Bruce Bartlett writes that he's just nominated Petrov for the Milton Friedman prize. Excellent idea--go forth and do thou likewise.
Copyright © 2010 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2010 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All rights reserved.
This is great! If he wins the $500,000 his pension of $200/month will not matter much? But maybe he would rather see his story come by Mr Spielberg - check&honor guaranteed?
There are actually a fair number of war time hero's who were never acknowledged during their life time. For example - Bulgaria, an ally of Hitler Germany, with a fascist Government and an Austrian monarch (friend of Hitler's) revolved against the deportation of its Jews. King Boris mysteriously died only days after announcing this to Hitler... If it were not for a brave secretary whistleblower workinf for the Germans - all Jews would have died?
From a letter to the IHT:
Regarding "Bulgaria Saved Its Jews" (Letters, Oct. 22):
Allow me to enlarge on the letter from J.D. Panitza, and your previous coverage of the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Danish rescue of Jews from the Nazis during World War II.
The Bulgarian rescue is less known but more dramatic. Bulgaria was Nazi Germany's ally. King Boris III was a personal friend of Hitler's. The Fascist Party was in power and the country swarmed with German troops. Nevertheless, when Adolf Eichmann's deputy, Theodor Dannecker, came to Bulgaria to deport the Jews, this small Balkan nation refused to let them go. The young secretary of the Commissar for Jewish Questions, Liliana Panitza, discovered the secret agreement between her employer and the German envoy. She hurried to inform Bulgarian leaders, Jewish and non-Jewish, of the forthcoming deportation.
The news triggered an unprecedented effort led by the Eastern Orthodox Church, several Fascist leaders, intellectual and professional groups, and the king himself. Many Bulgarians considered their Jewish compatriots' deportation would be a stain on Bulgaria's honor. In open defiance of the Reich, Bulgaria refused to hand over its 50,000 Jews.
An angry Hitler summoned King Boris to Germany, where he was pressured to revise his decision. He refused. The king was flown back to Bulgaria, to die a few days later from a mysterious illness. Bulgaria's unofficial version is that he was poisoned by Hitler.
I am a Bulgarian-born Israeli. I remember the nights of anguish in March 1943 when we waited for the police to pick us up and escort us to the deportation trains.
I am researching the Bulgarian Jews' rescue, and I have come to believe that the Bulgarians deserve the Jewish people's gratitude. On March 9, 1993, President Chaim Herzog of Israel and a top-level Bulgarian delegation attended festivities in Tel Aviv celebrating the rescue's 50th anniversary.
Not only did all Bulgaria's Jews survive, but Bulgaria became the only German-occupied country whose Jews grew in number during World War II.
MICHAEL BAR-ZOHAR.
Professor of History.
Emory University.
Atlanta.
___________________
From Princeton University Press, The Fragility of Goodness:
Why Bulgaria's Jews Survived the Holocaust
The Bulgaria that emerges is not a heroic country dramatically different from those countries where Jews did perish. Todorov does find heroes, especially parliament deputy Dimitar Peshev, certain writers and clergy, and--most inspiring--public opinion. Yet he is forced to conclude that the "good" triumphed to the extent that it did because of a tenuous chain of events. Any break in that chain--one intellectual who didn't speak up as forcefully, a different composition in Orthodox Church leadership, a misstep by a particular politician, a less wily king--would have undone all of the other efforts with disastrous results for almost 50,000 people.
The meaning Todorov settles on is this: Once evil is introduced into public view, it spreads easily, whereas goodness is temporary, difficult, rare, and fragile. And yet possible.
_____________________
Most people involved in the rescue never received honors during their lifetime. This is because the Communists who took over the country after WWII claimed to have saved the Jews themselves. It was not until the fall of Communism that the archives were open... I am certain that, as another commenter has recently argued in the context of Mr Petrov, there must be some unnamed US heroes as well? I am certain that even Italians.. well maybe not.
Um, the guy definitely deserves an award, but why an award specifically designed to lift up the champions of the free global marketplace?
(Yes, technically it's for "advancing liberty" but the namesake and the past winners sort of give this one away.)
I agree that without his heroism there'd be no global market, but there'd be no Hollywood either so why not give him an Oscar?
Personally, I say give him a Nobel Peace Prize. That's perfectly fitting, quite prestigious, he's certainly deserving, and I bet it would net him over $200 a month.
Give the Friedman to um, Hugo Chavez instead. I'm a big fan of irony...plus that'd be one hell of an acceptance speech, am I right?
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