Recommended Reading

I just finished Beyond Hitler’s Grasp: The Heroic Rescue of Bulgaria’s Jews by Michael Bar-Zohar. It tells the story of how during World War II, within the sphere of Nazi occupied Europe, not one of Bulgaria’s 50,000 Jews was deported to a concentration camp. Indeed, Bulgaria was the only country under the Nazi control where the Jewish population increased during the war. What I found most fascinating (an inspiring for my own faith) about this book was the key role played by the Pravoslav (Orthodox) church within Bulgaria in preserving the lives of 50,000 people who would otherwise been sent to concentration camps and certain death. The church in Bulgaria stood by their principles and took great risks to do so, and they were successful. The book seems to be out of print, but you are more than welcome to borrow my copy.