1951 killing of five students from Strumica

1951 killing in Yugoslavia 300px|thumb|A monument built in their honor, located in the public park across the city council. On 13 August 1951, a group of five students aged from 20 to 23, all born in Strumica, were killed by authorities in Communist Yugoslavia. The authorities branded them as enemies of the state. Event In August 1951, five students were captured by the authorities in Strumica. They were brought near the Greek border, where they were beaten and mutilated for a day, and then shot point-blank on 13 August.Macedonia: A Voyage through History (Vol. 2, From the Fifteenth Century to the Present) 295 Michael Palairet 2016 Cambridge Scholars Publishing 9781443888493Dimitar Gotsev New National - Liberation Struggle in Vardar Macedonia 1944 - 1991 Sofia https://www.strumski.com/biblioteka/?id=1392 1999 Macedonian Scientific Institute 40 Per CIA and Yugoslav authorities, the students attempted to flee to Greece.ЦРУ за екзекуцията на петима студенти от УДБА Macedonian Scientific Institute bg http://www.mni.bg/2017/04/cru-ekzekucia.html?m=1 11 April 2017 Hristo Milkov The authorities that killed them returned their bodies to Strumica for burial in a graveyard. A large crowd flocked to the funeral of those killed, and their relatives built a large common gravestone, but after a few months the UDBA blew it up.Kosta Tsarnushanov Македонизмът и съпротивата на Македония срещу него Sofia bg Университетско издателство „Св. Климент Охридски“ 1992 328 The authorities did not reveal the reason for the killing and only labelled the five students as "enemies of the state". Per Bulgarian sources, they had Macedonian Bulgarian identity and were killed because of their ideas for an Independent Macedonia.Свободна Европа, 20 август 2021 г. Стефан Дечев, Политическите убийства и как българи и македонци се справят с тях. Strumica's residents have interpreted the killing as being due to the students being dissidents and close to the ideals of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization.71 years since the murder of the five young students from Strumica 4news.mk https://en.4news.mk/71-godina-od-ubistvoto-na-pette-mladi-studenti-od-strumitsa/ 13 August 2022 The killing led to the CIA strengthening its attention on Strumica and its surroundings. In Newark, United States, and in São Paulo, Brazil, the pro-Bulgarian Macedonian Patriotic Organization set up its own chapters called Струмишката Петорка (Strumishkata Petorka/The Strumica Five).https://books.google.com/books?id=InyEqBVhH-EC&dq=strumishkata+petorka&pg=PA183 John Shea Macedonia and Greece: The Struggle to Define a New Balkan Nation McFarland, USA 183 A film called Golden Five dedicated to the students was made in North Macedonia.Прва премиера на "Златна петорка" во Струмица Sitel mk https://sitel.com.mk/prva-premiera-na-zlatna-petorka-vo-strumica 8 October 2016 Zoran Gjorgiev References External links Five Strumica Students, documentary about the group and testimonials of their families CIA document on the five Strumica students 1 CIA document on the five Strumica students 2 Category:1951 in the Socialist Republic of Macedonia Category:August 1951 in Europe Category:People executed by Yugoslavia Strumica Students Category:Socialist Republic of Macedonia Category:Political repression in Communist Yugoslavia Category:Aftermath of World War II in Yugoslavia Category:Strumica Category:Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization