The Fragility of Goodness: Why Bulgaria's Jews Survived the Holocaust - Softcover

Todorov, Tzvetan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0691115648 ISBN 13: 9780691115641

Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr, 2003

Synopsis

The Fragility of Goodness With the exception of Denmark, Bulgaria was the only country allied with Nazi Germany that did not annihilate or turn over its Jewish population. This title assembles and interprets key evidence from this episode of Bulgarian history, including letters, diaries, government reports, and memoirs. Full description

About this title

Review:

"Tzvetan Todorov is one of the most original thinkers working today in Europe, whose writings range from the conquest of America to the civil war in occupied France. He has now turned his attention to his Bulgarian roots, Bulgaria, along with Italy and Denmark, being one of the countries with an honorable record in saving Jews during the Holocaust. The result is a book of extraordinary depth which everyone interested in these fields should undoubtedly read."--Michael Burleigh, author of The Third Reich

"The success of Todorov's works is their originality, intellectual honesty, and innovative spirit. This book is not only a most thoughtful work but it contains many hitherto unpublished and unknown documents on the complex maneuvering of those involved in this extraordinary series of events. It is high time that the American public learn not only about the Danish rescue of the Jews but also about the encouraging Bulgarian story."--István Deák, Columbia University

"The story of the Bulgarian Jews in the Second World War is well known to experts in Bulgarian and Balkan history but by few others. This book fills that gap. I read it with increasing admiration and excitement. Not only does it tell the story clearly and in very lively fashion but it also includes archival sources that have not previously appeared in any Western language."--Richard Crampton, University of Oxford

"The Fragility of Goodness fits well into the Todorov project-one of the most important projects in European literature-which is to describe the marvelous possibilities of the moral life, even in extreme adversity. This latest installment, on the 'rescue' or, more accurately, the sparing of Bulgarian Jews during the Second World War, is a remarkable tale, and also a necessary one, as Todorov himself says, 'for if we better understand its circumstances and the motivations of those responsible, perhaps we will be better able ourselves to act tomorrow.'"--Alex Danchev

"After a long and illustrious presence as a French literary critic and moral philosopher, Tzvetan Todorov is publicly discovering his Bulgarian roots. His book offers a powerful narrative in the style of the traditional European essay, which will be greeted with interest."--Maria Todorova, University of Florida

"In reconstructing what happened to such decent men in his native Bulgaria, Todorov, a respected French philosopher and social critic, is also pursuing his longstanding aim of showing that goodness can thrive under atrocious conditions. In fact, he believes it is under such conditions that goodness is most genuinely present. . . ."---István Deák, New York Review of Books

Book Description:

The untold and uplifting story of a whole nation of Oskar Schindlers.

About this edition

• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0691115648
• ISBN 13: 9780691115641
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208