INTERROGATION REPORT ON THE SITUATION IN BULGARIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R002600440010-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: November 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 22, 1998
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: April 14, 1949
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENTRAL INTELNCE AGENCY REPORT NO.
INFORMATION REPORT
COUNTRY Bulgaria
SUBJECT Interrogation Report on the Situation
Bulgaria
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PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE OF INFO. See below
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DATE DISTR. 14 April l91J
NO. OF PAGES 13
NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
1. From my own observation I know the following. In April 1948 General
Peter Vranchev was serving in the Spesialna Sluzhba (Special Intelli.25X1X6
eEIoU TB IA H
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I. Bulgarian Collaboration with the Greek Guerrillas
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3.
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not know. We went in the direction of the
old barracks of 6 Infantry Regiment. When we reached the entrance we
stopped the cars, and the unknown man got out and directed the cars
to a building among the old barracks. It was a long, narrow building,
and when it was opened we loaded about 70 boxes on the empty truck.
Some of the boxes were broken, and I saw that they were full of
dressings and bandages from Czechoslovakia. We left there and went
out of the city with the three cars following the road to Petric.
The unknown man, who was the warehouseman, did not come with us.
1. The chauffeurs knew the road very well. We left Sofia at noon and
travelled all night. When we reached the point where for the last
time the highway follows the Struma River, we turned left from the
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6.
7.
8.
9.
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Perhaps the men who or inarily accompanied them had been sent away on some
other mission, and it was necessary to transport the materiel quickly.
2"5X1 X6 had complete confidence in me, because he knew me as an old Communist
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gravel road and followed a country road. On this road we were challenged
by a military guard- ost but we passed through after Partisan
identity card, whit since the occupation an which gives one
the right to go anyw ere, excep to places which are specifically prohibited
to former Partisans (sic).
About ten o'clock we reached a mountain near the border. There was a
village on its lower slope; I think that it was the village of Marikostenovo.
There the chauffeurs stopped the cars and we got out. Further on there was
a camp of Greek guerrillas, and I could see tents, huts, et cetera. Greek
guerrillas were drilling in the open. At that particular time they had
stacked arms which were clearly visible. told me, "You see, our
men are being very well trained," 25X1 X6
A fdt Greek guerrilla came up and spoke to us, and we unloaded the trucks.
Two other trucks were loaded with weapons of different kinds (rifles, sub-
machine guns, light machine guns, heavy machine guns, et cetera) and
ammunition. I verified this myself during the unloading, with which .1
helped. The weapons were visible because they were not well-packed.'
We waited there for a good hour. The guerrilla knew Russian (he looked like
a Caucasian), and we talked together, which we could do because of the
similarity of the Russian and Bulgarian languages. I also talked Greek with
him because I know Greek. The place where we were is quite far from the
border, well within Bulgarian territory.
During the afternoon an ambulance of the Bulgarian Red Cross came to the
place where we were. In it were wounded Greek guerrillas. Among them was
a young woman who had her foot bound with wire and splits, the way they
bind up broken feet in a hospital. From this I concluded that somewhere
in the vicinity there was a first aid station where the wounded had received
care. I asked the chauffeur of the ambulance who the people were, and he
told me that they were Greek Partisans, and that the transportation of their
wounded was a regular occurrence,
When we had finished our Job we all left for Sofia, to which the Red Cross
ambulance also was going. I went from Sofia to the village of Kniazevo
I do not know why ordered me to accompany these automobiles.
and Partisan. He did not give me a note which I might need to pass the
various control points. because he knew that 25X1XFi
where. I perceived that there was no need for such a note, because the-'
25X1 X6 chauffeurs were well-known to the guard-post through
which we passed. I did not a par any other mission,
11. Aid in food and money (i.e. other than war materiel) has been undertaken
in Bulgaria by two large organizations, viz. the Bulgarian Red Cross and
the Pomost Organizatsia. My knowledge of the organizations is from
personal observation,
II. Bulgarian Red Cross
12. The Bulgarian Red Cross maintains hospitals in many cities of Bulgaria,
and Greek guerrillas are treated in them. In Sofia the Red Cross has three
hospitals. In the one on 9 September Street about 80 wounded Greek guerrillas
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13,
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14.
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16.
25X1 X6 the Eptapyrgion Prison in Salon:. . We a mechanic and worked at
25X1 X6 this airdrome, and he told me that last su ne.*_' they transported by air an
important Kapetanios from Thrace.
17. The Bulgarian Red Cross has the monopoly of selling various refreshments,
sweets, and mineral waters. it sells them in shops which it has established.
It has also undertaken the sale of Roza which has a great sale in the
summer, particularly in the factories. The resulting large profits are
given to Markosr guerrillas. This is known everywhere in Bulgaria.
18. The Red Cross organizes theatrical performances, lectures, et cetera; the
receipts are given sometimes to Markos and sometimes to the Greek
children who are in Bulgaria, and sometimes to those refugees who have
fled from Greece to Bulgaria.
19. The Red Cross often puts on drives to raise funds throughout Bulgaria,
and the sums collected and the articles gathered are given to the same
persons,
III. Pomost 0rganizati.+.
20. The Pomost Organizatsia is active throughout Bulgaria, because it has
sections everywhere in the country. It often raises funds which sometimes
are given to the Greek guerrillas and sometimes to the Greek children,
and sometimes to the Greek refugees,
21. Recently the Bulgarian public were offered three books of propaganda for
the Greek guerrillas. The purpose of the books was both to spread
propaganda and to raise funds. One of these books is entitled "With
Markos' Guerrilla"; I do not know the author, but the book is priced at
200 leva. The second book has the title "Written in Blood"; it was written
by the Greek Patsadjis, who is in Bulgaria, and costs 150 leva. The title
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are being treated. There is another on Dianzo Blankoev Scare beyond
the Russian monument; about 50 wounded Greek guerrillas are receiving
treatment there. The third is in Gorna Banya t*iere about 150 wounded
Greek guerrillas are undergoing treatment. The hospital of Gorna Banya
is housed in the villas there that once belonged to rich Bulgarians.
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I have visited these three hospitals, and I have talked with the Greek
Partisans being treated in them. I visited them repeatedly,
because and was wage n erected in
learning whether any relatives were among the wounded who arrived
at the hospitals.
The physicians, nurses, and other personnel of these hospitals are Greeks.
These hospitals are not guarded by the Bulgarian army or police. There
are Greek doormen who do not always know to whom to forbid, entrance,
They never made any objection to me entering it.
I should add that Bulgaria does not take any measures to conceal the
Greek guerrillas, because you frequently see unarmed Greek guerrillas
in the streets of Sofia, where they march in formation singing guerrilla
or Russian songs. Many times they march in formation to the moving
picture theaters. They work in the market gardens and at other tasks.
In Sofia in 20 to 25 huts, located behind the radio station Dobri
Terpeshev, a considerable number of Greek guerrillas are housed. I do
not know why they are staying there.
There are two Czechoslovak ambulance airplanes on which wounded Greek
guerrillas are transported from the border areas to Sofia or other
cities for admission into the hospitals. These airplanes are located at
the Vrasdebna airdrome.. The fact that they carry wounded Greek guerrillas
is well-known to everybody in Sofia. I personally learned about this
from a Greek Slavo-Macedonian an old Communist fugitive from
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and author of the third book I do not remember, but I do remember that
it costs 300 lever. I bought these three books, because this was
obligatory.
22. The public are obliged to buy pictures of Zach }riades and Markos for
10 leva each. The money realized from these is given for the purposes
enumerated above.
23. The Pomost Organizatsia even puts on drives to raise funds in the Bulgarian
Army. An order to raise funds is issued, and it is decided
that the soldiers will not get the cheese that was intended for their mess,
and that instead of meat they will eat beans or the like. The cheese or
meat is collected and turned over by a committee consisting of an officer
and some enlisted men to the Pomost Organizatsia for the Greek guerrillas
or the Greek children or the refugees.
21k. Each employee and workman when paid contributes a predetermined per-
centage for the guerrillas, or the Greek children, or the refugees,,
Anyone refusing to contribute is termed a fascist and is arrested. When-
ever money is exchanged a fee is collected for the same beneficiaries.
25. Each fund is specifically designated for certain recipients. The books
and pictures mentioned above are alloted to the army, and if a soldier
does not happen to have the money to pay for them the sum is withheld from
his next pay. I know all of these things from first hand experience.
IV. Information from others
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26. During the occupation, when I was a Partisan, I knew from
Eastern Macedonia in Greece, who had the pseudonym and served
as liaison of the Greek guerrilla bands of EIAS with the Bulgarian guerrilla
25X1 X6 bands. After the rise of the present
guerri a movement in Greece I saw him in Bulgaria, and my friends and
Communist acquaintances told me that he often accompanied Bulgarian auto-
mobiles to the border when they transportated war materiel, weapons and
other supplies for the Greek Partisans. I believe, however, that he went
25X1 X6 to Soviet - from Bulgaria, emigrating with other who left
there.
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27. The commanding officer of the 2nd Sector (Border Unit) is Colonel Ivan Radev.
In 1934 or 1935 he was imprisoned in Bulgaria as a Communist. He escaped
with 17 others, and he fled with his wife
to Greece, because
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Eptapyrgion Prison, and that his wife was in exil
e began various discussions. When we got to the Greek
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28.
Partisan movement, he asked me if I was doing anything to help them, and
I answered that no opportunity had been given me to do so. He told me
that he was doing a lot for them, and was sending them a great deal of help.
Rade; comes from Kastoria and speaks perfect Greek,
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weapons, ammunition, and other supplies pass in front of his shop on their
way to the Greek-Bulgarian border to.supply the Greek guerrillas.
Greek-guerrillas he told-me that almost every day trucks filled with ~~~
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29. When talking with _ who works ?at.Vrazdebna airdrome and whom I
mentioned above, about the activities of the Greek guerrillas, I expressed
my bewilderment as to how they get their supplies of weapons, ammunition,
and other materials. told me that airplanes fly over these areas
and make drops. When I asked why the planes are not recognized he told
me that they bear no markings and that they start from his airdrome and from
other airdromes.
30- I heard from various officers, who are in a position to know, that the
Militsia uniforms which were recently replaced were cyed, their insignia
removed, and then were given to the Greek guerrillas. I also heard that
a large. part of the German arms which were replaced by Russian arms in
the Bulgarian Army have been sent to the Greek guerrillas.
31. Among the officials of the Communist Party of Bulgaria it is said that
the leader of the whole movement for furnishing help to the Greek guerrillas
from Bulgaria is Kostov (not Traise (sic) Kostov). He is greatly esteemed
by Dimitrov and is one of his closest collaborators. In connection with
the aid given by the Bulgarian people Kostov worked with the highest
officials of the Communist Party of Bulgaria. For the aid given by the
army Kostov works with a general designated for this purpose. Up to April
1948 General Vranchev, whom I mentioned above, was responsible for the aid
furnished. by the army.
V. International Brigade
32. At the end of 1947 and the beginning of 1948 an international brigade called
"Inter Brigade" was established in Sofia. The headquarters of this brigade
was and still is housed on the second floor of the building on Hristo
Botev Street, which formerly housed the Club of the crippled non-commissioned
officers of the First World Ware 25X1 X6
33. Of the members of this headquarters -(a).Doctor Mitsev, who has the
Partisan pseudonym of Boure Metska, who was chief of an in ternational2X1X6
brigade during the Spanish civil. war and who at present has the rank op
25X1 X6 about 40 years old, tall, blond
fac
,
, anu s,w
in the left foot (I am not really sure which foot), and speaks Russian
(I suppose that he-is a Russian).
34. This brigade has its own flag, which is red with a yellow fringe, with a
star in the middle surrounded by two sheaves of wheat, and around this
in Bulgarian-is the phrase "Death to Fascism; Liberty for the People";
in the upper left hand corner there is another smaller star with sheaves
and the same inscription. I saw-this flag at the end of 1947 when I was
in Sofia for the annual anti-fascist congress, which I attended.
They presented the flag there when the Greek question was being discussed.
This flag is similar to that of the Anti-Fascist Union, but it should not
be confused with it, because the flag of the Anti-Fascist Union is lighter
in color. I believe that they approved the same flag, but with a different
shade of red, so that the international brigade should not be too obvious.
It was in order to conceal the brigade that it was installed in the offices
in the same building with the offices of the anti-fascist organization on
its first and third floors. This serves to explain the entrance of various
persons who go to enlist in the international brigade but are supposed to
be visiting the anti-fascist organization.
35. I myself have visited the offices of the International Brigade. when it
was first established (at the end of 1947 and the beginning of 191,) there
was considerable activity, and a great many people enlisted. There was
25X1 X6 propaganda for enlistment
he regular Bulgarian
may. the soldiers Ivan Katev,
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Koata Dimchev and another whose first name was Ivan
25X1 X6 enlisted. The anti-fascist congress called at the end of
1947 was attended by invited representatives of the anti-fascist or-
ganizations of all countries. At present this Brigade does not engage
in any activity, but it has its lists (of recruits) ready,, and in a
short time it can be in formation and ready for action. The Bulgarian
arsenals have an enormous supply of weapons and material, chiefly German,
and several such brigades can be armed. I do not know what arrangements
were made for the induction of non-Bulgarians into this Brigade.
VI. Abduction of Greek Children
36. There are camps to shelter the Greek children abducted by the guerrillas
and taken to Bulgaria, which are located in many of the cities and
villages of Bulgaria. I have visited two of them, one in Burgas and one
in Gorna Banya. In Burgas there are about 100 children, who are housed
in the building which once contained the Labor Center. In Gorna Banya
there are about 80 children who are housed in a villa belonging to a
former Minister.
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I shall describe the Gorna Ba cam for you, for I visited it several
times to see if there were any relatives
among the children. The house is very fine and has two stories,
a g. ss-enclosed front porch, and a flower garden. Games and toys for the
children have been placed on the front porch. On the first floor there is
a schoolroom, dining room, game room, and service rooms. On the second
floor are the sleeping rooms with double-deck beds. The walls are
covered with pictures of Markos, Zachariades, Stalin, Dimitrov, and other
leaders of Communism. There are also various slogans posted on the
walls: "Death to Fascism! Liberty for the People m", "uarkos Is our Father"?
"Russia is our Mother," "Down with Fascismd", and others like theme
There are loudspeakers in several rooms, and somewhere there is a radio.
The service personnel are Greek women wearing white or blue blouses. Many
wear a red cross on the front of the blouse. Some of these women are
teachers, There are no men except one old man who serves as doorman and
who knows a little Bul
ri
Th
h
l
ga
an.
e c
i
dren range from four to fourteen
years of age.
38. I know Greek, and I have often taken the children's books and looked
through them. They are written in Greek, and their entire content is
against the Greek Government and the Anglo-Americans and favors the
guerrillas and Russia together with the other Communist states. What made
a great impression on me was the pictures in the books. They depict small
children slaughtered by ' monarcho-fascists or soldiers, women with their
breasts cut off, a mother at whose feet the rnonarcho-fascists throw her
slain child to send to her husband who is a guerrilla, a square filled
with troops and in the middle a fire on which the soldiers are roasting
a little child on a spit, men and women and children being hanged,
Partisans before the firing squad, burned villages, pictures of various
Partisans, Kapetaneoi, Markos, Zachariades, Stalin, et cetera.
39. These children's minds are being poisoned in such a way that I am sure
that after a short time they will not recognize father or mother or family
or native land or anything else. They will believe only in Communism,
I asked many little children what their names were and from where they
came. As was natural the little ones did not remember their own villages
or their parents or their family names. The older ones, who ought to
remember, did not answer. After many visits I gained their confidence,
and again they did not answer but said, "They do not let us talk about
such things."
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41. On the children's faces you see 'a constant fear, and their eyes dart
right and left to see whether' a teacher has heard what they said, for
they are not allowed to talk, I do not believe that the visit of any'
commission would do any good in trying to determine the identity of the
children, because the children will not talk, or if they do talk they
will give false names and villages as.they have been taught to don
42. In order to ridicule the Christian religion and to make the children
believe that only Communism, and not God, can give them anything, they
use the following system, In the schoolroom on one wall hangs the picture
of the Virgin, and on the opposite wall is the picture-of Markos0 The
children go and pray to the Virgin to give them toys, but nothing is
given to them. Afterwards they go and ask Markos. In one corner of the
room there is a hole in the wall. When they ask Markos.for toys, various
playthings are thrown through this hole'for them by a man who is not
visible, and as a result the children believe that Markos gives them
these things, for Markos is everywhere and hears requests of those who
call upon him,
43. The older children have begun to ]e am Russian and Bulgarian. The songs
which all the children learn are Russian and Bulgarian songs,
'EDo not look for him, since it is useless. They
have taught the children not to tell their family names and the names
of their villages, and they have also assigned to them new names and
places of origin. When you question them, they either will not answer
or will tell you lies."
VII0 Internal Political Situation
l}lt.. The Communists of Bulgaria at present amount to 40 to t,5 percent of the
population. Today there are 1,700,000 members of the Party. The others
are not members of the Party but either are sympathizers, or the Communists
have involved them in crimes or other activities in such a way that they
are obliged to become their followers. A very intensive propaganda is
being spread among the youth, so that in two years the Communists have
won 60 percent of the youth of Bulgaria.
45. The non-Communists naturally are not happy with the prevailing regime.
Even a large number of the Communists are dissatisfied and now more than
half the population is opposed to the Dimitrov.government. I shall ex-
plain below why the Communists are dissatisfied.
I6. One cannot say that the situation has become stabilized in Bulgaria.
There are still clashes of ideas, and there is a struggle regarding who
will finally wino The Communist Party of Bulgaria has suffered its first
cleavages, and the position of Dimitrov is ' :'Uot assured. He himself under-
stands this and is struggling to achieve a secure position,
47. The first break in the Party came from the clash between Georgi Dimitrov
and Vasil Kolarov. You know that Dimitrov and Kolarov are the two old
Communists who lived for many years in Russia. Many others of the
leaders of the Party, such as Dragoitcheva, Terpeshev, and others, had
stayed in Bulgaria, where, under the monarchy, they struggled to maintain
and develop the Party. These militant leaders receive greater veneration
from the Communists than do those who fled to Russia (Dimitrov and others).
i to
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18. Kolarov is ambitious to take over the government of the country, and
to achieve this he sided with the opponents of Dimitrov on the question
of the clash between Tito and the Cominform. To Kolarov's faction
belong Blagoi Ivanov, Dobri Terpeshev, Tsola Dragoitcheva, General
Trenski, General Sneobolnski, and others. The Kolarov faction is com-
posed of.Communists, but they do not want Bulgaria to become a slave of
the Cominform and of Russia. They want the Party to be a part rather
than to control the government (sic). It is possible for the Communist
Party of Bulgaria not to have relations with the Communist Party of
Yugoslavia while the governments and the states continue to maintain
relations.
l9. The followers of Kolarov are not spreading propaganda against the
government, because they are participating in it themselves, but they
are waging an internal struggle, i.e., a struggle within the Communist
Party, with the definite purpose of winning the Party to their views.
The followers of Kolarov cannot be read out of the Party, because almost
half the Party members belong to the Kolarov faction. No one has yet been
able to impose his will to such an extent that he can win over the
majority of the Party and so eject his opponents. If an attempt were made
today there would be a danger of creating two Communist Parties, which is
hardly expedient. For this reason both factions are limited to pro-
pagandizing among their followers.
50. Since there was danger of a split and of Dimitrov?s losing leadership,
he postponed indefinitely calling the fifth annual congress of the Party
which should have met in Sofia in September. Dimitrov wanted to call
the congress, and he wanted to set only the month and not the day, so
that he might decide the day without warning and so invite only his own
followers; as a result the representatives of the provinces who, for the
most part,,-, are followers of Kolarov would not be able to attend. Thus
Dimitrov would have obtained approval for the policy of the government
from the Party. His intention was perceived, however, and he was com-
pelled to yield in order to avoid splitting the Party,
51. The Communists following Dimitrov are those who became Communists after
9 September. Among them are the former fascists and collaborators with
the Germans; such people signed statements that they have embraced
Communism, in order to avoid prosecution. Naturally the old Communists
have no use for them or, consequently, for Dimitrov.
52. Furthermore I report the following things against Dimitrov and his friends,
and the people are fully aware of these things. King Boris used to re-
ceive a grant of 47,000,000 leva per annum; Dimitrov receives 89,000,000.
The King had a palace and two villas; Dimitrov has seventeen villas and
he is now building a Kremlin. The King had 150 bodyguards; Dimitrov has
more than a thousand. Mra. Dimitrov spent 200,000 le'a for her toilette
for one evening only,, while the people are huhgary and naked and have no
shoes. Dimitrov has seventeen luxurious automobiles, whereas one or two
would be enough for him. He lives a very luxurious life and so do all
the Communists who fled to Russia and returned after the 9th of September.
The people call them the "Red Bourgeoisie".
530 Dimitrov's officers, who fled to Russia and ate and drank, have all be-
come colonels and generals, while we who fought hard at the side of the-
people during the fascist regime and during the period of German rule
have remained in unimportant positions. In order to justify the pre-
ference and promotions given to his own men (those who lived in Russia)
he says, "Give us educated men. Bulgaria needs educated men." He says
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this because he knows that the Communists who stayed in Bulgaria did
not have the opportunity to be educated,-and consequently the Kolarov
faction does not have educated men. We followers of Kolarov recognize
that we do not have many educated men, but we say, "Give us the
opportunity to be educated by admitting us to the schools." They
reply that if we study In schools we shall be half trained, because a
complete education requires many years, and we Communists cannot have
half trained men in the administration, when the other cooperating
parties (Sveno, Socialists, et cetera) have educated men.
54. All the relatives of Dimitrov and of his wife have taken the highest
positions. Everyone who has come or is now coming from Russia takes
the highest position at a very fat salary, A lieutenant who is really
a Communist but who lived in Bulgaria gets a salary of 7,000 leva,.
A director of a factory who came from Russia receives a salary of
100,000 lava. And that is not all, but to get this position he replaces
some non-Muscovite, who was probably better than he, and then he proceeds
to dismiss other workers and employees, and in their places he appoints
his relatives. These relatives get jobs for their kinsmen, and so on,
and so on. The Muscovites are not satisfied with one job only, but they
get more than one salary, for they also serve as "Instructors".
55. In this way there is actually being formed a new bourgeois class, the
"Red Bourgeoisie", who live more luxuriously than did the bourgeois
of the old regime. While they receive such fat salaries and have the
opportunity to procure the necessities of life from the Free Market,
they do not do this, but rather get them from the cooperatives, and
from the best one at that. In each cooperative there is a list of
these "bourgeois" who receive preference in the distributions of various
articles.
560 If they worked, perhaps they would earn their pay, but th
25X1X6
e same thing goes 6n in all professions,
57. If you ask anyone why those men are appointed to the best Jobs, you get
the answer, "They have won our confidence." In reality they are former
fascists and collaborators with the Germans. They have appointed all
the criminals of the 9th of September to the police force, and the same
thing has happened among the army officers and in other professions,
They have obtained all the good jobs in the provinces. They are mayors,
Party secretaries, directors of cooperatives, et cetera, and so anyone
can see that in the distributions of rationed articles they get pre-
ferential treatment. When crops are requisitioned the heavy burden is
always put upon the "reactionaries" (those who do not follow Dimitrov),
whereas followers of Dimitrov are allowed to keep large quantities of
their produce which they channel into the black market. If anyone dares
to protest he is called a black reactionary and is arrested and disappears.
58. The children of these men receive preferential treatment in education.
Their children enter the military schools, for to be accepted into a
military school a certificate of the Party and of the Communist youth
organization is required, and since the leaders of these are the
Muscovites, it is easy to see who gets the certificates,
59. Most important of all is the fact that all these followers of Dimitrov
are agents of Moscow and are working only for Russia, not for Bulgaria.
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They follow everybody and everything, and they keep Russia informed re-
garding the slightest details, so that today Bulgaria is nothing but
a Russian province. For this reason-the people call Dimitrov's
followers not only "Red Bourgeoisie" but also "Russian agents",
VIII. Education
60. Some of the letters of the alphabet have been discarded, so that the
Bulgarian language may more nearly approximate Russian. So far as
possible the pronunciation of Bulgarian is being made to resemble Russian.
61. Communist history is being taught in the schools. The old history of
Tsar Symeon, et cetera, has been superseded. From the older history they
teach only the periods which are connected with the help Bulgaria has
received-from Russia.
620 The study of religion has been abolished, just as prayers have been
omitted in the schools and in the array, et cetera.
0
63. Marriages are performed according to civil rite instead of church rites.
When one appears at the city hall to make his declaration of intent to
marry, he is asked if he wants a religious ceremony. If he says that
he does not, then they give him 60,000 leva on the supposition that
within fifteen years he will have two children. If he does not have two
children, then he will be obliged to return the money. If, however, he
says that he will be married by the, religious rite, then he gets no
monetary aid. If he states that he does not want a religious ceremony
and takes the money, and then later is married in a'religious ceremony,
he will be Jailed,
IX,, Compulsory Labor
64. ery person in Bulgaria is obliged to work 66 hours for the State in
each six months period. To keep a record each person is provided with
a booklet in which is kept an account of the hours that he works, This
compulsory work is usually done on Sundays. When the schools close the
students work during the summer vacation for two months in the Labor
Brigades. Joining a Labor Brigade is "optional", but anyone who does not
work will not be accepted in school the following year} even if he has not
been arrested as a reactionary. and imprisoned, which usually happens,
65. This compulsory labor is represented as the voluntary participation of
the people in the reconstruction of Bulgaria. The Army also participates,
and not even the officers are excepted. One. sees old men, senior officers,
university professors, and others working at manual labor. The "Red
Bourgeoisie", of course, are excepted. They march at the head of the
others as far as the site of the project, but then they play the
"Instructor" with their hands in their pockets. The strange thing is that
they act as if they know everything,
66, Nobody works voluntarily and eagerly. Everybody makes fun of those who
do the work. The tragic irony is that when the work is finished all the
workers are obliged to sit down and listen to a speech written by the
"Instructors" but delivered by a laborer who usually does not believe a
word of what he is preaching. The workers applaud, though unwillingly,
while the "Instructors" take photographs to show the enthusiasm of the
people,
Xe Food and Clothing
67. Everything is rationed. Bread costs 18'leva a kilogram for the workers
and 50 leva for those who do not work; 250 grams is the daily ration
for non-workers, and 300 for persons working in offices and other light
work, 400 for the workers doing ordinary work,, and 800 to 1,200 grams
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for those working at heavy labor.
68. Daily wages vary between 250 and 500 leva, but there are various com-
pulsory deductions, e. g., for Markos or for the refugees, for the Greek
children who are in Bulgaria, for five newspapers which they are obliged
to take every day, and for various books written by the "Russian Agents",
et cetera. Monthly salaries vary from 6,000 to 100,000 leva, but the
compulsory deductions are made on these salaries. A second lieutenant
receives a salary of 7,000 leva, a first lieutenant receives 8,500, a
captain 11,500. Those receiving more than 20,000 leva per month are
"Russian Agents".
.69. There is no bread on the free market. There are very rare distributions
of the other foodstuffs in small quantities which are quite insufficient,
and for this reason everybody has to turn to the black market which
e?.sts in spite of merciless prosecution and harsh penalties.
70. Oil is priced on the ration card at 180 to 200 leva (per kilogram ?), but
on the black market is 1,200 lever. Meat on the ration card is 250 to
310 leva, and in the black market is 600 to 700 leva. Butter on the
ration card is 800 leva and in the black market is 1,500 to 2,0001.leva.
Cheese on the ration card is 160 leva and in the black market is 500 to
600 leva. Shoes cost 250 to 900 leva on the ration card and in the free
market (which will be explained below) are 10,000 to 15,000 leva. A mants
suit.on the ration card costs !,500 leva but 30,000 to 35,00 leva in the
free market. An ordinary meal in a restaurant usually costs 200 leva.
I recently ate with we each had a portion of
25X1 X6 fish, a salad, bread, and we shared a half oka of wine, and I paid 800
leva. It was a very ordinary restaurant but it had music.
71. The free market may be. explained as follows. The State has taken over
all business. To offer goods to the public, various stores have been
established where one can find whatever he wants except food. Suppose
that there is fine furniture worth more than a million leva. Anyone can
buy all these articles, but they are so expensive an ordinary workman or
salaried man cannot buy them. Only the "Russian Agents", who receive fat
salaries, can and der buy them. If anybody else dares to go and buy any
little thing, using his small savings, he is immediately spotted by the
secret police, who are in every store; he is put under surveillance,
arrested, interrogated as to where he got the money, and is beaten to com-
pel him to confess the truth about such matters. They know the "Russian
Agents", however, and no one says anything to them,
72. The goods on the free market are Bulgarian, Rumanian, Czechoslovakian,
Hungarian, Polish and Serbian.._ There are no Russian goods anywhere,, Not
even a needle comes from Russia.
73. Food, as I said, is not sold in these stores, but there is another free
market as follows. The peasants do not consume everything which the State
leaves them after making its requisition. For example, they do not eat
the butter, cheese, eggs, et cetera, but when there is an open air market
in the cities they take their produce there to sell it and get a little
money to buy the articles sold on the ration cards or other things that
they require. They take their produce to sell it at a higher price than
that paid by the State for requisitioned produce. If he wishes, the
peasant has the opportunity to sell whenever he likes that portion of his
products left to him after the State has made its requisition They ask
a good price. The State, however, through its agents, the "Muscovite
Instructors", watches to see what articles have been brought by the
peasants and offered for sale. In order to bring down the prices the
State sends a truck loaded with the same articles into the market place
and offers the same articles for sale at a very low price, even lower than
the price of articles sold on the ration card. Word of this spreads, and
the people run to buy the articles offered by the State at a bargain.
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71, When the distribution of foodstuffs goes very slowly, the first places
in the queue are taken by the relatives and friends of the employees
who make the distribution, and only those at the head of the queue get
anything. It is just like the lottery ticket sellers in Greece, who
always have their friends nearby, and they see to it that their friends
win the prizes. There is a large number of persons in each city who
are related to the State employees who sell foodstuffs. These relatives
buy the food, and then resell it on the black market and share the profits
with the State employees. The rest of the people do not get the cheap
food distributed by the State, but the peasants faced with State com-
petition are compelled to sell their products at a very low price,
because they need the money and do not want to return with their products
to their villages.
75. Farms have been assigned to the Kolhozes. If a man does not wish to
join a Kolhoz, they take his land f r 5.m. The Kolhozes are established
on the most productive land, and small farmers who formerly owned the
land are compensated by being given an equal area of land- poor land that
will not even grow grass. This system is a very good kind of propaganda
for Dimitrov and his crowd, because the Kolhozes include the best and
most productive land, and so they appear successful.
76. Vineyards are not brought into Kolhozes. Small enterprises which do not
require machinery can continue under private ownership. So far houses
continue to be privately owned, but the owner does not have the right
to rent his house. The State has registered all dwellings and other
buildings, and it assigns them to those who need them and submit a
petition, and'the State determines the rent to be paid.
77. Recently houses have again been registered, and there was talk that this
was a preliminary to nationalizing them. The owner of a house has the
right to make improvements on his property, but nobody does so, because
everybody is afraid that the State is going to take the houses in its
nationalization program.
780 The rent for one bedroom, living room, and kitchen is 500 leva and up.
The State is building many houses and factories. Never has such an orgy
of construction been seen in Bulgaria. Within a few years Bulgaria will
be unrecognizable after the erection of new cities, new factories, et
cetera.
79. Bulgarian industry is faced with a tremendous lack of raw materials, but
it is trying to obtain these from its own sources. Very few raw materials
are being imported from Russia.
XI. Political Parties
80. Every Bulgarian must belong to a political party. One cannot avoid parti-
cipation. If you do not join a party you are a reactionary, and you will
be arrested on a trumped up charge and you will be convicted.
81. Besides the parties there is the OF Opst Profesional Soyus (sic), a
federation of workers and employees. It is absolutely necessary that
workers and employees join these organizations, for if one does not join
he cannot find employment, since he is a reactionary. There are also the
Pomost Organizatsia and the Soyus Moitsi Protif Antifasism ("Anti-Fascist
Organization"). These three organizations make a show of being non-
political, but in reality they are Communist. The REVS is like the EPON
in Greece, and the Septemyritche is like the Aetopoula ("Eaglets") in
Greece. These two (REM and Septemvritche) and the Party itself are
Party organizations. The other parties have similar auxiliary organizations.
Recently the Youth organizations of all the parties have been united and
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and compose the SEN= (sic). You see the activity of the Communists
in this organization. The other parties in the Fatherland Front, i.e,,
the Sveno, Agrarian, et cetera, are parties only for the sake of form.
In reality they are all Communist, and the multiple party system is
formally retained only to conceal the dictatorship of Dianitrov.
XII. Militsia
82. The uniformed Militsia has undertaken the maintenance of order through
out the country, and it has a strength of about 50,000 men. Its leader
is General Hristozov, who is responsible to the Ministry of the Interior.
in addition there are similar corps which are also responsible to the
Ministry of the Interior. Such corps are the Drezavna Sigurno (National
Security), Kreminal Militsia (regular police), Stopanska Militsia
(Market Inspection Service), Politsika Otdel (sic ? occupied with counter
espionage), Pasaport Otdel (Aliens Police), City Police to guard the city
stores and properties, Factory Police, Police of the State Stores, et
cetera. In a word the Militsia is changed with keeping order, and
special police corps have taken over police duties in many cases, but
without depriving the Militsia of the right to exercise police duties.
These corps are autonomous and independent, but can be regarded as
auxiliaries of the Militsia.
83. During the day, the Militsia assigns patrols of two men each in the
villages. At night it assigns sentries, foot patrols, mounted patrols,
mechanized patrols (cars, motorcycles, et cetera) and patrols by the
antifascist organization. During the day its men carry only pistols.
At night they carry rifles, sub-machine guns, light machine guns, and
in general have a good deal of firepower.
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