What is "suhozem"

Suhozem is a village in the Kaloyanovo Municipality, Plovdiv Province, southern Bulgaria. it has 173 inhabitants.

The village finally has a church from 2002 when the new "Sveta Sofia" is consecrated by the bishop Arsenius. In 2004 a monument was built in the centre of the village to commemorate 7 local people and an American, Lt. David Kingsley, who perished during World War II in the vicinity of the village.

An American B-17 Flying Fortress bomber returning from raid in Ploiești was intercepted and shot down by four German fighters. When it fell to the ground it hit seven villagers who were working on the field. Kingsley, a native of Portland, Ore., was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for giving up his parachute to a fellow crewman.

The monument raised mixed feeling among the locals, some of whom consider that there shall be no monuments for murders because it was known that the airplane bombed the town of Karlovo.