TODOR ALEXANDROV'S MONUMENT

BRINGS TOGETHER BULGARIANS
FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE BORDER

 

KRUSTAN PETRUNOV
Macedonia Weekly  20 Sep 2000
"Thanks to patriotic organizations such as the VMRO that keep our national spirit awake, forgotten traditions and figures, whose activities were, until recently, purposefully obscured, are more and more revered in Bulgaria."

said Sofia mayor Stephan Sofijanski at the ceremony inaugurating the monument to the legendary revolutionary and IMRO leader Todor Alexandrov. The monument, which has been built on the initiative of VMRO's Youth Organization and by the contributions of donors coming from Bulgaria, Macedonia, USA, Canada, and Australia, was solemnly opened and blessed with holy water by a priest on September 16, at 12:30 pm.

Even before Angel Apostolov, of VMRO-YO, announced the beginning of the celebration, the guests from Macedonia and the diaspora were attracting everyone's attention. Particularly impressive was the group from Shtip, Todor Alexandrov's birthplace, which had brought some special presents for the legendary IMRO leader's daughter, Mrs Maria Koeva - a view from Shtip's Novo Selo, the quarter where Alexandrov was born, and an album featuring sights from the town. They were handed over by VMRO-DPMNU activist Alexandar Zahariev. The Shtip group also included Mr. Alexandar Kukuvajski, a 78 year-old from a known IMRO family, as well as businessman Ivan Kotsev. Guests from Prilep, Veles, Skopje, Kichevo and other towns and villages in the Republic of Macedonia made the celebration an all-Bulgarian event.

In his speech, VMRO's president Mr. Krasimir Karakachanov emphasized the greatness of what Todor Alexandrov accomplished by restoring the Organization three times in most adverse circumstances, and turning it into a defender of the Bulgarians that found themselves enslaved again in 1913, this time by the Greeks and the Serbs.

"Due to the magnitude of his cause, Todor Alexandrov has a place amongst the great Bulgarian revolutionaries - next to Rakovski, Levski Botev." said Karakachanov.

With this monument, a lane has taken shape in Boris's Garden (Sofia City park) where four persons are to be honoured - the Macedonian Liberation Movement's titan Goce Delchev, Dame Gruev, Todor Alexandrov, and Ivan Mihailov. These are small, yet strong steps towards overcoming the prevailing national nihilism.

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