On May 28th, when Bulgaria will again pay tribute to the victims of Communism in the presence of Bulgaria's President Rossen Plevneliev, the first stone of a memorial dedicated to the martyrs of the 20th century will be laid in the town of Belene (Central North Bulgaria). The commemorative park in that Bulgarian town will always remind people about the innocent victims sentenced to death in the local concentration camps.

Bulgaria is the only European country without a memorial to the victims of the Totalitarian system. That is why the catholic priest in Belene Paolo Cortesi decided to establish a foundation and started to raise funds, in order to turn the old concentration camp, built with a resolution of the Ministerial Council back in 1949, into a memorial park. In his view, the reluctance of the Bulgarian society to make unbiased interpretation of the near past is due to psychological reasons:

“This is a big wound in Bulgaria's society, because Bulgarians used to take the lives of Bulgarians”, priest Paolo Cortessi said. That period differed from the Ottoman Rule, because in that case we are not talking about foreignoppression, but about something that happened in the Bulgarian society. I understand that this topic is painful and that many people do not want to return to that period again. They prefer to forget about that time, because it is very distressing to realize that your family member had killed his own brother or sister. However, when there is an open wound, we must look inside it and see what's there. In other words, first of all we must know the truth and get acquainted with the facts and then try to heal that wound. That conflict which left many victims in 45 years can be resolved only if the executioners say: “I Made A Mistake and Committed a Crime” and when the victims say: ”I Forgive You”. The main purpose of the memory is to reach reconciliation. We can go forward only when the wound is completely healed. If we stay passive, we will continue to suffer from that disease.”

Paolo Cortessi decided to devote himself to religion when he was only a ten year-old boy. He arrived in Belene five years ago and believes that he received a sign from God to serve in the town of another Passionist-blissful Evgeniy Bosilkov. Priest Cortesi has been welcoming Bulgarian and Italian groups for pilgrimage there, because “these lands are soaked with the blood and the tears of innocent people and when we pay tribute to them, we become more humane and better people.”

“We can't understand the Bulgarian history without entering the period of the totalitarian regimes in Europe” priest Cortesi contends. It is a little- known fact that back in 1942-1944 Belene was a labor camp for Jews and Communists during the cabinet of Bogdan Filov. Later, it turned into a place of suffering for anti-communists and has something in common with the camps in Romania, Hungary, Poland, Germany, Italy and Spain. That is why we honor in Belene the Bulgarian victims and the European martyrs of the 20th century. ”

Once, Jesus Christ said that Truth Makes People Free. In Paolo Cortesi's view, people should not be afraid of learning the truth about the communist past - the personalities, the names and the history of the victims. He voiced hopes that their memory will not be used as a political weapon and that the history books will contain information about the martyrs of the 20th century, among whom there were many catholic, orthodox and protestant priests. In other words, there are many steps towards reconciliation, priest Paolo Cortesi concludes.

“Of course, Bulgaria must have a memorial park and a museum to the victims of repression. Moreover, the textbooks must contain the history of the 20th century, so that the young Bulgarian generations are taught in the spirit of truth about the totalitarian regimes -Fascism, Nazism and Communism. We must also have enough literature and documentaries about those periods. The Bulgarian theatres must also accentuate on that time, because our culture memory is important.”

The Italian priest believes that the memorial park in Belene will be unveiled in 2017, because his initiative was blessed by blissful Evgeniy Bosilkov.

 Evgeniy Bosilkov taught us to be humble. He never said a bad word against the government. He lived and passed away just like Jesus Christ - led by the power of love only.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov