CHAPTER 15 From the Poetic Works of Atanas Katinovski.....................189

CHAPTER 15 From the Poetic Works of Atanas Katinovski.....................189

An overview of those expelled from Banitsa.......................................199 People from Banitsa who left Yugoslavia and went to Canada, Australia or returned to Greece............................................................201 Overview of fighters killed in NOF-ELAS and the civil war in Greece—DAG (1941–1949)............................................................202 Overview of the victims of fascism and monarcho-fascist regime......203 Overview of people from Banitsa who were killed in the Greco-Turkish War 1919–1922...........................................................204 Overview of people from Banitsa who were killed in the Ilinden Epic 1892–1913.......................................................................205 List of people who broke the oath given to IMRO, and because of collaboration with the Turkish Army and the Greek andartes, were accused and punished with death by the revolutionary organization........................................................205

Overview of soldiers from the First Macedonian National Liberation Assault Brigade as part of YNA, who after the demobilization stayed in Yugoslavia.......................................................................................206

AFTERWORD............................................................................................207

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF A. KATINOVSKI ................................................210

National Archives of Macedonia in Skopje.........................................210 Other Literature....................................................................................210 Foreign Literature ................................................................................211

ACRONYMS AND GLOSSARY..............................................................212

SUGGESTED READINGS........................................................................215

Photographs .........................................................................................217 Figure 4: Aerial View from the South-West of Banitsa..................217 Figure 5: The school and the church in the fall.............................217 Figure 6: Summertime....................................................................218 Figure 7: Nivja...............................................................................218 Figure 8: Vojvoda Dzole Gjergev and his cheta............................219 Figure 9: The cover of Katinovski’s original book........................220

INDEX .........................................................................................................221

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GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION, CLIMATE AND THE NAME BANITSA

Banitsa is one of the largest villages in Lerin District. In Greek, Banitsa is known as Vevi, and Lerin as Florina. It is situated at the northwest foot of the Kajmakchalan mountain group and is southeast of the town Lerin and at the edge of the Lerin plain. The town Lerin is 21 km from Banitsa, which itself is near the crossroads of three main thoroughfares: Lerin–Solun (Florina–Thessaloniki), Lerin–Kozhani (Florina–Kozani) and Bitola–Solun (Bitola–Thessaloniki). The village is at an altitude of 800 to 850 metres.

Before the Greek Civil War, Banitsa was a settlement of around 2,000 inhabitants, more than 600 households and over 500 Macedonian families. BeforetheSecondWorldWar, thevillagewasmuchlarger,with over 650 houses, more than 800 households and over 4,500 inhabitants. The largest village in the Lerin district, it was essentially a small town. The maelstrom of the Second World War and the Greek Civil War led to worldwidemigration,andtodaytherearearound1,000familieswithover 4,000 inhabitants in Canada, 400 families in Australia with over 2,000 inhabitants, 150 families in the former Yugoslavia with over 600 inhabitants and around 200 families with over 800 inhabitants in other parts of the world. [Ed. Note: The population of the village in 2018 was 590.] Banitsa is bordered by mountains on three sides. To the north and east is the Kajmakchalan range with the gentle slopes of Tsrvena Lokva and Golemo Klepalo. On the south is Bozhanija, and in the west lies the gentle and fertile Lerin plain which expandsand connectsto the Pelagonia plain running north to Bitola and beyond.

The Banitsa region is subject to the influence of both the Mediterranean climate coming from the south-west through the Banitsa– Tserovo pass and the continental climate coming from the north-west throughthePelagoniaplain. Thewaters fromthemountainrange, springs and rivers, flownorththroughtheLerinplain and into the riverTsrna,and from there east to the river Vardar and south to the Aegean Sea.

Natural Beauty, Resources, Flora and Fauna

Its advantageous geographical location and climate endow the village and its surroundings with a unique natural beauty which is complemented by its natural resources.

Two-thirds of the village’s lands lie west of the village and spread onto the rich plain of Lerin, while the other third is on gentle slopes and mountains covered with large woods that extend both north and south of the village. These features include Kajmakchalan, Tsrvena Lokva (Red Pool), Klepalo (Banger), Tsrn Vrv (Black Peak), Golem Dol (Large Dale), Bozdovets (Heavenly), Sinak (Blue), Mal and Golem Kamen (Small and Big Rock), Golema Glava (Big Head), Dolgi Ornitsi (Long Furrows) and Radosh mountain on the slopes of Vicho mountain to the south. There are rich pastures for sheep and cattle on these mountain slopes. Near the eastern part of the village stretches Bozhanija Mountain, which is rich with oak trees. The woods are a special feature of Banitsa and its surroundings. The hills and mountains are covered withbeechandseveralspeciesofoaksuchasItalian,TurkishandHolm, along with various smaller trees and bushes (white and black hornbeam, hazel, juniper, etc.) On Kajmakchalan, white and black pine and large areas of chestnut all flourish together to create a special beauty. In the area around the village, as well as in the whole of the Lerin district, one finds a unique animal world. This area is rich with diverse wildlife including wild boar, deer, chamois, brown bear, rabbit, fox and wolf. In addition, there are lynx, badger, mountain goat and also partridge (wheatear and field), wild chicken, pheasant and similar fowl. The plain is rich with rabbits, and in the fall wild geese can be found alongside the rivers.

The favourable climate and the gentle slopes around the village allowforvineyardsofgrape varietiesforquality dessert andtablewines.

Agriculture is the main activity of the village. Even before the Second World War,there were machinesformodern farming:threshers, grain harvesters, haying machines and others, while the farmers’ cooperative provided all kinds of assistance to the villagers.

As a result of the diminishing number of working people in the village, only the following crops are planted: grains (wheat, rye, barley, and oats),smallerareasofcorn and forage crops(commonvetch,vetch), watermelon, vegetables, lentils, and among the corn crops there are beans, chickpeas, hemp and flax. In the post-war period sugar cane was planted,and severalfactorieswere builtforproduction ofsugarand fruit preserves. Poppies, tobacco and other crops could be processed locally.

Fertile fields and pastureland, favourable precipitation and the abundance ofwaterfromspringsand rivers,aswellasample production of fodder crops, enabled the people of Banitsa both to grow crops and toengageinanimal husbandry(meat, wool, dairyproducts, etc.). Before the Second World War, there were several thousand sheep and goats, over 500 cows and several thousand other livestock grazing on the rich pastures. Banitsa also has a modern and developed beekeeping industry.

Banitsa and Its Name

It is known that in ancient times there was a settlement northwest of the present location of Banitsa, about four kilometres from the north side of the Solun-Lerin highway (i.e., the road Via Egnatia), in the so-called Gladno Pole (Hungry Field), which was burned down by unknown tribes. There was another settlement southwest of the village Banitsa called the Kale—an ancient fortified settlement about six kilometres into the slopes of the mountain Golem Kamen (Large Rock). Near the valley by the Kale flows a river, Dreno’a Reka (Dogwood River). Across from this settlement, from the left side of the river in the

mountain Golema Glava (Big Head), there was another settlement, called Luman, and one more ancient settlement north of the village in the area, called Ridot (the Hill). None of these ancient settlements has been archaeologically investigated. Much of the material of historical value from these ancient settlements was used by the locals for building.

The village of Banitsa is mentioned in writings of the sixth and seventh centuries AD. Here is a legend about early Banitsa. At the foot of the mountains Big Klepalo and Bozhanija there were two springs, whiletheareabesidethespringswasamarshlandora slough.To reduce the amount of water from the springs so that the marshland could be converted to pasture for grazing their cattle, the family who lived there put all of the wool from the sheep into the springs—a row of wool, a row of stones and earth and so forth. When one of the springs under the slopes of Klepalo Mountain was blocked, clanging sounds coming from the mountain could be heard for several days, until a big spring gushed forth on the other side of the mountain near the village Tserevo, and then the clanging stopped. That is how the mountain got its name Klepalo–bell-clanger.

Once the springs had been tamed and suitable land for grazing cattle created, the community started to build huts, and as the family grew, the settlement expanded, too. Since the settlement was built on marshland, it was called Batak (Slough). It is not known when or why, after the settlement of the Slavs, the name was later changed to Banitsa—a name that probably derives from the word “ban”, an honorific title.1

A small church, Sv. Nikola (St. Nicholas), built in the eleventh century, is preserved and is evidence of the rich Christian life in this region. All icons and icon paintings were in the Old Church Slavonic.

1There are two other Macedonian villages called Banitsa. One is a Roma village near Strumica. The other was the site of the death of Gotse Delchev. It was abandoned after being destroyed by the Greek army in the Balkan wars. It is near Serres. Another Banitsa is located in Western Bulgaria. A” ban” is also possibly the old word for a local ruler, so perhaps a Banitsa was a local administrative centre.

After the Balkan Wars and the partition of Macedonia into three parts, this area fell under the rule of Greece. The Greek government did not like the Macedonian names of the populated areas nor all Slavic names in general. With its denationalization and assimilation policies aimed at the Macedonian people, in 1926, by law all geographical and topographical names, as well as all Slav Macedonian names and surnames of the population, were replaced with Greek names. Since then, the village of Banitsa was known by its new Greek name, Vevi, which is used today, but for the Macedonian population the name Banitsa has stuck.

Figure 1: Locations around the village

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