On November 10, 1989. Todor Zhivkov was deposed. A day after the symbol of the communist East – The Berlin Wall has been destroyed. The wind of change is unstoppable.
After 45 years, it is time for the totalitarian state to be dismantled. Informal dissident organizations began to build the structures of the opposition. Forgotten for decades, the old parties are beginning to revive. Hope is great. Tens of thousands take to the streets. On December 7, the Union of Democratic Forces was born. And the chairman of the national coordination council became Peter Beron.
35 years later we meet at the National Museum of Natural History. Where the changes find him. “Faith is only in the church. There are actions in public life. Many people ask me “Are you disappointed by what happened?” I answer that I am not disappointed because I have never been fascinated by all these people. Do what is possible – to change the structure and the entire Constitution. We did it”, says Beron.
However, the story begins at the beginning of 1989. Then there are already moods in the BKP for a change along the lines of the perestroika imposed by the Kremlin and Mikhail Gorbachev. However, the protests over gassing in Ruse are intensifying this process.
“April 1979 we met with Hristo Smolyanov. The Ruse Committee was just ending. We got together in his father's apartment and created “Ecoglasnost”. I was the secretary, Petar Slabakov was the chairman. We set out to do various environmental actions. We started collecting signatures for various projects. Meanwhile, the old parties began to recover. We collected 12,000 signatures. On November 3, we held the first free march”, he points out.
“Some people from the National Assembly came out and took the signatures. A female journalist pulled my hair and told me that Todor Zhivkov had been deposed. Immediately, some Japanese came and asked us to do a live broadcast to Tokyo before our people found out”, recalls Beron.
„One day Jackie Wagenstein invited me to have coffee. We decided to make a project to officially support the changes that will be made. Everything was crowded with people – on the balconies, on the trees.
35 years from the overthrow of Todor Zhivkov: Narrative of participants from both sides of the barricade
He tells how the idea of creating the grand coalition called SDS came about. “There was no other way. The idea was to make a nationwide opposition to communism. This SDS was not right-wing at all. On December 7, the founding meeting took place, at which 9 organizations gathered. The Glasnost and Remodeling Committee joined the other day.
“The idea of the communists was not to become like in Romania, to become more peaceful and quiet. That's how things developed," says Beron.
According to him, it is not clear whether Petar Mladenov said the cherished phrase “The tanks had better come”, because the tape with the recording has disappeared, and it is the proof that Mladenov really uttered those words. “If he had told the tanks to come, they would have come,”, he believes.
According to Beron, Andrei Lukanov was educated, speaking 4 languages. “It was an unprepared desire to preserve justice. I have told him that he is handing out money to their people to become red bankers to support the party. I also told him that they would not support the party but would kill him. A week before he was killed, we had another conversation. The last words I heard from him were “If they decided to kill me, they will”, But who these “they” were, it never became clear,” he adds.
„During the first government, Andrey Lukanov invited me to head the environment committee. He said that this committee should be raised to the rank of a ministry. He said he would give me five ministerial posts to appoint whomever I wanted from my people. I told him that whatever ministries he decides to give us, we are resolved not to enter their governments. That's how the conversation ended”, Peter Beron also says.
He believes that the first elections for the Great National Assembly were unequal. “I won 30,000 votes in Vratsa, but I had to appear in Peshtera as well”, says Beron.
„At that time, everyone occupied a building. There were children gathered in tents, and when I asked them, they told me the following: “There is a building on the Flag of Peace that is now empty, we want to take it to expand our school”. However, at that time the National Library also applied to change the building into a book depository. But Mr. Lukanov does not accept us”. The next day I went, told him the whole story and asked him to give the building,”, he recalls.
According to his words, Andrey Lukanov intended for the government to be moved to the building of the Party House, and the National Historical Museum to the building of today's Council of Ministers. “ Only the packaging of these national values in the Historical Museum cost 40 million. leva. I told him that he had declared bankruptcy and had nowhere to get the money, and that such a museum should be housed in a suitable building. I explained to him that he should forget about it and I disappointed him in that regard,”, Beron adds.
„Todor Zhivkov greeted me with slippers at the door and I told him that I think that around the changes he will be shot like Ceausescu. I told him he'd better start writing his memoirs. He laughed and invited me to make me a coffee”, he also says.
Source: NOVA