EXPLANATION - Part 02

Immediately after UDBA services arrested Chento they transferred him to Skopje. The interrogation was conducted by the investigative authorities with whom our UDBA service had no contact. Everything that was needed to be done by UDBA was done. UDBA held Chento very briefly which lasted from his arrest to his handover to the investigative authorities.

But, as I recall, there were documents for which we were responsible. This is how things were done at the time, we performed our assigned tasks. After that the trial took place and you know how it ended…” concluded Dimitar Aleksievski-Pekar.

This is what Kiro Pop Atanasoski, a craftsman who for many years worked at the Prilep bazaar, had to say: “Many provocations took place after Chento was arrested. There were many of us, and not just me, who were watched. But I didn’t care and did my work as usual. It is a fact that all the time, and throughout all the regimes, Chento deftly emphasized his national being, which was costly and cost him a lot in the end. The unhappy event in the Prilep Gymnasium in 1940 was not forgotten. He was a courageous person. He had the courage to stand up in front of so many people in that auditorium, especially in front of those fanatics who despised us and to say all those things… it was really unheard of at the time. He suffered mistreatment, beatings and imprisonment and never broke down... As far as attempting to flee across the Greek border, if he wanted to he could have without difficulty and without the authorities finding out, because all the people in Mariovo were his friends. They would have taken him anywhere he wanted to go...”

Here is what, among other things, Blagoi Choneski, president of the Municipal Board of fighters in Prilep, had to say: “Chento was a stubborn but brave man who at age 42 was convinced to join the partisans. By doing so he served as an example for many others from Prilep. As a result a large number of men from Prilep took part in the National Liberation War. As a partisan he participated in the brigades and took part in many of the long marches including the one from Debartsa to the Aegean part of Macedonia, to Koziak and Kumanovo...”

Tsvetan Stefanovski, a pensioner, gave us an interesting detail worth mentioning here. He said: “One day in the summer of 1946, I was ordered to go to Kavadartsi Region on duty. There I received an order to get ready for action because Chento was preparing to flee across the border... That’s the only thing I was told, nothing more. I saw Chento the day before at the bazaar, he was doing something in front of his store.” This means that the script was written well in advance and everything that was going to happen to Metodia Andonov-Chento was preplanned.

Sava Kantardzhieva from Ohrid was present at Chento’s trial at the District Court in Skopje. She recalled having expressed a desire many times to speak about and around the atmosphere at the Court. She said: “On the first day when we were expecting the accused to arrive, a group of young people, consisting mostly of young women, arrived. We, and some of Chento’s relatives, found ourselves sitting on the benches among these women. They seemed to be well-organized.

At the beginning of the trial, when answering questions, and even when the charges were read, I could see that Chento was overwhelmingly calm. It was very strange, because it was well-known that he was quite temperamental. Here we were looking at a completely different person. What happened to him? What changes took place and why? I’ve been wondering about that for a long time and it’s really still not clear to me. I remember he only occasionally defended himself. He said that he did not flee and that he was not caught at the border... Those present in the court laughed loudly at Chento. In fact the very moment he opened his mouth they laughed... they upset him terribly and distracted him from the interrogation. I can understand how the defendant felt.

In the evening when the trial ended for the day Chento’s wife and I were on our way to a friend’s house to spend the night there. Along the way, as we talked loudly and indignantly about the trial, a person passed us by in the dark and rudely told us to stop talking or he would have to take us in (arrest us). This unknown yet recognizable scolding truly silenced and scared us. We did not say a single word after that,” concluded Kantardzhieva.

This is what Milan Samakoski, a retired lawyer from Prilep, had to say about Chento: “I knew him from the time he was a child until he was an old man. Since 1923 he was in the ranks of those who fought for Macedonia’s liberation and continued to be there until his death. He did not like the Greater Serbians or Greater Bulgarians, or those who pretended to be in support of the Macedonian revolutionaries… who pretended to be remnants of the rebels and freedom fighters, and so on. Also he was always at odds with the regimes and police. During those difficult and dangerous times, Chento was the messenger of freedom for Macedonia and for the Macedonian people. He entered the scene with great enthusiasm and authority, as a tireless fighter and agitator of freedom and progressive ideas…”

“People say he was a stubborn man, what do you know about that?” we asked.

“Yes, I heard that before, I read it somewhere and heard people call him stubborn. They gave the impression that he was a difficult person to deal with. But all that is far from the truth. He was a Macedonian, an honest and principled person, completely committed to the idea of fighting against the occupiers and against Macedonia’s partition. What some consider stubbornness was in fact a firm conviction of principles.

Chento was always with us, with the student groups, which greatly influenced the people to join the revolution. His store was a well-known centre for the gathering of activists and revolutionaries. He never stopped helping the people or the partisans whom he joined at an older age. And, in the end, he was chosen to be the first president of the first free Macedonia after many centuries of occupation. As for me, I would never believe that Chento was a spy or a hostile person in a hundred lifetimes. He was not that kind of person…”

This is what Vera Atseva had to say about Chento: “His struggles and position for the rights and interests of the Macedonian people are well-known. It is also well-known that as a civic politician, although he was not a communist, he cooperated with us, with the members of the Party, in whose ranks he took place during the National Liberation War. He was his own man and was persuaded only by facts and not just by discipline and verbalism...

I don’t know when he was deposed as president and sent to prison, but I know those things did happen because, according to some, he defended the bourgeoisie. Today, as an older person, I appreciate that. He was an experienced man at the time and supported moderate actions. Sadly, most of us, a large number of the Prilep leaders, no matter where we were and whether we were informed directly, indirectly or not at all, and because of our excessive idealism, youth and naivety, we were not able to perceive some of the political games being played. All in all, it seems that even some of the most popular people in Macedonia were not desirable at the time...”

Here is what Borko Temelkovski-Liliak had to say about his experience with Chento: “I had no direct contact with Metodia Andonov-Chento. During the war we were on different sides of the battlefields in Macedonia. As a result we never met, even when we were members of the first Initiative Board for the convening of ASNOM, formed in the fall of 1943, when Chento was president and the Board consisted of only six members.

In the beginning I regarded him as a great Macedonian, a patriot and an honest man who, with his own understanding and in his own world, remained a civil politician with a good reputation. He accepted the Party line and openly, actively and honestly cooperated with it…

But later, after the liberation war was over, a part of the population, including Chento, remained with its own views and, if I could call it that, gazed at its own horizon. And when the revolution, in the period when the new government was being established, was forced to undertake sharper and, at certain times, more rigorous measures for its consolidation, to solve important life problems associated with the population’s existence, with supplying the military, etc… under those conditions it was necessary to implement certain unpopular measures including confiscation, taxation of the wealthier and so on. When this was happening Chento began to slowly distance himself… According to him some of these measures were immoral...” concluded Borko Temelkovski-Liliak.

“Which measures did Chento actually resist?” we asked.

“Certainly it was not important which ones, but all measures implemented by the Republic were not without excesses. No. Because at times the behaviour and movements of individual people, who were required and who had to implement those measures, could not be controlled. That is why there were excesses that did not have legal basis, which were not in line with the revolution and fueled a feeling that something was wrong. Among others, I suppose, Chento was one of those people who resisted...

However, it shouldn’t have mattered how many mistakes he made and how many times he deviated from the Party line, these disagreements should not have been the reason for breaking away with him, much less the reason that he should be treated as an enemy. Therefore, the basic thing that should have continued to keep Chento in the ranks, where he was elected, was the role he played during NOV, especially as the first president of ASNOM, his honesty, his Macedonian patriotism, and his willingness to cooperate with the people’s government.

“What about the many remarks of criticism he had made?” we asked.

“The criticisms that he repeatedly expressed in relation to the government’s politics may have been unacceptable, but they had to be taken as an illustration of the feelings expressed by an honest man and as a demonstration of disagreement about certain actions. Unfortunately the government for some reason felt very sensitive and did not appreciate his criticisms so it decided to break with him. To this day, it is not clear to me why this happened. I believe the reason for the break-up may have been Chento’s autonomist views, his thesis for Macedonia’s secession and merger with other states, as well as his insistence that the Macedonian Question be placed before the UN.

All this information about Chento that was given to the Politburo, as far as I was concerned, came from Party sources and was believed to be true. I, however, could not verify its authenticity because of OZNA’s status. What was offered to us was certainly bothering, at least that’s what we believed, but it had already been checked out in

competent places. Although perhaps we should have hesitated, but some things in those days were accepted as offered, even painfully, but were accepted. Those who later will tell you differently are insincere.

After Chento collided with the Party, the Party membership accepted the position of the Party. We even had discussions to uphold the Party line and to reject Chento’s views. We did this because of the kind of information we received. We accepted this information as accurate and true.

As for the arrest, it is quite clear to me, at least judging by what was published in the press, that Chento did not flee across the border, but was taken from his home. As for the claims that appeared in the press that Chento was wrongly convicted, no one had denied them until now.

Given the time these events took place, one should not forget that the Party system was under Bolshevik and Stalinist influence. Everything that was done and every communist leader in such a constellation of relations, worked for all the communists. And, as long as such a person had a Party book, that person was a communist and a special kind of person who did not make mistakes and everything that that person did was well done. But, the moment that person lost their book they were left behind as an outcast.

This meant that you were either a saint or a devil and there was nothing in between…” concluded Borko Temelkoski-Liliak while thinking about Metodia Andonov-Chento.

Dimche Mire, then education official of Federal Macedonia, in regards to Chento, was asked: “Is it essential for the people to know the truth or not?”

In replying to the question, Dimche Mire said: “The people must know the truth. It is very dangerous for us to be silent. When they are not told they are lied to. No one should run away from their responsibility, no matter what it is…”

“Was Chento truly labeled an enemy?” we asked.

“Yes, Chento was labeled an enemy but only by the circles at the top who made decisions, held power, and whose pronouncements were final. As a person and as an activist in the old Yugoslavia, Chento was the best kind of patriot that Macedonia could wish for. He grew up in poverty and had a huge desire to succeed. And he did succeed. He became a first-class citizen. Everything that he earned in Prilep he did with honesty, with his own labour, and without stealing and plotting. During the revolution, when he left, he left everything behind and went to join the partisans with much conviction, as a great patriot. No one can deny him that!

He did not accept things at face value, and if he was convinced of something, he had the courage to defend his position. He was a devoted Macedonian above all which made some people unhappy. On top of that he was not a communist. No. But he was a progressive person, and not by chance. About 35 of us, all intellectuals from Prilep, convinced Chento to be our candidate in the 1938 elections. We supported him as a deputy of Chichenich in the parliamentary elections. And, no matter how much he was pressured he could not be broken. But you can’t accuse him of being an enemy just because of that. He was not an enemy. His stubbornness and persistence in defending his position should not be misinterpreted.

He was a daring fighter. I have always said that he was not afraid of anything; there was no power that could scare him. The occupiers did everything to turn him but he did not give in. He fought fiercely against them. He joined the revolution out of conviction and out of deep and purely Macedonian ideals. He was a hardworking man and could not imagine himself sitting down with his arms crossed. As president of the Presidium, for example, he worked on every job conceivable.”

“But why then did he have problems?” we asked.

“Well, because the top of the Party was usurped. The top would agree on something and deliver an already made solution. That’s the way it was in the government in those days. I was a member of it. No one was allowed to take a different stand. What was decided at

the top was final. I remember being in support of this, when the first Macedonian government was to be formed in April 1945. Comrade Kolishevski would call all of us who were members of the Presidium and who led a sector, and would tell us what to do… give us ‘the solution’, if I can say that. He called Chento and told him that he would be re-elected President of the Presidium. That’s what Chento himself told me. To this Chento replied: ‘I don’t want to be president, I can’t do anything without any responsibility. I want to be Minister of Trade because I am familiar with those kinds of problems. I have dealt with them even in the most difficult times. I can contribute much more to better supply our population...’ Chento, unfortunately, was not aware that this was viewed as a minus by the Party… Yes, a minus…

Chento saw things differently. For example, when the first tax was introduced in 1945, some businessmen in Prilep thought they were allegedly over-taxed, I thought differently. But when they came to Skopje to complain, Chento supported them, which I thought was wrong, and I told him that.

In any case, Chento is now a historic name and no one can erase it. And there is no need to erase it. Every fighter who actively participated in the struggle has a good and a bad side. What was bad was bad but what was good is a plus for him in his contribution to the Revolution and to the victory. More individuals like him make the nation better.

The war against Chento was clear in those days but what happened to him then cannot be tolerated today, and it shouldn’t be. Whatever he did or did not do was because of wicked people and sharp tongues. The work was done by ordinary people but the orders came from above, from the top, and no one can deny that. Unfortunately people did not have the courage to come out, to step up before society and tell the truth.”

“Was Chento really accused of trying to flee across the border?” we asked.

“It was a shameful thing that happened to him! He was not like that, he never ran away from his responsibility. There was no reason for

him to run from his fatherland, and certainly not as a traitor. They couldn’t find anything else on him so they concocted a disastrous lie. I say that it is a ‘disastrous lie’, because of it Chento was convicted and sent to prison. One day I went to Prilep and found him mixing lime at a building site. When I saw him I felt sick down to my soul. I thought to myself, ‘look how low we have stooped to destroy one of our top and most devoted fighters’. Even if he was guilty he should have been allowed to live his life, but not like this. This was a big negative for our country. The people could not understand this and, in fact, many were cheering for him.

‘What’s happening here,’ I said to him. To which he replied: ‘Well, see for yourself, I have become a white washer (painter)...’

After he got very sick and was released from prison, Chento asked for permission to go to Switzerland to be treated, but they would not let him. So I said to him: ‘Chento, you are a smart man, keep your chin up. You know they won’t let you so don’t beg, you are not going get any pity from those who destroyed you.’ He then said to me: “I am not going to escape. You know me; I am not that kind of person. I just don’t understand what I have done that bothers them so much to want to destroy me…’

History is not going to forgive them. History forgives no one. No one! They will die, and maybe even as self-styled heroes. The real heroes fell on the battlefield. But it is very good for people to be able to gather courage and real human bravery and come out and tell the truth. It is better that people judge them today than history alone tomorrow,” concluded Dimche Mire.

This is what Kole Chashule, a judge/juror who participated in Chento’s trial in November 1946, present in the courtroom when Metodia Andonov-Chento was sentenced to 11 years in prison, had to say: “Metodia Andonov-Chento was one of the most striking figures in the pre-war opposition movement in Macedonia. There is nothing better that can illuminate his place in this world than the truth about him coming out. The Macedonian people in general, or individually, have no right to add or take away something from the truth.

Chento was a complex and controversial person with an unusual temperament. In the political orbit he was very much guided by his ambition and influence. He was three times more persuasive than was needed for the then opposition and liberation movement in Prilep. He was a powerful figure in the bazaar, which was not immediately identified and with that he was immobilized, as a communist. The Prilep bazaar, however, had always been a crucial factor of influence in the behaviour of the city which made Chento a prominent candidate for the United Opposition and he became synonymous with the election struggles, especially in 1938.

The Communist Party in Prilep not only activated and supported Chento, but made great and perhaps a crucial effort, to build and influence his political consciousness and actions. We, the then students and communists, took great care to show him respect and much public sympathy. He did the same for us.”

“What were your contacts like? And what kind of relationship did you have with Chento in those days?” we asked.

“I only had occasional contact with Chento because in those years I worked mainly in Belgrade, I studied there. Besides, there was a great difference in age between us. I did not have close ties with him until October 11, 1941. After that I left Prilep and I did not return until the end of 1944. After he was arrested and put in jail, I found out from the Headquarters Manifesto that he had joined the partisans. I confess that his name for me, and not just for me, was a kind of surprise, unheard of even, because we never expected him to be in charge of General Headquarters. However, we received his name with sympathy.

I had no direct contact with him immediately after his release from prison because I worked in Poreche. But after I moved to Prilep and took the position as CPM District Secretary for Prilep, I ran into Chento. The CPM District Secretary for Prilep at that time was also District Secretary for the Front and for the government. In that capacity there were actions taken that led to a conflict with Chento.

Namely, having no money to pay the officials and to pursue the normal activities in the city, we, at my suggestion, decided to call a

public meeting, something like a rally and, without repression, given the situation, publicly ask for help to assist those who were seeking work during the occupation. In fact, it was an attempt to kind of engage, without cruel repression, part of the military effort.

The public meeting was convened in the then Sokolana. The people came. The meeting with its very presence in the city certainly did pressure some of the people to voluntarily offer assistance. The tobacco farmers, on the other hand, offered the young Macedonian state their entire crop from that year, for free. The meeting ended without incident. A few days later I was informed that Metodia Andonov-Chento had gathered the so-called ‘businessmen’ of the ‘Balkans’ and criticized what we did, which meant that he was encouraging those who offered assistance to renege on their promises. Young and seasoned as I was at age 25, I understood his gesture. In other words, without informing us he rejected our Committee’s effort. I immediately summoned him to come to our Committee or we could have gone there, and discuss the issue face to face. Chento refused to meet with us. He did not just criticize our action but used insults and vulgar language to do it.

Of course I paid the price for that. I was removed as CPM Regional Secretary for Prilep and, after my punishment, I was transferred to Skopje. The biggest objection was that the people at one of the meeting started chanting my name, asking me to speak. And that perhaps bothered Chento the most. But in the end… Chento was Chento.”

“So, what is the truth?” we asked.

“Well, here and there, I had not much contact with him. That is why today, when an important effort is made to get to the truth, it is necessary that the entire thing be dimensioned correctly. Euphoria and emotions do not help. The facts are all here and no ‘additions’ are needed.

Here are some of the facts:

In those days, in order to imprison someone, especially if he was the president of ASNOM and a giant figure like Metodia Andonov-

Chento, despite all the possible prerogatives the then OZNA had, no political decision or agreement could have been made without involving the highest governing bodies in Macedonia such as the Central Committee and its political leadership, the leadership of the People’s Front, the Presidency of ASNOM and the Government of the Republic of Macedonia.

Here is something more. Chento, as president of ASNOM, had supposedly overstepped the frames of the Republic. Such a decision, however, could not have been even thought of, let alone been made without the consent of the Federation’s top leadership such as the CPM Central Committee Politburo and personally by Tito himself. Hence, all analyses and closures, including Chento’s trial and verdict, should be looked at under those circumstances. The trial would not have been successful if there was no unilateral support from all participants in the leadership. Furthermore, they had their civic, moral and communist obligation to intervene in Chento’s arrest, investigation, trial and verdict if, at any stage of this process, they found irregularities, especially if the trial was staged,” concluded Chashule.

“And so many decades later the trial is still an enigma?” we asked.

“The Judges of the trial just like the process itself were the last act. Before that, all bases were covered, present in which were irrevocably wide but also individual responsibilities. All of them were responsible, all those who made the decisions and all those who accepted to be silent. And all of this was done without any resistance.

Historical facts will undoubtedly prove that in the general manipulation the judges were just as much victims as the defendant. The greatest victim undoubtedly was the public, together with the defendant,” said Chashule.

While interviewing Chashule he gave us the impression that “it would be unfair to now, today, to create a new manipulation, and this time with public opinion…”

Chashule continued: “Before we come to any arbitrary conclusion we need to identify all the figures in the Macedonian political leadership, by name, by function, by influence and whether they were doing this under their own motives or were they only pawns following orders given to them by the highest authorities in the Federation. We also must look, in general, at whether they just gave in to the leadership or if they had any objection, showed resistance or disagreed with Chento’s arrest, trial and verdict.”

“Where is the “green light” of whose decision this was?” we asked.

“All I can tell you is that it was not possible in those days for OZNA alone to take this kind of action against a man like Chento, without a green light, without complete freedom to manipulate the entire game and to develop the entire process. Even the most naïve people will not believe that OZNA acted alone…” said Chashule and continued:

“Meaning that Chento’s arrest, the theory of his escape over the border, the trial, the verdict, and even his imprisonment, were very precisely conceived acts by political decision made at the highest level of the Yugoslav and later of the Macedonian leadership.

There were three categories of architects operating in all of this:

The first were those who devised, planned, gave directions, and controlled the execution of the process, with all the prerogatives to intervene in all phases of the plot.

The second were the immediate perpetrators, the organs of OZNA and the police.

The third were those who were also victims of the conspiracy, of the perpetrated process, who were carefully selected with strictly far-reaching goals. This included the judges, public opinion and the people.

If history doesn’t want to again manipulate the situation, this time with public opinion, then it should open all questions and then look for the truth.

In fact, this is not only about Chento’s rehabilitation, but also about something more significant, rehabilitating Macedonia’s integrity and the integrity of the Macedonian liberation struggle. It is about the years in which assumptions were made that have lasting effects, especially those of reliance.

No one has the right to excuse himself or herself, to behave today like they were not there, like they were absent during those months and years, to circumvent the truth about his or her participation in the decisions made in the plot against Chento and in all the plots that took place, regardless of whether it was his or her conscious act or that they remained silent, or acted like pawns with ears and eyes shut!” said Chashule categorically and continued:

“Some of the actors in the decision-making process that resulted in Chento’s arrest, trial and led to him being imprisoned, are now dead. One of them, for example, was Blagoia Popovski, a man from Prilep, a close friend and neighbour of Chento, who was the prosecutor in his trial. He could neither explain nor prove if the trial was staged and he was one of its main participants.

Some of the then leaders are also dead. That is another reason why people must no longer remain silent. They must not hide behind their ‘failure’ or think that someone is going to save them from the public or from their responsibility. They must seek the truth.

Some many have deep reasons to remain silent.

As an accomplice in the plot, no one has the right to pretend to be innocent, to wash their hands, or to unjustly lay blame on someone else.

And in the end, besides history, there is another judge - conscience.

It was not by accident that two reputable people and loyal communists were chosen by the Court to conduct Chento’s trial and to arrive at the right conclusion. Those two people were Blagoia Popovski and myself. It was also by no accident that a third person, again from Prilep, was chosen to publicly voice the attack on

Chento. The architect of this trial had a clear deceit, which today is even clearer.

As for me, I think, and I am convinced that when all the facts are out they will undoubtedly prove that I was a planned sacrifice in the whole mosaic. He, on the other hand, was a victim manipulated along the line of his brightest human feelings - his most sincere attachment and faith in the Revolution and in Macedonia.

But, in order for this not to be a simple declaration, I will give you some more facts:

First, I would like to say that I had no idea what the Macedonian top leadership was doing regarding Chento’s destiny and the politics around it in Macedonia. I knew very little about the struggle for power and prestige in those years. At that time I worked for the Ministry of Public Health, I was in charge of health education, and later I went to work for Radio Skopje, as an editor.

In those days there was a great gap between the top leadership and us, as a result of this ‘mythical distance’ we were kept in the dark at all times except when the leadership wanted us to know something.

I found out about Chento’s arrest, accidentally or maybe not, at Vidoe Smilevski-Bato’s office, who at that time was in charge of the CPM’s ideology. I was in his office for something else when he told me that Chento was caught at the border attempting to flee across it. He was fleeing because he wanted to make connections with the English, specifically with its Intelligence Service and personally with Captain (or Major) Hill, who at the time was in charge of Macedonia,” concluded Chashule.

“Why was Chento burdened with so many accusations and charges?” we asked.

“For me, a popular rapid-minded young man, the news was devastating. I suspected that there were internal clashes in Macedonia, even though I knew nothing about them, and even hostilities of a personal nature, but I could never accept that our issue (the Macedonian Question), especially the fate of our newly

liberated Macedonia, was associated with the English and especially with Captain Hill. The English for me were synonymous with the power that took away Aegean Macedonia from us. It made no sense to me how Chento could have stooped so low. But then I was told that this was an undeniable fact by one of the most responsible persons in the CPM, and I myself did not have enough experience to look at it any differently. Given this, I think, I categorically condemned any attempt to draw foreign forces around our question (the Macedonian Question), especially the English, whom I regarded as our main enemy.

On the other hand, it should not be forgotten that those years coincided with Dimitrov’s period in Bulgaria. For some time afterwards I heard nothing more about Chento’s attempt to escape, so there was no need for me to question the validity of the fact that Chento was caught at the very border. Then I was summoned to Vidoe Smilevski’s office and he told that they (the top party leadership) had chosen me to be a judge/juror at Chento’s trial. I was repeatedly reassured that there was no doubt that Chento was attempting to across the border into Greece.

I participated very little during the trial preparations but, being in the same prison room, I had private contacts with Blagoia Popovski who at that time was the prosecutor appointed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which I never suspected would conduct a rigged trial.

The courtroom during the trial, which was publicly attended by families as well as private citizens, was almost always full. Today people are telling me that many of those who attended the trial were OZNA people parading as private spectators, whom I purposely allowed to enter the courtroom. But that’s not entirely true, I saw people who I knew and I know they were not associated with OZNA. They were not! But that does not change the fact that the entire public was manipulated.

The communist tradition of long political trials is well-known. Chento’s long trial… Georgi Dimitrov’s long trial… Broz and Traicho Kostov’s long trial… and so on. It was also well-known that these defendants did not recognize the court and refused to answer

questions. Unfortunately, none of this became part of the process,” concluded Chashule.

“Is it true that temperamental Chento was very calm during the trial?” we asked.

“For reasons only known to Chento, he never once refused to answer a question or contest the Court and call it illegitimate. However, he did not say that he was apprehended at his house or deny that he was attempting to flee and cross the border, especially during the hearing when witnesses were interrogated. The only thing he was deprived of, by Court president Panta Marina, was the length of his closing arguments.

I only asked Chento one question and that was in regards to allegations that Chento’s connection in Solun was going to be Petre Sokolovich from Prilep, well-known for his great Serbian convictions and cooperation with the authorities and with the dictatorship of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. I asked Chento how and from where he knew Sokolovich and all the links he had during his struggle for the Macedonian cause. To that Chento calmly replied: ‘I don’t want to explain this here and now.’ There was nothing said or expressed to the Court Council or during the trial about this, at least not in my presence, nor was there any opportunity given to consider any alternatives.

It was not up to me to interpret, much less to judge, why the trial took place, namely, why Chento chose the path and position that he did, why he did not reject the court and did not state that the process was rigged, why he did not debate as he had many times before… to defend himself against the charges leveled against him... I suppose he had his reasons…

That, however, did not diminish his tragedy, on the contrary. We are people, with obligations, with the power of weakness, with the ability to sacrifice ourselves for our loved ones.”

“Sacrifices, manipulations, games… Why are all these things associated with Chento?” we asked.

“In all of that, there was a little of everything. Chento himself probably knew that we were all victims and manipulated. The strongest proof of that for me was when I met Chento after he was released from prison. We accidentally met on the former Gotse Delchev Street near the Writers’ Association. I was happy to see him free so I approached him and congratulated him. He replied cordially and without delay, without any negative implications in his greeting. We talked about his release and about his health and what course of action he was going to take to get better. The conversation went in the most friendly tone, without any ugly subtext, from which I then concluded that it was clear, even to Chento, that I too was a victim in that rigged trial.

These are the facts.

At this point I need to add something. Namely, that it was reprehensible that the trial was allowed to be conducted in public. It is well-known that there is no police or authority in the world that would allow a public trial to take place if there was any risk that it would take a different course and have a different outcome other than what was planned in advance. From this I conclude that OZNA, and the other authorities, had advance assurances that the trial was going to proceed as planned and anyone capable of taking it off course would not be allowed to participate in it.

I had no idea the trial would be rigged. Many times I was assured that the process was legitimate and I was never given any cause to doubt that because of the reasons I mentioned earlier.

So, in that process, Metodia Andonov-Chento was neither the first nor the only victim. And, given what I know now, I am all in favour of discovering the truth and of exposing all the actors, from the CPY Central Committee, from the CPM Central Committee, from the Macedonian Parliament, from the government and from all the other relevant authorities. I want this done to show that the defendant was not the only victim in this manipulation, the number of victims was quite large and, finally, I wanted it to be known that I was one of those victims.”

“What about your proposals for rehabilitation?” we asked.

“I publicly insisted that Chento be rehabilitated. I also made a public request for my own rehabilitation as a victim of this rigged process. Even the others from Prilep, the ones so carefully selected to testify in Court, were also victims. It is clear to me now that the selection was based on willingness to publicly expose the Macedonian orientation,” concluded Chashule.

Here is what Nikola Vrazhalsky, then public prosecutor in Macedonia, had to say about Chento:

“I met Chento for the first time on Koziak when we were preparing the documents for ASNOM. He gave me the impression that he was a good person, direct and to the point. He was not a yes-man.”

“What do you think about renewing his trial?” we asked.

“Now is a good time to do that. There is a place for it and the climate is right. I don’t believe anyone would veto it anymore,” replied Vrazhalski.

Here is what Krste Tsrvenkovski had to say about Chento’s case: “All the information compiled on Chento points to UDBA having taken him from his home and not capturing him at the Greek-Yugoslav border like it has been alleged for all those years. He did not have a ‘declaration’ in his pocket which he was allegedly planning to take to the UN to initiate a process of creating an independent United Macedonia. This was an invention created by the political process in order to give him a longer sentence. Chento was a strong-willed man and never veered from his convictions. Even before the war he had a great reputation for being a commendable fighter, fighting for national rights, and although he was not a communist, he was a faithful Macedonian patriot.

In the years after the war, when we came up with plans to ‘bolshevize’ our society, we declared war on the craftsmen, traders and those in the villages who had properties. Chento was not only surprised by this but also felt like he was being deceived and came to their defense. At the time, this kind of attitude was seen as ‘heresy’ by us communists so we came up with a political solution

to stop Chento, which ended with his removal from the post as president of the ASNOM Presidium (as the first president of the Macedonian republic). Chento indeed had clashes with the Macedonian Party leadership, several of them in fact. In the fall of 1943, for example, when the Headquarters in Kichevo had discussions about exchanging captured German officers with partisans, Tempo placed Lazar Kolishevski and Mara Natseva’s names on the top of the list. Venko Markovski proposed to put Pavel Shatev on top of the list, which was supported by Chento. This is when the first quarrels began.

Later, when the ASNOM Assembly sitting was being prepared, Chento rejected Tempo’s proposal to add Vidoe Smilevski to the Board. Then, after Chento asked Smilevski to declare his national identity, because he came from Serbia, Tempo appointed Smilevki President of a newly formed Commission and asked him to investigate and discredit Chento. Another incident took place when the first FPRY Constitution was being adopted. This time Chento demanded that the ‘Lenin principle’ be included in the Constitution, which would have given the people the right to self-determination and to secession. This, however, was not acceptable to the CPM Central Committee and, as a result, Kolishevski took Chento to Belgrade to have a chat with Kardeli. In the end a solution was found where Chento could leave the Yugoslav Assembly and not vote on the Constitution. After that happened Chento was labeled a separatist.

In order for all this to be cleared I believe a government plan is required. Chento’s name needs to be cleared and returned to our history. He was the first president of Macedonia. We are not so rich with such good personalities that we can afford to write him off so easily,” concluded Tsrvenkovski.

This is what Kiro Gligorov had to say about Chento: “Metodia Andonov-Chento’s fate was tragic. He was a great person, authentic and for the people. He was a great Macedonian, a patriot, a man with his own views and with a strong backbone.

It’s about time the truth came out. This will be his true rehabilitation. Nothing will be lost except the black spot in Macedonia’s history.”