Blessing of Bulgarian military recruits

Religious procession through a town-square. Locals gather in front of a bank (with sign in Bulgarian) to watch. A military officer greets the line of armed Bulgarian soldier recruits. 01:11:10 Quick CU of priest. Bulgarian military soldiers with backpacks and weapons are blessed by a priest. 01:11:24 CU of priest reading. Locals observe the ceremony. A man leads others in song. Another view, LS, of the blessing. 01:12:24 A Bulgarian officer speaks to the recruits; a civilian dressed in a suit and glasses reads from a paper. CU, the new troops march away. 01:13:15 One by one, the soldiers kiss a Bible, then the flag, and salute. Locals (women and children) watch the presentation. A band plays and the men march. Bulgarians circle-dance, veteran. Drum corps. MS, the unit marches by; dirt pile in the street. Licco Max Haim (1910-2002), an amateur filmmaker, was asked by the military commander of the 4th Construction Company of the 1st (Jewish) Labor Battalion to make a film of their activities and deliver it to him. Licco did so, but managed to hide one 8mm roll (Film ID 4115), shot in the summer of 1941 to build a road in Lakatnik as part of the forced labor battalion. Most of the Jewish men in the unit had resided in Sofia, mostly in the neighborhood of Iuchbunar. After the summer of 1941, Licco was summoned to work on the repair of cars in Sofia, as he was expert as a mechanic. He married Berta on December 18, 1941.