Colonel Vladimir Genov Serafimov – The Liberator of the Rhodopes
- Stefan Ivanov
- Aug 10, 2024
- 17 min read
Updated: Jan 17
Vladimir Genov Serafimov was a Bulgarian officer, colonel and hero of the Serbo-Bulgarian War (1885) and the Balkan War (1912-1913).
Vladimir Serafimov was born on August 12, 1860 (according to other data, on August 23, 1861) in the village of Adzhar, today Svezhen, in the village of Adzhar, in the birthplace of the Seraphim family, currently turned into a house-museum.
Vladimir Serafimov grew up in the large family of Georgi (Geno) Serafimov - a prominent Revival teacher, doer of the Word and third cousin of the Deacon of Freedom - Vasil Levski.
Until the age of 14, young Vladimir studied with his father.
He continued his education in high school in the city of Smyrna (Izmir), Asia Minor, where he studied commerce.
It is the summer of the summer of 1877 and the Terrible is rolling through the sub-Balkan settlements, which does not pass by Adjar.
Later, historians described the events that took place in Colonel Serafimov's home village as the second Batash massacre.
During the brutal massacres, the teacher Geno was also killed, who was beheaded on the threshold of the school, in front of one of his sons.
Vladimir Serafimov briefly returned to Adjara, only to find his village completely devastated.
His older brother Konstantin owned his own law firm in Sofia, and Vladimir briefly began working for him.
But, drawn to military affairs, Vladimir Serafimov was accepted as a cadet in the fourth class of the Military School.
Sincerely impressed by the character and outstanding abilities shown, his teachers, mostly Russian officers, presented him with a silver-plated Cossack saber, which he never parted with for the rest of his life. Currently, his "Sword of Honor" is a prominent exhibit in the Regional History Museum - Smolyan.
He graduated from the Military School in Sofia with the fourth class and on August 30, 1883, he was awarded his first officer rank of second lieutenant.
Second Lieutenant Serafimov was appointed commander of the port company in the city of Ruse.
He received his baptism of fire during the Serbo-Bulgarian War (1885). He was the commander of the 5th company of the 5th Danube Infantry Regiment and participated in the Battle of Slivniš (November 5–7). He also appeared in the reconnaissance detachment of Captain Benderev (November 9–11), as well as in the capture of Pirot (November 14–15). He participated in the attacks on the right flank, and with the company entrusted to him liberated the village of Gradishtnitsa.
For his bravery during the war, he was awarded the Order "For Bravery" IV degree.
Later he served in Peshtera, Pazardzhik, Haskovo, Karlovo, Sofia, Plovdiv and Asenovgrad.
Pazardzhik met Serafimov with his great love – Elena Katsarova.
On March 24, 1886, he was promoted to the military rank of lieutenant. He served in the 9th Plovdiv Regiment.
In the following years, Vladimir Serafimov diligently built up his reputation as an extremely experienced and disciplined officer.
In 1888, he received the rank of captain, in 1899 he was promoted to the rank of major, and in 1904 – to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Seeing in him a true soldier with high intelligence and respectful behavior, Prince Ferdinand offered to appoint him as his personal adjutant, but he refused.
I cannot become a salon officer. I am a soldier and I will remain one!
At a parade, Ferdinand was accompanied by the Crown Prince Boris, who was wearing a German cap. Serafimov stood before the prince and in a respectfully cool tone reminded him that one could only pass in front of a Bulgarian army wearing a Bulgarian officer's cap.
In 1909, Vladimir Serafimov was promoted to the rank of colonel.
The Balkan War (1912–1913) came and Colonel Serafimov was appointed commander of the Twenty-first Srednogorski Regiment, stationed in Asenovgrad.
The news of the beginning of the war has caught the regiment by the Chepelare.
Dear soldiers and officers, the twelfth hour has come.
The Rhodope Mountains, this sacred center of our love and sorrow, will surely become our Golgotha, but I believe that the Resurrection of Bulgaria will be seen from it.
God be with us!
After Serafimov's passionate speech, the Srednogortsi set off in their designated direction.
The regiment of the main character of our story advances into the Central Rhodopes.
The mission is to reach the Aegean Sea and sever the connection between the Ottoman units in Macedonia and Adrianople Thrace.
But autumn is already here.
Already on October 5, the Srednogortsi put the Turkish garrison on the then Bulgarian-Ottoman border along the Rozhen-Pamporovo line to flight.
The colonel sends a company to seize the so-called Tamrushki or Devlenski (Devinski) wedge – Ottoman territory, protruding into Thrace, with a strong garrison, threatening Plovdiv.
After the successful completion of the operation, the regiment received an order to launch an offensive on the night of October 12-13. In one day, Pashmakli, Raykovo and Ustovo (which later formed present-day Smolyan), as well as Momchilovtsi and Petkovo, were captured.
The population of the large and noble Bulgarian villages welcomed the 21st Srednogorsk Regiment as a liberator. The units, skillfully led by Colonel Serafimov, forced the Ottoman army to retreat in total disorder. The entire military warehouse of Pashmakli, which at that time was the center of the kaaz, and a large part of the convoys fell into Bulgarian hands.
The regiment deployed in this mountain ocean for more than 30 kilometers in length and more than 50 kilometers in depth from the border - a space of valleys, moors and settlements along the upper reaches of the Arda River.
Stoyu Shishkov,
participant in the fighting and future notable explorer of the Rhodope Mountains
Colonel Vladimir Serafimov liberates the Central Rhodopes. Everywhere they are warmly welcomed by the Bulgarian population. This is also the case in the villages of Karlukovo, Petkovo, Davudovo, Gorno Derekoy.
All the men had thrown off their fezzes and had put on white aglots instead of hats on their heads.
Lazar Daskalov,
a chetnik in Stefan Kalfa's detachment
On the square in front of the church "Holy Apostles Peter and Paul" in his native village today stands a monument to Colonel Vladimir Serafimov, who remained with his glorious military exploits in the golden annals of history as the Liberator of the Rhodopes.
Here is what Lieutenant Colonel Nikola Popnoev Kisyov, a comrade and comrade of Colonel Vladimir Serafimov, a platoon commander in the ranks of the Twenty-first Srednogorsk Infantry Regiment, remembers, shared during the construction of the monument erected on Mount Kavgadzhik, in memory of those events that took place on the same place on October 19, 20 and 21, 1912:
An old man, but with the cheerfulness of a youth…
Carried in his arms to the powerful "Hurray" of thousands of throats, he was left in front of the battle flag.
Who is this lucky man? - whispers in the crowd…
The gray-haired old man kisses the sacred emblem of duty to the Fatherland for a long time…
Tears streamed down his still fresh face.
His eyes sparkled, with his hat off he walked past the lined-up company, saluting it as he had once saluted his heroic 21st combat regiment at the same place.
But what exactly happens on these memorable dates?
Dear friends, for all of you I will try to trace in detail the series of October events, described as the Battle of Palas, but popular as the Rhodope Shipka, written in golden letters in Bulgarian history.
October 19, 20 and 21, 1912
Colonel Vladimir Serafimov introduced strict measures to protect the Bulgarian-Muslim population, with the poorest being supplied with food. However, the retreating Ottoman units received reinforcements and, under the command of Yaver Pasha, launched a counteroffensive from Xanthi towards Pallas (today's Rudozem).
The population rejoiced and came out to meet them.
They were marching towards Kavgadzhik.
Whoever had wine, brandy and tantura, took it out and treated them.
We walked around and looked at the Bulgarian officers.
A strong feeling of joy, gratitude and love for everything Bulgarian enveloped us.
Atanas Sulinandzhiev from the village of Ustovo
Before heading towards the Aegean Sea, the volunteer detachments of Stefan Kalfa, Ivan Botushanov, Hristo Chernopeev and Peyu Shishmanov stood by the regiment.
The reception of our troops by the local Bulgarians was warm and heartfelt.
The mournful faces of the women, dressed in the colorful Rhodope costumes, greeted us warmly. The men and even the young children offered their services to help.
Both wondered how and with what to entertain the Bulgarian soldier.
Lieutenant Konstantin Lukash,
platoon commander in the 21st Srednogorsk Infantry Regiment.
He also worked for the General Quartermaster Office
The Bulgarians were forced to retreat to the left bank of the Arda River - only 6-7 kilometers south of Ustovo and Raykovo.
Early in the morning of October 19, the battles began, which brought triumph to Colonel Serafimov and disgrace to his superiors.
Considering the imbalance of forces, the command of the Rhodope detachment in Asenovgrad, headed by Colonel Dimitar Geshev, ordered a retreat. They thought it best for the Srednogortsy to withdraw from the liberated settlements, to fortify themselves in a position near Rozhen, where the border between Bulgaria and the empire passes, and there to meet the Turkish attack. Geshev signed an order to retreat. The decisive resistance would be given only at the old border on the heights between Rozhen and Karamandzha Peak (today Murgavets).
This decision of the brigade command was bravely and firmly opposed by the commander of the 21st Regiment, Vladimir Serafimov, who resolutely undertook to endure everything, but not to leave the core of the flourishing Bulgarian-Christian villages in the heart of the Rhodope Mountains in the hands of the enemy...
The refusal to carry out an order of the higher command is an unprecedented case in the history of the Bulgarian army.
I decided to hold the enemy at elevation 1311, because I was sure that if I gave up the height, the position of the 21st Srednogorski Regiment would become extremely dangerous, and the Bulgarian population in Ustovo, Raykovo, Smolyan, Chokmanovo, Smilyan and other settlements in the direction would be destroyed.
From the regiment's diary dated October 20, 1912
The colonel shows audacity that every military statute severely punishes. Because it is disobedience to a superior order, and during war. But Serafimov makes the fateful decision.
Corporal Stefan Stanchev describes his steadfastness before his superior:
Geshev was calling on the phone, and our soldiers could hear him:
"Serafimov! Will you give the order to retreat to the old border!"
Serafimov answered him:
"Retreat?
No! Never!
I will not surrender to the enemy the villages in which I was welcomed as a liberator yesterday!
No! Not even a glance back!
I will not return slavery to the newly freed slave!
I believe in the invincible power of my regiment!
They must go through my corpse, and then!..."
While the other units of the Rhodope detachment retreated, Colonel Serafimov's soldiers were left fighting against an enemy that was many times superior to them. And in pouring rain and cold.
Serafimov looked impressive and noble. He was like a father to the soldiers and young officers, as he treated them paternally. His mustache was thick and white. He was of medium height. He never stopped advising officers to be careful with the authorities and the population.
Todor Demirev, a native of Srednogorsk, from Chepelare
The colonel constantly walked around his soldiers to give them courage.
We did not come to die, we came to win!
Years later, eyewitnesses recalled that the Turks managed to kill two of the horses that the colonel rode, but this did not stop him from fighting alongside his soldiers. All this also had a purely psychological impact on the enemies, who began to call the colonel among themselves shaitan (translated from Turkish, it means devil).
He led the battles from the front line.
In one day, they also killed two horses, with which he was touring the positions, and when he appeared, riding a third, the opposing Turkish units began to shout "shaitan".
Valdi Totev,
Serafimov's grandson, tells the story
To stop the audacity of the Bulgarians, the Turkish command deployed seven regiments and three batteries from the corps of Yaver Pasha between Smolyan and Rudozem and activated the plan for war in the Rhodope Mountains, developed by the army chief of staff Izet Pasha in 1909. This plan relied heavily on the local Muslim core, created before the war, mainly from Muslim Bulgarians who served in the padishah's army. For their effective inclusion in the military operations, 10,000 Martini rifles were delivered.
When declaring war, the Minister of War Nazim Pasha, who was also the commander-in-chief of the army, ordered:
The attack should be carried out simultaneously from all sides. It should be selfless, accompanied by terror to the point of ferocity, so that panic should occur in the Bulgarian lands on the very first day. Once the border is crossed, flying detachments should be formed and sent - cavalry and bashibozuk from the border Mohammedan population and from the Muslims in Southern Bulgaria, who should burn and cut down everything in their path!
On October 20, Colonel Serafimov led his regiment in an attack and reached the line between the village of Fatovo and the village of Alami Dere. He decided to concentrate his main forces on Mount Kavgadzhik (elevation 1311), which holds the approach to the road from Raykovo to Palace.
The situation was critical - it was raining, which sporadically turned into snow. Having just taken up position, Colonel Serafimov's soldiers were wet, hungry, tired, and unhappy with the freedom they had granted to the Middle Rhodope villages. Yaver Pasha's camps were advancing. The ratio of forces was one to three. The 21st Srednogorsk Regiment has 5,000 units, and the Turkish units – 15,000.
Lighting fires is prohibited, because the enemy is in close proximity. The battle order he issues excludes the possibility of retreat:
...all commanders should inspire courage in their subordinates by their personal example... bearing in mind that there is no turning back for the 21st Regiment before it has fulfilled its duty to the Tsar and the Fatherland...
The critical battle took place on October 21.
From the memories of a soldier from the regiment:
Then Serafimov gathered us in these meadows and just by looking at us, we knew - this is where we would die.
The soldiers were tired from the strenuous marches in one direction or another. After a sleepless night under the open sky, the companies of the 21st Srednogorsk Regiment began the fateful battle for the entire Rhodope detachment and for the Bulgarian villages in the Smolyan region. They had against them the main forces of the enemy, who outnumbered them many times. Five Turkish attacks were repelled with many casualties for the enemy, but he continued to press on.
A participant in the battle describes the situation as follows:
In front of the army, behind - shame, above - rain.
The vanguards clashed before noon near Fatovo. A fierce battle shook the ridge between Alami dere and Pallas. The Ottomans were constantly receiving fresh forces, while ours were exhausted.
Failure seems inevitable.
The squad and company commanders and all superiors, with their personal example, should inspire courage in their subordinates, the Bulgarian "Hurray!" should be carried in a thunderous voice during the actions, and the regiment should be aware that there is no turning back before fulfilling its duty to the Tsar and the Fatherland! Glory and immortality are ahead of us!
At dusk, Colonel Serafimov sends Lieutenant Colonel Vrachev's company, reinforced with a mountain battery, to bypass the right flank. The Bulgarian attack is surprising and literally sweeps the enemy away.
Non-commissioned officer Todor Stoychev writes:
At the moment when we heard that our detachment was attacking the Turks and the shouts of "hurray", Colonel Serafimov on horseback was in the very chain of my platoon, a few steps away from me. He raised his hand high, crossed himself and said:
With God forward!
This flanking detour decided the outcome of the battle.
The orchestra, whose bandmaster was the later famous maestro Georgi Atanasov, played the signal for an attack. Mounted on his white horse, Serafimov drew his sword, crossed himself and commanded:
Forward! God be with us!
To the sounds of "Shumi Maritsa" he led the companies into an attack. Powerful "Hurray" and "Forward with a knife" shook the Rhodope Mountains.
Volunteers from neighboring villages came to the rescue.
Along the entire front, "Hurray!" echoed to the sounds of "Shumi Maritsa".
A Bulgarian regiment turned an entire Ottoman corps into a panicked flight – 5,000 against 40,000!
Despite the superiority in numbers and weapons, under the pressure of the Bulgarian troops, the Turks retreated in disorder.
This complete victory guaranteed not only the liberation of the Rhodopes!
The victory of the Srednogortsy saved the Bulgarian Christians in the Central Rhodopes from certain massacre and averted the danger of an Ottoman invasion of Chepelare and Asenovgrad.
If Colonel Serafimov had chosen to obey the order to retreat, atrocities and atrocities in the region would have been inevitable!
On November 8, the 21st Srednogortsy Regiment liberated Xanthi, then Gyumyurdzhina and Dedeagach. It participated in the final defeat of the corps of Yaver Pasha, who capitulated at Ferre, Greece.
On November 14, 1912 The captured Yaver Pasha, together with his 10 thousand soldiers, shows officer valor and recognizes the qualities of the Bulgarian army:
This is a hurricane that can be repeated with one swing of the commander's sword. The combat training is remarkable.
I was amazed by the consciousness and intelligence of the Bulgarian soldier.
In military literature, the battles from October 19 to 21, 1912 are described as the Battle of Palas, but are popular as the Rhodope Shipka. This is how the Smolensk mufti Hadzhisalehov called them in 1939 at the oath of a group of local Bulgarian Muslims.
In 1934, the village of Alami Dere was renamed Colonel Serafimovo.
Colonel Vladimir Serafimov also took an active part in the Great War, later known as World War I, as the commander of the First Brigade of the Eighth Tundzha Division. He showed himself heroically during the battles fought near the village of Chegan.
Colonel Serafimov again showed himself as an experienced strategist, commanding a brigade in the battles at the bend of the Cherna River.
He was offered a promotion, but he refused.
When I saved the Rhodopes and was at the peak of my glory, I was not made a general.
Let me remain a colonel, as the people know and love me, unlike all those generals about whom the people have never heard.
Due to the failure to fulfill the order to retreat given to him in the Rhodopes, he was never promoted to the rank of general.
Colonel Vladimir Serafimov was discharged from the army on October 31, 1918.
On June 26, 1932, on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the memorable battles on Mount Kavgadzhik, which was named Srednogorets in honor of the 21st Regiment, an initiative committee was founded in the junior high school in Ustovo to erect a monument in honor of the fallen heroes during the October days of 1912.
The invitation to Vladimir Serafimov stated:
With your presence at this celebration dear to the people of Rhodope, you will do us a great honor and show, as a valiant military leader, how to honor the memory of those whom you so selflessly led in those memorable battles, and who offered the most precious thing to the altar of the fatherland - their lives!
The colonel was welcomed in the Rhodopes as a hero-liberator!
He is adorned with flowers from head to toe!
He is carried in his arms with stormy exclamations:
Long live!
and
Glory!
At elevation 1311, the colonel stops in front of the flag of the 21st Srednogorsk Regiment and kisses it for a long time, crying as a sign of personal gratitude to the memory of his boys.
The hero, gray with glory and grief, cries for the 75 remaining eternal guards of the Rhodope Shipka. He cries because they are not alive to see with what love and adoration the Rhodope people speak of their work, which resurrected the Rhodopes from the ashes of five centuries of slavery!
Returning to Sofia, he tells his wife Elena:
It is as if I am living a second life, seeing how people honor this epic.
This is the last trip of Colonel Vladimir Serafimov to this region. He does not live to see the opening of the monument - he dies on April 7, 1934.
Here, at this place on the 19th, 20th, and 21st of October 1912, 21 Srednogorsk regiments defeated the Turkish hordes of Yaver Pasha, three times more numerous than the Bulgarian troops, liberated this region from Turkish slavery and incorporated it into the fatherland.
May this monument, erected on the initiative of the Rhodope people and with the generous donations of many patriotic Bulgarian citizens and institutions, arouse amazement for the boundless love of the deceased for Mother Bulgaria, who served with dignity and fulfilled their duty to the Tsar, Family, and Homeland.
Eternal memory to the fallen heroes!
Glory to the living fighters!
Twelve thousand people are present on this memorable day. A few months later, the village of Alami Dere was renamed Colonel Serafimovo.
Grandson Yordan Totev says that they posthumously offered to promote Serafimov again, but his wife refused:
He didn't want to be a general, now I won't decide for him!
Awards
Military Order "For Bravery" 4th degree (April 21, 1886)
Commemorative Medal For Participation in the Serbo-Bulgarian War of 1885, silver (August 15, 1887)
Imperial Order "St. Alexander" 5th degree without swords (February 14, 1896)
People's Order "For Military Merit" 5th degree
People's Order "For Military Merit" 4th degree (February 14, 1903)
Badge "For 20 Years of Distinguished Service"
Commemorative Cross "For the Independence of Bulgaria 1908" (1909)
Military Order "For Bravery" 3rd degree (Balkan War)
Imperial Order "St. Alexander" 4th degree without swords
Imperial Order "St. Alexander" 3rd degree with swords
Order of Merit, silver
Order of St. Stanislav, 3rd class, Russian Empire
Military Cross of Merit, Austria-Hungary (World War I)
Order of the Lion and the Sun, Persia
Colonel Vladimir Serafimov is the father of five girls.
The only boy – his manly dream, with whom his wife Elena gave him, died at the age of two.
His hope of having an heir, to whom he could give his "Sword of Honor", did not leave him until the end of his days.
At the age of 56, his last child was born, again a girl – Lilyana, named after her husband – Toteva.
I remembered him as a strict, but kind and fair man. He had a pleasant baritone and often sang Bulgarian and Russian songs at home. It was pleasant to live with him. On every holiday or family occasion, he would present a flower to my mother, and he surrounded us with fatherly love. He made us feel a sense of security, protection, respect. I remember him as such a handsome man, like old gold, neat, with a tight gait, with a direct and very strong gaze. Just by looking at me, I stood "peacefully"...
She is the mother of Yordan and Vladimir (Valdi) Totevi, with the younger brother Valdi being the famous musician from "The Cockatiels". The elder Yordan says that his grandfather was strict and stubbornly protected his daughters from the courtship of even Prince Kiril.
The colonel raised two nephews on the female line as his sons - Nikola and Kancho Krastevi. Under his influence, they graduated from the Military School and distinguished themselves as young non-commissioned officers in the Balkan and First World Wars.
Vladimir Chernozemsky, grandson of Colonel Serafimov and bearer of his name, drew inspiration from his grandfather's personal archive, creating the wonderful novel "The Balkan Lion".
The novel is based on the remarkable feat of "Srednogortsi", which remained written in golden letters in Bulgarian history under the name of Rhodope Shipka.
*All poems not explicitly mentioned in this publication are from "Adjarian Tale" by teacher Vasil Savov.
How to get to the Svezhen Architectural and Historical Reserve?
The beautiful Bulgarian Sredna Gora jewel, Svezhen, is a village in Southern Bulgaria, in the Brezovo municipality, Plovdiv district. It is located in the Sarnena Sredna Gora and lies 752 meters above sea level.
By Order of the Council of Ministers No. 55 of November 26, 1987 (Official Gazette, issue 96, 11.12.1987), the old part of the village of Svezhen was declared an architectural and historical reserve, representing the cultural heritage of the Bulgarian National Revival.
The reserve includes 110 separate architectural sites (mainly houses), as well as parts of the general infrastructure.
Five of the sites are registered as cultural values of national importance, the rest are of local importance.
AIR Svezhen is located about 22 kilometers north of Brezovo (about 29 minutes by car).
AIR Svezhen is located:
197 kilometers (about 2 hours and 28 minutes by car) from the capital
65 kilometers (about 1 hour and 20 minutes by car) from the city of Plovdiv
355 kilometers (about 4 hours and 38 minutes by car) from the city of Varna
248 kilometers (about 2 hours and 36 minutes by car) from the city of Burgas
In the nearby surroundings are the huts "Svezhen", "Bratan" and "Kavakliika", Bratan peak, the dams "Svezhen" and "Domlyan" and other beautiful places.
The Svezhenska River flows through the village, and not far from the Svezhen resort there is a mineral spring with a built fountain - "Nevenkina Cheshma".
How do you get to Seraphim's House?
The house-museum of Colonel Vladimir Serafimov (Seraphim's House) in the Svezhen Architectural and Historical Reserve is located by the road, moving from the village of Babek in the direction of the village of Svezhen.
And finally, my dear friends,
you shouldn't miss checking out
the special photo album with moments –
discovered, experienced, filmed and shared with you!
Kommentare