Petar Dimitrov Gabrovski () (9 July 1898 – 1 February 1945) was a

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

n politician who briefly served as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Gabrovski was a lawyer by profession. He was also a member of the Grand

Masonic Lodge A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...

of Bulgaria.

Early years

Gabrovski began his political career as a

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

, forming his own movement the Ratniks of the Advancement of the Bulgarian National Spirit (''Ratnitsi Napreduka na Bulgarshtinata'') - more commonly known as Ratnik or the Ratnitsi. The group was virulently

Anti-Semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

and was said to have links to

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, although it failed to achieve anything approaching a mass following. In 1939 a law banning members of the group from government office was passed although it was not observed for long.

Minister of the Interior

Gabrovski's political career took off in October 1939 when he was brought into the cabinet of

Georgi Kyoseivanov Georgi Ivanov Kyoseivanov ( bg, Георги Иванов Кьосеиванов) (19 January 1884, Peshtera – 27 July 1960) was a Bulgarian politician who was Prime Minister from 1935 until 1940. Kyoseivanov came to power on 23 November 1935 a ...

as minister responsible for the railways, with his appointment to the cabinet seeing him resigning from the Ratnitsi. In the cabinet established by

Bogdan Filov Bogdan Dimitrov Filov ( bg, Богдан Димитров Филов; 10 April 1883 – 1 February 1945) was a Bulgarian archaeologist, art historian and politician. He was prime minister of Bulgaria during World War II. During his tenure, Bulga ...

in 1940 he was promoted to the post of

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

. The appointment had been made by King Boris III as an attempt to demonstrate to the Nazis that Bulgaria was largely favourable towards them. In this role Gabrovski was quick to enact laws limiting the role of

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

s in Bulgarian life and expelled several hundred recently arrived Jews, who had hoped to gain entry into

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

from Bulgaria, forcing them to go to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

instead. His bill, the Law for the Defence of the Nation, was modelled on similar legislation in Nazi Germany. Gabrovski also sent

Alexander Belev Alexander Belev ( bg, Александър Белев; 1898, Lom, Bulgaria – 9 September 1944, Bulgaria) was the Bulgarian commissar of Jewish Affairs during World War II, famous for his antisemitic and strongly nationalistic views. He played a ...

, a fellow lawyer and Ratnik whom he appointed to a post in the ministry, to

to make a study of their

racial laws Anti-Jewish laws have been a common occurrence throughout Jewish history. Examples of such laws include special Jewish quotas, Jewish taxes and Disabilities (Jewish), Jewish "disabilities". Some were adopted in the 1930s and 1940s in Nazi Germany ...

.David S. Wyman, Charles H. Rosenzveig, ''The World Reacts to the Holocaust'', JHU Press, 1996, p. 264 He subsequently became associated with the deportation of Jews to

extermination camp Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (german: Vernichtungslager), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocaust. The v ...

s and most notoriously signed a written agreement to approve the deportation of 20,000 Jews from Macedonia and Thrace on 22 February 1943. As none of these Jews had been granted Bulgarian citizenship following the incorporation of those territories Gabrovski told German ambassador

Adolf Beckerle Adolf-Heinz Beckerle (4 February 1902 – 3 April 1976) was a German politician, SA officer and diplomat who played a significant role in the Holocaust in Bulgaria. ''Völkisch'' Activist Beckerle was born in Frankfurt am Main, the son of a post ...

that their deportation would be a much simpler matter than any similar attempts against those Jews with citizenship given the relative lack of anti-Semitic sentiment in Bulgaria. Ultimately however the plan, as developed by Gabrovski and Belev (who worked under Gabrovski as Commissar of Jewish Questions), was vetoed by the King.

Fall from power

Following the death of Boris III Gabrovski served as

acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad r ...

Prime Minister between 9 September and 14 September 1943, whilst the country's main political leaders served as regents for Simeon II. He was overlooked for the job full-time however and his position waned from there on as he was seen as too strong a rival for power.Chary, ''The History of Bulgaria'', p. 112

Execution

Following the establishment of Fatherland Front government Gabrovski was arrested and brought before the People's Court where a sentence of death was passed. He was executed on 1 February 1945. In a move widely condemned by Jewish groups Gabrovski was rehabilitated by the Bulgarian Supreme Court in 1996, with the stated reason being that his initial trial contained several irregularities.Bar-Zohar, ''Beyond Hitler's Grasp'', p. 257

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaborvski, Petur 1898 births 1945 deaths Bulgarian nationalists People from Razgrad Bulgarian collaborators with Nazi Germany Prime Ministers of Bulgaria Ratniks 20th-century Bulgarian lawyers Executed prime ministers Executed Bulgarian people Holocaust perpetrators in Greece People executed by the People's Republic of Bulgaria Holocaust perpetrators in Bulgaria Holocaust perpetrators in Yugoslavia People executed by Bulgaria by firing squad Bulgarian Freemasons People's Court (Bulgaria)