[S name was |Frank
Thompson. He was 23.
Bulgarian Fascists, fighting
for the Germans, murdered

The
Story of his brave death, of

of his life, of the service he per-
formed for ‘the free Deoples of
the world, can now be told. The
facets have come to England in
letters written by his associates
in the army.

account of his
murderers was told recently to
his mother by Mme. Sharova, a
Bulgarian the
World Trade Union Conference.

The deeds of the
partisans,
Section to

Bulgarian
and especially the
which Frank Was

attached as a British liason of- «
have become a legend *

ficer,
throughout the whole country.

They were led by General
Trichkov, Chief of Staff of the
Bulgarian Partisan Army, a
metal worker who had fought
for the Spanish Republie in the
International Brigade.

The detachment

was sur-
rounded by armed forces of the
pro-Nazi Bulgarian Govern-

ment in the mountains north of
Sofia a year ago.

They were overpowered.
Trichkov and most of his par-
tisans were killed. Those who
were captured were murdered
later. Many were tortured and

some had their eyes put out.

Frank was taken to Litakovo
with four other officers, in-
cluding an American and eight
other local partisans.

The full story of their cap-:
ture will one day be told.

At Litakovo the Gestapo
hoped to inflame the people’s
indignation against them and
report that they were lynched.
Their plan failed. The people
knew the partisans as libera-
tors.

Hastily the Gestapo staged a
mockery of a trial in the vilk
lage hall. A Bulgarian Fascist
captain was the judge, and the
leading citizens of the town
were forced to pack the hall
and watch the horrible pro-
ceedings.

Mme. Sharova, a school
teacher, was there with her
young daughter. The trial was
so brutal and such a travesty of
justice that her daughter, weep-
ing, left the hall. But Mme.
Sharova had to stay. She re-
solved'to give a report to her
trade union. She memorised
every word of the questioning
and every action of the mur-
derers.

Frank was sitting against a

‘pillar, smoking his pipe—ealm

and stern. He answered his
questioners in fluent Bulgar-
ian. He was asked his name,
nationality and opinions. He
gave them. .

“Tama Communist,” he re-

plied, proudly.

To the question ‘why did he,
an Englishman, enter Bulgaria,
to fight against its people, he
replied:

“T came because this War is
something very much deeper
than a struggle of nation
against nation. The greatest
thing in the world now is the
struggle of anti - Fascism
against Fascism.”

PAGE 14 — pa. MAGAZINE sp

I Give You The
Of Freedom’

By Phyl Griffith

Raising his right hand with fist clenched, a young English Army
major spoke these words fo the assembled people of a Bulgarian
village, under the eyes of the Gestapo. They are the last words

of a great, courageous

They told him they. would
shoot him. =

“T am ready to die for free-
dom,’ he Said. “I am proud. to
die with Bulgarian Patriots as

HE Watching crowd could:
keep silent no longer. They

were stirred by his words and
his proud bearing.

One woman, weeping, declar-

ed with passion to the “Judges”:
“Tam old. It does not matter
‘ what you do to me. But you are
wrong. We are not with you.
We are on the side of these
brave men.”

The captain struck her down.
He feared the crowd and wound
up. the proceedings.

It was with calm that Frank

Marshalled the condemned men -

and marched them off, walking
erect in front of the column.

It was then that he raised his
clenched fist and spoke his last
words. The captain struck down
his arm, but, defying the Ges-
tapo the crowd replied. - Thou-
sands of fists were raised in the
air. 1

The condemned men marched
to the castle to be shot. They
died giving the salute of free-
dom.

That was in June, 1944. Three
months later the Germans were
driven from Bulgaria, and the
Fatherland F@®nt Government
was set up. .

Then the people of Bulgaria
were able to show how deeply
they honored these free fight-
ers. The 13 heroes of Litakova
were laid together in a common
grave in the public gardens of
the village on November 12. A
crowd of fifty thousand people
lined the route as the coffins
were borne there. The people
had collected money for a me-
morial.

It was an honorable end for
13 great men.

WHAT Sort of man was Frank

Thompson? His. parents
are Professor Edward Thomp-
son, scholar, poet, expert on
India, and his wife, who comes
from New England stock. Her
Protestant ancestors emigrated
to America to escape from what
they considered to be tyranny.
The tradition of freedom runs
through the family.

Frank was educated at Win-
chester and New College, Ox-
ford. He spoke 12 languages.
Since he was a schoolboy he
had passionately believed in the
progress of all peoples. In
March, 1939, he joined the Com-
munist Party.

His mother told me this about
his youth, his burning desire to
understand the world, his feel-
ings at the time of the Spanish

CTION

Government’s

defeat and of

Munich.
“The young who were his
contemporaries,” she said,

“really hardly - new that all
this was happening. Some in
their ’teens, knew and, though
young, were hard enough to
shrug their shoulders as their
elders did. Those who cared
were either miserable or taught
themselves to forget and escape

“Those who were miserable

either did nothing or worked
for ;2 . political “party that
‘eared’.

“Frank was in the class of
those who knew, who cared, and

who joined the Communist
Party.” ;
PaRSEIEIES ae a [ak

BELIEVING it was necessary

to fight Fascism, he joined
the Army when war broke. out.
He spent some time in the Mid-
dle East, becoming an expert
in transport and mechanics.
This” was not easy for the boy

poetry and loved life. He proved
himself to be one who knew
when to fight.

Because of his knowledge of
languages he was soon moved
to special duties in the Army.
After his death his friends and
colleagues wrote to his parents
describing his life in the Army.

A senior officer wrote: “TI am
sure you would like to know
that your son was one of those

' that he was—a boy who loved:

extraordinary gallant

volunteered to be dra
a Gs eS parachute in the Balka
. der to contact guerill

there. It is thanks to
forts that it has been
for us to get supplies
guerillas. And if, toda
are large German force:
in the Balkans and wi
reach their homeland,
no small degree due to -
sacrifice of men like yo

A CLOSE friend of-his

-poral in the GM
written to the Daily =
about Frank. They wor
gether for three years.

“Frank obtained the J
of liaison ecfficer for
duties,” he writes,

“Before he left he as]
to carry out a duty shou
thing happen to him. d
that, in the event of his d
should write to his pare
tell them that he never ch
his politica] convictions
that his life had not b
vain if it had helped fo
the struggle toward a
life for the people. How
can I write this to them!

“Frank Thompson’s
and courage will not jonl
on in the hearts of the
garian people but in the 1
of all who fight for libert
progress. - FE

“We are most proud of
He lived and-died in the
tradition of our great part

e
LETTER from Fr:
younger brother, a

officer im Italy, is” @& fit
epitaph for this great Eng
man: “For Frank this war
a crusade for the fullest lit:
all human beings .. . He
centrated into his one lasi
tion all the promise and achi
ment of his life.”

Frank lies in a common ¢
in the gardens of -a for
village. But as he himself ¢
for every: one Killed in the

fence of freedom .”. . two ©
are made by that example. |

BRS GR SoC R SGC CC Ecce

A Lesson in Co-operation Delightfully Written in Verse for Children

Sor Good Reading Try These

FOR THE CHILDREN 4

lips

A Brief but Clear
HERITAGE OF THE C

CHINA’S NEW DEMOCRACY

By Mao Tse Tung

By Robert Minor

PLUS POSTAGE

Picture of the Political Situation in China

OMMUNIST POLITICAL ASS’N __

A Short History of the Communist Party in U.S.

Es rey

420 West Pender Street .
SSCA CCSOCCgooOoS IIo

PEOPLE’S BOOKSTORE

Phone MArine. 5836

RIEIESEACI CSCC:

i [ahah [34- Uste Ue be [

Lome

SATURDAY, JUNE 30, 1945