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

Partisan Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Ital ...

name Strašo Pindžur (Страшо Пинџур) was a Yugoslav Communist and 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 Regional Committee of the Communists in Macedonia, Macedonian communists began ...

, who was later proclaimed a national hero of

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

Biography

Pindžurov was born in the town of

Strumica Strumica (, ) is the largest city2002 census results
in English and Macedonian (PDF) in so ...

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

IMRO The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; ; ), was a secret revolutionary society founded in the Ottoman territories in Europe, that operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Founded in 1893 in Salonica, it init ...

activist and a Bulgarian teacher there. His godfather became

Hristo Chernopeev Hristo Chernopeev () (c. 1868, Dermantsi – 6 November 1915, Krivolak) was a Bulgarian Army officer and member of the revolutionary movement in Macedonia (region), Macedonia. He was among the leaders of the Bulgarian People's Macedonian-Adrianopl ...

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

Bulgarian Army The Bulgarian Army (), also called Bulgarian Armed Forces, is the military of Bulgaria. The commander-in-chief is the president of Bulgaria. The Ministry of Defense is responsible for political leadership, while overall military command is in ...

during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. After the war, Strumica was ceded to the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

. Pindžur's mother re-married and Strašo was sent to his father's native village of Vataša, 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 List of cities in Serbia, 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 Se ...

, 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 Yugoslavs, Yugoslav Croats, Croat communist politician and military leader. In the 1930s, he became one of the closest associates of Josip Broz Tito, leader of ...

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 () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, 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 language, Macedonian and ) is a historical term referring to the central part of the broader Macedonian region, roughly corresponding to present-day North Macedonia. The name derives from the Vardar, Vardar River and i ...

by Bulgaria during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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

pro-Bulgarian Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, while in No ...

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 Metodi Tasev Shatorov (; , known also under the pseudonyms Sharlo and Panayot; January 10, 1897 – September 1944) was a Bulgarian Communist Party activist and also the temporary leader of the Regional Committee of Communists in Macedonia in 1940 ...

. With the help of the

Comintern The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...

, the Macedonian Communists were re-attached to the

Communist Party of Yugoslavia The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, was the founding and ruling party of SFR Yugoslavia. It was formed in 1919 as the main communist opposition party in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats a ...

. 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, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

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 Macedonian Partisans