About us
Bulgarian Jewish Heritage Alliance of America was founded and registered in April 2010 in Sacremento, CA as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization number 3288102. The main objective of the alliance is to preserve and spread the story of the saving of the Bulgarian Jews from the merciless Nazzis during WW2. In 2013 the board members of the alliance organized a travelling exhibit called "THE POWER OF CIVIL SOCIETY DURING THE HOLOCAUST: THE BULGARIAN STORY 1940-1944).
Rabbi Haim Asa 1931-2014
Co- founder & past president
born in Bulgaria to a Sephardic family. In 1944, the family fled the Nazis and made Aliyah. He joined the youth division of the underground Haganah and
eventually enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces, where he served as a para-trooper and later in the Mossad. He came to the U.S. in 1954. After ordination from Hebrew Union College in 1963, Rabbi Asa was the Latin American Director of the World Union for Progressive Judaism in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He became rabbi of Temple Beth Tikvah in Orange County in 1966 and served till 2014 when he passed away at the age 83.
Alan D. Levy is Chairman of Tishman International Companies, headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in London, Sofia, and Vienna. Tishman has developed, built and managed more than 40 million square feet of commercial real estate assets through its many offices in the United States. Tishman’s joint venture partners have included many of the world’s prestigious financial institutions. Since 1985, Tishman’s European headquarters based in London has developed and managed over 4 million sq. ft of commercial property in UK and Ireland. In 2004, Tishman commenced operations in South Eastern Europe and is currently developing the premier mixed-use development in Bulgaria – Sofia Airport Center– a €350 million project offering 1.8 million square feet of offices and logistics space.
Alan D. Levy
Honorary President
Aaron M. Cohen
1929 - 2017
Vice President
Aaron was born in Bulgaria. As a young boy, he escaped the Nazi’s during WWII, was an Israeli Commando during the Israeli war of independence, and later immigrated to the United States.
Aaron has worked in the building maintenance industry for over 60years.He began his career as a janitor with a small West Coast firm in Santa Barbara, learning the business while studying to obtain a degree in International Relations. He left college to start his own building maintenance company, State Maintenance.State Maintenance grew as a thriving young company and was acquired by Kinney National, one of the largest building service contractors at the time,on the East Coast.
Hristina Atanassova holds an M.A. in English Phylology from Sofia University "St.Kliment Ohridski" and through the years has taught ESL in the State University for Library Studies and Information Technologies, in the mean time also translated and edited several books from English to Bulgarian. From 1995 to 2000 she joined the staff of the US Embassy in Sofia as a liasion to the Defence Attache. For her superior performance she received several certificates of apreciations and honorary awards. Since 2005 Hristina resides in Los Angeles with her family.
Vassiliy Kolganov
Member of the board
Vassiliy Kolganov is an attorney, founder of Kolganov & Associates - the first Bulgarian - American Law Office, located both in Bulgaria and USA. It offers legal services for U.S. and Bulgarian clients in matters of litigation, government contracts, employment, intellectual property, immigration, real estate. Advise U.S. and Bulgarian clients on transactions involving venture capital (VC), advice U.S. and Bulgarian clients on matters involving Bulgaria and EU.