SOFIA Yana Lazarova, 17, was looking up at a tall monument in the center of Sofia's Liberty Park. It features three muscular figures, one clutching a gun, all carved from black stone. Asked what it represents, she admitted she did not know.
.
After a while, she guessed: "It's a monument to the Soviet Army for liberating Bulgaria from the Turks in 1878."
.
Not so long ago, Lazarova's answer would have elicited shock and a harsh rebuke. The statue is indeed Sofia's monument to the Soviet Army, but it has nothing to do with the Turks. Instead it commemorates Soviet troops for liberating Bulgaria from the Nazis in 1944, an event that paved the way for 45 years of Communist rule.
.
That is a fact that every schoolchild in this former East bloc state used to know. But 15 years after the collapse of Communism, comments like Lazarova's are not uncommon. Students of Lazarova's age were only two years old when Bulgaria's hard-line ruler, Todor Zhivkov, was removed from power on Nov. 10, 1989, one day after the Berlin Wall was breached.
.
Since then, many children have grown up with only the vaguest notion about their country's recent past. The history of Bulgaria in the postwar era - the Communist era - is glossed over in high schools, teenagers say, as the country concentrates not on the past, but on the future.
.
Bulgaria became a member of NATO this year and it expects to join the European Union in 2007. With that in mind, attention is firmly focused on Western-style economic reforms and the progress toward prosperity that Bulgaria has made in recent years.
.
In the heart of Sofia, streets that were empty a decade ago are packed with cars - sleek Mercedes and BMWs, and Opels for families. Young people gather in cafés and bars with minimalist design and dim lighting. Restaurants are booming. Teens are into fashion. Everything has changed.
.
But just as the country seems to be proving its success, there are those who worry about the rise of a new generation apparently so unaware of the past.
.
Bulgaria's new wealth has not eclipsed recent history: It is still everywhere to be seen, from the concrete housing blocks that line the city's endless boulevards to huge rusting factories and monuments like the one in Liberty Park.
.
But many here in their late teens or early 20s profess ignorance about the Communist past. "I can't say much about it," said Vessela Pereva, 20, a student of journalism and communications at Sofia University. "I don't know whether it was good or bad."
.
One of Pereva's teachers, Matthew Brunwasser, 33, a visiting instructor of journalism from San Francisco, said Pereva's view was typical in his class.
.
When he recently mentioned the Durjavna Sigurnost, Bulgaria's notorious state security service, he said his students had to go back home and look it up on the Internet. The security service was behind numerous foreign assassinations and ran an extensive network of informants inside the country.
.
The problem, according to officials, is that history books have yet to be updated and schools are no longer using the Marxist texts of the previous era.
.
"You can say that the period of socialism is downplayed in the history textbooks," said Vesselin Metodiev, who served as education minister in the country's first anti-Communist government. "Bulgarian historiography was an ideological discipline. Non-Marxist historians have only recently been able to begin studying the historical record."
.
At home, too, children hear little of the past: Brunwasser said he believed that many families preferred not to talk about the darker side of communism.
.
"Parents don't want to burden their children," said Brunwasser, who has been living on and off in Bulgaria since 1995. "Some families do, especially those members who suffered particularly, but in general they just don't talk about it."
.
Some youths take the view that the lessons of socialism have no relevance for people living in today's world. "They don't care about the past - they are living here and now," said Jasen Bosev, who was 10 years old when the Berlin Wall came down. "They care about money and fashion. The past is not useful to them."
.
This outlook has stirred concern at a time when socialism is seen in an increasingly positive light among the older generation. While there was a backlash against Communism in the 1990s, many older Bulgarians now wax nostalgic over a period they regard as having provided employment and security.
.
In a study published in January, a team of experts from the Association Global Bulgaria Initiative, said: "It should be noted we live in a society in which the vast majority of people do not know what is good about democracy, and have forgotten what is bad about socialism."
.
Zhelyu Zhelev, a dissident who went on to become Bulgaria's first president after the collapse of Communism, said he was disturbed to see a new generation grow up in the dark.
.
"To an extent it is good, but without knowledge of the past, they are not able to recognize repressive regimes or forecast the future," he said in a telephone interview.
.
Slowly, however, some people are trying to open a broader debate. There is a web site, www.spomeniteni.org that invites people of all ages to send in their personal memories of the Communist period, both good and bad.
.
The web site's founder, Diana Ivanova, said she had set up the site in reaction to the increasingly rosy view of the past promoted by some former politicians and by the media. Perhaps because it is on the Internet, much of its content comes from young people.
.
In one e-mail, a woman describes how at the age of seven she had been rushed home by her mother. The Chernobyl nuclear reactor had exploded in Ukraine, a fact not mentioned by the state media but passed on rapidly around the country by word of mouth. The family had learned of it by a whisper from a stranger.
.
In another e-mail a girl describes how a Turkish woman burst into tears in the summer of 1989 when called by her name. At that time, Bulgaria was expelling its Turkish minority and forcing those who remained to adopt Bulgarian names. "If we can promote interest in people's personal experiences, then perhaps it will lead to interest in the bigger story," Ivanova said.
.SOFIA Yana Lazarova, 17, was looking up at a tall monument in the center of Sofia's Liberty Park. It features three muscular figures, one clutching a gun, all carved from black stone. Asked what it represents, she admitted she did not know.
.
After a while, she guessed: "It's a monument to the Soviet Army for liberating Bulgaria from the Turks in 1878."
.
Not so long ago, Lazarova's answer would have elicited shock and a harsh rebuke. The statue is indeed Sofia's monument to the Soviet Army, but it has nothing to do with the Turks. Instead it commemorates Soviet troops for liberating Bulgaria from the Nazis in 1944, an event that paved the way for 45 years of Communist rule.
.
That is a fact that every schoolchild in this former East bloc state used to know. But 15 years after the collapse of Communism, comments like Lazarova's are not uncommon. Students of Lazarova's age were only two years old when Bulgaria's hard-line ruler, Todor Zhivkov, was removed from power on Nov. 10, 1989, one day after the Berlin Wall was breached.
.
Since then, many children have grown up with only the vaguest notion about their country's recent past. The history of Bulgaria in the postwar era - the Communist era - is glossed over in high schools, teenagers say, as the country concentrates not on the past, but on the future.
.
Bulgaria became a member of NATO this year and it expects to join the European Union in 2007. With that in mind, attention is firmly focused on Western-style economic reforms and the progress toward prosperity that Bulgaria has made in recent years.
.
In the heart of Sofia, streets that were empty a decade ago are packed with cars - sleek Mercedes and BMWs, and Opels for families. Young people gather in cafés and bars with minimalist design and dim lighting. Restaurants are booming. Teens are into fashion. Everything has changed.
.
But just as the country seems to be proving its success, there are those who worry about the rise of a new generation apparently so unaware of the past.
.
Bulgaria's new wealth has not eclipsed recent history: It is still everywhere to be seen, from the concrete housing blocks that line the city's endless boulevards to huge rusting factories and monuments like the one in Liberty Park.
.
But many here in their late teens or early 20s profess ignorance about the Communist past. "I can't say much about it," said Vessela Pereva, 20, a student of journalism and communications at Sofia University. "I don't know whether it was good or bad."
.
One of Pereva's teachers, Matthew Brunwasser, 33, a visiting instructor of journalism from San Francisco, said Pereva's view was typical in his class.
.
When he recently mentioned the Durjavna Sigurnost, Bulgaria's notorious state security service, he said his students had to go back home and look it up on the Internet. The security service was behind numerous foreign assassinations and ran an extensive network of informants inside the country.
.
The problem, according to officials, is that history books have yet to be updated and schools are no longer using the Marxist texts of the previous era.
.
"You can say that the period of socialism is downplayed in the history textbooks," said Vesselin Metodiev, who served as education minister in the country's first anti-Communist government. "Bulgarian historiography was an ideological discipline. Non-Marxist historians have only recently been able to begin studying the historical record."
.
At home, too, children hear little of the past: Brunwasser said he believed that many families preferred not to talk about the darker side of communism.
.
"Parents don't want to burden their children," said Brunwasser, who has been living on and off in Bulgaria since 1995. "Some families do, especially those members who suffered particularly, but in general they just don't talk about it."
.
Some youths take the view that the lessons of socialism have no relevance for people living in today's world. "They don't care about the past - they are living here and now," said Jasen Bosev, who was 10 years old when the Berlin Wall came down. "They care about money and fashion. The past is not useful to them."
.
This outlook has stirred concern at a time when socialism is seen in an increasingly positive light among the older generation. While there was a backlash against Communism in the 1990s, many older Bulgarians now wax nostalgic over a period they regard as having provided employment and security.
.
In a study published in January, a team of experts from the Association Global Bulgaria Initiative, said: "It should be noted we live in a society in which the vast majority of people do not know what is good about democracy, and have forgotten what is bad about socialism."
.
Zhelyu Zhelev, a dissident who went on to become Bulgaria's first president after the collapse of Communism, said he was disturbed to see a new generation grow up in the dark.
.
"To an extent it is good, but without knowledge of the past, they are not able to recognize repressive regimes or forecast the future," he said in a telephone interview.
.
Slowly, however, some people are trying to open a broader debate. There is a web site, www.spomeniteni.org that invites people of all ages to send in their personal memories of the Communist period, both good and bad.
.
The web site's founder, Diana Ivanova, said she had set up the site in reaction to the increasingly rosy view of the past promoted by some former politicians and by the media. Perhaps because it is on the Internet, much of its content comes from young people.
.
In one e-mail, a woman describes how at the age of seven she had been rushed home by her mother. The Chernobyl nuclear reactor had exploded in Ukraine, a fact not mentioned by the state media but passed on rapidly around the country by word of mouth. The family had learned of it by a whisper from a stranger.
.
In another e-mail a girl describes how a Turkish woman burst into tears in the summer of 1989 when called by her name. At that time, Bulgaria was expelling its Turkish minority and forcing those who remained to adopt Bulgarian names. "If we can promote interest in people's personal experiences, then perhaps it will lead to interest in the bigger story," Ivanova said.
.SOFIA Yana Lazarova, 17, was looking up at a tall monument in the center of Sofia's Liberty Park. It features three muscular figures, one clutching a gun, all carved from black stone. Asked what it represents, she admitted she did not know.
.
After a while, she guessed: "It's a monument to the Soviet Army for liberating Bulgaria from the Turks in 1878."
.
Not so long ago, Lazarova's answer would have elicited shock and a harsh rebuke. The statue is indeed Sofia's monument to the Soviet Army, but it has nothing to do with the Turks. Instead it commemorates Soviet troops for liberating Bulgaria from the Nazis in 1944, an event that paved the way for 45 years of Communist rule.
.
That is a fact that every schoolchild in this former East bloc state used to know. But 15 years after the collapse of Communism, comments like Lazarova's are not uncommon. Students of Lazarova's age were only two years old when Bulgaria's hard-line ruler, Todor Zhivkov, was removed from power on Nov. 10, 1989, one day after the Berlin Wall was breached.
.
Since then, many children have grown up with only the vaguest notion about their country's recent past. The history of Bulgaria in the postwar era - the Communist era - is glossed over in high schools, teenagers say, as the country concentrates not on the past, but on the future.
.
Bulgaria became a member of NATO this year and it expects to join the European Union in 2007. With that in mind, attention is firmly focused on Western-style economic reforms and the progress toward prosperity that Bulgaria has made in recent years.
.
In the heart of Sofia, streets that were empty a decade ago are packed with cars - sleek Mercedes and BMWs, and Opels for families. Young people gather in cafés and bars with minimalist design and dim lighting. Restaurants are booming. Teens are into fashion. Everything has changed.
.
But just as the country seems to be proving its success, there are those who worry about the rise of a new generation apparently so unaware of the past.
.
Bulgaria's new wealth has not eclipsed recent history: It is still everywhere to be seen, from the concrete housing blocks that line the city's endless boulevards to huge rusting factories and monuments like the one in Liberty Park.
.
But many here in their late teens or early 20s profess ignorance about the Communist past. "I can't say much about it," said Vessela Pereva, 20, a student of journalism and communications at Sofia University. "I don't know whether it was good or bad."
.
One of Pereva's teachers, Matthew Brunwasser, 33, a visiting instructor of journalism from San Francisco, said Pereva's view was typical in his class.
.
When he recently mentioned the Durjavna Sigurnost, Bulgaria's notorious state security service, he said his students had to go back home and look it up on the Internet. The security service was behind numerous foreign assassinations and ran an extensive network of informants inside the country.
.
The problem, according to officials, is that history books have yet to be updated and schools are no longer using the Marxist texts of the previous era.
.
"You can say that the period of socialism is downplayed in the history textbooks," said Vesselin Metodiev, who served as education minister in the country's first anti-Communist government. "Bulgarian historiography was an ideological discipline. Non-Marxist historians have only recently been able to begin studying the historical record."
.
At home, too, children hear little of the past: Brunwasser said he believed that many families preferred not to talk about the darker side of communism.
.
"Parents don't want to burden their children," said Brunwasser, who has been living on and off in Bulgaria since 1995. "Some families do, especially those members who suffered particularly, but in general they just don't talk about it."
.
Some youths take the view that the lessons of socialism have no relevance for people living in today's world. "They don't care about the past - they are living here and now," said Jasen Bosev, who was 10 years old when the Berlin Wall came down. "They care about money and fashion. The past is not useful to them."
.
This outlook has stirred concern at a time when socialism is seen in an increasingly positive light among the older generation. While there was a backlash against Communism in the 1990s, many older Bulgarians now wax nostalgic over a period they regard as having provided employment and security.
.
In a study published in January, a team of experts from the Association Global Bulgaria Initiative, said: "It should be noted we live in a society in which the vast majority of people do not know what is good about democracy, and have forgotten what is bad about socialism."
.
Zhelyu Zhelev, a dissident who went on to become Bulgaria's first president after the collapse of Communism, said he was disturbed to see a new generation grow up in the dark.
.
"To an extent it is good, but without knowledge of the past, they are not able to recognize repressive regimes or forecast the future," he said in a telephone interview.
.
Slowly, however, some people are trying to open a broader debate. There is a web site, www.spomeniteni.org that invites people of all ages to send in their personal memories of the Communist period, both good and bad.
.
The web site's founder, Diana Ivanova, said she had set up the site in reaction to the increasingly rosy view of the past promoted by some former politicians and by the media. Perhaps because it is on the Internet, much of its content comes from young people.
.
In one e-mail, a woman describes how at the age of seven she had been rushed home by her mother. The Chernobyl nuclear reactor had exploded in Ukraine, a fact not mentioned by the state media but passed on rapidly around the country by word of mouth. The family had learned of it by a whisper from a stranger.
.
In another e-mail a girl describes how a Turkish woman burst into tears in the summer of 1989 when called by her name. At that time, Bulgaria was expelling its Turkish minority and forcing those who remained to adopt Bulgarian names. "If we can promote interest in people's personal experiences, then perhaps it will lead to interest in the bigger story," Ivanova said.
.
.
After a while, she guessed: "It's a monument to the Soviet Army for liberating Bulgaria from the Turks in 1878."
.
Not so long ago, Lazarova's answer would have elicited shock and a harsh rebuke. The statue is indeed Sofia's monument to the Soviet Army, but it has nothing to do with the Turks. Instead it commemorates Soviet troops for liberating Bulgaria from the Nazis in 1944, an event that paved the way for 45 years of Communist rule.
.
That is a fact that every schoolchild in this former East bloc state used to know. But 15 years after the collapse of Communism, comments like Lazarova's are not uncommon. Students of Lazarova's age were only two years old when Bulgaria's hard-line ruler, Todor Zhivkov, was removed from power on Nov. 10, 1989, one day after the Berlin Wall was breached.
.
Since then, many children have grown up with only the vaguest notion about their country's recent past. The history of Bulgaria in the postwar era - the Communist era - is glossed over in high schools, teenagers say, as the country concentrates not on the past, but on the future.
.
Bulgaria became a member of NATO this year and it expects to join the European Union in 2007. With that in mind, attention is firmly focused on Western-style economic reforms and the progress toward prosperity that Bulgaria has made in recent years.
.
In the heart of Sofia, streets that were empty a decade ago are packed with cars - sleek Mercedes and BMWs, and Opels for families. Young people gather in cafés and bars with minimalist design and dim lighting. Restaurants are booming. Teens are into fashion. Everything has changed.
.
But just as the country seems to be proving its success, there are those who worry about the rise of a new generation apparently so unaware of the past.
.
Bulgaria's new wealth has not eclipsed recent history: It is still everywhere to be seen, from the concrete housing blocks that line the city's endless boulevards to huge rusting factories and monuments like the one in Liberty Park.
.
But many here in their late teens or early 20s profess ignorance about the Communist past. "I can't say much about it," said Vessela Pereva, 20, a student of journalism and communications at Sofia University. "I don't know whether it was good or bad."
.
One of Pereva's teachers, Matthew Brunwasser, 33, a visiting instructor of journalism from San Francisco, said Pereva's view was typical in his class.
.
When he recently mentioned the Durjavna Sigurnost, Bulgaria's notorious state security service, he said his students had to go back home and look it up on the Internet. The security service was behind numerous foreign assassinations and ran an extensive network of informants inside the country.
.
The problem, according to officials, is that history books have yet to be updated and schools are no longer using the Marxist texts of the previous era.
.
"You can say that the period of socialism is downplayed in the history textbooks," said Vesselin Metodiev, who served as education minister in the country's first anti-Communist government. "Bulgarian historiography was an ideological discipline. Non-Marxist historians have only recently been able to begin studying the historical record."
.
At home, too, children hear little of the past: Brunwasser said he believed that many families preferred not to talk about the darker side of communism.
.
"Parents don't want to burden their children," said Brunwasser, who has been living on and off in Bulgaria since 1995. "Some families do, especially those members who suffered particularly, but in general they just don't talk about it."
.
Some youths take the view that the lessons of socialism have no relevance for people living in today's world. "They don't care about the past - they are living here and now," said Jasen Bosev, who was 10 years old when the Berlin Wall came down. "They care about money and fashion. The past is not useful to them."
.
This outlook has stirred concern at a time when socialism is seen in an increasingly positive light among the older generation. While there was a backlash against Communism in the 1990s, many older Bulgarians now wax nostalgic over a period they regard as having provided employment and security.
.
In a study published in January, a team of experts from the Association Global Bulgaria Initiative, said: "It should be noted we live in a society in which the vast majority of people do not know what is good about democracy, and have forgotten what is bad about socialism."
.
Zhelyu Zhelev, a dissident who went on to become Bulgaria's first president after the collapse of Communism, said he was disturbed to see a new generation grow up in the dark.
.
"To an extent it is good, but without knowledge of the past, they are not able to recognize repressive regimes or forecast the future," he said in a telephone interview.
.
Slowly, however, some people are trying to open a broader debate. There is a web site, www.spomeniteni.org that invites people of all ages to send in their personal memories of the Communist period, both good and bad.
.
The web site's founder, Diana Ivanova, said she had set up the site in reaction to the increasingly rosy view of the past promoted by some former politicians and by the media. Perhaps because it is on the Internet, much of its content comes from young people.
.
In one e-mail, a woman describes how at the age of seven she had been rushed home by her mother. The Chernobyl nuclear reactor had exploded in Ukraine, a fact not mentioned by the state media but passed on rapidly around the country by word of mouth. The family had learned of it by a whisper from a stranger.
.
In another e-mail a girl describes how a Turkish woman burst into tears in the summer of 1989 when called by her name. At that time, Bulgaria was expelling its Turkish minority and forcing those who remained to adopt Bulgarian names. "If we can promote interest in people's personal experiences, then perhaps it will lead to interest in the bigger story," Ivanova said.
.SOFIA Yana Lazarova, 17, was looking up at a tall monument in the center of Sofia's Liberty Park. It features three muscular figures, one clutching a gun, all carved from black stone. Asked what it represents, she admitted she did not know.
.
After a while, she guessed: "It's a monument to the Soviet Army for liberating Bulgaria from the Turks in 1878."
.
Not so long ago, Lazarova's answer would have elicited shock and a harsh rebuke. The statue is indeed Sofia's monument to the Soviet Army, but it has nothing to do with the Turks. Instead it commemorates Soviet troops for liberating Bulgaria from the Nazis in 1944, an event that paved the way for 45 years of Communist rule.
.
That is a fact that every schoolchild in this former East bloc state used to know. But 15 years after the collapse of Communism, comments like Lazarova's are not uncommon. Students of Lazarova's age were only two years old when Bulgaria's hard-line ruler, Todor Zhivkov, was removed from power on Nov. 10, 1989, one day after the Berlin Wall was breached.
.
Since then, many children have grown up with only the vaguest notion about their country's recent past. The history of Bulgaria in the postwar era - the Communist era - is glossed over in high schools, teenagers say, as the country concentrates not on the past, but on the future.
.
Bulgaria became a member of NATO this year and it expects to join the European Union in 2007. With that in mind, attention is firmly focused on Western-style economic reforms and the progress toward prosperity that Bulgaria has made in recent years.
.
In the heart of Sofia, streets that were empty a decade ago are packed with cars - sleek Mercedes and BMWs, and Opels for families. Young people gather in cafés and bars with minimalist design and dim lighting. Restaurants are booming. Teens are into fashion. Everything has changed.
.
But just as the country seems to be proving its success, there are those who worry about the rise of a new generation apparently so unaware of the past.
.
Bulgaria's new wealth has not eclipsed recent history: It is still everywhere to be seen, from the concrete housing blocks that line the city's endless boulevards to huge rusting factories and monuments like the one in Liberty Park.
.
But many here in their late teens or early 20s profess ignorance about the Communist past. "I can't say much about it," said Vessela Pereva, 20, a student of journalism and communications at Sofia University. "I don't know whether it was good or bad."
.
One of Pereva's teachers, Matthew Brunwasser, 33, a visiting instructor of journalism from San Francisco, said Pereva's view was typical in his class.
.
When he recently mentioned the Durjavna Sigurnost, Bulgaria's notorious state security service, he said his students had to go back home and look it up on the Internet. The security service was behind numerous foreign assassinations and ran an extensive network of informants inside the country.
.
The problem, according to officials, is that history books have yet to be updated and schools are no longer using the Marxist texts of the previous era.
.
"You can say that the period of socialism is downplayed in the history textbooks," said Vesselin Metodiev, who served as education minister in the country's first anti-Communist government. "Bulgarian historiography was an ideological discipline. Non-Marxist historians have only recently been able to begin studying the historical record."
.
At home, too, children hear little of the past: Brunwasser said he believed that many families preferred not to talk about the darker side of communism.
.
"Parents don't want to burden their children," said Brunwasser, who has been living on and off in Bulgaria since 1995. "Some families do, especially those members who suffered particularly, but in general they just don't talk about it."
.
Some youths take the view that the lessons of socialism have no relevance for people living in today's world. "They don't care about the past - they are living here and now," said Jasen Bosev, who was 10 years old when the Berlin Wall came down. "They care about money and fashion. The past is not useful to them."
.
This outlook has stirred concern at a time when socialism is seen in an increasingly positive light among the older generation. While there was a backlash against Communism in the 1990s, many older Bulgarians now wax nostalgic over a period they regard as having provided employment and security.
.
In a study published in January, a team of experts from the Association Global Bulgaria Initiative, said: "It should be noted we live in a society in which the vast majority of people do not know what is good about democracy, and have forgotten what is bad about socialism."
.
Zhelyu Zhelev, a dissident who went on to become Bulgaria's first president after the collapse of Communism, said he was disturbed to see a new generation grow up in the dark.
.
"To an extent it is good, but without knowledge of the past, they are not able to recognize repressive regimes or forecast the future," he said in a telephone interview.
.
Slowly, however, some people are trying to open a broader debate. There is a web site, www.spomeniteni.org that invites people of all ages to send in their personal memories of the Communist period, both good and bad.
.
The web site's founder, Diana Ivanova, said she had set up the site in reaction to the increasingly rosy view of the past promoted by some former politicians and by the media. Perhaps because it is on the Internet, much of its content comes from young people.
.
In one e-mail, a woman describes how at the age of seven she had been rushed home by her mother. The Chernobyl nuclear reactor had exploded in Ukraine, a fact not mentioned by the state media but passed on rapidly around the country by word of mouth. The family had learned of it by a whisper from a stranger.
.
In another e-mail a girl describes how a Turkish woman burst into tears in the summer of 1989 when called by her name. At that time, Bulgaria was expelling its Turkish minority and forcing those who remained to adopt Bulgarian names. "If we can promote interest in people's personal experiences, then perhaps it will lead to interest in the bigger story," Ivanova said.
.SOFIA Yana Lazarova, 17, was looking up at a tall monument in the center of Sofia's Liberty Park. It features three muscular figures, one clutching a gun, all carved from black stone. Asked what it represents, she admitted she did not know.
.
After a while, she guessed: "It's a monument to the Soviet Army for liberating Bulgaria from the Turks in 1878."
.
Not so long ago, Lazarova's answer would have elicited shock and a harsh rebuke. The statue is indeed Sofia's monument to the Soviet Army, but it has nothing to do with the Turks. Instead it commemorates Soviet troops for liberating Bulgaria from the Nazis in 1944, an event that paved the way for 45 years of Communist rule.
.
That is a fact that every schoolchild in this former East bloc state used to know. But 15 years after the collapse of Communism, comments like Lazarova's are not uncommon. Students of Lazarova's age were only two years old when Bulgaria's hard-line ruler, Todor Zhivkov, was removed from power on Nov. 10, 1989, one day after the Berlin Wall was breached.
.
Since then, many children have grown up with only the vaguest notion about their country's recent past. The history of Bulgaria in the postwar era - the Communist era - is glossed over in high schools, teenagers say, as the country concentrates not on the past, but on the future.
.
Bulgaria became a member of NATO this year and it expects to join the European Union in 2007. With that in mind, attention is firmly focused on Western-style economic reforms and the progress toward prosperity that Bulgaria has made in recent years.
.
In the heart of Sofia, streets that were empty a decade ago are packed with cars - sleek Mercedes and BMWs, and Opels for families. Young people gather in cafés and bars with minimalist design and dim lighting. Restaurants are booming. Teens are into fashion. Everything has changed.
.
But just as the country seems to be proving its success, there are those who worry about the rise of a new generation apparently so unaware of the past.
.
Bulgaria's new wealth has not eclipsed recent history: It is still everywhere to be seen, from the concrete housing blocks that line the city's endless boulevards to huge rusting factories and monuments like the one in Liberty Park.
.
But many here in their late teens or early 20s profess ignorance about the Communist past. "I can't say much about it," said Vessela Pereva, 20, a student of journalism and communications at Sofia University. "I don't know whether it was good or bad."
.
One of Pereva's teachers, Matthew Brunwasser, 33, a visiting instructor of journalism from San Francisco, said Pereva's view was typical in his class.
.
When he recently mentioned the Durjavna Sigurnost, Bulgaria's notorious state security service, he said his students had to go back home and look it up on the Internet. The security service was behind numerous foreign assassinations and ran an extensive network of informants inside the country.
.
The problem, according to officials, is that history books have yet to be updated and schools are no longer using the Marxist texts of the previous era.
.
"You can say that the period of socialism is downplayed in the history textbooks," said Vesselin Metodiev, who served as education minister in the country's first anti-Communist government. "Bulgarian historiography was an ideological discipline. Non-Marxist historians have only recently been able to begin studying the historical record."
.
At home, too, children hear little of the past: Brunwasser said he believed that many families preferred not to talk about the darker side of communism.
.
"Parents don't want to burden their children," said Brunwasser, who has been living on and off in Bulgaria since 1995. "Some families do, especially those members who suffered particularly, but in general they just don't talk about it."
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Some youths take the view that the lessons of socialism have no relevance for people living in today's world. "They don't care about the past - they are living here and now," said Jasen Bosev, who was 10 years old when the Berlin Wall came down. "They care about money and fashion. The past is not useful to them."
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This outlook has stirred concern at a time when socialism is seen in an increasingly positive light among the older generation. While there was a backlash against Communism in the 1990s, many older Bulgarians now wax nostalgic over a period they regard as having provided employment and security.
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In a study published in January, a team of experts from the Association Global Bulgaria Initiative, said: "It should be noted we live in a society in which the vast majority of people do not know what is good about democracy, and have forgotten what is bad about socialism."
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Zhelyu Zhelev, a dissident who went on to become Bulgaria's first president after the collapse of Communism, said he was disturbed to see a new generation grow up in the dark.
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"To an extent it is good, but without knowledge of the past, they are not able to recognize repressive regimes or forecast the future," he said in a telephone interview.
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Slowly, however, some people are trying to open a broader debate. There is a web site, www.spomeniteni.org that invites people of all ages to send in their personal memories of the Communist period, both good and bad.
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The web site's founder, Diana Ivanova, said she had set up the site in reaction to the increasingly rosy view of the past promoted by some former politicians and by the media. Perhaps because it is on the Internet, much of its content comes from young people.
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In one e-mail, a woman describes how at the age of seven she had been rushed home by her mother. The Chernobyl nuclear reactor had exploded in Ukraine, a fact not mentioned by the state media but passed on rapidly around the country by word of mouth. The family had learned of it by a whisper from a stranger.
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In another e-mail a girl describes how a Turkish woman burst into tears in the summer of 1989 when called by her name. At that time, Bulgaria was expelling its Turkish minority and forcing those who remained to adopt Bulgarian names. "If we can promote interest in people's personal experiences, then perhaps it will lead to interest in the bigger story," Ivanova said.
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