In 1943 Boris died and was succeeded by his six-year-old son, Simeon. In fact, however, a three-man regency retained power, with Ivan Bagrianov as premier. The regency was less actively pro-Axis in orientation than was the late king; with its coming to power, thousands of political prisoners were released from jail, and all persecution of Jews was terminated. By 1944, when Germany and its allies were clearly losing the war, the Bulgarian leaders sought to reverse the earlier decision of the king and to seek peace with the Allies as well as with the Greek and Yugoslav governments-in-exile. Despite sub rosa attempts to release itself from agreements with the Axis, Bulgaria was unable to extricate itself from the alliance. On August 22, 1944, the Bulgarian government publicly announced that it was ready for a peace agreement with the Allies. The war was ended for Bulgaria when, on September 4, 1944, the Soviets, after taking over Romania, entered Bulgaria. The exact sequence of events has been interpreted differently by various historians. There are, however, two major interpretations. One suggests that, once the Soviets had occupied Romania and declared war on Bulgaria, Bulgaria--under a hastily formed anti-Axis coalition government--immediately quit the pact with the Axis and declared war on its former ally, Germany. The other interpretation posits the theory that, on August 26, the Bulgarian government had declared itself neutral, thus withdrawing from the war. At this time it ordered German troops on its soil to disarm. When Soviet troops arrived in Bulgaria, they found this so-called neutrality unacceptable and insisted on a Bulgarian declaration of war against Germany. This declaration was promptly carried out on the eve of the day that it was requested. When the Soviets occupied the country in September 1944, the government of the so-called Fatherland Front (Otechestven Front) seized power from the existing government within five days of the occupation. On September 9, 1944, the Fatherland Front--under the leadership of Georgiev--officially took control of the country on what was then termed an interim basis. On October 28, 1944, an armistice was signed between Bulgaria and the Soviet Union, which stated that all territories gained by Bulgaria since 1941 would be surrendered. Only southern Dobrudzha, taken from Romania in 1940, was to be retained. The agreement also established the Allied Control Commission in Sofia under direct Soviet control.