site.btaBulgarian Delegation Pays Tribute at Gotse Delchev's Grave in Skopje

A Bulgarian delegation, led by Bulgarian Ambassador in Skopje Zhelyazko Radukov, laid wreaths and flowers at the sarcophagus of freedom-fighter Gotse Delchev (1872-1903) in the yard of Skopje's St Spas Church (also known as the Church of the Ascension of Jesus) on Saturday, marking the 122nd anniversary of his death. 

"Today, here, in front of his [Gotse Delchev's] grave in Skopje, moved from Bulgaria in the darkest days of communism, we realize most clearly how unfortunate it is that we cannot celebrate this date side by side with our brothers for yet another year. And we realize how sad it is that the name of Gotse Delchev is increasingly used for political abuse and denial. It is not a name of division, it is a bridge. A bridge between the past and the future, a bridge between Bulgaria and North Macedonia," said Radukov when presenting wreaths to those present.

The Bulgarian ambassador in Skopje noted that Gotse Delchev himself was not a man of hatred and that his contemporaries described him as a man of enlightenment, cultural competition and equal rights.

"We must realize that we are obliged to preserve the memory of this wonderful man and to stand up for what he fought for," Radukov also said.

This year, for the first time, people paid respects to the tune of Delchev’s favorite song, the record of which was provided by his Delchev's great-grandnephew Hristo Hristov, who was also in attendance.

Delchev, who more than a century ago understood the world as a field for cultural competition of nations, was killed by the Ottoman army on May 4, 1903. Born on February 4, 1872 in Kukush, in the family of Sultana and Nikola, he received his education at the gymnasium in Thessaloniki and at the Military Academy in Sofia. He taught in Shtip, and as a member of the Central Committee of the VMRO he worked on the creation of a network of bases, committees and committee units of the Organization. He participated in the Thessaloniki Congress of the VMRO (1896), and until 1901 he was the overseas representative of the VMRO in Sofia. After his murder on May 4,1903, his remains were kept in Banitsa until 1917, when they were transferred to Xanthi and then to Sofia. Until 1923, the coffin was kept in the home of Mihail Chakov. Delchev's remains were transferred to the Church of St. Spas in Skopje on October 11, 1946.