Bulgaria Jews Fight Parade for Anti-Semitic General Hristo Lukov
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
A Jewish group and a liberal party in Bulgaria have condemned a march to honor an anti-Semitic general from the 1930s.
The Shalom Organization of the Jews in Bulgaria and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms have protested the Lukov March planned for February 15, according to the Sofia Globe. The torchlight procession will honor General Hristo Lukov, a Bulgarian army general who ultimately became the country’s Minister of War from 1935 to 1938. He also was the leader of the extreme-right Union of Bulgarian National Legions from 1932 to 1942.
He was assassinated at his home in Sofia in 1943 by a Bulgarian Communist Party agent.
The Lukov March, organized by the far-right Bulgarian National Union, has been held annually since 2003 and has been the subject of criticism by Bulgarian and European groups.
Marchers often display pro-Nazi propaganda as well as pro-fascist and xenophobic ideas, the Shalom group said, according to Bulgarian National Radio.
A protest was held in Sofia on February 9 calling for the banning of the Lukov March.
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