American Research Center in Bulgaria

During 2022, the American Research Center in Bulgaria, Inc. (arcb) continued to fulfill its mission. Arcb sponsored projects and events in the united states and provided grants to its partner organization in Bulgaria, the American Research Center in sofia foundation (arcs). The following text is a brief description of arcb's significant accomplishments: support to the arcs academic program, library, and other activities arcb provided grants to arcs in support of its various programs and activities, notably: -- hosting international scholars and students at its facilities in sofia and providing them with the logistical support necessary to conduct their Research in Bulgaria; -- maintaining and enhancing its unique library collection, freely available to the public; most notably, arcb received a donation of historically significant recordings, publications, and other archival materials from the voice of america collection of michael gloukhov; -- continuing its cooperation with cultural and academic institutions: oin the united states, the arcb officers and directors had a highly productive year, consistent with a widespread post-pandemic awakening of cultural events and charitable activities. The directors and officers conducted multiple in-person and virtual meetings throughout 2022 with arcb friends and guests (notably, abraham foxman, jacky comforty, andrew bernstein, morena stefanova, kirko and didi kirkov, beatrice tolidjian, christo marinov, michael gloukhov, dobrinka droumeva, dimitar dimkov, christopher wright, boyko antonov, plamen krastev, dilyana ivanova zieske, liam zieske, sheldon and cheryl cohen, and many other arcb supporters). Oin Bulgaria, arcs and arcb co-sponsored various cultural events, including the presentation of the english edition of two books with major literary or historical contributions: light of men by dr. philip dimitrov (a philosophical and historical treatise-like novel regarding early biblical history (march 29); and almost impossible: kingdom of Bulgaria and jewish emigration in the second world war by dr. george bouzdouganoff (a collection of archival documents showing the deliberate efforts by bulgarian diplomats to successfully issue over 12,000 transit visas to jewish citizens in various european countries and help them escape to safety in what was then the british mandate of palestine) (july 29); on may 27, arcs hosted and co-sponsored the screening of dr. jacky comforty's fascinating documentary ika's diary, which tells the author's family story of hardship and survival during wwii. -- arcs and arcb continued to host recipients of the zvi keren residential fellowship in jewish history, established in 2020 in memory of dr. zvi keren, whose pioneering work on the history of the jewish community in Bulgaria over the centuries, supported by arcb and arcs, resulted in momentous contributions to our historical knowledge.

Research projects/websites: "arcs and arcb continued to support the publications and Research of martin koenig, a cultural specialist and ethnographer, who spent over 50 years researching and documenting traditional music and dance forms in their original settings. "over the past year, arcs and arcb continued to develop and enrich the content of "the immigrant's suitcase: virtual museum of the bulgarians in north america" (www.immigrant.bg). The virtual museum received substantial media coverage in both Bulgaria and the united states. "arcb continued to provide support for the online portal "victims of communism in Bulgaria" httpwwwvictimsofcommunismbgen launched by arcs in 2009. The goal of the project is to prepare a complete database of the individuals who were subject to communist totalitarian repressions and their biographical information, thus filling a significant gap in our historical knowledge. The information from the website has been shared with the bulgarian state archives and will result in an official publication of the records.

Publications "arcs and arcb continued their support for books with historical and cultural significance, with several planned publications scheduled to appear in 2023 or 2024.