97 years since the Bloodiest Terrorist Attack in Bulgarian History

April 16 marks the 97th anniversary of the bloodiest terrorist attack in Bulgarian history and one of the bloodiest in world history. On this date in 1925, 213 people died and 500 were injured in the church St Nedelya, in Sofia. For a long time (almost until September 11, 2001) the bloody event held the sad record for the most killed members of the political elite in one place.

On Saturday at 11.00 a.m. in the church St. Nedelya, a memorial service will be held on the occasion.

After the failure of the September Uprising of 1923, the Bulgarian Communist Party was banned and went underground. The Communists decided to retaliate. The leadership of the Military Organization of the Bulgarian Communist Party commissioned the assassination to one of the "six", led by Peter Abadjiev, who in the second half of January 1925 came into contact with the cleric of St Nedelya Peter Zadgorski. With his help, for several weeks Petar Abadjiev and Asen Pavlov brought a total of 25 kg of explosives to the ceiling of the church. The plan for the assassination intended first the killing of a high-ranking man whose burial service was to gather the political and military elite inside the church so that the explosion could have a greater effect. The communists selected General Konstantin Georgiev, who was killed in front of the Seven Saints Church on April 14.

The funeral of General Georgiev was scheduled for April 16, Holy Thursday. At 7 o'clock in the morning, Zadgorski released the perpetrators of the attack on the ceiling of the building. The mourning procession entered the church at 3 p.m. The service was headed by the Metropolitan of Sofia and future Exarch Stefan. Initially, the coffin was placed next to the column to be blown up, but then it...