Vela Peeva
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (July 2012) |
Vela Peeva (born on March 16, 1922 in Kamenitsa, part of present day Velingrad) was a member of the Bulgarian Communist Party and a Bulgarian national heroine, who laid down her life when fighting for her country during World War II.
Vela Peeva | |
|---|---|
| Born | Vela Peeva Peeva 16 March 1922 |
| Died | 3 May 1944 (aged 22) |
Early life and University
Vela Peeva was born on March 16, 1922 to ethnic Bulgarian parents Peyo and Katerina in Kamenitsa, a part of present day Velingrad. She has three siblings; older brother and sister Yordana and Todor, and younger sister Gergana. As a teenager, as she was a bright student, she was sent to live alone in the city of Pazardzhik to attend a prestigious high school, so as to achieve a better future than was possible in her hometown.
In 1941, she was accepted at the University of Sofia, where she studied Pedagogy and Geography. However, she did not graduate, as she chose to be a partisan instead.[1]
Life with the Bulgarian Communist Party and Death
In 1939, Vela joined the Worker's Youth League, an anti communist organization. In 1943, Vela became a member of the Bulgarian Communist Party and joined an anti fascist group along with fellow pacifist Stoyo Kalpazanov and her sister Gergana. When Gergana fell ill of a cold in 1944, Vela volunteered to take her place in an assignment. The assignment was to collect food from the village of Lizhene and sneak it up to the partisans in the mountains. After she and Stoyo Kalpazanov had collected the food, they were betrayed on the way back and Stoyo was captured. Vela, seriously wounded, managed to escape and crawl away to a cliff, which she hid under for forty days. A local forest worker brought her food and medicine, and when Vela was just healing, he feared he would be discovered by the fascists and betrayed her. Vela was surrounded by the fascists and is believed to have turned her gun on herself to avoid being captured alive. She was beheaded by the fascists following her death.
Post death
After beheading Vela, the fascists went to Stoyo Kalpazanov's cell and began interrogating him about the whereabouts of the remaining partisans. However, he remained loyal to them, and refused to give any information. He was shot for this.
Following her death, Vela was named a Bulgarian national heroine and her birthplace was turned into a museum. Her sister, Gergana, who had meant to take her place in the anti fascist acitivies, wrote a book about her years after her death.