Interview with Sofia Coppola:

Bulgaria, the Jews, and the Holocaust

“…According to the recollections of his son, screenwriter and writer Oliver developed an interest in the Holocaust in 1958 when he was invited to participate in the design of the first exhibition on the "rescue of the Bulgarian Jews" at the House of Jewish Culture. 147 From that time on, he hoarded secondary literature and archives. In 1967, he made a name for himself 184 • ch a pt er 3 by publishing We Were Saved: How the Jews in Bulgaria Were Kept from the Death Camps, a work that would provide the framework for all subsequent state-sanctioned writings.…”

“…The heat of the summer was conducive to exchanges despite the victory of the ex-Communists in the first multiparty elections two months earlier. 147 Following in the footsteps of the Anti-Defamation League, the main American Jewish organizations were gradually going to promote in the United States the narrative of the "rescue of the Bulgarian Jews"-in the new version crafted by the anti-communist right wing. 148 On May 12, 1994, the US Congress thus adopted a declaration praising King Boris's contribution to the "rescue."…”

“…146 On November 21, he denounced the cumbersome procedures. 147 Jews wishing to emigrate had to "renounce their rights" over their property, liquidate it, and draw up an inventory of the property transferred. The height of absurdity, "no municipality can issue such certificates.…”