THE KINGDOM OF GREECE - SUMMONS

THE KINGDOM OF GREECE - SUMMONS

Number 6

On the basis of Articles 143-145, the public prosecutor of the village Dolno Kotori, Lerin Region, calls on Georgios I. Mitrushi, a resident of the village Nered, to appear in person before this court, on Monday May 15, 1939, at 9 am, to be tried because on February 19 of this year he was caught by the police speaking to other persons in the Slavic language.

For violating Article 697 n.n. in connection with police Decree No. 15/36.

If he does not appear, he will be tried in absentia.

Village Nered, April 24, 1939, Public Prosecutor

Seal:

/Signature illegible/

Public Prosecutor of Dolno Kotori.

(Hristo Andonovki, “The truth about Aegean Macedonia”, p. 81. This document was also published in one of the 1971 October editions of the Skopje based newspaper Nova Makedonija).

Given the fact that for decades successive Greek governments made every attempt to eradicate the Macedonian language, it was important to bring it back. This was one the main reasons why the group of journalists from the central and district agitation and propaganda departments wanted to publish Macedonian newspapers and address the readers who did not know how to read Macedonian. What also prompted us to do this is the fact that an official Macedonian alphabet, although created quite recently, after our people won national freedom and statehood in the Yugoslav part of Macedonia, now existed.

However, what seemed like a great hurdle unexpectedly turned out to be a small bump for the agitation and propaganda groups. As it turned out the Macedonian people had a strong desire to learn to read Macedonian and were able to quickly read Macedonian newspapers and books. (It must be noted at this point that the Macedonian alphabet is phonetic. To be able to read and write all one has to do is just learn the sound of the letters in the alphabet). Initially Macedonian newspapers were printed in both Macedonian and Greek. This was important because, among other things, it was the first step in the process of moving forward…

7. A school for teachers

Among the special measures the NOF’s agitation and propaganda department took was to, as soon as possible, implement Macedonian literacy. The approach taken to implement this was as follows:

a) Open a school for teachers with a twenty-day teacher training reading and writing course using the Macedonian alphabet, and

b) Create a Macedonian primer with pictures and texts that reflected the Macedonian national liberation struggle in this part of (Greek occupied) Macedonia and emphasize the Macedonian people’s unity with the Greek people in this struggle.

Among other things, the teachers’ course was designed to teach the future teachers how to read and write Macedonian using the Macedonian alphabet, several important grammatical rules (from Kepeski’s grammar), some arithmetic, important moments from the Macedonian people’s national history, the NOF march as well as other revolutionary songs, and to listen to and be able to analyze the news coming from the fronts.

Associates from the agitation and propaganda department worked closely with Paskal Paskalevski who, besides leading and teaching the lectures, also served as manager of the course.

NEPOKOREN: “The Macedonian people, for the first time in a long time, have earned the right to learn in their own language about which until now they could only dream... Last month (November,

1947) NOF organized a 20-day course designed to prepare teachers to teach Macedonian. The first 49 teachers to graduate were sent to open schools in the liberated Macedonian villages, which they did successfully.

The children have shown much perseverance in their learning and in about 20 to 30 days, all have learned to read and write. And they did this without primers or books. They also continuously demanded of their teachers that they continue teaching so that they could learn more and continue their education. This shows that they hunger for learning. This is a natural hunger of a nation that has yet to be freed.

Our people have begun to be reborn!” (NEPOKOREN Number 5, December 25, 1947)

Prompted by the need to do this, in the fall of 1947, I took the initiative, without being asked or helped by anyone, and approached the CPG asking for “full equality for the minorities”.

Zahariadis, however, did not waste much time before ordering NOF’s agitation and propaganda department dissolved and sending its entire staff, including myself, to various DAG units to serve as common soldiers. By doing this he also liquidated the Macedonian teacher’s school; he took it away from Macedonian hands. The school itself continued to exist… in name only… but in practical terms it became an integral part of the Greek teachers’ school which, in the meantime, was rushed to start classes in the village Zhelevo, Lerin Region.

That was done in the spirit of Zahariadis’s policy towards the Macedonian national question. If Macedonia, after the population exchange, became as Greek as the regions around Athens (Risospastis) and is an integral part of... the Greek homeland (CPG 6th Congress), and the Macedonian people here are an exclusively Greek group, without a national consciousness and without aspirations (in the spirit of the 1946 CPG Central Committee 2nd Plenum), then the Macedonian teachers’ school could not exist except as an integral part of a Greek teachers’ school.

Naturally this school or “Macedonian department” could hardly be Macedonian while it was led and administered by the choice of a Greek administrator and Greek lecturers.

8. A Macedonian primer

It was also my initiative to create and introduce the Macedonian primer. (As I mentioned earlier, I had some vocational training and experience in my time, during and after I graduated from the Solun Pedagogical Academy).

On Zahariadis’s insistence that NOF isolate itself and have no relations whatsoever with the Macedonian people in the People’s Republic of Macedonia, I saw the need to create our own primer and to connect it with our Macedonian uprising here in Aegean (Greek occupied) Macedonia, and the way it related to unity with the Greek people. In other words, we had to create a new primer because we were not allowed to use the Macedonian primer used in the People’s Republic of Macedonia.

While creating the new primer I received significant help from Paskal Paskalevski, Foti Ilkovski and Tanas Gitovski. After explaining to them what I needed, they helped with writing the text and creating the images through which both Macedonian children and adults would get acquainted with the letters of the Macedonian alphabet.

When Zahariadis found out about our initiative to produce our own Macedonian primer, he approved and ordered the NOF agitation and propaganda department to continue developing it. A while later when the first part of the primer was ready, he suddenly ordered someone else to take it over immediately. Zahariadis did not want me to work on the second part. That job was given to a Greek man named Kostas Siaperas who happened to be a friend of mine from my school days in the Lerin Gymnasium. Siaperas was familiar with Macedonian, as well as other Slavic languages. The new layout began with an image of Zahariadis. He also had artists from Sofia paint the pictures. The primer itself was printed in Romania in 1949 and was used for teaching the Macedonian children who were

evacuated in 1948, as well as the adult Macedonians who immigrated there in 1949 and to other European socialist countries...

9. Every evil, for good

But, as Zahariadis continued to implement his anti-Macedonian policy, the Macedonian people’s struggle became hopeless and meaningless and the atmosphere became more and more electrically charged. A wave of desertions, Macedonian fighters leaving DAG, followed with the changes made to the top NOF leadership and, as I mentioned earlier, a tense situation began to develop which the new NOF leadership was unable to handle. In other words, NOF’s new “leadership” was utterly helpless and redundant.

But before the situation was allowed to become even worse, the CPG decided to bring back the agitation and propaganda department. So, in addition to taking all the measures I spoke about earlier, we were also given the opportunity to immediately purchase a hand cranked printing machine capable of printing Macedonian letters. We were able to find skilled printers in the ranks of DAG (Macedonians of course) and we were back in operation.

Besides myself and my old collaborators, Hristo Andonovski, Paskal Paskalevski and Urania Alilomova, more people were recruited and added to the project including Kole Simidzhiev and a network of correspondents. I would like to mention at this point that Hristo Andonovski is now a publicist living in Skopje, Paskal Paskalevski is the author of “NOV” and the poetry for the newspaper NEPOKOREN, entitled “Nepokoren” and many other interesting poems. He now lives in Sofia. Urania Alilomova is editor of “Nova Makedonija”. Kole Simidzhiev is now living in Poland.

Of the remaining collaborators, missing were Tanas Gitovski, who was absent due to illness, and Foti Ilkovski who, as the artistic director of the cultural group KUG, proved to be, according to Zahariadis, a very dangerous “nationalist”, and was kept in DAG. Foti now lives in Romania.

The newspapers NEPOKOREN, NOVA MAKEDONKA and BILTEN began to emerge regularly, in triple format and more than

four times the usual circulation. Namely, 2,000 copies of each page were printed separately. The command centres of all DAG units were obliged to supply the Macedonian fighters with these newspapers for group reading. The Macedonian commandos in DAG were also tasked with spreading Macedonian newspapers in even the most remote Macedonian villages.

It was well said: every evil, for good.

Wanting to maintain and consolidate the “new top NOF leadership” at any cost, and at the same time prepare for total mobilization, i.e. empty the Macedonian villages at the border zone, Zahariadis made an unprecedented leap forward with the central Macedonian press. He wanted Kochopoulos and the other “opouloses” to run the agitation and propaganda department but they couldn’t because even though most understood some Macedonian and a few spoke the Macedonian language, no one could read and write. So Zahariadis decided to put us under Kochopoulos’s control. I had many “official” discussions and clashes with him about the content in the papers but was unable to convince him to allow us to print material about our national past, about the current struggle for freedom, that is, our struggle for social, national and democratic rights and about the future of our people.

As I mentioned earlier, when Zahariadis decided to expand NOF’s Central Council from three to five and made this “proposal” during the NOF Central Council 2nd Plenum, held on February 3-4, 1949, I was again appointed to the immediate NOF leadership. That allowed me to attend the 2nd NOF Congress, held on March 25-26, 1949, and present a paper which I called “Ideas for NOF”. Zahariadis obviously did not expect me to do this, so when he found out he thought I was going to talk about the agitation and propaganda department’s work and further tasks and did not review the text in advance. But he did review the political paper prepared by Mitrevski and gave it to “Kochev” to read it. Poor Kochev, it was torture for him, not only because he had a hard time reading Macedonian but also because he did not know what he was reading. In actual fact, the text Kochev was struggling to read was Kolishevski’s speech which he had read out at the last SSRNM Congress in Skopje, which Mitrevski simply copied.

Finally, thanks to Mitrevski’s “objections”, after a year of being banned from the NOF leadership for my “nationalistic” understanding of the Macedonian Liberation Movement, I was now again publicly speaking and getting great applause from the seven hundred or so Congress delegates.

But, as soon as I got off the stage, Zahariadis had a man waiting for me to take me to him. Zahariadis immediately asked me for my manuscript and looked at it very carefully. He but made no remarks or speeches to counter what I said. Of course, nobody else dared to either.

NEPOKOREN carried in its pages these “nationalistic” understandings:

- That the Macedonian people are a distinct individual nation.

- That the Macedonian people have a national history that includes many bloody liberation struggles and insurrections.

- That the Macedonian people’s current struggle has its own driving forces and character.

- That the Macedonian people’s ultimate goal is national liberation and the establishment of their freedom on the basis of the principle of self-determination, and

- That the Macedonian people’s closer goals are to achieve nationwide unity with the revolutionary forces of the Greek people and to gain democratic rights through a joint struggle against the reactionaries in Greece.

These “understandings” were published in NEPOKOREN and sent to every Macedonian village and to all the Macedonian fighters in DAG’s ranks. They were presented as the material that was discussed during the Congress. After the contents in this paper were adopted at the Congress, the material was printed as a separate book entitled “Ideological Fundamentals of NOF”. I also want to mention at this point that one of the delegates, a woman from the delegation

of five from the Macedonian organizations from Pirin (Bulgarian occupied) Macedonia, genuinely applauded the document and the ideological focus on the struggle of the Macedonians here in Aegean (Greek occupied) Macedonia. This reference was made during the joint welcoming speech read by Hristo Kalaidziev.

NEPOKOREN also served as a primer for learning to read Macedonian. I compiled the three following short texts to serve as examples. They truly reflect the situation and, as documents, had meaning.

NOF’s march

Плод славен си на славна борба (You are the celebrated fruit of a glorious struggle), Ко феникс роден в буен плам (Like the phoenix born in thick flame). На народ славен син си – творба (You are a glorious son of the people - a creation), Во село, поле или град (In the village, field or city).

За нација гордост в нас НОФ раѓаш (For a nation of pride, NOF is born in us), Ни велиш: “Милвај Гркот - брат” (You tell us: “Love your Greek – brother”); И вера в победа создаваш (And you create faith in victory), И мржнја против општиот враг (And march against the common devil).

На Илинден си НОФ наследник (To Ilinden NOF you are an heir), И негов продолжител днес (And its extender in this day). Смрт сееш за секој изедник (You sow death to every murderer), Предавник народен и пес (Traitor and dog).

Ги електризираш жени и мажи (You electrify women and men), Со негасива вера – жар (With ever burning belief – energy). Од секој правиш верен стража (From everyone you make a faithful sentry), И борбен војник и чувар (A fighting soldier and guard).

За тебе наши жртви и крвои (For you, our sacrifices and our blood), Се скапа радост – светол дар (Are an expensive joy - a bright gift). Се стремиме кој прв од први (We strive to be first of the first), За тебе живот си да дај (To give our life for you).

Го полниш с вера-пламен, сила (You fill with faith-flame, power), Ти секој потчинет и роб (Every submissive and slave), И од него ти правиш ѕидар (And from him you make a builder), На живот слободен и нов (With free life renewed).

А патот ти од светлост блеска (And your way shines bright), Крв нова лееш в живот нов (New blood spilled and new life), По градој, села, еква песна (In cities, villages, echoes the song), Пеј народ: - Да живее НОФ! (Sing people: Long live NOF!)...

Paskal Paskalevski

(NEPOKOREN, Number 4, September 10, 1948)

The courier

In the past the village Gornichovo was busy like a beehive. Everyone lived complex lives. Today the mountain paths are covered with lush grass. The horses and mules that dragged beech tree trunks from “Osovo” are no longer there. Only when the “Deri Koza” blows, leaving no twig untouched, one can see the thousands of foot paths left there from the past, spanning in all directions of the Gornichovo mountains where the lumberjacks used to be like ants.

No axes cutting and no lumberjacks singing can be heard in the forest...

One early morning, lost in his own thoughts, 12-year-old Traiko and his old donkey were headed for the hills to collect firewood. Hanging on the saddle was an old, patched bag with a little bit of dry bread and some onions. Traiko has been coming and going for two days without taking a bite.

Wrapped in an old coat and wearing a pair of torn pigskin sandals, unconstrained, from time to time he prompted his little donkey to continue moving. Only his eyes glowed. One can see his strong determination reflected in his pale face.

From as long as he can remember he does not remember being at peace, not even for a single day. The pages of his life are filled only with violence and suffering. His father was persecuted by the Greek regime and, in order not to have the same fate as thousands of other Macedonians, one cool January evening two years ago, he kissed his three young children, grabbed his rifle and left to join the struggle.

Traiko, being the oldest, became the main provider.

There was no day that passed without fear and the dreadful drama that was played before him one night in his modest and wretched dwelling. Every time he dragged his feet towards his home he relived that dreaded winter night that he experienced a few days after his father left. That night the dog was barking in the yard. Someone knocked at the gate. His mother covered her children and struggled to calm them down. She could not hide her fear and anxiety.

The knocking continued and became stronger. There was a crash and one part of the gate fell down. Flashlight beams were seen in the dark. They entered the house. Three Monarcho-fascist gendarmes entered the bedroom and, with their beastly eyes, mocked the poor Macedonian woman. They said something to each other.

That’s when she grabbed her children as if asking for help.

One of the gendarmeries grabbed her and attacked her, and in front her crying children, shaking in fear like leaves, he raped her. The other two did the same. Like rabid beasts they continued to take turns over the half-dead Macedonian woman until dawn.

Traiko broke into tears every time he recalled this tragedy.

When he arrived in the forest, Traiko stretched out on top of some tall green grass to forget his troubles. That’s when something

happened that he would never forget. A group of partisans jumped him. When he realized they were partisans Traiko was so happy to see them that he was born again. He clasped his hands and waited for all of DAG’s might to flow through his veins. He was ready to join them and fight…

“How would you like to be our courier, little pioneer?” one of them asked.

“Wouldn’t it be better if I could come with you and join my father…?” Traiko replied.

“You are too young for that but the work you will be doing will serve the struggle a lot…” replied the partisan.

Traiko loaded his donkey and hid the newspapers and newsletters the partisans gave him in the saddle. They scheduled a new meeting and left him to do his delivery...

The next day three little children came out of the village. They were all crying... The two smaller ones, Iane and Mile, were holding Traiko’s hands. On one hand they were sad because they were going to be separated and on the other they were happy because they were going to be saved. They were going to the People’s Republics where they would attend school and learn things. They would live as children all dressed up in good clothing and be well fed. Every summer they would ride luxury cars and, along with their parents, would travel from Solun to Lerin for a summer vacation.

They would no longer have to fear the roar of the aero-planes like dogs above their heads, and the bombs exploding. They would return only after DAG descends from Vicho to Athens.

Traiko returned to the same place he met the partisans the day before. He whistled and two of the DAG partisans he met the day before appeared.

“These are my brothers. My mother told me to give them to you so that you can take them and send them to the People’s Republics. I will stay and fight...” said Traiko.

He then kissed and hugged his brothers tightly and told them: “It will only be for a short time before you are back and when you return our father, a winner, will be with us… you will see”.

Several months passed and it was now fall. Every morning Traiko and his donkey made fresh tracks in the thick frost… and in the snow.

Traiko’s secret donkey express delivered thousands of documents. Some of them were glued to the water fountains, even images of comrades Zahariadis and Markos. They were put up during the night so that the police and gendarmes would find them early in the morning when they went out to wash up.

They tried to find out who was doing this but were unsuccessful. They would never find out who was breaching their Monarcho-fascist ring. Traiko was a conspirator and an excellent strategist. Either he or his donkey loaded with fire wood, would return home alone first and never the same way.

He even delivered letters from his own brothers. And there was no one happier than Traiko at the time...

K. Simidzhiev.

(NEPOKOREN, Number 17, December 10, 1948)

For democracy

From centuries of slavery, with strength and a roar on the Balkan gallery, young and old, dead and alive in a summer’s struggle a call to all the ensuing song in length - wide:

To arms for freedom, rights and peace!

Above the heads of lions, the battle flag flies and sings and swirls with a spinning landing! It angers and enrages the Fascist World... In the first rows without a break they arrive, queuing, queuing, from a wrinkled old man, to a bright young man and a bright young woman - from all of Hellas -from a village from a city, brother next to brother, tortured, ailing and naked with a rifle, with a shovel and a rod...

............... ...............

The sons of the people, the masses - all our people -with this they threw themselves into battle...

................. .................

In the sea of fire The fascists burn and the Throne crumbles and falls. A new world is born. - A New Hellas -powerful and young - Democratic!

Paskal Paskalevski

(NEPOKOREN, number 17, December 10, 1948)

10. Acting body of KOEM (June 19-20, 1949)

Less than three months after NOF’s 2nd Congress was convened, Zahariadis convened a general conference to be held at DAG and the Provisional Democratic Government of Greece’s Headquarters. All Macedonian political and military personnel and members of KOEM were invited to attend.

Then on the night between June 19 and 20, 1949, the Macedonian activists who attended the general conference, surrounded by a Greek special unit with soldiers armed with automatic weapons, were asked to embrace Zahariadis’s “proposed” draft resolution.

So, Zahariadis’s imposed isolation of NOF from the People’s Republic of Macedonia, mentioned earlier, began to turn into an open policy of hostilities against Yugoslavia, that is, against the People’s Republic of Macedonia and its leaders.

That evening, as I already mentioned, I was again removed from the NOF leadership and from being a member of the all-Greek league of fighters for peace in the world. The reason for my removal: I had supposedly fallen under CPY influence, that is, I had fallen under

the influence of the “Skopje leaders”. I was immediately sent to the Arapades front in Gramos to fight as an ordinary fighter, where twice I managed to avoid my unsuccessfully planned physical liquidation.

At the same time, NEPOKOREN, the tiny organ of the Macedonian national liberation movement, now in the hands of Kochopoulos and Gusiopoulos, was turned into Zahariadis’s anti-Yugoslav and anti-Macedonian organ.

It is worthwhile mentioning at this point that when DAG withdrew from the front lines, the NEPOKOREN editorial office, consisting of several metal boxes, seemingly like it was the editorial office of the front lines, was left behind for the monarchist army to find and make it available to the Athens government propaganda machine.