Todor Angelov
Encyclopedia
Todor Angelov Dzekov was a Bulgaria
n communist
revolutionary who lived and was active for a long time in Western Europe
. During World War II
, he headed a Brussels
-based group of the Belgian Resistance
against Nazi Germany
; he was captured and sentenced to death
by the Nazis.
Angelov was born in 1900 in the city of Kyustendil
to a mason
father and a weaver and laundress
mother, both Bulgarian refugees from Macedonia
. In 1923 he married Aleksandra Sharlandzhieva; the two had a daughter, the writer Svoboda Bachvarova (b. 1925). Angelov was related to the anarchist
left wing of Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) and the Bulgarian Communist Party
from an early age; in 1923 he took part in the failed and suppressed September Uprising
, more specifically in its Pirin Macedonia
operations. After the communist St Nedelya Church assault
of 1925, he was sentenced to death but managed to escape the country with his family.
After spending some time in Austria
and France
, Angelov and his family settled in Belgium
in 1927. In 1930 they were extradited for "disturbing public peace": Angelov settled in Luxembourg
while his wife and daughter returned to Bulgaria. In 1932 he was allowed to return to Belgium. In 1936–1938, he joined the International Brigades
' Dimitrov Battalion
of Bulgarian volunteers and fought in the Spanish Civil War
, siding with the Second Spanish Republic
forces.
Upon returning to Belgium Angelov was an active supporter of the Communist Party of Belgium
. In 1942, he organized a resistance group of around 25 people, mostly Central Europe
ean Jew
ish immigrants; the group was mostly active around Brussels. Angelov was referred to as Terrorist X by the Nazi authorities and led over 200 actions against the Nazis, including the destruction of a train carrying military machinery and the burning of records of Jews to be deported. During a single year, around half of the group's members were killed or arrested. Angelov was arrested in early 1943 and interned in the Fort Breendonk
concentration camp
, where he was executed in late November the same year.
Immediately following the war, Angelov was proclaimed a hero of Belgian Resistance and awarded a posthumous Order of Leopold. In the early 1980s, a monument to him was built in the Clos du Chemin creux in Schaerbeek, where he lived for a long time. A monument to Angelov also exists in his hometown Kyustendil; he was proclaimed a honorary citizen
of Kyustendil in 1998.
In 2007, the book Otages de la terreur nazie ("Hostages of Nazi Terror") devoted to Angelov and his group was issued in Belgium. In 2008, the Bulgarian writer Svoboda Bachvarova published the three-volume documentary novel Po osobeno machitelen nachin ("In a Particularly Painful Way") devoted to her father's life.
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
revolutionary who lived and was active for a long time in Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he headed a Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
-based group of the Belgian Resistance
Belgian resistance
Belgian resistance during World War II to the occupation of Belgium by Nazi Germany took different forms. "The Belgian Resistance" was the common name for the Netwerk van de weerstand - Réseau de Résistance or Resistance Network , a group of partisans fighting the Nazis...
against Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
; he was captured and sentenced to death
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
by the Nazis.
Angelov was born in 1900 in the city of Kyustendil
Kyustendil
Kyustendil is a town in the far west of Bulgaria, the capital of Kyustendil Province, with a population of 44 416 . Kyustendil is situated in the southern part of the Kyustendil Valley, 90 km southwest of Sofia...
to a mason
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
father and a weaver and laundress
Laundry
Laundry is a noun that refers to the act of washing clothing and linens, the place where that washing is done, and/or that which needs to be, is being, or has been laundered...
mother, both Bulgarian refugees from Macedonia
Macedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
. In 1923 he married Aleksandra Sharlandzhieva; the two had a daughter, the writer Svoboda Bachvarova (b. 1925). Angelov was related to the anarchist
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
left wing of Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) and the Bulgarian Communist Party
Bulgarian Communist Party
The Bulgarian Communist Party was the communist and Marxist-Leninist ruling party of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from 1946 until 1990 when the country ceased to be a communist state...
from an early age; in 1923 he took part in the failed and suppressed September Uprising
September Uprising
The September Uprising was an armed insurgency staged in September 1923 by the Bulgarian Communist Party under Comintern pressure, as an attempt to overthrow the Democratic Accord government of Bulgaria that had come to power with the coup d'état of June 9. Besides its communist base, the...
, more specifically in its Pirin Macedonia
Blagoevgrad Province
Blagoevgrad Province , also known as Pirin Macedonia , is a province of southwestern Bulgaria. It borders four other Bulgarian provinces to the north and east, Greece to the south, and the Republic of Macedonia to the west. The province has 14 municipalities with 12 towns...
operations. After the communist St Nedelya Church assault
St Nedelya Church assault
The St Nedelya Church assault was an attack upon St. Nedelya Church in Bulgaria. It was carried out on 16 April 1925, when a group of the Bulgarian Communist Party blew up the roof of the St Nedelya Church in the capital Sofia. This occurred during the funeral service of General Konstantin...
of 1925, he was sentenced to death but managed to escape the country with his family.
After spending some time in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Angelov and his family settled in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
in 1927. In 1930 they were extradited for "disturbing public peace": Angelov settled in Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
while his wife and daughter returned to Bulgaria. In 1932 he was allowed to return to Belgium. In 1936–1938, he joined the International Brigades
International Brigades
The International Brigades were military units made up of volunteers from different countries, who traveled to Spain to defend the Second Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939....
' Dimitrov Battalion
Dimitrov Battalion
The Dimitrov Battalion was part of the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War. It was the 18th battalion formed, and was named after Georgi Dimitrov, a Bulgarian communist and General Secretary of the Comintern in that period....
of Bulgarian volunteers and fought in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
, siding with the Second Spanish Republic
Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
forces.
Upon returning to Belgium Angelov was an active supporter of the Communist Party of Belgium
Communist Party of Belgium
Communist Party of Belgium was a political party in Belgium. The youth wing of KPB/PCB was known as the Communist Youth of Belgium. The party published Le Drapeau Rouge in French and De Roode Vaan in Dutch.- History :It was formed at a congress in Anderlecht on September 3-4 1921...
. In 1942, he organized a resistance group of around 25 people, mostly Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
ean Jew
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
ish immigrants; the group was mostly active around Brussels. Angelov was referred to as Terrorist X by the Nazi authorities and led over 200 actions against the Nazis, including the destruction of a train carrying military machinery and the burning of records of Jews to be deported. During a single year, around half of the group's members were killed or arrested. Angelov was arrested in early 1943 and interned in the Fort Breendonk
Fort Breendonk
Fort Breendonk is a fortification built in 1906 as part of the second ring of defences around the city of Antwerp . Originally one in a chain of fortresses constructed to defend Belgium against a German attack, Breendonk was near the town of the same name, about 12 miles southwest of Antwerp...
concentration camp
Internment
Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
, where he was executed in late November the same year.
Immediately following the war, Angelov was proclaimed a hero of Belgian Resistance and awarded a posthumous Order of Leopold. In the early 1980s, a monument to him was built in the Clos du Chemin creux in Schaerbeek, where he lived for a long time. A monument to Angelov also exists in his hometown Kyustendil; he was proclaimed a honorary citizen
Citizenship
Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...
of Kyustendil in 1998.
In 2007, the book Otages de la terreur nazie ("Hostages of Nazi Terror") devoted to Angelov and his group was issued in Belgium. In 2008, the Bulgarian writer Svoboda Bachvarova published the three-volume documentary novel Po osobeno machitelen nachin ("In a Particularly Painful Way") devoted to her father's life.