![Panko Brashnarov's death record](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Panko_Brashnarov%27s_death_record..jpg)
Panko Brashnarov ( bg, Панко Брашнаров, mk, Панко Брашнар, ''Panko Brašnar;'' 27 July 1883 – 13 July 1951) was a revolutionary and member of the left wing of the
(IMARO) and IMRO (United) later. As with many other IMARO members of the time, historians from
North Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...
consider him an ethnic
Macedonian, whereas historians in Bulgaria consider him a
Bulgarian
Bulgarian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria
* Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group
* Bulgarian language, a Slavic language
* Bulgarian alphabet
* A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria
* Bul ...
. However such
Macedonian Bulgarian activists, who came from the IMARO and the IMRO (United) never managed to get rid of their strong
pro-Bulgarian
Bulgarophiles ( bg, българофили; Serbian and Macedonian бугарофили or бугараши ; ; ro, Bulgarofilii) is a term used for Slavic people from the regions of Macedonia and Pomoravlje who are ethnic Bulgarians. In Bulga ...
bias,
["Panko Brashnarov and Pavel Shatev on the situation in Macedonia 1944-1948" - report to the All-Union Communist Party: The authors oppose Yugoslavia's policy of annexing Pirin and Aegean Macedonia. The Yugoslav Communist Party (YCP) is accused of interfering in Macedonia's domestic policy and ASNOM's activities, and of displaying extreme Serbian nationalism. They wrote that the goal pursued with the creation of the Macedonian alphabet is to Serbianize the Bulgarians in Macedonia. According to them, the Macedonian Communist Party acts entirely in the interest of the YCP and bans all Bulgarian books and newspapers, but makes an exception for Serbian ones. Bulgarian songs are also banned. The authors also wrote that the new Macedonian authorities curse everything Bulgarian, although it is a historical fact that the Ilinden insurgents were people with a Bulgarian national consciousness. The statement also reads: "The Macedonian leaders imposed by Belgrade are trying to crush everything Bulgarian without raising funds for it. Those who disagree with the YCP's policy are considered "unconscious Bulgarophiles."] and continued to see themselves as Bulgarians, even in Communist Yugoslavia.
Biography
He was born in
Veles (then known by the name Köprülü) in the
Kosovo Vilayet of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
(present-day
North Macedonia
North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...
) where he graduated from
Bulgarian Exarchate's school. Brashnarov graduated from the Bulgarian pedagogical school in Skopje. In 1903 he took part in the
Ilinden Uprising Ilinden ( Bulgarian/Macedonian Cyrillic: Илинден) or Ilindan (Serbian Cyrillic: Илиндан), meaning "Saint Elijah
Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My God is Yahweh/YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías'' ...
. In 1908 he joined the
People's Federative Party (Bulgarian Section)
250px, Dimo Hadzhidimov, Todor Panitsa and Yane Sandanski">Todor_Panitsa.html" ;"title="Dimo Hadzhidimov, Todor Panitsa">Dimo Hadzhidimov, Todor Panitsa and Yane Sandanski with the Young Turks
The People's Federative Party (Bulgarian Section) ...
. In 1903-1913 Brashnarov worked as Bulgarian teacher. In 1914-1915 he completed a two-year higher educational course in
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 ...
. He was mobilized in the Bulgarian army during the First World War and participated in the battles of Doiran. After Bulgaria lost the war, the
Bulgarian occupation of Vardar Macedonia ended and Brashnarov remained in the new
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...
. In 1919, he joined the
Yugoslav Communist Party
The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, mk, Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na komunistite na Jugoslavija known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, sl, Komunistična partija Jugoslavije mk ...
. In 1925 in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, Brashnarov was elected as one of the leaders of
. Because of his political convictions, he was sentenced to seven years in prison in the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...
. In report the Vienna newspaper ''
Arbeiter Zeitung'' from 2 July 1929 stated that the 50-year-old
Macedonian Bulgarian Panko Brashnarov, was imprisoned in
Maribor
Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, th ...
. After his release in 1936 he remained politically passive.
When Bulgaria occupied and later annexed
Vardar Banovina
The Vardar Banovina, or Vardar Banate ( mk, Вардарска бановина, Vardarska banovina; sr, Вардарска бановина, translit=Vardarska Banovina; al, Banovina e Vardarit, italics=no), was a province ( banate) of the Kin ...
in 1941, he was one of the founders of the
Bulgarian Action Committees. Until 1943 Brashnarov worked again as a Bulgarian teacher. Till then there was no real communist resistance in Vardar Macedonia, but in the middle of 1943 it became obvious that Germany and Bulgaria would be defeated. In the same year Brashnarov became politically active again and joined the Yugoslav Communist partizan's movement there fighting against the
Axis Powers
The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...
. At that time the Yugoslav communists recognized a separate Macedonian nationality to stop the fears of the local population that they would continue the former Yugoslav policy of forced
serbianization, but they didn't support the view that the Macedonian Slavs are Bulgarians, because that meant in practice, the area should remain part of the Bulgaria after the war.
[Stephen E. Palmer, Robert R. King, Yugoslav communism and the Macedonian question, Archon Books, 1971, , Chapter 9: The encouragement of Macedonian culture.] On 2 August 1944, the
Antifascist Assembly of the National Liberation of Macedonia took place at the St.
Prohor Pčinjski monastery. Brashnarov served as the first speaker. The modern Macedonian state was officially proclaimed as a federal state within
Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...
's Yugoslavia, receiving recognition from the
Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
in 1945.
The new Macedonian authorities had a primary goal to de-Bulgarize the Macedonian Slavs and to create a separate Macedonian consciousness that would inspire identification with Yugoslavia.
From the start of the new
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
, these authorities organised frequent purges and trials of Macedonian communists and non-party people were charged with autonomist deviation. Many of the former left-wing IMRO government officials were purged from their positions, then isolated, arrested, imprisoned or executed on various (in many cases fabricated) charges including pro-Bulgarian leanings, demands for greater or complete independence of Yugoslav Macedonia, collaboration with the
Cominform
The Information Bureau of the Communist and Workers' Parties (), commonly known as Cominform (), was a co-ordination body of Marxist-Leninist communist parties in Europe during the early Cold War that was formed in part as a replacement of the ...
after the
Tito-Stalin split in 1948, forming of conspirative political groups or organisations, demands for greater democracy and the like.
Initially, he cooperated with the new regime, but soon after had realized the defeats brought about by the
Yugoslav Macedonism
Macedonian nationalism (, ) is a general grouping of Nationalism, nationalist ideas and concepts among ethnic Macedonians (ethnic group), Macedonians that were first formed in the late 19th century among separatists seeking the autonomy of the r ...
, Brashnarov returned to the IMARO's ideas for
pro-Bulgarian
Bulgarophiles ( bg, българофили; Serbian and Macedonian бугарофили or бугараши ; ; ro, Bulgarofilii) is a term used for Slavic people from the regions of Macedonia and Pomoravlje who are ethnic Bulgarians. In Bulga ...
Independent Macedonia. In 1948, being fully disappointed by the policy of the authorities, Brashnarov complained of it in letters to
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
and to
Georgi Dimitrov
Georgi Dimitrov Mihaylov (; bg, Гео̀рги Димитро̀в Миха̀йлов), also known as Georgiy Mihaylovich Dimitrov (russian: Гео́ргий Миха́йлович Дими́тров; 18 June 1882 – 2 July 1949), was a Bulgarian ...
and asked for help, maintaining better relations with Bulgaria and the Soviet Union, and opposing the
serbianization and de-Bulgarization of the Macedonian people.
He did so together with
Pavel Shatev
Pavel Potsev Shatev ( Bulgarian and mk, Павел Поцев Шатев) (July 15, 1882 – January 30, 1951) was a Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary and member of the left wing of the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization ...
.
As a result, he was arrested in 1950 as a Cominform agent under the accusation of "organizing an illegal group to support the Soviet Union in its the conflict with Yugoslavia". Afterwards he was imprisoned in
Goli Otok labor camp
A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (especi ...
where he died the following year. Initially, Brashnarov was buried in the labor camp, but two years later his remains were transferred somewhere. His grave was found in 2011 in
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
, where he was reburied in a mass grave of prisoners from Goli Otok.
The name of Brashnarov was taboo in the
SR Macedonia during the period 1950–1990, because of the obligatory pro-Serbian and anti-Bulgarian tendency among the "socialist"
Yugoslav Macedonian historians, but he was rehabilitated in North Macedonia during the 1990s, after the country gained its independence. Although he was liked by the historiography in Communist Bulgaria as a left-wing pro-Bulgarian politician, after the fall of communism he has been criticized by some right-wing nationalist historians there as a late repented Macedonian Communist apostate.
[Цочо В. Билярски, Закъснялото осъзнаване на разкаялите се родоотстъпници Павел Шатев и Панко Брашнаров, 24.04.2010, Сите българи заедно.]
References
Sources
Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Macedonia, Dimitar Bechev Scarecrow Press, 2009, Panko Brashnarov, p. 30.
* Веселин Ангелов,"Македонският въпрос в българо-югославските отношения (1944–1952)", УИ "Св. Климент Охридски", София 2005, стр. 437-444
* Speech on United Macedonia and the army of the Macedonians "the struggle of the Ilinden combatants with that one of the young Macedonian Army... for an ideal achievement - liberated and united Macedoni
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brashnarov, Panko
1883 births
1951 deaths
People from Veles, North Macedonia
People from Kosovo vilayet
Bulgarian revolutionaries
Bulgarian military personnel of World War I
Yugoslav politicians
Yugoslav communists
Macedonian politicians
Bulgarian people imprisoned abroad
Bulgarian people who died in prison custody
Yugoslav people who died in prison custody
Prisoners who died in Yugoslav detention
Members of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization
Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (United) members
Bulgarian educators
Macedonian Bulgarians