 |
| Stoyanov-Tarpana |
In September 1944, the Soviet Red Army invaded Bulgaria, and a reign of terror began under the Sovietization of the country. Thousands of Bulgarians who took up armed resistance to Communism were known as the Goryani (Горяни), or “Man of the Forests” or “Ones of the Forest.” At one point, the number of armed Goryani was estimated at 2000 in 28 Bands (Chetas), with another 8000 illicit helpers supplying them with food, shelter, arms, and intelligence. The Bulgarian authorities effectively eliminated the Goryani movement by the mid-1950s.
The CIA created a clandestine radio station operating in Greece called Radio Goryanin (Радио Горянин): “The Voice of Bulgarian Resistance” that began broadcasting in 1951.
In 1951, CIA began infiltrating agents in Bulgaria: six teams of 17 men between 16 and 28 May 1951.
This
number included 15 agents trained in Germany during March and April, plus
two others recruited in Greece for specific one-shot missions.
Contacting Goryani was one objective of the infiltrations. One such team established contact with a large Goryani group in the mountains near the city of Sliven. This team made plans to fulfill their objectives of contacting resistance elements in the Teteven area through the Sliven Goryani. One agent was killed in a clash with Bulgarian troops.
The largest resistance group, the Second Sliven Band, was led by Georgi Stoyanov-Tarpana, also known as Georgi Benkovski, after a 19th-century Bulgarian popular hero. 6000 Bulgarian troops encircled the band. A battle was fought on 1 and 2 June 1951. Some 40 Goryani were killed, but the band commander fled along with his men, including the wounded. The Bulgarian secret police later captured Stoyanov. He was later tried, found guilty, and executed by firing squad on 12 December 1951, in Stara Zagora, along with ten others.
Here is the memorial to the Goryani of Silven, including Stoyanov-Tarpan.
The inscription on the left reads:
"In Memory of the Goryani from Sliven who died 1950-51
For them, life was a fight under the flag of freedom. Death—a worthy victory.“
After the collapse of Communism in Bulgaria in 1989, other memorials were created for the Goryani martyrs in the towns and villages of
- Manolsko Konare,
- Zlatosel,
- Parvenets,
- Trilistnik,
- Belozem,
- Shishmantsi
Memorials for the Goryani are marked with a four-leaf clover and chaff of wheat (emblem of the Bulgarian Agrarian Party BZNS “Nikola Petkov“), which is used to suggest that those who died were part of an idea that is shared by contemporary members of agrarian political parties as well. Nikola Petkov was executed in 1947.
Six CIA infiltration agents were captured and tried in Sofia in
September 1951. Three were sentenced to death, and three to long-term imprisonment.
The last known infiltation/exfiltation took place in October 1952. There are no monuments or memorials for the CIA agents dispatched into Bulgaria.
For more information on the Bulgarian memorials, see Valentin Voskresenski, “Monumental Memorialization of Political Violence in Bulgaria (1944 – 1989): beyond Traumatization, Contestation and Dangerization of Memory.”
For more information on Radio Goryanin, see
