THE PASTORAL TRIALS ELIMINATE THE AVANTGUARD OF BULGARIAN EVANGELICALS FOR AN ENTIRE GENERATION (PART 2)

THE PASTORAL TRIALS ELIMINATE THE AVANT-GARDE OF BULGARIAN EVANGELICALS, BEHEADING IT FOR AN ENTIRE GENERATION (Part 2)

[Editorial note: The following text is translated from the Bulgarian original. The documents contain memorandums, archival records, State Security (Darzhavna Sigurnost / DS) interrogation files, survivor testimonies, and secondary scholarly sources. Bracketed insertions in the original are the author’s. Handwritten portions of the source document are noted where applicable. Archival reference: pp. 155–177.]

Georgi Nikolov Chernev — Age 45

Completed his studies in Danzig and at Carter Seminary in London. Member of the Supreme Council of the United Evangelical Churches (OETs) and Chairman of the Union of Evangelical Pentecostal Churches (SEPTS). Arrested while on his way to the church in Elhovo. Like all other detainees, he completed Declaration Form No. 10G, in which he stated: born in the early twentieth century in Yambol; occupation: ‘pastor of the SEPTS’; under additional professions: ‘journalist.’ Member of the Society of the Periodical Press; non-partisan; without affiliation to the Fatherland Front.

For his contribution to the anti-fascist resistance before 1944, he possessed a document ‘issued by the Fighters against Fascism,’ which was disregarded. In a handwritten analysis, Chernev observed: ‘Everything was done and carried out according to a pre-established plan, on the orders and insistence of Moscow. From a reliable source it later became known that the Communists had decided that approximately 600 Evangelical Christians were to be detained by the militia and tried — some sentenced to death, others to prison, others to labour camps, and some to internal exile. And so it came to pass!’

His wife was interned in Svishtov, and their twenty-four-year-old son Veniamin was also arrested. In his unpublished memoirs, he recounts in an indescribable manner the tortures and sufferings of the pastors ‘behind the curtain.’ In his work A Broken Destiny, Kiril Tonev writes: ‘In the Pleven prison were father and son Chernev. The father, a pastor, was there from the Pastoral Trial; the son, a Cambridge graduate, had been sentenced to death. It was expected that the sentence would be overturned or confirmed. There was a legal time limit for this, but it passed. During this period the father — Pastor Chernev — was arrested, and in order to break him and cause him to incriminate other co-defendants, they told him: If you do not tell the truth, we will carry out your son’s sentence immediately.’

After his release from prison in 1967, Pastor Chernev addressed Todor Zhivkov personally with a request for rehabilitation. Nevertheless, the Secretariat of the Committee for State Security sent a telegram to the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party which read: ‘The petition of Pastor Georgi Nikolov Chernev — to be rehabilitated as unjustly convicted at the trial against the Evangelical pastors — is not to be granted.’

Emanuil Stoyanov Manolov — Age 49

Completed his studies in Danzig and London. The only one of the three pastors who refused to make confessions to the very end. Pastor of the Evangelical Pentecostal Church (EPC) in Stara Zagora; member of the editorial board of the SEPTS under Protocol No. 8 (11 February 1930); chief editor of Pentecostal News. Fluent in foreign languages and maintaining connections with Western missions, he was classified by the State Security Service as ‘politically unreliable.’

As opposition-minded Pentecostal pastors — including Pastor Emanuil Manolov and Georgi Todorov — were subjected to serious repression on account of their ‘insubordination.’ The denunciations against Manolov accused him of oppositional views, including criticism of the authorities, whom he described as ‘antichrist.’ At a meeting of the Pentecostal leadership, he stated that the ‘Circular Letters’ were being widely criticised even in churches that formally supported government policy. In response, the leadership loyal to the authorities resolved to remove Pastor Manolov from leadership positions within the Union. He was also charged with participating in worship services outside the SEPTS. He was the sole pastor to support Dryanov in his opposition to the black-market currency exchanges within the SEPTS.

Boris Ivanov Kuzmanov

Completed a Bachelor of Theology degree at ‘St. Chrischona’ in Austria (not Switzerland, as State Security documents erroneously assert). He took his first steps in ministry in Sliven. From 1937 to 1939 he served as pastor of the EPC in Yambol. At the twelfth regular annual assembly (1946) in Krumovo Gradishte, Kuzmanov served on the SEPTS committee. Following the trials, he led the church in Plovdiv (1955–1962).

Taking considerable risk upon himself and his family, during the 1950s and 1960s he translated and compiled Christian hymns. Under conditions of severe censorship and open persecution, these filled the hunger for hymnal literature and were printed by hand on heliographic paper — a practice that was prohibited. Kuzmanov, an accomplished linguist and musician, performed translations and arrangements drawing on a variety of sources. In addition to traditional Bulgarian collections, he drew upon foreign ones, including the German Dielgerlieder (1922), the American Tabernacle Hymns (1926) and Melodies of Praise (1957), as well as two Russian publications: Songs of the Wanderer (1927) and Song of Songs (1936).

Yoncho Nikolov Dryanov

Embraced the Pentecostal faith during the sojourn of [Ivan] Voronayev in Varna in 1921. After completing secondary school, he went on to graduate from the Higher Commercial Institute in the city of Varna. He studied theology in Samokov and abroad — in Danzig (1936) and Bern (1938). He spoke French, German, and English. In his memoirs he wrote: ‘We must acknowledge that our finances before the trial were not well organised.’ Despite his opposition to the black-market currency exchanges proposed by Chernev, L. Popov, and Kinareva, he was convicted.

From 1950 he was imprisoned in the Varna prison together with Mitko Mateyev, and later both were transferred to Persin Island. There, the prison guards locked them together with Haralan Popov in a cattle shed for an entire week, in order to ‘make at least one cow or ox accept Christianity.’ Blind in one eye, Dryanov firmly withstood the interrogations ‘behind the curtain’ and in the ‘devil’s cell’ of the prison.

Haralan Ivanov Popov — Age 47

Completed his studies in Danzig and London. Arrested at 4 a.m. on 24 June 1948 and spent 35 days in complete darkness in solitary confinement. He began to hallucinate and ‘confessed’ by signing the fabricated ‘self-confessions.’ ‘The Nazis were cruel, but the Communists were both cruel and satanically cunning,’ Popov later said. He spent 13 years as an ‘enemy of the people’ — in the prisons of Sliven and Shumen, and at Belene. He never forgot the quotation from Dante written above the door of the ‘devil’s cell’: ‘O ye who enter here, abandon all hope!’

After the Hungarian Revolution he was transferred to the prison in Stara Zagora. Following his release, he led an underground church in Sofia. On 31 December 1962 he was permitted to join his family in Sweden, and in 1970 moved to the United States. He recorded the following observation from his time under the Regime — one which proves prophetic for our own day: ‘Gradually the pastors of the churches were removed and in their place came people ready to become instruments in the hands of the Communists, who concentrated their efforts on placing their own puppets in the pulpit. Having installed puppets in many churches, they then identified the next target: the senior Bulgarian church leaders of the Evangelical denominations!’

Gruy Iliev Kuzmanov — Age 54

Completed his studies in Danzig. Yet another example of how the Communist regime persecuted pastors who had opposed the fascist dictatorship in Bulgaria. The authorities banned Pastor Kuzmanov from conducting preaching and pastoral activities in Pleven. Kuzmanov appealed to inspector Chucholayn, but was nonetheless transferred by the Union leadership to Plovdiv. The church he had built in the village of Aprilts was closed. By telegram to the Ministry of the Interior on 23 February 1943, Pastor Gradinakov of Pazardzhik reported that despite the prohibition, Kuzmanov continued to pastor and to conduct wedding ceremonies. This was followed by removal from ministry and a punitive act. He was rehabilitated by the Supreme Council and Angel Dinov only in 1956, together with Iv. Zarev.

Ivan Zerev Angelinov — Age 37

Born in 1909 in Gorna Sekirna. Completed his education in Danzig (1935–1938). For two years he served as pastor in Pernik, after which he assumed leadership of the Evangelical Pentecostal Church (EPC) in Sofia, which he headed until 1948. The Pastoral Trials interrupted his studies at the Faculty of Theology of Sofia University. In his single-volume history of the Union of Evangelical Pentecostal Churches (SEPTS), he described the ‘Pastoral Trials’ in the following words: ‘One hundred days in an ice-cold cell, with a bucket and a jug as my only faithful companions. My hair stands on end when I recall that horror… whenever I pass by that accursed building near the Lion Bridge.’

After the conclusion of the trials, in the official reports on the activities of the Committee and the state of the Protestant churches in Sofia, he is listed as a co-minister of the EPC Sofia, together with Angel Dinov and Dinko Zhelev. He taught dogmatics and homiletics at the biblical courses for pastors within the SEPTS. In connection with the State Security campaign and the trials of 1979, directed against the Pentecostal movement in the People’s Republic of Bulgaria and its foreign ties, State Security officer Lieutenant Colonel Angel Zhelev stated: ‘A blow has been dealt to the Pentecostal sect in the PRB and the foreign religious headquarters.’ In an interview for Anteni, Zarev concurred with the accusation: ‘The six defendants violated the laws of the country.’

Diko Dimitrov Mavrudaev — Age 42

Completed his studies in Danzig. Pastor of the EPC in Troyan, Dimitrovgrad, Pazardzhik, and Plovdiv (1937–1947), after which he was succeeded by Zh. Vrachev. Krali Kralev, who was announced as an evangelist to the towns and villages south of Burgas, where the ‘Pastoral Trials’ found him. Following the completion of his sentence, he faced restrictions imposed by the authorities. He kept a warehouse-type shop at the Plovdiv railway station, which was frequently used as a meeting point by his former colleagues.

Yosif Georgiev Kokonchev — Age 38

Completed his studies in Danzig (1936–1938), immediately after which he served as pastor of the EPC in Sliven (1938–1947). His family is among the well-known Enidzhevardartsi [settlers from Yenidje Vardar], from whom he acquired a command of Greek. The Pastoral Trials found him at the EPC in Stara Zagora. He was subsequently appointed to the EPC in Varna (1950), succeeding Dryanov. He is mentioned in the Yearbook of the Theological Academy (1958–1971). Elected to the financial committee of the SEPTS together with Zarev and Vrachev, and as deputy chairman to Angel Dinov. Of him, St. Bankov wrote: ‘Kokonchev stoically upheld the position to which, as we have already ascertained, he had been assigned…’

Enyo (Enyu) Iliev Tsonev — Age 40

Among the first cohort of graduates from Danzig. He embraced the faith at the age of seventeen during one of Kostadin Tomov’s visits to Yambol. The first worship services in Yambol were held in the home of his mother Shtilyana, a fervent believer baptised in the Holy Spirit. He is recorded as deacon and treasurer in Protocol No. 1 at the founding of the EPC in Yambol. A magnificent biblical teacher and evangelist in places where no one else wished to go. Until the very end he preached from Dispensational Truth and from Larkin’s Revelation. Shortly before the Pastoral Trials, in 1944–45, his nephew and future pastor of the EPC Yambol, Georgi Arnaudov, began preaching with him in the villages.

Nikola Stefanov Stoyanov — Age 40

Studied in Danzig for approximately six months. Worked with Pastor Ivan Stoychev. Served as pastor at the EPC in Ruse, succeeding Haralan Popov, and also in Shumen. Pastor in Yambol (1955–1961), where in 1958 he carried out renovations to the building at 10 ‘Slavyanska’ Street, behind the ‘Soglasie’ community centre, where the church had been housed since 1947. In 1960 the SEPTS cautioned him by Circular No. 51 to observe Article 20 and not to work with minors. Shortly thereafter he was removed from his position on the pretext that he was disseminating the book of William Branham.

Edward Agop Kuriyan — Age 34

Completed his studies in Samokov, Danzig, and London. Born in 1913 in Sliven, Bulgaria, into the family of Agop Kuriyan, founder of the EPC in Sliven. He served as pastor in Pomorie, Pazardzhik, Chirpan, and Kyustendil. In Burgas he served for the first time in 1941 as assistant to Pastor Haralan Popov, and during the Pastoral Trials was permanently transferred to Burgas in 1948, remaining there until 1960. He was interned together with his entire family in Popovo. Rehabilitated in 1963, he served as pastor in Nesebar, and in 1970 assumed leadership of the EPC in Aheloy.

Todor Stoykov Godjorov — Age 41

Completed his studies in Danzig. A deeply devoted minister and fruit of the EPC in Burgas, founded in 1926. He served as pastor in Ruse, Troyan, Dimitrovgrad, and Pazardzhik, where he also died. Until the very end he remained a firm defender of the proper exercise of the spiritual gifts.

Ivan Stoychev Ivanov — Age 40

Completed his studies in Danzig (1931). He came to faith in 1927. In 1932 he began his ministry in the Burgas district, and was subsequently sent to Sliven. One of the first to preach in Mokren, Zimnitsa, Straldzha, Galabintsi, and Boyadzhik. Ordained as pastor in Plovdiv (1933), he assumed leadership of the EPC in Yambol in 1935. He formed the first church choir, which for the first time greeted the faithful in their homes at Christmas. Following his ministry in Yambol he was transferred as pastor to Stara Zagora, and from 1947 served again in Sliven, where he founded the MHL-Karandila youth camp, with the first campers ascending the summit on donkeys. Persecuted by the authorities, he was compelled to leave Sliven and relocated to Asenovgrad, where the congregation received a refusal for his pastoral appointment, whereupon he returned to Burgas.

Ladin Ivanov Popov — Age 34

Completed his studies in Danzig and London. Comes from a prosperous rural family. Completed secondary school in Svishtov. Brother of Haralan Popov; served as pastor of the EPC in Ruse in 1939 and in Troyan. In the eight-volume archive of the Chief Directorate of Operational Records (GDOR), entitled ‘Slanderers,’ there are two separate folders of denunciations and surveillance reports concerning him. He assumed leadership of the EPC in Burgas in 1948, where the Pastoral Trials found him. Sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. The indictment read: ‘That among the Evangelical pastors there are also individuals who served Hitler, recruited workers for Germany… [and] homosexuals — such as Ladin Popov (according to the testimonies of G. Vasov, Dimitar Mateyev, and Ladin Popov himself).’

He was the only one among the defendants who refused to accept the charges of ‘espionage’ levelled against them. As a gesture of protest against the judicial farce, he appeared in court without a necktie, despite this being an official requirement. He served his sentence in the Burgas prison, from which he was released in 1952.

Ivan Mitev Yalamov — Age 36

Completed his studies in Danzig (1936–1938), immediately after which he began to pastor in Mokren. He served in Yambol and Elhovo, and was subsequently appointed in Nova Zagora, from where he was transferred to Ruse, Aytos, and Stara Zagora. He served as the longest-tenured secretary of the SEPTS. ‘The defendant Pastor Ivan M. Yalamov confirms that the defendant Georgi Chernev had requested from him detailed information regarding the number, type, and armament of Soviet troops in the Nova Zagora district.’

Stoicho Dimitrov Kupenov — Age 38

Completed his studies in Danzig (1936–1938). Began as pastor of the EPC in Aheloy (1939). Served in Chirpan, Aytos, Ruse, and Pazardzhik. He strengthened the EPC in Ruse, which had been severely shaken following the imprisonment of Pastor Haralan Popov and the disruption of ties with the Slavic Religious Mission. He was one of the few who strongly opposed the restrictions imposed by the new policy of the SEPTS following the Pastoral Trials.

Nikola Harlamiev Tsenkov — Age 41

Completed his studies in Danzig. Delegate at the Founding Assembly of the SEPTS in Burgas (1928). Served as pastor of the EPC in Kostenets, Haskovo, and Pernik. Under Protocol No. 27 (7 July 1932), ‘he was sent to the EPC in Stara Zagora with the aim of consolidating and pacifying the church there,’ which was experiencing spiritual difficulties following its recent admission to the Union. Secretary-Treasurer of the SEPTS (1944).

19th Century History of Protestantism in Bulgaria

Translated from the list with pastors from the document above:

LIST OF BULGARIAN EVANGELICAL PASTORS WHO COMPLETED THEIR EDUCATION  ABROAD

State Security Service Memorandum, 1948

Archival Reference: 155/3/177

Editorial note: The following is a complete transcription and translation of the archival document photographed at pastir.org. Text underlined in the original manuscript is rendered with underline formatting below. A handwritten annotation reading ‘до тук’ (‘to here’) appears at the foot of the original page, indicating the end of the handwritten portion of the document. Checkmarks (✓) visible in the original against certain entries are noted in brackets. The preamble and closing summary are translated verbatim from the Bulgarian.

Preamble (verbatim translation): ‘In order not to speak in generalities and to substantiate the foregoing, I find it necessary to append a list of the names of the pastors who completed their education in America or in some other foreign country, who, in addition to their religious fanaticism, have unquestionably acquired the character and mentality of the “secular” Western democracies. For example:’

THE LIST

1. Vasil Georgiev Zyapkov — age 47. Completed advanced theological studies in Manchester and New York.
2. Lambri Marinov Mishkov — age 40. Completed his studies at the theological seminary in Princeton, USA.
3. Simeon Petrov Iliev — age 37. Completed his studies at a theological seminary in Switzerland.
4. Konstantin Stoyanov Marvakov — age 55. Completed his studies at a seminary in Austria.
5. Kiril Yotov Vladov — age 43. Completed his studies in Frankfurt am Main.
6. Kostadin Spasov Bozovayski — age 35. Completed his studies in London — Seminary.
7. Krum Georgiev Bumbakov — age 43. Completed his studies at a seminary in Austria.
8. Sarkis Bedros Manukyan. Completed his studies in Kingston, Canada.
9. Pavel Hristov Nikolov — age 49. Completed advanced theological education in Oxford, England.
10. Nikola Borisov Dimitrov — age 42. Completed his studies at a seminary in Bangor, USA.
11. Yosif Isakov Danailov — age 49. Completed his studies in Austria and England.
12. Atanas Angelov Kremenliev — age 37. Completed his studies at a seminary in the USA.
13. Georgi Nikolov Chernev — age 45. Completed his studies in Danzig and London.
14. Emanuil Stoyanov Manolov — age 49. Completed his studies in Danzig and London.
15. Boris Ivanov Kuzmanov. Completed his studies in Krichona — Switzerland.
16. Yoncho Nikolov Dryanov — age 42. Completed his studies in Danzig — Germany.
17. Haralan Ivanov Popov — age 47. Completed his studies in Danzig and London.
18. Gruy Iliev Kuzmanov — age 54. Completed his studies in Danzig.
19. Ivan Zerev Angelinov — age 37. Completed his studies in Danzig.
20. Diko Dimitrov Mavrudaev — age 42. Completed his studies in Danzig.
21. Yosif Georgiev Kokonchev — age 38. Completed his studies in Danzig.
22. Enyu Iliev Tsonev — age 39. Completed his studies in Danzig.
23. Nikola Stefanov Stoyanov — age 40. Completed his studies in Danzig.
24. Eduard Agop Kuriyan — age 34. Completed his studies in Danzig and London.
25. Todor Stoykov Godjorov — age 41. Completed his studies in Danzig.
26. Ivan Stoychev Ivanov — age 40. Completed his studies in Danzig.
27. Ladin Ivanov Popov — age 34. Completed his studies in Danzig and London.
28. Ivan Mitev Yalamov — age 36. Completed his studies in Danzig.
29. Stoicho Dimitrov Kupenov — age 38. Completed his studies in Danzig.
30. Nikola Harlamiev Tsenkov — age 41. Completed his studies in Danzig.
31. Yanko Nikolov Ivanov — age 47. Completed his studies in Frankfurt am Main.
32. Vasil Marinov Popov — age 45. Completed his studies in Krichona, Switzerland.
33. Simeon Dimitrov Popov — age 43. Completed his studies in Frankfurt am Main.
34. Gavril Tsvetanov Tsvetanov — age 41. Completed his studies in Manchester and at the episcopal academy in Rome.
35. Tsvetan Alexandrov Litov. Completed his studies in Frankfurt; currently specialising in America.
36. Iliya Yakov Iliev — age 38. Completed his studies in Frankfurt am Main.
37. Marin Dobrev Gluharov. Completed his studies at the theological seminary in Frankfurt am Main.
38. Zdravko Stefanov Bezlov — age 28. Completed his studies in Frankfurt am Main.
39. Nikola Mikhailov Naumov — age 49. Completed his studies in Hamburg — Germany.
40. Ivan Petrov Igov — age 48. Completed his studies in Hamburg — Germany.
41. Vasil Georgiev Angelov — age 39. Completed his studies in northern America.
42. Atanas Andonov Georgiev — age 52. Completed his studies in Hamburg — Germany.
43. Mitko Mateyev Dimitrov — age 39. Completed his studies in Wilenest — Germany.

Closing Summary (verbatim translation):

‘In addition to the above-mentioned, a further 7 individuals completed their studies in various countries. Thus, of a total of 115 pastors throughout the entire country, half completed their education abroad — who are accordingly first-class and qualified foreign agents.’

Handwritten annotation at foot of document: ‘до тук’ (‘to here’) — indicating the end of the handwritten portion of the memorandum.

Translator’s Notes

1. Entries marked with ✓ in the original document are reproduced here with that symbol. The significance of the checkmarks is not explained in the source; they may denote individuals already arrested, already under surveillance, or prioritised for prosecution at the time of the document’s compilation.
2. Underlined text in the original (indicating institutions and cities) is preserved with underline formatting.
3. ‘Danzig’ refers to the Free Theological Academy (Freie Theologische Akademie) in the Free City of Danzig (present-day Gdańsk, Poland), which served as the principal training institution for Bulgarian Pentecostal pastors throughout the 1930s.
4. ‘Krichona’ refers to the St. Chrischona Pilgrim Mission (Pilgermission St. Chrischona) near Basel, a pietist missionary training institution.
5. ‘Wilenest — Germany’ in entry 43 is likely a transcription error or phonetic rendering in the original Bulgarian; the precise institution has not been identified.
6. The document bears the archival reference 155/3/177 and is reproduced at pastir.org. The preamble and closing summary are in typewritten Bulgarian; the annotation ‘до тук’ (‘to here’) is handwritten.
7. The assertion that foreign-educated pastors are ‘first-class and qualified foreign agents’ represents the operative ideological premise of the 1948–1949 Pastoral Trials — that Western theological education was itself evidence of intelligence recruitment.