site.btaFallen for Bulgaria's Freedom and Independence Remembered on June 2

105 LIFESTYLE - DAY OF REMEMBRANCE - MARKING Amp.

Fallen for Bulgaria's
Freedom and Independence
Remembered on June 2


Sofia, June 2 (BTA) - On June 2, Bulgaria honours Bulgarian revolutionary Hristo Botev, his group of volunteers, and the fallen for Bulgaria's freedom and independence.

The date marks the anniversary of Botev's heroic death after a battle with regular Ottoman troops and bashi-bazouk at the foot of Okolchitsa Peak (Western Balkan Range) on May 20, 1876.

Botev (1848-1876), a poet, journalist and freedom fighter, led a detachment of armed volunteers from Romania into Bulgaria after the April Uprising against Ottoman rule broke out in 1876.

June 2 was first marked as a Day of Botev in Vratsa (Northwestern Bulgaria) and Plovdiv (South Central Bulgaria) in 1884. The official commemoration at Okolchitsa Peak dates from 1901, when it was attended by several members of his detachment. When the Julian Calendar was adopted in Bulgaria in 1916, the observance was moved to June 2 (exactly a year after the previous celebration) even though Botev death anniversary falls on June 1, because 1900 was a leap year in the Julian Calendar and a non-leap year in the Gregorian Calendar.

Despite several changes in the manner of marking and official designation, the date has always been highly emotional for Bulgarians because of the solemn tattoo and roll call and a nationally observed minute of silence.

At the roll call, the names of the prominent people who laid their lives for this country's freedom and independence are called out, after which "the thousands of known and unknown heroes" are also remembered. The idea is that the fallen are forever on the roll of the Bulgarian Armed Forces.

Every year on June 2, sirens sound countrywide at 12 noon local time to signal two minutes of silence in memory of the fallen. All pedestrians and means of transport except trains are expected to stand still while the intermittent siren signal continues. This ritual has been observed since 1948.


* * *
"I believe that we continue to carry Botev's spirit, that most of us will reject conformism and impersonalism, that we have the courage and character to raise our homeland to where it deserves to be," said President Rumen Radev in Vratsa on Saturday night.

The President noted that honouring someone is seldom expressed in convincing terms, but that there is no stronger, more inspiring way to honour generations of Bulgarian heroes than taking a moment of silence and contemplation as a nation.

"Today we honour Botev and those who fell for our freedom, we do it from the heart, we do it as a traditionally, but freedom is not a tradition. Freedom is a battle, a position, a responsibility and often a sacrifice," said Radev, noting that Bulgarians are in debt to those who sacrificed their lives for their country.

The day of those who died for the freedom and independence of Bulgaria is also a day of the living, as it gives opportunity to Bulgarians to rediscover their patriotism, Radev said.

The President, along with heads of state institutions, ministers, politicians and delegates from Vratsa's twin cities and districts in Serbia, Ukraine, France, Germany, Slovakia and Romania paid their respects and laid flowers in honour of Hristo Botev. The commemorative celebrations in Vratsa ended Okolchitsa peak on Sunday. RY, LY/DS, LG, DT

/DT/