ANTIC STRIKE

Heritage is a bone,

mythology is the skin,

traditions get transformed.

The Europa of ancient epics resounds

and its echoes roar under our feet,

it is then that our links

are much more distant

than a simple engraved stone.

Mitch Brezounek

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

STARA ZAGORA

The monument of the Soviet soldier in Stara Zagora was built in 1949 in Metropolitan Metody Kussev (Ajazmoto) Park, a hallmark for the city. The very modest monument is in a classical style of stelae, representing a soldier holding down a flag and his hat down, in memoriam of the victims of war. This is the only Soviet soldier in Bulgaria featured without a gun. One of the first monuments dedicated to the Soviet army, it is quite different from the other monuments in Bulgaria. The reason is that Ivan Lazarov, one of the best pre-war artists, created it. The monument lacks any monumental pompousness and artistic clichés.

Another interesting fact is that the sculptor, persecuted by the communist authorities, opposed the propaganda monumental style in sculpture, imposed after 1944. Lazarov took as his collaborator Dimo Luchianov, an artist known for his eccentricity. This monument is not mentioned anywhere among the historical landmarks of the city, nor as part of Bulgarian art history. There were no special ceremonies, nor attempts to remove this monument. Still, usually, on holidays such as the Victory Day on May 9, several graffiti were painted on the monument.

On May 9, 2011, two messages were written over the monument:

MAY 9 IS THE BEGINNING OF THE TERROR

TRIBUNAL AGAINST THE COMMUNISTS

The inscriptions were immediately washed out.

On December 4, 2019, a swastika was painted over the pedestal. There was an immediate police investigation and the District Prosecutor’s Office filed a case against unknown violator, article 216, al. 1.

On March 1, 2022, the monument was covered with the colors of the Ukrainian flag and the inscriptions:

GLORY TO UKRAINE

LONG LIVE BULGARIA

Author of the historical text: Evelina Kelbecheva