There have been allegations recently that the massacre in Batak, Bulgaria in 1876 actually never happened or the
information about it was exaggerated.These promote the idea that all the information has been ethnically biased and is an impediment to the development of good relations between Bulgaria and neighbouring Turkey.The authors of the idea go even further by implying that the process of violent changing the names of Bulgarian Muslims from Arabic to Christian in 1989 was in a way inspired by the “distorted”
historical facts in schoolbooks and novels.Sadly, such views can only be in favour of the major world conflict of our time- the one based on difference of religion.
However, most historical sources tell about a merciless beheading of thousands of people,
including women and young children in Batak during the April
Uprising in 1876. Although it was marked by patriotic fervour and enthusiasm , the uprising was not very well organized and carried out. It also lacked decent munition. The Ottoman authorities sent their irregular soldiers also known as
bashibouzuk to suppress the uprising. As they weren’t paid by the Sultan , the bashibouzuk made a living by looting houses after they
killed the inhabitants. Such was the case in Batak where between 3,000 and 5,000 were killed, many of them in the local church. This cruelty was not left unnoticed by the rest of the world. Many journalists of that time , including J.MacGahan from The London Daily News , wrote reports on the inhumanities inflicted on the Bulgarians by the uncontrollable Ottoman troops.
So, any attempt by certain researchers from the Eastern Europe Institute at the Berlin university to depreciate the atrocity of the act can be considered as disrespectful to the victims’ descendants and to the national historical memory of the Bulgarian people.
Hopefully, there will be no further allegations about this painful moment from recent history.
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