Enemies of the People

The Germans had gone. But there was still terror in Sofia--this time in the name of justice. Nearly 400 former members of four successive Bulgarian governments were being tried before two "People's Courts."

At one court, which sat in the big hall of the University of Sofia, former deputies were indicted for supporting pro-fascist governments. At the other, which sat in the big courtroom of the Palace of Justice, regents, royal councilors and ministers, among them ex-Premiers Bogdan Filoff, Ivan Bagrianoff and Konstantin Muravieff, were charged with "crimes against the Bulgarian people." Among the crimes: signing the Three-Power [Axis] Pact, sending Bulgarian armies against Yugoslavia and Greece, declaring war against the U.S. and Britain, abolishing the people's rights and passing anti-Semitic laws. Among the accusers: the ghosts of hundreds of Bulgarians brutally slain for opposition to the former fascist regimes.

Few Bulgarian liberals doubted that the more important pro-fascist prisoners should be punished. What disturbed them was the fact that three leading Bulgarian democrats and antiFascists were among the defendants. The three: Nikola Mushanoff, Athanase Buroff, Dimitri Gitscheff.

Wrote New York Timesman Joseph M. Levy: "It was a heart-rending sight in court today when the octogenarian Mushanoff and 70-year-old Buroff, both of whom devoted the greater part of their lives to the cause of democracy, had to stand for almost two hours to listen to the indictment."

Reign of Terror. These democrats were a small minority in the mass of pro-fascists, but later, from Istanbul, Timesman Levy cabled more serious charges: the average Bulgar "hoped that as soon as the dictatorial fascist regime in Bulgaria was overthrown, the Allies would assist his country to establish a true liberal and democratic government. But instead, he feels, Bulgaria today, four months after liberation from the Nazi yoke, is subjected to a Bulgarian dictatorial regime as unbearable and distasteful to the vast majority of Bulgars as was the former Nazi-inspired fascist government.

"The present government is composed of representatives of the four major parties, but only the Communists exercise real power. . . . The Minister of the Interior, Anton Yugoff, a Communist, has full control of the militia, which is the only police force in Bulgaria. . . .

"With the militia under their control, the Communists have asserted themselves and now are driving fast to gain a full hold on the country's administration. . . .

"A virtual reign of terror prevails in Bulgaria, in which ordinary civil rights are almost nonexistent. Such elementary democratic principles as free speech and free press criticism are taboo. The writer, having just returned from a six-weeks' stay in Bulgaria, is convinced that the vast majority of the people in that country are bitterly disillusioned. They ardently are hoping for early Allied action to establish a democratic regime. . . ."

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