A Bulgarian Lady Executioner

...And I v/ouJd especially like to give f r i e n d l y^ g r e e t i n g s to Mrs...

...No relative of the aocused Is allowed inside, and the audience does not r e f r a i n from vehemently expressing i t s h a t r e d . Outside has gathered, under coercive Communist direction, a giganHc crowd of people shouting " d e a t h " and w a v i n g t h e i r fists...

...Some of these were miljtant pro-Nazis who had brought Bulgaria into the war on the side of Germany...

...Such a scene took place in almost every Bulgarian town and city...

...Consequently, 1 would now like to give Mrs...

...With vengeful eyes and implacable countenances, they walked slowly down the s t r e e t s c h a n t i n g "death, death, death" for persons whom they mentioned by name...

...She w a s B u l g a r i a ' s d i c t a t o r . Experienced, active, r u t h l e s s , she set out with a>l t h e might of Russia behind here to set up Communistdirected committees or Soviets i n every community...

...Her f a t h e r had been one of t h e leading men in a small village near Solia...

...example of Soviet Russia, were determined so completely to e x t e r m i n a t e all real and potential' political opponents that t h e Communists would be a b l e to exercise t h e i r d i c t a t o r s h i p indefinitely...

...we want d e a t h . " Tanks rumbled down t h e s t r e e t s bearing eiior...

...Among these restless, tireless women, endeavoring to lead Bulgaria out of t he squalor and lethargy of a long OricnSnslavery into the light of the modern world, was t h e young Communist Tsola...

...t h a n three decades ago to tell H.il -armn boys and girls what I knew about the good things in the big world and to urge them- "to gt-tiw Up i n to noble men and women...

...Under the p r e s s u r e of t h e Red A r m y , a Communistled, dictatorial Bulgarian regime was set up i n t h e Soviet legation in Sofia...

...These women, as relentless, fierce and inexorable as witches, were dressed in black...

...1 am very sorry to greet any Bulg a r i a n coming to America in such terms, especially any official B u l g a r i a n; most of all a [ B u l g a r i a ! woman...

...Presiding over it, whlping up t h e wolfish passions, was Mrs...

...On September U, 194-lj^her revolut i o n a r y dream came trot...

...R a i n a Malinova, a solemn, thin-faced, lithe, and well wellpoised girl 24- y e a r s of age...

...The p u r p o s e of t h e c o u r t s , as officially stated, and a s r e p e a t e d a thous a n d times, was " r a z p l a t a , " or i n other words, vengeance...

...Russia and%he B u l g a r i an Officers' League handed the Bulgarian Communists the B u l g a r i a n State on a p l a t t e r . * * * HAVING acquired power, the first task of the Communists was to organize it...

...of courtrooms where the prospective victims sat, sometimes bound in chains, and snouted, "We demand Ivan Ivanoffi d e a t h ." » « • " P e o p l e ' s " Justice O E H 1 N D a table in t h e front of the courtroom sit five or severe people...

...II was designed to jfcej k behind the false front otffk " d t ^ ^ P a t k - coalition" called the F a t h e r l a n d ^ V r c u i t , to which P e a s a n t P a r t y members and Socialists also belonged...

...No* toriou* Fascist*, who were willing to nerve the CommutiiiU, were spared from punishment...

...WHAT happened to one family was r e l a t e d to me by Mrs...

...Soon the victims were led out, and among them w a s R a i n a ' s brother, / S c o r n i n g all danger, aha r u s h e d up to Him a s h e w a s b e i n g led a w a y a n d cried, "Cheer up, Vancho, be proud t h a t you're dying for f a t h e r ! " A policeman hit her a blow, t h a t almost knocked her down and ordered her to clear out or she would go to the game place her brother was going...

...She has driven them from their a p a r t ments in order to secure dwellings fur Communist big shots, Including the Communist .Regent...

...Through this F r o n t , which she h a s r u n , and the Communist P a r t y , of which she is a leader, B u l g a r i a has been drenched with blood from o n e ' e n d to t h e other...

...The word " d e a t h " shrieked from almost every p a r a g r a p h . For days and weeka a n d even months the S t a t e radio, exclusively in the hands of the Commuof him a r e ' s butcher a n d baker, a t a i l or and schoolteacher, a i l ' of whom have been t a u g h t for y e a r s or even decades n i s t s , called for blood...

...mows banners c a l l i n g for " d e a t h to so...

...Special terror tea* directed against the Socialist* and the Peasant Party, th* two most democratic group* in the land...

...There are some much worse...

...Dragojcheva has reported that t h e number of Bulgarians who were officially killed amounted to about 3,000...

...She was droppec into this country from a R u t t i s i . airplane, and for long years shuddering Bulgarian children will associate the name Tsola with the word Russia...

...To p r e p a r e the atmosphere, a special p a p e r was published at S t a t e expense and given the widest circulation...

...It described t h e b r u t a l measures which the pro-Nazi Government bad used to put down Communist-led resistance, and urged t h e " p e o p l e " to demand vengeance...

...She doesn't know where he is buried...

...The action was swift and brutal...

...Like many a f r u g a l , hard-workirrgJllulgariun peasant, he had j sent his son to the military academy and his daughter Kaina to the high school...

...One of the most flagrant in all the a n n a l s of Bulgarian cruelty was the t o r t u r i n g t o death of a young woman who had been active in I he F a t h e r l a n d Front as a member, of I he Peasant Party...

...The law was so worded as to rover all peisons whom the Communists wished to ' e x t e r m i n a t e , * N a t u r a l l y , the victims were accused of being Fascists a n d war c r i m i n a l s . • The courts were self-appointed, which means that they were set up by selfc r e a t e d F a t h e r l a n d Front Committees...

...Forjr months later the Communists were placed in power by t h e Red Army, and the P a r t i s a n s found themselves in a position to take vengeance...

...To a l l a y their p a r t n e r s ' apprehensions of Soviet Russia and of Communism, the Communists promised that democracy would prevail and t h a t every group would be given freedom of activity...

...Raina's lieutenant brother was a r r e s t e d f few months later when he r e t u r n e d from Hungary, where he h ad bravely fought against the NazisHe was brought before ' the People's Court in a town near Raina's village with' t w e l v e , o t h e r defendants, of whom four were tried in absentia, since they had already been murdered...

...The Comsseniats gloat with satisfaction that within a few hours t h e i r political oppoMata will be butchered...

...The c e n t r a l one is a lawyer active in the Communist P a r t y . On t h e r i g h t and left t h a t members of the bourgeoisie are enemies of the people a n d devils incarm t e . Before t h e table »its a long line of men who a r e about to be massacred according to a law g r im and elastic enough to include anyone whom the Communist* hate...

...N a t u r a l l y , the Iiulgarian Army took measures t o c a p t u r e the i n s u r g e n t s . One of the officers engaged in this punitive expedition was Kaina's brotner, a lieutenant...

...Tsola Dragoichevla...

...1 ulso was a schoolteacher in Bulgaria...

...In that capacity, and undoubtedly from natural inclinations, he opposed the Communists...

...n t h e i r Impatience they came to believe t h a t Communism was t h e best i n s t r u m e n t . They were e a r n e s t in their • i - • d i . m to the Red gospel, and many were heroic, in fact, Bulgarian Communists were the most heroic people I ever saw, a n d a s deluded as they were brave...

...Dragoicheva, since she lias been a Bulgarian schoolteacher...

...Enormous proces...

...1 wojrt to t h a t picturesque, long oppressed country mon...

...Dragoit h e v a , on her first visjt to America, the welcome which a t r u e B u l g a r i a n teacher <b serves...

...And this happened not in t h e beat of passion immed i a t e l y following the revolution but h a l t a year a f t e r the F a t h e r l a n d Front had been p l a c e d ' i n power...

...Rains atood o u t - aide watching a ' g r o u p of black widows shriek for her b r o t h e r ' s d e a t h . - A s dusk was g a t h e r i n g , word csme from the courtroom that the accused had been condemned...

...Steel e n t e r s human flesh ckulls and uplifted arms a r t broken* liIn,i,i flows out upon the ground as when pigs a r e killed...

...I n most .cases, a few h o u r s suffices...

...D r a g o k h e v a ' s direction was the activity of the so-called People's Courts...

...However, they soon seized every position of vital importance in the whole land...

...For ten years the father had been mayor of the village, and as such he supported the various regimes t h a t came and went...

...Dragoicheva has g r e a t l y Increased the number of widows and of fatherless g i r l s in B u l g a r i a . She a n d h e r comrades haye sent h u n d r e d s of women into exile .vith no means of support...

...Neighbors tell of a mass grave in the neighboring woods, but R a i n a has never been able to visit it because she was ordered out of her village, and when 1 lust raw her had not yet dared to r e t u r n . * • • SlICH are the deeds for which Mrs...

...No r e l s t i v e is allowed near...

...went to Russia, and was brought back by t h e R u s s i a n s to operate in .Bulgaria us a P a r t i s a n and prepare for the setting up of a Communist regime...

...They were never heard from again...

...All the j u d g e s in each case, except the president of the ^ourt, were P a r t i s a n s, specifically persons who had suffered in t h e civil strife...

...9oms of the < molt irreproachable democrats in flulpantt who refused to aeeept Commuriist dictatorship were killed...

...When they a r r i v e a t t h e assigned d a rk »ed lonely place, t h e y a r e lined up beside a ditch t h a t h a s been p r e p a r e d , it 's a single, rnasa g r a v e . Then bayonet* P'ey, gun butta awing, revolver* or rifles or machine g u n s crack...

...In addition to t h i s , t b e Government p r e s s joined in th« cliorus of death, and all papers were Government papers...

...The makteolent howj echos outside...

...Men s h r i ek l n sgony...

...Tsola Dragoicheva, one of t he c r u d e s t imperialist agents that ever i in-rated in t h e ' B a l k a n s . Mrs...

...I t ia ^ r a m p e d down by t h e feet of exu l t a n t vengeful men, and in some rases f i n d e r s a r e strewn upon the place so t h a t for a time not even weeds will grow to m a r k t h e mass g r a v e . The bloodyhanded butchers return to t h e i r homes boasting of t h e i r "people's revolution...

...A number had been g u i l t y of very b r u t a l repressive ' a c t s against Communists during the preceding two decades, and especially a g a i n s t P a r t i s a n s . However* Communist punishment was not r e s t r i c t e d to actual " F a s c i s t s . " Mrs...

...number killed was four or five times g r e a t e r , and t h a t does not include those who were beaten, t o r t u r e d, and subjected jo complete physical exh a u s t i o n in- mines, forests and concent r a t i o n camps...

...And her official massacre* pale before the unofficial one...

...She is not a Jenny-come-lately...

...Thes*e committees wielded the a u t h o r i t y of the s t a t e. One of their first tasks was i to do away with actual and potential political opponents...

...They were vehicles t h r o u g h which the Communists, placed in power by Russia and backed by the Red Army, got even with their political opponents...

...All day long the r a d i o has dwen howling for revenge...

...There is hardly a town in the land in which there p r e not unmarked mass graves filled with victims of Communist butchery...

...Cheers Jjf s a t i s f a c t i o n arose) among t h e hate-filled Communists...

...1 vv,ax t h r i l l ed at contact with ardent, indust r i o u s , black-eyed youth, eager to study, and inspired by t h e self-sacrificing work of Bulgaria' s women teachers, toiling in 8,000 rftther d r e a r y villages...

...During the month of April, 1)144,.a group of Communist P a r t i s a n s descended from the surrouding mountains and murderecf R a i n a ' i father, along with th« schoolteacher, an elderly man who also was against the Communist Party...

...A civil war raged...

...Mosf effective and terrible cf all t h e s e Communist-prepared demonstrations were the p a r a d e s of the "black widows...

...The Communists were only one element in the coalition, and numerically a small one...

...Every B u l g a r i a n family will tell you iti whispers of such a g r a v e . Bloody a n d vengeful death stalked down the valleys, bver t h e plains, along every mountainside t h r o u g h o u t Bulgaria...

...They alone had p r e p a r e d a revolutionary apparatus ready for action* And on the morning following the Sofia revolution, they moved down from trjeir mountain lairs to take over a u t h o r i t y in all t h e towns and villages...

...Dragoicheva, whom the Russians had brought back from Moscow...

...Among the moit daring was young Tsola...

...She was willing t o give, her life in t h e service of her ideals...

...Tsola Dragoicheva, Communist Terrorist By Reuben H, Markham THE free air of America has been polluted by the official viiit of Mra...

...The verdict ia read in l a t e a f t e r noon...

...Dragoicheva and many of her fellow t e a c h e r s became Communists...

...That was done by a Bulgarian military organization and t h e l i e * Army...

...No p r i e s t is permitted to approach...

...1 was proud of the school system which B u l g a r i a n p e a s a n t s , d u r i n g three decades of l i b e r t y , had Created, and was glad to consider myself a humble colleague of i t s devoted teachers...

...a n d - s o , " " d e a t h t o so-and-so...

...They moved about buildings in which t r i a l s were being held, Khak'inK upraised fists and shouling " d e a t h . " They even entered the doors...

...They were distressed at the poverty, ignorance and sickness prevailing feround them and yearned to bring about quick, drastic reforms...

...The family had prospered and was envied by the less frugal...

...A few had committced actual war crimes and deserved punishment...

...She did not e n t e r Communism for what she could get out of it...

...Of course, an official B u l g a r i a n Government and s t a t e a d m i n i s t r a t i o n also existed, but real a u t h o r i t y was l a r g e l y in t h e hands of the National Committee of the F a t h e r l a n d Front, conducted by Mrs...

...Her t h in l i p s often parted in a faint smile, and she differed from the other widows who came to see me in t h a t she showed little personal b i t t e r n e s s and uttered no imprecations...

...But one cannot, because the Executioner has too much Bulgarian blood on her hands...

...She waa as completely anti-Fascist as Eleanor Roosevelt...

...Tiny lived a m o n g poor people...

...gions of " w o r k e r s , p e a s a n t s a n d ' p r o g r e s s i v e i n t e l l e c t u a l s " were obliged to p a r a d e through t h e s t r e e t s of the main c i t i e s and towns c a r r y i n g " d e a t h " placa r d s and rhythmically intoning, *'W« want death...

...The crowd inside b r i c k s out its Joy as death sentences are pronounced • f e n the white-faced victims...

...She has seen B u l g a r i a n "women g a t h e r in rein and snow before the g a t e s of schools and public buildings, used as jails, and has watched them t t a p d there with anguish and desperation, in hopes of g e t t i n g a fleeting glimpse of aome dear one at a window...

...The s c r i p t u r e 1« not r e a d ; no Player la u t t e r e d ; no word .of comfort is said...

...During all the coming centuries, when Bulgariani want to express unbounded detestation, they will use the name of Tsola Dragoicheva, leader of the Fatherland Front and the Bulgarian executioner...

...D r a g o i cheva is a gifted and f a n a t i c a l B u l g a r i an Communist, the head if the National Committee of the Soviet-directed, Communistled B u l g a r i a n F a t h e r l a n d Front...

...I t was not altogether s t r a n g e that Mrs...

...Foremost among them at the doors and windows of t h e c o u r t r o om a r e the shrillvoiced black widowa...

...That night, as she late,r learned from persons living near the prison, her brother and the other condemned men were taken away in a truck...

...Kaina's husband, who was a young Solia journalist, was seized on the, street, taken away and killed...

...Convulsing corpse* fall into the ditch, one upon the o t h e r; d i r t is piled upon the quavering mass...

...Newsboys cry t h r o u g h the* s t r e e t s special editions of t*e r e g u l a r papers, as well as t h e special p a p e r , all with great f r o n t - p a g e .eadlines demanding death...

...She h a s watched them day a f t e r day and week a f t e r week as they dragged their way from police station to police station, from prison to prison, in . o r d e r to ask brutal policemen for some information r e g a r d i n g brothera or husbands who had been snatched from home...

...The Bulgarian pro-Nazi Government took horrible r e p r i s a l s against the Communists who were killing mayors and plundering villages, throughout the land...

...The most flagrant example of killing c a r r i e d out under Mrs...

...Her large brown eyes were t e a r l e s s but not hard...

...They themselves did not drive jout the Germans or o v e r t h r ow the pro-Nazi government...

...Two P a r t i s a n s were found and executed...

...She has watched such women take food and* c h a n g e s of underclothes to prisons and concentration campa and has seen policemen cruelly send them, a w a y , telli n g them that tdjgfa^men folks were not t h e r e . Tsola Dragoicheva and her comrades havs filled Bulgaria with sorrow, anguish, and death, and she h a t mad* all these crimes seem doubly heinous by c a l l i n g shorn demonttrations of democracy...

...She wore plain, neat, black clothes and a beige raincoat...

...These operated according" to a law prepared by the Communist P a r t y in the name of the Communist-dominated F a t h e r l a nd F r o n t and t h e Communist-led Government...

...Dragoicheva and her comrades, I n d e r the direction of the famous1 B u l g a r i a n Communist, Geoigi Dimitrovf and following- a n earlier...

...The procedure is swift and perfujeIssry...

...Thy audience is composed eXljsiveiy of ^Communists and their/ sympathizers...

...She w a s , not allowed to attend the trial, which l u t e d one afternoon...

...Men and women most sought as judges were Communists who had been a r r e s t e d or beaten, or had lost r e l a t i v e s at t h e h a n d s of former Fascist regimes...

...For a few batches of the main de' f c a d a n t s , t h e " t r i a l " l a s t s several days, fts defendants a r e condemned wholeMi...

...Aetually,»th...

...As t h e victims **• led away to brief re-imprisonment, furious list-waving, Communist-directed "•attitudes r h y t h m i c a l l y shriek at them, "Ifou got w k a t ' a coming to y o u . " The eoademned wait in t h e i r , cells as d a r k - Mas falls, and a t about midnight are Jammed into t r u c k s v hlch take them to secret burying plsees...

...She went Into underground work long before the last war broke out, d l s - tinguishMi herself as a revolutionist, became .'a chief member of the p a r t y 's Ventral Revolutionary Committee, waa condemned to death, served In prison, eseaaod...

...Not f a r a w a y sits t h e Executive Comm i t t e e of the . Communist Party, and behind it all is t h e m i g h t y Red Army...

...He bad 2 acres of r a t h e r poor farm land and a small one-story house...

...Dragoicheva is responsible...