Alexander Belev

Who was Alexander Belev?

Alexander Belev was the Bulgarian commisar of Jewish Affairs during World War II, famous with his antisemitic and strong nationalist views. He is also one of the founders of the Bulgarian Nationalistic Organization Ratnik.

His mother was an Italian from Dalmatia. Her name was Milanese.

At the end of the 1930s, Belev held several positions in the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior and National Health. Later in December 1941, he was sent to Nazi Germany, to study the antisemitic laws.

In February 1942, after the founding of the Commisariat of the Jewish Affairs, Belev became a chairman. As a hard-line national socialist, he was close friend of Theodor Dannecker, representative of the Gestapo in Bulgaria and deputy of Adolf Eichmann.

Belev was active in the deportation of 11,000 Bulgarian Jews from the "new lands" to Poland and the concentration camps. Belev had unlimited authority. Some people called him, ironically, "The Jewish King". In 1943, he was discharged.

After the Soviet Invasion in Bulgaria, in September 1944, Belev tried to escape to Germany, was recognized by a Jewish communist guerrilla, and committed suicide.