Batak massacre refers to the massacre of Bulgarians in Batak by Ottoman troops in 1876, at the beggining of the April Uprising. The number of victims varies from 3,000 to 5,000 in different sources.
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The Massacre
Batak played an important role during the April Uprising. Few weeks after the beginning of the uprising, the city proclaims freedom, and for 9 days, the city was independent, under the authority of Revolutionary committee[1]. The rebellious city was reported to the turkish authorities. On 30 April 1876, 8,000 turkish soldiers, mainly Bashi-bazouk, led by Ahmet Aga Barun surrounded the city. After a first battle, the men from Batak decided to negociate with Ahmet Aga. He promised them the withdrawal of his troops, under the condition of their disarmament. After the rebels had laid down their weapons, the Bashi-bazouk attacked the defenseless population. The majority of the victims were beheaded[2]. It's somewhat interesting to see the reports by British journalists from these times, although it cannot be a reliable source for the numbers of victims, but maybe gives us a correct order of magnitude. According to Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, 5,000 persons were massacred in Batak alone. The number of victims in the district of Philippopolis (Plovdiv) reached 15,000[3]. According to Mr. Schuyler's report, published in Daily News, at least 15,000 persons were killed during the April Uprising, and 36 villages in three districts were burried[4]. The British commissioner, Mr. Baring, in his report, describes the event "as perhaps the most heinous crime that has stained the history of the present century".[5] In October Mr. Baring had to report again on the proceedings of the Turkish commission. Six weeks had elapsed since it left Constantinople, at "it was a surprising fact that it had no yet decided whether the Batak Massacre was a crime or not."[6].
Accusations of revisionism
In May 2007, a public conference was scheduled in Bulgaria, aiming to present research, held by Martina Baleva and Ulf Brunnbauer, on the formation of national memory for the Batak massacre. Bulgarian medias reported that the authors are denying the massacre, which was the rising of a substantial media controversy.
References
- ^ The Historical Church in Batak Bulgaria
- ^ Stoyanov, Z. Memoirs of the Bulgarian Uprisings
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- ^ The Barbarities in Bulgaria, New York Times
- ^ The Rise of Nationality in the Balkans - Page 84 by Robert William Seton-Watson
- ^ The Eastern Question from the Treaty of Paris 1856 to the Treaty of Berlin 1878 and to the Second... By George Douglas Campbell Argyll
