From Sofia to Jaffa : the Jews of Bulgaria and Israel

Within two years of the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, 45,000 of Bulgaria's 50,000 Jews left voluntarily for Israel. This mass exodus was remarkable considering that Bulgaria was the only Axis power to prevent deportation to the death camps during WWII.
After their arrival they were recognized as a model immigrant group in a fledgling state attempting to absorb hundreds of thousands of newcomers from more than eighty countries.