Bulgaria
Here you find information about the history of Bulgaria in the Second World War, the WWII reenactment groups in Bulgaria at present and the present law which applies to reenactment in this country.
The history of Bulgaria is maybe well known, but it can't hurt to put a short excerpt there. The links to the reenactment groups are a resource for all reenactors, groups and interested individuals or companies to promote international exchange. The law section provides groups or individual reenactors who wish to travel abroad for a reenactment event with the necessary background to the visiting country's laws with regard to reenactment.
Background information on Reenactment
Up to now, there are no WWII reenactors or WWII reenactment events or shows in Bulgaria. We have a couple of organizations with uniformed reenactors, but they reenact the Russian-Turkish Liberation war from 1877-78, it is very important for Bulgaria. Also, a dozen men from the major organization made themselves WW1 uniforms, but still there is no real reenactment and the gear is... lets say it - too far from the truth. As for the WW2 - simply none.There are no special laws about the movement of WW2 vehicles - or any other vintage vehicles; the only difference is, that the old vehicles are free from the annual technical examination, because of course they do not comply to the modern standards for brakes, seatbelts, lights, etc. So, as said, there are absolutely no rules regarding the movement of WW2 vehicles. And how could there be - we have no WW2 vehicles.
There is one VW Kubel, one Opel Blitz and one BMW motor with sidecar. These vehicles appear on the annual vintage cars shows from time to time and that is all! There are one or two more Kubels, 2-3 Opel Blitz, one Mercedes, but these are restoration projects which don't seem to finish in the next half century.
And so... there is no reenactment. Only on National Holidays the guys with the 1877-78 war uniforms make honor guard at different events and monuments and there is also each year one big show - the defense of the Shipka pass - really good, with lots of FX - and that's all.
As for the law, it is simple - all guns, whose model is pre-1872 are free of any registration - (unless a modern round can be inserted - which unfortunately gives the authorities the freedom to take any gun, if they decide to). All weapons, whose model is after 1872, are on special rules. First, you can have it freely, but it must be deactivated by a certified weapons technician - the barrel drilled and pieces soldered inside at two spots, the firing pin cut, some more soldering and cutting... madness!! OR you can get a Collector License. Then your weapons must be kept in a steel safe, a bronze piece must be inserted into the barrel (not hurting the gun, but preventing the loading) and the firing pin must be kept in a sealed and stamped envelope, away from the weapon. Madness!!! And yes - you must renew the license every 3 years and if they don't like your smile or your haircut, then the guns go on police storage and you have 2 years to sell them to a certified collector, otherwise the police sell them cheaper.
Well, that's all about the reenacting (or rather the lack of reenacting) in Bulgaria. I guess things will change, the interest grew to the WWI, soon hope to see WWII too... but this is yet to come!
© 2007 by bee • mailto: webmaster(at)ww2reenactment.info