The Fragility of Goodness - Tapa blanda

On March 9, 1943, a series of freight trains waited at Bulgaria's railway stations to pick up thousands of Jews and carry them to Treblinka. Four hours before the departure, following a dramatic showdown, the order was cancelled. Another attempt on May 24 failed as well. Many pro-fascist politicians, the heads of the Bulgarian church, a beautiful young heroine, the elite and the grassroots of the Bulgarian society, all led by King Boris III, joined in an effort to thwart the deportation of the Jews to the death camps. This brilliant book, the importance of which it would be hard to overstate, explains why. In The Fragility of Goodness one of Europe's great historians and moral philosophers brings together for the first time analysis and key texts to provide the definitive account of how Bulgaria's Jews survived the Holocaust when those in neighbouring countries were annihilated. It is also a searching investigation into the 'fragility of the goodness'. Todorov's conclusions are stark and important: he shows how the incidence of good depends on the particular and often chance union of political, economic, social and moral forces and how the slightest deviation from the path can jeopardize everything. Furthermore, once evil takes hold in society, it spreads easily, while good remains difficult, elusive and fragile.

Tzvetan Todorov is Director of Research at the Centre National de Recherches in Paris.