Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry, Jewish organisations, slam nutritionist’s offensive Holocaust comparison

Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry has slammed a statement on television by a nutritionist making an extremely inappropriate and offensive Holocaust comparison.

In an interview with Nova Televizia on January 26, the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day – which marks the liberation 80 years ago of the Nazi’s Auschwitz death camp – nutritionist Dr Lyudmila Emilova said:

“If you don’t eat – you lose weight. There was not a single fat person in Auschwitz. That is, regardless of what diseases people had, what metabolic disorders, etc, they always lost weight. And whoever survived Auschwitz and lived over 100 years, it was for this very reason – because they cleansed themselves, but they cleansed their bodies very much”.

The ministry condemned the statement as extremely inappropriate and offensive to the memory of the millions of victims of the Holocaust and the Nazi death camps.

“Such abuse of the suffering of the victims of the Holocaust, whose memory we commemorate today – January 27, the day of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp, is absolutely unacceptable and humiliating,” the ministry said.

“Disrespect for the memory of the victims of the Holocaust and the Nazi death camps has no place in Bulgarian society, which has a long and deep tradition of humanity, tolerance, solidarity and harmonious coexistence,” it said.

In a statement, the Nova Televizia’s morning show team said: “In connection with the participation of Dr. Lyudmila Emilova in the Sunday edition of Wake Up, the show’s team said that it does not share the inappropriate example of the victims of the Holocaust that she expressed.

‘We offer our sincere apologies to the viewers who felt offended by her words live on the show, as well as to the relatives of the victims of the Holocaust,” it said.

In a statement on January 27, the Organization of the Jews in Bulgaria Shalom and its partner organisations said:

“On the eve of the International Day of Holocaust Remembrance and on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp, such a statement is not only shameful and cynical, but also deeply offensive.

“Drawing parallels between the Holocaust – one of the darkest pages in human history, which led to the death of millions of innocents – and topics such as health or diets is unacceptable and disgraceful,” the statement said.

“It is shameful and humiliating for a public figure to claim that Jews who survived Auschwitz lived to be 100 years old due to “body cleansing” during their stay in the concentration camp. These words grossly belittle the suffering of millions of people who went through inhuman torture, hunger and torture.”

Shalom said that it categorically condemns such statements, “which use the most sinister period in the history of humankind for personal advertising”.

“We believe that such comments, made on national airwaves, not only demonstrate a lack of elementary tact, but also represent a serious moral and ethical error.”

Shalom called on Nova TV to take a clear and responsible stance on this issue, in accordance with Bulgarian legislation and European practices for combating propaganda and Holocaust denial.

“We insist that Dr. Emilova take responsibility for her scandalous statement by issuing a public apology.

“The memory of over six million Jews who perished and the millions of survivors whose lives and health were destroyed by suffering and deprivation should not be used in the context of topics such as diets or ‘therapeutic starvation’,” the statement said.

The Sofia Globe staff

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