Part 42 - Conclusion

Part 42 - Conclusion

I would like to conclude this book at this point in history as there is much too much that unfolded in Macedonia during the Second World War and beyond to place it all in one book. Summarizing it also will not do it justice so I will leave it for someone else to carry forward. I do however want to mention, for those who are interested, that I have written another book entitled “The Macedonians in Greece 1939 – 1949” which analyzes events that partake in what we Macedonians from Greece call “the terrible years”. Here is part of the book’s introduction as a preview of what the book is about: Very little has been written about the Macedonians in Greece and their involvement in World War II and in the Greek Civil War. Macedonians who live in Greece to this day are afraid to speak of their terrible ordeals for fear of repercussions from the Greek authorities or because it is simply too painful for them to remember. To this day it is taboo in Greece to speak of the Greek Civil War. The Macedonians in Greece it seems have been ignored by all sides. Yugoslavia has ignored them because it did not want to ruin its good relations with Greece. Greece on the other hand, to this day claims that Macedonians simply do not exist and wants no part of them. Bulgaria, even though it has a large Macedonian immigrant population from Greece, has yet to recognize the Macedonian people as a distinct ethnic group. So in reality no one really cares about the Macedonians in Greece and as a result very little to nothing has been written about them. “Indeed, the Macedonians in Greece are hardly ever mentioned in scholarly literature and have been virtually forgotten as a people and as a national minority.” (Andrew Rossos) This is most unfortunate not only because the Macedonian contribution to the struggle against Fascism and Nazism has been completely omitted, but because the Macedonian people themselves living in Greece despite their contributions, have been completely ignored as if they didn’t exist. In the chapters of the book “The Macedonians in Greece 1939 – 1949” I we will make an attempt to tell the Macedonian side of the story as it unfolded from a Macedonian point of view. The story begins with an overview of events starting with Macedonia’s invasion, occupation and partition by Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria in 1912, 1913 to events leading up to the start of World War II. A more detailed approach will then be taken to explain the Macedonian involvement in World War II and in the Greek Civil War. This is not a story about battles fought and strategies applied but rather a story about the human factor and about struggles for equality and human rights. It is a story that will reveal, perhaps for the first time to English speakers, of how the Macedonians in Greece were treated by Greek authorities and by the Great Powers during the war years from 1939 to 1949. Greece has accused the Macedonian people living in Greece of being autonomists, separatists, communists and even of being foreign agents. But as we will see, none of these accusations are true; the only things Macedonians are guilty of are struggling for equality and human rights. In spite of all assurances made by the Macedonian leadership during World War II and during the Greek Civil War that it had no intention of leading an autonomist or separatist movement, the Greek leadership always remained suspicious and used every opportunity to stifle the Macedonian struggle. Since the Macedonian people are of one ethnic group and recognize themselves as one ethnic Macedonian identity regardless of where they live, the term “Macedonians” will refer to all Macedonian people worldwide. References like “Macedonians in Greece” or “Macedonians in Canada” will mean “ethnic Macedonians living in Greece” or “ethnic Macedonians living in Canada”. It is also important to emphasize at this point that the Macedonians living in Canada, Australia, the USA and other places outside of Macedonia are Macedonian migrants who over the years immigrated to those places, whereas the Macedonian people living in Macedonia are indigenous to Macedonia and have lived in Macedonia for many millennia.

The Greek, Serbian, Bulgarian and Albanian people, who now live in Macedonia, are colonists who immigrated to Macedonia or were placed there by their respective states over the years, mostly after Macedonia’s occupation in 1912. I decided to use “Greek occupied Macedonia” and “Bulgarian occupied Macedonia” to refer to those regions in order to bring attention to the plight of the Macedonian people living there. Even though Macedonians are indigenous to Macedonia and feel they are its original landowners and caretakers, Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and Albania by act of war occupied, partitioned and annexed Macedonia for themselves in 1912, 1913. Besides losing their lands, these Macedonians, especially those living in Greece and Bulgaria, since then have been economically deprived and culturally oppressed. They have been stripped of the right to call themselves Macedonian, practice their Macedonian culture and speak their Macedonian language. Since 1912 many have also been evicted from their homes, stripped from their lands, forcibly assimilated into foreign nations, tortured, jailed, murdered and denied their ethnic identity, language and culture simply because they are Macedonian. It is also evident that Macedonians have been denied economic opportunities like well paid jobs, positions of authority in government, positions in educational institutions, high positions in the military, etc. The reasons for this are obvious. By denying the Macedonians their ethnic identity Greece and Bulgaria can claim that Macedonians don’t exist and if Macedonians don’t exist there will be no claims laid to the lands they acquired illegally by war. Above that, both Bulgaria and Greece have adopted parts of the Macedonian heritage and thus have claimed parts of Macedonia’s history as their own. To acknowledge the existence of a Macedonian identity would then mean admission of cultural theft. Therefore from a Macedonian point of view to call those regions of Macedonia “occupied” is more than justifiable. Yet, in spite of all this, the Macedonian people in Greece fought against Fascism and Nazism in World War II in order to help preserve Greece. They did this because they wanted to live in peace as equals to the Greeks, a concept the Greek mind cannot accept to this day. Be it in World War II or in the Greek Civil War, the Macedonian people, proportionally speaking, bore the brunt of the wars. The heaviest battles during the Greek Civil War including the decisive ones, took part in Western Greek occupied Macedonia in the area bordering Yugoslavia and Albania. Greek occupied Macedonia served as a base for the political and military operations of the “democratic movement” and as the headquarters of both the Communist Party of Greece and its military wing the Democratic Army of Greece. Greek occupied Macedonia was also of strategic importance to the CPG because its allies Yugoslavia, Albania and Soviet Russia were located to the north and access to them could only be gained through the cooperation of the Macedonian people in Greece. “As one participant and close observer put it: ‘[They] were turned into military workshops for the DSE (DAG), where everyone, young and old, male and female, served the needs of the DSE (DAG).’” (Andrew Rossos) Besides civilian cooperation, a proportionally large number of fighters had also joined the ranks of the left. “Reliable statistics do not exist, but Macedonians seem to have constituted only around a twentieth of the total population of about seven million. Their estimated representation in the DSE (DAG) ranged from more than a quarter in April 1947 to more than two-thirds in mid-1949. Risto Kirjazovski maintains that they numbered 5,250 out of 20,000 in April 1947; and Lieutenant Colonel Pando Vajnas claimed that in January 1948 there were about 11,000 Macedonian partisans in the DSE (DAG). According to C. M. Woodhouse, ‘they numbered 11,000 out of 25,000 in 1948, but 14,000 out of less than 20,000 by mid-1949.’” (Andrew Rossos) Even though there was a proportionally large Macedonian contribution to both World War II and to the Greek Civil War there is very little to none attributed to the Macedonian people and to their sacrifices.

Besides addressing the Macedonian contribution, in the chapters that follow in the book “The Macedonians in Greece 1939 – 1949”, I will also address the violence and scare tactics the Greek State employed to counter the Macedonian struggle and the atrocities it committed in the process.

In doing research for this book I encountered the term “Slavo-Macedonians” used by authors, mostly by Greeks, to refer to ethnic Macedonians. The use of this term implies that there is more than one “variety” of Macedonian but outside of “Slavo-Macedonians” no “other type” of Macedonian was identified. So for the purpose of this write-up, as mentioned earlier, the term “Macedonians” will be used to refer to the ethnic Macedonians no matter where they live. Further, we Macedonians consider the term “Slavo-Macedonian” to be derogatory to the Macedonian people who self-identify as “Macedonians”. The term “Slavo-Macedonians” is intentionally employed by Greek authors to isolate and segregate Macedonians making them feel inferior, like foreigners on their own ancestral lands. The development of the modern Macedonian nation is no different than the development of any other modern nation but we don’t see the same authors use terms like “Slavo-Greek”, “Slavo-Bulgarian”, “Slavo-Serbian”, “Slavo-Albanian”, etc., to refer to other ethnicities even though elements of what make up the modern Macedonian nation are present in the Greek, Bulgarian, Serbian and Albanian nations. Therefore we justifiably feel that the use of the term “Slavo-Macedonians” is intentional and unnecessary and we recommend that it not be used in any context to refer to ethnic Macedonians. And since I began the introduction of the book “Macedonian Struggle for Independence” with a quote of one of my favourite authors I would also like to also end it with one; “At the end of my book (“Macedonia Yesterday and Today”) devoted to Macedonia, I (Giorgio Nurigiani) should like to express once again my great affection for its gallant sons who are fighting today for a brighter and happier future. Their progress is manifest; what I was able to see in their towns and villages gave me sincere pleasure. One of my most cherished dreams has been realized: to see for myself the life and cultural rise of this reawakening people, which is today making heroic efforts to further its spiritual and material progress and strengthen its national consciousness. There may be some people who will criticize me for not having spoken in my book about certain historical, ethnographical rights which Macedonia's present-day neighbours could put forward as claims. I consider it superfluous to raise this question now when we have before our eyes a Macedonian State, firm and immovable in its sacred title-deed:

Macedonia for the Macedonians!

Only through reconciliation and co-operation will it be possible to strengthen the foundations of a true and lasting peace, so indispensable today for nations both great and small. I have never in my life felt hatred for any people, and I have always believed that the most irreconcilable differences, potential causes of bloody human conflicts, can be solved only by justice, prudence and honest dealing between man and man, inspired by love, which alone brings human spirits together in brotherly concord. My feelings towards the Macedonian people have always been disinterested and they will remain so in the future. I have never been interested in the political aspirations and claims of certain statesmen who adapt themselves to the interests of the moment. But I have always had faith in what is eternal in the heart of a people:

Its national consciousness!

During my last stay in Macedonia I was able to see it as it really is: kind, hospitable, free from any adventitious fanaticism, devoting all its energies to its creative development. Whether it will be able to justify all these efforts and sacrifices for its future existence will depend entirely on its heroic sons, conscious of their nationhood and always ready to die for their freedom and independence.” (Giorgio Nurigiani, “Macedonia Yesterday and Today”, pages 171 and 172)