of the Council of Ministers on February 13, 2003 Holocaust and All the Victims of Crimes against Humanity Day. On February 10, 1943 the Plovdiv metropolitan Kiril, later the first Bulgarian patriarch, and the Sofia exarch Stefan prevented from deportation hundreds of Plovdiv Jews. On March 17, 1943 the deputy chairman of the 25th Parliament Mr. Dimitar Peshev wrote a letter opposing the deportation of the Bulgarian Jews, backed by 42 members of the Parliament. Thanks to the public support too, the Bulgarian Jews were saved. In 2002, the education ministers of the member states of the Council of Europe decided the International Holocaust Memorial Day that was celebrated on January 27 to be remembered in each country depending on its particular history. Bulgaria commemorated first the Holocaust Memorial Day on this day in 2003.