Strahil Pindžurov (15 March, 1915 – 4 January 1943), better known by his

Partisan Partisan may refer to: Military * Partisan (weapon), a pole weapon * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line Films * ''Partisan'' (film), a 2015 Australian film * ''Hell River'', a 1974 Yugoslavian film also know ...

name Strašo Pindžur (Страшо Пинџур) was a Macedonian Partisan, active during

World War II in Yugoslav Macedonia World War II in Yugoslav Macedonia started with the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941. Under the pressure of the Yugoslav Partisan movement, part of the Macedonian communists began in October 1941 a political and military c ...

, who was later proclaimed a national hero of

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

Biography

Pindžurov was born in the town of

Strumica Strumica ( mk, Струмица, ) is the largest city2002 census results
in English and Macedon ...

, then part of Bulgaria. His father Dimitar Pindžurov was an

IMRO The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; bg, Вътрешна Македонска Революционна Организация (ВМРО), translit=Vatrešna Makedonska Revoljucionna Organizacija (VMRO); mk, Внатр� ...

activist and a Bulgarian teacher there. His godfather became

Hristo Chernopeev Hristo Chernopeev ( bg, Христо Чернопеев) (1868, Dermantsi – 6 November 1915, Krivolak) was a Bulgarian Army officer and member of the revolutionary movement in Macedonia. He was among the leaders of the Bulgarian People's Mace ...

, a friend of his father. Both were killed as servicemen of the

Bulgarian Army The Bulgarian Land Forces ( bg, Сухопътни войски на България, Sukhopŭtni voĭski na Bŭlgariya, lit=Ground Forces of Bulgaria) are the ground warfare branch of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. The Land Forces were established ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After the war, Strumica was ceded to 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 ...

. Pindžur's mother re-married and Strašo moved back to his father's native village of

Vataša Vataša ( mk, Ваташа) is a village in the Municipalities of North Macedonia, municipality of Kavadarci Municipality, Kavadarci, North Macedonia. Demographics According to the statistics of the Bulgarians, Bulgarian ethnographer Vasil Kanchov ...

, where he was raised by his grandmother. As a war orphan later, he was a state pupil in

Kragujevac Kragujevac ( sr-Cyrl, Крагујевац, ) is the fourth largest city in Serbia and the administrative centre of the Šumadija District. It is the historical centre of the geographical region of Šumadija in central Serbia, and is situated on ...

, where in secondary school he came in contact with the Yugoslav communist movement. Strašo Pindžur studied at the University of Belgrade's Law School, and was a secretary of the illegal student association "Vardar". He was a close collaborator, and a friend of the Yugoslav communist

Ivo Lola Ribar Ivan Ribar (23 April 1916 – 27 November 1943), known as Ivo Lola or Ivo Lolo, was a Yugoslav communist politician and military leader of Croatian descent. In the 1930s, he became one of the closest associates of Josip Broz Tito, leader of the ...

and participated in a number of demonstrations of the party. He tried to be a volunteer in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

, but did not succeed. Because of his revolutionary activism Pindžurov was arrested by the Yugoslav authorities. After the annexation of

Vardar Macedonia Vardar Macedonia ( Macedonian and sr, Вардарска Македонија, ''Vardarska Makedonija'') was the name given to the territory of the Kingdom of Serbia (1912–1918) and Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) roughly corresponding to t ...

by Bulgaria during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

,Dimitris Livanios, The Macedonian Question: Britain and the Southern Balkans 1939-1949, OUP Oxford, 2008, , p. 118. he clashed with the

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 ...

secretary of the

Regional Committee of Communists in Macedonia The Regional Committee of Communists in Macedonia was the provincial communist organization in Vardar Macedonia from 1939 to 1943. History At the beginning of 1939, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia decided that Vardar ...

— Metodi Shatorov Sharlo. With the help of the

Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...

, the Macedonian Communists were re-attached to the

Communist Party of Yugoslavia 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 ...

. As a CPY-loyalist he was appointed as member of the new Regional Committee and a member of the Main headquarters of the partisan detachments in December 1942. However the same month he was captured by the

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

n police. According to the statement of the head of Group 4 at the Skopje District Police Department, Ljubomir Jordanov, Pindžurov was beaten continually for two straight days with a rubber baton, all over his body and across the soles of his feet, however Pindžurov kept silent for the duration of the interrogation.Biography of Strašo Pindžur
He succumbed to his injuries on January 4, 1943.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pindzur, Straso 1915 births 1943 deaths People from Kavadarci Municipality Macedonian communists Macedonian people of Bulgarian descent Yugoslav Partisans members University of Belgrade Faculty of Law alumni Recipients of the Order of the People's Hero