Mariola Sirakova Assassinated (1925)

Thu May 28, 1925

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Mariola Sirakova, assassinated by state police at age 20 on this day in 1925, was a Bulgarian actress who organized with anarchists and hid wanted revolutionaries such as Vassil Popov and Valko Shankov from the authorities. Sirakova came from a wealthy family, but broke from this upbringing after attending a girl’s high school in 1919.

In 1923, a military coup led to the killing of 35,000 workers and peasants, leading to a campaign of armed resistance against the state known as the “September Uprising”. A massive wave of repression was undertaken by the fascists and military against the revolutionary movement. Mariola was arrested by the police, raped, and brutally beaten.

After Sirakova’s release, she gave support to the Kilifarevo cheta (an armed guerilla unit), bringing them food, medicine, and clothes, and caring for the wounded. Mariola Sirakova and fellow anarchist Gueorgui Cheitanov were caught in an ambush and arrested.

On this day in 1925, they were taken to Belovo railway station and summarily executed with 12 other prisoners. Mariola was twenty years old.