The regional prosecutor’s office in Burgas, Bulgaria, has launched an independent investigation following an act of vandalism against the city’s Holocaust memorial. The monument, dedicated to those who helped save the Jewish community of Burgas during World War II, was defaced with stickers covering the engraved historical text.
The stickers bore the image of General Hristo Lukov, leader of the pro-Nazi Union of Bulgarian National Legions in the 1940s. Local prosecutors ordered the Burgas police to investigate, including reviewing security camera footage to identify those responsible and interviewing potential witnesses.
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The memorial, built a decade ago by the Alef Center for Jewish-Bulgarian Cooperation, commemorates acts of humanity and resistance to Nazi crimes in Burgas during the war. The Alef Center condemned the vandalism as a “brazen antisemitic and xenophobic act carried out in a vibrant urban area.” The organization noted that, days after the incident, the stickers still had not been removed — a failure they said reflected an administrative lapse and a challenge to local authorities tasked with protecting historical memory, democratic values, and human dignity.
Erected by descendants of Jews who were saved, the memorial symbolizes gratitude to the people of Burgas who showed humanity and opposed the Nazis during the war.
“Defiling the monument of gratitude is a disgrace to Burgas and to all of Bulgaria,” the Alef Center said. “This is a test — whether we will allow darkness, hatred, and ignorance to silence the light of memory.”