COURAGE

connecting collections

Csapody felt that it was not enough simply to research and document acts and fates of individuals who refused to perform compulsory military service. He sought to make the decisions and fates of these individuals familiar to wider audiences, as well. He began shooting the film with great enthusiasm but without any financial support or filmmaking experience. His technical supporter was cameraman László Pesty. Almost all of the raw material, including interviews and discussions, was preserved in the collection.

The informative file on the creator of The Club of the Free Kings, Puiu Apostolescu, contains five photographs of two badges made of wood. They were carved by Apostolescu and sent to his friend, Eugen Mircea, in Târgoviște. The insignia were confiscated by the Dâmbovița county branch of the Securitate on the occasion of a search at Eugen Mircea’s home. The badges were one of the distinctive elements of a member of The Club of the Free Kings. They were supposed not only to differentiate the Free Kings from their peers but also to underline the hippy character of the group. Thus, on one side, the badges contained the name of the group, and the word “hippy.” The word “free” is written twice in the combination, with “The Free Kings” and “The Free Club.”On the reverse, the badges are individualised, as they contain the English nicknames of Eugen Mircea (Christ) and Puiu Apostolescu (O’Brien McHarrison) as a way of stressing their friendship and membership of the group (ACNSAS I 3032, ff. 128–132).

Petko Ogoyski in his collection holding the wooden shoe with a secret hiding-place in which his wife, Jagoda, put medicines and a small pencil and so brought them to the forced labor camp in Belene on Persin Island.  
During the communist period, the materials showing the repressive nature of the communist regime in Bulgaria were hidden at the birthplace of Petko Ogoyski, in the village of Ogoya, located between Sofia and the city of Vratsa. They were openly shown and made known to the public after the political turn in November 1989. After the end of the socialist state, numerous events were organized in which Petko Ogoyski participated and used materials of his collection (s. Events).