80 years after Holocaust, Bulgarian survivor shares optimistic message
Wednesday and Thursday marked Yom HaShoah, also known as Holocaust Remembrance Day.
This year commemorates 80 years since the end of the atrocities that killed six million Jews. According to the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh, more than 350 survivors came to the region, and fewer than 20 are still with us.
With fewer opportunities to hear their stories, KDKA wants to share those that we can, including that of a survivor from Bulgaria who can provide some optimism during a time when there's so much hate still in our world.
Survivor of the Holocaust shares message of hope
As Albert Farhy looked through his collection of family photos at his home in Squirrel Hill, he found one that took him back to a world where he felt like a second-class citizen. On the back of it, you can see a stamp of the Jewish star.
"It is Jewish, you know, don't buy it," Farhy said.
The Star of David is now a symbol of resistance and strength, but was once a marker for persecution. In Bulgaria, that hate came in waves for the now 95-year-old, born in the capital of Sofia in 1929.
"It was really very depressing," Farhy said.
He, his brothers and parents had been living in unity in their building with other Jews and non-Jews. In fact, his father, a proud officer who fought alongside Germany in World War I, made sure to teach his son that antisemitism was not common.
"He said we were living like brothers. No difference between if you a Jew or Bulgarian," Farhy said.
However, in July of 1940, things started to change after the Bulgarian government introduced anti-Jewish laws. There were curfews and restrictions on occupations. Jews were required to hand over valuables, wear the Jewish star and put the star on their front doors with the names of those inside.
"Everything was preparation for deportation," Farhy said.
It wasn't long before Bulgaria became allies with Nazi Germany.
"I was sure that my end is coming," Farhy said.
One time, Farhy heard crowds marching outside their home.
"The sound like bees from distance was 'dead to the Jews. Dead to America. Dead to the Jews. Dead to America.' Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, from distance," Farhy said.
While friends he once played soccer with started saluting Hitler, he also witnessed his father defend their identity, slapping a contractor who denigrated him for being Jewish. It taught him an important lesson.
"Antisemitism is a negative thing and have to be fought," Farhy said.
According to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, in 1943 Bulgaria agreed to the Nazis' demands and deported more than 11,000 Jews from Bulgarian-occupied territories near Greece and Yugoslavia to Poland. Nearly all of them were killed at the Treblinka death camp.
However, after growing defiance by clergy, politicians, and the public, the king revoked plans to deport Jews within the borders of Bulgaria; 48,000 Jews, according to Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center.
"It is example how people can do right," Farhy said.
Instead, the government sent them to ghettos in the countryside, where some endured forced labor.
The Farhys were sent by train more than 100 miles east of Sofia, where the five of them were crammed into one room in Pleven, and then, in two rooms, with relatives in Shuman. There, despite a quota of Jews in the high schools, Farhy was admitted and made non-Jewish friends who stood up for him.
"He saved me from being beaten," Farhy said.
Eventually, the Soviet Army invaded Bulgaria in September 1944, freeing them from the Nazis.
After the war, Farhy went to college and worked as a chemist in Israel until 1961, when he moved to the U.S. and Pittsburgh.
Eighty years later, Farhy said it doesn't hurt to look back, showing what's possible when we look past our differences.
"No, no, because the Bulgarian people save us," Farhy said. "We survive. It is positive."
