Bulgarians Bow to Victims of Communism

A photograph of the memorial of the victims of the Communist regime in Sofia. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria is marking Saturday for the third time the official Day of Gratitude and Homage to the victims of the totalitarian Communist regime (1944-1989).

President Rosen Plevneliev and Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova will be among the officials that will attend a solemn ceremony at the memorial of the victims of the Communist regime in Sofia.

The date February 1 was chosen because on this day, in 1945, the so-called People's Tribunal sentenced to death 3 regents, 67 members of the parliament, 22 ministers, 40 generals and colonels of the royal army and a number of other public figures.

The sentences were executed on that same day.

The date was proposed by two former Bulgarian Presidents – Zhelyu Zhelev (1990-1997) and Petar Stoyanov (1997-2002) back in 2011.

"This day will not only honor the victims, it will give us a starting point for a better understanding of the events of our recent history, without which it is impossible to progress as a democratic and dignified European country," Zhelev and Stoyanov wrote in their letter to then Prime Minister Boyko Borisov three years ago.

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