Afterword

Afterword

Atanas Katinovski-Goche leaves the Macedonian People the monograph “Banitsa Lerinsko in the Maelstrom of the Wars” in order to bring readers closer to understanding the social and political life of his birth place, the village of Banitsa, which is now in Aegean Macedonia.

The content as a whole is constructed on a systematic basis, using research of historic data for the period prior to his birth and authentic data for events in which he participated personally or recorded in interviews with his contemporaries. The authenticity of the information that he has written was checked in many sources, which means that it represents a real historical treasure. As well as the data of the country’s Historic Archive of the Republic of Macedonia, he also uses memoirs of the leaders in the Greek Civil War, Zahariadis and Markos.

The book is divided in two sections. The first section is dedicated to the geographic position of the village, demographic structure of the population, the crafts of the village, architecture, church education and cultural activity in the village, which begins toward the end of the nineteenth century and lasts until the Second World War.

The author dedicates the second section to the historic past, i.e., how historical determinism influenced the destiny of the village of Banitsa and its people. With valuable empirical and historic data, the author presents the village in the Turkish period the beginning of the hajduk chetas and the activities of IMRO against all crimes of the Turkish Occupiers and the Greek andarte squads. Without any bias, Atanas Katinovski-Goche presents the internal clashes between the Supremacists and the Centralists among IMRO, as well as the traitors of the Macedonian people who joined the andarte squads. No one was hidden or pardoned with respect to his negative actions aimed against his own people.

The author paid special attention to the village in the period of the Balkan Wars (1912–1913), the First World War (1914–1918), the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922), and the situation of the Macedonians between the two World Wars. He did not forget to mention the Macedonian participants in the Greco-Italian War, who were sacrificed by the existing Greek fascist regime. The events of the Second World War in which Goche took part are portrayed, showing the fervour of enthusiasm at the beginning of the war that shifted and turned into disappointment due to the unfulfilled aspirations of all our Macedonian soldiers who, in the ranks of the anti-fascist movements (EAM, SOF, SNOF) fought for the ethno-national freedom of their people. The betrayals by the CPG were painful for the Macedonians, and yet once again, despite the initial betrayal, division and bitterness, they joined the CPG in the Civil War, hoping not to be played again. However, the consequences of the war are well known. The Macedonian people had accepted every proffered chance for freedom and equality, but unfortunately, there are still tribulations for the Macedonian people in Aegean Macedonia.

These precious historical facts about this period represent the “colour” of that time and space, in chronological order, with all the activities of the fighters for human rights, about whom the world, that is to say, the great powers, remained deaf and blind. Using simple language and style for the historic text, between the lines, one could feel the author’s sorrow for his village, his people from Aegean Macedonia,

and all those who were cast out from the country and spread all around the world. Winners usually present history according to their own personalinterests.The greatnumberofnamesspoken ofin the chronicle of these historic events were document to be not forgotten. May they be remembered for their participation in those times, and serve as a reminder of the past. May they be a trigger to correct the unjust record of Macedonian history within the framework of world history.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF A. KATINOVSKI

An overview of the key archival material and literature:

National Archives of Macedonia in Skopje

Aegean Macedonia in NOF 1944–1945:Documentson the Participation of the Macedonian People of the Aegean Part in the Anti-Fascist War 1941–1945. Volume 1, Risto Karjazovski, Vasil Pejov, Todor Simovski, Skopje, 1971.

AegeanMacedoniainNOF1944–1945:Documents ontheParticipation of the Macedonian People of the Aegean Part in the Greek Civil War 1945. Volume 2, Risto Karjazovski, Todor Simovski, Skopje, 1973.

AegeanMacedoniainNOF1944–1945:Documentson theParticipation of the Macedonian People of the Aegean Part in the Greek Civil War1946. Volume 3, Risto Karjazovski, Todor Simovski, Skopje 1976.

Turkish Documents on the History of the Macedonian People, Series 1, Volume 3, 1969.

Other Literature

The Macedonians under Greece in the Struggle Against Fascism 1940–1944. Risto Andonovski, Skopje, 1968.

Macedonians and the Greek Civil War, Naum Pejov, Skopje, 1968.

Settlements in Aegean Macedonia, Todor Simovski, Skopje, 1978.

The Macedonian Liberated Zone, Gjorche Petrov, Misla, 1971.

History of the Macedonian People, Skopje, 1969.

Remembrances of Strahil Gigov.

Chronology of the Course of Developments in NOF in Aegean Macedonia.

CPJ (Communist Party of Yugoslavia) in the Determination of the Macedonian Question, Alexander Hristov, Kultura, Skopje, 1962.

The Creation of Federal Macedonia in the Federation of Yugoslavia (1941–1945), Alexander Hristov, Kultura, Skopje, 1962.

Foreign Literature

General Markos by Dragan Kljakikj, Globus, Zagreb.

History of the Florina Prefecture during the Macedonian Struggle; Steriou Triandafilidi, Florina, 1958 (In Greek).

Macedonia: Ethnographics and Statistics; Vasil K’nchov, Sofia, 1900.

Topographical and Ethnological Overview of Macedonia; Military Topography from Staff Headquarters, Stefan I. Verkovik, St. Petersburg, 1889.

Great Greek Encyclopedia, Volume 10, 1934.

For Worldwide People’s Freedom, Various authors, Bucharest, 1962.

Autobiography, Svetozar Vukmanovik-Tempo.

Struggle for the Balkans; Svetozar Vukmanovik-Tempo, 1981.