Title: ‘Taming the death’: the culture of death (1915–18) and its remembering and commemorating through First World War soldier monuments in Bulgaria (1917–44)
Abstract: Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes 1All the theoretical framework of this study is based on the following seminal works: P. Arriès, Western Attitudes toward Death: From the Middle Ages to the Present (Baltimore and London, 1974); W. Benjamin, Illuminations. Essay and Reflections, ed. and with introduction by Hannah Arendt (New York, 1985); M. Ekstein, Rites of Spring. The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age (New York, 1989); S. Freud, ‘Thought for the times on war and death’ in J. Rickman, Civilization, War and Death. Selection from Three Works by Sigmund Freud (London, 1939); P. Fussell, The Great War and Modern Memory (London, 1975); G. Mosse, Fallen Soldiers. Reshaping the Memory of the World Wars (Oxford, 1990); G. Mosse, L'image de l'homme. L'invention de la virilité moderne (Paris, 1997); A. Prost, ‘Sociale et culturelle indissociablement’ in J.-P. Roux, J.-Fr. Sirinelli (sous la direction de), Pour une histoire culturelle (Paris, 1997); F. Rousseau, La Guerre censurée. Une histoire des combatants européens de 14–18 (Paris, 1999); J. Winter, Sites of Memory, Sites of Mourning. The Great War in European Cultural History (Cambridge, 1995); F. Thébaut, ‘La guerre et le deuil chez les femmes françaises’ in J.-J. Becker et al. (sous la direction de), Guerre et Culture (Paris, 1998/1938), 394. 2‘Repertoar na bulgarskiya zvukov film’, in Kinoarhiv, Sofia. Photos of the celebration of the First World War were published in the capital's journal, Serdika. See also Serdika (1940–4). 3Fond 1027, inv.1, a.e.152, Tsentralen Voenen Istoricheski Arhiv (TsVIA), Veliko Tîrnovo; Fond 1k, inv.1, a.e.536, a.e.550, a.e.549, Fond 1074k, inv.1, a.e.266a, Fond 1k, inv.3, a.e.356, Fond 1k, inv.4, a.e.1311, SGODA, Sofia; Fond 3, inv.5, a.e.98, Fond Nikolov, 680k, inv.1. a.e. 1–17, a.e.365, Tsentralen Dîrzhaven Isoricheski Arhiv (TsDIA), Sofia. 4Natsionalen Nauchno-Dokumentalen Fond na Natsionalnija Komitet po Pametnitsite na Kulturata (NNDF, NKPK), Sofia. 5Fond 1, inv.5, a.e.510, Fond 39, inv.2, all archive units, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo. 6J.-L. Robert and J. Winter. ‘Une recherché comparative: Berlin, Londres, et Paris pendant la Grande Guerre’ in R. Hudemann and W. François (sous la direction de), Villes et guerres mondiales en Europe au XXe siècle (Paris, 1997), 49. 7Fond Kazandzhiev, 40k, Nauchen Arhiv, Bîlgarska Akademija na Naukite (NA, BAN), Sofia. 8Fond Kazandzhiev, 40k, inv. 1, a.e. 100, notes 37/3, NA, BAN, Sofia. 9A. Luedke, ‘Introduction: Qu'est-ce que l'histoire du quotidien, et qui la pratique?’ in A. Luedke (sous la direction de), Histoire du quotidien (Paris, 1994), 34–5. 10See, for example, ‘Mais il ne s'agit pas pour autant d'éveiller le “sentiment d'être concerné” – il s'agit plutôt d'un appel à prendre part à sa proper existence, mais aussi à celle des autres. Celui qui prend part ne veut pas transformer l'autre et les autres: il tente plutôt de le ou de les comprendre – mais aussi de se comprendre soi-même’, Lüdtke, op. cit., 31. Taking this theoretical thesis into consideration, we would be interested rather in the influence of the sentiment ‘of being concerned’ on the individual's relations with its ‘own ego’ and with its surrounding world. 11They are part of the private archives and collections given to the State Archives (Dîrzhaven Arhiv) of different Bulgarian towns: Troyan, Lovech, Blagoevgrad, Smolyan, Kustendil, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Veliko Tîrnovo; part of them are located in the Bulgarian Historical State Archive (Tsentralen Dîrzhaven Isoricheski Arhiv [TsDIA]), Sofia and in the Schientic Archive of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (Nauchen Arhiv, Bîlgarska Akademija na Naukite [NA, BAN]), Sofia. All of them have been described and analysed in Dimitrova (2001), 75-110. 12‘Lichni belezhnitsi 1916–1917 na Daskalov, uchitel ot s. Kovachevtsi, Radomirsko’ in Fond Daskalov, 024, inv.1, a.e.5, a.e.8, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo; ‘4 belezhnika- Zapiski za uchastieto v Pîrvata svetovna voïna na Ivan Guergiev, moderen shivach ot s. Idilevo, podofitzer ot II-ri vzvod, II-ra rota, V-ta pionerna druzhina ot V-ta diviziya’ in Otdel za Nova i Naj-nova Istoriya, Istoricheski muzeï, Sevlievo, inv. N 3433. (The diary was discovered and processed by Mr Totyo Grozev, a colleague at the Historical Museum in Sevlievo. I would like to acknowledge my gratitude to him for providing this document as well as my appreciation of the excellent conditions for working in the Sevlievo museum curated by Mr Grozev); ‘Belezhki-dnevnik na Sp. Kazandzhiev ot generalnija Shtab na 302-ra Nemska Divisija, Zavoja na Cherna’ in Fond Kazandzhiev, 40k, inv.1, a.e.56/58, NA, BAN, Sofia; ‘Sluchajni misli, 1916, Skopije’ (journal in German of d-r M. Popov, director of the First Bacteriological Lab within the Bulgarian Army) in Fond Popov, 74k, inv.1, a.e.5, NA, BAN, Sofia; ‘Dnevnik ot voïnata 1915/1916’ na Iv. Kepov in Fond Kepov, 305, inv.1, a.e.269, Bîlgarski Istoricheski Archiv, Natsionalna Bilioteka ‘Kiril i Metodij’ (BIA, NB), Sofia; ‘Dnevnik ot fronta, Yuzhnijat front, 15.09-28.09.1918’ na V. Krumov in Fond Krumov, 1055 k, a.e.5, Dîrzhaven Arhiv (DA), Plovdiv; ‘Dnevnik I spomeni ot boevete na 1–2 batareya ot Pîrvata Svetovna voïna, 1917–1918’ na general D. Zhivkov in Fond Zhivkov, 029, inv.1, u.a.2, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo, ‘Dnevnik ot voïnata’ na general Vazov in Fond Vazov, 1557, inv.1, a.e.1–4, TsDIA, Sofia. 13All archive units in Fond 42H, 40H, Fond 1546, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo. 14Peter Hanak, The Garden and the Workshop (Princeton, 1998), 179. 15See, for example, N. Kaytchev, ‘Desired Macedonia’: The Army, the School and the Nation Building in Serbia and Bulgaria, 1878–1912 (Sofia, 2003), 177–9. 16Fond 42H, inv.1, a.e.5, l.99, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo. 17See, for example, S. Dimitrova, ‘ “Ma guerre n'est pas la vôtre…”: La Grande Guerre et ses vécus immédiats dans les lettres, journaux, mémoires (1915–1918) des participants' in J. Maurin and J.-Ch. Jaufret (sous la direction de), La Grande guerre 1914–1918 – 80 ans d'historiographie et de représentations (Montpellier, 2002), 75–110. 18See Fond 40H, inv.2, a.e.2, a.e.18, a.e.32, a.e.472, Fond 42H, inv.1, a.e.55, Fond 42H, inv.2, a.e.28, Fond 48H, inv.5, a.e.306, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo. See also the notes about the mood of soldiers entitled ‘What comforts the mood of the soldier’ (‘Kakvo razvedrjava nastroenieto na voïnika’) – notes by a reserve officer (lieutenant), a lawyer from Suhindol, Veliko Tîrnovo, region in Fond Popkrîstev, 85k, inv.1, a.e.63, l.1-3, DA, Veliko Tîrnovo. 19Kaytchev, op. cit., 178. 20Arriès, op. cit. 21See, for example, the letters of Ivan Shishmanov to his school-mate Kosta Chilingirov in Fond Chilingirov, 422k, inv.1, a.e.5, l.1–100, Dîrzhaven Arhiv (DA), Smolyan. See also the journal of Bulgarian village teacher Daskalov. ‘Lichni belezhnitsi 1916–1917 na Daskalov…’ in Fond Daskalov, 024, inv.1, a.e.5, a.e.8, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo. See also Fond 42H, inv.1, a.e.18, l, 180–95, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo and the journal (15.2.1918–30.6.1918) of the most famous Bulgarian general, Ivan Vazov in Fond Vazov, 1557, inv.1, a.e.1, TsDIA, Sofia. The collection contains extracts from letters (II Bulgarian Army, 1917) written by young soldiers who were called to the colours straight from gymnazia. Bogged down in trenches, they claimed that the miseries of the body (mud, cold, rain, mosquitoes, lack of hygienic comfort) were unbearable; the reserve officers pointed out the same perception as a root cause for their sufferings. This produced severe crises under which trench war became very difficult to endure. (Dimitrova (2002), op. cit.,16–18; Dimitrova (2001), op. cit., 95–106); Dairies of Ivan Georgiev, introduced by himself as a ‘modern tailor from the village of Idilevo near the town of Sevlievo, Gabrovo region, central North Bulgaria, sergeant of II platoon, II company, V battalion of V division’. ‘4 belezhnika- Zapiski za uchastieto v Pîrvata svetovna voïna na Ivan Georgiev…’, Istoricheski muzeï, Sevlievo. 22Fond Kazandzhiev, 40k, inv.1, a.e.176, l.10, NA, BAN, Sofia. 23Fond Kazandzhiev, 40k, inv.1, a.e. 176, l.1–25, NA, BAN, Sofia. 24See the correspondence between Kazandzhiev and his wife from the post-war period in Fond Kazandzhiev, 40k, inv.1, a.e.176, NA, BAN, Sofia 25‘Everything swam before his eyes. He restrained himself. The trenches and the prisoner life have taught him how to control himself’ – thus the protagonist of the Bulgarian writer Georgi Stamatov, after returning from captivity in Italy, was trying to deal with post-prisoner life in Sofia, a world that was recurrently perceived as a foreign one and was felt within the figure of ‘the Little Sodom’. The new face of this Sofia world confronted him every day with the distressing question: ‘Who has changed? Me, or the others? Have they become indifferent, or am I shattered by the war? I should write, but to whom? Here they would consider me mad’: G. Stamatov, Izbrani sachineniya (Sofia 1980), 59–60. The perception of the new world thwarted his communication with his own ego and with the surrounding world. This thwarted communication directed his gun to his own forehead. The same experience is reflected in the majority of the reserve officers’ post-war memoirs. 26For the impact of the feared ‘thy death’ on everyday life both at home and at the front, see the letters exchanged between Dora Gabe and Spiridon Kazandzhiev in Fond Kazandzhiev, 40k, inv.1, a.e.178, l.1–53, NA, BAN, Sofia. See also the letters between the friends belonging to the professional-intellectual-friends' circle around Bulgarian historian of literature and literary critic Boyan Penev (his authority dominated the intellectual space of inter-war Bulgaria; he was also a censor of letters behind the lines during the war): Fond Penev, 37k, inv.1, a.e.199, 2124–2201, 2301, 2565–2569, 2752–2754, 2796–2801, 2825–2832, 2941, 3003, 3146, 3147, 3212, 3221, NA, BAN, Sofia. 27G. Vasilev, Edin zhivot v pisma. Iz arhiva na Grigor Vasilev (Sofia, 1998), 55. 28See, for example, K. Shtîrkelov, ‘Korespondentsija s Grigor Vasilev’, Natsija i zemja, x (March–April, 1933), 141–8; K. Shtîrkelov, Zhivotoopisanie, Dnevnitsi, Spomeni, Otzivi, Eseta, Pisma. Sîstaviteli: Iva Burilova i Ts. Biljarski (Sofia, 1999); Vasilev, op. cit. 29Here ‘the intimate’ is understood in accordance with Shutz's use: ‘the term “intimacy” denotes the relevant knowledge we possess on some other person or on some social relation, group, cultural paradigm or given thing’: see A. Shuts, Chuzhdenetsît. Izbrani studiï. Prevod I sîstavitelstvo Kolyo Koev (Sofia, 1999), 29. 30Shtîrkelov actively contributed to the creation of the memorial plaque to painters – graduates of the Art Academy – who died in the 1912–18 wars; the name of Ivan Karagyozov was among those inscribed on the plaque. The project was designed by the prominent Bulgarian painter Dechko Uzunov: Fond 1074k, inv.1, a.e.266a, SGODA, Sofia. See also the letters from relatives of fallen soldiers sent to the committee that constructed and inaugurated the memorial plaque: Fond 1074k, inv.1, a.e.266, SGODA, Sofia. 31K. Konstantinov, Pît prez godinite, Chast i (Sofia, 1961), 318–35. 32‘Lichni belezhnitsi 1916–1917 na Daskalov, uchitel ot s. Kovachevtsi, Radomirsko in Fond Daskalov, 024, inv.1, a.e.5, l.3, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo. See also Shishmanov's letter, written at the moment when he understood that his best friend had been recruited: he freed his thoughts from fear of censorship and from the consequences of his attitude toward the war. This letter revealed his anxiety for the destiny of his friend: ‘The Front, 18 April 1918. I looked very patiently on your future soldier life here, but this does not make me patient … I told you that I found a special sense here, and that was a big lie of mine. But, I found only a miserable obedience to the nothing that increased the ocean of poison that I had to swallow’: Fond Chilingirov, 422k, inv.1, a.e.5, l.83, DA, Smoljan. 33See, for example, ‘The rational explanation for heroism is that it consists in the decision that the personal life cannot be so precious as certain abstract general ideals. But more frequent, in my view, is that instinctive and impulsive heroism which knows no such motivation and flouts danger in the spirit of Anzengruber's Hans the Road-Mender: “Nothing can happen to me.” Or else that motivation serves but to clear away the hesitation, which might delay an heroic reaction in accord with the unconscious. The dread of death, which dominates us oftener than we know, is on the other hand something secondary, being usually the outcome of the sense of guilt.’ Freud, op. cit., 22. 34Fond Kazandzhiev, 40k, inv.1, a.e.526, l.23, NA, BAN, Sofia. 35Fond Kazandzhiev, 40k, inv.1, a.e.100/20, NA, BAN, Sofia. See. also the notes about fear: Fond Kazandzhiev, 40k, inv.1, a.e.100/37–3, NA, BAN, Sofia. 36‘4 belezhnika- Zapiski za uchastieto v Pîrvata svetovna voïna na Ivan Guergiev’, Dnevnik (September–December 1915), l, 29. 37 ibid., l, 27. 38 Dnevnik, 2 (3.01.1916–22.03.1916), l, 3. 39 Dnevnik 3 (22.03.1916–January 1917), l, 98. 40See the soldiers' letters in Fond 40H, inv.1, a.e.2, a.e.160, a.e.472, Fond 42H, inv.1, a.e.28, Fond 1546, inv.3, a.e.31, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo. 41Fond Kazandzhiev, 40k, inv.1, a.e.100/7–8, NA, BAN, Sofia. See also the notes about the influence of death on the soldiers' mood in General Vladimir Vazov, Spomeni, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo, inv. 3760. V. Vazov, Zhivotopisni belezhki (Sofia, 1992), 84–97. 42Fond 40H, inv.1, a.e.32, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo. 43Fond 40H, inv.1, a.e.32, Fond 42H, inv.1, a.e.5, a.e.18, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo. 44See the letters addressed directly to the persons in authority who were responsible in the village for the safety of peasant-soldier families in Fond 42H, inv.1, a.e.18, l. 74–148, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo. See also the letters demanding the royal pardon for the soldiers condemned by the military trial in Fond 3 inv.5, a.e.96, a.e. 97, a.e. 100, TsDIA, Sofia. 45Fond 42H, inv.1, a.e.55, Fond 48H, inv.5, a.e.306, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo. 46Fond 42H, inv.1, a.e.5, l.108, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo. 47Fond 42H, inv.1, a.e.5, l.109, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo. 48Fond 1027, inv.1, a.e.152, l.23–25, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo. See also Fond 1, inv.5, a.e.510, l.24, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo. 49See, for example, the soldiers' collection of photos taken and sent from the front in Otdel za Nova i Naj-nova Istoriya, Istoricheski muzeï, Troyan. 50Photos and documentation of the soldiers' monuments in NNDF, NKPK, Sofia. See also the analysis of village monuments by Andrej Nikolov, sculptor of the monument of the ‘Unknown Soldier’ in the centre of Sofia in Fond Nikolov, 680k, inv.1. a.e.11, a.e.365, TsDIA, Sofia. 51NNDF, NKPK, Sofia, N 83–908. 52Fond 39, inv.2, all archive units, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo; Fond Nikolov, 680k, inv.1. a.e.17, a.e.365; Fond 3, inv.5, a.e. 98, l.169–6, TsDIA, Sofia. 53Fond 39, inv.2, a.e.533, l.39–0, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo. 54Fond 39, inv.2, a.e.533, l47–199, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo. 55 ibid. See also Fond 39, inv.2, a.e.534. 56General N. Zhekov, Kriticheska studija vîrhu knigata na Remarque ‘Na zapadnija front nishto novo’ (Sofia, 1931), 31. 57Fond 1, inv.5, a.e.510, l.24, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo. See also Fond 1027, inv.1, a.e.152, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo; Fond 1k, inv.1, a.e.536, a.e.550, a.e.549; Fond 1074k, inv.1, a.e.266a; Fond 1k, inv.3, a.e.356, Fond 1k, inv.4, a.e.1311, SGODA, Sofia; Fond Nikolov, 680k, inv.1. a.e.11, a.e. 365, TsDIA, Sofia. 58 ibid. See also ‘The low of the “Unknown Soldier Monument” ‘ in Fond 1, inv.5, a.e.510, l.24; Fond 23, inv.1, a.e. 823, l, a.e.823, l. 33, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo. See also the decision about constructing this monument and the correspondence about its building in Sofia centre between the Ministry of War and the mayor of and the municipality authorities in Fond 1k, inv.1, a.e.536, l. 27, l. 147; Fond 1k, inv.1, a.e.529, l.9; Fond 1k, inv.3, a.e.356; Fond 1k, inv.4, a.e.1311, SGODA, Sofia. See also the drawings of the monument project in Fond 1k, inv.5, a.e.230, SGODA, Sofia. 59Fond 22, inv.1, âa.e. 1–100, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo. 60Fond 39, inv.2, a.e.530–6, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo. 61Fond 39, inv.2, a.e.530–6, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo. 62The copy of this movie is preserved in the Bulgarian Kino Archive, Sofia. 63Fond 39, inv.2, a.e.536, l.61–82, a.e.537, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo. 64Fond 39, inv.2, â.â.536, l.61-82, a.e. 537, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo. The paving, drafting, laying out and forestation of the military cemetery in Sofia Central Cemeteries began and was almost completed during the mayoral mandate (1924–31) of ex-general Vladimir Vazov, hero of the Thessalonica front, invited to participate at the Congress of the British Legion held in Buxton in 1937 and whose name was inscribed in the official English history of the First World War. 65See, for example, the speeches delivered on this day by General Stoychev in Fond Stoychev, 012, inv.1, a.e.27, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo; and the emblematic speeches given at the inauguration of the soldier monuments in B. Stojlov, ‘V pamet na padnalite za Otechestvoto’, Mir, 19 August 1942. See also the instructions determining the military conduct of the soldiers participating in the ceremonies in:Fond 1027, inv.4, a.e.198, a.e.337, TsVIA, Veliko Tîrnovo. 66Fond 3, inv.5, a.e.96–00, TsDIA, Sofia. See also the motivation for creating the Sofia Alliance ‘Patriotic Duty’ by the relatives of fallen officers aimed at building the Soldier Monument in Sofia and organizing the ceremonies in front of it in Fond 3, inv.5, a.e.98, l. 169–174, TsDIA, Sofia. 67A. Razsukanov, ‘Prinos kîm psihologiyata na voennoto nachalstvo’, Filosofski pregled, iii (1938), 382–85. 68For the way in which the defeat was experienced and how this experience shaped inter-war nationalist discourse and Bulgarian state modenazation strategy, see S. Dimitrova, ‘ “My war is not your war”: the Bulgarian debate on the Great War. “The experienced war” and Bulgarian modernization in the inter-war years’, Rethinking History, vi, 1 (Spring 2002), 15–34. 69See Polkovnik G. Genov, Strahît ot smîrtta (Sofia, 1941). 70Benjamin, op. cit.
Publication Year: 2005
Publication Date: 2005-05-01
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