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I was a member of the Bulgarian Communist Party [29] from 1966 until 1988. I had leftist beliefs but I would say that my way of life and education were more in line with right-wing ideas. Deep in my soul I knew that if I became a member of the party, my daughter would have some benefits in her studies. In the plant ‘Petar Chenegelov’ where I worked, I became chairman of the inspection commission of the party committee. I organized and taught courses on Stalin’s biography or the interpretation of the decisions of the Central Committee of the BCP. [Editor’s note: During communist rule it had the power of a Ministry Council, all decisions were made by the Central Committee and then voted and approved by the Ministry Council. That was formulated in article 1 of the old communist constitution (before 1991) about the leading role of the party.]
I have witnessed a lot of meaningless activities and I didn’t agree with everything. For example, instead of training workers to keep the machines in order, they preferred to put up slogans, ‘Look after the machines – they are ours.’ How can they be ours? That wasn’t true. That’s one of the smallest things. When the party made a decision, we were summoned and told about it. At the same time my husband, who had right-wing beliefs, listened to Radio London, Radio Free Europe [30] and we saw how false everything was. The party documents contained much demagogy and false information. I also saw how the people feared the party secretary because he could fire them if he wanted to. During my work at the plant, I never sensed any anti-Semitic attitudes towards me. On the contrary, I was much respected and loved.
We looked forward to the events of 1989 [31].
I have witnessed a lot of meaningless activities and I didn’t agree with everything. For example, instead of training workers to keep the machines in order, they preferred to put up slogans, ‘Look after the machines – they are ours.’ How can they be ours? That wasn’t true. That’s one of the smallest things. When the party made a decision, we were summoned and told about it. At the same time my husband, who had right-wing beliefs, listened to Radio London, Radio Free Europe [30] and we saw how false everything was. The party documents contained much demagogy and false information. I also saw how the people feared the party secretary because he could fire them if he wanted to. During my work at the plant, I never sensed any anti-Semitic attitudes towards me. On the contrary, I was much respected and loved.
We looked forward to the events of 1989 [31].
Period
Location
Plovdiv
Bulgaria
Interview
Sarina Chelibakova