DISINFO: Bulgaria is engaged in widespread pro-fascist and anti-Russian revisionism of its history
SUMMARY
Bulgarian society is debasing itself and abandoning its historical connection to Russia in order to conform to the wishes of the West. There is now outright anti-Russian and pro-fascist historical revisionism in Bulgaria’s public sphere and educational system. Bulgarians renounce their liberation from fascism by the USSR in 1944 and are increasingly favouring fascist revisionism. Bulgaria is the only country in the world that rejects anti-fascism because it has condemned the former communist regime as criminal and has overturned the verdicts of the Soviet “People’s Court” from 1944-1945. In fact, old Nazi medals from WWII are being sold in front of Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Bulgarians refuse to admit that the Russian Empire liberated the country from the Ottoman Empire in 1878.
RESPONSE
A recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative that misrepresents Bulgaria’s condemnation of the former authoritarian communist regime as supposed evidence of widespread pro-fascist and anti-Russian historical revisionism in Bulgaria.
This case is part of a trilogy of cases covering the different disinformation aspects of the same article. The other two cases are available in the database here and here.
The article falsely conflates the role the USSR played in defeating Nazi Germany with Bulgaria’s official condemnation of the former communist regime and the overturning of the verdicts of the so-called “People’s Court”, which was an extralegal instrument of repression set up in countries that fell under Soviet influence toward the end of WWII. Over the course of just 5 months, between December 1944 and April 1945, the “People’s Court” in Bulgaria sentenced over 11,000 so-called “enemies of the people” to death or prison with no right to appeal for supposedly supporting the Axis-aligned regime in Bulgaria. In reality, many of those sentenced were simply ideological opponents of the USSR and authoritarianism, including numerous academics, journalists, artists, musicians and intellectuals.
Following the end of the communist regime in Bulgaria, the “People’s Court” and its sentences were declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court in 1996, and a law that condemned the Communist regime as criminal was adopted in 2000. Clearly, these actions were not taken in support of fascism or Russophobia, but in condemnation of the tyranny suffered under the former Bulgarian Communist regime under the guidance of the USSR.
Photo deception: In an attempt to provide evidence of widespread pro-fascist revisionism in Bulgaria, the article includes a photo of some Nazi medals that were supposedly sold in front of the well-known Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, which attracts thousands of tourists each year. However, any resident of Sofia’s city centre would recognise that the photo was not taken in front of Aleksander Nevsky Cathedral, as claimed, but at the well-known Antique Flea Market a few hundred meters away. At the flea market, one can find rows of tables full of all manner of collectables and trinkets, including various military helmets, medals, hats and other such items from a variety of nationalities and eras. The photo was clearly taken in a deceiving manner as to only show a small section of a single stall and make it seem as if the whole market is based around selling Nazi memorabilia.
The claim that Bulgarians refuse to admit that their country was liberated after the Russian Empire won the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, known in Bulgaria as the War of Liberation, is unfounded. As shown by the results of numerous focus group discussions with representative samples from 2021, Bulgaria’s independence thanks to Russia is by far the association Bulgarians most often make in connection to Russia. Connected to this, the claims that the Russian Empire was guided by altruism and that Russian soldiers were solely responsible for Bulgaria’s liberation in 1878 present a distorted, one-sided interpretation of history and have been debunked in the database.
Read similar cases of disinformation in the database claiming that Bulgaria owes gratitude to Russia for its liberation from Ottoman rule, that Russia fought the Ottoman Empire to liberate Bulgaria, and that those who deprived Bulgarians of the Aegean Sea were punished by the communist People’s court.