What Readers Are Saying About "Forgiveness"
Readersof two of my recent stories, especially my story "Forgiveness," have postedtheir feedback on social media and in messages to me, and I'd like to sharetheir words. In addition, I feel it appropriate to include a response to thehistoric accuracy of the story.
Published in June 2023, The WritingDisorder
"Itis a poignant, so moving short piece of fiction and realism mixed in oneentity. I know the tales about our Jews and the courageous acts of therepresentatives of the Christian Orthodox Church and the society in itsentirety. There have been movies dedicated to this part of the Bulgarianhistory and at school we learnt about exactly what is described in theletters."
* * *
"Veryinteresting and thought provoking."
* * *
"Wow!"
* * *
"Thestory brought tears to my eyes."
* * *
"It'squite moving and makes me think of where my wife's family (from Dupnitsa andKyustendil) or those of Jewish Bulgarian friends (one Jewish family fromDupnitsa particularly comes to mind) may have been in these moments."
* * *
"Thisis great, Ellis, very well written. Thanks for sharing, I learned a bunchtoo!"
* * *
"Greatstory! I really enjoyed how effortlessly it takes you back in time."
* * *
"Powerfulstory!! I knew nothing of Bulgaria andits past history. A lot of research went into this one for sure!!! Well done."
* * *
"Thankyou for sharing the complicated history of Bulgaria during the Holocaust."
* * *
"Goodstory. Is it fictional? I couldn’t tell. It’s not precise that all 48,000 Jews survived. Boris didn’t care about the Bulgarian Jews, who were abroad from September 1, 1939 on. They were all given to the Nazis and the BG government only asked for their names, so they could take over the property left."
* * *
TheHistory Accuracy of "Forgiveness"
"Forgiveness"is a work of fiction based on real historic events. As an author, I tookcreative liberty to make elements of my narrative come together - but I hopeeven knowledgeable readers will agree that I didn't stray too far from theevents that occurred. Still, I feel it appropriate to include feedback from adear friend who is very familiar with the history of Bulgaria's Jews during theWorld War 2 period.
* * *
Myfirst impression after reading it is that although the book is based on realevents and documents/sources, there are still some inaccuracies that will notgo unnoticed by the Bulgarian reader.
Asyou are probably aware, a serious dispute on the history of the Holocaust inBulgaria is ongoing, including some issues related to the interpretation andpresentation of the historical facts of the rescue of Bulgarian Jewry (wereBulgarian Jews saved or they rathersurvived), as well as to the painful history of the deportation of the Jewsfrom Vardar Macedonia, Aegean Thrace, and Pirot (are Bulgarians the only onesto blame for the deportations and what exactly was the role of the thenBulgarian authorities in this immense human tragedy).
Anotherpart of the dispute relates to the history of the labor camps on the territoryof the Kingdom of Bulgaria - were they only a place of torture/ discriminationor they could be considered sui generis - a place that played a role inJews' salvation.
Thereare no explicit answers to all these aspects of the history of the Holocaustand the events from 1943. Different groups of experts, academia, historians andeven politicians clash opinions in an effort to impose their own « truth ».
Inthis context, I really believe that your story will add fuel to the flame - bypleasing some while utterly infuriating others.
Regardingthe inaccuracies I have mentioned earlier that might have slip in for thepurposes of the narration:
Thetrains that left from Skopje traveled directly to Treblinka through Serbia andnever passed through Bulgarian territory. The trains, crossing Bulgarian territory, were the ones carrying theGreek Jews from Thrace that consequently reached Lom and the Danube from wherethe Jews were transported to Poland by barges.
Thecamp in Kaylaka, where a fire indeed erupted, was a place where mainly Jewishcommunists, proven to have been involved in activities against the state, wereimprisoned. Kaylaka was a male camp and there were no women in it. After thefire, the camp was closed.
WhatI truly miss in “Forgiveness” is the Bulgarian uniqueness - despite the adoptedanti-Jewish laws, even though Bulgaria was an ally of Nazi Germany, andregardless of the furious willingness of the ruling elite to send all Jews inthe country to the camps, this didn’t happen. And it didn’t happen not only forone, ten or a thousand but for fifty thousand Jews.
This was anextraordinary act of bravery of ordinary people, that succeeded thanks to thesteadfast support of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, and indeed the friendshipbetween Bulgarians and Jews depicted in your book that transcended generations.
* * *
Ihope you have a chance to read "Forgiveness", a fictional account ofreal historic events.
