KING CONSTANTINE’S TELEGRAM - Part 02

According to the five principles of the Atlantic Charter, all people who fought to liberate their lands from the Fascist occupier had the right to fight for their national freedom and create their own state. The Macedonians took up arms to do exactly that, to achieve the right to free themselves. The Macedonians were prepared to die to the last man to achieve exactly that. But even though they fulfilled the Atlantic charter requirements for self-determination, by willfully and voluntarily fighting against the occupiers and disarming the Fascist groups inside Greece, the Macedonian Partisans in Greek occupied Macedonia received no recognition and no rewards.

No one can dispute the fact that it was the Macedonians who disarmed and disbanded the so called Fascist counter-bands just as no one can dispute that proportionally more Macedonian fighters joined the struggle and fought harder than the Greeks to drive the

occupier out. Yet still the Macedonians received no recognition and no reward; not even a mention in history.

INTERVIEWER – The Greek Communists did that?

RISTO – Yes, the Greek communists did that. The Atlantic Charter offered the Macedonian people a country of their own which called for separating from Greece and no Greek was willing to see Macedonia leave Greece. No Greek, communist or not, was going to say “I am going to help give Macedonia away…”

INTERVIEWER – Give away Macedonia? I understand…

RISTO – So if no Greek was prepared to allow an independent Macedonia then the least they could have done was create a federal Greece, just like federal Yugoslavia.

INTERVIEWER – So we have a federation of Macedonia’s in the North and…

RISTO – No, we have a Yugoslav federation with five Republics and a Greek federation with two Republics, Greece and Macedonia. It would have solved many problems. Unfortunately the Greeks have this inherent fear, introduced to them by Metaxas, I think, that somehow the “Slavs” are going to “steal” their precious Macedonia and that they are not to be trusted. And basically everything after that took a turn for the worst for the Macedonian people in Greek occupied Macedonia.

While the Macedonian people who once lived under Serbian occupation achieved their human rights just like the Atlantic Charter promised, the Macedonians in Greece not only lost their promised rights but, in the long run, lost their homes and became exiled and drifters in this world.

Before we continue with the story of what happened to the Macedonian people, I want to take a moment to explain why it happened and who the architects behind it were. I will provide evidence to back my claims.

Allow me to come right out and just say it:

I believe the Greek Civil War was not a Greek Civil War, it was a war perpetrated against the Macedonian people in Greek occupied Macedonia to get rid of us once and for all.

This is hard to believe, right?

Well, it is also hard to believe that a million Jews were murdered in gas chambers and that two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, on a civilian population. But these atrocities did happen. So why is it so hard to believe that the Greek Civil War was a perpetrated war; a means to get rid of the Macedonian people from Greek occupied Macedonia?

Do we think we Macedonians are something special?

Just take a good look at our history and see for yourselves how special we are. We have been taken through several planned genocides in the last century or so alone. These were not secret acts perpetrated against us and no one knows about them? These genocides were done in the open and yet no one who had the power to do something has done anything. Why?

These acts of genocide have been purposely committed against us to eradicate us from our native land in Greece. What prevents us from seeing the truth is our own inability to see that there are people out there who want to do us harm.

For generations we have been programmed to believe that everyone is good and would do us no harm… Even during moments when we witnessed atrocities we still believed that “no, they will not do that to us because they are our friends…” Our own value system is keeping us from seeing the truth and as long as we allow our own values to guide us in dark allies, we will be victims.

Earlier I mentioned that the British wanted ELAS disarmed and the Macedonians fighters removed from ELAS. Why do you think the British wanted the Macedonians disarmed and out of ELAS?

Because they were planning to get rid of them, push them out of Greece. I did not believe this myself until I found the following information in a British declassified government document. Here is the document in its entirety:

[Balkan States – Report 1 - December 11, 1944

Mr. Leeper to Mr. Eden Athens 24th November, 1944

Sir,

I HAVE the honour to submit the following comments on Research Department paper of the 26th August, 1944, on the subject of Macedonia. (1)

2. The two formidable Macedonian problems in which Greece is concerned are: (a) that of Greek relations with the Slav world as represented by Serbia and Bulgaria, both of whom must be expected in the immediate future to be under strong Russian influence and to have Russian sympathy for their aspirations; and b) that of the surviving Bulgarophone minority in Western Macedonia.

3. The former problem turns chiefly on that of Serbian and Bulgarian access to the Aegean, the subject discussed in paragraphs 35-40 and 41-43 of the paper under reference. There is clearly no case for handing over to Slav Powers any part of the North Aegean coast, which in 1940 had nowhere anything but an infinitesimal minority of Slav inhabitants. On the other hand, the strategic position of Greece here, even with Turkish backing, is very weak, vis-à-vis the Slav world, so that even in her own interests it behooves Greece to come to terms with her northern neighbours. The only possible solution-however difficult in practice under present conditions-seems to be that referred to in paragraph 51, namely, a return to, and preferably an extension of, the system of free zones. A Serbian free zone at Salonica is not difficult, but a Bulgarian zone at Kavala, or even at the outlying Alexandrupolis, would probably be out of the question for a considerable period to come, in view of the passions aroused by the atrocious conduct of the Bulgarians in Northern Greece since 1941. It remains,

nevertheless, a Greek no less than a Bulgarian interest that Bulgaria’s desire for access to an Aegean port should be satisfied so far as possible; since otherwise Bulgaria’s southward political aspiration, which are now largely artificial, will be kept alive by the real and continual irritation of an unsatisfied economic need. (How far this need might be met by the alternative of a free zone at Durazzo is a matter for separate study.) It may further be pointed out that the grant of free zones at her northern ports would, in fact, be of direct financial benefit to Greece herself through the revivifying influence of increased trade on the life of those ports in general and through the restoration of a natural degree of intercourse between these Greek ports and their Slav hinterland.

4. The problem of the Western Macedonian Bulgarophones, who are briefly mentioned in paragraph 7 of the paper, also remains serious and formidable, in spite of its limited dimensions. This minority, which extends through the region from Florina and Kastoria through Siatista to the plain of Yannitsa, has proved exceedingly unreliable during the war. Satisfactory data are not available, but it appears from events during the occupation that the dissatisfied minority must be considerably larger than is suggested by Greek census figures; and it is certain that successive Greek Governments have shirked facing the problem and have preferred to persuade even themselves that it did not exist. On the assumptions (1) that the policy of His Majesty’s Government is to treat Greece as the most important Balkan country from the point of view of British interests, and to support those elements in Greece which are most stably pro-British and (2) that Greece does not wish to belong to a Balkan Federation in which there would be a large Slav majority, it would appear to follow that Greece had better not contain any Slav minorities at all. And since the amputation of the Slav areas in Western Macedonia and their annexation to a Slav Federation is a practical impossibility and would also be economically disastrous for Greece. It would follow that, difficult as it may be, a home must be found for perhaps 120,000 Slav Macedonians north of the Greek frontiers of 1941.

5. I have sent copies of this dispatch to the Resident Minister at Caserta, to Mr. Houstoun-Boswall at Sofia and to Mr. Broad at Bari.

I have, &c. R. A. Leeper.

(1) See “Balkan States” print section, 26th August, Section 6.]

I would like to draw your attention to part 4 of the report, particularly the sentence “It would follow that, difficult as it may be, a home must be found for perhaps 120,000 Slav Macedonians north of the Greek frontiers of 1941”. This was a shocker for me which sent me into a tail spin. Before that I believed that Greeks were doing this, tormenting us, all on their own. After that I began to look at the situation in a different light.

And why were the British planning to get rid of the Macedonians from Greece?

Well that too is in the above report. Take a look at part 2. Britain could not stand Greece, its protectorate, being influenced by Russia. Greece had to be under British influence, at any cost, even at the extinction of the Macedonians in Greece.

You see, Britain does not want to allow Russia access to the Mediterranean waters and does not want it to encroach on its sphere of influence. It is clear from the report that Britain does not trust the Macedonian people and passionately despises Russia.

Now that we have established who was behind the idea of getting rid of the Macedonians from Greek occupied Macedonia and why, let us have a look at how they were planning to do it.

First it had to be done nice and legal for both Greece and Britain and second it had to be done out of necessity. The Macedonians had to leave voluntarily. But how? Surely one cannot ask 120,000 people to leave their homes and go to another country? Surely you can’t force them to leave and not be noticed?

One way to do it nice and legal and out of necessity was if the Macedonian people were either convinced or instigated to pick up arms and fight against Greece in a bid to liberate themselves or to carve out Greek territory. In this scenario Greece would have no choice but to fight back and defend its integrity.

That kind of war, a controlled war that Greece was sure to win, if conducted on the territory where these Macedonians lived, would also create a flood of war refugees. These refuges would then be driven to flee their homes and exit the Greek borders to save themselves. Then all Greece had to do was close the border and ban them from returning, thus exiling them forever. Problem solved!

Isn’t that exactly what happened?

But how do I support this theory? In retrospect how can I be sure that what happened was not purely a coincidence?

To show that this was a perpetrated war we need to examine and analyze what happened, how this war was started, how it progressed and how it ended. We need to look for evidence and patterns that support this theory. But first let us look at some critical points that support my arguments.

1. The so-called Greek Civil War was unnecessary. The Great Powers, Russia and Britain, had already decided that Greece would remain under British influence. It would remain intact with Greek occupied Macedonia in it. Since super power Russia was in agreement and a part of this deal, who was going to support the communists in Greece to gain power? Nothing can be achieved without the support of the Great Powers. The communists in Greece should have known that. And I believe that they did, at least the top communist party leadership knew. But it seems, as it turned out, gaining power in Greece was not their real objective.

Russia’s position in all this was clear: Stalin wanted to interfere in capitalist affairs even though it had been decided and he had agreed with the Western Powers that: Greece in its entirety, Greek occupied Macedonia included, was going under the English and American spheres of influence. This was done under the Yalta Agreement which guaranteed that no socialist system would be implemented in Greece. This Agreement negated and made the need for the Greek Civil War unnecessary. So if the War was not about “installing” socialism in Greece, then there was only one other option left: internationalize the problem, crush the communists and legally ethnically cleanse the ethnic Macedonian population in Greek

occupied Macedonia and then replace it with the new Asia Minor colonists and settlers, commonly known as “Prosfigi”. But how? By instigating them to pick up arms and start a war.

2. Nikos Zahariadis, the person who started the so-called Greek Civil War, was a German prisoner. He was freed by the British and sent to Athens on a British plane to take over the Communist Party of Greece. Now ask yourself why would the British send a known and influential communist to Greece, to take over the communist party, especially when Greece was in the hands of the communists already? It doesn’t make sense. It was in Britain’s interest to weaken the communists in Greece, not to strengthen them. The only thing that actually makes sense is if Britain sent Zahariadis to Greece to control the situation. In the end, that is exactly what happened.

3. Being in control of all of Greece, why would the communists sign the Varkiza Agreement passing control to its arch enemy, the British supported Greek government of Athens?

The Varkiza agreement was signed on February 12, 1945 requiring all Partisan and other bands to demobilize and surrender their weapons. The British, once again, confirmed their allegiance to the Greek Government by giving Athens full political and military support, committing their willingness to fight to prevent a Partisan victory. The biggest losers of the Varkiza agreement were the Macedonians. As soon as the agreement was signed, all anti-Macedonian laws were back in force and the Macedonian people lost all that they had gained during the German occupation, including the right to form their own state as per the Atlantic Charter. The Greek Communist Party made absolutely no effort to safeguard Macedonian rights in the agreements with Britain. This was not only a betrayal to the Macedonian people but it also left them vulnerable to persecution from the Greek Fascists.

4. Why was NOF, the Macedonian Liberation Front, created in Yugoslavia and sent to Greek occupied Macedonia to prepare for a new conflict right after World War II ended and before the Greek Civil War had started?

The ELAS fighters who earlier had left Greek occupied Macedonia and went to Yugoslavia came under the leadership of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia and the Communist Party of Macedonia (CPY/CPM). It was from these fighters that, in Skopje on April 23, 1945, the organization NOF was formed under the initiative of the CPY/CPM and sent to organize the Macedonian people in Greek occupied Macedonia in preparation for a new conflict - the Greek Civil War.

This shows that the Greek Civil War was foreseen before it happened. It was anticipated. Yugoslavia knew about it and was probably part of it. The top Yugoslav leadership must have known about it. And how was that possible? Could they see into the future? The only way Yugoslavia would have known was if Yugoslavia was part of the conspiracy to get rid of the Macedonians from Greece. And surprise, the classified document I posted earlier was dated December 11, 1944, which means that, at the diplomatic level, this plan was already in motion by 1945 when NOF was created. There was no way that Britain could have gotten rid of the Macedonians from Greece without Yugoslav help. The fact that Yugoslavia put together NOF to start a new war in Greece proves it.

NOF was created on April 23, 1945 before the Greek Civil War was even thought of. The Greek Civil War did not officially begin until March 31, 1946 by a decision of the CPG Second Plenum held on February 12, 1946. It did not happen by accident, it was planned.

After the Second World War, the Greek Civil War was a new test for the Macedonian people. The war had a dual purpose; one, to expel the Macedonian population, and for that reason the war was located inside Greek occupied Macedonia; and two, to liquidate the Communists who obviously were grossly misinformed and wanted to create socialism inside the British Protectorate of Greece.

5. When NOF was unable to motivate the Macedonian people to re-arm themselves and go to the mountains, the Greek political right escalated the so-called “white terror” campaign and began to torment the Macedonian population to no end.

The war (WWII) was over, so why was there a need to torment the population? Most people after World War II wanted to end all hostilities, to rest and live in peace. They were craving peace. The Macedonian people were craving peace. They had had enough of wars. That is why the Macedonian people were reluctant to pick up arms and go to the mountains. When NOF failed to motivate the Macedonian people to rise and fight, the Greek reactionaries stepped in and resorted to using Metaxas’s tactics to terrorize the people and get them to fight back or leave their homes and run off over the border. This was the expected reaction.

[“The idea here was to have the Macedonian people raise arms against Greece so that Greece would have ‘no other choice but to defend itself against an aggressor who wants to carve out parts of its territory’! Yugoslavia, for the sake of having good relations with the West, naturally prepared the groundwork through the creation and indoctrination of NOF and AFZH (Women’s Anti-Fascist Front) with aims at starting an armed uprising in Greek occupied Macedonia. The Macedonian people, however, did not want to fight and initially refused to participate. To get them motivated the Greek right, the Fascists, pitched in and initiated what was later termed the “white terror”. Greeks indiscriminately began to kill people and burn properties and homes. Fearing for their lives many Macedonians fled to the mountains (Vicho and Gramos) where they were armed and trained to protect themselves. And this is how the conflict was started. This was a war that would be fatal to the Macedonian people; it had to be an ideological war in order to involve the international factor (US and Britain); a war that Greece would have no choice but to fight in order to save its territory. This was going to be a legal genocide because these ‘Slavs’ were prepared to carve out Greek territory! The Macedonians were told they needed the guns to protect themselves but as soon as the shooting started they were told they were fighting to ‘re-unite their Macedonia’ and after Yugoslavia abandoned them they were told they were fighting for their human rights to gain equality with the Greeks. Then, when the war became very hot, they were told to fight for their lives; ‘to fight or die!’…”] (Stoian Kochov).

There was not a single Macedonian in those days that not only publicly proclaimed that he or she was fighting to re-unite

Macedonia, but many Macedonians were made to believe that it was possible to do that! And why do you suppose they believed that? Because the architects of this war, through NOV and AFZH, told them so…, naturally through lies and deception!

Again, there was no reason for starting this war because it had been decided by the Great Powers that Greek occupied Macedonia was staying with Greece and the most likely reason that actually makes sense, was to eradicate the communist menace and exterminate the Macedonian population.

6. During the Greek Civil War: (a) the Macedonian people were led to believe that they were fighting to re-unite Macedonia and to gain their human rights, even though they were robbed of their rights afforded to them by the Atlantic Charter, (b) the Greek people were led to believe that the Partisans were actually “Slav bandits” and, with the help of the “communists”, were attempting to carve out Greek territory and give it to Tito’s Yugoslavia, and (c) the outside world was led to believe that this was a Civil War - Greeks fighting against Greeks.

There is not a single word in Western history that “Macedonians” were actually involved and that they were fighting for their human rights. Why the three different narratives about one and the same war?

The British and the Americans were the “overseers” and “architects” of this war; couldn’t they tell who was involved and what the war was about? According to the classified documents from that time, and I have hundreds of them, the British and Americans knew exactly what was going on and who was fighting against whom. Why then call it a Greek Civil War? To cover up the truth?!

Even though, proportionally, the Macedonian people were a larger factor in this war, they were never mentioned. Why? Was it done to cover up what was done to them? To cover up that they suffered genocide at the hands of the British and Americans?

[“What do the Macedonian people in Greek occupied Macedonia remember about the Greek Civil War and how do they interpret

what they remember? Many I have spoken with remember what they had done and the events that took place around them. It was an intense moment in time. Human life did not matter much and hardly anyone cared to pay attention outside of trying to survive. A giant wave hit them and swept them away. In their struggle to survive they listened to the guiding voices coming from above and did what they were told! They remember these times as an era of brutal propaganda with destructive goals calling out on the people and wanting more of their blood… After the war ended it was followed by a half a century of fear and silence… no matter where these people were… at home or exiled abroad. This fear and silence kept them from talking about what happened during the war… about the genocide they experienced… a forgotten genocide… an unreported genocide… an un-registered genocide with world institutions and with the international community… a guilt free genocide for those who had committed it!”] (Stoian Kochov).

7. The so-called Greek Civil War was a controlled war that was concentrated in Greek occupied Macedonia and in the rural areas where Macedonians were the majority. But apart from that, what qualified it to be called a “controlled war” was the fact that this war was guided strictly by Greek hands and their British and American handlers.

It would be no exaggeration to say that of the 25, 000 fighters mobilized into the ranks of the Democratic Army of Greece (DAG), 50% were Macedonians, most of who were forcibly mobilized.

Looking at this in proportion, it means that half of the fighters came from the Greek population of 6 million and the other half came from the Macedonian population of no more than 300 thousand people.

So in terms of percentages, the Greek population contributed 0.21% of its total population while the Macedonian population contributed 4.17 %, that ratio being 20 to 1. In the long term, throughout the entire Greek Civil War, the total Greek contribution amounted to 18-20 thousand fighters while the Macedonian contribution amounted to 15-20 thousand fighters. The sum of the armed forces possessed by the Athens regime, on the other hand, was more than 300,000

soldiers belonging to all branches and armed with the latest weapons.

Let us also not forget that on March 1, 1947 - U.S. President Harry Truman announced the decision to proclaim the “Truman Doctrine” for engaging the U.S. in Greece. Greece was granted credit and advanced military equipment to equip its government army. At the same time Van Fleet, an American General anti-guerrilla specialist, was made available to the Greek government. (See: Todor Chepreganov, 1997/178.)

“... Immediately after the ‘Truman Doctrine’ was proclaimed, information services were established in Greece by FBI and OSS agents. An American military mission was also sent to Greece. Invited by the Greek government, representatives of the United States began to arrive in Greece in order to assist in the preservation and sovereignty of Greece as a nation. They were there unarmed with aims at regulating material assistance and providing advisory functions. Upon its arrival in Greece however, the American mission took over the most important headquarter functions in the army, navy and aviation as well as the organization and management of military operations, which were established to fight against the rebels...”

Given the number of Macedonian fighters involved, the lack of Macedonian leadership both in DAG and in the CPG, the organizational tactics, the number of governments involved, the location where the war took place, do you still think this was a grass roots “Civil War”?

Also, given the numbers and proportion of Macedonian fighters involved, don’t you think the Macedonian fighters deserved their own leaders? Why were Macedonians not allowed to lead their own people in battle and in the political field? Why was every aspect of this conflict strictly controlled by Greeks on both sides, with the British and Americans pulling the strings on both sides? Why were the Macedonians not allowed to fight freely and for Macedonian interests? Why did they have to be tightly controlled by Greeks on all sides? The entire top DAG and CPG leaderships, the people who actually made all the decisions, were Greek. The Greek leadership

determined what battles were going to be fought and where. The Greeks then led those battles. The Greek leadership determined and controlled the composition of fighters in the units and what units to deploy where. The Greek leadership determined how many Macedonians could be armed; who and how many could join DAG, and so on. In other words, the Greeks controlled this war by keeping a tight leash on the Macedonians. Why?

Because this was a “controlled war” especially designed so that the Macedonians would fail and be driven out of their homeland.

One more thing…

“It is well-known that in 1947 DAG had not resolved either the issue of military supplies or the issue of arming its fighters with ordinary battle machine guns and other battle assets, as well as ammunition. It also remains to be explained why, on the one hand, Zahariadis gave Markos orders to increase the number of fighters in DAG to 60,000 while Ioannidis gave Markos orders to acquire arms for only 4,500 fighters. It is also well-known that Markos, in 1947, ended up sending home thousands of Macedonian fighters who wanted to voluntarily enter the ranks of DAG.” (See: “DAG-strategic issues and management tactics,” G. Maltezos Dzhumerkiotis, p. 354.)

The question here is: “If this was not a controlled war, then why did General Markos conduct an illegal mobilization only in Macedonia, mobilizing young and old and wreaking havoc on the Macedonian population?”

8. Speaking of the Greek leadership, let us examine who were the top leaders in Greece who led the Macedonian and Greek partisan forces. Who were the top leaders who led the Communist Party of Greece and the Democratic Army of Greece?

The two top leaders were Nikos Zahariadis, whom I mentioned earlier, and General Markos Vafiadis. They were the leaders of the political and military pillars of the rebellion or of the one side of the Greek Civil War. Both Zahariadis and Vafiadis were Asia Minor colonists deposited in Greek occupied Macedonia in the 1920’s.

Nikos Zahariadis was born on April 27, 1903 in Edirne, Eastern Thrace. His father was employed as a clerk at “Razim”, a French commercial tobacco company based in Constantinople. From 1911 to 1912 Nikos Zahariadis lived and attended school in the “Ibin Paiko” settlement in Skopje, where his father worked as a representative of the “Razim” Company. In 1913 he moved to Solun. In 1922 and 1923 he worked as a sailor, a job which took him to the Soviet Union where he became a member of the Communist Party. In 1924, with the exchange of populations between Turkey and Greece, Zahariadis’s family was moved to Greece. In 1924 he visited the famous Communist University of Eastern European nations, KUTVE in Moscow. Nikos Zahariadis was leader of the Greek communist movement and secretary general of the CPG from 1936 to 1956. Zahariadis treated the CPG like a cult and had absolute confidence in Stalin and his Communist Party, which he believed to be infallible. He himself admitted to this. Zahariadis committed suicide in 1973 while serving a prison sentence in Sorgun, Siberia.

General Markos Vafiadis was born in the village Tosi near Ankara, in Asia Minor, and was planted as a colonist in Greek occupied Macedonia in 1922, a man who we, again and again, meet throughout our history, who for some reason that escapes me, we see as some sort of “great legend”, when it is well-known what he told the magazine “Epikera” about us Macedonians when he returned to Athens. Markos, at best, was an ordinary person; he was no General let alone the great general who headed the army with more than 50% of the soldiers being Macedonians. He was also not a Greek… he was a pseudo-Greek at best, just like Zahariadis.

And to add insult to our injuries, when Markos returned to Greece, after the Greek Civil War had ended, he was welcomed with hugs by the Athens press in Athens airport, as the Chief of Staff of the armed forces of Greece who fought in the Civil War. At that point a journalist from the weekly “Epikera” asked him a question alluding to the “struggle” and if it was worth it. Markos replied: “The sense was that the Slavo-Macedonians were driven out of the northern parts of Greece and that Macedonia remains Greek.” (See “Nova Makedonija”, February 25, 1992.)

This was said by Markos Vafiadis, the main culprit who led DAG during the so-called Greek Civil War and who contributed to this disaster in which so many lives were lost. He was a colonist from Asia Minor brought to Greek occupied Macedonia. His role in the war was to lead DAG as a General and, as he said “he fought to preserve Greece by driving the Macedonians out of their homeland”… This has been our fate so that the Christian Turkish colonists could have more of our lands and Greece could live in the glory of knowing that Greek occupied Macedonia was only populated by “pure Greeks and Greeks by genus”… even though none of them are Greeks… But that does not matter! What matters to the Greeks is that there are less Macedonians in Greece today!!

“And this is how this colonist dog, General Markos, was prepared to solve the Macedonian National Question. And we, the Macedonian army, gave ourselves to him to lead us to our death.” (Stoian Kochov, a partisan under Markos’s leadership.)

During the Second NOF Congress, held on March 25, 1949, just prior to DAG’s liquidation, Zahariadis said: “You Macedonians have a right to secession, within a Balkan federation…”

But what did Stalin recommend, most likely based on what was decided between Stalin and Churchill in Yalta and in Moscow from October 5th to the 20th 1944, during the division of spheres of influence of the Balkans between the Great Powers? Stalin’s clear and undeniable positions was that the USSR was against Zahariadis’s decision to announce the creation of a “United and Independent Macedonian state within a Balkan Federation” passed during the CPG Central Committee 5th Plenum.

Stalin’s dislike of this is made very clear in the correspondence files between the USSR leadership and Chernishov, Soviet Ambassador to Athens.

In his speech, which he made during the 6th Plenum, Nikos Zahariadis said the following: “... And here we need to openly say that, if provocateur Tito’s role was known in 1946 the CPG would not have taken a resolution to take up arms and enter the War. It

would have been assigned to another time and by a different method of struggle...” (See “I trihroni epope tu DAG, 1946-1949”, p. 422.)

Zahariadis here not only put the blame on Tito for his own failure but also identified Tito as one of the culprits in this disaster.

“They should stop telling us that we need to respect Zahariadis’s Testament otherwise known as the ‘Communist Pledge’ for a ‘United Macedonia’, which was nothing more than a ruse to draw us into the communist camp so that we would be wiped out to the last one! The Greeks understand why Zahariadis did this! Why can’t some Macedonians? Why are they still beating the communist drum and asking us to respect someone who tried to destroy us… to the last one?” (Stoian Kochov)

So at this point I need to ask. Why would two Christian Turkish colonists deposited in Greek occupied Macedonia, who were given illegally confiscated Macedonian lands to live on, want to help the Macedonian people liberate themselves? The Christian Turkish colonists were the very so-called Greeks who had occupied Macedonia and living on confiscated Macedonian lands. What did they and their kind think would happen to them if Macedonia was freed of them? Wouldn’t they be thrown out of Macedonia? So why do we think they were “helping” the Macedonians and not “hurting” them? Who can we blame but ourselves if we allowed our enemies, the very people who replaced us in our native lands, to lead us?

About the only thing that makes sense in this scenario is that the Christian Turkish colonists and settlers led us to our destruction in order for them to acquire more of our homes and lands. Which is exactly what happened… The Macedonian people were driven out of their homes and native lands during the so-called Greek Civil War and replaced by the colonists, the likes of Zahariadis and Vafiadis.

9. The February 12, 1949 battle for Lerin was one of the bloodiest battles in the so-called Greek Civil War, which was unnecessary because the partisans were already losing the war. But Zahariadis insisted on capturing Lerin because, as he said, if the Partisans won

this battle and captured a city then they would be taken seriously by the outside world. So Zahariadis was granted his wish.

The available forces for that battle were as follows: In its composition DAG had brigades 13, 103, 14 and 107. It also had the school of officers, one mining battalion, one sanitation battalion and one battalion for transferring the wounded. DAG had approximately 5,354 soldiers at its disposal. The government forces stationed in Lerin numbered about 4,000 soldiers. After about eight hours of fighting DAG suffered devastating losses: 334 dead, 1500 heavily wounded and 199 missing.

But that’s not the whole story. A lot of the partisans who fought in that battle were local and untrained young Macedonian boys and girls, some of whom I interviewed for my books.

In part here is one of those stories:

“Her final mission before the war was over was the attack on Lerin. After spending a couple of weeks in Karadzhova they were told to prepare for battle at an undisclosed time and location. When they arrived at Bigla, they saw that the artillery and machineguns were set up to face the city Lerin but still they were not told when the battle was going to take place. They expected the attack to be a surprise ambush carried out at night. When the order to attack was given, however, it was already dawn and the Partisan frontline was in full view. After the initial contact, the response from the Royalist side was quick, fierce, and decisive. No sooner had the battle started than the Partisans were in retreat. Those like Leffa, in support of the frontlines, were trapped. They had two choices, surrender and face the consequences or run and take their chances dodging machinegun fire. Those brave enough ran and lost their lives in the process. Most, however, were too afraid to run and waited for a rescue attempt which never materialized. By the time it was over, six to seven hundred young Macedonian men and women died, cut down by machinegun fire and buried in a mass grave. Among them was Leffa’s friend Trena Boglevska, from Oshchima. It seemed like moments ago that Leffa and Trena hugged and wished each other good luck before they parted company. Trena was working on the opposite side of the frontline from Leffa. She was dead now, cut

down in her prime by a Greek bullet. To this day, Leffa still mourns her loss.

In a few hours the battle was over and huddled together with two male officers, thirty Partisan women were trapped in a school awaiting their fate. Leffa ripped off the pins and symbols from her uniform and threw them away. Soon after, the Greek soldiers came accompanied by an old General. The General went from girl to girl as they sat on the floor, patting each on the head and whispering to them in a soft voice, “You saved your life by surrendering.” The women were expecting the worst, but no harm came to them. After their capture each woman was sprayed with pesticide to kill the lice and was placed under arrest in the Lerin prisons. Six days later, Leffa was transferred to Kozheni, a larger prison camp that looked like a town of tents. There, Leffa endured three months of daily interrogations being asked the same questions day after day after day. Leffa insisted that she was drafted by force by the Partisans and stuck to her story. Leffa is grateful to her brother Naso for his frequent visitations to the prison and for making life a little more bearable.

Thanks to UNDRA, Leffa was given a change of clothing that was a welcome contribution in prison. While Leffa was in prison, her family was working on her immigration papers to Canada. With her record there was no future for her at home. Leffa’s father came to Canada in 1947 and wanted to give his daughter a better life away from the conflict. Leffa arrived in Toronto on August 15th, 1949, and soon after took a job in a laundromat where she worked for two years.” (Stefov/Oshchima, 2003.)

Even so, today there are no graves or markers to commemorate the sacrifice of our fighters who fought to take Lerin, but certainly there are graves and markers for the soldiers of the government army. There is no trace of our people anywhere in Lerin because they were buried in a ditch, in a mass grave; both dead and heavily wounded -but still alive, were buried together in a common grave. This, however, is only one part of our whole tragedy; those who were buried we buried everywhere, wherever they fell, most without markers on their graves. Many we left where they had fallen, for nature to take care… we ran for cover to save our own lives… What

is most tragic about all this is that we were victims of someone else’s doing… victims of someone who wanted to start a war… the Greek Civil War… in order to turn us into casualties… for their own interests.

This problem may look complicated but it is very simple… if we open our eyes, set our prejudices aside and look impartially at it, we will discover the truth. We don’t need to look at how historiography reflects the facts, because history is written by those who won and who want to change the past to reflect the present; history is written by those who want to put the blame elsewhere... All we need to look at is exactly what happened and ask ourselves “why did it happen the way it did?”

First we were not ready or able as a people to seek justice with fire and sword. But we did anyway… Following the lead of strangers… Second, we were led by Greek generals, the likes of Markos, whose interest was not for us to win the war. In other words, the Greeks who led us had a lot more to gain if we lost the war and were driven out than if we won and stayed in our homes. Looking at this from a different angle, if the Greeks wanted us to “win” like they said they did, then they would have allowed us to have our own generals! And why did we not have our own generals? Why did we need “permission” from the Greeks to have our own generals? Because, as I said earlier, “we were not ready or able as a people to seek justice with fire and sword” on our own! And thus we not only relied on strangers to lead us, we believed their lies until it was too late and we all became sacrificial casualties… for foreign interests.

The end result? Many of the fighters who fought in the Lerin battle were young people from the neighbouring Lerin villages. They died for nothing. They were taken and told the fight would be over in hours, they did not need to be prepared… but then they were left outside, all night long… in the cold; they were not allowed to light fires. By morning they were all frozen and demoralized. Most of them were 17 to 19 year-old girls. There was snow on the ground. They were visible as they ran towards the Greek front line. By the time the battle was over the snow had been painted red…

10. One of the most devastating acts in this so-called Greek Civil War, which leads me to believe it was a perpetrated war, is the fact that there was no negotiation for surrender and no exit strategy for the partisans and for the refugees, except to leave the country. There was no plan B, no “what happens if we lose the war”. It was always assumed that the partisans would win the war and anyone who thought differently was a coward and a traitor. Even when the partisans lost the war, Zahariadis spun it and told the fighters to go to Albania to regroup; the war was not over… and they were going to win it. All the fighters left their positions and went to Albania believing they would regroup and return to fight.

Many Macedonian fighters still believed Zahariadis when he told them that DAG was going to win the war and that it was only a matter of time! They only stopped believing after Zahariadis accused the NOF leaders of losing the war, of being traitors and Tito’s agents and after Zahariadis sentenced them to live out the rest of their lives in the Siberian camps… Initially Zahariadis wanted the NOF leaders executed but because they were on Albanian soil, the Albanian authorities would not allow it.

The Macedonian people, including the majority of NOF leaders, were completely taken by this change of events and surprised and confused by the development of them being guilty of losing a war they did not lead? They were well aware of their duty which was to urge the Macedonian people to fight; i.e. to do as they were commanded by the Greek leadership, especially Zahariadis; and they did exactly what they were told! And now they were being accused of losing the war; especially after Zahariadis kept telling them that they were winning it? If they did not trust the Greeks, then they surely trusted the Yugoslavs who, only a short time ago, had passed them on to the CPG and told them to follow the CPG’s lead because the CPG would look after their interests? Surely the Yugoslav’s would not put them in such a harmful position… at least not intentionally?

Well, no! Or perhaps yes! But the fact of the matter is that DAG was ordered to go to Albania, outside the Greek border and was never allowed to return and fight… and win the war, as promised. Once the fighters and the Macedonian civilian population, driven out by