An exhibition in the National Assembly in Sofia traces the life and work of Exarch Stefan I of Bulgaria – a cosmopolitan figure who went down in history as a champion of the distance of priests from political life, as well as for his role in saving Bulgarian Jews during World War II. This was the last leader of the Bulgarian Exarchate – the form under which the Bulgarian Orthodox Church existed after achieving church independence within the Ottoman Empire in 1870, until 1953. Exarch Stefan led the clergy for four years – from 1945 to 1948, after which he was overthrown by the communist regime and interned in the village of Banya near Karlovo, where he lived until his death in 1957.

The secular name of Exarch Stefan I of Bulgaria (1878–1957) was Stoyan Popgeorgiev Shokov. He was born in the Rhodope village of Shiroka Laka, studied at the Kiev Theological Academy and taught at the Theological Seminary "St. Ivan Rilski" in Sofia. In Bulgaria, Archimandrite Stefan developed active public and church activities and climbed in the church hierarchy. In 1921, he became Bishop of Marcianopolis and a year later he was elected Metropolitan of Sofia.

During World War II, although he was close to the Palace and the government, Exarch Stefan I did not share the pro-German orientation of the authorities and was an avid peacemaker. He delivered hundreds of sermons, held talks, and published articles in various Bulgarian and foreign outlets. He was one of the prominent defenders of Bulgarian Jews, refusing to accept attempts to persecute them and deprive them of their rights.

In his sermon in the "St. Nedelya" church on May 24, 1943, Exarch Stefan declared that he would pronounce anathema on anyone who attacks a Bulgarian Jew. On the same day he wrote a letter to Tsar Boris III, in which he wrote: "Do not persecute if you do not want to be persecuted. Remember, Boris, God watches your deeds from heaven." He added that the government's decision on the Law for the Protection of the Nation contradicted the laws and principles of the Holy Orthodox Church.

The exhibition "The Exarch - Savior and the Saved Children" reminds us of all these important moments in the personal history of Exarch Stefan I of Bulgaria. It was first presented in his birthplace – the Rhodope village of Shiroka Laka, but now until March 11, it can be seen in the building of the Bulgarian Parliament thanks to the assistance of MP from Smolyan District, Dr. Krasimir Sabev.

"There is a lot to see and learn about the things that happened in Bulgaria. And we should be truly proud that we Bulgarians are following a historical path that will continue in the future. This is the beginning of an initiative, together with the Shiroka Laka community center, which bears the name of Exarch Stefan, and the Ministry of Culture," Krasimir Sabev told Radio Bulgaria and added that a lot of information about the life and work of Exarch Stefan I can be found in the Shiroka Laka community center, where nearly 600 pages dedicated to him are preserved.

"Many episodes can be pointed out to illustrate his truly humanistic views and his feelings towards the Jews," writer Lea Cohen, who was among those invited to the opening of the exhibition, pointed out.

"This exhibition is very small for the enormous personality of Exarch Stefan I – a great Bulgarian intellectual who does not fit only into the church,” Lea Cohen recalled and pointed out one aspect of his life: “Back in 1940, in September, when the draft Law for the Protection of the Nation was introduced, he alarmed the Synod and sent the first protest letter to the National Assembly against this law. His views and policies were extremely consistent."

In addition to panels with information about the work of Exarch Stefan I, the exhibition also includes paintings by Bulgarian Jew Rivka Uziel:

"I was born in 1938 and during the war I was a child. And then, when it was the hardest, this exarch said: ‘I don't give the Jews away!’ Bulgaria was the country whose Jews did not go to camps - we can never forget that! We are very grateful to the Bulgarian people. When we say in Israel that we are from Bulgaria, we hear that these are special people, who love and know how to be friends," artist Rivka Uziel, who was born in Yambol, says without hiding her emotions. These days she lives in the Israeli city of Rehovot where she creates paintings as colorful as life, in which she incorporates black sand from the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast:

"We were in Pomorie during the war, I remembered that there was black sand. I went, searched, found it and I use it in every one of my works, which reminds me that I am in Bulgaria. This is my place in the heart."

Publication in English: Al. Markov

Photos: BTA, parliament.bg, royalbulgariaincolour.com, Facebook / State archive-Smolyan