They wanted to kill Tsar Boris. "Heroes of the Night" and other partisans against the fascist dictatorship

1
In the 19th century, Russia made tremendous efforts to free the Bulgarians from the Turkish yoke. In fact, the formation of Bulgaria as a political subject at the end of the XIX century was the result of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. The Bulgarian principality was formed in 1879, which retained its vassal dependence on Ottoman Turkey. Prince of Bulgaria 29 April 1879 was elected German prince Alexander Battenberg. From that time Bulgaria slowly began to fall under German influence, more and more moving away from Russia. In 1908, Bulgaria declared complete independence from Ottoman Turkey, and Prince Ferdinand was proclaimed king of Bulgaria. However, the independent foreign policy of the Bulgarian kingdom could only be called partly. In the First World War, Bulgaria was in the camp of the enemies of Russia - Austria-Hungary, Germany and, moreover, Ottoman Turkey. The Bulgarian troops were ready to take the side of the very Turks, from whom the Russian Empire saved the Bulgarian people only thirty years ago. In 1915-1918 The Bulgarian army participated in the fighting with the Serbian and Romanian troops.

After the defeat in the First World War, King Ferdinand abdicated the throne and his son Boris became the new monarch of Bulgaria. On the wave of discontent of the peasant majority of the country's population, a new government of Bulgaria was formed, in which the key role was played by the Prime Minister Alexander Stamboliysky, representing the Bulgarian Agricultural People's Union - yesterday's oppositionist, who had served a prison sentence under King Ferdinand. Alexander Stamboliisky was a politician of a moderate left orientation, trying to reorient the vector of Bulgarian foreign policy from Germany to the countries of the Entente. It was for anti-German sentiment that Stamboliisky was sentenced to life imprisonment during the First World War. Stamboliiski was a supporter of the unification of the South Slavic peoples and identified himself as a Yugoslav, which also violated the Bulgarian tradition of long-standing rivalry with neighboring Serbia. As the leader of the Bulgarian Agricultural People’s Union, Stamboliiski advocated the development of the state along the “third path”, different from the socialist experiment of Soviet Russia and the capitalism of Western countries. The economic and political views of Stamboliisky irritated the conservative part of the Bulgarian officers and officials, who saw him as a dangerous socialist. In 1923, among the Bulgarian officers and business circles, there was a plot to overthrow the government of Alexander Stamboliisky. The conspiracy was headed by Alexander Tsankov - a former rector of Sofia University, a professor-economist, who headed the right-wing organization “People's Collusion”. 9 June 1923 g. Tsankov, relying on the support of the officers, committed a military coup. The government of Alexander Stamboliisky was overthrown, and the Stamboliisky was killed.

September Uprising

The coming to power of the right-wing led by Tsankov did not suit the Bulgarian socialists and communists, who rightly saw in the military coup the beginning of the "fascization" of Bulgaria, the establishment of a military-fascist dictatorship in the country. As soon as the province became aware of the coup in Sofia, spontaneous speeches by supporters of the Bulgarian Agricultural People’s Union, the Communists and other leftists began. 11 June began an armed uprising in the city of Pleven. Rebel groups have intensified throughout the country. Nevertheless, the leadership of the Bulgarian Communist Party, oriented toward the Soviet Union, sought to maintain a policy of neutrality and at first did not officially declare its support for the uprising. Only 5-7 August 1923 was decided at the meeting of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party in Sofia to start preparations for a mass armed uprising. For this purpose, an anti-fascist front was formed in the composition of the left wing of the OPEN, the communists and some other left groups. However, the Bulgarian special services decided to pre-empt the possibility of the Left and 12 September appearances. 1923 began mass repressions against members of the Communist Party. A number of prominent activists of the BKP were arrested, including Central Committee member Hristo Kabakchiev.

In response, 15 September 1923 of the Central Committee of the BKP held a meeting at which it was decided to proceed to the beginning of the armed uprising, which were to be led by Georgi Dimitrov, Vasil Kolarov, Todor Petrov and Todor Lukanov. However, the security services also did not waste time in September - Officer Nikola Altynsky, a Stamboliisky supporter, was arrested on September, and the rebels were appointed to the post of chief of staff of the revolutionary army. But the efforts of the Bulgarian police could no longer prevent the beginning of the uprising, although they significantly weakened the leadership of the rebels. On the night of September 21 on 22, the rebels occupied the village of Varshets, then the city of Ferdinand. September 23 squad Gavrila Genova defeated a government unit at the station Boychinovtsy. A civil war began between the BKP insurgents and the OPEN on the one hand and the troops loyal to the Bulgarian government of Tsankov and the police on the other.



During 26-27 in September 1923, the government forces managed to inflict a series of decisive defeats on the rebels, after which the headquarters of the uprising decided to gradually withdraw the rebel troops to the Yugoslav border. Despite the fact that the government forces managed to liberate the settlements captured by the rebels, partisan resistance continued in Bulgaria. Over the course of several months, 1923 killed about 6 thousands of Bulgarian citizens, 10 thousands were arrested and thrown into prison, another three thousand people emigrated from the country, fleeing from possible political persecution. Tsankov's regime passed to a more authoritarian and rigid government, repressions began against dissidents, first of all - sympathizing with the communists, socialists and the agricultural alliance.

Kilifarevo couple

The most radical part of the Bulgarian anti-fascist resistance in 1923-1925. have become anarchists. Ever since the end of the 19th century, anarchical ideas, penetrated into the local revolutionary environment under the influence of Russian populists, have gained some acceptance in Bulgaria. One of the most famous examples of the antifascist speeches of the Bulgarian anarchists in the days following the military coup of Tsankov and the overthrow of Alexander Stamboliisky was the uprising in Kilifarevo. Almost immediately after the coup in Sofia, right-wing activists, armed with rifles and machine guns, dispersed the communist municipal council of Kilifarevo and announced a general mobilization of the male population of the village. In response, the anarchists, whose group also acted in Kilifarevo, began preparations for an armed protest against the right-wing coup. At a secret meeting, it was decided to send messengers to neighboring villages in order to establish contact with the anti-fascist revolutionaries there and move on to joint actions. It was decided to form a joint organization of anarchists, local communists and members of the agricultural union.

10 June 1923 was held in Kilifarevo a large rally of local peasants against forced mobilization, at which representatives of communists, anarchists and the agricultural union spoke. The protesters forced Milko Sirakov to come out to the people, who after the coup was elected the new chairman of the municipal council. He tried to explain to those gathered that he had nothing to do with general mobilization and agreed to restore the activities of the communist municipal council. Anarchist Georgy Popov, who also received the word at the rally, called on the peasants of Kilifarevo to start an armed uprising against the military-fascist regime. After the speech of Popov, which was perceived by the peasants with enthusiasm, it was decided to start an uprising. A detachment of Xilum armed Kilifarevo peasants was formed, which was soon joined by insurgent detachments from the villages of Debelets and Yalovo Plakovo - numbering in 120-60 and 70-20 people, respectively. The Rebel Military Council was created, which included anarchist communists Georgy Popov, Nikola Penev, communist Trifon Saraliyev and a number of other activists. A revolutionary council was also created to manage the daily life of Kilifarevo.

On June 11, the Kilifarev rebels advanced in the direction of the town of Dryanovo, which, after short fights, was captured. A local revolutionary council was also formed in Dryanovo, which categorically rejected the possibility of a compromise with the military-fascist government of Tsankov. The next day, June 12, there were serious clashes between insurgent peasants near Sokolov station and Ganchovets station. During the battles, a member of the Military Council Trifon Saraliyev was killed. Fighting began on the streets of Kilifarevo, during which the rebels were forced to retreat, since they were significantly inferior both in numbers and in armament to superior units of government troops. Only a group of four rebels led by Dimitar Byalkhov remained in the village. 13 June in Kilifarevo arrived artillery batteries of government troops, which began to fire on the positions of the rebels in Butore. Dozens of villagers were killed, and hundreds of peasants arrested. Government soldiers robbed and set fire to the houses of local residents. After the defeat of the uprising, the Kilifarev couple was formed from the survivors of the rebels, which operated until May 1925. It included peasants from Kilifarevo, Debelets and some other villages. Since the Chetniks were local residents, they had no problems with food supply. The detachment was constantly informed by the peasants about the movements of the government forces, and it was replenished with volunteers.

Partisans without commanders?

The number of Kilifarevo couples for many years fluctuated within 10-20 people, but sometimes increased to 30 people when it was joined by "temporary" rebels, who then returned to normal peasant life. Sometimes the size of the detachment was reduced to five people, while the rest of the rebels plied the villages for reconnaissance and agitation purposes, breaking up into pairs and triples. Unlike many partisan detachments, the Kilifarev couple did not have an official commander. It is possible that the popularity of anarchist ideology among the rebels played a role here, but it is also possible that fellow villagers who knew each other simply did not need centralized leadership, as they could solve questions about the detachment’s actions through joint discussion. However, the person who enjoyed the greatest prestige was still in the detachment.

Georgy Popov (1900-1924), the same anarchist who proclaimed the course of an armed uprising, despite his youth, enjoyed great respect from fellow villagers. He was born 22 in May 1900 in Kilifarevo into a family of teachers. Having lost his father at the age of twelve, Georgy Popov remained the only breadwinner for his four younger sisters. Nevertheless, he managed to get a secondary education in Tyrnovo, and then an institute. Popov worked as a teacher in Kilifarevo, but after participating in a strike of railway workers in Gorna Oryahovitsa, he was dismissed and got a job as a clerk in the People's Bank in Kilifarevo. However, after three months, the anarchist Popov was dismissed from his new job. Having received a “wolf ticket”, he could henceforth be employed only for hard and dirty work — by road workers, a digger, a grape picker. In 1920, along with another prominent anarchist, Georgy Sheytanov, Popov edited and published the anarchist newspaper Riot.

There was a woman in the Chetnik detachment and a very young Mariola Sirakova (1904-1925). Born in Kilifarevo, Mariola was the daughter of a retired captain of the Bulgarian army and the head of the outskirts of Veliky Tarnovo. After the military coup, it was her father Milko Sirakov who headed the local military three-member college, and it was he who declared at the rally that he had nothing to do with mobilizing the peasants of Kilifarevo. Mariola Sirakova, being the daughter of an officer, received quite a decent education for a Bulgarian girl of that time - she studied at the Tarnovo girls' gymnasium, where she met anarchist ideas and made friends with famous anarchists Georgy Sheitanov and Pyotr Maznev. In addition to political activities, Mariola was interested in theater and performed in the Orpheus theater group in Kilifarevo. In 1922-1923 Mariola Sirakova studied in the city of Pleven, where she continued to participate in underground activities. The day after the June 9 coup, 1923, a young anti-fascist was arrested by the police, raped and severely beaten in the precinct. In June, 1924 was sent to Kilifarevo. After suffering bullying, she had no choice but to take the path of revenge on the Nazis. weapons in hand. In the Kilifarevo couple, she was involved in organizing medical care and hiding wounded chetniks.

The Chetniks, who were under the influence of anarchists, opposed the creation of a united front with the communist opposition, as they did not agree with the communist idea of ​​the need for centralized leadership. Most of the rebels were convinced of the ability to act locally and without formal leaders. Nevertheless, it is known that representatives of the communists arrived in the detachment, who offered 50 thousands of levs for joining the united front. The anarchists rejected their proposal, but later the money from the communists was nevertheless taken - with the sole purpose of spending it on the publication of the magazine Flame. The Kilifarev couple included, in addition to the anarchists, also eight communists, one member of the agricultural union, one representative of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization and one “nihilist”.

The combat path of the Kilifarev couple is quite impressive. On June 13, seven Chetniks led by Georgiy Popov attacked the municipality in the village of Radkovtsy, seizing several guns and boxes of ammunition. September 17 George Popov and Totyu Saraliyev killed the mayor of Djurovtsy. 31 January 1924 The ideologist of the Kilifarev couple Georgy Popov was tracked down by the police after being denounced by the traitor and committed suicide after a long exchange of fire with the police. In August, the 1924 of the Chetniks, who continued to operate even after the death of their organizer, killed two police officers who took part in mocking the body of the deceased Georgy Popov. In the same summer of 1924, the Chetniks organized a jailbreak of the famous Kilifarevo anarchist Stefan Paraskov. In November, 1924 was rebelled by provocateur Trifon Iliev, and in the spring of 1925, an attack was carried out on a leather goods store in Veliko Tarnovo and the post office was robbed. In April, the 1925 squad was assembled for the last time. By sending one of the Chetniks to a nearby village for cigarettes, the rebels brought in police officers. There was a shootout, but the rebels managed to escape. A group of 15 people divided into several pairs and triples to facilitate the task of leaving the dangerous place. After the detachment was divided, many rebels were captured or killed in gunfights with police and public security agents. In May, 1925 in Mariola Sirakova, along with Georgiy Sheytanov and Zhelyu Grozev, attempted to break out of the Kilifarevo area and emigrate to Turkey. However, on May 26, she was arrested, and on May 28, along with 12, other arrested anti-fascists, Mariola Sirakova, were killed.

"Heroes of the Night" - Sofia's partisans

In 1924, an underground anarchist group, Heroes of the Night, appeared in Sofia, calling for armed resistance to the fascist government of Tsankov. Immediately after its appearance, the “Heroes of the Night” was marked by several expropriations, robbing a number of banks and insurance companies. Anarchists also used the old practice of sending letters threatening politicians and businessmen who supported the Tsankov government. The “Heroes of the Night” organizers were Stefan Todorov, nicknamed “Efito” (in the photo) and Hristo Guekov, nicknamed “Baieto”. Stephen Todorov, a 20-year-old native of Sofia, came from a poor working family and was able to receive only primary education, after which he got a job as a construction worker.

Hristo Gekov was four years older - he was born in 1899, in Veliko Tarnovo, and graduated from school in Sofia, where he was after moving there parents. During the September Uprising of 1923, Mr. Gekov was arrested and thrown into the Sofia Central Prison, but he escaped and went into hiding. Together with Gokov and Todorov, the group “Heroes of the Night” included the communist Stoyan Zlatarev and three anarcho-communists. Under the leadership of Gokov, the anarchists managed to eliminate the provocateur Trifon Iliev, who collaborated with the Bulgarian police. However, another provocateur, Dimitar Dimitrov, nicknamed "Gavrosh", reported the whereabouts of Hristo Gekov to the police. The leader of the Heroes of the Night was captured, but he was again able to slip out of the hands of the police - he fled the train during a stage in prison. Anarchists were sentenced to death a traitor Dimitrov, but the latter managed to emigrate abroad and, thereby, save his life.
During 1924, a whole series of daring sabotage and expropriations in Sofia were committed by the “Heroes of the Night”. Thus, the anarchists robbed the Benariya Bank, the Bulgarian People’s Bank, a country firm, killed Nedelcho Stefanova, a public security agent, and attempted to assassinate Mayor Paskalev. However, the mayor, who managed to avoid anarchist murder, a year later, 16 on April 1925, was nevertheless killed by the Communists during a major terrorist attack in Holy Week Cathedral. 19 January 1925 police were able to track down anarchists from the Heroes of the Night group. Todorov and Gokov were blocked by police in one of the districts of the Bulgarian capital. As a result of a long shootout with the police, the house in which the anarchists were hiding caught fire. Todorov and Gokov chose to kill themselves in order not to fall into the hands of the police.

Explosion at Holy Week Cathedral

In April 1925, the activities of the Bulgarian anti-fascists in armed resistance to the Tsankov government intensified. As is known, after the September Uprising was suppressed, the Tsankov regime established a tough dictatorship and began mass repressions and extrajudicial executions of political opponents. As a result of the repressions, many active anti-fascists were killed - members of the leadership of the Bulgarian Communist Party, the agricultural union, anarchists. 11 February 1925 was arrested and tortured to death Valcho Ivanov, a prominent activist of the Sofia City Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party, and on March 10 1925, the Bulgarian government amended the Law on the Protection of the State, according to which not only membership in the Communist Party was punishable by death , but the death penalty was awaiting those who help and shelter the Communists. However, the leadership of the Bulgarian Communist Party, represented by Georgi Dimitrov and Vasil Kolarov, did not approve of the appeals of some Communists to move to immediate armed resistance to the dictatorship. Party leaders believed that the tactics of individual terror and sabotage without a general uprising were doomed to failure, and an uprising in the existing conditions was impossible.

This position of Dimitrov and Kolarov allowed their radical left-wing opponents to significantly increase their popularity in the game. The leftist communist group gained the most influence in the military organization of the Bulgarian Communist Party - the armed formation of the communists, created in 1920 to fight political repression by the authorities. The military organization of the Communist Party consisted of the organizational, operational, intelligence, arms and military propaganda sections, but the main structural unit of the organization was a task force of six people. The “sixes” of the BKP Military Organization were staffed by proven Communists who had good military training. In the Military Organization, left-wing communists traditionally had strong positions, since the BKP militants were more focused on armed struggle and did not understand why Dimitrov and Kolarov were slow in starting decisive actions against the Tsankov government. The leaders of the Communist Party's military organization, Dimitar Zlatarev and Dimitar Hadzhidimitrov, proposed to destroy the police director Vladimir Nachev and a group of senior and senior officers responsible for the mass repressions of the Bulgarian communists. Although the approval of the leadership of the BKP did not follow, the radicals from the Military Organization decided to act independently.

They wanted to kill Tsar Boris. "Heroes of the Night" and other partisans against the fascist dictatorship


16 April 1925 in the Cathedral of Holy Week in Sofia was to be held the funeral of a deputy from the ruling party, General Konstantin Georgiev, who was killed three days earlier. At the mourning event was expected the presence of a number of top leaders of the Bulgarian security forces. Before the day of the mourning ceremony, the priest Peter Zadgorsky, recruited by the Military Organization of the Communist Party, delivered a kilogram of explosives to 25 Cathedral, which was laid under one of the bearing columns. At 7 in the morning of April 16 on April 1925, Nikola Petrov arrived in the cathedral, an activist of the BKP Military Organization, who directly supervised the terrorist act. He checked the place of the planned operation. At 15 hours a mourning procession entered the cathedral. The coffin of General Georgiev was originally placed next to the mined column, but then carried it a little forward, since more people came to the funeral than was supposed.

Accordingly, the front ranks of the goodbyes, in which the most senior representatives of the Bulgarian government and the ruling party were, moved forward from the column. When the priest Zadgorsky gave a conventional sign, the communist Peter Abadzhiev set off an explosive device. At 15, the 20 minutes rumbled for an explosion that brought down the dome of the cathedral. The victims of the terrorist act were 213 people, 134 of whom died at the site of the explosion, and the rest subsequently died from injuries and injuries. Among the dead were 12 generals of the Bulgarian Army, including former Minister of War Lieutenant General Kalin Naydenov, the commander of the Macedonian 11-th Infantry Division, Lieutenant General Krastev Zlatar and 15 colonels, lieutenant colonels 7, 3 Major, 9 captains. 500 people were injured in the explosion - also high-ranking military personnel and deputies.

After the explosion, the square in front of the cathedral was flooded with troops and police. On the evening of April 16, the government declared martial law in the country. Captain Kocho Stoyanov, appointed military commander of Sofia, formed an 4 operational unit to conduct mass arrests of suspects. The first was arrested priest Peter Zadgorsky, who gave all his accomplices. The police arrested most of the activists of the Military Organization of the Bulgarian Communist Party, however, the three organizers of the terrorist attack managed to flee the country - Nikola Petrov, Dimitar Zlatarev and Peter Abadzhiev through the territory of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Yugoslavia) fled to the Soviet Union. Peter Abadzhiev subsequently participated in the Great Patriotic War and rose to the rank of colonel of the Red Army. 1-11 in May 1925 in Sofia, a trial was held on members of the Military Organization of the Bulgarian Communist Party who were sentenced to death for a terrorist act. The leadership of the Bulgarian Communist Party and the Soviet Union officially disassociated themselves from possible involvement in the terrorist act, placing the main responsibility on the left-wing Communists, under whose influence the Military Organization of the Bulgarian Communist Party was located.

Attempt in arabaconacs

It should be noted here that Tsar Boris III himself did not fall victim to a terrorist act in the Cathedral of Holy Week for small. He was saved by a case, also associated with the actions of anti-fascists. The fact is that on the day of the funeral of General Georgiev, the king was at another funeral - he buried his friend who died three days earlier during the assassination attempt on the Bulgarian monarch. 13 April 1925 Tsar Boris III, accompanied by four people, went hunting in the area of ​​the Arabakonak Pass. When the king's car was driving along the highway in a remote area, an unknown armed man jumped out onto the road and shouted “Stop!”. Shots rang out that killed one of the king’s bodyguards and an employee of the Museum of Natural stories. It seemed that the monarch of Bulgaria was waiting for the inevitable death, but at that moment a truck appeared on the road, which temporarily closed the king and his companions from the shooting rebels. The wounded driver, another guard and Tsar Boris himself managed to escape from the scene and jump into the passenger bus.

As it became known, the attempt on the Bulgarian tsar was planned by anarcho-communists from Koprivshtitskoy and Trojan anarchist couples. 12 April anarchists gathered at the meeting, which decided to attack the car of the king. The anarchists Vasil Ikonomov, Vasil Popov-Hero, Nesho Tumangelov, Nesho Mandulov and Anton Ganchev took part in the direct organization of the assassination attempt and the attack on the royal car. Vasil Ikonomov (1898-1925) is considered one of the national heroes of the Bulgarian anti-fascist movement. He was born in Aytos in the family of a postal employee and teacher, graduated from high school with honors and participated in the First World War, first as a junker, and then as an officer. After the war, Ikonomov entered the law faculty of Sofia University, where he met Mikhail Gerdzhikov and joined the Federation of Anarchist Communists of Bulgaria. An educated man with combat experience, Ikonomov quickly became one of the actual leaders of the Bulgarian anarchist movement. He participated in many combat attacks, clashes with the police, in the transport of weapons and propaganda literature. In 1921, it is

Ikonomov participated in the organization of the assassination of Alexander Grekov, one of the leaders of the Bulgarian fascist organization National Accord. It is likely that Ikonomov was also in charge of two other high-profile murders committed in 1922, the former mayor of Sofia and the chief guard of the Sofia Central Prison. After the June 1923 coup, Vasil Ikonomov went into hiding. Like many other consecutive anarchists, Ikonomov opposed the tactics of cooperation with the communists, because of which he entered into a conflict with George Sheytanov - another outstanding anarchist, who, on the contrary, supported the idea of ​​joint action with the communists and the agricultural union. At the beginning of 1924, the Ikonomov group killed the wealthy entrepreneur Alexander Gujev. In March, an anarcho-communist couple was formed in Koprivshtitsa 1925, which a month later made a sensational attack on the royal car. It was Vasil Ikonomov who first opened fire on the king's car. After the start of the Great Terror following the explosion at Holy Week Cathedral, the Koprivshtitsa anarcho-communist couple conducted several more military operations, including an attack on a military convoy on the Strelcha-Koprivshtitsa route. In mid-June, the 1925 of the Chetnik, led by Ikonomov, planned to attack the Sofia-Plovdiv train, but on the night of 20 in June near the village of Belitsa, the public security officers managed to attack the trail of the rebels and kill Vasil Ikonomov.

The fates of the other participants in the Arabacacac assassination were different. Nesho Tumangellov (1898-1941) managed to escape to Yugoslavia, where he continued anarchist and anti-fascist activities, and in 1941, he formed a partisan group and was killed while trying to break through the Bulgarian border. His brother Atanas Tumangelov (1904-1929), a member of the Bulgarian Communist Youth Union and a member of the Koprivshtitsa and Trojan couple, also emigrated to Greece and then moved to Yugoslavia, where he died from the disease. Nikola Yurukov (1904-1927), a member of the anarchist couples, also fled to Yugoslavia through Greece, but in 1927, he illegally made his way back to Bulgaria, planning to participate in further anti-fascist resistance. However, while in Sofia, he was tracked down by public security agents and, after a lengthy firefight, blew himself up with a homemade bomb. Vasil Popov - Hero (1899-1927), who went underground in the same 1923, emigrated to Yugoslavia, but in the spring of 1927 returned to the territory of Bulgaria and died while trying to rob a bank in Troyan. Stoyan Toromanov (1901-1930) was one of the most active anarchists in Koprivshtitsa, after the assassination attempt on the king emigrated to Yugoslavia, then returned to Bulgaria, went to Yugoslavia again, where he died under unexplained circumstances. Nesho Mandulov (1902-1939), a communist by conviction, after the assassination attempt on the king through Yugoslavia, he moved to the Soviet Union, where he learned radio engineering, worked and died during the Stalinist repression. Anton Ganchev (1898-1937), a participant in the 1923 uprisings in the villages of Karlievo and Chelopech, was at the origin of the Koprivshtitsky couple. After leaving Bulgaria for Yugoslavia, Ganchev moved to the USSR, and in 1937 he died in battles of the Spanish Civil War, where he went as a volunteer to anti-fascist international brigades.

The last squad of Tinko Simova

In the second half of the 1920's. The Bulgarian secret services nevertheless managed, through mass repressions, to substantially weaken the anti-fascist movement in the country. Anarchist insurgent units operating in rural areas were almost all destroyed in 1925, and their members either died in gunfights or were executed in prisons, or left the country, fleeing to Greece or Yugoslavia. However, in 1928, the last anarcho-communist partisan detachment was formed. He was led by veteran Bulgarian revolutionary movement Tinko Simov (1887-1935). Coming from a poor peasant family, Tinko Simov, still in 1905, while studying at a school in the city of Lovech, joined a youthful Marxist circle, for which he was expelled from school and received a secondary education in Gabrovo. During the Balkan Wars, Simov avoided mobilization, was arrested, escaped from prison, then participated in a campaign against the participation of Bulgaria in the First World War. During his next imprisonment in the Central Prison of Sofia, Simov met Georgy Sheytanov and Zhelyu Grozev, who influenced him ideologically and contributed to his transition to anarchist positions. After the war and the coming to power of the Stambolian government, Tinko Simov was released from prison and got a job at a sugar factory in Gorna Oryahovitsa. Then he worked as a bricklayer, a fireman, a lumberjack in his native village, took part in the creation of the Federation of Bulgarian Anarchists-Communists. The explosion in the Holy Week Cathedral made Tinko Simov go into an illegal position, after which he set about creating a partisan group. In 1926, the Simov group participated in clashes with the police, and in 1927, in an attempt to expropriate the Agricultural Bank in Troyan, during which Vasil Popov-Hero died.

The last anarchist-communist detachment, led by Tinko Simov, also included the anarchists Doche Uzunov, Todor Servansky, the communists Pavel Pavlov and Ilko Gankov. In the fall of 1928, the group broke through the border into the territory of Yugoslavia. When Simov returned to Bulgaria in 1929, he and Minko Karat and Georgy Keremedzhiev restored the underground group, but the police soon followed the partisans. Minko Karat was killed, and Georgy Keremedzhiev was captured by public security agents. Tinko Simov was left alone, but continued underground activities. For some time he was hiding with Radh Dukovska in the house of Kancho Bosolov in Lomets. 19 November 1935. The police surrounded a partisan shelter and killed Bosolov in a shootout and arrested Dukovskaya. Tinko Simov himself, badly wounded in a shootout, managed to escape and flee to his native village. However, the traitors told the police whereabouts of the fugitive anarchist. Like many other ideological anti-fascists, Tinko Simov took his last battle, firing to the last bullet and killed himself with the last bullet.

The anti-fascist guerrilla movement in Bulgaria resumed in 1941 after the perfidious attack of Hitler Germany and its allies and satellites on the Soviet Union. The partisan movement during the Second World War was led by the Bulgarian Communist Party, and the training and support of the partisans were carried out, among other things, with the direct participation of Soviet military intelligence. Many citizens of Bulgaria, as well as citizens of other states, participated in the partisan movement, freeing the country from the fascist dictatorship and, ultimately, bringing the Great Victory over Nazi Germany.
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  1. +4
    4 June 2015 07: 59
    Vasil Kolarov - that’s the name of our training ship, practical training took place in grades 9-10. Thank you, very interesting, the partisan movement in Bulgaria has also been written about the work of the Bulgarian underground ...
  2. +2
    4 June 2015 10: 23
    One of the most obscure and strange periods of Bulgarian history. It was recently, and all documents exist, until recently there were living witnesses. And yet.
  3. +1
    4 June 2015 16: 16
    My acquaintance with Bulgaria took place thanks to I. Vazov's novel "Under the Yoke". Then I was there on a business trip. This is the 70s. The attitude towards Russians is exceptional. What is happening to them now is simply incomprehensible to the mind.
    1. +6
      4 June 2015 17: 23
      Nothing's happening to us. After Russia left the Bolkans, Bulgaria found itself in a state of protectorate of the West. Nothing strange, nothing surprising. All eastern Europe, as well as part of the former Soviet republics, found themselves in such a state. Yes, Russia itself began to slide into such a situation in 90! There are always power poles in the world that project their influence around. The retreat of some leads to the advance of others. We have no place from the West. All hope is clear in Russia. We believe, rejoice in the restoration and strengthening of Russia!
      1. -4
        4 June 2015 21: 09
        ,, Brothers are over, "recent words of GDP.
        And this is true. How much did the Bulgarians betray the Russians ????
        They (the Bulgarians) remember about, bros, when the real threat is to go into anything at all. The rest of the time they kiss the asses to the Germans then striped. TRAINERS BY NATURE AND HISTORY.
  4. +1
    4 June 2015 21: 14
    Dude, will it be easy for you to argue?

"Right Sector" (banned in Russia), "Ukrainian Insurgent Army" (UPA) (banned in Russia), ISIS (banned in Russia), "Jabhat Fatah al-Sham" formerly "Jabhat al-Nusra" (banned in Russia) , Taliban (banned in Russia), Al-Qaeda (banned in Russia), Anti-Corruption Foundation (banned in Russia), Navalny Headquarters (banned in Russia), Facebook (banned in Russia), Instagram (banned in Russia), Meta (banned in Russia), Misanthropic Division (banned in Russia), Azov (banned in Russia), Muslim Brotherhood (banned in Russia), Aum Shinrikyo (banned in Russia), AUE (banned in Russia), UNA-UNSO (banned in Russia), Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People (banned in Russia), Legion “Freedom of Russia” (armed formation, recognized as terrorist in the Russian Federation and banned)

“Non-profit organizations, unregistered public associations or individuals performing the functions of a foreign agent,” as well as media outlets performing the functions of a foreign agent: “Medusa”; "Voice of America"; "Realities"; "Present time"; "Radio Freedom"; Ponomarev; Savitskaya; Markelov; Kamalyagin; Apakhonchich; Makarevich; Dud; Gordon; Zhdanov; Medvedev; Fedorov; "Owl"; "Alliance of Doctors"; "RKK" "Levada Center"; "Memorial"; "Voice"; "Person and law"; "Rain"; "Mediazone"; "Deutsche Welle"; QMS "Caucasian Knot"; "Insider"; "New Newspaper"