Mariola Sirakova (1904 - 1925)

Sun Aug 14, 1904

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Mariola Sirakova, born on this day in 1904, was a wealthy Bulgarian actress who organized with the revolutionary anarchist movement in Bulgaria, sheltering wanted anarchists from the state.

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

After her 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 subsequently caught in an ambush and arrested. On May 28th, 1925, they were taken to Belovo railway station and summarily executed with 12 other prisoners. Mariola was twenty years old.