On 20th of June 2018, an exhibition of documents, photographs, and art was launched in Sofia at the exhibition hall of the Archives State Agency of Bulgaria under the name of “Rotary Club Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Jews”. Welcome speeches were delivered by Assoc. prof. Mihail Gruev, President of ASA, MSc, Ilia Iliev, President of Rotary Club Sofia, and Dr. Jossif Assa, President of Lodge Carmel of B’nai B’rith Bulgaria. An honorable guest to the event was Her Excellency Irit Lilian, Ambassador of the State of Israel to Bulgaria.

The exhibition, which is a joint undertaking of Rotary Club and the Carmel Lodge of B’nai B’rith Bulgaria, has been launched on the occasions of the 85 th anniversary of Rotary Club Bulgaria, the 75th Anniversary of the Salvation of the Bulgarian Jews, and in commemoration of the Jews from East Thrace, Vardar Macedonia and the town of Pirot, who lost their lives in the concentration camps. Little-known documents, photos, and works of art stand witness of the strong opposition of the Bulgarian public against the Holocaust. The photos and exhibits convey information about Bulgarian Jews who were members and guests of Rotary Club-Bulgaria at the time.

The exhibition traces the line of conviction, which the Rotarian maintained regarding the Nazi doctrine of racial purity and the resistance of the Rotarian members of parliament against the implementation of the Law for the Protection of the Nation. Plenty of documents and facts stand evidence of the actions which the Rotarian undertook to protect their Jewish compatriots when the Law came into effect. Special prominence is given to the Letter of Protest written and signed by Dimitar Peshev and 42 members of Parliament and to the connections, which Dimitar Peshev maintained with the Rotary Club.