Word: kostov
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Dates: during 1949-1949
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...court hastily adjourned for 20 minutes to give Kostov a chance to read his confession over. When the court reconvened, Traicho Rostov, a colorless little man who looked like a small-town schoolmaster, still firmly stood his ground. For the first time in the weird history of Communist show trials, a major defendant had stepped out of the part assigned him and had yelled defiance till the end at the hidden author of the script.*Defendant Kostov provided some biting lines of his own. Questioned about Tito's police chief, Alexander Rankovic, he said: "I went to a banquet...
...Kostov had been ousted from power last spring for being "anti-Soviet," which meant in plain Bulgarian that like Tito he opposed his country's economic exploitation by Moscow. "Kostovism," explained Bulgaria's new boss, Vulko Chervenkov, "is nothing but Titoism on Bulgarian soil." Through the summer and fall, Kostov and ten alleged accomplices were prepared for another big Communist show trial. It was reported that Kostov was flown to Moscow for "rehearsals." His jailers persuaded Kostov to write a 32,000 word "confession" of his anti-Russian activities, including the customary self-accusations that he had been...
Unbelieving Ears. As Kostov walked into the great hall of Sofia's Military Club, which had been rigged up as a courtroom, high Communists in the spectators gallery sat back smugly, waiting for him to cringe before his judges...
...Kostov would not play. When charges of espionage and treason were read to him, he cried: "It is not true!" Stunned, the presiding judge asked Rostov if he repudiated his earlier confession. "Yes, I do," said Rostov quietly...
Thieving Eyes. Kostov was whisked from the courtroom. His co-defendants knew their parts, and stuck to them. Ex-Minister of Finance Ivan Stefanov, who confessed that he had been a spy for the British since 1932, passionately demanded that the Bulgarian people be on the lookout against such public enemies as himself...