A Brief History

In the thirty-six years since the fall of communism, the former Belene labor camp has gradually become a space for remembrance and civic education almost entirely thanks to civil society. Numerous commemorative, civic, and artistic interventions have taken place on the territory of the so-called Site Two of the camp: memorial symbols representing a cross and a crescent; a monument shaped like misaligned cogs on a pulley belt; a memorial plaque honoring the victims – members of the Bulgarian Agrarian Union; a replica of the original camp gate; an interfaith prayer room; and exhibitions and installations. Some of these are visible today, while others have been preserved only through photographs and eyewitness accounts.

At the initiative of former internees, local authorities, civil society actors and religious communities, an annual commemoration event is held in honor of the victims. As a result of the work of the Sofia Platform Foundation, the camp has been included in the Ministry of Education’s Educational Routes program. The partnership between the Sofia Platform Foundation and leading researchers on the topic has led to the development of the www.belene.camp platform for virtual conversations with survivors of the labor camps and political prisons, which has been visited more than 200,000 times in just two years. Furthermore, due to the joint efforts of the Belene Municipality, the Sofia Platform Foundation, the Belene Island Foundation, The Convo Foundation and other partners, the Belene camp is now listed among Bulgaria’s Top 100 National Tourist Sites. This has helped attract students, educators, diplomats, and tourists from Bulgaria and abroad, and the focus has been broadened to include the town’s rich cultural and historical heritage.

Before the Belene Camp Receives Official Cultural Heritage Status

The efforts to establish a site of memory and remembrance, learning and research on the territory of the former Belene camp should aim to document, preserve, and build upon the preservation and exhibition work that that has  already taken place on the site. These efforts should also support the development of the site while respecting the natural environment and regulations of the Persina Nature Park, where the camp’s remains are located.

The specific steps are:

1. Infrastructure maintenance at Site Two 

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• Restoring the electricity supply (the process has been initiated).

• Careful repair and/or conservation of the roofs and installation of light mesh on windows to prevent animals from entering (tasks that could be completed by prisoners at the Belene Prison).

2. Collecting and preserving artifacts and archives

• Conducting a preliminary and non-intrusive archaeological survey of Site Two, including the Hooligan Barracks and guard buildings, to uncover new artifacts or internees’ personal belongings. These items will be preserved and may be displayed in a future museum exhibition, following models such as the Auschwitz or Buchenwald memorial sites.

• Collecting, cataloging, and preserving both previously identified and newly discovered artifacts—such as the pontoon boat near the Hooligan Barracks, the sled and the convertible car at the guard building—in a regional museum or archive.

• Searching for materials relating to the labor camp in the archives held at the Belene Prison, Belene Municipality, and the Ministry of Interior’s Belene office (documents from before 1989) and transferring them to the State Archives Agency.

• Identifying additional areas for potential archaeological surveying and artifact preservation efforts.

• Conserving specific finds, such as outdoor toilets, a watchtower, etc.

3. Institutional coordination

• Signing a Memorandum of Understanding between the Municipality of Belene, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Tourism and local civil society representatives, such as the Belene Island Foundation, for coordinating activities and providing support, including for the annual commemoration event. 

• Legalizing interventions that have already been carried out on the existing building infrastructure (see point 4).

4. Exhibition, monuments and a memorial

• Cataloging and preserving existing memorial plaques and exhibitions as integral elements of a future memorial complex.

• Creating standardized information panels and replacing damaged ones.

• Expanding the exhibition program through an application process with review by a local committee (including representatives from the Municipality of Belene and the Belene Island Foundation) and designating suitable spaces for new exhibitions and installations.

• Completing the existing monument in a way that is inclusive of all victims and installing a contextual information panel.

5. Visitor access

• Simplifying access procedures and collecting visitor statistics and feedback.

• Introducing a cap on the number of visitors per day, month and year in accordance with Persina Nature Park’s regulations.

The Belene Camp as a cultural heritage site (after it's granted official status)

These are the key steps once the camp is officially recognized as a cultural heritage site:

1. Holding public discussions with historians, architects, archaeologists, museum educators, and others to develop a concept that will guide the future architectural competition for creating a memorial site.

2. Studying best practices across Europe, particularly places where memory sites coexist with nature parks, active prisons, residential or business zones.

3. Providing long-term access regulation, including routes and permits for visitors, maintaining the road to the camp remains and ensuring safe and easy access within the site itself.

4. Promoting participation in the Ministry of Education’s Educational Routes program among students and teachers.

5. Ensuring ongoing maintenance of the existing monument of all victims and designating a separate area for individual or group commemorative plaques, exhibitions and installations that will be subject to committee approval.

6. Designating locations to honor the victims of the Belene and Lovech camps who were buried on the Belene islands.

Conclusion:

Our aims are to preserve the site’s authentic traces, open it up to critical reflection and shared experiences, and encourage every visitor—from students to researchers—to assume personal responsibility for our democratic future. Through careful conservation, accessible educational formats and contemporary artistic interventions, the Belene camp can become not only a place that tells the story of human resilience and past oppression but also a space that inspires active civic engagement today.

Authors: 
Sofia Platform Foundation – Louisa Slavkova and Borislav Dimitrov
Borislav Skochev, author of The Belene Concentration Camp 1949–1987
Prof. Daniela Koleva, cultural historian, Sofia University
Prof. Momchil Metodiev, historian, New Bulgarian University
Belene Island Foundation – Mihail Marinov