'Wehrmacht Eastern Tours': Bulgarian Officers on the German-Soviet Front, 1941–1942. Issue 1 (2nd January 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Beyda, Oleg
• Is Part Of: Journal of Slavic military studies. Volume 33:Issue 1(2020)
• Page Start: 136
• Page End: 161
• Publication Date: 2020-01-02
• Subjects: Military art and science -- Former Soviet republics -- Periodicals; Military art and science -- Europe, Eastern -- Periodicals; Former Soviet republics -- Defenses -- Periodicals; Europe, Eastern -- Defenses -- Periodicals; 355.033247
• DOI: 10.1080/13518046.2020.1723237
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1351-8046

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Although Bulgaria was inducted into the Axis, the country managed craftily to avoid sending military contingents against Soviet Russia. Instead, the Bulgarian army sent multiple groups of officers to the German-Soviet front. An instrumental figure was the Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant-General Konstantin Lukash, who 'went East' in 1941. The Bulgarian officers were received at a high level in two Army Groups, complimented and treated with respect throughout. Nevertheless, they witnessed the horror of the German occupation of the USSR. After 1945, Lukash's unpublished diary was buried in an archive. This article presents new archival evidence to show that the status of Bulgaria as a complete non-belligerent should be reconsidered to a limited degree.