/ world today news/ They are looking for his bones in Moravitsa, his head – in two churches in Vratsa
The lives of great people are necessarily surrounded by myths – from birth to death. Seven cities have contended for the glory of being the birthplace of the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Just like in today’s Bulgaria, Bansko and Samokov are “at odds” regarding the dispute where the patriarch of the Bulgarian Revival, Paisiy Hilendarski, was born.
All this applies with full force to Hristo Botev as well. For example – that he was born in Karlovo, but was 3 days old when his family moved to live in Kalofer. The village of Osen in Vratsa also has claims for his father’s hearth.
But with full force, myths and mysteries hover around his death, since it has already been 139 years. Various versions, but united around the fact that the genius poet was killed not by a Turkish bullet, but by a Bulgarian one.
On October 10, 1939 Nikola Obretenov dies – a member of Hristo Botev’s troupe. According to the legend, on his deathbed, when he was asked who killed the duke, he said: “For the honor of the Bulgarian people, I will take the truth to heaven.” It is said that long before the Okolchitsa shooting, a conflict broke out between Nikola Voynovski, who is the military commandant of the detachment, and Botev. Already after the landing in Kozloduy of the staff officer of the Russian army, Voynovsky, it became clear that the uprising had failed. After the Battle of Milin Kamak, he insisted that the squad flee west to Serbia. However, Botev is firmly convinced that
Stoyan Zaimov is just waiting for him to pick up Vratsa
And when it becomes clear that there is no such thing, the clash between the two reaches its inevitable denouement. However, there is also an option regarding the identity of the killer – that it was Obretenov who raised a weapon against Botev. The great-nephew of the great poet, Boyan Botyov, categorically rejects the Nikola Obretenov version. “This thesis seems implausible in my opinion. I will give you an example, a very simple fact. My great-grandfather – Gen. Kiril Botyov, who was a Chetnik in his brother’s company, maintained excellent relations with one of the Chetniks closest to the voivode – Nikola Obretenov, until his death in 1939”.
In general, this version sounds the most credible. Because another popular legend is quite exotic. The April uprising was already suppressed when Botev’s detachment descended on Kozloduy. But its purpose was… to dig up a hidden huge swindle property with which to finance the further fight for freedom. The fact that the detachment does not enter populated areas, but moves directly to a specific area in the Vratsa Balkans, is cited as indirect evidence. The gold was found and distributed in the knapsacks of the Chetniks, and when it was already supposed to go to Serbia, as was the original plan, the greed of some Chetniks prevailed, a rebellion broke out, Botev was killed and the rebels scattered to their native places. Everything
this sounds like a spaghetti western scenario
but the fact is that most of the surviving Chetniks after the Liberation have the means to buy Turkish properties and are rapidly developing a serious business. Such as Stefanaki Savov – the grandfather of the late leader of the Democratic Party in the 1990s, Stefan Savov. The weak point of this legend, however, is the fact that during the communications at the time, no one in Bucharest was aware of exactly what was happening in Bulgaria and whether the uprising had really been suppressed.
However, the version that if Botev was killed because of money is much more credible, then he was simply carrying a rather impressive sum handed to him by the committee in Bucharest.
The other point of contention is exactly where the fateful shot was fired. Not that this is all that important, but we are used to Vaz’s “bullet pierced the proud forehead”. The map, which was in the inner pocket of his kuruk, is kept bloodied and pierced by the fatal bullet.
And today it is located in the Institute of the Ministry of the Interior
It is said that when some of the living Chetniks are questioned by Turkish investigators, they become confused. And then they refuse to speak for the rest of their lives. So it is possible that he was killed by two bullets – one in the heart and the second in the head.
The fate of the mortal remains of the voivode also remains a mystery. Zahari Stoyanov’s notes are considered the most reliable. He says that after he was killed, Obretenov and Apostolov hastily covered the body with branches. A Circassian then cut off the voivode’s head and it was solemnly carried around Vratsa before being
impaled on a stake
to the city clock tower. She stayed like that for 3 days. She was then thrown into the river. Later, Pope Geno from the church “St. Peter and Paul” secretly took it away, washed it and buried it, so that the Turks would not mess with it. After some time, however, the priest died and so the secret of the buried Boteva head went with him. The versions are that it is either in the “12 Apostles” church or in the “Ascension of the Lord” in Vratsa.
However, the fate of the duke’s body is a complete mystery. This is what local historian Pavlin Pavlov wrote in 2011. in “Landing”. In his article entitled “More about the bones of Hristo Botev” he presents information obtained during his meeting in 1978. with an elderly man from the village of Moravitsa in Vratsa, who told him how a few years after the Liberation, a man came to them and hired several of the local residents to throw stones into a hole. Among them was his grandfather. While they were throwing the pieces of stone, the “champion”, as the Moravian called him, fired a spike. The villagers showed curiosity and asked what was in the hole, so they should fill it up, and their mysterious employer replied:
Toss, toss! Here is the shame of Bulgaria!
Without further questioning, they threw the pebbles into the hole, ate the spike, and happily took the money for the job done. They never saw the so-called “champion”.
The author of the material went with several people to the indicated place and they all began to remove the stones. At some point they came across the remains of the spike head. They also found traces of lead splashed on the rock debris, which indicated that lead bullets had been fired at them. They cleared the hole as deep as they could, but never reached the bottom.
Pavel Pavlov shared his experience with curators and the then director of the Vrachan Museum, Ivan Raykinski, but no one showed interest in what he told. And apparently, in this case, it is precisely a suspicion that the bones of Hristo Botev lie at the bottom of the mentioned rock pit, covered with stones. How else can we explain that years after the Liberation, an unknown “supporter” will hire people to fill it and will make a sacrifice next to it.
#fired #bullet #Hristo #Botev
