Ivan Dimitrov Dochev ( bg, Иван Димитров Дочев) (7 January 1906 – 14 May 2005) was a Bulgarian

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

politician active either side of the Second World War.

Early years

Born in

Shumen Shumen ( bg, Шумен, also romanized as ''Shoumen'' or ''Šumen'', ) is the tenth largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and economic capital of Shumen Province. Etymology The city was first mentioned as ''Šimeonis'' in 1153 by t ...

the son of an army colonel, Dochev worked in the civil service from 1926 to 1932 when he went to Sofia University to study law and politics. Philip Rees, '' Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'', 1990, p. 96 It was at university that he first became involved in politics, taking charge of the student organisation.

Fascism

In 1933 he was a founder of the Union of Young National Legions and became part of the triumvirate that officially led this movement. The group was initially

anti-communist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...

and nationalist but it soon came under the influence of Italian fascism and Nazism and added corporatism and

anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

to its platform. In 1934 Dochev went to Nazi Germany with Nikola Zhekov and met both Adolf Hitler and Alfred Rosenberg. Dochev failed to come fully to terms with Hitler however as he would not support the Nazi demand for the Legions to overthrow King Boris. His movement adopted its more familiar name of the Union of Bulgarian National Legions in 1937 and the following year it split with Dochev leading one wing away from the main group under Hristo Lukov.

War-time and European exile

Dochev was reconciled to Lukov during the Second World War and became one of the main supporters of the pro-Nazi general.Rees, ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right'', p. 97 His pro-German stance made him unpopular however, especially as the war neared its end. As a result, he joined Aleksandar Tsankov in accepting German-sponsored exile in Vienna in 1944 and he served out the war there. After the war Dochev was given three separate death sentences in absentia for crimes such as sending Jews to extermination camps whilst mayor of

Silistra Silistra ( bg, Силистра ; tr, Silistre; ro, Silistra) is a town in Northeastern Bulgaria. The town lies on the southern bank of the lower Danube river, and is also the part of the Romanian border where it stops following the Danube. Sil ...

although he denied committing the crimes.JPRS Report: East Europe
/ref> The sentences were not carried out however as he remained in exile and before long he returned to political activism, with his journal ''Bulgaria'' appearing in Salzburg in 1945 followed by the formation of the virulently anti-communist

Bulgarian National Front The Bulgarian National Front (Bulgarian:Български Национален Фронт (''Bulgarski natsionalen front'') or BNF) is an anti-communist political movement active amongst emigrant Bulgarian populations. The group, which is active i ...

in 1947. Meanwhile, in 1948 he was awarded a doctorate by the University of Heidelberg for a thesis on the Bulgarian economy. Dochev had intended to settle in Germany but the waiting period for German citizenship was too long and so he emigrated to Canada in 1951.

North American activity

Dochev continued his political activity in Canada, organising the Bulgarian National Front both there and in the United States as soon as he arrived in 1951. His new journal ''Borba'' soon became central to anti-communist activity amongst

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

-based Bulgarians. Eventually Dochev moved to the United States and settled in New York City. Whilst there he became Bulgarian National President of the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations to which his Bulgarian National Front was affiliated. In 1982 he published the book ''Half century struggle against communism for the freedom of Bulgaria'', detailing his political activities.

Final years

Dochev, by then Honorary Chairman of the Bulgarian National Front, returned to Bulgaria late in 1991, still unsure about whether or not his death sentence continued to stand, with even President Zhelyu Zhelev uncertain. By this time he claimed to be a supporter of the Union of Democratic Forces although he also stated that he retained the same political ideas that he had had in the Legions. Ultimately he faced no sentence and Dochev—99 years old—died in 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dochev, Ivan 1906 births 2005 deaths Bulgarian anti-communists Bulgarian fascists Bulgarian nationalists Bulgarian emigrants to Canada Canadian people of Bulgarian descent Bulgarian writers Mayors of places in Bulgaria People sentenced to death in absentia Sofia University alumni Heidelberg University alumni People from Shumen