On the eve of Bulgaria Liberation’s 140^th anniversary the Bulgarian Red Cross and the National Guards Unit of Bulgaria organized a commemoration ceremony in front of the Doctor’s Monument downtown Sofia. It is devoted to those medics who fell during the 1877 – 1878 Russo–Turkish War. The monument is made by Russian architect Antonyi Tomishko. The Doctor’s Monument, as the Bulgarians have called it, was built up via donations in the period 1883 – 1884. It is a truncated four-sided pyramid on an extensive pedestal crowned on the top with a polished granite sarcophagus with embossed crosses made by the Italian stone craftsman Farabosco. The names of the battles with the most numerous victims from the medical corps are engraved on the four sides of the sarcophagus: Pleven, Shipka, Plovdiv and Mechka. The names of doctors, paramedics, samaritans and sanitarians are engraved underneath. Among them there is one Bulgarian name – the one of the doctor of the Bulgarian Volunteers Opaltchentsi formation Dr. Konstantin Vezenkov.

The official ceremony is considered a humble act of gratitude and recognition of the feat and memory of the medics who died in the war. The commemoration event began with a service of priests from the Bulgarian and Russian Orthodox Churches.

The Guard’s Representative Brass Orchestra and the National Guards Unit paid military honors and stood in honorary guard in front of the monument of the heroes, whose humanitarian activities during the war set the grounds for the establishment of the Bulgarian Red Cross. Its current President Hristo Grigorov pointed out at the ceremony:

“Your excellencies, dear friends, we stand in front of a monument symbolizing the love and gratitude of the Bulgarian people for those who gave their life for the Liberation of Bulgaria. We have here names and medical ranks – Russians, Romanians, Ukrainians, Poles, Belarussians… The monument was built up in 1884. The Bulgarian Red Cross sanctified it in 1993, following the Orthodox canons. We have been here together every year since then, in order to express our gratitude. This monument has another potential as well. It has the task to carry a message to the young people who will take over the rule of our country and will continue to the future with the purpose of showing goodness and empathy and having respect for their history. Let’s bow our heads and honor the memory of those people who gave their life for Bulgaria. Glory to their names!”

The commemoration ceremony was attended by diplomats, politicians and citizens, who had come to express their recognition, laying a flower at the monument of the dead medics.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev