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Anelia Kassabova
first half of 1963: 5790 were working class children, 2490 were members of the
TKZS, 16% were children of staff/ofhicials; 2.5% were children of private crafts¬
men and private farmers. The political affiliation of the parents is underlined in fol¬
lowing way: “13%, members of the Bulgarian Communist Party; 2.9%, members
of the Bulgarian Agrarian People’s Union (BZNS); 1.8%, bivshi hora (‘former peo¬
ple’) [i.e. members of the so-called fascist and bourgeois-parties, former policemen,
etc.]; 82%, non-party members; 7.9%, children of moral decomposed families;
and 5.4%, children of criminals.”
For the period 1969-1974, a statistic shows the following composition of the
student population in LES “Violeta Yakova” in the village of Vranya stena: 54%
working class children, 16% peasant children, and 30% “children of intellectuals”.
‘The generalization of being hooligans, hussies/prostitutes became easily affixed to
the whole group of students. The stigma of immorality strengthened the preju¬
dice of the surrounding environment and influenced the identity and the behavior
of the inmates of the school. “The rumor of their arrival in the village and the
whole region brought much turmoil. [The neighbors] began to lock the doors of
yards and houses in the early evening. Everything possible was talked about regard¬
ing their hooligans acts, about their antisocial behavior. ... Unscrupulous people
young and old ... adversely affected the behavior of the girls. White-haired drivers
rolled cynical heads and stopped near their cars offering services to help the girls
to “escape” from the school, offering them money for the journey, and when they
managed to convince them, they took advantage of those girls who were perceived
as having abnormal sexual behavior. [...] The help of the militia was insufficient,
and in some cases irresponsible. Many of our pedagogical staff ran often the risk of
physical and psychological harassment,” stated the school director Grancharov in
his autobiography.
The staff comprised some twenty-five to twenty-seven teachers, educators and
craftsmen, and support staff. The difficult working conditions, the work overload,
and low pay caused the constant shortage and turnover of the staff. This affected
the quality of teaching and hindered proportionate and individualized work with
the students.
Gradually the young people started participating in productive work—the
fields were utilized for food production (fruit and vegetable garden, livestock
breeding) under the guidance of a trained agronomist.” At the school workshops
were built, where craftsmen trained the juveniles (in sewing and applied electrical
engineering).”° The juveniles worked in the local agricultural co-operative farm
2 "TsDA, E 1283, op. 1, ae. 3: 50.
# DA Pernik, E 1017, op. 1, ae. 1: 15.
#4 DA Pernik, F. 1017, op. 1, ae. 1: 13, 21. About the methods of the Ministry of Interior and the People’
Militia concerning prostitution see Gruev 2015.
5 DA Pernik, F. 705, op. 1, ae. 1: 111 gr.
2° Ibid.: 11 gr.