March 16, 2013
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for 2013 on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the salvation of the Bulgarian Jews during WW2.
The nomination was initiated by Mr. Lachezar Toshev, deputy chairman of the permanent delegation of the Bulgarian national assembly at PACE, and MP from the Blue Coalition. He is also an honorary associate member of PACE and one of the persons entitled to make nominations for this high prize.
The documents for the nomination were submitted at the end of last year in Oslo, where the Nobel Prize is awarded.
“The act of salvation of the Bulgarian Jews from the Holocaust is not known very well internationally, although there are enough documents to prove it. One such nomination will at least shed light on the issue in the course of the discussions,” Toshev said.
“This decision of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is a world precedent and is also praiseworthy, because the church risked its own future in the name of the salvation of a minority of different religion,” he added.