March 28 holds two very different kinds of event in Bulgaria’s history — one an act of civic solidarity, the other a moment of state violence that demands careful and honest remembrance.
March 28, 1921 — The Association of the Bulgarian Blind Is Established
On March 28, 1921, the Association of the Bulgarian Blind was established in Sofia. The organization — later renamed the Union of the Blind in Bulgaria — became part of the country’s developing network of advocacy, social support, and civic representation for people with visual impairments. Its founding mattered because disability had long been treated as a private misfortune rather than a public concern requiring institutional response.
In the aftermath of wars and social hardship, such organizations helped make accessibility, employment, and recognition into civic and legal questions. March 28 marks a step in the slow process by which modern states and civil societies took responsibility for the full range of their members — not charity, but organized claim-making on behalf of people who needed it.
March 28, 1973 — Clashes Take Place in Kornitsa during Forced Renaming
On March 28, 1973, violent clashes erupted in the village of Kornitsa during the communist regime’s forced name-change campaign against Bulgarian Muslims. According to BTA’s historical calendar, Interior Ministry officers were sent to the village and met strong resistance; five people were killed and many more were wounded. The episode was part of a broader pattern of coercive assimilation that violated personal identity, religious practice, and community belonging.
Kornitsa is a name that carries weight precisely because it represents something the regime tried to erase: the refusal of people to accept a state-imposed identity. March 28 requires honest remembrance — a date about resistance, trauma, and the human cost of a policy built on compelled uniformity.
More of Bulgaria’s March: March 27 | March 29. Explore the country’s landscapes and culture in our Bulgaria guides and Bulgaria From Above.
