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VIII: Democracy in Exile: The Bulgarian National Committee and G.M. Dimitrov
- Central European University Press
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363 Democracy in Exile Often, Eastern Europeans are hesitant to examine their Cold War history . Not only because it is still too personal for many but also because, in large part, we feel we have not yet written that piece of our history, and therefore it doesn’t really belong to us. During that time, on the western side of the Iron Curtain, each of the captive nations of Europe had a parallel history, one created by the people who opposed and fled in order to keep working for the cause of their nations and in the hope that change will come. This chapter will introduce readers to the Bulgarian National Committee (BNC), an immigrant organization that took part in this work. Its active efforts and political position not only influenced the lives of the post-war Bulgarian immigration but turned that body into a fundamental building block in the National Committee for Free Europe, Inc. (NCFE), the Assembly of Captive European Nations (ACEN) as well as many other international organizations. This participation brought the BNC to a place of global influence with a role in the international political arena. Many people contributed to the growth of the BNC throughout its active life, but the central role belongs to its founder and leader, Dr. Georgi Mihov Dimitrov. The way Dr. Dimitrov shaped the image and strategy of the BNC reflected his democratic views and political leadership from the time before he emigrated to the United States from Bulgaria. Growing up in the midst of political chaos and repression, he managed to become one of the most influential and popular political figures in Bulgaria before • Democracy in Exile: The Bulgarian National Committee and G.M. Dimitrov Maria Kokoncheva viii 364 Maria Kokoncheva and during the Second World War. Given his degree of influence, before going into a deeper critique of the role, strategies, and philosophy of the BNC, it is appropriate to introduce the highlights of the life of the man whose vision was embodied in this organization. The reflections in this essay are based on archival documents, publications of the BNC– the most significant and long-lived among which is the newspaper Free and Independent Bulgaria, which spread among the Bulgarian immigration around the world – correspondence and other official materials. Preparation of this chapter also included a personal interview with Hristo Chorelov, a secretary and chairman of the BNC in France until the organization ceased its activities in 1991,1 and two interviews with Anastasia Moser, a Bulgarian politician and Dr. Dimitrov’s daughter, who provided the author with access to her private archives of the BNC’s published materials.2 A small number of published works are dedicated to the life of Dr. Dimitrov, among which I reference here his memoirs and Dr. G. M. Dimitrov by Charles Moser. The Early Years The story of Dr. Georgi Mihov Dimitrov, generally known as G.M. Dimitrov or Gemeto,3 began in the small village of Eni Chiflic on the coast of the Marmara sea, less than two decades after Bulgaria won its independence from the Ottoman rule in 1878. Born on 15 April 1903 to a family of Bulgarian farmers whose homeland had been left outside the boundaries of the freed territories of Bulgaria, Dimitrov’s childhood was spent among a strong Bulgarian community in the Ottoman valley of Edirne, where he also received his primary education and orthodox Christian religious influence.4 The First Balkan War, 1912, which Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Montenegro lead against the Ottoman Empire, restored to those countries a large portion of their territories that were still occupied by the Turks. The Bulgarian army advanced to just 90 kilometers from the Ottoman capital Constantinople, thus raising the hopes of many Bulgarians, including Dimitrov’s family, that their lands would become part of Bul- [3.237.51.235] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 13:38 GMT) 365 Democracy in Exile garia again. A year later, the Bulgarian monarch, Ferdinand I, turned against his allies and started the Second Balkan War. This time Bulgaria was defeated and suffered great territorial losses. For the final time, Eni Chiflic was left deep within the Ottoman Empire. The Bulgarian military authorities ordered the scattered Bulgarian population to evacuate to Bulgaria. Thus, Dimitrov’s family, along with many other Bulgarians residing along the eastern Marmara coast, moved out of their homes and began the difficult journey to Bulgaria. Only 10 years of age at the time, Dimitrov , along with his parents...