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Title: The Fragility of Goodness : Why Bulgaria's Jews Survived the Holocaust by Tzvetan Todorov, Arthur Denner ISBN: 0691115648 Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr Pub. Date: September, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.33
Rating: 2
Summary: Disappointing
Comment: The Fragility of Goodness: Why Bulgaria's Jews Survived the Holocaust by Tzvetan Todorov (Editor) fails in the essential task created by the title - explainig how fragile was the set of circumstances that led to the Jews of Bulgaria being saved. The first 40 or so pages of the book is a concise history of Bulgaria and the Second World War with the remainer of the book restricted to primary historical documents and memories of the major participants.
The stated premise of the book is that goodness is fragile and that the saving of Bulgarian's Jews was not a forgone conclusion. The author ignores that fact that few historical events were forgone conclusions. Even the rise of Hitler was not preordianed and but for the acts of Hindengurg and a few Weimar leaders who thought that they could control Hitler there might not have been a Holocaust. Todorov does not explain why the events in Bulgaria are any different from every other historical event.
If one want to read a comprehensive history of Bulgaria during World War II, I would suggest Beyond Hitler's Grasp: The Heroic Rescue of Bulgaria's Jews by Michael Bar-Zohar. The Fragility of Goodness is wothwhile for the presence of the primary sources, but not much else.
Rating: 4
Summary: Ambiguous book
Comment: It is no big surprise that Todorov published a book on the Bulgarian Jews' salvation issue. First, it goes within the major topic of his later research: the value of ethics in extreme circumstances. Second, his Bulgarian origin should made him, even for simply methodological reasons, pay more attention to the country where he comes from (and which one would expect him to know well). The book follows a scheme that Todorov already employed ten years ago in compiling the witnesses' tales of three Bulgarian citizens severely (and unreasonably) persecuted by the Communist secret police in the early 60's: no place for comments, the floor is given to the "historical figures" themselves. Yet, while in the previous "Bulgarian" book the historical figures spoke with their own words, here Todorov is constricted to the existing documentation (no one of the participants in the '43 events is still alive). And this is why he, everything taken into acount, fails. The texts are insufficient to build a complete picture of WWII Bulgaria because of their "official" character: they do not present in detail the motivation even of those main figures that were most deeply involved in the salvation (or effective dispatch to the camps of death), yet they are not adjoined by any commentary by the author wich to elucidate them better. The author's position is limited (and this is quite a particular case!) to the title itself which, however, is misleading, too. Shall we interpret it literally in the sense that Bulgarians should not really boast about saving the Jews; or shall we understand it within the broader context of Todorov's work, as just one more argument in favor of Todorov's general concept of the relativity of morality? The truth is even now I cannot choose the correct answer.
Rating: 4
Summary: Great historical factual analysis; makes a reader think
Comment: The author thoroughly explores the chain of events and actions that led to the rescue of Bulgarian Jews from Holocaust. In addition to his own remarks, the author provides a set of documents relevant to the period of persecution and possible deportation of Bulgarian Jews. The memoirs and diaries of political (and moral) adversaries describing the same events are put together. The clash of individual / group actions and opinions reveals the struggle between good and evil, courage and cowardliness in the Bulgarian society and government of 1940s. The author puts special emphasis on the brave attempt of Dimitar Peshev, the Vice-Chairman of National Assembly, to prevent Jewish deportation. His actions cost him the political post, but his goal was eventually achieved. I believe the author underestimated the role of Bulgarian king Boris in the eventual cancellation of deportation plans. Without his decision, the protests of Peshev, the opposition, and Bulgarian society would be in vain. I think his decision was more than just a calculated move done in Bulgarian national interests. His efforts to defend Jewish lives in the personal meetings with Nazi officials (including Hitler) are evident and should be recognized.
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Title: Beyond Hitler's Grasp: The Heroic Rescue of Bulgaria's Jews by Michael Bar-Zohar ISBN: 158062541X Publisher: Adams Media Corporation Pub. Date: October, 2001 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Voices from the Gulag: Life and Death in Communist Bulgaria by Tzvetan Todorov, Robert Zaretsky ISBN: 0271019611 Publisher: Pennsylvania State Univ Pr (Trd) Pub. Date: January, 2000 List Price(USD): $31.50 |
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Title: A Concise History of Bulgaria by R. J. Crampton ISBN: 052156719X Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: March, 1997 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Facing the Extreme: Moral Life in the Concentration Camps by Tzvetan Todorov, Abigail Pollak, Arthur Denner ISBN: 0805042644 Publisher: Henry Holt & Company, Inc. Pub. Date: April, 1997 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland by Jan T. Gross ISBN: 0142002402 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: November, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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