Photograph of Bulgarian Jewish slave labourers, 1943
Object numberM2022/035:001
TitlePhotograph of Bulgarian Jewish slave labourers, 1943
DescriptionPhotograph of Bulgarian Jewish slave labourers with shovels by a railway line, 1943, inscribed on the reverse in pencil "Navjcostino, group of men digging". Heskia Lazar, shirtless, is standing 2nd from the right. A kneeling man in front of him has a pipe in his mouth. A guard in dark uniform is on the right and fourth from the right.
Part of a collection of photographs relating to the Jewish experience in Bulgaria during the Holocaust. The Sydney Jewish Museum currently has only a handful of items which speak to the Bulgarian Jewish story. Between the wars, Bulgaria had become increasingly dependent on Germany, its World War I ally. Even before March 1941 when Bulgaria joined the Axis powers, the country adopted anti-Jewish legislation which curbed the civil rights of the 48,000 Jews living in Bulgaria proper. Further anti-Jewish legislation was introduced in 1942. Jews had to wear yellow Star of David badges and Jewish men were rounded up, mobilised into ‘labour groups’ and made to work on state projects that involved heavy construction like road works. Heskia Lazar was forced to work with pick and shovel in the snow, until he was able to secure a better work detail as a shoe repairer. According to the donor, “it was his salvation.”
In February 1943, the Bulgarian government signed a confidential agreement for the deportation of 20,000 Jews from their territories in Yugoslavia and northern Greece, where they had invaded in 1941. 11,343 Jews from Aegean Thrace, Macedonia, and southern Serbia were deported to the extermination camp of Treblinka. Approximately 8,000 Jews were then to be deported from Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. However, political and public opposition to the plan eventually led instead to the resettlement of Sofia Jews to the provinces. Approximately 23,000 people were expelled to the Bulgarian countryside.
In October 1944, Bulgaria changed allegiances and declared war on Germany. By the end of the war, the Jewish population of Bulgaria was still at its prewar level.
Heskia Lazar and Matilde Mamon were married towards the end of the war. Their daughter Klara was born in Sofia in 1946. The family immigrated to Israel in 1948.
Part of a collection of photographs relating to the Jewish experience in Bulgaria during the Holocaust. The Sydney Jewish Museum currently has only a handful of items which speak to the Bulgarian Jewish story. Between the wars, Bulgaria had become increasingly dependent on Germany, its World War I ally. Even before March 1941 when Bulgaria joined the Axis powers, the country adopted anti-Jewish legislation which curbed the civil rights of the 48,000 Jews living in Bulgaria proper. Further anti-Jewish legislation was introduced in 1942. Jews had to wear yellow Star of David badges and Jewish men were rounded up, mobilised into ‘labour groups’ and made to work on state projects that involved heavy construction like road works. Heskia Lazar was forced to work with pick and shovel in the snow, until he was able to secure a better work detail as a shoe repairer. According to the donor, “it was his salvation.”
In February 1943, the Bulgarian government signed a confidential agreement for the deportation of 20,000 Jews from their territories in Yugoslavia and northern Greece, where they had invaded in 1941. 11,343 Jews from Aegean Thrace, Macedonia, and southern Serbia were deported to the extermination camp of Treblinka. Approximately 8,000 Jews were then to be deported from Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. However, political and public opposition to the plan eventually led instead to the resettlement of Sofia Jews to the provinces. Approximately 23,000 people were expelled to the Bulgarian countryside.
In October 1944, Bulgaria changed allegiances and declared war on Germany. By the end of the war, the Jewish population of Bulgaria was still at its prewar level.
Heskia Lazar and Matilde Mamon were married towards the end of the war. Their daughter Klara was born in Sofia in 1946. The family immigrated to Israel in 1948.
Production placeBulgaria
Production date 1943 - 1943
Subjectanti-Jewish measures, forced labour
Object namephotographs
Materialpaper, photographic emulsion
Dimensions
- length: 83.00 mm
width: 60.00 mm
Language
- Bulgarian
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Klara Bechler