The Bulgarian Educational Politics in Vardar Macedonia, 1941 - 1944, Spas Tashev

4. Theatre and the other cultural institutions

The Bulgarian authorities encountered with a strange problem in 1941. The previous Serbian rulers spent a lot of money in order to wipe out the local cultural practices. The Serbian kafana culture was installed as an alternative to the closed Bulgarian cultural institutions. "Instead of opening of community centres, schools and culture associations, there existed entertainment's clubs where the wine and cabaret-singers drowned down every decent ambition... For example in Kriva Palanka - a small town with 1800 inhabitants - the new authorities banished 36 cabaret-singers and filles de joie. About three thousand persons were expelled from Skopie. Being under Serbian and Greek domination the young people from all over the Macedonia were encouraged to linger in the night bars where cabaret-singers irritated them with their songs, wine and kisses. Now this temptation was put the end; the old people relaxed and enjoyed the failure of Greek and Serbian plans to ruin the young people and make them unable for an efficient and creative work". [39] "The educational institutions in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia - as far as they were existed - tried to inculcate in young people's mind that they are Serbs. In such manner the authorities tried to knock down the Bulgarian moral and spirit. Hundreds of unmoral clubs were opened in Skopie. Thousands of call-girls were brought from Shumadia. These mysterious clubs with all their women charm served as a sweet poison for young people. Fortunately, the scope of these moral damages was limited." [40]

That was the reason why the technical director of the Sofia National Theatre Mr. Todor Yordanov has been sent to Skopie by the Ministry of Education in the beginning of May 1941. He also visited Shtip, Prilep and Bitolja and studied the conditions for creating threatres in these towns. [41] On 24 of June 1941 Bogdan Filov signd the order for the creation of the Skopie people's theatre. With a decree of Tsar Boris III a distinguished theatre figure, Mr. Stoil Stoilov, was promoted to the director's position. Most of theatre performances presented the Bulgarian classic playwrights. Plays by foreign authors like F. Laslo, Robert de Flier and Francy de Croise, Marcel Panel, D. N. Ostrovski were presented as well.

The theatre performed 262 performances during the theatre season 1941/42 and was visited by the 106.801 spectators (the average 408 per performance). Twenty five evenings of art and literature were arranged. The income from box-offices was 1 149 596 lv. [42]

We could compare these facts with the theatre season 1940/41 when the Serbian theatre in Skopie collected 610 885 dinars from tickets for 319 performances with 86 499 visitors (271 visitors average). In other words, the interest to the Serbian performances was two times lower - it was shown mainly by the 30 000 Serbian settlers living in Skopie and its vicinity. (And this is one of the figures, showing the cultural backwardness which was offered by the Yugoslavian regime to its Bulgarian subjects in Vardar Macedonia.)

Theatres, theatrical and other amateur groups were founded after 1941 in the schools and community centres in almost every larger built-up areas. Some authors try to neglect these developments by emphasising the case in Veles where theatre group, founded before the war, was abolished because of the alleged pro-Serbian sentiments [43]. A conclusion was made on the basis of this isolated case: "After Yugoslavian capitulation the theatre activities, in so far as they existed in Macedonia, was liquidated" [44]. The countryside theatre sections and groups were abolished by the Bulgarian occupation authorities". This assertion in fact misses the real picture. Thanks to the Bulgarian authorities in some towns saw the resurrection of some amateur theatre groups that had been repressed by the Serbian regime. The phenomenon could be illustrated with the case of the Ohrid group and its leader Kliment Sadilov. "He forgot where he was - in the town, on the square - where the most of the Serbs walked. He sang. Which song do you think he began ? "Alive he is !" [famous Bulgarian song based on verses written by the national poet Hristo Botev]. The four Ohrid musicians played after him and the other people started to sing despite the official Serbian prohibition of Bulgarian songs. The singers were heard by the Serb policemen who tried to arrest them. My brother stood against him. They squeezed together. At last the people were arrested. They stayed several days in prison and were fined with 1 000 lv. He was mistreated and had to stay in bed for a long time" [45]. After 1941 this group once again began to sing their Bulgarian songs in public.

National Museum was founded in Skopie in the building named "Kurshumli han" comprising of several sections: ethnographic, ancient and mediaeval. The famous Bulgarian scholar Hristo Vakarelski served as a director. The museum collected more than 949 ethnographic objects during its existence.

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39. Good Health, issue 4, Sofia 1941.

40. Ljuben Antonov, The Portrait of Macedonia, Sofia 1943, p.12.

41.Tselokupna Bulgaria, issue 1, Skopje 1941.

42. An year from a foundation of the Skopje National Theater, Skopje 1942, p. 126.

43. A 100 years from the Veles' school foundation, p. 156, Memories of the Yugoslavian communist Jordan Leov.

44. Dr. R. Terzioski, Denationalization ... , p. 209.

45. Dosju P. Koitchev, Near the blue Ohrid, p. 73-74. It was published a picture of this group in the book, but the names weren't mentioned. I investigated the matter and found with the help of old people living in Ohrid that these were : Gjore Tchochek, Pasko Temelkov and Kliment Sadilov. The fourth one was not found.