CHAPTER SIX - RESISTANCE TO NEW PRESSURE

CHAPTER SIX - RESISTANCE TO NEW PRESSURE

1. Situation in the Balkans after World War II

Even before the Second World War ended, the social structure physiognomy of the Balkans was clearly expressed. No one doubted that the people’s revolution in Yugoslavia would be victorious. The same was true for Albania, as well as for the final outcome in Bulgaria. The Greek political right was well aware of that fact. But in addition to that there was another important fact, a new phenomenon was on the rise which the Greek political right had to contend with; the creation of the People’s Republic of Macedonia. The national revolution in Yugoslavia would not only bring new social order, but it would create a People’s Republic of Macedonia, a fact which was not consistent with the imperialist aspirations of the Greek political right. The Macedonian people living in Aegean (Greek occupied) Macedonia, who in the past lagged behind in their national struggle for freedom and independence, with undisguised sympathies, welcomed the creation of the Macedonian republic within the Yugoslav Federation of newly constituted nations. On the other hand, the internal conditions in Greece were changing. A revolutionary situation was on the rise giving birth to real democratic forces capable of defeating the counter-revolutionary bourgeoisie and solving the Macedonian National Question by addressing it as an integral part of the revolution’s democratic tasks. So the situation in the Balkans and in Greece itself, which existed during the Second World War, created an opportunity for the Macedonian people living in Aegean (Greek occupied) Macedonia to seek and achieve their national rights. The Macedonian people were confident and morally prepared for that, as demonstrated by their heroism when they participated en masse in the liberation front and in the Greek Civil War for which they paid with heavy casualties. This also explains the rise of NOF in the spring of 1945 in Greek occupied Macedonia with its national liberation political platform, which enjoyed great prestige before the Macedonian people and before other minorities.

On April 23, 1945 the Political Commission held a meeting (but not with the initial staff because changes were made) to assess Aegean (Greek occupied) Macedonia on the basis of prior activities

conducted on the ground and on the basis of the new situation in resolving the problems associated with creating a single organization. Up until then the Macedonian movement in Greek occupied Macedonia, including its political agitators and organizers, acted under several organizations and under different names. In Kostur Region, for example, the Macedonian organization was called SNOF, a name that existed since World War II. The Macedonian organization in Voden Region, on the other hand, was called TOMO (Total Macedonian Liberation Organization). A decision made during the meeting to use a single name for all organizations. It was decided to call the Organization the “National Liberation Front for Aegean Macedonia”. The date April 23, 1945 was then taken to mean the establishment of the National Liberation Front (NOF) for Aegean Macedonia. However, NOF was a continuation of SNOF and it may be more correct to say that NOF was the continuation of the Slavo-Macedonian Liberation Front, which had been in existence since the National-liberation struggle that began during World War II.

The Organization “NOF for Aegean Macedonia” was an expression of the same idea, same ideology, same politics and same national aspirations shared by the Macedonian people in their desire to create their own organization and their own fighting body, as they did during the German occupation. In addition to being an organ of the Macedonian people’s struggle against the national and class enemy personified by Athens and its counter-revolutionaries in Greece, NOF was also a challenge to the CPG’s fraudulent position with respect to the Macedonian National Question. In some specific circumstances NOF took a different approach in evaluating the struggle in Greece than the CPG leadership did.

The establishment of NOF, its political and organizational activities and later its adoption of a program and status, shows that the Macedonian people in Greek occupied Macedonia were willing to tackle the Macedonian National Question after World War II. The situation after the Varkiza Agreement, i.e. its violation by the Athenian bourgeois government, the effort to break the democratic movement in the country by military force and by terror were all factors that contributed to the revolutionary mood in the country. This could not have been seen with greater clarity than in the

territory of Aegean (Greek occupied) Macedonia. The basis for this was in the following elements: the desire exhibited by the vast majority of the Macedonian people to realize their aspirations, the favourable situation in the Balkans, the situation where the terror caused by the reactionary forces needed to be removed and so on. But the decision to conduct an armed struggle was not made by NOF, neither were the decisions to organize and implement such a struggle. This was the work of the CPG, an organization that had the ability and resources to operate in the entire territory of Greece. The CPG leadership was of the opinion that there were grounds for parliamentary life and for a political struggle in Greece. Unfortunately the CPG’s political line was subordinate in that assessment. But unlike NOF, which was an illegal organization in Greece, the CPG was a legal organization and its own assessment was that the situation was revolutionary and that an armed struggle was a form of struggle. On top of that there was a huge gap that existed between NOF and the CPG leadership regarding the Macedonian National Question, created in the course of NOD (People’s Liberation Movement). That is why NOF, until almost the end of 1946, acted in conformity with the CPG leadership.

NOF, for the above stated reasons, was not free to develop its own full political and organizational initiatives before and after the Agreement was signed because of its relations with the CPG, which reflected on its political and organizational life. If we are to follow the path of development that NOF took, we can easily see the contradictions and loss of reliability which resulted from CPG interference.

2. NOF activities in 1945-1946

During its organizational stages, even though NOF was politically separated from the CPG, up until the October 1946 Agreement, it was still not free and independent to carry out its own program. NOF’s actions and attitudes had to largely comply and harmonize with the Party line and with CPG views. After the Varkiza Agreement was signed and ELAS was disarmed, the reactionary government in Athens lost no time in expanding its control over the entire territory of the country. And the moment the bourgeois government in Athens took hold of power it began to terrorize the

democratic forces, hunting down its supporters and destroying its institutions. These actions spoke not only of the fact that the political right in Greece, which came to power, was not only not going to fulfill its obligations of providing a peaceful and democratic life for the people, but on the contrary, every day that it held power it became increasingly evident that the democratic forces were locked out of everything, including the parliamentary political fight they were expecting to fight.

NOF’s organizational activities were developed exactly under the conditions stated above. On top of that NOF had to endure the Greek wrath for being an illegal organization plus a Macedonian one at that, which no Greek could stomach. It was said that before NOF got its formal name, at the time when it was acting under the title “Political Commission for the Aegean Macedonians”, it had in the background its own organizers developing “living” organizational activities. But after the Varkiza Agreement was signed and the Athens government extended its reach into Greek occupied Macedonia, it took extreme measures to ensure these activities were eliminated, including those involved in them. This move, however, did not fully achieve its objectives because NOF’s organizational, political and military activities greatly increased after that, resulting in the establishment of NOF in April 1945. In the course of 1945 NOF established itself in almost all the Macedonian villages and towns in Voden, Lerin and Kostur Regions. NOF also established organizational bases in many villages in Enidzhevardar, Gumenidzhe and Negush Regions and in certain regions in Eastern Macedonia. NOF had its own leadership and a number of professional staff illegally working for them in Voden, Lerin, Kostur and Gumenidzhe Regions. Organizational responsibilities were created and divided amongst the staff as well as organizational committees, not only for NOF but also for AFZH (Women’s Organization) and for NOMS (Organization for the youth).

NOF could not have had proper representation of strength, authority and influence if it acted only as a frontline organization. For the Macedonians NOF was the only organization that opposed the CPG and its attitude towards the Macedonian people and that is why it was so successful in expanding its organizational network and establishing political influence over the Macedonian people.

NOF supported the moral and political mood of the masses, worked tirelessly for the struggle and rarely complaining about the sacrifices its members had to make. In the course of 1945 and 1946, after its Agreement with the CPG, NOF had the opportunity to call on its entire membership to join the armed struggle en masse. But, as we will later see, if NOF was prepared to make such a call, the CPG wasn’t. As a result, because NOF was politically aligned with the CPG in regards to the armed struggle, it did not make that call.

Here are some examples of NOF’s endeavours, collisions with the CPG leadership and its movements within the contradictions.

Because of the objective conditions in which organizational activities took place in Greek occupied Macedonia, and for the purpose of performing intensive organizational work in order to quickly expand in the field and to strengthen the Organization, it was necessary to hire many organizers. The number of staff with professional backgrounds in every region during the course of 1945 and 1946 was 20 to 30, sometimes up to 40 people. All these illegal workers were armed, not only with hand guns but in most cases with rifles and machine guns. In addition to that, because of the terror activities conducted by regular and irregular armed Greek bands, NOF found it necessary to form armed groups of its own. Such groups existed in Lerin, Kostur, Voden, Gumenidzhe and Eidzhe-Vardar Regions, but whose existence was disputed by the CPG leadership. So in addition to carrying the burden of having to fight against the enemy, these groups which were recruiting and growing on their own also had to contend with the CPG. NOF and its membership were in favour of the existence and growth of these groups but lacked CPG consent; the CPG leadership’s line and position was against having such groups. The groups were therefore prohibited from carrying out mobilization and recruiting new fighters. And, even though arms and ammunition existed on the ground, the CPG made sure it was not available to NOF, to the armed groups, or to any other Macedonian organization. This is why a rift was created between NOF’s armed partisan groups and the enemy in 1945. NOF organizers on the ground and behind the scenes were ready for an armed struggle, as they repeatedly wrote in their reports. In one of these reports, directed to the main NOF

leadership, the secretary of Lerin Region, under the pseudonym Sandanski, wrote: “In my opinion, we should make a decisive strike if we want to do more than what we did in the course of one month… The Greek government, based on local reactions, intends to occupy the most scattered settlements. That is why it is preparing to capture the border lines with intent to later conduct cleanup actions to destroy the Macedonian armed groups and to establish police stations in the mountain villages and intimidate, torture and loot the local population, just like it did before the war, to push the Macedonian people to flee to Vardar (Republic of) Macedonia. The situation is becoming very critical and if the Greek government achieves its objectives, the Macedonian people would have a great deal to lose”.

But because NOF was politically aligned with the CPG, it not only provided directives or took measures to strengthen the armed struggle but, on the contrary, in August 1945 the partisans were ordered to avoid armed collisions with the enemy. As a result the enemy gained strength, improved its fighting spirit and decimated the Macedonian population. Here is what Dzhodzo wrote in a report dated August 25, 1945, on the situation in Lerin:

“Based on written and oral reports originating from the Lerin Regional Board, the situation there has been very difficult lately due to the great terror and increased hostilities perpetrated by the army and gendarmes that have been established in the villages. Their presence has encouraged informers and spies to be brazen and to multiply in numbers…” At the end of the same report Dzhodzo wrote: “Lefter just arrived and gave us this information: the number of Burandari (Greek soldiers) present in Lerin Region is about 2,000, most of whom are blacks, generally there are about 6,000. The arms they possess include machine guns, mortars, artillery and tanks. They are stationed from Daulot to Kajmakchalan, where they are mending and fixing the roads.

It is impossible to pass, that is why I will not be sending Ivana and Zivko. I will not be coming either. I will wait for Tane who has been separated from us for eight days and who we expect to be arriving the next day. They have closed off all movements for the Macedonians. They brought the sheep down from the mountains so

that no one will be allowed to leave. In the meantime they are burning down the forests. During the night all Macedonian houses are under lockdown so that no one can go out. Those who manage to get permission to work in their fields are inspected to see how much food they are carrying.

Our groups are in a desperate situation. They have to attack and fight to obtain their supplies. I sent a courier and informed them not to attack by any means.”

Sandanski’s assessment regarding the Greek government’s intentions was correct. We can also say, based on Dzhodzho’s report, that Macedonian partisans were prohibited from attacking, even at the cost of staying hungry.

In a report sent to the NOF leadership, dated August 22, 1945, Tane Naumovski, among other things, wrote the following about the situation on the ground:

“Whole families in Kailari Region, Macedonian men and women are dragged to Thessaly on a daily basis and from there we do not know where they are taken. Free travel is prohibited in Sorovich Region. It is difficult for people in Lerin Region to survive in the mountains. It’s the same in the Lerin field. We beg of you to find a solution before November 1, 1945 because it will be difficult for us to stay out here after that. The population is starting to become frightened from the forces stationed here and from the spies; the spies are developing great courage.

...Every day they set ambushes because their spies are well-organized. We can’t shoot at them because we don’t have that right and they know it. They are starting to climb the mountains and are persecuting us, even in our strongholds. When we shoot at them, they run away…”

Based on the many reports produced at that time, the situation on the ground was the same everywhere: “Weapons were needed and a signal to start strengthening the armed struggle.” This was a result of the objective situation. But there was lack of agreement between the CPG and NOF. But regardless of that, a great rift began to develop

between the armed Macedonian partisan groups and the armed forces belonging to the Athens regime in the spring and summer of 1945, after their arrival in Greek occupied Macedonia and after the Varkiza Agreement was signed. The rift was well-publicized in the regime’s newspapers in Greece. The Solun newspaper “Kakedonia”, for example, on July 18, 1945 wrote: “A Bulgarian band attacked an allied automobile with machine guns. Four people were wounded…”

“Lerin – A Bulgarian armed gang, armed with machine guns, blockaded the road leading from Lerin to Solun, at the village Gornichovo. The band fired at an allied vehicle killing one Englishmen and wounding three others. Similarly, Marianti Siomou traveling in the same vehicle to Solun was also wounded.

All the bandits were Bulgarians, armed with automatic rifles and wearing Russian stars…”

Further down, the same article quoted the Director of Lerin saying that the attack was perpetrated by our “bad neighbours”.

The following was written in the Solun newspaper “To Fos” on July 21, 1945:

“Bulgarian armed communist gangs are systematically attacking the gendarme stations in Western Macedonia…

Bulgarian armed communist gangs committed terrible actions against the Greek gendarmes in Western Macedonia…

A band consisting of several armed groups surrounded the villages Konomlati - Rupisko, and attacked it with grenades and mortars, bombing the gendarme station. At the same time they demanded that the gendarmes leave the village. The gendarmes, however, managed to repel the bandits.

Another band attacked the gendarme station in the village Zagorichani, Kostur Region. The gendarmes chased the bandits who then retreated to a nearby mountain…”

Articles like these can be found in all the Greek regime newspapers, deliberately perverting the truth. The armed groups from the local Macedonian population, who rose up to defend the honour and dignity of their own people from Greek Monarcho-Fascist barbarian attacks, were labeled “Bulgarians” to mislead not only the Greek public but also the international community. However, as previously stated, the terror perpetrated against the Macedonian people was left intact especially in the rural areas, thus allowing the Greek Monarcho-Fascists the opportunity to expand their power. The Macedonian people resisted precisely as a result of the terror perpetrated against them, aspiring to ensure conditions for a better life.

From what has been stated up to now we can conclude that the armed struggle, as the forerunner of the Democratic Army armed struggle, was initiated by NOF’s Macedonian partisan groups, as a result of an objective need to initiate “a special kind of political struggle”. This should be emphasized for two reasons: first, to inform the democratic public that the Macedonian people were pushed into an armed struggle in order to defend their legitimate rights, freedom and human life. Second, for the historical truth; the armed resistance did not begin in Lithohori in 1946 as claimed by the CPG leadership.