From Social Demands to Political Uprising

Bloodshed During the Workers’ Strike in Plovdiv (4 May 1953)

The Beginning of the Uprising

On the evening of 3 May 1953, workers from the former “Tomasivan” tobacco factory in Plovdiv began a revolt. These night shift workers threw out the factory guards, shut down the factory, and barricaded themselves inside one of the largest tobacco warehouses, called “Ivan Karadzhov.” The next morning, on 4 May, the militia (police) surrounded the warehouse and locked the doors from the outside. The situation escalated when workers from two other warehouses—“Stefan Karadzhiev” and “Georgi Ivanov”—mostly women, also stopped working in solidarity Istanbul Day Trips.

The Strikes Spread

The workers in the Ivan Karadzhov warehouse managed to break down the doors and drive away the militia guards. The strikers from all three warehouses came together in the factory courtyard for an improvised rally. As the protest grew, more workers who were not on shift joined the crowd. Soon, the number of protesters reached several thousand people, according to eyewitnesses.

The workers were demanding the government restore the working conditions they had before the nationalization of the factory. They wanted to return to the better conditions they had before the factory was taken over by the government. The crowd grew in size as citizens from outside the factory also joined in.

Government Response

The situation caught the attention of high-ranking party officials, including the Interior Minister Anton Yugov, who arrived from Sofia. The minister attempted to speak with the workers, but they threw stones at him, forcing him to withdraw. In response, the militia received orders to open fire on the crowd.

The Bloodshed

As the militia began shooting, several protesters were killed on the spot. Among those who died were two women. Fifty others were wounded, and hundreds more were arrested. Kiril Dzhavezov, the leader of the strikers, was caught near the railway station and shot dead. The exact number of people killed remains unclear, as the government imposed a strict media ban and censored any reports or comments about the event.

A Broader Uprising

The Plovdiv strike was part of a larger wave of protests that began in 1953. The first spark of the uprising flared up in Stalinalee, in the Eastern sector of Berlin. Increased quotas for construction workers caused their revolt. This initial protest was soon joined by workers from other industries and ordinary citizens. On 15 June 1953, around 80 workers began a protest parade under the slogan “We demand reduced quotas.” This parade quickly grew as more workers joined in. The protesters marched toward the trade union house, but it was locked. They then moved toward the government buildings.

By lunchtime, thousands of protesters, including workers, union members, and citizens, gathered in front of the building. While their demands for better working conditions continued, they also raised political slogans, such as “Down with the government” and “Free elections.” This protest marked the beginning of larger political demands that would spread across Eastern Europe.

The 4 May 1953 strike in Plovdiv was a tragic event that highlighted the growing unrest among workers in Eastern Europe. It started as a demand for better working conditions but escalated into a political uprising as citizens and workers sought more freedom from the oppressive communist government. The violence that followed, with several deaths and arrests, reflected the harsh measures the government was willing to take to maintain control. The strike in Plovdiv and the events in Berlin in June 1953 were part of a larger pattern of dissatisfaction and unrest in communist countries during the early 1950s.