Text by Katerina Blazevska for "Deutsche Welle", May 5, 2021
THE MOST INTERESTING AND IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS WRITTEN BY GOCE DELCEV HAND ARE IN THE MACEDONIAN ARCHIVES. WILL THEY FIND IN A JOINT MACEDONIAN-BULGARIAN EDITION?
It is still uncertain whether everything written by the hand of Goce Delchev (1872-1903) will be published in a large facsimile edition next year when 150 years will have passed since his birth. Mihail Gruev, historian and president of the Bulgarian state agency "Archives", stated for BGNES that in cooperation with the Macedonian State Archives there was an intention to publish such an edition, which would include virtually all documents kept in the Macedonian and Bulgarian archives and which were written by Goce Delchev. But in terms of realization, there is an impression that the Macedonian side seems to have remained silent.
"Last year we signed an agreement to extend our cooperation agreement with the Macedonian archives for another three years. It also incorporated an edition with facsimiles, for everything kept from the epistolary legacy of Goce Delchev in the two archival institutions - the Bulgarian and the Macedonian. So far, several collections of Goce Delchev's documents have been made in Bulgaria and Macedonia, but everything written by Goce Delchev has never been collected in one large scientific edition. Unfortunately, the colleagues from the Macedonian side were silent. "In the several conversations I had with them, they did not give up on that agreement, but they did not work on anything special in its implementation," Gruev said.
He points out that Delchev's more valuable manuscripts are kept in Skopje.
"More interesting and valuable documents written by Goce Delchev’s hand are in the Macedonian archives. It is part of the documentary collection that Bulgaria handed over to the then People's Republic of Macedonia in 1946, together with its bones. In that way, the Macedonian archives acquired this collection. "We have copies of it, but the originals are kept in the archives of the Republic of Northern Macedonia," Gruev stated.
THE PANDEMIC SLOWED DOWN THE REALIZATION
Dr. Emil Krsteski, the director of the Macedonian State Archives, says that, in relation to the mentioned edition, it is an oral agreement, and the covid-pandemic made things difficult for the realization of the idea
"The State Archive, within its international activities, has signed over 20 bilateral agreements with countries with which it has successful and more intensive cooperation. These agreements define the general framework of that cooperation and according to the generally accepted practice of contacts between archives in the world, are renewed every three years. Such is the case with the State Archives of Bulgaria, with which in December 2019 in Sofia we renewed that general act. At that meeting with my colleague Gruev, I orally came up with the idea to jointly publish a Collection of documents and letters of some historically important people from the Ilinden period who own the archives of both countries, which was unreservedly and enthusiastically accepted by him. Among those persons, of course, is Goce Delchev, from whom our State Archive has 33 original letters ", stated Krsteski.
He and Gruev agreed to make another joint project - publishing a joint collection of important historical photographs of the Balkans from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
"For the realization of these two projects, at the meeting in Sofia, it was agreed to make two small operational expert working groups, which will select the original documents and photos and give their comments in Macedonian and Bulgarian, and which will be in permanent contact. "Shortly after my stay in Sofia, unfortunately, the Covid-pandemic appeared, which significantly slowed down the realization of these two projects, which are really serious and can not be realized only with Zoom or other virtual contacts," said the director of the Macedonian State archives.
Some time ago, he was heard with his colleague Gruev and once again jointly confirmed the desire and intention for those projects to be implemented in better health conditions.
"These are really important historical documents and their realization requires direct communication of experts, who in the meantime will start the electronic correspondence. "According to the current health and safety conditions in the world, I do not expect the realization of these two projects to happen soon, but it would probably be during the next year," said Krsteski.
NEW DOCUMENTS
Gruev announces that they do not give up on the idea of making such an edition next year, if not with more documents, at least with what is in the Bulgarian archives. He reminds us that documents were written by Goce Delchev, except the Bulgarian "Archives", are also available in the National Library and Museum in Blagoevgrad.
"We have gathered all this and we also are preparing a facsimile scientific edition for the great revolutionary. In addition, we are preparing a documentary website, taking into consideration the printed scientific publications which are for a smaller audience. All those documents, including their transcription, because Delchev's handwriting is not the most readable, it is good to be shown and reach out to anyone who is interested. Reading the documents written by the hand of Goce Delchev, we can see in what language he writes and what are his most intimate feelings, thoughts, and longings. I hope that when we celebrate the 150th anniversary of his birth in February next year, we will have this publication, as well as the website, which will build a bridge to this great man, who, unfortunately, is little known for its essence, "said the Bulgarian historian.
He announces that this edition will include new documents that have appeared, referring to the life and work of Goce Delchev. It is about the archive of one of Goce's close associates, Nikola Maleshevski.