Our Senior Surveyor Ian Galevskii visited 15 Jewish cemeteries in 7 regions of Bulgaria, covering cities such as Sofia, Blagoevgrad, Gotse Delchev, Dupnitsa, Kyustendil, Berkovitsa, Lom, Pazardzhik, Plovdiv, Samokov, and Vidin.
The surveys we have not yet completed (the next round will begin after Pesach) have already shown incredible results. At several cemeteries that were previously believed, according to all existing records, to have no remaining tombstones, we discovered surviving ones.
ESJF’s work in Bulgaria is part of a broader project to document Jewish cemeteries across the Northern and Southern Balkans, including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Slovenia.
This work is made possible thanks to funding from the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad.
We are also very grateful for the support of our local coordinator, Ekaterina Karaseva.