Exposing Bulgarian Myths and Lies

[Carlin]

"It is conceivable that the internment of some Aromanians at this time was justified by the occupiers on the basis of alleged or real Partisan sympathies, rather than Vlach ancestry. But this is implicitly contradicted by the young man who claimed that "the Bulgarians kept camps for Vlachs and gypsies" from which his grandfather had escaped. There is evidence from others of our sources that the general attitude of the administration was anti-Aromanian. For example, one of our sources says that children who were in elementary school during the occupation were "fined if they spoke Vlach."

There was another phrase in Bulgarian which was alleged to be used against Aromanians, either in the First or Second World Wars or both: nebulgarski proizvod. This has a somewhat comical sound in Macedonian as proizvod in that language generally means industrial produce. However, the meaning would seem to be racial and to mean "not of Bulgarian descent." Vlachs were, according to the account from which we obtained this phrase, sometimes able to escape internment by claiming to be "Bulgarian products" in this sense.

There is also testimony regarding anti-Vlach feelings and actions by some of the occupying soldiery in the region. A woman said that her father had been beaten after having been identified as a Vlach, and her sister who was five was beaten as well; and that property was taken from self-identified Vlachs and given to non-Vlach neighbors. Ultimately her mother and another, twelve year old, sister were killed, allegedly by the Bulgarian occupiers, although the reasons or circumstances were not given -- and may indeed have had to do with Partisan sympathies or activities. The kmet of this woman’s ancestral village killed himself after the war and was said by this woman to have been a "Macedonian who declared himself to be Bulgarian."

Many of the Aromanians of the Bitola area are proud to have joined the anti-Axis partisan movement, which was the movement led by Tito's Communists. Most of these Partisans do not seem to have had any Communist background before the war, and they perceived themselves primarily as fighting for liberation against an occupying power.

We encountered stories of eight Partisans in Macedonia, and an ninth in the United States before coming to Bitola. Specifically we interviewed four older men who had been comrades in arms in the Seventh Battalion of Partisans. Their knowledge of the terrain in the mountains was very helpful to their service, which was mostly in the highland regions of western Macedonia. They were extremely proud of their Partisan record. Of course, during the period of Yugoslav Communism, Partisan status was the basis for special State benefits and privileges (which continue). Yet one of my own relatives (Mike Kara), who was in the Seventh Battalion and was fondly remembered by his comrades in arms who we interviewed in Bitola, turned his back on the potential privileges of former Partisan status and emigrated to the United States, making a life for himself there. We did not focus specifically on the war experiences of Partisans, but we heard enough so as not to doubt in any way the sacrifice of those we interviewed and of others. The Aromanian contribution to the Partisan cause in Macedonia was substantial."

-- by Gail Kara with Phillip Guddemi, The Spark and the New Leaf

[Liberator of Makedonija]

Felt this was the best place to put this. Supposed quote from the-then future Bulgarian president Georgi Dimitriv from 1934 in an address to the American Ministry of Internal Affairs:

"Јас се чувствувам нераскинливо врзан со судбината на македонскиот народ и како бугарски пролетерски револуционер и како син на семејство што потекнува од Разлог - долината на историското Илинденско востание ....... Македонското движење има многу непријатели . Меѓутоа, најопасниот негов внатрешен непријател се агентите на бугарскиот империјализам, бугарскиот монархизам, бугарскиот фашизам и, пред се бандата на Ванчо Михајлов ...... Не може дада има успешна борбаа против националното угнетување и за ослободување на македонскиот народ без конечно изолирање на македонските маси од таа опасна банда, без полното елиминирање на нејзината јудинска улога во македонското движење и во натрешниот живот на Бугарија (се мисли на ВМРО на Ванчо Михајлов)...... Само единствената револуционерна борба на македонскиот народ во најтесен сојуз со работниците и селаните во Бугарија, Југославија и Грција може да доведе до победа на македонската ослободителна револуција"

[Carlin]

An American newspaper reported in 1914 about a liturgy in honor of Cyril and Methodius

[Liberator of Makedonija]

Would like to read what Vic has to say about that.

[Liberator of Makedonija]

"Serbia has no Bulgars for an exchange of populations with Bulgaria" - Taken from the 'Evening Star' newspaper published in Washington D.C, USA on 16th August 1925.

[Carlin]

Andrey Tasev Lyapchev (Tarpov) (30 November 1866 – 6 November 1933) was a Bulgarian Prime Minister in three consecutive governments.

Lyapchev was born in the Macedonian city of Resen.

Lyapchev's family is thought to have originated from a certain Dore, a Megleno-Romanian potter who fled the Islamization of his native Notia and settled in Resen in the 18th century.

URL:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrey_Lyapchev

[Carlin]

[Carlin]

1) Bulgaria’s denial of its Ottoman past and Turkish identity

URL:
http://neweasterneurope.eu/2019/03/2...kish-identity/

"For four decades between 1878 and 1908 in Bulgaria, Osmanlıca (Ottoman Turkish) was an official language, alongside the national tongue of Bulgarian. Numerous Bulgarian documents were written in Osmanlıca, and quite a few books and periodicals were published in this language in the Principality. And yet, although modern Bulgarian history is commonly defined as the post-1878 period, students and researchers of modern Bulgarian history do not acquire Osmanlıca, unless they specialise in “Oriental” or Turkish studies. It is as though Osmanlıca had never been an official language in modern Bulgaria."

2) The starting point of Bulgaria in national mythology

URL:
https://ispan.waw.pl/journals/index....ew/sm.2014.007

"This paper examines the dynamics of ideas on the beginnings of Bulgaria, such as were developed by early nationalism in the 18th and 19th centuries. Surveys show that there were different theses which competed tacitly. It is immediately noticeable that the figure of the Founder was imposed with difficulty and relatively late – in fact not until the 20th century. Paisius of Hilendar and the other authors of early histories presented Bulgarians in the context of Biblical history, and thus the beginning of Bulgarian time was associated with Noah and his sons. This idea was not openly attacked by successive generations, but they alternatively associated Bulgarian time and Bulgaria with the medieval kingdom, and especially with the baptism and deeds of Saints Cyril and Methodius. Among pre-Christian rulers, Khan emerges as significant, presented as Law-Maker and great Warrior, but not as Founder.

It is typical for the nationalism of any ideological (and not only ideological) structure to strive for extension – in this case to seek its starting point at an ever earlier date. This proces can also be observed in the structures of Bulgarian nationalism: in the second half of the 20th and early 21st centuries there was a clear focus on the time before the Founder Khan Asparukh (7th century), and scholars and journalists still take pleasure in finding older Bulgarian states. However, before the founding of the Principality of Bulgaria (1878), the opposite was true. (Some) representatives of the revolutionary movement in fact rejected the medieval period and preferred to focus on more recent periods, if not on their time itself and even on the immediate future. More or less unexpectedly, this idea was re-vitalised in the late 20th century with the catch-phrase “the most Bulgarian time” associated with the 1870s."

[Risto the Great]

If the Bulgarians didn't receive so many Macedonian immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries, it would have been a very different place right now. Interesting to see the Macedonian influence wasn't just when we taught them how to speak their language way back when they were speaking their Turkic languages.

[Liberator of Makedonija]

I had no idea Ottoman Turkish was official in Bulgaria during that period actually. I suppose it makes sense when you think about it but still great bit of info just there.