The liberal policy of the Bulgarian king, Fernando I, led the Jews to enlist and to join the military academy. Many became officers. Hundreds of the Jews of Sofia and Bulgaria were killed during the first and second Balkan Wars and World War I.
Over the years, the impressive album before us served as proof of the loyalty of the Bulgarian Jews to their homeland.
80 pp of commemoration + 5 pages of a preface with illustrations. Each page commemorates approximately 5 soldiers who were killed, a total of 700-800 people. Of them, approximately 150 are men in military uniform.
The illustrations:
On the first page: an illustration of Moses holding the Stone tablets and King David playing the harp. At the center, a Star-of-David and incense as a sign of mourning. The artist: Flammorora.
On the second page: [the reverse side of the previous illustration]: a Bulgarian poem mourning the dead.
On the third page: a colorful illustration of a gravestone in a cemetery with golden letters. At its head, a Star-of-David. With a Ladino inscription [in Hebrew letters]: "In eternal memory of the Jewish soldiers of Bulgaria who sacrificed their lives in the battle fields ? for the homeland and freedom in the battles of 1912-1918". An image of a woman kneeling beside the gravestone with a large handkerchief in her hand.

On the fourth page: an impressive, colorful illustration ? at its center, a Star-of-David, on its sides "1912 1918" and above it: "Ha'Zvi Yisrael al Bamotecha Chalal Eich Naflu Giborim". Around it, the twelve tribes with their symbols and names.

On the fifth page: a colorful illustration of rural landscape. in the background, an ancient city with walls [Sofia?]
26x20 cm.
Condition: original, worn binding, detached of the spine. One leaf is detached. Stains and tears that do not damage the text.