Metodi Shatorov

Metodi Tasev Shatorov - Sharlo (Bulgarian: Методи Шаторов - Шарло and Macedonian Cyrillic: Методиja Шаторов - Шарло) (January 10, 1897, Prilep, Manastir Vilayet, Ottoman Empire – September 12, 1944 near Velingrad, Bulgaria) was a prominent Bulgarian political leader during the first half of 20th century and also temporary leader of the Macedonian communists in 1940-1941. As most left-wing politicians from Macedonia, during the 1930s he adopted the Balkan Communist Federation's concept for an autonomous Macedonia. However, Macedonian communist functionaries, originating from the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) and Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (United) (IMRO (United)) never lost their strong pro-Bulgarian (bulgarophile) sentiments.

Shatorov graduated from the local Bulgarian Exarchate's junior school in Prilep and afterwards from the men's high school in Bitola. He also attended a pedagogic school in Skopie in 1914-1915. In 1918 the Bulgarian Army withdrew from Vardar Macedonia and Serbia annexed the area. He immediately emigrated to Bulgaria, where he became a member of the BCP in 1920. Furthermore, Sharlo was arrested for his participation in the September Uprising in 1923. In 1925 he became also a member of the IMRO (United) - de facto a BCP creation. As a significant party worker, he grew as a functionary of the Comintern and a member of the BCP Central Committee. He was imprisoned several times and emigrated to the Soviet Union for political reasons. During the Spanish Civil War Sharlo went to Paris as a coordinator of BCP. During World War II the Comintern sent him back to Vardar Macedonia (being then part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia under the name 'Vardarska Banovina') to serve as a Secretary of the Macedonian Regional Committee of the Yugoslav Communist Party (YCP) since 1940. After the Bulgarian takeover of Vardarska Banovina in April 1941, the Macedonian communists fell in the sphere of influence of the BCP under Sharlo's leadership. The Macedonian Regional Committee refused to remain in contact with the YCP and linked up with BCP as soon as the invasion of Yugoslavia started. Sharlo refused to distribute the proclamation of the YCP which called for military action against the Bulgarians. He also became prominent with his anti-Serbian political views. The local committee of the YCP realised that the Bulgarian army liberated the local population from the oppressive and despised Serbian bondage. Shatorov, a dedicated anti-fascist, was credited with the slogan "One people, one country, one party", by which he approved the Bulgarian invasion.

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