The Bulgarian Occupation of Greece during World War II
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- Опубликовано: 19 авг 2022
- During World War Two Bulgaria occupied a part of Greece: Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. During the occupation of Greece several tragedies occured such as the Drama Uprising where the Bulgarian Army of WW2 crushed a Greek revolt and conducted bloody reprisals. How was life in Bulgarian-annexed Greece?
History Hustle presents: the Bulgarian Occupation of Greece during World War II.
The Bulgarian Occupation of Yugoslavia during World War II (1941 - 1944):
• The Bulgarian Occupati...
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SOURCES
- Bulgaria during the Second World War (Marshall Lee Miller).
- Greece, the Decade at War. Occupation, Resistance and Civil War (David Brewer).
- Inside Hitler’s Greece. The Experience of Occupation, 1941-44 (Mark Mazower).
IMAGES
Images from commons.wikimedia.org / lostbulgaria.com / / viox.colorized
German Invasion of Greece:
We were in constant war with Bulgaria for a millenia but they are our best neighbor nowadays and one of our allies ,let the past be the past and lets move forward
The story between Greece and Bulgaria, looks like that of France and Germany. Once, they were the worst enemies. Now, they are good friends, partners (in EU) and allies (in NATO).
I had a few relatives that served in the Bulgarian army at the time (though not in the occupied territories themselves) and they were quite adamant that this whole occupation effort and lifes lost was unnecessary waste for everyone involved. Maybe they had some benefit of hindsight but what they argued that most people were actually sceptical that Germany would just hand these territories over (even if it won). Rather, it was just letting the Bulgarian government act as a caretaker so that it frees up German troops for the war effort. There is also the context that the population in the interwar period was practically fed up and exhausted of wars. Its a major contrast to WW1 when Bulgaria put a lot more effort in establishing control of these regions, a time when both politicians and ordinary people were a lot more driven by the nationalist idea of restoring the San Stefano borders. They were of course those that believed its all going to turn out alright (and at least southern Yugoslavia will be kept) but there is an element of wishful thinking to it. By the way, the current issue between Bulgaria and N.Macedonia over the latter's EU application has some connection to this episode as there is quite a difference in the account on how Bulgarian troops were accepted when arriving in the region.
The following story from my great-grandfather. During the occupation he lived in a small village in modern day western Macedonia region in Greece. At some point during the war the slav security battalions you mentioned killed some snakes and hanged the snakes at the village Square. Then the slavs would point at the dead snakes and tell to passers by "' Look , Greece is dead" . F-ed up times in my opinion
Maybe it's forgotten by the rest of the world but in Greece we very well remember that the burgarian occupation in Greece was the most vecious compared to the other two. Luckily there seems to be no grudges today between the two countries. I hope it stays that way <3 I have a Bulgarian friend that i very much like haha
The First Balkan War, the Second Balkan War, World War 1, the Greco-Turkish war, World War 2, the Greek Civil War... the drama just went on and on for Greece.
Actually you are incorrect... "Bulgaria's contribution to Operation Marita and the Axis conquest of Greece was relatively minor; the Bulgarians and a Wehrmacht division guarded the left flank of the invasion." ~Crampton, Richard J. (2014). "Bulgaria". In Dear, I. C. B.; Foot, M. R. D. (eds.). The Oxford Companion to World War II (online) (1 ed.). Oxford University Press. So with that being said, Bulgarian Forces participated in and during the INVASION of Greece.
this video is rlly amazing for bulgarians (i am bulgarian) bcs we dont learn about OUR war crimes but we learn about other coutries war crimes
Greece has never forgiven Bulgaria........I think. I 'm a Brit with a Bulgarian plate VW, I've a boat in Greece and regularly go there. Last time I went to Greece, I left my car, for one night, outside the Marina gates and it was damaged by a person with whom I knew did it. It was no accident but a purposeful attack. Bulgariam plates? I wonder.
I have heard from my grandfathers and grandmothers the challenges they faced being Greek Macedonians from Florina and how they were slavicised or dehellenised by the Bulgarian and ottoman forces. It’s a shame we entopi have to say Greek Macedonian and not just Macedonian..I guess Bulgaria won in the end with FYROM being recognised and the word Macedonian being recognised in there name…we all know that the people from over the borders are genetically Hellenes, bulgars, Albanians and gypsies!
Sadly, our mutual relations in the first half of XX c. were based on war crimes and constant revenging. For example the burning of mainly Bulgarian Kukush (Kilkis) by the Greek Army and of mainly Greek Syar (Serres) by the Bulgarian Army.
The conflict between Greece and Bulgaria began at Byzantine era between East Rome and Bulgarian kingdom. The worst time came in the Balkan wars and the ww2. A cold war period followed until the 1990s.
My grandmother who is of Pontic Greek descent was born and raised in Doxato. When the occupation started she was 7-8 years old and she still remembers the uprising that took place. Her father was taken as a prisoner and some of her cousins were executed. What saved her father was the fact that he looked a lot like the Bulgarian officer's father and he didn't want to get him killed. She also stessed a lot how terrible the Bulgarians were when dealing with the Greeks. A lot of forced labour, expelling people from their homes, attempts to erase greek culture from the land and turn greeks into Bulgarians. Of course this behaviour originated from the Balkan wars during which hate was developed. That said, she stated that the food problem was not as bad as in the big cities like Thessaloniki or Athens.
Another great, well researched presentation on an important episode of World War II not widely known in the west. Thanks Stefan and keep up the good work.
My father lived in a fishing village on the island of Thassos. He went with his father to Thessaloniki to see what the government was doing about the German invasion. By the time they got back to Thassos, the Bulgarians were already in place.
Thank you for this video. You always manage to make them really captivating !
It was 1995. As I walked past an elderly couple sat on a bench in Thessaloniki, just by the seafront, I overheard them talking to each other in archaic dialect of the Bulgarian language, quite obsolete and peculiar to my ears. I asked for the time in Bulgarian. The man said in Greek he didn’t know what I was on about, then, in Greek, he told me the time. I said συγνώμη and left. Sure they knew Bulgarian, yet I have no doubt their grandchildren feel Greek by ancestry and know no other mother tongue.
Our good neighbors the Bulgarians, their ancestors actually, were as brutal as the nazis during the occupation of a part of Macedonia during ww2. They committed atrocities, looted, pillaged, murdered civilians, and burned villages, all over the area of their " Responsibility ". I come from that part of Greece, and even now that we are full of tourists from Bulgaria every summer, I hear now and then the remaining grandmas in my village to curse badly when they hear the Bulgarian language...
I live in Doxato....who suffered so much from the Bulgarian occupation and cruelty...I have never had a grandpa....He and his two brothers managed to return safe from Greek Italian war but on 29 of September 1941 they executed by the Bulgarian army....My father told me what means "hunger"....When we want to describe hunger we just say.... Bulgaria...When we want to describe cruelty...we say Bulgarian cruelty.... Now we have good relationships and we travel to Bulgaria as well...But we can't forget....Never again war...