Parliament Opens Sitting with Declarations Marking the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Communist Rule

Today’s parliamentary sitting (January 30) opened with declarations marking the Day of Remembrance and Respect for the Victims of the Communist Regime on 1 February, and the 81st anniversary of the death sentences handed down by the People’s Court.

“It is our duty to bow before the victims of the communist regime, to condemn the executioners and to ensure that historical truth is neither silenced nor distorted. But this duty does not end with remembrance; it requires a daily struggle against the banality of evil,” said Atanas Atanasov of 'We Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria' (WCC-DB) from the parliamentary rostrum.

MP Yordan Ivanov of WCC-DB called for a minute’s silence in honour of the victims of the communist regime.

Parliamentary Speaker Raya Nazaryan reminded MPs that such a request must be made in accordance with the rules. Nevertheless, she waited to see whether other MPs would stand. Members from Bulgarian Sociliast Party (BSP) – United Left and Vazrazhdane remained seated.

“When we suspend the rule of law, this leads to political violence, and dates such as 1 February 1945 become a закономерност rather than an exceptional event,” said Toma Bikov of GERB–UDF.

He added that the date should not only be remembered but also understood in the full context in which it occurred.

In a declaration, BSP–United Left called for greater reason and common ground. “Let us put an end to dates of division and leave history where it belongs – as a teacher, not as a political instrument… The memory of those who perished demands shared responsibility, silence, respect and humility, not loud political rhetoric,” said Galin Durev.

The Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF)– New Beginning group also issued a declaration condemning the People’s Court and the violence against the Muslim community in the country.

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On February 1, Bulgaria honours the victims of the country’s communist era.

The date marks a decision by a Bulgarian communist “People’s Court” on 1st of February, 1945 to sentence to death , without the right to appeal three Regents of the then King of Bulgaria, Simeon II - king's uncle Prince Kiril, prime minister Bogdan Filov, and general Nikola Mihov; 67 MPs and 22 cabinet ministers. Secretaries to the Palace, newspaper publishers and generals were also sentenced to death. The executions were carried out the same night near the Sofia cemetery.

The People’s Court - an ad hoc tribunal - was set up months after the communist coup in Bulgaria in 1944. It was established outside the operations of the constitutional frame of law, in contravention of the then effective Turnovo constitution, to be used as an instrument of the communist terror. Overall, the People’s Court tried 135 cases with 11,122 accused. A total of 9,155 people were sentenced. A total of 2,730 people from Bulgaria’s elite were killed over a period of several months.1,305 were sentenced to life imprisonment.

No one was allowed to talk about this until the fall of totalitarianism in 1989.

The day of remembrance and respect to the victims of the communist regime is celebrated on 1st of February at the proposal of the presidents of Bulgaria Zhelyu Zhelev (1990-1997) and Petar Stoyanov (1997-2002).