In the April War of 1941, following a brief penetration by German troops, Pirot and its surrounding area were annexed and occupied by Bulgarian military forces. The occupying regime immediately began enforcing forced Bulgarization through the administration and education system, which met with a cold reception, contempt, and passive resistance from the majority of the local population. Side by side in these territories operated both Partisan and Ravna Gora resistance movements which, despite initial weaknesses, organized actions, carried out the first armed clashes, and established secret committees. The Bulgarian fascist apparatus responded to the resistance with harsh reprisals, arrests, and mass executions of patriots, as well as the tragic deportation and looting of the entire Jewish population in March 1943. Finally, in September 1944, as a  ...