Cover: Gypsy demonstration in front of the National Assembly after September 9, 1944. The photo, in all probability, was shot in the early autumn of 1944 because the painting by Vasil Evtimov, which was painted after this manifestation (see above, page 222), is dated 1944. ASR, f. Photos.
On p. 22 is the title page of Shakir Pashov’s manuscript
Caricature by an unknown author. Вечерна поща, December 21,1905, p. 1.
Caricature by Aleksandar Lambov. Вечерна поща, December 17, 1905, p. 1. The ‘Sakantiya’ (from the Turkish ‘sakın’– do not) was the public nickname of Dr Marko Markov and in this case, it was used in the sense of ‘trouble-maker’. The expression “Anlanda sivri sinek sandur – Anlamayana daul da zurna azdur” is a Turkish proverb “For the one who understands, even the mosquito is a saz (musical instrument), for the one who does not understand, both the drum and the zurna are not enough”.
Cover of The Statute of the Egyptian Nationality in the Town of Vidin (Устав, 1910). The seal of the organisation is placed on the cover of the Statute.
Shakir Pashov as a soldier in the Bulgarian army during the First World War. ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Lilyana Kovacheva).
Participants in the Constituent Congress of the Union of Gypsy Musicians. Sofia, 1920. ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Lyudmila Zhivkova).
Gypsy Evangelical Baptist Church in Golintsi village (today Mladenovo district in Lom). Светильник / Svetilinic (Chișinâu), 1934, No.No. 6–7, p. 3.
Inscription on the back of the photo: “Photo of a group of Gypsy members of the RMS [Workers’ Youth Union] – 1924. First row seated – 1. Todorka Doncheva. 2. Stefanka Panayotova. 3. [unknown]. 4. Sotirka Doncheva. 5. Kurti Dechev – the child. 6. Radka Kurteva. 7. Todor Ruschev. Standing women – 1. Sofka Pencheva. 2. Siyka Petrova” (ARIM Sliven, Inv. No. 1437). There is an obvious dating error in this description, because the Workers’ Youth Union was established in 1928, i.e. the picture is not earlier than this year.
Inscription on the back of the photo: “The photo was taken [in] 1921 with a section of young Komsomol members from the neighbourhood, with the newspaper Mladezhka iskra (Youth Spark). From left [to right] standing are G. Nedev, Mihail Hristov, At. Vasilev, Mikhail Golemanov, Petar Todorov, Dimitar Vasilev. Sitting Veliko Nikolov, N[ikola] Terzobaliev, Kosta Marinov, Rusko Yovchev” (State archive – Sliven, f. 879, op.1, a.e. 27, l. 4). In this description, there is also an obvious error in the dating because the newspaper Mladezhka iskra, which is a printed organ of the Workers’ Youth Union, began to be published in 1928, i.e. the photo was taken not earlier than this year.
Photo in the journal Отвътре / Andral / Inside, 2000, No. 7, p. 11. Explaining the photography: “Management of the chitalishe (community reading and cultural centre) Knyaz Simeon Tarnovski. Sliven, 1928. Standing (from left to right): Petar Takev (Takyoolu), Dimitar Budakov (Baraka), Tasho Chakmakov, Decho Kurtev (Papazoolu), Kuzman Mihalev, Krastyu Vachev. Seated (from left to right): Vasil Stambolov, Vasil Gochev, Yordan Kolev (Koloolu), Dimitar Zanzalov (Zanzala)”. There is an error in the name of the chitalishte here, because Prince Simeon Turnovski, the Bulgarian heir to the throne, was born in 1937, and the community centre carries this name since 1939 (see above).
Photo in the journal Отвътре / Andral / Inside, 2001, No.No. 17–18, p. 96. Explaining the photography: “Management of the community centre Knyaz Simeon Tarnovski. Sliven, 1929. From left: Georgi Armanzov, Tasho Chakmakov, Mikhail Kuzmanov, Nikola Terzobaliev, [unknown], Mikhail Zanzalov, Vasil Chakmakov, Atanas Vasilev, Dimitar Kochev. Seated from left to right: Todor Keleshev, Gancho Vasilev, Todor Rusakiev”. For the name of the community centre, see above.
Inscription on the photo: “Founders of the 1st Gypsy Theatre Company. March 24, 1927. Sliven”. Inscription on the back of the photo: “First row seated, from left to right – Petar Vasilev, Kolinata (Nikola), Kratsov, Ivan Kratsov (director), Yordan Chorapchiatia (director), Armanzov”. ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Gospodin Kolev).
Inscription on the back of the photo: “Commemoration from the party USSR. May 17, 1941, Sliven. Petar Terzobaliev”. Later addition: “The RMS [Workers’ Youth Union’s] Group in the Gypsy Quarter. 1941”. ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Gospodin Kolev, on the photo the last one in the first row).
Inscription on the back of the photo: “June 8–10, 1942. The Trial. The photography was taken by the police after the announcement of the verdict, on the June 10, 1942. Three of the kneeling and the first of the standing ones on the left are Gypsy members of Workers’ Youth Union. The three Gypsy members of the Workers’ Youth Union are Kiril Hristov, Petko Dimitrov, Kiril Kratsov (from left to right in the first row), and the last on the left in the second row is Gospodin Kolev. ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Gospodin Kolev).
The exact date of the photo is uncertain, in all probability, it was taken in the first days after the September 9, 1944. The photography is from a solemn event in Sofia, perhaps the welcoming of the Soviet Army or (which is more likely) the sending of Bulgarian troops for participation in the war against Germany (the so-called Patriotic War). ASR, f. Photos.
Newspaper Romano esi (Gypsy Voice), No. 1, 1 February 1947, p. 1, with a photo of Shakir Pashov and his Speech on the Occasion of the National Holiday of the Gypsy Minority in Bulgaria St Basil.
Festive manifestation on the September 9, 1947. ASR, f. Photos.
Shakir Pashov, 1940s. ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Lilyana Kovacheva).
Shakir Pashov (in the middle) as a deputy in the Great National Assembly (1947–1949) with his constituents (far left is Rusi Zabunov from Shumen). The photo was taken in front of the National Assembly, there is no exact date. ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Lilyana Kovacheva).
Gypsy alphabet. Sofia, 1948. In the second row from right to left: Yashar Malikov, Sulyo Metkov, the others cannot be identified with certainty. ASR, f. Photos.
Shakir Pashov as a deputy in the Great National Assembly. The photo was taken in Lom, in all probability in 1947, when he visited Lom to settle problems that had arisen (see Annexe No. 1). ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Lilyana Kovacheva).
Shakir Pashov voted, in all likelihood, in the elections for the National Assembly in the fall of 1949. ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Lilyana Kovacheva).
Shakir Pashov received a financial subsidy, in all probability for the creation of the Roma Gypsy Theatre in 1948. ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Lilyana Kovacheva).
Inscription on the back of the photo: “To the respected and beloved national representative (member of Parliament) Comrade Pashev from the conference held on Mart 12–13, [19]49. From the leadership”. ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Lilyana Kovacheva).
Poster of the Central Gypsy Theatre Roma for a performance of the musical play Gypsy Rhapsody, late 1940s. The poster was made after the removal of Shakir Pashov from the management of the theatre, and his name is not on it. ASR, f. Photos.
Mustafa/Lyubomir Aliev (Manush Romanov), late 1940s. ASR, f. Photos.
Performance of the Music and Dance Group Roma at the Gypsy National Community Centre 9th September. Sofia, 1950s. ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Lilyana Kovacheva).
Poster of the Music and Dance Group Roma at the Gypsy National Community Centre 9th September. Sofia, 1957. ASR, f. Photos.
Shakir Pashov with the Naangle (Forward) football club. Sofia, late 1940s. ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Lilyana Kovacheva).
Shakir Pashov and the participants in a festive event in Sofia, 1950s. ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Lilyana Kovacheva).
Gypsy participation in a festive event. Sofia, 1950s. ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Lilyana Kovacheva).
Gypsy women in front of the tribune of the Georgi Dimitrov Mausoleum at a festive event. Sofia, 1950s. ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Lilyana Kovacheva).
The shock workers in the production at the International Fair in Plovdiv, 1960s. In the middle is Shakir Pashov, second from left to right is Rusi Zabunov from Shumen. ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Lilyana Kovacheva).
Shakir Pashov and his wife during his internment in the village of Rogozina, Tolbukhin (now Dobrich) district (1959–1962). ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Lilyana Kovacheva).
Gospodin Kolev at the plenum of the Targovishte District Committee of the Fatherland Front, 1963. ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Gospodin Kolev).
Shakir Pashov on vacation in Hisarya, 1960s. ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Lilyana Kovacheva).
Photogaphy in front of the Georgi Dimitrov Mausoleum, April 20, 1973. The far left is Angel Blagoev, and the second from right to left is Demir Aliev. ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Lilyana Kovacheva).
Family photography of Shakir Pashov with his parents. Sofia, 1940s. ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Lilyana Kovacheva).
Sabria, Shakir Pashov’s wife (right), with her relatives. Sofia, 1950s. ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Lilyana Kovacheva).
Shakir Pashov and his wife, Boyana / Tu’la mahala, Tuhlarna fabrika (Brick Factory) neighbourhood. Sofia, 1950s. ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Lilyana Kovacheva).
Family photograpyh of Shakir Pashov. Sofia, the 1950s. ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Lilyana Kovacheva).
Shakir Pashov’s family photography. Sofia, the 1950s. ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Lilyana Kovacheva).
Shakir Pashov and his wife on vacation at the Black Sea, 1960s. ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Lilyana Kovacheva).
Shakir Pashov’s family photography. Sofia, 1960s. ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Lilyana Kovacheva).
Membership Card of Shakir Pashov (his father’s name is written as Mehmedov, which is a mistake) in the Union of Active Fighters Against Fascism and Capitalism. ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Lilyana Kovacheva).
Shakir Pashov. Sofia, 1981 (shortly before his death). ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Lilyana Kovacheva).
Obituary on the occasion of six months since the death of Shakir Pashov (March 1982). ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Lilyana Kovacheva).
Obituary on the occasion of the first anniversary of Shakir Pashov’s death (October 1982). ASR, f. Photos (courtesy of Lilyana Kovacheva).
Note. The illustrations also include photos that are not directly related to Shakir Pashov but reflect the spirit of the time, in particular the movement for Roma civil emancipation. The photo of Shakir Pashov’s wife, Sabria, with two other women sitting on a glass of beer, we have added especially because of the increased interest currently in the subject of the double discrimination of Roma woman.