HISTORIOGRAPHIC VIEWS OF NOF AND ITS ACTIVITIES IN THE GREEK CIVIL WAR

HISTORIOGRAPHIC VIEWS OF NOF AND ITS ACTIVITIES IN THE GREEK CIVIL WAR

When someone writes something they do it for a specific reason: to send a message, or in general, to inform people. The messages and information sometimes appear in literary form - a parable.

To be fair, we must understand that in time we will learn many truths among which will be misconceptions and unreasonableness. But for now let us have a look at some of our accumulated historic information:

1. According to official Macedonian historian Dr. Risto Kiriazovski, “The National Liberation Front (NOF) and the other Macedonian organizations representing the Macedonian people in Greek occupied Macedonia during the Greek Civil War from 1945 to 1949, were the chief leaders of the Macedonian National Liberation Movement...” Kiriazovski said that he made this point very clear and in his book he endeavoured to present the complex events that took place at that time in an authentic way with facts and arguments… (See: Risto Kiriazovski, “The National Liberation Front and the other Macedonian organizations of Aegean Macedonia 1945-1949”, Kultura, Skopje, 1985.)

In the same book on page 338, Kiriazovski quoted the newspaper “Nova Makedonka” published on April 1, 1948 which said: “Today NOF and AFZH are organizations of historical importance because they are urging the Macedonian people to join DAG en masse and fight in the armed struggle. This is the only way the people could guarantee their own freedom!”

So the question is: Given that we know NOF and AFZH never had any political or military authority at that time and that they were not a factor at all in this struggle, then for whom were they calling the Macedonian people to join DAG en masse and fight? Who ordered them to urge the Macedonian people to join DAG and become victims? Did Kiriazovski not know that this struggle lacked the necessary internal and external conditions for a victorious outcome? One more thing: did Kiriazovski “forget” to mention that the arrival of NOF, AFZH and NOMS in Greek occupied Macedonia and their activities prompted the political right in Greece to initiate a terror campaign as a means of dealing with us Macedonians? Is Kiriazovski not aware that, in addition to CPG and CPY/CPM actions, NOF, AFZH and NOMS, with their own action in Greek occupied Macedonia in April 1945, contributed to the developments in Greece which prompted the Athenian regime to adopt repressive policies which had disastrous consequences for us Macedonians? Does Kiriazovski not know that the Macedonian population, twenty times smaller than the Greek population of eight million, contributed to DAG more than the Greek population. Through their ideological propaganda NOF, AFZH and NOMS managed to mobilize almost every Macedonian aged 14 to 56 into DAG’s ranks. All this was done under the slogan: “If you are not with us, you are against us!”

It took Kiriazovski a long time to admit it, but in the end, right before his death, he admitted that the Greek Civil War was not a Macedonian revolution and not a continuation of the Macedonian Ilinden traditions. The Greek Civil War was a senseless and fatal war during which the Macedonian nation suffered national defeat. The Greek Civil War was not only fatal for us Macedonians but also for the Greek people.

2. Tashko Mamurovski in his book “Paskal Mitrevski and His Time (1912-1978)” on page 57 wrote:

“...The news of the creation of NOF, and its aims and tasks, was received with great joy and optimism by the Macedonian people in Aegean Macedonia. The Macedonian people saw NOF as a continuation of the Ilinden traditions. An Organization which would fight for the Macedonian national salvation and survival…” (See: Tashko Mamurovski, “Paskal Mitrevski and His Time (1912-1978)”, Skopje, 1992).

So the question is: Can we Macedonians realistically call the Greek Civil War a Macedonian revolution and a continuation of our glorious Ilinden Uprising?

Even more than a half century later, it seems that our top Macedonian historical institutions, such as INI, are still silent regarding the sins committed against our people! And what is most

frightening is that they continue to write “politically correct” history instead of the truth and expect us to swallow it wholesale! God, dear God!

After NOF, AFZH and NOMS were organized, the Macedonian people, at least some of them, had to have realized that Greek occupied Macedonia was not going to be like it was before. Others were living among us. This also applies to the entire ethnic Macedonian space. At least some Macedonians must have realized that we were not alone and no longer masters of our ancestral lands. Instead of looking at the situation realistically, we charged forward without considering what those living among us desired, even though in our minds they did not deserve our lands. And that is exactly why the Greeks succeeded in cleansing us.

How and why did this syndrome of false memories appear? In other words, why do we believe that the Greek Civil War was an extension of our Ilinden tradition? Only the desperate cannot see it for what it really was; a national disaster for all the Macedonian people everywhere.

NOF’s political and national role in the Greek Civil War was controlled by foreigners and they, through NOF, led the Macedonian people to disaster.

The problem is with us Macedonians who, without a sense of historical dimension, could not and cannot understand the injustices perpetrated against us. It turned out that we Macedonians did not struggle with “historical issues” or have our own long-term strategy for protecting our ancestral lands. To this day some of us still support the strategies of those who contributed to our genocide. To this day we cannot understand what their intentions were, what Greece’s and Yugoslavia’s intentions were, when it came to solving their minority problems.

Instead of getting trapped in Kirizovski’s “scientific” polemics and getting nowhere, why don’t we read a small part of what General Markos himself said on March 25, 1948:

“The Democratic Army of Greece (DAG) is a national army that continues the Greek revolution started in 1821 by Kolokotronis and Kareskakis, continued through the national resistance in 1940-1945 and is now continuing through DAG to establish the most original national gains from 1821 - freedom for our people. DAG is our people’s army and is fighting for a national and independent people’s democracy.” (See: the book, “Dimokratikos Stratos”, Vol. 1 (January-December) Risospastis, Athens 1996.)

The word revolution, especially during the Greek Civil War, was used up, but the so-called “experts” and “analytical” historiographers did not stop from occasionally showering us with the fiction that it was “true”, NOF, AFZH and their bosses at the CPM/CPY and CPG were right but all the others, the ordinary mortals “lost in space” were wrong! This kind of historiography is a mental virus which is still being spread by the infected, infecting ordinary people to the extent that it has become an epidemic and an unprecedented portrayal of our people. Our Macedonian mainstream history is refusing to accept the fact that during the Greek Civil War NOF and AFZH were caught up in a strong ideological whirlpool, and despite their desires to do otherwise, they only served their masters and did what they were told.

* * *

Many things have changed since the Greek Civil War ended, many elements of our tragedy are being discovered, but we should not talk about the still living DAG participants who were praised by the Greeks for their heroic struggle. We have yet to hear from the military and political strategists saying that they have analyzed all the blemishes of the devastating political and military tactics and that our fate was sealed when they sent us to Tashkent and left us there. Not to mention the many mothers wearing black handkerchiefs and the thousands of children uprooted from their homes and sent across Europe without the sense of morality. Why have these military and political strategists said nothing about our desire to return to our ancestral homes? Why have they not said anything to the Greek state for not recognizing us, including our involvement in the Greek Civil War? What was done to us has never been done to anyone. This was done to us by Zahariadis and General

Markos, both Turkish Christian colonists deposited in Macedonia during the 1920’s. On his return to Greece, Markos was met by a General from the Greek Armed Forces who fought against him during the Greek Civil War. When they met at the Athens airport they embraced each other wholeheartedly. Then, when a reporter from the weekly “Epikera” asked Markos “what was the point of his struggle” Markos said: “The point was that we expelled the Slavo-Macedonians from the northern parts of Greece so that Macedonia can remain Greek.” (See: “Nova Makedonija”, February 25, 1992.) This is why General Markos, a Turkish Christian colonist from Asia Minor, deposited in Greek occupied Macedonia in 1927, fought for and this is how he proposed to solve the “Macedonian Question”. And to think that the Macedonian people, including the exiled children, idolized him like he was our greatest hero.

So, based on what Markos said to the reporter, we Macedonians fought in the Greek Civil War so that we would lose our (Greek occupied) Macedonia!

Once again Markos has told us the truth. Many of us Macedonian DAG fighters including myself (Stoian Kochov) trusted Markos with our lives, our souls and with everything that was Macedonian. Markos revealed the truth for us more than half a century ago, now it’s up us Macedonians to embrace it and stop gloating over how the CPG and the CPM/CPY helped us during the Greek Civil War… For over 50 years now, through our Macedonian mainstream history we have been lying to our children telling them that our genocide was actually an extension of our Ilinden tradition.

So, the question is: “Have we Macedonians, as many nations have done, 50 years after our genocide separated fact from fantasy?” No we have not!

“New scientific findings on the exodus of the children from Aegean (Greek occupied) Macedonia”

(Roundtable discussions held on July 25, 26 and 27, 1993 at the Army Hall. See: Report published in the newspaper “Nezaborav”, May 14, 1994, p. 4.)

A / “SHATTERING THE SHACKLES”, by Evdokia Foteva-Vera (leader of AFZH)

“...What Organization agreed to take care of the children from Aegean (Greek occupied) Macedonia and further educate them? NOF.

NOF was a Macedonian national organization following Ilinden, which embraced the Macedonian people, along with the women of AFZH and the NOMS youth, who organized the Macedonian people on a national front, confident that this time the people would be nationally and socially liberated. But then, as in former uprisings, our destiny was tailor-made by others. NOF, AFZH and NOMS were your fathers and mothers, your older brothers and sisters who truly cared about your fate and your future...

It is well-known that child care for our children was organized en masse in every village and in the presence of all the people. The surrogate mothers and teachers selected to look after the children swore before their parents, before the local people of NOF, and before the entire NOF organization, that they would take care of the children ages 1 to fourteen, like they were their own, because they were entrusted with their fate.

Our mothers believed them and entrusted their children to the surrogate mothers who then took them away in the name of life, freedom and a just future. Just take a look at what the mothers said, as was published in the newspapers and magazines and you will be convinced that it was the right thing to do.”

But if we want the truth shouldn’t we be asking the question: “Should we Macedonians need to continue to demand that someone else is to blame for the organized migration process in which we willingly cooperated?”

As a matter of fact the real Macedonian mother was degraded and replaced by a Party appointed “mother” who looked after about 20 children on average. And this so-called mother was called “Omadarhisa” (unit commander in Greek). Why wasn’t this mother

called by her Macedonian name “maika” (mother)? What does all this mean? Does it mean that the Macedonian children were part of some military regime? Children ages 2 to 14?

Lacking complete apathy, we can now safely say that the successful ideological agitation carried out on the ground by NOF, AFZH and NOMS, infiltrated the collective consciousness of our people and became an irreversible image of general euphoria from which the average Macedonian villagers could not escape. It was wrong of them to think differently. Any other choice made was unthinkable. Therefore the best course for them to take was to follow the lead of others, even if it meant giving up their own children - like the collection of a terrible tax.

This means that everyone was convinced of the illusion that the politicians were actually working only for the happiness of their people. This false political and ideological optimism was in fact the foundation upon which illusions grew. And they were the worst variant of political reality. People, of course, could not completely escape these illusions…

Interestingly, those running the evacuation program to “rescue” the children could be construed as anti-civilization and anti-Macedonian, especially since they employed the slogan: “Those Macedonians who are not with NOF and with the CPG are fascists...”, meaning war without mercy must be declared against them. And if they fully succeeded in their mission then no Macedonian world would exist on the Macedonian ancestral lands.

But if we abandon the truth how can we preserve the memories and sacrifices made by the Macedonian fighters who fought in DAG and died convinced by NOF that they were dying for Macedonia. How can our history honour those heroes of the past, a half century later with many serious questions looming? One day we will have to write a different history for Macedonia and the Macedonian people...

Many questions have been raised as a result of our slavery… but for now let us continue with Dr. Kiriazovski’s next report.

B / “VIOLENT MOBILIZATION - A CRIMINAL MASTERMIND”, by Dr. Risto Kiriazovski.

“...The 1st NOF Congress of Macedonians from Aegean (Greek occupied) Macedonia was held on January 13, 1948, by request of the CPG. Its main purpose was to implement the decisions made by the CPG during the CPG Central Committee’s 3rd Plenum regarding recruiting DAG fighters. Task no. 6, accepted by the Congress, called for: “All Macedonian people, men and women, must join DAG’s ranks. Everyone must help by all means possible to meet DAG’s needs.”

Immediately after the congress was held, 3,000 new Macedonian men and women, joined DAG at the behest of NOF and AFZH.

During the same Congress even congressional delegates were asked to join DAG and most did.

In early February 1948, DAG General Headquarters issued a general mobilization order for mobilizing men and women born between the years 1927 and 1932. As a result every single Macedonian in the free territory born during that period was recruited.

As the mobilization effort was at its maximum in Aegean (Greek occupied) Macedonia, the CPG Greek leadership took action to mobilize Macedonians in the People’s Republic of Macedonia, and in Yugoslavia in general, from the pool of Macedonians who had fled Aegean (Greek occupied) Macedonia as political refugees. To that end, Petros Rosos, Minister in the Provisional Democratic Government of Greece and CPG Central Committee member, arrived in Belgrade on March 17, 1948, and held talks with Aleksandar Rankovich who agreed in principle to allow the mobilization.

After things were ironed out, the CPY granted the CPG access to recruit Macedonians from the Yugoslav territory. These Macedonians were recruited by the Yugoslav authorities who worked with the CPG representatives in Yugoslavia.

It should be noted that in early February 1948, the Yugoslav authorities moved about 12,000 Aegean Macedonian political refugees from the People’s Republic of Macedonia to the villages Iakovo and Krusevlie in Voivodina.” In other words, the Macedonian people who had fled Greek occupied Macedonia to save themselves, were first accepted by the Yugoslav authorities and “saved” and later the same people were handed back to the Greeks so that they again could be tormented. Such was the fate of the Macedonian people, including the 13,500 Macedonian children…

“...The step the CPG leadership took was to evacuate the children.

When all sources for recruiting new DAG fighters dried up, Zahariadis and the CPG leadership took an unprecedented, adventurous and criminal step; they began to recruit child soldiers from the pool of the evacuated Macedonian children. Namely, the CPG made a decision to mobilize DAG fighters from the pool of the evacuated children who were above the age of 15. In most cases the mobilization was carried out not by age but by height. The decision to mobilized hundreds of children and send them to the front lines to die was an extremely unpopular and inhumane act. This barbaric act provoked anger and protest from the mothers.

As a result of the protests Zahariadis took two more unpopular and adventurous steps to calm spirits. On the one hand he allowed a small number of children to return to the boarding houses in Eastern Europe from where they had come. The rest he sent to the battle zones as DAG fighters. Not being well-trained and inexperienced in the art of war, as can be expected, these children were all killed during the initial clashes with the enemy. On the other hand Zahariadis accused many experienced Macedonian fighters of inciting the mothers to protest and brought them before a military court.

Having mobilized and killed children from the Eastern European boarding houses, where they were sent to be saved, put a lot of doubt on the CPG’s goals, values and claims that it was evacuating the children to save them from the horrors of the Greek Civil War.

The fact that the CPG abused the Macedonian children for its own selfish purposes shows that it was not sincere. Zahariadis used the opportunity to move the children to free up and mobilize their mothers and thus solve the problem of DAG reserves. That’s what we predicted and that is exactly what happened.”

C / Undeniable Facts:

According to a report delivered by Porfirogenis to the CPG Central Committee Politburo on February 16, 1949, “The Yugoslav government granted asylum to thousands of Macedonians of whom about 2,000 were returned to Greece and joined DAG. The CPY helped with that.” (See: AM, K-20/17/30.), (Also see: article entitled “Post war policies for turning Macedonian children into Greeks”, under the sub-title “The Greek children are crossing our borders”, published in the newspaper “Nezaborav”, July 1, 1995, p. 4.)

Two films in a “bunker”: Shortly after Radivoe Lola Giukich made his first documentary film in 1948, entitled “The Greek Children”, filmed in a “bunker”, he also made the film “Mother Katina” by Nikola Popovich.

The following are statements made by the honourable lawyer Tomas Filota, as quoted in the above-mentioned article: “When Markos’s revolution was reaching its end, mothers and fathers from Aegean Macedonia brought their children to Bitola. They were five to six month-old children barely separated from their mother’s breasts. Some were up to six years old. Whether there were as many as Mr. Tsarouhidis says, I don’t know. I know about the idea of settling them in Kosovo, but that didn’t suit Tito. Not even Edward Kardeli” said Mr. Filota. “Тhey did not want these children to be kept in Yugoslavia. They were sent to Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and possibly the USSR. Some were even sent to the US and Australia ...”

There is no escape from the judgment of history.

Who is afraid of history? It would be good to free history. It would be nice to read pure facts and avoid the censorship committees

administering historical truth. Real history should not be written by orders… it should write itself.

The reader will notice a big difference when reading true history.