View source for Boris III of Bulgaria

{{Short description|Tsar of Bulgaria from 1918 to 1943}}
{{redirect|Tsar Boris|the 1870 drama by Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy|Tsar Boris (drama)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Boris III
{{nobold | {{Ubl
  | {{native name|bg|Борѝс III|italics=no|paren=omit}}
  }}}}
| image        = BASA-3K-7-342-28-Boris III of Bulgaria.jpeg
| caption = 	Formal portrait, {{circa|1918–1919}}
| succession   = [[Tsar of Bulgaria]]
| moretext     = 
| reign        = 3 October 1918<ref>{{cite book |last=Palmer |first=Alan |author-link=Alan Palmer |title=The Kaiser: Warlord Of The Second Reich| publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson |year=1978 |location=London |page=206 |isbn=0-297-77393-3}}</ref> – {{nowrap|28 August 1943}}
| predecessor  = [[Ferdinand I of Bulgaria|Ferdinand I]]
| successor    = [[Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha|Simeon II]]
| spouse       = {{marriage|[[Giovanna of Savoy]]|25 October 1930}}
| issue        = {{ubl
  | [[Princess Marie Louise of Bulgaria|Marie Louise, Princess of Koháry]]
  | [[Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha|Simeon II]]
  }}
| full name    = Boris Klemens Robert Maria Pius Ludwig Stanislaus Xaver
| house        = [[Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry]]
| father       = [[Ferdinand I of Bulgaria]]
| mother       = [[Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma]]
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1894|1|30|df=y}}
| birth_place  = [[Prince's  Palace]], [[Sofia]], [[Principality of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]]
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|1943|8|28|1894|1|30|df=y}}
| death_place  = [[Sofia]], Bulgaria
| burial_date  = 
| burial_place = [[Rila Monastery]]
| native_lang1 = [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]]
| native_lang1_name1 = {{lang|bg|Борис III}}
| signature    = Boris III signature.svg
| religion     = {{ubl | [[Eastern Orthodox]] | prev. [[Catholic]]}}
}}
'''Boris III''' ({{langx|bg|Борѝс III; Boris Treti}}; {{OldStyleDate|30 January|1894|18 January}}{{spaced ndash}}28 August 1943){{efn|Originally '''Boris Klemens Robert Maria Pius Ludwig Stanislaus Xaver''' ('''Boris Clement Robert Mary Pius Louis Stanislaus Xavier''')}}{{efn|Officially '''His Majesty Boris III, by the grace of God and the will of the people, King of the Bulgarians, Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Duke of Saxony''' ({{langx|bg|Негово Величество Борисъ III, по Божията милость и Народната воля, Царь на Българитѣ, Принцъ Саксъ-Кобургъ-Гота и Херцогъ Саксонски}})}} was the [[Tsar]] of the [[Kingdom of Bulgaria]] from 1918 until his death in 1943.

The eldest son of [[Ferdinand I of Bulgaria|Ferdinand I]], Boris assumed the throne upon the [[abdication]] of his father in the wake of [[Bulgaria in World War I|Bulgaria's defeat in World War I]]. Under the 1919 [[Treaty of Neuilly]], Bulgaria was forced to cede various territories, pay crippling [[war reparations]], and greatly reduce the size of its military. That same year, [[Aleksandar Stamboliyski]] of the [[Bulgarian Agrarian National Union]] became prime minister. After Stamboliyski was overthrown in [[1923 Bulgarian coup d'état|a coup]] in 1923, Boris recognized the new government of [[Aleksandar Tsankov]], who harshly suppressed the [[Bulgarian Communist Party]] and led the nation through a [[Incident at Petrich|brief border war]] with [[Greece]]. Tsankov was removed from power in 1926, and a series of prime ministers followed until 1934, when the [[Corporatism|corporatist]] ''[[Zveno]]'' ({{langx|bg|Звено}}) movement staged [[1934 Bulgarian coup d'état|a coup]] and outlawed all political parties. Boris opposed the ''Zveno'' government and overthrew them in 1935, eventually installing [[Georgi Kyoseivanov]] as prime minister. For the remainder of his reign, Boris would rule as a ''[[de facto]]'' [[absolute monarch]], with his prime ministers largely submitting to his will.

Following the outbreak of [[World War II]], Bulgaria initially remained neutral. In 1940, [[Nazi Party|Nazi]] sympathizer [[Bogdan Filov]] replaced Kyoseivanov as prime minister, becoming the last prime minister to serve under Boris. In September 1940, with the support of [[Nazi Germany]], Bulgaria received the region of [[Southern Dobrudja]] from [[Romania]] as part of the [[Treaty of Craiova]]. In January 1941, Boris approved the [[anti-Semitic]] [[Law for Protection of the Nation]], which denied citizenship to [[Bulgarian Jews]] and placed numerous restrictions upon them. In March 1941, Bulgaria joined the [[Axis powers|Axis]] and allowed German troops to use Bulgaria as a base from which to [[Invasion of Yugoslavia|invade Yugoslavia]] and [[German invasion of Greece|Greece]]. Bulgaria then received large portions of [[Vardar Banovina|Yugoslav Macedonia]], [[Pirot District|Pirot County in eastern Serbia]] and [[Western Thrace|Greek Thrace]], which were key targets of [[Bulgarian irredentism]]. Bulgaria opted out of participation in the [[Operation Barbarossa|German invasion of the Soviet Union]], as allowed by the provisions of the Axis alliance. As part of the [[Holocaust]], Bulgarian authorities deported most Jews from occupied Greek and Yugoslav territories and transferred them to the German extermination camp of [[Treblinka extermination camp|Treblinka]]. Under public pressure, Boris cancelled the deportation of Bulgarian Jews while expelling almost 20,000 Jews to the Bulgarian countryside to be deployed in forced labour camps. In 1942, ''Zveno'', the Agrarian National Union, the Bulgarian Communist Party, and other far-left groups united to form a [[resistance movement]] known as the [[Fatherland Front (Bulgaria)|Fatherland Front]], which went on to [[1944 Bulgarian coup d'état|overthrow the government]] in 1944. In August 1943, shortly after returning from a visit to Germany, Boris died at the age of 49. Following his death, he was succeeded as Tsar by his six-year-old son, [[Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha|Simeon Borisov Saxe-Coburg-Gotha]] (Bulgarian: Симеон Борисов Сакскобургготски), who ascended the throne under the regnal name [[Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha|Simeon II]].

==Early life==
[[File:FieldMarshallVonMackensenAndCrownPrinceBorisReviewingBulgarianRegiment.jpeg|thumb|250px|left|Crown Prince Boris (2nd from left) and German field marshal [[August von Mackensen|Mackensen]] reviewing a Bulgarian regiment accompanied by the Commander in Chief General [[Nikola Zhekov|Zhekov]] and the Chief of Staff Army General [[Konstantin Zhostov|Zhostov]] during World War I]]{{More citations needed section|date=July 2025}}
Boris was born on 30 January 1894 in [[Sofia]] to [[Ferdinand I of Bulgaria|Ferdinand I, Prince of Bulgaria]], and his wife [[Princess Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma]].

In February 1896, his father paved the way for the reconciliation of Bulgaria and [[Russian Empire|Russia]] with the conversion of the infant Prince Boris from [[Catholicism]] to [[Eastern Orthodox Christianity|Eastern Orthodoxy]], a move that earned Ferdinand the frustration of his wife, the animosity of his Catholic Austrian relatives (particularly his uncle [[Franz Joseph I of Austria]]) and [[Excommunication in the Catholic Church|excommunication]] by [[Pope Leo XIII]]. In order to remedy this difficult situation, Ferdinand had his subsequent children baptised in the [[Catholic Church]]. [[Nicholas II of Russia]] stood as godfather to Boris and later met the young boy during Ferdinand's official visit to [[Saint Petersburg]] in July 1898.

He received his initial education in the so-called Palace Secondary School, which Ferdinand had founded in 1908 solely for his sons. Later, Boris graduated from the Military School in [[Sofia]], then took part in the [[Balkan Wars]]. During the [[World War I|First World War]], he served as [[liaison officer]] of the General Staff of the Bulgarian Army on the [[Macedonian front]]. In 1916, he was promoted to [[colonel]] and attached again as liaison officer to [[Army Group Mackensen (Romania)|Army Group Mackensen]] and the Bulgarian [[Third Army (Bulgaria)|Third Army]] for the operations against [[Romania during World War I|Romania]]. Boris worked hard to smooth the sometimes difficult relations between [[Field Marshal]] [[August von Mackensen|Mackensen]] and [[Lieutenant General]] [[Stefan Toshev]], the commander of the Third Army. Through his courage and personal example, he earned the respect of the troops and the senior Bulgarian and German commanders, even that of the [[Generalquartiermeister]] of the German Army, [[Erich Ludendorff]], who preferred dealing personally with Boris and described him as excellently trained, a thoroughly soldierly person and mature beyond his years.<ref name="Ludendorf">{{cite book|title=Ludendorff's Own Story, August 1914 – November 1918: The Great War from the Siege of Liège to the Signing of the Armistice as Viewed from the Grand Headquarters of the German Army|author=Ludendorff, E.|date=1919|issue=т. 2|publisher=Harper|isbn=9780836959567|url=https://archive.org/details/ludendorffsowns00ludegoog|access-date=15 September 2015}}</ref> In 1918, Boris was made a [[major general]].

==Early reign==
[[File:Boris III Manifesto.jpg|thumb|King Boris' manifesto of ascension to the throne]]
[[File:Scepter of Tsar Boris III.jpg|thumb|100px|left| The Royal Sceptre of Boris III]]
In September 1918, Bulgaria was defeated in the [[Vardar Offensive]] and [[Armistice of Salonica|forced to sue for peace]]. Ferdinand abdicated in favour of Boris, who became Tsar on 3 October 1918.

A year after Boris's accession, [[Aleksandar Stamboliyski]] (also ''Stambolijski'') of the [[Bulgarian Agrarian National Union]] was elected prime minister. Though popular with the large peasant class, Stambolijski earned the animosity of the middle class and military, which led to [[1923 Bulgarian coup d'état|his toppling in a military coup on 9 June 1923]] and assassination. On 14 April 1925, an anarchist group attacked Boris's cavalcade as it passed through the [[Arabakonak]] Pass. Two days later, a bomb killed 213 members of the Bulgarian political and military elite in Sofia as they attended the funeral of a murdered general in the [[St Nedelya Church assault|Saint Nedelya Church terror assault]]<ref>https://dnes.dir.bg/obshtestvo/atentat-sveta-nedelja-27041284</ref>. Following a further attempt on Boris's life the same year, military reprisals killed several thousand communists and agrarians, including representatives of the intelligentsia. Finally, in October 1925, there was a short border war with Greece, known as the [[Incident at Petrich|Petrich Incident]], which was resolved with the help of the [[League of Nations]]. [[File:Tsar Boris III 1934.jpg|thumb|right|330px|Boris III of Bulgaria and Prime-minister [[Kimon Georgiev]] during the opening session of the IV International Congress of Byzantine Studies (Sofia, 9 September 1934)]]

In the [[Bulgarian coup d'état of 1934|coup on 19 May 1934]], the [[Zveno]] military organisation established a dictatorship, abolished political parties, and reduced Boris to a [[Puppet ruler|puppet]] [[figurehead]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080112210309/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,788521,00.html Tsar's Coup] ''Time'', 4 February 1935. retrieved 10 August 2008.</ref> The following year, he staged a counter-coup and retook control of the country. The political process was controlled by the Tsar, but a semi-parliamentary system was re-introduced without restoration of political parties.<ref>[http://www.sofiaecho.com/balkans-and-world-war-1/p_31/ Balkans and World War I] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070712083123/http://www.sofiaecho.com/balkans-and-world-war-1/p_31/ |date=12 July 2007 }} SofiaEcho.com</ref>

With the rise of the "King's government" in 1935, Bulgaria entered an era of prosperity and astounding growth, which deservedly qualifies it as the Golden Age of the Third Bulgarian Kingdom. It lasted nearly five years.<ref>King of Mercy, by Pashanko Dimitroff, Great Britain, 1986</ref> According to [[Reuben H. Markham]], former Balkan correspondent for [[The Christian Science Monitor]], writing in 1941, "As a ruler, Boris is competent; as a citizen exemplary; as a personality inspiring.... His country is to a large extent indebted to him for the comparatively favorable situation it has held in the Balkans, during the last two decades."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Markham |first1=Reuben |title=Can Boris Sidestep Axis Challenge? |publisher=The Christian Science Monitor|date=25 January 1941}}</ref> Markham added, "King Boris is very accessible.  He constantly comes into contact with persons of every sort.  He drives his car up and down the country with no special guards and often stops to converse with peasants, workers or children.  He gives lifts to the humblest pedestrians.  Rare is the Bulgarian township that does not boast of at least one person who has ridden with the King."  "He is without question one of the best kings in Europe."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Markham |first1=Reuben |title=Meet Bulgaria |date=1931 |publisher=Self published by author |location=Sofia |page=278}}</ref>

Boris visited the United Kingdom in 1927 and 1932, staying with his childhood friend [[Nadejda Stancioff]] at her home in [[Blair Drummond]], [[Doune]], [[Stirling]], Scotland.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-08-12 |title=Sir John Muir of Deanston 1828-1903 |url=https://glasgowmuseumsartdonors.co.uk/2018/08/12/sir-john-muir-of-deanston-1828-1923/ |access-date=2025-09-02 |website=Glasgow Museums Art Donors Group |language=en}}</ref> During another visit to the United Kingdom in 1937, Boris made international news for taking the [[throttle]] of a London Midland Scotland Railway [[LMS Coronation Class|Coronation Class]] steam locomotive.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=5 November 1937 |title=Goes Speeding |url=https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=18742988&q=%22coronation+scot%22&sort=rel |work=Salt Lake Telegram |location=Salt Lake City, Utah |access-date=4 March 2024}}</ref>

==Marriage and issue==
Boris married [[Giovanna of Savoy]], daughter of [[Victor Emmanuel III of Italy]], and as he remained Orthodox, it was a Catholic nuptial ceremony outside of [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]]. It was held at the [[Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi]] in [[Assisi]], Italy, on 25 October 1930.<ref>{{cite web |title=Royal Wedding At Assisi 1930 |url=https://www.britishpathe.com/video/royal-wedding-at-assisi/query/wedding |website=British Pathe News}}</ref> [[Benito Mussolini]] registered the marriage at the town hall immediately after the liturgy.<ref>{{cite news | work= The New York Times| access-date = 8 May 2019 | date = 26 October 1930 | url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1930/10/26/118391112.html | title = Boris and Giovanna Married at Assisi in a Drenching Rain| first = Arnaldo | last = Cortesi}}</ref>

Their marriage produced two children: a daughter, [[Princess Marie Louise of Bulgaria|Maria Louisa]], on 13 January 1933, later head of the [[House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry]], and a son and heir to the throne, [[Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha|Simeon]], on 16 June 1937, who was the last [[Tsardom of Bulgaria (1908–1946)|Tsar of Bulgaria]] as Simeon II (1943-1946).

==Second World War==
[[File:Adolf-Hitler-greets-King-Boris-III-of-Bulgaria,-April-1941.jpg|thumb|[[Adolf Hitler]] receives King Boris III of Bulgaria at his headquarters, 25 April 1941.]]
In the early days of the [[Second World War]], Bulgaria was neutral, but powerful groups in the country swayed its politics towards Germany (with which Bulgaria had been allied in the First World War). As a result of peace treaties that ended the First World War (the [[Treaty of Versailles]] and the [[Treaty of Neuilly]]), Bulgaria, which had fought on the losing side, lost two important territories to neighboring countries: the [[Southern Dobruja|Southern plain of Dobruja]] to [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]], and [[Western Thrace]] to Greece. The Bulgarians considered these treaties an insult and wanted the lands restored. When [[Adolf Hitler]] rose to power, he tried to win Bulgarian Tsar Boris III's allegiance. In the summer of 1940, after a year of war, Hitler hosted diplomatic talks between Bulgaria and Romania in Vienna. On 7 September, an [[Treaty of Craiova|agreement]] was signed for the return of [[Southern Dobruja]] to Bulgaria. The Bulgarian nation rejoiced. In March 1941, Boris allied himself with the [[Axis powers]], thus recovering most of [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]] and Aegean [[Thrace]], as well as protecting his country from being crushed by the German [[Wehrmacht]] like neighboring [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]] and [[Kingdom of Greece|Greece]]. For recovering these territories, Tsar Boris was called the Unifier (Bulgarian: Цар Обединител). Tsar Boris appeared on the cover of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' on 20 January 1941 wearing a full military uniform.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070521191957/http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19410120,00.html Tsar Boris III] ''Time'', 20 January 1941. Retrieved 14 April 2010.</ref><ref>[https://content.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,772601,00.html World War: Lowlands of 1941] ''Time'', 20 January 1941. Retrieved 14 April 2010.</ref>

Despite this alliance, and the German presence in [[Sofia]] and along the railway line which passed through the Bulgarian capital to Greece, Boris was not willing to provide full and unconditional cooperation with Germany. He refused to send regular Bulgarian troops to fight the Soviet Union on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]] alongside Germany and the other Axis belligerents, and also refused to allow unofficial volunteers (such as Spain's [[Blue Division]]) to participate, although the German legation in Sofia received 1,500 requests from young Bulgarian men who wanted to fight against [[Bolshevism]].<ref>[http://www.trud.bg/Article.asp?ArticleId=3100075 Цар Борис III: По-добре черен хляб, отколкото черни забрадки] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140725232834/http://www.trud.bg/Article.asp?ArticleId=3100075 |date=25 July 2014 }}, Труд, 30 January 2014</ref>

But there was a price to be paid for the return of Dobrudja. This was the adoption of the anti-Jewish "[[Law for Protection of the Nation]]" (Закон за защита на нацията – ЗЗН) on 24 December 1940. This law was in accordance with the [[Nuremberg Laws]] in [[Nazi Germany]] and the rest of Hitler's occupied Europe. Bulgarian Prime Minister [[Bogdan Filov]] and Interior Minister [[Petur Gabrovski]], both Nazi sympathisers, were the architects of this law, which restricted Jewish rights, imposed new taxes, and established a quota for Jews in some professions. Many Bulgarians protested in letters to their government.{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}}

===The Holocaust===
[[File:The law for protection of the nation (Bulgaria).jpg|thumb|Decree of Boris III for approval of the antisemitic [[Law for Protection of the Nation]]]]
In early 1943, Hitler's emissary, [[Theodor Dannecker]], arrived in Bulgaria. Dannecker was an ''SS-[[Hauptsturmführer]]'' (captain) and one of [[Adolf Eichmann]]'s associates who guided the campaign for the deportation of the [[French Jews]] to concentration camps. In February 1943, Dannecker met with the Commissar for Jewish Affairs in Bulgaria, [[Aleksandar Belev]], notorious for his antisemitic and strong nationalist views. They held closed-door meetings and ended with a secret agreement signed on 22 February 1943 for the deportations of 20,000 Jews – 11,343 from [[Aegean Thrace]] and [[Vardar Macedonia]], and 8,000 from Bulgaria proper. These were the territories conquered by Germany, but being under Bulgarian occupation and jurisdiction at the time, although this occupation was never recognized internationally. The Jewish people in these territories were the only ones who were not awarded Bulgarian citizenship in 1941–1942, unlike the rest of the population. The remaining 20,000 [[Bulgarian Jews]] were to be deported later.{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}}

The initial roundups began on 9 March 1943, during that month, Bulgarian military and police authorities deported 11,343 Jews from the Bulgarian-occupied regions of [[Vardar Macedonia]], [[Pomoravlje District|Pomoravlje]] in [[occupied Yugoslavia]] and [[Aegean Thrace]] to [[Auschwitz-Birkenau]] and [[Treblinka concentration camp|Treblinka]].<ref name="Holocaust Encyclopedia 1943">{{cite web | title=Bulgaria | website=Holocaust Encyclopedia | date=11 March 1943 | url=https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/bulgaria| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613232557/https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/bulgaria| url-status=dead| archive-date=13 June 2018}}</ref>

Boxcars were lined up in [[Kyustendil]], a town near the western border. But as the news about the imminent deportations leaked out, protests arose throughout Bulgaria. On the morning of 9 March, a delegation from Kyustendil, composed of eminent public figures and headed by [[Dimitar Peshev]], the deputy speaker of the National Assembly, met with Interior Minister [[Petur Gabrovski]]. Facing strong opposition from within the country, Gabrovski relented. The same day, he sent telegrams to the roundup centers in the pre-war territory of Bulgaria, postponing the deportations to a future, unidentified date. In a report of 5 April 1943, Adolph Hoffman, a German government adviser and police attache at the German legation in Sofia from 1943 to 1944 wrote: "The Minister of Interior has received instruction from the highest place to stop the planned deportation of Jews from the old borders of Bulgaria".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Koen |first1=David |last2=Gerginov |first2=K. |date=1995 |title=Collection of documents from the deportation, 1940-1944 |publisher=University of Michigan |page=80}}</ref> In fact, Gabrovski's decision was not taken on his own personal initiative, but had come from the highest authority – Tsar Boris III, who decided under pressure to temporarily stop the deportation of the rest of the Jews. While Jews living in [[Bulgaria]] proper were saved, almost all the Jews from Vardar Macedonia and Aegean Thrace perished in the [[death camps]] of [[Treblinka]] and [[Majdanek]].<ref name="Holocaust Encyclopedia 1943"/> A telegram dated 4 April 1943 from [[Nazi Germany|Germany]]'s foreign minister, [[Joachim von Ribbentrop]], indicated the readiness of King Boris to hand over half of the Jewish population:

<blockquote>The King has declared that up to now he has only given his consent for deportation of Jews from Macedonia and Thrace to areas in Eastern Europe. He only wants to deport a limited number of Bolsheviks-Communists from Bulgaria itself. The other 25,000 Jews will be concentrated in camps within the country.<ref name="Comforty Bloomfield Bartov 2021 p. 347">{{cite book | last1=Comforty | first1=J. | last2=Bloomfield | first2=M.A. | last3=Bartov | first3=O. | title=The Stolen Narrative of the Bulgarian Jews and the Holocaust | publisher=Lexington Books | series=Lexington Studies in Jewish Literature | year=2021 | isbn=978-1-7936-3292-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gb8lEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA347 |page=347}}</ref></blockquote>

Still reluctant to comply with the German deportation request, the royal palace used Swiss diplomatic channels to inquire whether it was possible to deport the Jews to British-controlled Palestine by ship rather than to concentration camps in German-occupied Poland by boat and train.{{citation needed|reason=The claim that the King was 'Still reluctant' to comply with the German deportation requests, that this was his long-standing moral stance, is not backed up by a reliable source quoted here. For example, the book source quoted at the end of this paragraph, merely says,'The following month, Bulgaria sensed the shifting tide of the war and attempted to disassociate itself from the ''Final Solution''.' Sounds like the King was shifting his position on Jewish deportations only cynically to save his arse.|date=August 2019}} This was blocked by the British Foreign Secretary, [[Anthony Eden]].<ref>''A History of Israel: From the Rise of Zionism to Our Time'' by [[Howard M. Sachar]], Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2007</ref>  

Aware of Bulgaria's unreliability on the Jewish matter, the Nazis grew more suspicious about the activities of an old friend of Tsar Boris, Monsignor Angelo Roncalli (the future [[Pope John XXIII]]), the [[Nuncio|Papal Nuncio]] in [[Istanbul]], who was attempting to help European Jews threatened by the Nazis and their allies. Reporting on the humanitarian efforts of Roncalli, his secretary in [[Venice]] and in the [[Holy See|Vatican]], Monsignor [[Loris Francesco Capovilla|Loris F. Capovilla]] wrote: "Through his intervention, and with the help of Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria, thousands of Jews from [[Slovakia]], who had first been sent to [[Hungary]] and then to Bulgaria, and who were in danger of being sent to [[Nazi concentration camps]], obtained transit visas for [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] signed by him."{{sfn|Groueff|1997|page=330}}

However, regarding his actions during the Holocaust, "like Prime Minister Filov, Boris III seems to have been motivated mainly by considerations of ''[[Realpolitik]]''",<ref name="Bideleux">{{cite book |last1=Bideleux |first1=Robert |last2=Jeffries |first2=Ian |date=2007 |title=The Balkans: A post-Communist history |location=Abingdon, Oxon |publisher=Routledge |page=82 |isbn=0-415-22963-4}}</ref>  and "appears to have played a less heroic role than his admirers ascribe to him ... What motivated him was national interest as he understood it, not humanitarian concerns."<ref name="Bideleux"/>

===Meetings with Hitler===
[[File:Boris III Tzar of Bulgaria 1894 - 1943 sculptor Kunio Novachev architect Milomir Boganov.jpg|thumb|Boris III Tsar of Bulgaria, sculptor Kunyo Novachev, architect Milomir Boganov. It is the first statue of the Tsar. Since 2016 it has been displayed in the central open area of the [[National Historical Museum, Bulgaria|National Historical Museum of Bulgaria]] in Sofia]]
[[File:Dobrich downtown - Memorial "Tzar Boris III Unifier" on the City hall.jpg|thumb|Dobrich downtown – square "Tsar Boris III Unifier". Memorial metalwork "Tsar Boris III Unifier" on the City hall from 1992 in memory of thanks for the liberation of Southern Dobrudzha in 1940 and its return to Bulgaria.]]

Nazi pressure on Tsar Boris III continued for the deportation of the Bulgarian Jewry. At the end of March, Hitler invited the Tsar to visit him. Upon returning home, Boris ordered able-bodied Jewish men to join hard labor units to build roads within the interior of his kingdom. Some claim that this was the Tsar's attempt to avoid deporting them.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thankstoscandinavia.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Jews-in-Bulgaria-During-WWII-A-little-known-history.pdf|title=Jews in Bulgaria During World War II|access-date=19 November 2023|website=thankstoscandinavia.org}}</ref>

During May 1943, Dannecker and Belev, the Commissar for Jewish Affairs, planned the deportation of more than 48,000 Bulgarian Jews, who were to be loaded on steamers on the [[River Danube]]. Boris continued the cat-and-mouse game that he had long been playing; he insisted to the Nazis that [[Bulgarian Jews]] were needed for the construction of roads and railway lines inside his kingdom. Nazi officials requested that Bulgaria deport its Jewish population to German-occupied [[Poland]]. The request caused a public outcry, and a campaign whose most prominent leaders were Parliament's deputy speaker [[Dimitar Peshev]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/dimitar-peshev.html | title=This Politician Saved 48,000 Bulgarian Jews from Deportation | date=6 April 2022 }}</ref> and the head of the [[Bulgarian Orthodox Church]], Archbishop Stefan, was organised. Following this campaign, Boris refused to permit the extradition of Bulgaria's nearly 50,000 Jews.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.jta.org/jewniverse/2015/how-bulgaria-stood-up-to-the-nazis-and-saved-its-jews|title= How Bulgaria Stood Up to the Nazis and Saved Its Jews|date=31 July 2015}}</ref>

On 30 June 1943, Apostolic Delegate Angelo Roncalli wrote to Boris, asking for mercy for "the sons of the [[Jewish people]]."<ref>
{{cite web |date=2011 |title=Angelo Roncalli (John XXIII) Synopsis of Documents |url=https://www.raoulwallenberg.net/especial/roncalliyadvashem/synopsiscorregida.pdf |website=The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation |location=New York |access-date=13 August 2025}}</ref> He wrote that Tsar Boris should on no account agree to the dishonorable action that Hitler was demanding. "On the copy of this letter, Roncalli wrote, by hand and in Italian ... "The king has acted ('Il Re ha fatto qualche cosa') ...  but he also has his own difficulties, which he asks us to understand. To deal with individual cases arouses the jealousy of others. But I repeat, he has acted ('Però, ripeto, ha fatto')."{{sfn|Groueff|1997|page=330}}

An excerpt from the diary of [[Rabbi]] [[Daniel Zion]], the spiritual leader of the Jewish community in Bulgaria during the war years, reads:

<blockquote>Do not be afraid, dear brothers and sisters! Trust in the Holy Rock of our salvation ... Yesterday I was informed by Bishop Stephen about his conversation with the Bulgarian king. When I went to see Bishop Stephen, he said: "Tell your people, the King has promised, that the Bulgarian Jews shall not leave the borders of Bulgaria." When I returned to the synagogue, silence reigned in anticipation of the outcome of my meeting with Bishop Stephen. When I entered, my words were: "Yes, my brethren, God heard our prayers."{{citation |last=Bjoraker |first=Bill |editor-last=Snodderly |editor-first=Beth |date=2015 |title=Agents of International Development and Shalom |location=Pasadena |publisher=William Carey International University Press |page=79}}</blockquote>

Most irritating for Hitler was the Tsar's refusal to declare war on the [[Soviet Union]] or send Bulgarian troops to the Eastern Front. On 9 August 1943, Hitler summoned Boris to a stormy meeting at [[Rastenburg]], [[East Prussia]]. Boris arrived by plane from [[Vrazhdebna]] on 14 August. The Tsar again asserted his unwillingness to send Bulgarian Jews to death camps in occupied Poland or Germany. While Bulgaria had declared a "symbolic" war on the distant United Kingdom and United States, the Tsar was not willing to do more than that. At the meeting, Boris once again refused to get involved in the war against the Soviet Union, giving two major reasons for his unwillingness to send troops to Russia. First, many ordinary Bulgarians had strong pro-Russian sentiments; and second, the political and military position of Turkey remained unclear.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}} The "symbolic" war against the Western Allies turned into a disaster for the citizens of [[Sofia]], as the city was heavily bombarded by the [[US Army Air Force]] and the British [[Royal Air Force]] in 1943 and 1944. (The [[Bombing of Sofia in World War II#April 1941|bombardment of Bulgarian cities]] was started by the British [[Royal Air Force]] in April 1941 without declaring a war.)

Bulgaria's opposition came to a head at this last official meeting between Hitler and Boris. Reports of the meeting indicate that Hitler was furious with the Tsar for refusing either to join the war against the USSR or to deport the Jews within his kingdom.<ref>Naomi Martinez "The Rescue of the Bulgarian Jews during World War II"</ref> At the end of the meeting, it was agreed that "the Bulgarian Jews were not to be deported, for Tsar Boris had insisted that the Jews were needed for various laboring tasks including road maintenance."{{citation needed|date=August 2019}}

==Death==
[[File:Grateful Macedonia to her Tzar Liberator Boris III.JPG|left|thumb|125px|Wood-carving made by inhabitants of the village of Osoi, Debar district, with the inscription: ''To its Tsar Liberator Boris III, from grateful Macedonia''.]]

Shortly after returning to Sofia from a meeting with Hitler, Boris died of apparent heart failure on 28 August 1943, at approximately 16:22.<ref>"Bulgarian Rule Goes to Son, 6. Reports on 5-day Illness Conflict", United Press dispatch in a cutting from an unknown newspaper in the collection of historian [[James L. Cabot]], Ludington, Michigan.</ref> Due to its timing and suddenness, as "soon as the news of the king's illness and death appeared abroad, rumours of assassination spread throughout the world."{{sfn|Chary|1972|page=159}} The American newspapers even stated that Hitler had gotten into an argument with the Tsar and attacked him, with the latter suffering a heart attack as a result,<ref>''Facts on File World News Digest'' (31 August 1943)</ref> with the ''[[New York Times]]'' going so far as to publish the "bizarre story of a police inspector shooting Boris in the Sofia railway station."{{sfn|Chary|1972|page=159}}

One theory is that Boris was poisoned on the orders of Hitler, who was greatly irritated after his last meeting with the Bulgarian ruler because of his refusal to hand over the Bulgarian Jews and to send troops against the USSR.<ref>„Корона от тръни"; Стефан Груев; „Български писател" – 1991 г.</ref> However, according to the Bulgarian Prime Minister, [[Bogdan Filov]], "the discussion between Hitler and Boris involved the use of Bulgarian troops only in the Balkans, not in the Soviet Union".{{sfn|Chary|1972|page=160}} Hitler "had asked Bulgaria to supply two divisions to fight in northern Greece and eventually in [[Albania]]",{{sfn|Chary|1972|page=158}} but "Boris promised only one."{{sfn|Chary|1972|page=158}} Not only is it "doubtful that an argument over the use of one division in the Balkans would have provided Hitler with sufficient motive to have Boris assassinated",{{sfn|Chary|1972|page=160}} there is also "no evidence that Hitler planned this alleged assassination. In fact, all things point to the contrary: that he was surprised by the king's death."{{sfn|Chary|1972|page=160}}

His son, [[Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha]], did not reject the theory of a German assassination outright, but pointed out as probable the hypothesis that the USSR was also interested in the Tsar's death, in which case he argued that the [[NKVD]] may have been responsible.<ref>[http://www.btv.bg/video/shows/120-minuti/videos/simeon-sakskoburggotski-chovek-trjabva-da-se-gleda-v-ogledaloto-i-da-ne-se-izchervjava.html Симеон Сакскобургготски: Човек трябва да се гледа в огледалото и да не се изчервява], интервю на Светослав Иванов със Симеон Сакскобургготски, bTV, 2 юли 2017.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kingsimeon.bg/2012/09/prochit-na-istoriyata-smartta-na-tsar-bor/|title=Прочит на историята: Смъртта на цар Борис ІІІ – трагичната въпросителна оставаПетя Владимирова &#124; Н.В. Цар Симеон II|website=Прочит на историята: Смъртта на цар Борис ІІІ – трагичната въпросителна оставаПетя Владимирова &#124; Н.В. Цар Симеон II}}</ref> [[Princess Marie Louise of Bulgaria]] stated in an interview that there was no definitive version of what had happened, but that she was convinced that her father had not been poisoned by the [[Nazism|Nazis]] or the British, but by the Russians.<ref>[https://btvnovinite.bg/bulgaria/knjaginja-marija-luiza-pitala-sam-koj-razkopa-groba-na-bashta-mi-stena-ot-malchanie.html Княгиня Мария-Луиза: Питала съм кой разкопа гроба на баща ми – стена от мълчание], интервю на Кристина Баксанова, bTV, 1 юни 2018.</ref>

In his personal diary, [[Joseph Goebbels]] expressed his belief that the Italian government, in the person of Prime Minister [[Pietro Badoglio]], was responsible for Boris III's death. On 10 September 1943, Goebbels wrote:

<blockquote>"The Fuehrer told me that it must now be regarded as certain that King Boris was poisoned. The German doctors have reached the conclusion that he was killed by snake poison. It is not yet known who mixed the poison. The German doctors wanted to perform an autopsy; the Bulgarian government agreed, but the royal family refused. I would not regard it as impossible that the poisoning was engineered by the Italians. After their latest act of treachery, I am ready to credit the Badoglio regime and the Italians generally with anything."</blockquote>

Three German doctors had been sent "to help the Bulgarian physicians"{{sfn|Chary|1972|page=159}} after Boris fell ill. According to the diary of the German attaché in Sofia at the time, [[Carl-August von Schoenebeck]], two of the three German doctors who attended the King – Sajitz and [[Hans Eppinger]] – both believed that "poisoning was a possibility ... although they were reluctant to give a scientific opinion without an autopsy."{{sfn|Chary|1972|page=160}} According to Schoenebeck, they speculated that he had died from the same poison that Eppinger had allegedly found two years earlier in the postmortem examination of the Greek Prime Minister [[Ioannis Metaxas]]. They claimed that this slow poison takes weeks to do its work, and causes the appearance of blotches on the skin of its victim before death.<ref>''Wily Fox: How Tsar Boris Saved the Jews of Bulgaria from the Clutches of His Axis Allie Adolph Hitler'', AuthorHouse 2008, p. 213 {{ISBN?}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=July 2021}} However, "no solid evidence has ever emerged to definitively prove that Metaxas was murdered. The official medical records are consistent with his death being caused by a severe throat infection, and no forensic investigation or autopsy at the time pointed to foul play."<ref>{{cite web |last=Markessinis |first=Andreas |date=29 January 2024 |title=Was Ioannis Metaxas murdered? |url=https://metaxas-project.com/was-ioannis-metaxas-murdered/ |website=Metaxas Project: Inside Fascist Greece (1936-1941) |access-date=13 August 2025}}</ref>

Hitler was convinced that the Italian royal court arranged for the poisoning of Boris III, as he believed that [[Princess Mafalda of Savoy]], sister of Joan of Bulgaria, had visited Bulgaria four weeks before the monarch's death, and that her stay had coincided with the events of 25 July 1943,{{sfn|Groueff|1997|page=380}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Цанев|first=Стефан|title=Български хроники: Поема. 1878–1943. Том 3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JPEhC0oXsIAC|year=2006|publisher=Труд|location=София|isbn=9545286105|pages=550}}</ref> when [[Fascist Italy|Italian Fascist]] dictator [[Benito Mussolini]] was removed from power by [[King Victor Emmanuel III]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2025}} However, Princess Mafalda "arrived in Bulgaria only ''after'' King Boris's death, to attend the funeral",{{sfn|Groueff|1997|page=330}} as contemporary newspaper reports and photographs attest, and "Hitler's allegation that she came to Bulgaria before the king's illness is absolutely false and has never been taken seriously."{{sfn|Groueff|1997|page=330}}

Ultimately, there is "no firm proof"<ref name="Crampton">{{cite book |last=Crampton |first=R.J. |date=2007 |title=A Concise History of Bulgaria: Second Edition |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=173 |isbn=978-0-521-85085-8}}</ref> that Boris's death was "due to foul play",<ref name="Crampton"/> and the "story of an unidentified poison which induces a heart attack a week after its administration leaves one somewhat skeptical. Furthermore, the questions of both motive and culprit cannot be answered with satisfactory"{{sfn|Chary|1972|page=160}} evidence. However, according to author Robert Bideleux, many Bulgarians "have no doubt wanted to believe that Boris was poisoned, because that would put both their former tsar and their country in a better light, by suggesting that they were really 'victims' of (rather than 'collaborators' with) Nazism."<ref name="Bideleux"/>

Following Boris's death, his six-year-old son, [[Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha|Simeon II]], acceded to the throne, with a Regency Council appointed to exercise royal authority, headed by Boris’s brother, [[Kiril, Prince of Preslav|Prince Kiril of Bulgaria]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2025}}

[[File:Tzar Boris III Grave.JPG|right|thumb|125px|The grave of Tsar Boris III in the [[Rila Monastery]]]]
Following a large, impressive state funeral at the [[Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia]], where the streets were lined with weeping crowds, the coffin of Tsar Boris III was taken by train to the mountains and buried in Bulgaria's largest and most important monastery, the [[Rila Monastery]]. After taking power in September 1944, the Communist-dominated government had his body exhumed and secretly buried in the courtyard of [[Vrana Palace]], near Sofia. At a later time, the Communist authorities moved the zinc coffin from Vrana to a secret location, which remains unknown to this day. After the fall of communism, an excavation was made at Vrana Palace. Only Boris's heart was found, as it had been put in a glass cylinder outside the coffin. The heart was taken by his widow in 1994 to Rila Monastery, where it was reinterred.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}}

A wood carving is placed on the left side of his grave in Rila Monastery, made on 10 October 1943 by inhabitants of the village of [[Osoj, Debar Municipality|Osoj]], [[Debar Municipality|Debar district]]. The carving bears the following inscription:

{{blockquote|To its Tsar Liberator Boris III, from grateful Macedonia.}}

{{clear}}

==Honours==
===National===
* [[Kingdom of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]]: Sovereign Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the [[Order of Saints Cyril and Methodius]]<ref name="blogspot">{{cite web|url=http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eYUMVlRmKro/UwTIaYA4ABI/AAAAAAABJYA/Xu3XitdSrMU/s1600/Tsar+Boris+III+of+Bulgaria+with+one+of+his+army+general.jpg|title=Image: Tsar+Boris+III+of+Bulgaria+with+one+of+his+army+general.jpg, (1182 × 1600 px)|publisher=1.bp.blogspot.com|access-date=15 September 2015}}</ref>
* Bulgaria: Sovereign Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the [[Order of Saint Alexander (Bulgaria)|Order of Saint Alexander]]
* Bulgaria: Sovereign Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of Bravery]]
* Bulgaria: Sovereign Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of Military Merit (Bulgaria)|Order of Military Merit]]
* Bulgaria: Sovereign Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of Civil Merit (Bulgaria)|Order of Civil Merit]]<ref name="photobucket">{{cite web|url=http://i618.photobucket.com/albums/tt261/Grande_DuchesseOlga/boris3bulgaria1894-8.jpg|title=Image: boris3bulgaria1894-8.jpg, (378 × 576 px)|publisher=i618.photobucket.com|access-date=15 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150211201117/http://i618.photobucket.com/albums/tt261/Grande_DuchesseOlga/boris3bulgaria1894-8.jpg|archive-date=11 February 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Bulgaria: Sovereign recipient of the [[Orders, decorations, and medals of Bulgaria|Medal for the Independence of Bulgaria]]<ref name="kingsimeon">{{cite web|url=http://www.kingsimeon.bg/upload/e5489e362b42af78c17ddd86480168fb0222fafc.jpg|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150211215403/http://www.kingsimeon.bg/upload/e5489e362b42af78c17ddd86480168fb0222fafc.jpg|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 February 2015|title=Image: e5489e362b42af78c17ddd86480168fb0222fafc.jpg, (640 × 410 px)|publisher=kingsimeon.bg|access-date=15 September 2015}}</ref>
* Bulgaria: Sovereign recipient of the [[Orders, decorations, and medals of Bulgaria|Medal for Participation in the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913]]<ref name="photobucket2">{{cite web|url=http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c152/Liudovik/boris3bulgaria1894-48.jpg|title=Image: boris3bulgaria1894-48.jpg, (252 × 399 px)|publisher=i27.photobucket.com|access-date=15 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150211195537/http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c152/Liudovik/boris3bulgaria1894-48.jpg|archive-date=11 February 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Bulgaria: Sovereign recipient of the [[Orders, decorations, and medals of Bulgaria|Medal for Participation in the European War 1915–1918]]<ref name="photobucket3">{{cite web|url=http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/qq329/lea81z/TsarBoris.jpg|title=Image: TsarBoris.jpg, (318 × 500 px)|publisher=i460.photobucket.com|access-date=15 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304061717/http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/qq329/lea81z/TsarBoris.jpg|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Bulgaria: Sovereign recipient of the [[Orders, decorations, and medals of Bulgaria|Commemorative Medal of the death of Princess Marie Louise]]
* Bulgaria: Sovereign recipient of the [[Orders, decorations, and medals of Bulgaria|1000th Anniversary Medal of the birth of Tsar Boris I]]
* Bulgaria: Sovereign recipient of the [[Orders, decorations, and medals of Bulgaria|Medal for the Coronation of Tsar Ferdinand I and Queen Eleonore]]
* Bulgaria: Sovereign recipient of the [[Orders, decorations, and medals of Bulgaria|50th Anniversary Medal of Liberation from the Ottoman Empire]]
* Bulgaria: Sovereign recipient of the [[Orders, decorations, and medals of Bulgaria|1000th Anniversary Medal of the death of Tsar Simeon I]]
* Bulgaria: Sovereign recipient of the [[Orders, decorations, and medals of Bulgaria|Medal for the Wedding of Tsar Boris III And Princess Giovanna of Italy]]<ref name="kingsimeon2">{{cite web|url=http://www.kingsimeon.bg/upload/fbfe5e9eee9bc2a5c6faa9190883c7c7e98ac59a.jpg|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150211215327/http://www.kingsimeon.bg/upload/fbfe5e9eee9bc2a5c6faa9190883c7c7e98ac59a.jpg|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 February 2015|title=Image: fbfe5e9eee9bc2a5c6faa9190883c7c7e98ac59a.jpg, (330 × 480 px)|publisher=kingsimeon.bg|access-date=15 September 2015}}</ref>

===Foreign===
* Belgium: Knight Grand Cordon of the [[Order of Leopold (Belgium)|Order of Leopold]]<ref name="PA" />
* French Third Republic: Grand Cross of the [[Legion of Honour]]<ref name="PA">{{cite web |url=http://www.pepatabakova.com/lang-en/Articles/view/148 |title=The Library&#124;The most exciting travels start here! |publisher=pepatabakova.com |access-date=15 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304232720/http://www.pepatabakova.com/lang-en/Articles/view/148 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Germany:
** Nazi Germany: [[Order of the German Eagle]] (Grand Cross class in gold with star) <ref name="asset-cache">{{cite web|url=http://cache1.asset-cache.net/gc/141557364-during-a-diplomatic-meeting-the-chancellor-gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=Z0zsWpN2ukUDXYqF4boPJcS6edjOUMYaZCZ2YoiIKLdFIi5FfbXgem%2FaexrnfXlK|title=Image: 141557364-during-a-diplomatic-meeting-the-chancellor-gettyimages.jpg, (430 × 594 px) – During a diplomatic meeting, the Chancellor of the Third Reich Adolf Hitler walking beside Boris III, Tsar of Bulgaria, followed by the Foreign Minister of the Third Reich Joachim von Ribbentrop. Berchtesgaden, 7th June 1941 (Photo by Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)|publisher=cache1.asset-cache.net|access-date=15 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304083708/http://cache1.asset-cache.net/gc/141557364-during-a-diplomatic-meeting-the-chancellor-gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=Z0zsWpN2ukUDXYqF4boPJcS6edjOUMYaZCZ2YoiIKLdFIi5FfbXgem%2FaexrnfXlK|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>
** [[House of Hohenzollern|German Imperial and Royal Family]]:
*** Knight of the [[Order of the Black Eagle|Imperial and Royal Order of the Black Eagle]]<ref name="p33">Justus Perthes, ''Almanach de Gotha'' (1913) [https://archive.org/details/almanachdegotha00unse_50/page/n87 p. 33]</ref>
*** Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Red Eagle|Imperial and Royal Order of the Red Eagle]]<ref name="PA" />
*** [[Pour le Mérite]] (military), ''26 October 1916''<ref>{{cite web|title=Foreign Pour le Mérite Awards: Foreign Awards During World War I|url=https://pourlemerite.org/|website=pourlemerite.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031062935/https://pourlemerite.org/|access-date=12 August 2020|archive-date=31 October 2019}}</ref>
** [[House of Wittelsbach|Bavarian Royal Family]]: Knight with Collar of the [[Order of Saint Hubert|Royal Order of St. Hubert]]<ref name="PA" />
** [[Ernestine duchies|Ernestine Ducal Families]]: Knight Grand Cross of the [[Saxe-Ernestine House Order]], ''1908''<ref>''[https://zs.thulb.uni-jena.de/rsc/viewer/jportal_derivate_00197795/Staatshandbuch_1912_0047.tif?logicalDiv=jportal_jparticle_00535993 Staatshandbücher für das Herzogtum Sachsen-Meiningen]'' (1912), "Herzogliche Sachsen-Ernestinischer Hausorden" p. 23</ref>
* Hungary:
** [[House of Habsburg|Hungarian Royal Family]]: Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of St. Stephen of Hungary|Royal Hungarian Order of St. Stephen]], ''1912''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://tornai.com/rendtagok.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101222022855/http://tornai.com/rendtagok.htm|url-status=dead|title="A Szent István Rend tagjai"|archivedate=22 December 2010}}</ref>
** [[Kingdom of Hungary (1920-1946)|Regency Hungary]]: Knight Grand Cross with Holy Crown and Collar of the [[Order of Merit of the Kingdom of Hungary|Order of Merit]], ''22 June 1939''<ref>{{citation|last1=Sallay|first1=Gergely Pál|year=2018|title=The Collar of the Hungarian Order of Merit|journal=A Had Tör Té Ne Ti Mú Ze um Értesítôje 18. Acta Musei Militaris in Hungaria|url=https://docplayer.hu/152550360-A-had-tor-te-ne-ti-mu-ze-um-ertesitoje-18-acta-musei-militaris-in-hungaria.html|location=Budapest|publisher=Hadtörténeti Múzeum|page=81}}</ref>
* [[House of Savoy|Italian Royal Family]]: Knight with Collar of the [[Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation]], ''2 February 1911''<ref name="dell'interno1920">{{cite book|author=Italy. Ministero dell'interno|title=Calendario generale del regno d'Italia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KU1TIJPtKx0C&pg=PR3|year=1920|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=KU1TIJPtKx0C&pg=PA58 58]}}</ref>
** [[House of Bourbon-Parma|Parmese Ducal Family]]: Knight Grand Cross of the [[Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George|Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St. George]]
* [[House of Petrovic-Njegos|Montenegrin Royal Family]]: Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of Prince Danilo I]], ''1910''<ref>Journal De Bruxelles 25 August 1910</ref>
* Poland: Knight of the [[Order of the White Eagle (Poland)|Order of the White Eagle]]<ref name="PA" />
* [[Romanian Royal Family]]: Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the [[Order of Carol I]]<ref>[http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/roustchouk-king-carol-of-roumania-and-tsar-boris-of-bulgaria-received-picture-id517293852?s=612x612 Image] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220205184930/http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/roustchouk-king-carol-of-roumania-and-tsar-boris-of-bulgaria-received-picture-id517293852?s=612x612 |date=5 February 2022 }} Getty Images</ref>
* Russian Imperial Family:
** Knight with Collar of the [[Order of St. Andrew|Imperial Order of St. Andrew]], ''1907''<ref name="photobucket4">{{cite web|url=http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i221/pastroyals/Various%20Royals/Royal%20Family%20of%20Bulgaria/boris-1.jpg|title=Image: boris-1.jpg, (391 × 659 px)|publisher=i73.photobucket.com|access-date=15 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304072210/http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i221/pastroyals/Various%20Royals/Royal%20Family%20of%20Bulgaria/boris-1.jpg|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Sergey Semenovich Levin|title=Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-called (1699–1917). Order of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine (1714–1917)|year=2003|chapter=Lists of Knights and Ladies|location=Moscow}}</ref>
** Knight 1st Class of the [[Order of St. Anna]]<ref name="PA" />
*[[Bagrationi dynasty|Georgian Royal Family]]: Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Eagle of Georgia|Royal Order of the Eagle of Georgia]]<ref>[http://www.royalhouseofgeorgia.ge/es/order-history Royal House of Georgia] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017210255/http://www.royalhouseofgeorgia.ge/es/order-history |date=17 October 2013 |data=17 ottobre 2013 }}.</ref>
* United Kingdom: Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the [[Royal Victorian Order]]<ref name="PA" />
* [[Karađorđević dynasty|Yugoslavian Royal Family]]: Knight Grand Cross of the [[Order of the Star of Karađorđe]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/twenty-years-estrangement-between-20-000-balkan-slavs-was-officially-picture-id138587675 |title=Archived copy |access-date=18 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222120350/http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/twenty-years-estrangement-between-20-000-balkan-slavs-was-officially-picture-id138587675 |archive-date=22 December 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[http://68.media.tumblr.com/2a9d4a000f2f25a2fcc2f829947edbb9/tumblr_nslilcjG2x1t3ijnxo1_1280.jpg Image] tumblr.com</ref>

===Arms===
{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
| {{br list | [[File:Coat of Arms of Boris III of Bulgaria 1894-1918.svg|115px]] | Arms of Boris as Prince of Tarnovo (1894–1918)}}
| {{br list | [[File:Larger Sovereign Arms of Bulgaria 1929-1946.svg|200px]] | Arms of Boris III as Sovereign of Bulgaria (1929–1943)}}
|}

==Patronages==
===National patronages===
* Bulgaria: Sovereign Patron of the [[National Guards Unit of Bulgaria|1st Infantry regiment of Prince Alexander I]]<ref name="government">{{cite web|url=http://www.md.government.bg/en/ba.html|title=Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Bulgaria|publisher=md.government.bg|access-date=15 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110325012032/http://www.md.government.bg/en/ba.html|archive-date=25 March 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="RP">{{cite web |url=http://www.kingsimeon.bg/pages/show/id/136 |title=Н.В. Цар Симеон II &#124; Шефски полкове |publisher=kingsimeon.bg |access-date=15 September 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101215173544/http://www.kingsimeon.bg/pages/show/id/136 |archive-date=15 December 2010}}</ref>
* Bulgaria: Sovereign Patron of the [[National Guards Unit of Bulgaria|4th Infantry regiment of Prince Boris]]<ref name="RP" /><ref name="shopbulgaria">{{cite web|url=http://www.shopbulgaria.com/products/5572/original-bulgarian-wwii-shoulder-boards-for-a-high-ranking-officer.html|title=Original Bulgarian WWII shoulder boards for high – ranking officer|publisher=shopbulgaria.com|access-date=15 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924101422/http://www.shopbulgaria.com/products/5572/original-bulgarian-wwii-shoulder-boards-for-a-high-ranking-officer.html|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="google">{{cite book|title=Armies in the Balkans 1914–18|author1=Thomas, N.|author2=Babac, D.|date=2012|publisher=Osprey Publishing Limited|isbn=9781780967356|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HGIyl-gI6bkC&pg=PA44|page=44|access-date=15 September 2015}}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
* Bulgaria: Sovereign Patron of the [[National Guards Unit of Bulgaria|6th Infantry regiment of Tsar Ferdinand I]]<ref name="RP" /><ref name="google2">{{cite book|title=Armies of the Balkan Wars 1912–13: The priming charge for the Great War|author=Jowett, P.|year=2012|publisher=Osprey Publishing Limited|isbn=9781780965284|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0JrmLxkvfZUC&pg=PA19|page=19|access-date=15 September 2015}}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
* Bulgaria: Sovereign Patron of the [[National Guards Unit of Bulgaria|8th Infantry regiment of Princess Marie Louise]]<ref name="RP" />
* Bulgaria: Sovereign Patron of the [[National Guards Unit of Bulgaria|9th Infantry regiment of Princess Clementine]]<ref name="RP" />
* Bulgaria: Sovereign Patron of the [[National Guards Unit of Bulgaria|18th Infantry regiment of Tsar Ferdinand I]]<ref name="RP" /><ref name="google3">{{cite book|title=Armies of the Balkan Wars 1912–13: The priming charge for the Great War|author=Jowett, P.|date=2012|publisher=Osprey Publishing Limited|isbn=9781780965284|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0JrmLxkvfZUC&pg=PA8|page=8|access-date=15 September 2015}}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
* Bulgaria: Sovereign Patron of the [[National Guards Unit of Bulgaria|20th Infantry regiment of Prince Krill and of Princesses Eudoxia and Nadezhda]]<ref name="RP" />
* Bulgaria: Sovereign Patron of the [[National Guards Unit of Bulgaria|24th Infantry regiment of Queen Eleonore]]<ref name="RP" />
* Bulgaria: Sovereign Patron of the [[National Guards Unit of Bulgaria|19th Infantry regiment of Prince Simeon]]<ref name="RP" />
* Bulgaria: Sovereign Patron of the [[National Guards Unit of Bulgaria|1st Cavalry regiment of Tsar Alexander I]]<ref name="RP" />
* Bulgaria: Sovereign Patron of the [[National Guards Unit of Bulgaria|2nd Cavalry regiment of Princess Marie Louise]]<ref name="RP" />
* Bulgaria: Sovereign Patron of the [[National Guards Unit of Bulgaria|10th Cavalry regiment of Queen Ionna]]<ref name="RP" />
* Bulgaria: Sovereign Patron of the [[National Guards Unit of Bulgaria|3rd Cavalry regiment of Prince Simeon]]<ref name="RP" />
* Bulgaria: Sovereign Patron of the [[National Guards Unit of Bulgaria|4th Artillery regiment of KTsar Ferdinand I]]<ref name="RP" />
* Bulgaria: Sovereign Patron of the [[National Guards Unit of Bulgaria|Life Guard regiment of The Tsar]]<ref name="RP" />
* Bulgaria: Sovereign Patron of the [[National Guards Unit of Bulgaria|Navy regiment of The Tsar]]<ref name="RP" />
* Bulgaria: Sovereign Patron of the [[National Guards Unit of Bulgaria|1st Army Artillery regiment of Prince Simeon]]<ref name="RP" />

===Foreign patronages===
* German Empire: Patron of the [[List of Imperial German infantry regiments|Balkan Infantry regiment of Emperor Wilhelm II]]<ref name="RP" />
** Saxe-Coburg and Gotha: Patron of the [[Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|22nd Infantry regiment of Charles Edward I]]<ref name="RP" /><ref name="comcast">{{cite web|url=http://home.comcast.net/~jcviser/germany/saxcoburg_carl.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150215191651/http://home.comcast.net/~jcviser/germany/saxcoburg_carl.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 February 2015|title=Carl Eduard Herzog von Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha K.H.|publisher=home.comcast.net|access-date=15 September 2015}}</ref>
* Russian Empire: Patron of the [[Imperial Guard (Russia)|17th Infantry regiment of Grand Duke Vladmir Alexandrovich]]<ref name="RP" /><ref name="army">{{cite web|url=http://usacac.army.mil/CAC2/CGSC/CARL/nafziger/877TCAA.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214203425/http://usacac.army.mil/CAC2/CGSC/CARL/nafziger/877TCAA.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 February 2015|date=18 November 2009|title=Russian Army of the South, 3 March 1877|access-date=15 September 2015}}</ref>
* Russian Empire: Patron of the [[Imperial Guard (Russia)|Azov Infantry regiment]]

== Tributes ==
The ''Los Angeles Times'' reported in 1994 that the [[Jewish National Fund]]'s Medal of the Legion of Honor was being awarded posthumously to Tsar Boris III, "the first non-Jew to receive one of the Jewish community's highest honors".<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-05-23-mn-61215-story.html |title=Wartime King Honored for Saving 50,000 Bulgarian Jews | date= 23 May 1994 |access-date = 8 May 2019 |first = David | last = Haldane | work = Los Angeles Times}}</ref>

In 1996, Bulgarian Jews in the United States and the Jewish National Fund erected a monument in "The Bulgarian Forest" in Israel to honor Tsar Boris as a savior of Bulgarian Jews.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ofer |first1=Dalia |title=Tormented Memories: The Individual and the Collective |journal=[[Israel Studies]] |date=2004 |volume=9 |issue=3 |page=139 |doi=10.2979/ISR.2004.9.3.137 |jstor=30245642 |s2cid=142984220 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/30245642 |issn=1084-9513|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In July 2003, a public committee headed by Israeli Chief Justice [[Moshe Bejski]] decided to remove the memorial because Bulgaria had consented to the delivery of 11,343 Jews from occupied territory of Macedonia, Thrace and Pirot to the Germans.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/12340342/clarifying-70-years-of-whitewashing-and-shelomo-alfassa |first= Shelomo | last =Alfassa | title= Clarifying 70 Years of Whitewashing and ...}}</ref>

[[Borisova gradina]], the largest park in Sofia and one of the city's biggest boulevards are named after him.

==Ancestors==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1= 1. '''Boris III of Bulgaria'''
|2= 2. [[Ferdinand I of Bulgaria]]
|3= 3. [[Princess Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma]]
|4= 4. [[Prince August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]]
|5= 5. [[Princess Clémentine of Orléans]]
|6= 6. [[Robert I, Duke of Parma]]
|7= 7. [[Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1849–1882)|Princess Maria Pia of Bourbon-Two Sicilies]]
|8= 8. [[Ferdinand, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry]]
|9= 9. [[Princess Maria Antonia Koháry de Csábrág et Szitnya]]
|10= 10. [[Louis Philippe I of France]]
|11= 11. [[Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily|Princess Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily]]
|12= 12. [[Charles III, Duke of Parma]]
|13= 13. [[Princess Louise of Artois]]
|14= 14. [[Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies]]
|15= 15. [[Maria Theresa of Austria (1816–1867)|Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria]]
}}

==See also==
*[[History of Bulgaria]]
*[[European interwar dictatorships]]
*[[List of covers of Time magazine (1940s)]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* ''Bulgaria in the Second World War'' by Marshall Lee Miller, Stanford University Press, 1975
* ''Boris III of Bulgaria 1894–1943'', by Pashanko Dimitroff, The Book Guild, London, 1986, {{ISBN|0-86332-140-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Groueff |first=Stephane  |title=Crown of Thorns |publisher=Madison Books |location=Lanham, Maryland |date=1997 |isbn=978-1-56833-114-0}}
* ''The Betrayal of Bulgaria'' by Gregory Lauder-Frost, Monarchist League Policy Paper, London, 1989
* ''Balkans into Southeastern Europe'' by John R. Lampe, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2006
* ''A History of Israel: From the Rise of Zionism to Our Time'' by Howard M. Sachar, A. A. Knopf, New York, 2007, {{ISBN|978-0-394-48564-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Chary |first=Frederick B. |title=The Bulgarian Jews and the Final Solution, 1940-1944 |publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press |date=1972 |isbn=0-8229-8443-1}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Boris III of Bulgaria}}
{{Wikiquotes|Boris III of Bulgaria}}
*[http://isurvived.org/Rightheous_Folder/Tsar_Boris-III_USCongress.html Tsar Boris III Honored by the United States Congress. TsarBoris III, Savior of Bulgarian Jewry]{{Dead link|date=August 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
*[http://mahatma.blog.bg/politika/2011/01/27/tzar-tsar-boris-iii-concealed-savoir-of-the-bulgarian-jews.674892 Tsar Boris III, concealed savior of the Bulgarian Jews]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20181016203321/http://bg-daily-news.eu/articles/467-the-case-of-tsar-boris-iii The Case of Tsar Boris III, Unsung Hero of the Holocaust]
*{{cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/950652/The-Rescue-of-the-Bulgarian-Jews-during-World-War-II|title=The Rescue of the Bulgarian Jews during World War II|via=Scribd|access-date=15 September 2015}}
*[http://sofiaecho.com/2003/03/13/638240_tsar-boris-iii-saviour-of-the-bulgarian-jews Tsar Boris III, Savior of the Bulgarian Jews]{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20170917121427/http://www.stara-sofia.com/dvorec.html Historical photographs of the royal palace in Sofia]
* {{IMDb title|2153626|Empty Boxcars}}
* [http://vimeo.com/25341520 ''Empty Boxcars''] Vimeo
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170811234636/http://www.uni-kiel.de/psychologie/ispp/doc_upload/reicher_saving_bulgarias_jews.pdf Wayback Machine] Saving Bulgaria's Jews: An analysis of social identity and the mobilisation of social solidarity
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110908140444/http://www.vagabond.bg/jewishbulgaria/ "Guide to Jewish Bulgaria"] by Dimana Trankova & Anthony Georgieff, Sofia, 2011;
* {{PM20|FID=pe/002192}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]]|30 January|1894|28 August|1943|[[House of Wettin]]}}
{{s-reg|}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Ferdinand I of Bulgaria|Ferdinand I]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Bulgarian monarchs|Tsar of Bulgaria]]|years=3 October 1918 – 28 August 1943}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha|Simeon II]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Bulgarian monarchs}}
{{Bulgarian princes}}
{{Princes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boris 03 Of Bulgaria}}
[[Category:1894 births]]
[[Category:1943 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century monarchs of Bulgaria]]
[[Category:Bulgarian anti-communists]]
[[Category:Bulgarian collaborators with Nazi Germany]]
[[Category:Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy from Roman Catholicism]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox Christians from Bulgaria]]
[[Category:Members of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church]]
[[Category:House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Bulgaria)]]
[[Category:Nobility from Sofia]]
[[Category:World War II political leaders]]
[[Category:Burials at the Rila Monastery]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox monarchs]]
[[Category:The Holocaust in Bulgaria]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Bravery, 1st class]]
[[Category:Grand Master of the Order of Military Merit (Bulgaria)]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of Military Merit (Bulgaria)]]
[[Category:Sons of princes regnant]]