On August 6, 1925, near Gorna Drachevitsa, Tikvesh region, today North Macedonia, in a battle with Serbian troops, Petar Stanchev, nicknamed Asenov and Vola, died. One of the most significant Bulgarian revolutionaries and a national hero, who gave his life for the freedom of Macedonia. An activist of the VMRO and right-hand man, a good assistant and comrade of Ivan Mihaylov.
This was recalled for "One Testament" by Asen Videnov.
He was born on April 6, 1893 in Berkovitsa. He has lived in Sofia since he was a child and graduated from the Second Men's High School. In 1911, he was briefly a Verkhovist Chetnik in Macedonia, after which he returned to Sofia and completed his secondary education. He was a Chetnik again in the autumn of 1912 and participated in the Balkan War. In 1914, he graduated from the reserve officer school in Sofia and during the First World War was a company commander in Macedonia.
After the restoration of the VMRO by Todor Alexandrov, Petar Stanchev became involved in its activities, at which time he became friends with Doncho Chuparinov from Panagyurishte. In 1920-1921, he was in Todor Alexandrov's detachment, operating in the Kratovo and Shtip regions. From then on, Ivan Mihaylov remembered him:
„People are rarely so selflessly devoted to the Macedonian liberation movement. He was proud to do any work, as long as it was beneficial to the cause. He traveled around Macedonia for months. I don't remember Stanchev ever saying that any task was not up to his ability or taste. He was a true gentleman, selflessly devoted to Macedonia. He was always smiling, I never saw him scared, embarrassed or in a bad mood.“
In 1924, Petar Stanchev was the secretary of Lazar Divlyanski's Skopje detachment, which fought a major battle on September 22 near the village of Kolitsko. After Lazar Divlyanski's death, Petar Stanchev was appointed Skopje voivode, but in November he returned to Bulgaria. Petar Stanchev was responsible for the security of the VMRO congress in Sarbinovo in February 1925, after which he was appointed Veles district voivode. Together with Doncho Chuparinov, he prepared Mencha Karnicheva to execute the death sentence against Todor Panitsa. She remembers him:
„Brave, idealist, selflessly devoted to the cause of liberation. Stanchev was a wonderful man and comrade. With his death, Radko (Ivan Mihaylov) lost his right hand, one of his best assistants and comrades.“
Peter Stanchev died with part of his platoon in a battle with Serbian troops in the Tikvesh region on August 6, 1925, and their bodies were buried in an unknown place by the Serbian authorities. The newspaper ''Freedom or Death' writes:
„We honored him, we loved him while he was among us. But he was one of those who cannot tolerate praise, recognition of his merits, or moral distinctions. And no one told him what he represented for the great cause of Macedonia, what was the place he occupied in the ranks of the pioneers of this cause.
Now he is no longer in this world and we, kneeling before his holy memory, admit: We are many, but we know and see people like Petar only in the phalanx of the great Macedonian figures of the past."