Front Matter

Metodia Andonov-Chento

By Fidanka Tanaskova

(Translated from Macedonian to English and edited by Risto Stefov) Metodia Andonov-Chento

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December 5, 2017

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About the book “Metodia Andonov-Chento” by Fidanka Tanaskova

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This is an effort that brings out unknown or less known facts and adds to the knowledge, not only about the bright name “Metodia Andonov-Chento” as our legacy but also to a period and to a system that relied on one party and unanimity.

The offered argumentation and truth in this book is valuable testimony for us and undoubtedly directs the reader’s attention to the country and to the middle of life in exile.

It is well written, exciting, convincing and richly illustrated. This is the first monograph about Macedonia’s first president. Fidanka Tanaskova has many readers and devoted supporters.

Dr. Blaze Ristovski

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Metodia Andonov-Chento was a man who always demanded rights, freedom and happiness for the Macedonian people. He was truly a man who fought for Macedonia and the Macedonian people. This book is an attempt to get to the truth about the great Chento which will add to the benefit of our collective history, will enter the annals as a valuable lasting historical document and will bring national-political awareness to the Macedonian people.

In a few words, the author corrects the “scholars” who respected the principle “I prefer to lie when I cannot tell the truth”, and once again confirms that “the word should always be true, and the truth should always be expressed through an unharmed word”.

Dr. Stojan Kiselinovski

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JUDGMENT - On behalf of the people

Metodia Andonov-Chento (44) was deprived of his freedom for 11 years. He was sentenced to hard labour and, except for his parental rights, lost all his political and individual civil rights, and that was five years after serving his sentence... He was tried at the People’s District Court in Skopje by President Panta Marina, members Lazar Mojsov and Kole Chashule, and by assistant public prosecutor Blagoia Popovski. The verdict was pronounced in accordance with the Law on Crimes Against the People and the State, and was read after the main and public hearing took place on November 19, 20 and 21, 1946.

Skopje, November 23, 1946

This was the ruling of the People’s Court against Metodia Andonov-Chento, the first president of the Republic of Macedonia. This is how he was judged and this is how everything ended for him. His appeal, addressed to the Supreme Court of Macedonia and to the Skopje District Court, was rejected, and his new arguments never appeared in the courtroom to face justice or in public. He never got a chance to defend himself and possibly affect his 11 year harsh sentence of hard labour, which became his fateful destiny and, a little later, his end.

Was this a fair sentence for the mistakes and for the acts committed? Perhaps this was a tax for the unrepentant repentance of a never-ending plea for forgiveness?

Was this a tax that had to be paid?

And what were Chento’s “big sins” which earned him the wretched and infamous titles “traitor”, “spy”, “sinner”, “collaborator” working with the enemy and with foreign forces...? What earned him this series of orderly, difficult, dangerous, accusatory qualifications that at that time, or at any other time, cut a man down, wiped him out and removed him from the public and from history forever?

Is history (not) written while heroes are still alive? And how will it be written when the heroes leave forever? It will surely be written, as it has in the past and as it will in the future, to reveal the truth. In this year, 1990, not only will an attempt be made but it will have to be followed by much persistence in order to get to the truth (even partially) and to remove the often mentioned black spots - white spots, experienced during those mysterious and unexplained periods of our past...

Because, from time to time in recent years, Metodia Andonov-Chento’s case has been amplifying spirits, waving and imposing dilemmas, causing questions to surface, opening new spaces and offering unknown facts, it has given us more reason to search for new answers!

But how can one touch, describe and write the truth about him? Who was Chento? What was his life path like? What were his ideals? What did he advocate for? Was he an innocent victim or did he get what he deserved?

Our quest to find more information on him proved to be very difficult. For many months we were uncertain if our requests for source documents, contacts and meetings would be answered. We found those who we contacted hesitant, belligerent and restrained. Then came the dilemma - how to approach some of the important witnesses. How to respond to the threats and “benevolent distractions” of such “hot topics”? But we did not give up. Our desire to get to the truth pushed us to get closer to our goal, as much as possible given the circumstances and to the extent that conditions would allow. That challenge was truly great.

When we began our research we ran into a wall of silence. The moment we mentioned the name “Chento” people began to turn their heads, look at us with suspicion, hang up the telephone and avoid further contact. And even when we had an agreement to see these people in some future time, this agreement would not apply the next day. Many changed their minds overnight and thought that it was best for them to stay away from this topic. They realized that their words would become public knowledge and they could not risk

that, not while they were still alive or while the top figures of that period were still alive.

And when we did manage to see some of them, even for a consultative meeting, we were rarely welcomed and we were looked at with much suspicion. Most did not even want to talk at all.

And that was not all:

Our persistence and the desire to open the archives, look at files, check out certain facts, did not wane but it was only a desire because no one knew how far it would take us. In the letter of request we sent to the Communist Party of Macedonia Central Committee, we asked for the documents from the party politburo, or more precisely the meeting documents written during the early days in 1946 when Chento was severely criticized. This was the crucial time before Chento resigned and left the post of President of the Presidium.

We were surprised to receive a quick reply but disappointed with the answers. We were told that the archives contained no transcripts or any other “usable” documentation that we could have from that period. So, the question was: “Where did these documents go? Who had access and permission to take them away? Who did not want these documents to remain in the archives for future generations? Did they end up (in large part) in private hands or were they intentionally destroyed for known or unknown reasons? And because they told us that these documents were not in the Macedonian archives, we naively believed that they were telling us the truth that the documents had “somehow” disappeared.

In addition to the letter we sent to the CPM CC we also sent a letter to RSVR with a request to inspect part of Metodia Andonov-Chento’s files. However, here too, we failed in our quest.

After our requests for archival information were shot down, we re-focused our efforts in finding witnesses who would be willing to cooperate and speak to us. We looked for both direct and indirect participants who had information and expressed a willingness to speak to us and to help us in our effort to unveil the truth about Chento’s case. This was a case which, for many people, had been

taboo for the last 44 years. It was a case under whose veil hidden were a lot of things; unsaid, unspoken, obscure, mysterious things... which were cause to throw suspicion that there was something not right about how Chento was treated… that the entire process seemed manipulated with actors and by some kind of animated machine…

There were also voices, many voices, calling for justice for Chento in messages and posters that appeared on the walls in Skopje, Ohrid, Prilep… with slogans like “Chento lives!”, “Who killed Chento?!”, “The truth about Chento” and “Let’s talk about Chento”. There were also the posters that were carried at rallies organized by young people and environmentalists. There were calls from Macedonian organizations from Toronto, Perth and Sydney, from tribunes of the newly established MAAK and from the League for Democracy, demanding that Chento be reinstated to his true historical place. And the strongest and most massive of all were the thousands of chants yelling “Chento! Chento! Chento!” during the Skopje Solidarity Meeting with the Macedonians in Bulgaria, when several pictures of Chento, from when he was the first President of the Republic of Macedonia, were displayed among the other, highly elevated Macedonian revolutionaries.

Opening Metodia Andonov-Chento’s file, even this late in time, has offered us a look at his life which we followed through the years of his youth and maturity, as a shopkeeper, a civilian activist and a prominent person in the Prilep bazaar. We continue with his story when he was a partisan, a member in the NOVM Headquarters, his arrival on the throne – being the first president of the ASNOM Presidential Assembly, the first president of the Macedonian Republic - to the disagreements and differences in view points, to his different views of approach to problems, to his decisions of how to govern at that time, and to his fall and departure from political life, arrest, trial, imprisonment and death.

This rather wide approach, but in many ways unknown mosaic, whose tackle (as mentioned) required a lot of time, research and patience, we hope will give a full picture and speak authentically of the taboo topic called “Chento”. The pages are still open for those who would like to offer new, unexplored and meaningful information about this person.

DIFFICULT LIFE AS A LABOURER - Young Metodia spent years struggling for his bread and survival

He got his nickname “Chento” from mispronouncing “napred cheto”! (He said “chento” instead of “cheto” which earned him his nickname “Chento” from his peers).

Metodia Andonov-Chento’s name appears in the list of the big games and wits played in the electoral races by the then government with great support from the young people and from his fellow citizens

Who was Metodia Andonov-Chento?

Let us start from the beginning:

Metodia Andonov-Chento was born on August 17th, 1902 in Prilep. He was born to a poor family right when his mother, Zacharia from Prilep, and father, Andon from the village Lenishte, moved to Prilep and settled under Marko’s Fortress. A few months later Metodia, their first male child, was born. Three girls were born before him but because of poverty, disease and generally poor living conditions they did not survive.

The Andonov family had no land, no roof and no money to speak of so they had to work for low wages in the opium poppy and tobacco fields in Prilep, earning very little money; barely enough to live on. Metodia also suffered the same fate. From his young days as a child he experienced hunger and the struggle for survival. He became well acquainted with the feeling of being very poor, having no food to eat and living on the edge between life and death.

Metodia became a wage earner at a very young age and did whatever he could to contribute to the family’s income, mainly through apprenticeships and manual labour, exploiting all possible

means of employment available to him at that time. But despite all the cruelty life threw at him, Metodia still had a strong desire to learn as much as possible and attended school as conditions would allow him. By the outbreak of World War I he was in grade four. Then with Serbia’s clamp-down on Macedonia after WW I, he was forced to continue his education in Serbian, a foreign language for the Prilep born youth. This was yet another blow to Metodia but that did not deter him, in fact it did quite the opposite. After some interruptions in his education he continued to learn and work in the gardens and shops, on the railroad and in road and tunnel construction.

By age fifteen he worked from very early in the morning until the late hours of night. The long hours and hard work, however, were too much for the malnourished youth to bear; yet he still persisted. As luck would have it, trouble followed him everywhere he went, like a curse. After his father experienced a long and hard illness, Metodia became the head of the Andonov household. At age seventeen he was forced to knock on the door of the dark halls of the Prilep Monopoly. But with a single look and a shake of their heads, the employers there rejected him outright. They did not want to employ a youth of skin and bones, who, with all his troubles, insisted that he was a grown up man with experience in hard labour. But somehow he did manage to squeeze through the Monopoly gates and got a job.

Times were difficult, life was uncertain, wages in the halls of the Prilep Monopoly and in the tobacco fields were very low; life was an everyday disappointment for young Metodia, whose struggle for survival became his destiny. But he was optimistic and stoically patient, waiting for better times to come and making plans for a different and better future.

The opening of the vocational trade school in the city was a welcome turn in Metodia’s life as he registered in it with great enthusiasm and high expectations. Around 1921 the first gymnastics organization in Prilep was also founded, in which Metodia quickly became an active and valuable member. Because he was very good at giving instructions he was privileged to often lead the ranks of a Cheta (squad) in exercise.

One day while calling out the exercises, instead of calling out “napred cheto!” (squad forward!), he called out “napred chento!” (chento forward). His friends and members of the squad broke into laughter and because of that they began to call him “Chento”. In the beginning he resented being called “Chento” and was angry with the boys but when they took the nickname outside the gymnasium, to the streets and to the marketplace, the name stuck and became his permanent nickname. In time he forgave his friends.

Being good at what he was doing opened up new opportunities for Metodia at the gymnasium. Because he was an excellent student, his teacher recommended he receive a government grant and an opportunity to be sent to Belgrade or Zagreb to further his education. But how could he leave Prilep? Who would look after his family? His family at the time was in a difficult financial situation so he decided to stay in Prilep.

When the Monopoly closed down, Metodia again found himself out of work and had to turn to the local shops and taverns to seek employment. What was going to happen tomorrow? This was Metodia’s constant dilemma as he tried hard, working long days and nights, to eke out a living as an apprentice, assisting craftsmen in the Prilep shops. But in spite of trying to work hard, he could not endure the tempo of this difficult life, so he became a bit more ambitious and jumped ahead in life. In 1926 he was awarded his first personal certificate from the authorities to open his own store, which over the years and decades turned into a successful business.

In the fall of the same year he opened his first truly modest, grocery store but that was in the beginning before his business became one of the most prominent businesses in the Prilep market. His store was one of the most important places in Prilep for conversation and meeting people. Naturally this attracted many prominent, progressive and intelligent intellectuals who often got together for talks in Chento’s store, located just under King Marko’s castle. This was most certainly a very important place, because it was in the heart of a truly rich, interesting and unique city, where both memorable moments and unpleasant events were taking place.

Ever since Metodia’s trade school days he was interested in reading socialist literature, especially about workers rights. One time he was quoted as saying, “As athletes and as members of the mandolin orchestra it is not appropriate for us to want the king and to accept that we are South-Serbians. Unfortunately the government had different expectations and was looking for results that were the opposite. The more they thought we were not persuaded, the harder they tried to oppose our self recognition and revolt. We were not what others wanted us to be and we would not let them impose it on us. We accepted membership in the Sokolsko Organization so that we could get together more often and discuss ideas and come to agreements without fear of falling under the watchful eyes of the police which forbade gatherings, especially in the evenings…”

In Metodia’s interesting and eventful life it is worth mentioning his attempt at marriage to a young woman named Vasilka Pop Atanasoa after his engagement to her in 1929. Valilka was a priest’s niece from a religious family which had certain expectations of the groom to be. One of these expectations was that, as a member of the family, Metodia could not be involved in politics, especially in Marxists politics, because as far as the church was concerned they were plain wrong and bad for the church. In addition there was a certain very vocal priest named Grdanovikj who warned people during his sermons to avoid people like Metodia who associated with opponents of the king and country. But the most serious blow to Metodia came when he, after six years of trying to get married, was told that the Church would not give him its consent to have a wedding.

Being unhappy with Pop Grdanovikj’s hypocrisy and with some other personalities in the Church, who, according to him, preached equality but, in a kind of submissive way, did very little to help him marry his fiancée. His reply to them was very simple; a marriage can also take place without the help of the church. So he defiantly decided to have it his way. Metodia left for Novi Sad where he applied for permanent residence and in 1930 had a civil wedding. He married Vasilka Pop Atanasoa outside of the Church, which for many was unprecedented and full of never before seen “impudence”, a shock, not so much to her family, as it was to some others in the city.

Unfortunately the novice groom had no idea how many legal barriers, canonical hurdles and other obstacles he would have to face before he would be able to acquire a valid and legal marital status. This gloomy chapter of the start of his new life was ended in 1936, by the Cessation Court in Belgrade. By then the Andonov family had increased by two with the birth of their two sons and Metodia had built a solid reputation in the marketplace.

Metodia became friends with many progressive people in the city and his store was the place where students gathered and shared progressive ideas. About this, Metodia was quoted as saying, “I enjoyed the most, our discussions about the past and about a new and more successful future, our Macedonian future, which we must struggle for and achieve. I enjoyed our discussions about our great leaders from this region such as Gjorche Petrov, Pere Toshev and other prominent names from the Macedonian revolutionary past. Such discussions gave me will and satisfaction and made me feel wonderful and enthusiastic...”

Sometime before 1934, Prilep students brought back pamphlets from Belgrade with a message from the Communist Party calling on people to begin fighting against the government and work through the more reputable legal opposition parties. There was a drive to form a new Macedonian movement called the “Macedonian National Movement” or MANOPO, whose platform called for an autonomous Macedonia in a Federal Yugoslavia.

Young people started to become more active in politics and took the role of being the bearers of the new and progressive front. They became the orators of the Macedonian truth and the writers of the new pages of life in Prilep. They carried and dispersed leaflets which students brought from Belgrade bearing Dragoljub Jovanovich’s signature, who Metodia sincerely believed supported the struggle for an autonomous Macedonia, unlike Ljuba Davidovikj who did not even want to hear about Macedonia or the Macedonians. As punishment for his participation in carrying and distributing leaflets, Metodia was denounced and later imprisoned.

The warnings and threats from the authorities made it difficult for Metodia to continue to be active in politics in the city. So with help from his like minded friends and civil officials, in 1935, Metodia was nominated for candidacy in Vlatko Machek’s United Opposition which supported a Federal Yugoslavia. However, due to falsifications and unfair practices on the part of his opposition, he never made it as a candidate.

A year later, according to information provided by the district chief of police, Metodia was sentenced to imprisonment and was fined 4,000 dinars for allegedly organizing a political rally without a permit and without permission from the police. Metodia naturally appealed the charges but his appeals fell on deaf years. At the time no one helped him, not even the Governor in Skopje who did not denounce the charges, so in August Metodia had to pay the fine and serve his sentence.

Eventually however, the truth was revealed and the Government Court in Skopje reversed the Governor’s decision but that was of little comfort to Metodia because by then it was December 31st, 1938 and too late. There was little satisfaction when justice arrived two years too late after being endlessly dragged through the legal process.

On the positive side however, during the same year Metodia became more involved in politics and his reputation as a good businessman grew in the marketplace. However, his next big challenge was to be elected to the National Assembly where he would have to wage uncertain battles. But before he could do that he had to gain support from the people of his own town, where he was born. Then as a candidate to the United Opposition, a party which he supported some time ago, he would have to run a strong race in the party challenge.

Metodia received much encouragement from the students with whom he had cooperated in the past, from the members of the Communist Party, whose names then and in the coming years would become even more known and respected, as activists and fighters in Macedonia and beyond, people like Kuzman Josifovski, Mirche

Atsev, Borka Taleski, Joska Jordanoski, Ljuben Lape, Dimche Mire...

Next he entered the electoral race by signing up for candidacy in the Agrarian Party, a member of the United Opposition. There he fought a number of battles with Jotsa Jovanovikj, leader of the Serbian Agrarian Party. The fights were mostly about Jovanovikj’s attitude towards the national rights of the Macedonian people. It was a persistent and enormous struggle for Metodia right from the start but he managed to persuade many people to see things his way.

While this was going on, the people from Prilep did not stand by idly, wasting time, or expecting others to do things for them out the goodness of their hearts, they took matters into their own hands and made contact directly with Vlatko Machek, leader of the United Opposition who did support the national rights of the Macedonian people in a federally regulated Yugoslav State.

Under pressure, Jovanovikj and the Agrarian party finally backed down and accepted the task of representing the national rights of the Macedonian people as requested but placed some conditions of their own, including the right not to emphasize the national rights of the Macedonian people before the elections. Such matters were to be dealt with after the Party’s victory.

Over the course of the electoral race everyone worked hard drafting agreements, campaigning, organizing and traveling all over. Metodia too was doubly engaged. As a storekeeper he kept busy meeting people at his store and using his facilities as a meeting place for the members of the party. As an activist and supporter of the party he also worked directly on the ground. It was by no accident that the slogan “Chento-Machek” was coined during the final stages of the electoral race.

On the day of the elections many people from everywhere arrived at the City Centre around Metodia’s store, too many to be accommodated inside or outside. Among the people present in the crowd were his friends from the Sokolsko and Belosidelsko Organizations, the mountain climbers, the Hajduk football players and others.

There were people marching through the centre of Prilep heading for the polling stations. They were carrying banners on long poles with slogans praising democracy, peoples’ rights and freedoms. But as they marched on the Bitolsko Road towards Gjordere, they found themselves blocked by police and military barricades. The march turned into demonstrations as the participants began to shout “democracy now” and “down with the government”. Unfortunately the demonstrators found themselves powerless before the bayonets of the charging gendarmes and had to disperse.

After that episode doubt began to creep into Metodia and his friends as they waited for the election results. But when the final count was taken there was much excitement as Metodia found that out of the 3,815 votes he had received 2,113, convincing him and his friends that there was a sure victory ahead. Unfortunately the JR3 party, which at this point had won a majority, used a legal rule to take 40 percent of the lost seats from the opposition. One of those seats belonged to Metodia. It was estimated that they did this because, most likely, the JR3 party was afraid of Metodia’s controversial politics and did not want an enemy such as him in the Parliamentary Assembly.

After facing the JR3’s dirty electoral games and after finding out that he was being unfairly set up by Machek and later by Gabrilovikj, it became very clear to Metodia that “no one was going to give the ‘Macedonian’ a hand”. About this Metodia later wrote: “It is important [for Macedonians] to lead and win their own battles for ‘rights and the truth’ without any help from outsiders, regardless of whether it is done by elections or by any other means. Because for whatever support is given there is always a high price to pay. Also, the usefulness of such support will, most likely, amount to almost nothing”.

Almost every leader of the regime made promises and as a result made advances in the electoral races and generally received as many votes as possible. But when the elections were over the leaders disappeared and with them disappeared all the promises made that would have “benefited” the people.

That is why it was important for Metodia and his supporters to divorce themselves from the Machekovtsi, Gavrilovikji, Tsvetkovikji and some of the others. It became necessary to fight and strengthen the ranks and to avoid divisions in the well politicized Prilep masses of progressive and patriotic people.

As a store owner and a person belonging to the guilds, the people of Prilep elected Metodia to represent the Prilep retailers and caterers in the Industrial-Commercial Chamber in Skopje, where, during Assembly sessions Metodia posed many "awkward" questions and boldly and openly stood against the politics led by the Chamber, which were in favour of the industrialists and the state but worked against the traders who were burdened with fines and fees which they had to pay at the expense of their poor customers.

Metodia could not stand for but did not want to keep quiet about the constant trumpeting, whining and complaining about the King doing “so much” for the people of South Serbia (meaning the Macedonian’s) and that the Macedonian’s had done nothing in return for the state. “And how many of those complainers asked how these poor, tormented, overtaxed and beaten down people felt?” asked Metodia in response to the bitter insults hurled by people from the regime. Then one day when he could no longer stand any more insults, he stood up in the Chamber and, among other things, said:

“We have had enough of these allegations, of being accused that we are loafers and that the state has given us more than it has taken from us. I say this is not correct! I say that the state has taken a lot more from us and has given us nothing. If you feel that way, then why not leave us alone and let us manage our Macedonia as a free people. If you know so much about how Macedonia is today then why not leave and come back in five to ten years and see what Macedonia will be like then…”

“Such impudence, how dare he stand up and speak like this…” was recorded in the Session minutes by the sober supporters of the regime who reported the incident directly to the President of the Council of Ministers via a stern confidential letter dated June 8th, 1940. In the letter they expressed worries that Macedonia might separate: “The idea of creating a free Macedonia has penetrated to

such an extent that all it requires now is a spark, (especially) from the youth, for the situation to explode into flames…”

After that Metodia, a known autonomist and separatist from Prilep and a bitter rival of the regime, became a target of all sorts of accusations. However, unable to silence him, the regime pinned all sorts of things on him until they had him imprisoned...

At the Chamber of Commerce Plenum in Skopje, in front of 60 representatives from every corner of Vardarska Banovina, Metodia again voiced his concerns: “Why do we submit resolutions and petitions. Why talk when those responsible in Belgrade are proving to be incapable of leading the state and the economic policies towards us, in Yugoslavia… Let us have a free Macedonia…”

But no matter what he said or did, the current administration continued with business as usual, so Metodia wrote a letter to the Viceroy in Skopje asking him to suspend the current administration, which consisted of Serbs only, until the next election and in the meantime appoint a commissar. Of course all these open attempts at removing the administration aggravated his opponents, who, among his other provocative qualities, viewed this one as arrogant and harmful to Serbian governance. About this, in 1940 the regime protectors of the peace, on duty in Macedonia, wrote to the Minister complaining that “the people of Prilep feel strongly that there are no Serbs living in Prilep. Also there are activities of concern conducted in the southern parts of the country by communist and separatist forces.”

The regime estimated that 98 out of 100 people in Prilep were against the Serbs. This was proof that there was cause for alarm and that there was need for harsh and concrete measures to be taken. A special place on the chart of “biggest troublemakers” and dangerous offenders was reserved for Metodia, a man who openly defied authority and caused unrest in the more nationally conscious population. The regime did whatever it could to “safeguard” the youth from having their minds muddied and infected with national and patriotic feelings.

One of many such examples is the FK Hajduk Prilep affair. FK Hajduk Prilep was an organization that Metodia formed and financed. Before the end of 1940 the regime, with a number of like-minded supporters, joined the organization and in Metodia’s absence, called for a hasty assembly, elected a new leadership and called for a complete break with Metodia.

In the memories of the people of Prilep lived the August 2nd Ilinden picnic held at Shatorov Kamen, which, even though it was under surveillance, the organizers always managed to fully accomplish their aims. On that day, by the old tradition, all people named “Ilija” went there to celebrate their name day. Metodia was there to celebrate his son’s name and of course there were many others there who found other reasons to attend. When enough people arrived, Kole Chasule called on Metodia to give a speech, during which, among other things, he said:

“No, we do not need to believe anyone from the other side because their promises are empty and they use them only for their personal interest. We need to fight for our rights and for our freedom alone, by ourselves. Look what Machek did. He promised federal regulation of Yugoslavia and national rights for the Macedonian people that never materialized. Where is Machek now (Vice-President in the Tsvekovikj Government)? Why will he not allow the same volunteers that he supported in sending to the Spanish revolution, return from France? When they left to fight on the fronts he supported them. That’s because he was in opposition then, now that he is in power he does not support them. Our way is the Ilinden way. Long live Ilinden, long live a free Macedonia…”

As soon as Metodia returned to Prilep from Shatorov Kamen the people who attended the picnic descended upon the city and formed an organized column of demonstrators, later joined by more demonstrators. When they arrived at the promenade they listened to a speech given by Borka Taleski. Then continuing on through the city they passed by the Monopoly and shouted out slogans like “Down with the King and the dynasty” and “Long live free Macedonia…” The final speech was given in Trizla by Kuzman Josifovski before the gendarmes and the army arrived and attacked the unarmed demonstrators.

Metodia managed to slip through the crowd and reach his home but the police were not too far behind. When they knocked on the door, Metodia’s sick, old mother told them that she was too sick to come to the door and was unable to open it for them. But the police knew they had Metodia in their hands, so they watched his house all night.

The next morning when Metodia stepped outside he was captured and, together with Borka Taleski, Trajko Tartsan, Kole Chashule and Kotse Kjurchia, was jailed and remained behind bars for weeks. Metodia was only allowed to leave jail the day his mother died. Accompanied by gendarmes he was allowed to visit his mother for the last time before she passed on.

The agitated police spy ring kept a night vigil, meticulously compiling reports about the day’s “unpleasant events”. The next day, on August 3rd, 1940, the Prilep Region authorities recorded the previous day’s activities in a confidential document, describing in detail everything that took place during the Ilinden gathering, including the criticisms leveled against the government by the organizers. Among other things they also warned the government that there were calls for the people to oppose the regime and to avoid enlisting in the army.

The shortest straws were drawn by Talevski, Kurchija, Tartsan and Metodia, who were accused of having broken various laws including violating the law of public safety and order. So for being a danger to society they were imprisoned at the Ada Tsiganlija Prison and at the beginning of September they were surrendered to the local investigative judge. Four weeks later they were transferred to the Velika Kikinda Prison where they remained until the end of November 1940.

After that they left for home but it was a bitter experience for Metodia, being paraded by the gendarmes, tied in chains, bayonets pointed at him in front of the people and in front of his family, being brought to the railway station to be sent to prison in Serbia…

But in spite of removing the so-called “troublemakers” from the streets, the headaches the authorities suffered in the region not only

continued but in time escalated. Headaches provoked by disobedient “nationalists” who “misled” the people to not even want to speak the Serbian language, an act which a police report called “one of the greatest evils”.

The Macedonian intelligentsia, young working shop owners, students, etc., at every opportunity instead of speaking Serbian in public places, spoke the Macedonian language. This was particularly characteristic where the anti-regime movement was strong and had greater influence.

Metodia at that time, even though he had a family with four children from 18 months to 8 years old, was active with his friends in initiating and directing open attacks and violence against the regime and exhibiting intolerance towards the ruling elite.

On December 8th, 1940 the National High School in Prilep was full of people. At that time about 200 parents were invited for a very serious discussion, a discussion which turned out to be orders and threats, ordering parents of the children attending that school to forbid their children to speak the Macedonian language anywhere, not even at home. On top of that, no one in the audience, not even the parents, was allowed to speak in their defence.

But even with the hard days at Ada Tsigalija and Velika Kikinda prisons fresh in his mind, Metodia could not just sit there and let this injustice pass without a challenge. So he jumped into the fire with both feet and was ready to be engaged in new battles. He accepted a nomination from Joska Jordanovski of the Local Committee to participate in the affairs of the Gymnasium.

The scandal in the Prilep high school was, without precedence at the time, a typical example of the tough and relentless stand people took to uphold their ideals and beliefs and without much care for the revenge, cruelty and torture the authorities would inflict on them.