The Georgi Benkovski Partisan Brigade was a division of the Third Pazardzhik Insurgent Operational Zone of NOVA during the

Bulgarian resistance movement during World War II The Bulgarian Resistance was part of the anti-Axis resistance during World War II. It consisted of armed and unarmed actions of resistance groups against the Wehrmacht forces in Bulgaria and the Tsardom of Bulgaria authorities. It was mainly com ...

. It mainly operated in the region of Sredna Gora.

History

The first partisan group was formed around the village of Strelcha in the summer of 1942. In October 1942, detachments were formed from the

Strelcha Strelcha ( bg, Стрелча ) is a small Bulgarian town with a population of 4,284 . The town lies 13 km to the east of Panagyurishte and 41 km to the north of Pazardzhik. It is a capital of homonymous municipality, part of Pazardzhik ...

and Panagyurishte groups. After expanding on May 20, 1943, they merged to from into the Georgi Benkovski Detachment. The first Commander of the detachment was Luka Navushtanov, with Tsvyatko Barov as political commissar. In July 1943 they united for joint operations with the Ihtiman partisan detachment, though the two detachments retained separate leaders. They were holding Bunaya Peak. The two detachments separated after a major battle with the police and gendarmerie in the Konska Polyana area on August 28, 1943. In the autumn of 1943 they carried out actions in the villages of Dushantsi and Krastevich. They spent the winter together with the Bacho Kiro detachment of the

Chavdar Partisan Brigade The Chavdar Partisan Brigade was a subdivision of the First Sofia Insurgent Operational Zone of NOVA during the Bulgarian resistance movement during World War II (1941-1944). It operated in the vicinity of Novo Selo, Sofia Province, Novo Se ...

. Together they carried out a large operation on March 24, 1944, during which they briefly captured the town of

Koprivshtitsa Koprivshtitsa ( bg, Копривщица, pronounced , from the Bulgarian word , ''kopriva'', meaning "nettle") is a historic town in the Koprivshtitsa Municipality in Sofia Province, central Bulgaria, lying on the Topolnitsa River among the S ...

. The brigade wintered in dugouts below

Bogdan Bogdan or Bohdan (Cyrillic: Богдан) is a Slavic masculine name that appears in all Slavic countries as well as Romania and Moldova. It is derived from the Slavic words '' Bog/Boh'' (Cyrillic: Бог), meaning "god", and ''dan'' (Cyrillic: ...

Peak, in the Barricades area and in the Fetentsi area, north of Panagyurishte. In July 1944, the detachment grew to the size of a Brigade, consisting of four companies named 'Raina Knyaginya', 'Bozhko Ivanov', 'Todor Kableshkov', and 'Polska'. At this time the Commander was Ivan Vrachev, the political commissar was Stoyan Michev, and the Chief of Staff was Georgi Momekov. In the summer of 1944 they carried out 15 actions in the Panagyurishte, Pazardzhik and

Plovdiv Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...

regions. They successfully broke a major police blockade in their camp's area. On September 9, 1944, the partisans of the brigade took part in the establishment of the Fatherland Front in the towns of

Klisura Klisura, a South Slavic word of Greek origin (''kleisoúra''), for "pass", "gorge" or "canyon", may refer to: Albania *Këlcyrë, a Byzantine town, now in Albania Bosnia and Herzegovina * Klisura (Višegrad), a village in the municipality of Vi� ...

, and Panagyurishte.

References

{{Reflist Military units and formations of Bulgaria in World War II Military units and formations established in 1942 Military units and formations disestablished in 1944 1942 establishments in Bulgaria 1944 disestablishments in Bulgaria