Interview with Nikola Daskalov, the last survivor of the Belene concentration camp. Part 2
Belene was established in 1949 to isolate those whom the regime considered “enemies of the people”. It was a very broad term, from intellectuals and political opponents to ordinary people who simply did not fit into the ideological framework. The camp was part of the repressive machine of communism, a means of destroying dissent.The camp is located on the island of Persin in the Danube River – an isolated, inaccessible place where people could be forgotten. It was officially called a labour and education camp, but the truth is that it was a place of physical and psychological destruction.
The conditions were inhumane. We lived in tiny huts that were full of parasites. There was almost no hygiene, and diseases – dysentery, tuberculosis – were common. The food was symbolic – a little bread and soup, which was more water than anything else.
