PaBorn on December 7, 1909 in Pansko, a small town in the foothills of Prin, Dimitrov’s Bulgaria, where he was the head of the Communist International that gave rise to the Anti-Terrorist United Front strategy, Nikola Vapsarov was killed by the fascists on July 23, 1942, during World War II. Today we pledge to uphold his anti-fascist legacy and continue the anti-fascist war!
Nikolay Vapsarov was not only a militant worker, a field fighter, but also a great poet in the manner of Gorky and Mayakovsky. He inherited the poetry of the 19th century Bulgarian national poet Hristov Podev. He was not alone during his lifetime.
He is a noble martyr who lived at the same time as England’s David Gust or Christopher Cadwell, Spain’s Lorca, Turkey’s Naseem Igmat Pasha, Germany’s Petrol Brecht, India’s Faiz Ahmed Faiz… and many other progressive writers who lived and died fighting against fascism.
Read: June 30, 1855 : Let us remember the day when the Santhal uprising began!
During the Second World War, before and after it, not only communists but also democratic forces stood in the field against fascism and lost their lives against injustices all over the world. Britain’s Christopher Codwell and France’s George Politzer were anti-fascist fighters who fell victim to bullets in the struggle against the fascist regime that continued in Spain. We all know about Julius Fucik, the Czech who fought against Hitler’s fascism and died on the gallows.
Canadian doctor Norman Bethune died helping the Red Army in China. It is no exaggeration to say that Indian doctor Kotnis-Chin (who was born in present-day Gujarat) who helped the Red Army in China, was motivated by his democratic spirit to help the Chinese Communists. Vapsarov is an admirable figure in the elite ranks of these anti-fascist fighters. He is unique in a way.
Born into a simple, poor family, Vapsarov began writing poetry at a young age. Although he wanted to study literature at university, family poverty forced him to work as a mechanic in a paper mill. He was introduced to revolutionary Marxist philosophy during his earlier work as a seaman.
Although he worked as a mechanic in the factory, he also undertook the work of organizing the workers. This was a very difficult task in Bulgaria, where fascism was tightening its grip, especially when the labor movement was being brutally suppressed.
At the same time as blatant and foul-smelling repression was unleashed on the labor movement, unlimited lies and slander were unleashed in the media to divide them, distort the ideals of the struggle and dull the spirit of the struggle. Vapsarov writes about it in one of his poems:
‘What a struggle this is
People’s lives
to tap
over their lives
Stained
their lives
Pressed
of lies
Package bundles
Breaking!’
(Couldn’t help but be amazed at these lines, as they seem to capture the action of the current parochial fascist BJP-RSS mob?)
He successfully ran a very populist and progressive theater in the midst of government crackdowns and continuous censorship. He created literary ideas among the people. Organized and continued Marxist study circles.
After a shutdown in 1936, management opened the plant and laid off 300 workers. Against this he mobilized the workers and put them to work. But the management fired him from the job. With no other choice, his wife and child moved to the capital city of Sofia.
Rejected by employers, he could not find any work. With no savings in his hand and in a new city where friends were not widespread, he was thrown into the grip of poverty and lost his little child in that poverty.
Eventually he got a job in a flour mill. Countless workers succumbed to the deadly TB disease as they worked in harsh conditions without any protective equipment. He wrote many poems in their memory and about the cruel working conditions, and he himself got TB disease.
Due to this I had to leave this job. He joined the railways in 1939 and after a year joined the city fuel depot. That period was a period of heavy manual labor. After this hard work he had to do the political work of secretly mobilizing workers.
He also worked hard on his brain by staying up late at night and studying and then writing poetry. As a result of such a tough struggle, naturally his poems were loved by the people as they contained the truths depicted.
In 1941, the Bulgarian ruling class surrendered the country to Nazi German forces to facilitate an attack on the Socialist Soviet Union. Vapsarov became active in the anti-armament movement and became a key figure in the ‘Military Centre’. His experience working as a mechanic came in very handy during this period. It is a work environment that demands extreme manual labor and danger.
He had no time to write poems. But comrades and friends encouraged him to write poetry. According to one of his friends, “While the fate of the world is being decided by weapons at this moment, contemporary poetry that taps (the people) is no less of a weapon”.
Arrested in 1942, Vapsarov was brutally and inhumanly tortured and executed by hanging on July 23, 1942. He continued to write until his death. His last poem was to his wife. Something that still excites us.
This struggle is hard and relentless
As they say the struggle is epic
I will fall. Another will take my place—-
What is in a personal name?
After shooting of Gun Saturn —- Worms
This simple logic goes like this
But we will be with you during the storm
Dear people, we love you so much.
(2 p.m. – 23 July 1942)
Vapsaro’s view of history has a Marxist perspective that is quite different from the capitalist individualist view. As proclaimed in the Communist Manifesto, it has a unique, people-centered historical view that “all known history is the history of class struggles”.
Read: Pravda is an example of communal journalism!
Brecht would write in a song.
Who built the seven gates of Depas?
You can see names of kings in books.
Did kings carry boulders?
Similarly Vapsaro also wrote a poem about history. But like Brecht’s poem, Vapsaro’s poem has not attracted the attention of many people. But even today it is very necessary!
History, do you mention us?
On your faded list?
He begins. No claim in employers’ organizations. Instead, he sees them as flesh and blood people.
We fed you with news
We have quenched your thirst in the highest manner
Wasn’t it the blood of the massacred masses?
Are our lives unremarkable?
Are our lives worthless?
Digging in, surprises abound
Squeezing into the cup
The poem ends thus:
For all that hard work and suffering
We don’t expect gifts,
Rather our silhouettes
Not expected in calendars
Simply tell our stories
To those we cannot see,
Tell our successors,
We fought fearlessly
Yes! As Vapsarov says, our history, the history of class struggle, must be carried forward to our future generations! That we fought fearlessly against fascism! Vapsarov, comrade! Poet! On your memorial day we pledge to fight fearlessly on your path to defeat parochial fascism!
(Note : Adapted from an article written by CN Subramanian in REVOLUTIONARY DEMOCRACY, Vol. VI. No.1. April 2000)
Nagarasu