BY DAN RYLANCE AND BILLIE JO RYLANCE

[note: UW Oshkosh Associate Professor of Special Education Billie Jo Rylance was recently awarded a Fulbright Scholarship taking her to Bulgaria. Her husband Dan is a former teacher, legislator, and editorial page editor. He writes regularly for Commentary. While in Bulgaria, Billie Jo and Dan will send letters to be posted on the Commentary site. Below is the fifth installment. --Tony Palmeri].

Americans commemorated the 40th Anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22. For those of us who grew up in the Sixties, we still painfully remember that day and the announcement which came around 1 p.m. on that Friday.

We also can recall exactly what each of us was doing at the time and what we did and did not do for the next few hours. We also can vividly remember the shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby in the basement of the Dallas police station. The shooting that occurred on live television added disbelief and fueled conspiracy theories to the President’s assassination.

If older Americans can remember the events in great detail, many remain divided about motives. The Warren Commission, the official government report, concluded that Oswald acted alone. Since then, however, there have been scores of well-researched books, which challenge the findings of the Commission. Who killed the President and why continue to elicit great debate and conspiracy theories abound. Some suggest CIA involvement, the Mafia, Fidel Castro and most recently even Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson. Satisfactory answers will never please many Americans who lived through that terrible event. We know when and where the President was killed but both the motive and the possibility of a broader conspiracy still loom.

Bulgarians share a common tragedy. On August 28, 1943, their beloved King Boris III mysteriously died. Who killed the King and why remain topics of debate for older and younger Bulgarians alike.

Before attempting to answer those two questions some background information is required. Bulgaria sided with Germany in both the First and Second World Wars. Their military involvement in the WWI, however, was much greater than it was in World War II. Bulgaria’s geographical location, its ties through the monarch to Germany, and German promises to restore land lost earlier in the Twentieth Century explain some of the reasons and the most obvious one that Bulgaria was in no position to do otherwise.

Western allies started bombing Sofia in late 1943 destroying 3,000 buildings and damaging another 9,000. Over 1,000 civilians were killed in the bombings. On September 6, 1944, the Soviet Union declared war on Bulgaria and it left the Axis powers and joined the Allies. Later, at the Yalta Conference, Bulgaria was placed in the sphere of Soviet influences by agreement from both the United States and Great Britain. It should also be noted that the United States never severed diplomatic relations with Bulgaria even while it was part of the Axis powers during World War II.

Back to King Boris III. He was born in 1894 and became King in 1918 at the age of 24. He was shy, sensitive, and excelled in languages. He ruled under a progressive and liberal constitution held in check by Parliament. He wanted to avoid the mistake of his father King Ferdinand by staying out of another war; he failed to do so.

Bulgaria’s soldiers engaged in little military action. On the other hand, it served as a vegetable garden to feed German troops, and Bulgarian tailors made many of the Germany uniforms. During the war Germany exerted major pressure on Boris to turn over the 50,000 Jews residing in Bulgaria. The King steadfastly refused to do so citing that they were needed to work on roads to supply German troops with food and clothing. He made no effort, however, to protect those Jews living in Macedonia and Thrace; the Third Reich annihilated them.

In early August 1943, an angry Hitler summoned King Boris to Berlin. Hitler demanded that Boris immediately turn over the Bulgarian Jews at several railroad stations prepared to take them to death camps. Second, Hitler ordered Bulgaria to declare war on Russia. Again King Boris sought delay citing the essential work of Jews in Bulgaria. Because of the major role played by Russia in the expulsion of the Ottoman Turks in 1877, Boris also refused to declare war on Russia. Within a few weeks, King Boris III died. How and why did this relatively young King die?

There are three main explanations. The first and most popularly held belief is that King Boris was poisoned by the Third Reich for his refusal to turn over the Bulgarian Jews to Hitler and to declare war on Russia.

The second explanation is that he died of natural causes. This is bolstered by an autopsy conducted after his death by Bulgarian doctors supervised by German doctors. One of the Bulgarian doctors stole the King’s heart and preserved it. A re-examination of the heart in 1991 by Bulgarian doctors produced inconclusive results.

The third explanation was that the Soviet KGB killed Boris. This third explanation is the least persuasive.

Since my arrival in Bulgaria in July, we have interviewed many Bulgarians about this issue. The vast majority believes the King was poisoned with a slow acting poison in Berlin for his refusal to turn over the Bulgarian Jews to Hitler. A minority believe the
King died of natural causes. A retired Sofia physician, whose major medical professor assisted in the initial autopsy, claimed the initial autopsy results revealed no suggestion of poisoning. Only the most vehement Soviet haters argue for the third option. Most simply dismiss it as chronologically impossible as the Soviets were nowhere to be found in Bulgaria at the time of the King’s death. In addition, Boris was a supporter of Russia and his death would actually negatively influence Russia’s position at that time.

President Kennedy’s remains are in the Arlington Memorial Cemetery lighted by an eternal flame. King Boris’ remains except for his heart were blown up by the Soviets. His heart is buried in the country’s most important monastery, Rila, an hour and a half drive South of Sofia.

Those interested in further discussion of this topic should read: Michael Ba-Zohar. Beyond Hitler’s Grasp: The Heroic Rescue of Bulgaria’s Jews. (Holbrook: MS, Adams Media Corporation. 1998),