On October 9, 1934, Yugoslav King Aleksandar Karađorđević arrived in France on an official visit. The cruiser Dubrovnik docked at the port of Marseille, and the King was greeted by French Foreign Minister Louis Barthou. They mounted an open car, guarded by numerous police, and headed for the prefecture. The car passed through the crowds of French citizens who have come to meet one of their allies in the First World War.

The solemn procession was accompanied by the joyful shouts of "Long live the King", and Alexander Karađorđević proudly accepted the salute, waving his hand. At that moment, a man in a white bombe approaches and stands on one of the vehicle's front steps and presents the King with a bouquet of flowers. "Long live the King," the stranger solemnly shouted, in pure French, and at that moment, from behind the beautiful bouquet, the muzzle of a mauser was raised, firing several bullets into the body of the Yugoslav ruler.

The King is dead, long live independent Macedonia....

A mounted policeman with a sabre strike cut down the daring assassin, who, even knocked to the ground, continued firing and killed one of the guards. The panicked policemen open fire indiscriminately, accidentally grazing several civilians, and one of the bullets landed in the hand of Minister Barthou, who later died of blood loss.

After a few days it became clear that the assassin was one of the most wanted men in the Balkans - best shooter of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization /IMRO/ - Velichko Dimitrov Kerin, who remained in history as Vlado Chernozemski. The whole world was talking about Marseilles, where Chernozemski brought justice in the name of the Macedonian Bulgarians who were victims of Serbian slavery and terror.

Background

After the end of World War I, Bulgaria experienced its second national catastrophe. As a result of IMRO's decades-long struggle, only Pirin Macedonia became part of Bulgaria, while the Vardar and Aegean parts of the region remained permanently in Serbia and Greece. Post-war Bulgarian society was demoralised by the collapse of the national ideal of unification of all lands inhabited by ethnic Bulgarians. An economic and social crisis reigned in Bulgaria, which, as the losing side in the war, was forced to pay heavy reparations, and the total number of all military, police and gendarmes was reduced to only 33,000.

In this difficult situation IMRO, led by Todor Alexandrov, remained true to its goal of winning freedom for the Bulgarians in Macedonia. The organization was determined to fight the new tyrants ruling in the enslaved homeland, who were determined to eradicate Bulgarianness. In 1921, the government of the Republic of Macedonia set out to destroy the country. Alexander l Karađorđević was crowned king of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes formed after the war. The new king was a faithful follower of the ideas of Ilija Garasanin and Stoyan Novakovic, the fathers of the idea of a large state of the southern Slavs dominated by Serbia. One of the main points in this plan was the eradication of the Bulgarian identity in Macedonia and the construction of a new national identity - the Macedonian one. Aleksandar Karadzorđević set about implementing this concept by destroying Bulgarian institutions in Vardar Macedonia. Bulgarian teachers and priests were expelled from schools and churches and their places were taken by Serbs. The surnames of the Bulgarians were changed by adding the suffix "ich" or "ski", and the speaking of any language other than Serbian was forbidden. Atrocities against peaceful citizens, on the part of the Serbian authorities, were a daily occurrence, and the jails were filled with those who dared to dissent.

Aleksandar Karađorđević was put on the IMRO blacklist in 1913, when he was still heir to the throne of Serbia. At the heat of the Balkan War, the Serbian army entered Skopje, and the hospitable Bulgarians welcomed the Serbian prince with flowers at the Stone Bridge. Among the greeters was 7-year-old Vaska Zoycheva. The flamboyant Crown Prince noticed the child, dismounted and placed the girl on his lap. "What are you (by ethnicity)?" Alexander asked, "a Bulgarian", Vaska replied. Angered by the answer, he slaped the girl. This case gained notoriety, and the great Bulgarian poet Ivan Vazov wrote his poem "Who are you?" in reference to the repulsive scene.

Marseille

It is a little-known fact that at this historical moment, it is as if fate itself smiles on the work of the Macedonian revolutionaries. The paranoid Yugoslav king had a bulletproof vest, which he wore in his public appearances. Before disembarking from the ship, Alexander glanced around and didn't like the way he looked - with a vest under his uniform. The vain villain disembarked at Marseilles harbor without the item that would have saved his life, as all of Chernozemsky's shots hit body parts that the vest would have protected.

Cut down by one of the policemen and brutally kicked by the surrounding crowd, V. Chernozemski died of his wounds a few hours later. The corpse was stripped and on one of the arms, the policemen noticed a tattoo - a skull and crossbones accompanied by the inscription "V.M.R.O." and the date 1924 (probably the year the tattoo was made). After days of struggle, the world learned the truth about the event that had shaken Europe - IMRO had once again punished the enemies of Bulgarian identity of Macedonia.

Today's Skopje often attacks what was done in 1934 because the French Foreign Minister Louis Barthou died in the assassination. For many years it was believed that Chernozemski was also responsible for the death of the French first diplomat. French documents declassified over the past 20 years make it clear that Barthou was not killed by a Chernozemsky bullet. When the assassin shot King Alexander, the stunned French police opened fire indiscriminately and one of the shots hit the minister in the arm. The latter was suffering from haemophilia (a disease that prevents the blood from clotting), and in the commotion that ensued no one paid any attention to him. Barthou walked to the hospital, but by the time he arrived he had already lost too much blood and died.

Another question arises, if Louis Barthou was the target of the assassination, how could Chernozemsky miss hitting him, given that the minister is literally sitting next to the murdered king. It is highly doubtful that IMRO's best marksman would miss a target within a meter of him.

Memory

Vlado Chernozemsky was reburied as many as three times in Saint Pierre, the largest cemetery in Marseille. Eventually, in the early 1950s, the Bulgarian revolutionary's remains ended up in the largest communal ossuary in Marseille, built for the heroes who died for the freedom of France. Twenty years ago, relatives of the hero took soil from the grave in Marseille and brought it to the church in Chernozemski's hometown - Velingrad. | BGNES

--------

Velislav Iliev, International News at BGNES News Agency