The Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem today posthumously honored two Bulgarian clergymen as Righteous Gentiles for their role in saving Jews during the Holocaust. The two honorees are the late Metropolitan (Bishop) of Sofia, Stefan, and the late Metropolitan of Plovdiv, Kiril - heads of independent Orthodox Church, Bulgaria\'s largest. The two men vigorously opposed the anti-Jewish policies of the Bulgarian regime, and took active steps against its policy of deporting the Jews of Bulgaria to the hands of the Germans. In 1943, Metropolitan Stephan led the Church to call for the cancellation of the restrictions against the Jews, and personally requested that the Bulgarian king refuse the German order to deport 800 Jews; the deportation was, in fact, canceled. Metropolitan Kiril, too, succeeded in halting the deportation of 1,500 Jews from Plovdiv by sending a personal telegram to the king begging for mercy towards the Jews.