Balgarianovinite.com On February 1, Bulgaria marks the Day of Gratitude and Homage to the Victims of the Communist Regime. The largest single spate of executions in Bulgarian history was carried out on this date 81 years ago.
February 1 bears a tragic mark in Bulgarian history, National Assembly Chair Raya Nazaryan wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday. On this day, the unconstitutional “People’s Court” handed down death sentences against a number of Bulgarian statesmen, politicians, and senior military officers, sentences that were carried out with particular brutality later that same night. On the eve of the Day of Gratitude and Homage to the Victims of the Communist Regime, Nazaryan lit a candle and bowed in honour of the victims.
February 1 remains in our history as a crime against the ideal of freedom, a crime against the fundamental human right to defence, and an example of an act rooted in political arrogance and the ruthless elimination of any inconvenient opponent, Nazaryan further wrote.
“By commemorating this dark date, we are more resolute than ever that this must never happen again. We pay tribute to the victims of the communist dictatorship with the clear awareness that we owe a debt to their memory. We are obliged to pass on the historical facts objectively to future generations, to rid our society of the remnants that glorify communism, and never to allow such retribution, cruelty, and lawlessness against any political opponent,” Nazaryan stated.
“I trust that all democratically minded people, regardless of their political affiliation today, will unite to guarantee justice and a dignified memory for the victims of the communist dictatorship,” she added. Nazaryan emphasized that politics should not divide people but unite them, that opponents must be respected rather than persecuted, and, most importantly, that politics exists for the people, not against them.
By a government decision, February 1 has been officially marked since 2011 as the Day of Gratitude and Homage to the Victims of the Communist Regime, on the initiative of former Presidents Zhelyu Zhelev (1990-1997) and Petar Stoyanov (1997-2002).
On the night of February 1 to 2, 1945, just hours after hearing their death sentences, 100 men were loaded in the back of six trucks and taken to the northern perimeter of Sofia’s Central Cemetery, where they were shot. The common grave was filled with truckloads of cinders, and guards were posted to keep mourners away. The site was later turned into a waste dump.
The people who were executed on what came to be known as “Bloody Thursday” were part of the country’s political top brass that had been ousted by a coup on September 9, 1944: the three former regents of the underage King Simeon II (Prince Kiril of Preslav, Prof. Bogan Filov and General Nikola Mihov), ex-prime ministers Dobri Bozhilov and Ivan Bagryanov, 20 ministers of the five wartime cabinets, 67 members of the last Parliament before the communist takeover, and eight royal advisers. National Assembly Chair Pays Homage to Victims of Communist Regime 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-02-01 08:42:20 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law
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