Sofia Was Bombed?: Bulgaria's Forgotten War with the Allies

The article inquires why the Allied bombing of Sofia in the winter of 1943/1944, the most devastating trauma to hit Bulgaria's capital city, left no permanent mark on public and historical memory. It reconstructs the little-known events of early 1944 and then analyzes how specific social and cultural factors combined with political and international realities to delineate the boundaries within which the bombing could be collectively remembered and commemorated. The author argues for the importance of studies of the Allied bombing campaign in Eastern Europe for a proper understanding of World War II and the postwar history of the continent.