Forced labour camps in Communist Bulgaria
Encyclopedia
As in other Eastern Bloc
states, Communist Bulgaria operated a network of forced labour camps between 1944 and 1989, with particular intensity until 1962. Tens of thousands of prisoners were sent to these institutions, often without trial.
entered Bulgaria in September 1944 and immediately, partisans exacted reprisals. Tens of thousands were executed, including active fascists and members of the political police, but also people who were simply of the non-Communist intelligentsia, members of the professional and bourgeois classes. Merely displeasing a Communist cadre could lead to execution. These massacres were actively encouraged by Georgi Dimitrov
, who sent a telegram from Moscow
a week after the Soviets' arrival in Sofia
calling for the "torching of all signs of Bulgarian jingoism, nationalism, or anti-Communism". On 20 September, the Central Committee called for "anti-Communist resistance" and "counterrevolutionaries" to be exterminated.
A People's Tribunal was created in October 1944. This special court pronounced 12,000 death sentences, with over 2,700 eventually being executed. (In contrast, in 1941-1944, the years of active Communist resistance, 357 people were executed for all crimes.) In early 1945, a government decree allowed for the creation of Work Education Centers (TVO in Bulgarian
). These were in fact concentration camps. The decision was approved by all parties in the Fatherland Front
, including those whose members soon found themselves in the centers. One category of inmate included pimps, blackmailers, beggars and idlers, while the other comprised all those judged as political threats to the state's stability and security. The power to execute this decree fell to the Office of State Security within the Ministry of the Interior. Over the next decade, a series of laws and decrees strengthened the state police's powers.
Not all people the regime found undesirable were put in forced labour camps. Deportation – forced resettlement in distant provincial areas – was another method employed. Between 1948 and 1953 some 25,000 were deported.
, located on Persin (Belene), an island in the Danube
near Romania
.
, the last Prime Minister of Bulgaria to hold office before the Fatherland Front coup
of 9 September 1944.
that bordered a rock quarry. Several thousand eventually joined this original group. In September 1961, around a hundred female prisoners were sent to a neighbouring camp in Skravena. That November, conditions noticeably improved at Lovech. In spring 1962, the Politburo created a commission, led by Boris Velchev, to inspect Lovech, which was closed in April as a result of his delegation's visit.
At Lovech and Skravena, 149 inmates died from abuse during this period.
Lovech
, a city in north-central Bulgaria, lies at the edge of the Balkan Mountains
. The last and harshest of the major Communist labour camps was set up near an abandoned rock quarry outside the city. Until 1959, the camps had been spread across Bulgaria, but most were closed following Chervenkov
's fall and the inmates transferred to Lovech. The Ministry of the Interior, not the regional authorities, had direct control over the camp. Most Bulgarians were unaware of its existence, but it had a reputation among those who had incurred the state's displeasure as a place from where one might never emerge alive.
" or "loose morals", often with information given by "people's organisations" such as the Fatherland Front's neighbourhood sections. In the 1980s, numerous Turkish Bulgarians
were sent to Belene.
set up an inquiry commission into the camps. It found that between 1944 and 1962 there were approximately 100 forced labour camps in a country of 8 million inhabitants. Between 1944 and 1953, some 12,000 men and women passed through these camps, with an additional 5,000 between 1956 and 1962. According to one witness, Belene alone held 7,000 in 1952. Another estimates a total of 186,000 prisoners during this period. Definitive figures remain elusive.
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
states, Communist Bulgaria operated a network of forced labour camps between 1944 and 1989, with particular intensity until 1962. Tens of thousands of prisoners were sent to these institutions, often without trial.
Background
The Red ArmyRed Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
entered Bulgaria in September 1944 and immediately, partisans exacted reprisals. Tens of thousands were executed, including active fascists and members of the political police, but also people who were simply of the non-Communist intelligentsia, members of the professional and bourgeois classes. Merely displeasing a Communist cadre could lead to execution. These massacres were actively encouraged by Georgi Dimitrov
Georgi Dimitrov
Georgi Dimitrov Mikhaylov , also known as Georgi Mikhaylovich Dimitrov , was a Bulgarian Communist politician...
, who sent a telegram from Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
a week after the Soviets' arrival in Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
calling for the "torching of all signs of Bulgarian jingoism, nationalism, or anti-Communism". On 20 September, the Central Committee called for "anti-Communist resistance" and "counterrevolutionaries" to be exterminated.
A People's Tribunal was created in October 1944. This special court pronounced 12,000 death sentences, with over 2,700 eventually being executed. (In contrast, in 1941-1944, the years of active Communist resistance, 357 people were executed for all crimes.) In early 1945, a government decree allowed for the creation of Work Education Centers (TVO in Bulgarian
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
). These were in fact concentration camps. The decision was approved by all parties in the Fatherland Front
Fatherland Front (Bulgaria)
The Fatherland Front was originally a Bulgarian political resistance movement during World War II. The Zveno movement, the communist Bulgarian Workers Party, a wing of the Agrarian Union and the Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers Party, were all part of the FF...
, including those whose members soon found themselves in the centers. One category of inmate included pimps, blackmailers, beggars and idlers, while the other comprised all those judged as political threats to the state's stability and security. The power to execute this decree fell to the Office of State Security within the Ministry of the Interior. Over the next decade, a series of laws and decrees strengthened the state police's powers.
Not all people the regime found undesirable were put in forced labour camps. Deportation – forced resettlement in distant provincial areas – was another method employed. Between 1948 and 1953 some 25,000 were deported.
1945–1949
Forced labour camps operated at numerous sites across Bulgaria. The camps were set up near dams under construction, coal mines, and in certain agricultural areas. Some of the most infamous were Bobov Dol, Bogdanov Dol, Rositsa, Kutsian, Bosna, Nozharevo and Chernevo.1949–1953
Political prisoners from other camps were gathered and regrouped in the Belene labour campBelene labour camp
The Belene labour camp, also referred to as Belene concentration camp, was part of the network of forced labour camps in Communist Bulgaria...
, located on Persin (Belene), an island in the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
near Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
.
1954–1956
Deportations to the camps fell dramatically, perhaps ceasing altogether. However, Belene remained in operation.1956–1959
A number of new inmates arrived at Belene after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and a crime wave in Sofia early in 1958. Among the figures held at Belene during this period included Konstantin MuravievKonstantin Muraviev
Konstantin Vladov Muraviev was a leading member of the Agrarian People's Union who briefly served as Prime Minister of Bulgaria near the end of Bulgarian involvement in the Second World War...
, the last Prime Minister of Bulgaria to hold office before the Fatherland Front coup
Bulgarian coup d'état of 1944
The Bulgarian coup d'état of 1944, also known as the 9 September coup d'état and called in pre-1989 Bulgaria the National Uprising of 9 September or the Socialist Revolution of 9 September was a change in the Kingdom of Bulgaria's administration and government carried out on the eve of 9 September...
of 9 September 1944.
1959–1962
A prisoners' hunger strike forced the closure of Belene in 1959. Those not freed (some documents indicate 166 in number) were transferred to a new camp at LovechLovech
Lovech is a town in north-central Bulgaria with a population of 36,296 as of February 2011. It is the administrative centre of the Lovech Province and of the subordinate Lovech Municipality. The town is located about 150 km northeast from the capital city of Sofia...
that bordered a rock quarry. Several thousand eventually joined this original group. In September 1961, around a hundred female prisoners were sent to a neighbouring camp in Skravena. That November, conditions noticeably improved at Lovech. In spring 1962, the Politburo created a commission, led by Boris Velchev, to inspect Lovech, which was closed in April as a result of his delegation's visit.
At Lovech and Skravena, 149 inmates died from abuse during this period.
Lovech
Lovech
Lovech is a town in north-central Bulgaria with a population of 36,296 as of February 2011. It is the administrative centre of the Lovech Province and of the subordinate Lovech Municipality. The town is located about 150 km northeast from the capital city of Sofia...
, a city in north-central Bulgaria, lies at the edge of the Balkan Mountains
Balkan Mountains
The Balkan mountain range is a mountain range in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula. The Balkan range runs 560 km from the Vrashka Chuka Peak on the border between Bulgaria and eastern Serbia eastward through central Bulgaria to Cape Emine on the Black Sea...
. The last and harshest of the major Communist labour camps was set up near an abandoned rock quarry outside the city. Until 1959, the camps had been spread across Bulgaria, but most were closed following Chervenkov
Vulko Chervenkov
-Biography:Chervenkov was born in Zlatitsa, Bulgaria. He became a member of the Communist Party in 1919 and participated in communist youth group activities and newspaper editing. He took part in the failed 1923 September Uprising and was sentenced to death, but was allowed to emigrate to the...
's fall and the inmates transferred to Lovech. The Ministry of the Interior, not the regional authorities, had direct control over the camp. Most Bulgarians were unaware of its existence, but it had a reputation among those who had incurred the state's displeasure as a place from where one might never emerge alive.
1962–1989
The intensity of state repression varied during these years. A Politburo decision in 1962 said that an individual could be imprisoned and assigned to forced labour without a court trial. Repression in this period was of an administrative rather than political nature, targeting those accused of "social parasitismParasitism (social offense)
Social parasitism is a charge that is leveled against a group or class in society which is considered to be detrimental to the whole by analogy with biologic parasitism .-General concept:...
" or "loose morals", often with information given by "people's organisations" such as the Fatherland Front's neighbourhood sections. In the 1980s, numerous Turkish Bulgarians
Turks in Bulgaria
The Turks in Bulgaria number 588,318 people and constitute 8.8% of those who declared their ethnic group and 8.0% of the total population according to the 2011 Bulgarian census. 605,802 persons or 9.1% of the population pointed Turkish language as their mother tongue. They are also the largest...
were sent to Belene.
Hierarchy
During the Lovech/Skravena period (1959–1962), Bulgarian state repression in the form of the camps happened along the following tiers (though the list of political and bureaucratic actors is not comprehensive):- Todor ZhivkovTodor ZhivkovTodor Khristov Zhivkov was a communist politician and leader of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from March 4, 1954 until November 10, 1989....
was the Party and state head, assisted by a series of prime ministers, including Anton YugovAnton YugovAnton Tanev Yugov was a leading member of the Bulgarian Communist Party served as Prime Minister of the country from 1956 to 1962. Anton Tanev Yugov is Honorary Citizen of Tirana, Albania....
, former interior minister.
- The Interior Ministry was under their orders. Georgi Tsankov was its head and Mincho Minchev was attorney general, required to sign all internment orders.
- Next was Mircho Spasov, vice-minister of the interior and in charge of the camps. At his side was Colonel Delcho Chakurov, director of the Office of Internment and Deportation.
- Colonel Ivan Trichkov, who had previously run Belene, was head of the Lovech camp from 1959 to 1961. Major Petur Gogov succeeded him and served from 1961 to 1962. Major Tsviatko Goranov oversaw the work details, while Lieutenant Nikolas Gazdov represented the Bureau of State Security. All these officers had had prior experience serving in concentration camps.
- The camp commanders were assisted by a group of low-ranking officers, non-commissioned officers, adjutants, and brigade chiefs, the last being recruited from among the criminals sent to the camp.
Magnitude
In 1990, the Bulgarian Communist PartyBulgarian Communist Party
The Bulgarian Communist Party was the communist and Marxist-Leninist ruling party of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from 1946 until 1990 when the country ceased to be a communist state...
set up an inquiry commission into the camps. It found that between 1944 and 1962 there were approximately 100 forced labour camps in a country of 8 million inhabitants. Between 1944 and 1953, some 12,000 men and women passed through these camps, with an additional 5,000 between 1956 and 1962. According to one witness, Belene alone held 7,000 in 1952. Another estimates a total of 186,000 prisoners during this period. Definitive figures remain elusive.