10 Leva Rescue of Jewish People

This coin was issued to mark the 60th anniversary of the rescue of Bulgarian Jews during World War II — one of the few instances in Nazi-occupied or allied Europe where a Jewish population survived the war largely intact. Bulgaria's government, under Tsar Boris III, had agreed to deport Jews from occupied Thrace and Macedonia, but blocked deportation of the approximately 50,000 Jews holding Bulgarian citizenship, under sustained pressure from the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, professional associations, and members of the National Assembly.

The deportations from Thrace and Macedonia proceeded regardless, resulting in the deaths of nearly 11,400 people at Treblinka.