Conclusion - Part 02

The NLAG leadership with aims at keeping good relations with the government, towards the end of September 1944, brought a resolution to disband the Macedonian battalions. Faced with a grave situation the Lerin-Kostur Macedonian Battalion command decided to ignore the Greek commissar’s orders and as a first preventative measure took action to dismiss the battalion’s Greek commandant Kozmas Spanos – Amintas and replaced him with a trusted Macedonian, Atanas Koroveshov. Command of the battalion was relegated to Ilija Dimovski – Gotse. In addition to that, Naum Pejov was dispatched to Vardar Macedonia to inform the leadership there of the impending situation and to obtain its opinion. Atanas Koroveshov was also sent to follow up. According to Naum Pejov the attitude of the main headquarters of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) of Macedonia was: “It is improper to attempt to disband the Macedonian battalion in Greece by the Greek side. Every attempt must be made at any cost to maintain the battalion intact. Not only to remain intact but also to continue its mobilization program with new fighters. In case it is attacked by the Greek side, it was recommended that the battalion move north and eventually cross into Yugoslavian territory where it could continue to campaign against the German occupier.” It quickly became apparent to the Greek leadership that the Macedonians were not going to comply with their directives so in the beginning of October they ordered the Lerin-Kostur battalion to head south to Sjatista, Kozheni Region, where the Greeks figured it would be easier to disarm and disband. However, the Macedonian commandant and battalion leadership were well aware of the Greek plans and after again disobeying orders, took defensive countermeasures and regrouped their forces. Grogorios Konatos, the Greek commandant of the 28th regiment of NLAG sent another order to Ilija Dimovski – Gotse demanding that he comply with NLAG’s first order. That order too was disobeyed by the Macedonian leadership. During this critical moment Hristo Kolentsev, the Macedonian battalion commissar left the battalion in order to make himself available to the leadership of NLAG in the 28th regiment. In the village Turje, Lerin Region, where the battalion’s command was stationed, Ilija Dimovski – Gotse and Kolentsev exchanged a few sharp words. Kolentsev was of the opinion that the battalion had taken a wrong path and that it belonged with the NLAG which was in total disagreement with Ilija Dimovski – Gotse’s insistence that it remain separate. Attempts to bring the Macedonians to obedience and to gain Ilija Dimovski – Gotse’s support were also made by Drosos Zaharias, the Greek commissar of the 28th regiment of NLAG. In a letter to Ilija Dimovski – Gotse, Zaharias suggested that he “obey” the voice of the party and return to the ranks of NLAG. Among other things, Ilija Dimovski – Gotse responded as follows: “I received your letter. I am consciously concerned that we are wasting time on this while the Germans in Lerin are murdering and killing our people. That is precisely why we are not satisfied in our current position and have decided to fight our enemies everywhere and with the best of our abilities. I myself as Ilija Dimovski Gotse without the 1,500 fighters am nothing. By myself I am worthless. You are saying that you will attack and destroy us. That would be a big mistake and a tragedy for both of our people, for the Greeks and for the Macedonians and that will greatly damage us all. If you agree with the principles of the party then show some concern for our needs as Macedonians, which I believe are not anti-Marxist and are not at all outside of the common interests of both of our peoples. When you do that then I will ask my 1,500 Partisans to prepare to give their lives for the freedom of the Greeks and Macedonians.” The last Greek leadership attempt to bring the Macedonians to obedience was during a meeting between Stavros Gusiadis, the Commissar of the 9th NLAG division, Renos Mihaleas and the Macedonian political and military leadership.

The meeting was held on October 5th and 6th, 1944. All the Macedonian leaders were united and in agreement that what was happening and the situation they were in was entirely the responsibility of the Greek leadership. Nothing was finalized during the meeting, which lasted the entire night. After that, on October 7, 1944, Ilija Dimovski – Gotse instructed the NLAG 28th regiment command, to which the Macedonian battalion belonged, that the battalion would not obey its orders to disband. Furthermore he informed the Greek regiment that the Macedonian battalion had made plans and established connections with the political and military leadership of Vardar Macedonia. With those words all connections to NLAG were broken. From the time all attempts failed, including measures of maneuvering, threats, ideological and other pressures to achieve their aims, to disband the battalion the Greek resistance leadership undertook the last and most unpopular and controversial measure. Namely, the commandant of the 9th division of NLAG, General Kalabalikis, in agreement with the command of the group of divisions of NLAG from Macedonia and the General Headquarters of NLAG, ordered its own units to pursue the Lerin-Kostur Region Macedonian battalion at lightning speed and destroy it. For this operation the 27th, 28th and 53rd NLAG regiments, NLAG reserves and the National militias from Lerin and Kostur Regions were engaged. Faced with this situation the battalion on October 7, 1944 left for Prespa, Lerin Region with aims to avoid bloodshed and on October 12, 1944 crossed over the border and entered the Yugoslav sector of Prespa. The deed of splitting the Lerin-Kostur Region battalion from NLAG was viewed by the leadership of the 27th and 28th regiments and by the

Greek political organizations and parties as counter revolutionary. The battalion’s Macedonian command which had made its decision to split gave its reasons for the splitting on October 15, 1944. The reasons for splitting the Lerin-Kostur Region Macedonian battalion from NLAG were best said in the November 29, 1944 letter from the Aegean Macedonian political and military leadership sent to the Macedonian bureau of the Greek Communist Party. In the letter, among other things, was said: “It would be a misunderstanding for you to believe that this is the work of one personal drive, one incident with clear subjective impulses… We are of one idea, one desire, and one expression of one people from a one suffering filled country, which from the ashes of hundreds of years of slavery wants to be reborn. Our struggle is clear; National freedom for our people. Open wide the horizon of the democratic process and let the national unification of our people take its place… We here as a people of indigenous birth by one historical need are and will remain to the end a consistent and resolved national force of the Macedonian people, an expressive and bold democratic force, a lasting political process of the people as a whole which will protect its vitality and moral character and to the end will fight by all means of struggle for the national movement of the Macedonian people and its national restoration…” The Greek party leadership, however, gave a different interpretation for the reasons why it wanted to disband the Macedonian battalions. Markos Vafiadis, for example, stated that the order for disbanding the Lerin-Kostur Region battalion was given by himself personally and not because of pressure from Papandreou. He gave the order because Ilija Dimovski – Gotse, was allegedly working for and was materially helped by Captain Evans, member of the British War Mission in Vicho, who had aims at taking Solun, something which would have provoked internal and international implications and would have caused damage to the NLAG and to its neighbours. Markos Vafiadis also stated: “The negative expressions of the Lebanon Agreement became a factor of discontent among the Slavo-Macedonians. Those Slavo-Macedonian elements which harbored negative feelings were welcomed by the English who had in mind chauvinistic inclinations in the affairs of the Slavo-Macedonians and would not have hesitated to turn the Slavo-Macedonian units against the NLAG units in the Vicho vicinity.” The Greek resistance leadership deduced that the Macedonians were getting ready to assume a war campaign in Aegean Macedonia based on the information it received from Hristo Kolentsev – Kokinos, the Lerin-Kostur Region Macedonian battalion political commissar. In a document Kolentsev, among other things, informed the Greek leadership that Naum Pejov and Atanas Koroveshov, around the end of September 1944, visited Vardar Macedonia in order to familiarize the Macedonian political and military leadership there with NLAG’s attitude towards the Macedonians and to update them with the military and political situation in Greece. According to Kolentsev, Pejov and Koroveshov received the following directives from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vardar Macedonia and the General Headquarters of the National Liberation Army of Macedonia: “To obtain approval from the Greek leadership in order to form a Macedonian army with its own headquarters. If the Greek Communist Party did not approve, the Macedonians were instructed to conduct their own massive mobilization and afterwards cross over to Ljubojno, Prespa Region in Vardar Macedonia where arms would be secured for the new recruits. They were also told that waiting in Ljuboino would be two Macedonian National Liberation Army brigades under the command of ‘the bat’ who would lead them into Kostur, Lerin and Voden Regions in Aegean Macedonia and afterwards to any other place where there would still be Germans remaining.” The above, stated by Naum Shupurkovski - Leon, the commissar of the Lerin Region Partisan detachment “Vicho” and of the Lerin-Kostur Region brigade, was delivered to the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Greek Communist Party.

Naum Shupurkovski – Leon, who until the beginning of October 1944 followed the Greek Communist Party line, in the above document confirmed that the above mentioned directives, coming from the Central Committee of the Vardar Macedonian Communist Party and of the General Headquarters of Macedonia, were accurate and he was convinced of it by Naum Pejov, Atanas Koroveshov and by Anesti Panovski, an activist from Bitola, who had come to Greek occupied Macedonia for that purpose. The Lerin-Kostur Region Macedonian battalion and the new recruits were not armed in Ljuboino as expected and did not return to Aegean Macedonia to pursue the Germans, but crossed over into Bitola Region, where they were engaged in campaigns against the occupier. The original plan was hampered owing to the Churchill – Stalin agreement of October 1944, which placed Greece as a whole under British influence. As mentioned earlier, between October 12 and 13, 1944 the Lerin-Kostur Region Macedonian battalion left the territory of Aegean Macedonia and crossed the border into the Prespa sector of Vardar Macedonia. On its way to cross the border more Macedonian activists and local residents of that region joined the battalion bringing its numbers to over 1,500. On October 13, 1944 as soon as the Macedonian battalion entered Yugoslav territory, Ilija Dimovski – Gotse, by way of a letter, informed

Marshal Tito that the Lerin-Kostur Region battalion had splintered from NLAG and was now in Vardar Macedonia. On October 16, 1944 the Lerin-Kostur battalion left Prespa and relocated to the village Graeshnitsa at the base of operations. On October 22, 1944 in the village Dragosh, Bitola Region the battalion, in the presence of Dime Bojanovski – Dize the General Headquarters representative of the People’s Liberation Army of Vardar Macedonia, was reorganized into a brigade called the Lerin-Kostur Region Macedonian brigade (LKRMB). Ilija Dimovski – Gotse was given command of the brigade and Naum Shupurkovski – Leon was appointed as its political commissar. After the brigade’s formation, the brigade’s command presented a document to the General Headquarters of the People’s Liberation Army of Vardar Macedonia outlining the Macedonian people’s struggle in Aegean Macedonia, the Greek attitude and mistakes made towards the Macedonian People’s national question, etc., which explained the overall situation in Greece and the battalion’s decision and motives for leaving Greece. In the village Graeshintsa, where the seat of command was situated, the brigade conducted exercises to prepare for operations at the roads and highways connecting Lerin and Bitola to Solun. The commandant and commissar of LKRMB, Ilija Dimovski – Goce and Naum Shupurkovski – Leon, through their new orders, which they received towards the end of October, 1944 from the political leadership of Macedonia, wrote a letter addressed to the Communist Party of Greece in which they requested from the Greek Party leadership to allow the formation of a Macedonian army with its own Macedonian headquarters, in which there would also be a representative of NLAG, to allow the formation of a Macedonian organization – a Macedonian Aegean National Liberation Front (MANLF) with a representative from the Greek National Liberation Front (GNLF) as well as to allow a Macedonian representative in the GNLF. The Macedonian right to self-determination was to be propagated through the press and the right to unification to be propagated only by word of mouth. Unfortunately these requests were rejected by the Greek Communist Party, qualifying them as provocative, unfriendly and nationalistic demands. On November 4, 1944 the LKRMB took part in the liberation of Bitola and on November 18, 1944 it added its first all Aegean shock brigade consisting of fighters from the Voden and Lerin-Kostur Region Macedonian battalions, which separated from NLAG in October 1944 and from the detachment of the “Gotse Delchev” brigade. The brigade’s commanders at the time of its formation consisted of Ilija Dimovski – Gotse as its commandant, Naum Pejov as its second commandant, Mohailo Keramitdzhiev as its commissar, Vangel Ajanovski -Oche as its second commissar and Steve Georgiev - Dimov as its chief. During the initiation ceremonies Lazo Kalajdzhiski – Dobri, the commandant of the Bitola Region Military District, surrendered the flag for his brigade to Ilija Dimovski – Gotse and among other things said: “I surrender this flag to you from the Ilinden Uprising and trust that forever you will guard it until the ultimate liberation of all of Macedonia”. Upon receiving the flag Ilija Dimovski – Gotse replied: “We accept this flag and we will protect it to the last drop of our blood”. The first military assignment given to the first all Aegean Shock Brigade was to clean up the Balisti bands in the village Ostrets, Bitola Region, which it did in the first ten days of December 1944. On December 3, 1944 Great Britain began its military intervention against NLAG in Athens. Given the situation the fighters and officers of the Macedonian brigade in the Republic of Macedonia could not remain indifferent about what was happening in Greece, being aware that defeat of the democratic forces in Greece would worsen the situation of the Macedonian people. They were all in agreement that there was a need to explore all means to help NLAG, which meant first hand involvement of the brigade in the conflict.

At this point the Aegean Macedonian leadership contemplated around this question searching for conditions under which to become involved. Naum Shupurkovski, a member of the Secretariat of the Macedonian Political Commission under Greece, in his report addressed to the Political Bureau of the Greek Communist Party commented that on December 3, 1944 on the day of the formation of the Political Commission, at a meeting attended by Mohailo Keramidchiev, Naum Pejov, Paskal Mitrevski, Dimitar Vlahov, Petse Trajkov and himself, Lazar Kolishevski addressed the preoccupied Macedonians from Aegean Macedonia, according to Naum Shupurkovski – Leon, as follows: “Leave immediately for down there (Aegean Macedonia). Get agreement from the Greek Communist Party and fight like democrats under its leadership without pretensions…” Several days later, Liljana Chalovska, a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece in the accommodations of the Political Commission of the Macedonians under Greece, in Bitola, addressed Paskal Mitrevski, Naum Pejov, Mohailo Keramidchiev and Naum Shupurkovski – Leon and among other things told them the following: “You need not wait to be pacified by the parties. Take your own initiative and go down there without asking for anything from the Communist Party of Greece. As long as you stay here you tolerate liability. Down there (Greece) it is not only Greece’s and Macedonia’s fate that is decided, but that of all the Balkan nations…” Four or five days later a joint meeting was held between the brigade’s headquarters and the political committee to discuss the circumstances under which it would be appropriate for the brigade and all the Macedonians from Aegean Macedonia who were presently in Yugoslavia to return to Greece and to engage in the struggle on the side of NLAG and how to communicate these circumstances to the Communist Party of Greece. Naum Pejov, Lazo Poplazarov, Paskal Mitrevski and Mohailo Keramitdzhiev, keeping in mind what had happened in the past, insisted on going to Greece as a distinct people; they insisted that the brigade should have its own headquarters, its own flag with the five ray star and be recognized by Greece as a Macedonian army. Contrary to that, Naum Shupurkovski – Leon figured that such conditions were not necessary. Paskal Mitrevski intervened and insisted on having the political committee situated inside the city of Lerin. On December 14, 1944 Andreas Dzhimas, the representative of the Communist Party of Greece and NLAG in Yugoslavia, came to Bitola and asked for the brigade to be disbanded and its fighters to enlist in the NLAG units, or at least to surrender its arms to NLAG. The Aegean leadership did not agree with this recommendation. To solve the problem Andeas Dzhimas, Naum Pejov and Paskal Mitrevski went to Skopje to discuss the situation with the Vardar Macedonian leadership. In the meantime orders came from Tito prohibiting the brigade from going to Greece because the brigade was part of the Yugoslav army. Anyhow immediate events confirmed that one more brigade could not have saved the democratic national front of Greece. On January 2, 1945 the brigade received orders from the General Headquarters of the Macedonian-Vardar National Liberation Front to go to Tetovo and eliminate the remnants of the Balisti bands that were active in the Gostivar and Tetovo Regions. After about two months of campaigning in the Gostivar and Tetovo Regions (January-February 1945) the brigade completed its assigned task. Then in the beginning of March 1945 the brigade was relocated to Skopje with orders from the General Headquarters to again relocate to Bitola and Gevgelija. As it is well known NLAG was defeated in Greece and a far rightist government came to power, which in order to secure its own position introduced a massive terror campaign against the resistance movement, especially against the Macedonians. Part of the terror was the slanderous campaign waged by the domestic and foreign reactionaries against the Macedonians and against Greece’s neighbours, particularly against Yugoslavia for its alleged interference in Greece’s internal affairs and for its alleged territorial aspirations against Greece.

Given how events unfolded in Greece and in Aegean (Greek occupied) Macedonia there was no longer a need to keep the first Aegean shock brigade active. By order number G 236 from the General Headquarters and from the Partisan Detachment of Macedonia the brigade was disbanded on April 2, 1945. A little while later Ilija Dimovski – Gotse by his own request was demobilized from the Yugoslav army and joined the national liberation movement in Aegean Macedonia lead by the Aegean Macedonian National Liberation Front. The brigade and its commander Ilija Dimovski – Gotse, in the eyes of the Macedonian people in Aegean Macedonia, were legends. People counted on them that at the direst moments they would come and save them. The following letter dated June 1, 1945 from a group of Macedonian prisoners jailed in the “Pavlos Melas” jail in Solun, addressed to Ilija Dimovski – Gotse, well illustrates the situation:

“City of Solun, 1.6.45

To the commander of the First Aegean Brigade, Bitola,

From all the Macedonians locked-up in the “Pavlos Melas” prison, dear commander, please know that there are 400 of us locked away in this jail and many more in other similar jails. The Greeks have accused us of being “autonomists” but please know, dear commander that all of us found in this prison are well organized and ready to escape to the mountains and together with you are committed to fight against the occupier and to free our people. We have had enough of being enslaved and that is why we ask from you to let us know what to do…”

Another similar letter was sent to Ilija Dimovski – Gotse on January 1, 1945, this one from the Macedonians locked up in the “Edi Kule” prison in Solun declaring their readiness to join him and his brigade. Ilija Dimovski – Gotse’s popularity with the ordinary Macedonian people was a big problem for the leadership of the Communist Party of Greece with respect to their party’s own policies towards the Macedonian national question. That is why a smear campaign was initiated against Ilija Dimovski – Gotse lead by the regional committees of the Greek Communist Party and involving members of the highest level of the Party’s leadership. For example Nikos Zahariadis, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece, during the December 26 and 27, 1945 plenum, severely criticized Ilija Dimovski – Gotse by referring to him as a separatist, autonomist and a collaborator of the English. Not to be outdone Leonidas Stringos, the secretary of the provincial committee of the Communist Party of Greece for Macedonia, also used similar words when he referred to Ilija Dimovski – Gotse. Solon Grigoriadis in his article published in the Greek Communist Party newspaper “Rizospastis” portrayed Ilija Dimovski – Gotse as an autonomist and a careerist. As it is well known, on April 23, 1945 outside and independent of the Communist Party of Greece, the organization “Aegean-Macedonian National Liberation Front” was formed with the task of organizing and leading the Macedonian people’s struggle against the Royalist and Republican terror and winning national rights and freedoms by using all means and forms of struggle. The Aegean-Macedonian National Liberation Front, distinct from the Communist Party of Greece, worked for a peaceful resolution. On account of the significant military and political factor in the country there was a pressing need to combine the Aegean-Macedonian National Liberation Front with the Greek democratic forces. To work out the details a meeting between Nikos Zahariadis and Paskal Mitrevski was held in Solun in May 1946 during which a decision was made to unify the two democratic forces under the leadership of the Greek Communist Party. Among other things they agreed to preserve the Macedonian Partisan formations as separate entities, which represented the first step and condition for the creation of a separate Macedonian army with its own headquarters to be jointly established in every region of Aegean Macedonia. In the beginning of July 1946 the regional committees of the Aegean-Macedonian National Liberation Front held a meeting during which it was agreed that every regional committee was to donate 100 to 150 Macedonian Partisans to form Macedonian units and to work for the unification with the Communist Party of Greece. With that decision the first unit was formed on July 26, 1946 at Mount Vicho. Then in the beginning of September 1946 Ilija Domovski – Gotse was given responsibility for organizing and leading the Macedonian Partisan units in Lerin and Kostur Regions. However, Athanasios Zhoras and Theodoros Eftimiadis, from the leadership of the Communist Party of Greece for Lerin and Kostur regions, reacted strongly to Ilija Dimovski – Gotse’s presence in Aegean Macedonia. Besides requesting that Ilija Dimovski-Gotse be removed as leader they began a slandering propaganda campaign calling him an autonomist and a nationalist. It was under these circumstances that Paskal Mitrevski, forced by the Greek leadership, had Ilija Dimovski – Gotse removed from his leadership role and advised him to leave Greece altogether. This, according to the Greek leadership, was done for some higher purpose but it was well known that Ilija Dimovski – Gotse was removed and exiled for the sole purpose of isolating him from his own people. He was deliberately stripped of his right to be with his people, fight alongside them, fight for them and share their fate. In November 1946 Ilija Dimovski – Gotse was compelled to leave his fighters and go to Skopje, an act with which he could not be at peace.

He could not accept the idea of being far away and outside the tragic and bloody events that were unfolding in his part of Macedonia. He could not accept his fate of being far away from the bloody battles in which his Macedonian people were engaged. Finally in May 1947 Ilija Dimovski – Gotse decided to contact Zahariadis himself by letter and appealed to him to allow him to return to his people, to share his fate with them and to fight as a common soldier. Because of the influence and authority that Ilija Dimovski – Gotse had with the Macedonian fighters and people, his appeal was granted and again he found himself in the middle of the struggle. He was given a post as commander of one of the NLAG battalions. Well aware of the negative effects the Macedonian liberation movement would experience under Greek control, Ilija Dimovski – Gotse, during the first Aegean-Macedonian National Liberation Front congress, held in January 1948, strongly opposed the actions of the Communist Party of Greece and their attempts to remove some of the old Aegean-Macedonian National Liberation Front leadership and replace it with their own people. Because of his brave stance the Macedonian leadership asked Ilija Dimovski – Gotse to become a member of Aegean-Macedonian National Liberation Front’s main council, which he accepted. His behaviour during the congress however was solid proof for the Communist Party of Greece that he would become a problem and an obstacle to their Party’s politics, so in March 1948 he was again demobilized from NLAG. The Aegean-Macedonian National Liberation Front founders, among whom was Ilija Dimovski – Gotse, well understood that the Communist Party of Greece replaced him and others like him because it did not want to lose control of the powerful Macedonian movement. With the infiltration of its own people into the Aegean-Macedonian National Liberation Front, the Communist Party of Greece strengthened its influence over the Macedonian people and opened the way for a total takeover. The leadership of the Communist Party of Greece, with aims to completely eliminate the old Aegean-Macedonian National Liberation Front leadership, in the beginning of April, 1949 under an urgent order from the General Headquarters of DAG (Democratic Army of Greece) immobilized the entire professional cadres and all other leaders of the Aegean-Macedonian National Liberation. And as we now know this had very negative consequences on a political, organizational and military level. In order to remove the Aegean-Macedonian National Liberation Front leaders from the spotlight in Aegean Macedonia, Zahariadis sent them to Yugoslavia. Mohailo Keramidchiev, Ilija Dimovski – Gotse and Vangel Ajanovski – Oche were sent to the Republic of Macedonia to recruit new fighters for DAG from the Macedonian immigrants who had fled there earlier. But as the leaders left they were never allowed to return. The main objective of the Communist Party of Greece leadership in exiling the Aegean-Macedonian National Liberation Front cadres to the Republic of Macedonia was to decapitate and disorientate the Macedonian National Liberation Movement. These cadres who performed high political functions and had many years of revolutionary experience were not only dismissed from their posts but were intentionally labeled deserters, as if they left voluntarily, which reflected badly on the entire Macedonian population. Macedonian activist Micho Velakov, lieutenant-colonel of DAG, in his letter of November 26, 1948 addressed to the political commissar of DAG’s General Headquarters, in relation to the above among other things wrote: “Most Macedonian cadres are now subservient in DAG. For example, Lazo Poplazarov and others who have distinguished themselves as leaders in the struggle, are made into common fighters whereas the Greek cadres from Bulkes, Vojvodina, are immediately given responsible positions as quartermasters to the political commissars in the brigades, responsible for the security of the battalions, from whom several have deserted.

Naturally the above doings have a distinctly ‘opposite effect’ with respect to the high functions that were given to me and Todor Gluvchev which in the eyes of the more senior cadres of the Aegean-Macedonian National Liberation Front, discredits us, given that we have less experience than them yet we occupy higher position...” The Communist Party of Greece in its attempt to completely eradicate the Aegean-Macedonian National Liberation Front, during a plenum held on August 8, 1948, dismissed Mohailo Keramidchiev, president and Paskal Mitrevski, secretary of the Aegean-Macedonian National Liberation Front, and replaced them with its own “trusted people”. Miltiadis Porfirogenis, a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece, in his discussions strongly attacked Ilija Dimovski – Gotse commenting that: “Gotse remains at the same position as the reactionaries who say Macedonia is Greco-sized.” With aims at removing the entire old Aegean-Macedonian National Liberation Front leadership from the limelight of Aegean Macedonia, Zahariadis made the following very clever move. On September 24, 1948 he held a conference with the Macedonian cadres in DAG at Vicho with whom, among other things, he discussed the problems of lack of strategic manpower reserves in DAG. A source to solving this problem, he pointed out, was the political émigrés who had earlier fled to Yugoslavia. During the same conference it was decided that Mohailo Keramidchiev, Ilija Dimovski – Gotse and Vangel Ajanovski go to Yugoslavia and recruit fighters from the ranks of the Macedonian émigrés as was suggested. With these recruits Zahariadis “promised” he would form separate Macedonian units within DAG. Ilija Dimovski – Gotse and the others, believing that there truly and finally would be a Macedonian army created, left home with great enthusiasm. Little did they know that this was yet another big Greek lie and they would never be allowed to return.

On September 25 and on October 3, 1948 the secretariat of the Aegean-Macedonian National Liberation Front introduced a resolution accepting the recommendations made at the conference. Immediately after receiving confirmation from the Yugoslav authorities to go ahead and recruit, Ilija Dimovski – Gotse, Mohailo Keramidchiev and Vangel Ajanovski – Oche began the recruitment process with much success. In a very short time they were able to get commitment from more than 300 Macedonian men and women, a number which could have become realistically larger with time. Unfortunately their efforts were made difficult and eventually diminished because DAG was not performing as well as expected and there was doubt among the Macedonians that it would be capable of winning the war. Even though the leadership of the Communist Party of Greece explained that it would remain outside of the problems, which it interpreted as being experienced between the Communist Party of Yugoslavia and the Inform-bureau, it very quickly changed its attitude and actively began an anti-Yugoslavian propaganda campaign. To overcome the problems, in February 1949, under the initiative of the Yugoslav leadership a delegation from the Aegean-Macedonian National Liberation Front and from the Communist Party of Greece, lead by Miltiadis Porfirogenis a member of the Communist Party of Greece’s Central Committee, was sent to Skopje and had discussions with Lazar Koloshevski and Tsvetko Uzunovski – Abas. The first meeting was held on February 8, 1949 where Porfirogenos outlined his questions which his leadership wanted to discuss with the Communist Party of Vardar Macedonia. On behalf of the Communist Party of Greece Porfirogenos requested from the Yugoslav authorities to allow his party to mobilize the entire adult Macedonian émigré population in Yugoslavia for the war effort and to return the rest of the refugees to Greece. It is understandable why such demands and requests were unacceptable and could not be granted by the Communist Party of Vardar Macedonia, therefore the meetings were unsuccessful. In spite of his trashy and slanderous talk about Mohailo Keramidchiev, Ilija Dimovski – Gotse, Vangel Ajanovski - Oche, and Stefana Vangelova – Slavianka, Porfirogenis, on February 9, 1949, decided to hold another meeting. The purpose of this meeting was to involve himself in the mobilization program. During the meeting, after Krsto Mangov a member of the visiting committee spoke, Ilija Dimovski – Gotse took the stand and informed the committee that he, Keramidchiev, Oche and Slavianka had come to Yugoslavia under direct orders from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece to recruit new fighters for DAG. “To complete that task”, continued Gotse, “conferences were organized in which DAG’s needs were publicized and the importance of creating ‘all Macedonian Partisan units’ was emphasized. It was stressed that this need would serve the Macedonian people militarily in the combined struggle with the Greek people.” “As a result of this”, said Gotse, “we recruited 300 Macedonian men and women. Unfortunately, our efforts were not only unsupported, but were sabotaged by representatives of the Greek community in Bulkesh, Vojvodina, and by the representatives of the Communist Party of Greece – DAG in Skopje. As a consequence of all of this”, said Gotse, “many Macedonians, including some leaders of the Aegean-Macedonian National Liberation Front became suspicious and believed they were lied to by Zahariadis, especially about his decisions and statements made regarding the formation of all Macedonian units. There is enough convincing evidence there to make us believe that the Communist Party of Greece is leading two-faced politics”. As a closing argument Gotse said: “This resulted is urging the refugees and fighters to tell us that in order for them to go and fight down there they would need written guarantees from the democratic leadership of Greece, by which they have been lied to so many times.

First and foremost they would require written guarantees that Macedonian units would be formed and would be allowed to exist. And because of these shady politics not only can we not find new recruits, but we can’t even hold the 300 who already gave us their commitment.” Keramidchiev, Oche and Slavianka more or less also said the same thing. After the meetings in Skopje the leadership of the Communist Party of Greece began an unprecedented smear campaign against the above mentioned Aegean-Macedonian National Liberation Front leaders calling them deserters, traitors, etc. Unfortunately having no other means by which to defend themselves, they decided to answer to the slanderous remarks by writing a letter addressed to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece, in which they addressed each of the accusations. At the end Keramidchiev and Ilija Dimovski – Gotse, to do one better regarding the conflicting recommendations and in the interest of the liberation movement, put a motion before the leadership of the Communist Party of Greece to satisfy the needs of the Macedonian people with regards to forming their own Macedonian units with their own headquarters in the framework of DAG. This was to be done by a written agreement. If such an agreement was signed Gotse and Keramidchiev promised to deliver not hundreds but thousands of fighters to Greece to continue the struggle. This letter served Zahariadis well as motive to call on the leadership assets of the Communist Organization of Aegean Macedonia (COAM) on June 20, 1949, which devised the famous resolution under the title: “Resolution of the leadership assets of COAM for the nationalistic traitors Keramidchiev and Gotse”. After that Mohailo Keramidchiev and Ilija Dimovski – Gotse broke all relations with the Communist Party of Greece and DAG and remained in Yugoslavia. Ilija Dimovski – Gotse became active in the daily political life in the Republic of Macedonia in various different functions. He died in Skopje on June 26, 1961.

By Risto Kirjazovski (Nova Makedonija), translated from Macedonian to English and edited by Risto Stefov

Mirka Ginova (1916-1946) – Fighter and Legend - Aspiring to gain equality for the Macedonian people