BG_Turk
I haven't had time to research yet but anyways I wanted to reply and as time goes by and I have a chance to read more on the subject I will add more to it.
For the moment ( if the document above is truthful and unbiased) I'd like to say that
Forceful conversion is the most stupid thing. No one can be forced to believe. People can be forced to convert but not to believe at least not for a few generations.
Secondly, forced conversion is a very stupid idea because it angers people it makes them despise their oppressors and it never leads to anything beneficial to the country.
Forceful conversion specifically to christianity is indeed in my opinion very hipocritical because christianity is about mercy and forgiveness and tollerance above all else.
Given the year this has happened I see more of a madness of people who have had enough of everything - rather than a conversion. I think at the time in Bulgaria there was no room for tollerance left.
However that is not an excuse. There is no excuse for such stupidity and cold-bloodedness. It is more like if one defeated the oppressor so that one becomes an oppressor.
I think it was stupid converting the Pomaks. Overthrow an oppressive regime often comes with the feeling of turning the tables but in this case there was nothing to be gained or proven by focusing on the pomaks who actually were part of the population and I know that except religously most of them were walking in the same shoes as bulgarians.
I am personally saddened to learn anything like that that it has happened because it is nothing to be proud of. I will definetely research on the subject and try to bring more light to it.
What should have been done at this time is enforce Christianity by practicing Christianity and enforcing its principles meaning being forgiving and merciful.
Seems like in that year 1912 it has been acted upon the Pomaks with the Ottomans type of iron fist, rather than with the Christian.
In general I am very proud that Bulgarians preserved faith, language and culture throught centuries of intense influence and often unforgettable brutality as recorded by historians but to see that at the end Bulgarians acted like their own oppressors even if it was just for one year is indeed more of a defeat rahter than a victory.
I personally condemn that, if it has happened that way, because it is like stepping on the same low level as the ideology which was brutalizing the Bulgarians through the centuries.
Bulgaria had bottled a lot of pain and pain leads to anger and anger leads to the most stupid and mad mistakes and injustices. Pain, fear, and frustration are the three most powerful triggers of anger and of what I sense in the content of this document above, I sense a lot of anger.
Now almost hundred years later we look upon this we can clearly see that Bulgarians should have been more faithful to their moral and integrity. These acts were a failure as they produced pain and unhealhty strong resentment.
I hope that now that the page of history has been turned and we are looking towards democratic future that all ethnicities on the bolkans will be wise enough to leave the grudges and take advantage of the opportunity to build a better life of respect and tollerance and do not repeat the past.
Isolationism leads to nothingness
Edited by Tangra - 27-Jun-2006 at 20:50