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35 years after the fall of communism in Bulgaria:

Monuments to the totalitarian past stand, but few memorials honour the victims

On this day 35 years ago, the authoritarian regime of communist dictator Todor Zhivkov collapsed. To mark the anniversary, the BGNES news agency carried out a survey of monuments to totalitarianism. The agency checked whether the monuments of the totalitarian past still adorn the central squares of towns and villages, and concludes that Bulgaria remains captive to its past.

The monument to the Soviet soldier Alyosha in Plovdiv.
The monument to the Soviet soldier Alyosha in Plovdiv.

"Most of these monuments are very well maintained and some are even decorated with wreaths and flowers. Apparently Bulgarians do not want to part with their communist past 35 years after November 10, 1989, even though it brought so much misery to Bulgaria with its repressive apparatus," the agency said.

The monument to the Soviet soldier Alyosha in Ruse.
The monument to the Soviet soldier Alyosha in Ruse.


Monument to Dimitar Blagoev, founder of the Marxist Bulgarian Social Democratic Party, in Vidin.
Monument to Dimitar Blagoev, founder of the Marxist Bulgarian Social Democratic Party, in Vidin.

The publication recalls that the so-called People's Court alone handed down 2 730 death sentences and more than 1 300 life sentences to opponents of the regime, not counting the estimated 20 000 victims of the terror after 9 September 1944. 

The Buzludzha monument
"And while there are monuments to the partisans, there are almost none to those who died after 9 September 1944, or if there are, they are much more modest and hidden in remote places," concludes BGNES.


Photos: BGNES, Radio Vidin

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Radio Bulgaria Life    11 november anniversary communism monuments

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