As pressure on Bulgaria mounts, two organizations that will define its history in the coming years are formed.

Major Characters in this Episode:

Foreign Minister Popov

German Foreign Minister Von Ribbentrop

Adolf Hitler

Hristo Lukov

Alexander Belev

Interior Minister Gabrovski

Timeline:

• 1942, May 12-23rd - A quarter of a million Soviet troops are encircled in the Second Battle of Kharkov.

• 1942, May 26th - The British and Soviet Union sign a military and political alliance.

• 1942, May - Greek partisan movement gets underway.

• 1942, Spring - Some high-ranking Bulgarian military officials express support for an attack on Turkey.

• 1942, Spring - Right-wing groups with German sympathy advocate for a government headed by Hristo Lukov.

• 1942, Jun 1st - General Vladimir Zaimov is sentenced to death and actually executed for spying for the USSR.

• 1942, Jun 4-7th - The United States blunts the Japanese advance in the Pacific at the Battle of Midway.

• 1942, Jun 5th - A government decree grants Bulgarian citizenship to residents of occupied territories, but explicitly excludes Jews.

• 1942, Jun 5th - The United States declares war on Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania.

• 1942, Jun 9-26th - A trial is held for captured instructors of Bulgarian partisans. 18 are sentenced to death, 7 to life in prison, and the remaining given 2 and 15 year sentences.

• 1942, Jun 28th - Germany begins its major summer offensive towards Stalingrad and the Caucasus.

• 1942, Jun - Belev visits Berlin on orders from Gabrovski to learn about the latest German efforts to answer the ‘Jewish question.’

• 1942, Jun - Germany gives Turkey a line of credit to purchase military materials.

• 1942, Jun - A new Communist operative arrives in Macedonia and begins promoting a pro-Tito faction.

• 1942, Jun - Debates around a new anti-Jewish law in Bulgaria before it is ultimately passed.

• 1942, Jun - The German ambassador complains about the Soviet Legation in Sofia.

• 1942, Jun - Foreign Minister Popov authorizes the Germans to do what they like with Bulgarian Jews abroad.

• 1942, Jul 10th - Prime Minister Filov meets with Tsar Boris and advocates closer relations with Germany.

• 1942, Jul 17th - The Fatherland Front is announced on Radio Hristo Botev operating from the USSR. By the end of the year, 130 local committees are established, mainly by communists.

• 1942, Jul 23rd - The trial of 61 members and collaborators of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party concludes with 6 sentences to death.

• 1942, July - General Lukov outlines his political program at a private meeting.

• 1942, Jul - A friendly set of telegrams between Tsar Boris III and a Jewish man are published, causing a minor scandal and shaking German confidence in Bulgarian cooperation on Jewish matters.

• 1942, Aug 13th - Clashes between Bulgarian and Italian soldiers in Macedonia.

• 1942, Aug 25th - The Bulgarian Commissariat for Jewish Questions (KEV) is formed at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication headed by Alexander Belev.

• 1942, Aug 29th - A new order is implemented forcing Jews to wear the yellow star of David and prohibiting them from visiting public places, or owning items like cars, radios, or telephones.

• 1942, Aug - The Fatherland Front begins negotiations with noncommunist opposition.

• 1942, Sep 1st - The Fatherland Front begins publication of an illegal underground newspaper called “Rabotnichesko delo” or something like “Worker’s Cause.”

Sources:

• История на България в Дати by Vasil Katsunov, Plamen Mitev, Valeri Kolev, Evgenia Kalinova, and Iskra Baeva

• Bulgaria During the Second World War by Marshall E. Miller

• The Balkans by Misha Glenny

• Bulgaria 1897-1946 by Tatiana Kostadinova

• The Bulgarian Communist Party from Blagoev to Zhivkov by John D. Bell

• The Bulgarian Jews and the Final Solution, 1940-1944 by Frederick B. Chary

• Bulgaria and Her Jews by Vicki Tamir

• Beyond Hitler's Grasp, The Heroic Rescue of Bulgaria's Jews by Michael Bar-Zohar