4.1. “LITERATURE OF FACT” CHARACTERISTICS

4.1. “LITERATURE OF FACT” CHARACTERISTICS

“Literature of fact” works differ from those of fiction in several ways:

• People, events, places and ideas presented in “literature of fact” are real; they are not invented.

• “Literature of fact” is narrated by an author who, in some way, participated in the events or was first hand, directly informed by a source.

• “Literature of fact” deals with facts, describes real life experiences, or explains ideas.

• “Literature of fact” is written for a specific audience, or for a group of readers. It refers to a clear purpose, or reason for writing. The audience and the purpose influence the type of information the writer includes.

• The style of presentation is determined by the way the writer uses language. The style reflects the personality of the author. Factors that influence the author’s style include: level of formality, use of metaphorical words, diction or choice of words, sentence patterns.

• The tone of presentation is reflected by the author’s attitude towards the topic and towards the readers or listeners. The tone of the speaker in a conversation can come out according to the way the words and phrases are pronounced. When we read, we “hear” the tone in the choice of words and details given by the author. The tone of a literary work can be described in a single word, for example: pompous, playful, serious, personal, sarcastic, or friendly.

• Perspective is the point of view or opinion that the author directly or indirectly expresses on the topic.

• Bias occurs when a writer presents only one side of the story (for example, by ignoring relevant facts or by using emotional language that unfairly influences the feelings of readers or listeners).

• With his or her writing the author has a goal to achieve. Common goals are: to inform, to persuade, to show respect, to entertain, to explain and to warn.

4.2. “LITERATURE OF FACT” TYPES

There are four types, or modules, of “literature of fact” defined by their purpose:

• Narrative “literature of fact” tells stories about real life events. Examples of this include autobiographies and memoirs. A type of factual narrative literature is reflective writing, which shares the writer’s thoughts and feelings about a personal experience, an idea, an event, or a question. Examples of this include reflective essays, personal essays and journals.

• Explanatory “literature of fact” informs or explains. Examples of this include analytical essays and research reports.

• Persuasive “literature of fact” provides reasons or evidence to persuade the reader to act or think in a certain way. Examples of this include articles and political speeches.

• Descriptive “literature of fact” uses details tied to feelings in order to create mental images for the reader. Examples of this include personality descriptions and scientific observations. 26

The challenges for writing these novels are important episodes and historical moments, archival documents and testimony of living participants in the depicted events, personal visits to the places where the events took place, which appeared post factum, i.e. after a certain time perspective and distance.

The above-mentioned novels, by Petre Nakovski, deal with the very essential historical and social events that took place before and during the Greek Civil War with special reference to the Macedonian people’s participation.

In his review of the novel “Postela za chemernite” (A bed for the wretched), prominent Macedonian writer Dimitar Solev, among other things, underlined the following:

“In this, it should be noted that Petre Nakovski is an obvious supporter of the ‘literature of fact’; a tendency in contemporary narrative culture, which requires a new balance between fact and imagination. Departing from the data of life, which has the character of a document or fact, it allows itself the freedom to arrange, intertwine, cross,

26 See: www.misshannigan.com/Genre/nonfiction/nonfictionnotes.html

combine - everything around the basic idea. But in ‘literature of fact’, the fact is the occasion and the author is the creator.”

The main feature of Petre’s above-mentioned novels, is that they all refer to the Greek Civil War; they can serve as an important source of information about the Greek state’s terror against the Macedonian population, as well as for the participation of the Macedonian people in the Greek Civil War, their commitment, courage and self-sacrifice for their national liberation and defense of their identity and human dignity. The most essential part in these novels is the truth; the description of historically authentic events. They provide the reader with a wide opportunity to learn the truth about what took place during that difficult dramatic and unfortunate time.

5. APPLICATIONS

5.1 “POSTELA ZA CHEMERNITE” (A BED FOR THE WRETCHED)

“What do I say? Nothing... We uprooted ourselves from our homeland for nothing… And no one cares or wants to know about the uprooted ones and where their roots are from… Our stone, Numo, has been rolled where no grass grows…” 27

The novel “Postela za chemernite” (A bed for the wretched) was Petre Nakovski’s first novel. It was published in 1985. This was a novel about the national, historical, military, political and existential drama the Macedonian people from the Aegean part of Macedonia (Northern Greece) experienced.

Even though the symbolism of the novel title “A bed for the wretched” describes events contained in it, it only covers part of the tragedy the Macedonian people experienced during the Greek Civil War.

Figure 1. Cover page of the novel “Postela za chemernite” (A bed for the wretched)

Temporally, the action described in the novel takes place between June 22, 1948 and August 1949. It begins with the relocation of the population from the Kostur Region villages who found themselves in the immediate vicinity of the heavy fighting in North Pind Region, popularly called Gramos.

27 Petre Nakovski: Postela za chemernite. - Skopje: Kultura, 1985, p. 56

The novel is a literary chronotope 28 and essentially embodies the temporal and spatial connections through which its action is woven. The described time in which the events take place is positioned within time boundaries. Thus, according to Roland Barthes, the novel “dwells in a ‘new code’, the code of space and time”. 29

Events described in the novel are arranged chronologically and, through the expressions of the characters, the author introduces us not only to the course of events, but also to the actions that took place in the past, which are historically related to the events that are the subject of the novel.

Hence, it is concluded that the author chronologically and retrospectively touches on the historiography, the Macedonian people’s national destiny and the historical catastrophe the Macedonian people from the Aegean part of Macedonia experienced, “...a defeat that forever and ever blackened the existential perspective of the Macedonian nation..” 30

The following events are covered in the core content of the novel “Postela za chemernite” (A bed for the wretched):

• Relocation of the population to the former Italian base Prenies in Albania.

• Organized evacuation of children from villages to Eastern European countries.

• Mobilization of children aged 15-16 as reserves for DAG. 31

• Fate of the wounded DAG fighters.

The novel begins with a description of Prenies, 32 where about 7-8 thousand exiled inhabitants from Kostur Region were housed in old, dilapidated barracks, horse stables and warehouses. DAG General Staff, in agreement with the Albanian government, decided to relocate part of the population from the Kostur villages closest to the front to this former Italian base. Their stay in Prenies is testimony to the difficult times and personal traumas the villagers from Kostur Region experienced. This included loneliness, abandonment and destruction and mutilation in this unfamiliar place described in the novel. Petre, through difficult and emotional images, paints a descriptive picture of “doubled over old people, widows of six wars and broken down women” 33who were separated from their sons, daughters, husbands, who being sickly, wailed and prayed silent prayers, waiting for daily news from their loved ones who were on the battlefields or in hospitals. The novel describes terrible scenes of old and frail people running after

28 “A literary chronotope is a model of a world personified in a recognizable, stylistically and culturally coded unity of space, time, character and story” 29 Venko Andonovski: Structura na Makedonskiot realistichen roman. - Skopje: Detska radost, 1997, p. 123 30 Stozher, January-March 2004, p. 42 31 Democratic Army of Greece 32 Prenjes - the first settlement in Albania, after crossing the border crossing Kafasan 33 Petre Nakovski: Postela za chemernite. - Skopje: Kultura, 1985, p. 5

the trucks which transported the recovering and wounded to and from the battlefields of Vicho and Gramos, treated in the Albanian hospitals in Elbasan, Tirana, Durres and Sukt. Old and frail people kept constantly looking for their loved ones or persistently waited for some news about them. “But in the flurry of shouting, neither name nor surname could be heard, only ‘o-o-o-a-a-a!!!’ and a lot of crying, praying, cursing, swearing and whining.” 34

The stay in Prenies was a difficult and cruel truth for the Macedonian people who were thrown out of their homes, alone, without their loved ones, without anything of their own, feeling miserable, helpless and dulled by pain. But in their minds they were secretly guided by a single thought that kept them alive, that thought was their homeland, their place of birth.

“Outside of the passing trucks, no one is allowed to leave the compound, but some do manage to sneak out without being seen. Those who do sneak out, climb up to Preval (pass) and look at the lake water, and in it they see the reflection of the high peaked gray mountains and they whisper to themselves and point with their finger saying: ‘There… over there is my home’…” 35

Figure 2. Mothers evacuating their children

In the novel “Postela na chemernite” (A bed for the wretched), through Kirche’s expressions, a mobilized boy, Petre introduced us to the systematic and organized action for evacuating the children to Eastern European countries. The goal was to provide a safe and secure place for children exposed to the dangers posed by the Greek Civil War. The scenes of the separation in Kirche’s narration are tragic: “Our mother hugged us silently

34 Ibid., p. 6 35 Ibid., p. 7

and kept us in her arms for a long time. All three of us found ourselves in the tight but gentle grasp of her short arms. She kept squeezing us and her tears kept dripping down her cheeks. It seemed that we remained that way, as one, for a long time. Mother then loosened her embrace and, like a hen in fear of losing her scattered chicks, she spread her arms and pushed us into the crowd of children.” 36

Accordingly, after spending an uncertain night in the border area, children from the Kostur Region villages, such as Kosinets, Lobanitsa, Krchishta, Dolno Papratsko, Ezerets, Galishta, Breshteni and several other villages from Kostenaria, were transported by trucks to Korcha where they were accommodated by Albanian families. Later they were transported to an area near Durres. The children were accompanied and cared for by women who were called “mothers”. 37 After an eight-month stay in Albania, the children were transferred to Poland. 38 More information on this can be found in the foreword of the political science study “Makedonski detsa vo Polska (1946-1968)” (Macedonian children in Poland) (1946-1968)) by Dr. Petre Nakovski and in his second novel “I kamenot e zemia” (A stone too is soil).

The collection and evacuation of the children was undoubtedly of humane nature, but there were other goals with tragic consequences. Freed from having to look after them, parents were deployed to serve the needs of the war effort at the front lines. The child evacuation, without the possibility of return, led to the destruction of the Macedonian family. Participation of the general population in the war effort, which led to many deaths, along with the child exodus, was the beginning of the Macedonian people’s eradication from Aegean Macedonia (Northern Greece).

In his novel “Postela za chemernite” (A bed for the wretched), Petre Nakovski has also familiarized us with the mobilization of children aged 15-16 as reserves for DAG.

The children evacuated to Romania faced new challenges. DAG officials sent there began to urge the older children to return back to the war and fight at the front lines. Representatives from the Interim Democratic Government of Greece (IDGG), from the National Liberation Front (NOF) and from the Women’s Anti-Fascist Front (AFZH) used slogans to entice the older and enthusiastic children to return and fight. They used slogans such as: “Dear children of the freedom fighting heroic fathers and mothers...” They spoke like that for a long time, occasionally being interrupted by the children yelling “We are ready! We are ready! We are ready to go and fight!” 39

In consequence, the boys from Kostur, Lerin, Voden, Epirus and Thessaly were transferred by truck through Berkovica (Bulgaria) to Prespa, where they trained as soldiers. Even though they were children they were tasked the heavy burden the adults carried, but not without reactions from their relatives who said: “…they are crazy! They are mad! They brought our children back, dressed them like that and sent them to battle.

36 Ibid., p. 95 37 See: Petre Nakovski: Makedonski detsa vo Polska. - Skopje: Mlad Borec, 1987, p. 21 38 Ibid., p. 27 39 Petre Nakovski: Postela za chemernite. - Skopje: Kultura, 1985, p. 156

What are those sons of bitches trying to do, eradicate us all down to our roots?! That’s what my own grandfather said…” 40

The mobilization and return of minors aged 15-16 to the battlefield, to serve the needs of DAG at the front as a reserve army, caused a storm of protests 41 from parents who pressured the authorities to withdraw them. These children were then sent to Prenies.

In his works “Postela za chemernite” (A bed for the wretched), the author also deals with the fate of the wounded fighters who took an active role in battles fighting on the side of DAG. Through time, space, emotions, mental state, he illustrates the despair and contentment of these heroes. The author talks about human destinies and the tragic consequences of the Greek Civil War. The Golgotha of the Macedonian people is exposed in the name of freedom, in the name of longing for the homeland, in hope of a better tomorrow. Wounded fighters taken from the Gramos battlefields were sent to Albania, to the hospitals in Korcha, Tirana, Elbasan and Sukt, and then returned to the frontlines before they had a chance to completely heal. There, knitted and woven together their bitter and wretched destiny begins to disintegrate and unravel – like it was cut with a sickle.

The novel, which is the subject of analysis in the most convincing way, describes the great evil that the Greek Civil War brought to the Macedonian people; the evil, whose perpetrators were people of various ideologies. It is challenging to answer the question: “How should a person who participated under conditions imposed by the Greek Civil War be labeled - a murderer or a hero?” The author does not provide an unambiguous answer, but leaves it open for readers to assess which characters and events deserve praise and which condemnation.

There is a scenes in the novel in which a Macedonian manages to defend his dignity and respect for his humanity, which is of highest value. In this regard, the most powerful statement was made by Pando, the main character. While being tortured in police barracks, he said: “...I don’t want communism and I don’t need it. What I want is Macedonia and that’s what I am looking for. They labeled me an autonomist and sent me to a dry island.” 42

“They accused me of being a communist.) 43

40 Ibid., p. 166 41 See: Petre Nakovski: Makedonski detsa vo Polska. - Skopje: Mlad borets, 1987, p. 23 42 Petre Nakovski: Postela za chemernite. - Skopje: Kultura, 1985, p. 66 43 Ibid., p. 46

The publishing commission at the SKM Central Committee, which also included five people from Aegean Macedonia (they were authorized to assess which and what texts referring to Aegean Macedonia may be published), disputed the publication of the novel “Postela za chemernite” (A bed for the wretched), demanding that the sentence be deleted. The author refused and asked the publisher “Kultura” to return the novel. On the margin of this section we would like to point out the submissive and lackey “Aegean establishment”, which after reading the novel did not forget this sentence: “...I don’t want communism and I don’t need it. What I want is Macedonia and that’s what I am looking for. They labeled me an autonomist

After this expression more unbearable torture is revealed to us through the pages of the novel. From his research on torture of Macedonians in the Greek police barracks, the author, through Pando’s words, has revealed the following methods of torture used in an attempt to denationalize the Macedonians.

Methods of torture:

1) Drinking castor oil 2) Sitting on ice 3) Beating 4) Pulling out finger and toe nails 5) Putting lit matches or hot eggs in the armpits 6) Tightening an iron hoop on the head 7) Putting a live cat under the shirt 8) Beating on the feet and genitals 9) Hot pepper in the mouth 10. Shearing a cross 11. Being imprisoned in camps 44

After counting the methods of torture, Pando concluded: “They beat us but not to kill us. The rule was to maim, not to kill! Maim! Kill their spirit, their defiance, not them. Cripple them so others would be afraid of being crippled! This is what our Greek fatherland did to us. And who knows if tomorrow or the day after tomorrow they will not hang more disgusting names on us and scare their own children with us. And we, you see, still last and we are... Like the weed, right?” 45

In fact, through the description and behaviour of characters, the author has shown that each character carries within himself or herself the destiny of the collective, a destiny full of tragic consequences. Their character traits are set apart by their highest virtue. They are the bearers of the truth and they incorporate the most positive human qualities: pride, endurance, perseverance, dignity and acts of heroism. Through their portrayal the author paints a picture of the Macedonian people from the Aegean part of Macedonia (Northern Greece), i.e. persons who are representatives of the typical Macedonian villager. The author then authentically describes the system aimed at destroying the family, displacing the people, separating family members, attacking human dignity,

and sent me to a dry island.” Three former DAG fighters, otherwise deserters after the battle for Lerin, called the author for a conversation and in a long argument tried to get him to delete the sentence. “Delete it,” they told the author, “because the locals will say that we Aegeans are against communism and that we want a Macedonia,” which was contrary to the policy of the League of Communists. The author told them that he refused to delete it. Two of the people in the conversation were former UDBA agents who had retired after Rankovich’s defeat. The third and more educated, worked as a research associate in the Archives of Macedonia. He only had a regular primary education in Greece. Nakovski left these people in revolt as they shouted at him: “Stay, stay with us, and you will go far and high.” 44 Petre Nakovski: Postela za chemernite. - Skopje: Kultura, 1985, p. 67 45 Ibid., p. 69

eradicating the Macedonian tradition, and exiling the Macedonian people from their ancestral homeland.

The novel “Postela za chemernite” (A bed for the wretched), which is the subject of our analysis, contains a number of elements of “literature of fact” through which we learn the truth about places, times, events and people.

The first element that confirms that the work has “literature of fact” elements is the authenticity of space; names of settlements, i.e. toponyms.

The action takes place in Albania, in Prenies, which is the first settlement after the Kafasan border crossing. Here, mentioned in the novel, is the town Korcha, the village Dobrani and the Albanian towns Elbasan, Tirana, Durres and Sukt, in which wounded DAG fighters were treated during the Greek Civil War.

In the novel, the author references Macedonian names with unusually accurate topography of the villages, cities, mountains, rivers, which Greek governments, over time have Hellenized by law, i.e. these toponyms have been renamed and given Greek names. Through the analysis of the novel, the reader will find authentic Macedonian names of the toponyms in Aegean Macedonia such as:

Villages: Vrbnik, Bilishta, Krchishta, Dolno Papratsko, Novoseleni, Ezerets, Snicheni, Ludovo, Mantila, Dolneni, Breshteni, Galishta, Janovenski villages, Smrdesh, Breznitsa, Vineni, Kosinets, Lobanitsa, Breznitsa, Zhelevo.

Cities: Lerin, Voden, Negush, Kostur.

Regions: Kostur Region, Voden Region, Lerin Region.

Mountains: Vicho, Gramos, Kamna, Sveti Ilija, Kopanche, Aljavitsa, Krusha, Tumba, Bela Voda, Bigla, Gorusha, Haro, Kleftis, Patomata, Orle, Odreto, Bel Kamen, Glavata, Kula, Jorgova Glava, Mali Madi, Butsi , Janova Glava, Plati, Kulkuturja, Bukovik, Baro, Jamata, Polenata, Vrbitsa, Stenite, Kajmakchalan, Shak, Sinadev Rid

The second element that confirms that the work has elements of “literature of fact” is time frames and real events that took place in that time period.

In the novel “Postela za chemernite” (A bed for the wretched), the author accurately observes the chronological order of the novelist action and describes the real facts and events that led to the destruction of the Macedonian family and to the forced eviction of the Macedonian people from their ancestral homes.

- The exact day was marked as June 22, 1948. This is when the mass migration of the population from the Kostur Region villages began. This was in the immediate vicinity where the heavy fighting in the area of North Pind, popularly called Gramos, began and lasted 70 days. This was when the villagers from Krchishta, Dolno Papratsko, Novoseleni,

from the so-called Kostaneria villages: Ezerets, Snicheni, Ludovo, Mantila, Dolneni, Breshteni, Galishta, Janovenski, were moved, as mentioned above, to the former Italian military camp in the small settlement called Prenies, in the territory of present-day Albania.

- When the villagers left their homes they took some of their property with them. Unfortunately most of this property was confiscated in support of DAG. The people, whose property was confiscated, in return, were given a written receipt. 46

- During the Greek Civil War, wounded fighters from the Gramos battlefields were taken to Albania, to hospitals in Elbasan, Tirana, Durres and Sukt. For more information on the existence of these hospitals, please refer to the novel “Na pat so vremeto” (On the road of time), which is also the subject of this analysis.

- An organized action was started in 1948, to collect and evacuate the children out of the country. The children were taken to Korcha and placed with Albanian families, as confirmed by the author and his wife (Petre and Ditta Nakovski), as well as many of their friends who spent their childhood separated from their parents and taken to boarding houses in Eastern European countries.

Figure 3. “Mother” Evgenia and children from the village Krchishta in Solice-Zdruj in May 1949

It is true that “mothers” did exist as represented through the character of “mother” Evgenia, who cared for the evacuated children in general as well as those who were

46 See: Petre Nakovski: Postela za chemernite. - Skopje: Kultura, 1985, p. 243

eventually taken to Poland. 47 For more information on this see the study entitled “Makedonski detsa vo Polska (1946) -1968)” by Petre Nakovski.

- The total number of mobilized children ages 15-16 as reserves for DAG, numbered one thousand two hundred. 48

It is also a fact that, even though Greeks and Macedonians fought under one flag, Greek authorities made every effort to administratively assimilate the Macedonian population with decrees 49 to ban and eradicate all Macedonian basic national features such as: the spoken language, the written script, religion practiced by Macedonians, depriving the Macedonian people of their human dignity, property and Greek citizenship.

The novel also mentions names of camps, as well as historic figures, military and political organizations, anthems and poems which confirm the thesis of “literature of fact”:

Camp: Makronisos 50, a “re-education” centre in which 50,000 left-leaning soldiers were interned during the Greek Civil War. The basic point of “re-education” was to spread hatred against communism and Slavism:

Modest Makronisos, embracing the pioneers you are the homeland of heroes with great glory a great homeland, but not of the slaves and fear and a grave of the Slav barbarians...

The first Makronisos battalion Now hates Slavism… 51

Historic figures: Metaxas, Velouhiotis, Venizelos, Pangalos-general, dictator and other famous Greek politicians.

Military and political organizations: DAG (Democratic Army of Greece), ELAS (Ellinikos Laikos Apellefterotikos Stratos) (National Liberation Army of Greece), UNRA (United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA)).

Songs: “Anakrisi tritu vathmu” (Interrogation of the third degree) - a song written by Andreas Leondaris, a prisoner in Macronissos (translated by P. Nakovski).

47 See: Petre Nakovski: Makedonski detsa vo Polska (1946-1968), (politikoloshka studia), Skopje: Mlad borec, 1987, p. 19 48 Ibid., p. 23 49 We are talking about decrees 13 of 1947 and MN of 1947 and 1948 50 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makronisos 51 See: Petre Nakovski: Postela za chemernite. - Skopje: Kultura, 1985, p. 27

- “Embros ELAS gia tin Elada”, (Forward ELAS for Greece). This was ELAS’s anthem with which radio station “Free Greece” began its broadcast.

The third element that confirms that the work has elements of “literature of fact” is the testimony upon which the author bases his statements made about the fates of the main characters.

The novel is arranged as a system of narratives, which complement each other, and actions that are connected through the intertwined expressions of the main characters, Pando, Numo and Kirche. Pando - the gravedigger, who fought in several wars, fought for his country, for his homeland, and because he loved his homeland he was called a “stinking Slavophone” and was accused of being a communist. And regardless of who ruled Greece, whether it was Venizelos, Pangalos, or Metaxas, Pando’s character accurately describes the destinies of all those who sought and loved their Macedonia, i.e. those who refused to declare themselves Greek and who insisted on speaking their native Macedonian language. The punishment for these people began and ended with three cups of castor oil. And not only that: they were also beaten, had their finger and toe nails torn off and boiling hot eggs were placed in their armpits. But that too was not enough. The torturers and sick minds went even further by putting hot peppers in the mouths of the tormented and live cats under their shirts…

Numo Damovski, a Macedonian, was brought to Prenies from Suk to be punished. He had lost a leg. He lost it in the battle for Kamna. He too, through his life’s stories recounted his suffering, describing the fate of the Macedonians who fought for their Macedonia. In his stories he describes Charilaos, the character of all those Greeks and Macedonians who thought differently, were leftists, communists or simply Macedonians, who spoke the Macedonian language and refused to declare themselves Greek. They were all sent to the National Education Centre located on the island Makronisos. Together with Pando, Numo witnessed the destinies of these people and mourned with them, but his thoughts constantly weighed on him. Speaking about what the Macedonians desired, he said: “Should this not be the fruit of our dreams, our desires and beliefs? But what freedom have we brought to these people here? And who here can assure me that tomorrow our people will return to their ancestral homes happy and free? Why did this happen to us?” 52

Kirche’s character depicts a young fifteen-year-old boy, whose image represents the exiled Macedonian children from the Aegean part of Macedonia (Northern Greece) who were taken to Eastern European countries. These children, barely young men, with rifles on their shoulders, with three pairs of military trousers, with heavy boots as long and wide as a shovel, but with a firm step, were being prepared to fight side by side with the other soldiers at the front. Kirche was one of those children who, in the whirlwind of the Greek Civil War, was taken away and separated from his parents and from his ancestral home.

52 Petre Nakovski: Postela za chemernite. - Skopje: Kultura, 1985, p. 148

Figure 4. Petre Nakovski (Children being prepared to be future soldiers)

Through Kuze’s character, who also appears in the novel “I kamenot e zemja” (A stone too is soil), the author portrays those who, during the Greek Civil War, profited from the sufferings of others by using deception, slander, betrayal, accusations and intimidation. Kuze is a negative character who persists in fulfilling orders from the NOF and AFZH leaders. The people call him the lizard. He is cowardly and humiliatingly helpful. “Can’t you see that he is burning with desire to condemn someone? And someone said that he is a fellow countryman!” 53

Nakovski, in his novel “Postela za chemernite” (A bed for the wretched) has dedicated a special place to women. Women who suffered, mothers who were left without their children, women who were left without their husbands, lonely women, women expelled from their homes, young women who, instead of preparing to become brides, were mobilized and sent to the battlefields where they were often wounded, treated in military hospitals, ending up mutilated with arms and legs amputated, walking with crutches and some being brought back to fight at the front before their wounds fully healed.

What kind of dreams did these young women dream?

53 Ibid., p. 93

The author also follows the life path of Donka – Kaleshata (Brunette) who is typical of a Macedonian girl. Kalesha is a symbol of a brave girl, whose long, black, heavy and lush hair braid was the pride of the entire battalion. Her character represents the rebellious youth, the feeling of personal dignity, the desire for life guided by the songs she sang and is representative of all the young girls who replaced their wedding gowns with military uniforms.

Through emotional images that will not leave the reader indifferent, Nakovski captures the situation well, in Prenies at that time. He describes the fate of the women, the mothers and the widows through the character Krstovitsa (Ristana)... who lost not only those who fought at the war front, but also her children, those taken away and those who remained with her, those who were swept away by the whirlwind of war, by evacuation, disease and by her inability to save them. The life of a child slowly fades away before their eyes: “She is dreadfully sick, the poor girl, and has not gotten out of bed for a month. She won’t eat…” 54 The fate of Kostovitsa, another woman in the camp, is difficult. She is representative of the Macedonian women from the Aegean part of Macedonia (Northern Greece), whose child melts away before her eyes. She sits there helpless with a dull look nailed to the beams. “Sitting beside the freshly covered grave, Kostovitsa lit candles whose flames flickered in her palm...” 55 This was the fate of the women from Kostur Region, Aegean Macedonia, crying every day from pain and neglect, with eyes full of anticipation, with feelings of motherhood, torn, broken and anxious.

The characters in this novel are authentically presented with having deep and lifelong scars and deeply filled with sadness. For her grief of having to leave her homeland, Jasmina Mojsieva-Gusheva will write:

“Regardless of whether they left their homeland voluntarily or because they were persecuted, there was always a quiet sadness in their soul. It didn’t always have to be simple nostalgia for a particular place or time. It could appear as an inner dislike for loneliness, discomfort of not belonging to the environment, or simply stress due to one’s own emptiness. There are no specific rules in its appearance.” 56

The fourth element that confirms that the work has elements of “literature of fact” is the Macedonians common code, “a traditional symbol” 57, that is a celebration of a name-day and celebration of traditional Macedonian Orthodox holidays. For example: Ilinden, St. George, Mitrovden, Prechista, Spasovden, Assumption of the Most Holy Mother of God, Crucifixion, Palm Sunday, holidays that express the true faith in God by praying to God and giving out food for the souls of the departed, which express a touching authenticity of Macedonian life and customs. Macedonian dances and Macedonian folk songs are proof of the Macedonian existence, songs and dances such as the “Beracheto”, “Chie e ona devojche”, “Narode Makedonski”, “Tsrnej goro”, etc. The

54 Ibid., p. 81 55 Ibid., p. 84 56 Jasmina Mojsieva-Gusheva: Imaginarni tatkovini. - Rijec, 2006, no.3, p. 158 57 See: Venko Andonovski: Abduktia na teoria. - Skopje, Galikul, 2011, p. 176

author’s aim here was to preserve the truth, even the finest detail of it, and the tragedy of that time.

The style and language depend on the creative individuality of the author (local and literary language). His expressions show that he has the ability to express himself well. The author uses the Macedonian literary language in his work, but his writing is also enriched with authentic words from the Kostur Region dialect, words such as “jaska (I), chuzho (foreign), lavae (were speaking), d`mbja (oak trees), od de si (where are you from), de osh (where are you going), zve (took), r’ka (hand), odajka (room), puleshe (was looking at), usunatje (daybreak), vtasa (arrived), v’lchitsa (female wolf), p’to (mole), laf (word), vlegu (I entered), urva (I descended), ena (one), razbervam (I understand), liudie (people), s’ntse (sun), pominae (they passed by), nimi (them), neshcho (something), opitvam (I am asking), z’mbi (teeth), ami ka (and how), po’tpchi (sign), se uma (I am thinking), nashcho (one of us), balzosam (??), Gospu (my God), molia (begging), doidu (I arrived), o iaska zh’lnata (??), noshia (night), oidu (I went), reku (I said), spolai (thank). We also find curses in the novel such as: “May they too burn by fire and may God give them the eyes of a mother so that they can see what they are doing…” 58

All this shows that authenticity exists. It also demonstrates the modesty of the Macedonian people from the Aegean part of Macedonia (Northern Greece) who like to express themselves in a simple, non-politicized, ordinary language. This, however, does not prevent them from expressing their pain, sorrow, fears, expectations, hope, as well as condemnation and judgment in their own way. In order to capture the authenticity of time and space, the author also uses Greek language expressions in his work such as: “Ta podja mu! (My feet!) Ohi! (No!), Ipograpse atime! (Sign villain!), Kalo pedi! (Good boy), Palikari! (Hero!), Skopos, (Guard), grafio (office), katalaves (understand), asfalia (police), paliopedo (awful boy), pedia (boys), ekso (outside). We also find expressions in the Romanian language such as: “Shti Romasenashti?” and “Kunte kjama?”

Noted in the novel are also sensitive experiences such as: emotions and reflections, through which we would say ideally express the “literature of fact” present in the works.

The author has successfully connected the symbolism of the novel title with the fate of the collective. Similarly the novel is distinguished with the following symbols: the black scarf - symbolizing grief and mourning for the lost, the stone – symbolizing the homeland, the icon, the word, the language… are symbols of duration, survival of the nation and of the prayer - a personal religious experience based on a return to the thought of God or another object of worship in a state of worship and admiration.

The novel “Postela za chemernite” (A bed for the wretched) is a testament to the people who went through and experienced the storm of the war, who, through no fault of their own, personally experienced its ugliness.

The elements of “literature of fact” are the best carriers of “life knowledge” as confirmed by this analysis. Nakovski, in this novel, has revealed a true concrete picture

58 Petre Nakovski: Postela za chemernite. - Skopje: Kultura, 1985, p. 172

of the exiled. He has shown that they didn’t lose their every day hope that, one day, they would return to their homeland. He has accurately captured their thoughts filled with memories and emptiness in their souls, sharing the same fate with others and sharing the days of loneliness.

This is what Petre Nakovski will say at in interview with the newspaper “Makedonija denes” (Macedonia today): “With this novel I am just trying to find the key to their souls. The voice of the soul appears when free thought is forcibly silenced. When one digs and digs long enough in time they will discover it. They will draw the knowledge from the depths of its core and reveal the truth about themselves and others. 59

In his review of the novel “Postela za chemernite” (A bed for the wretched) Dimitar Solev will write:

“In this, it should be noted that Petre Nakovski is an obvious supporter of the “literature of fact”. This is a trend in our modern storytelling culture, which requires a new balance between factography and imagination. Starting with the animal tax, which has the characteristics of a document or a fact, which allows itself the freedom to arrange the two, to intertwine them, to cross them, to combine them – to circle around the main idea. But, even in “literature of fact”, fact is an occasion, and the author is a creator…” “As for the idea, it is symbolically stated in the title itself, and in several other explicit or metaphorical places: Nashintsite (Our people), the Macedonians, have many fatherlands (Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, Albania) or at least they fight under their flags” (Nume). 60

The novel ends with a scene that will make the reader sad and unable to hold back tears. We are referring to the traditional custom of “giving boiled wheat for the soul” which is demonstrated through Krstovitsa, who, on the ninth day after her son died, went out and collected wild wheat from an abandoned field but was accused of stealing it. Being humiliated, disgraced and sullen, she again went out and gathered wild plums. And instead of following the age-old custom of “giving out boiled wheat for the souls of the dead”, she gave out wild plums while saying: “Take some, good people, eat some for the soul of Risto, my son...” 61

But this was not the end of the Macedonian nightmare; the dreaded year 1949 brought with it the “Great lie”.

This novel also carries a message for future generations. They are left with a legacy to study it and pass it on to the next generations. Whatever it is that needs to be remembered will need to be written down, so that it will last and not be forgotten.

59 See: Makedonija denes, November 4, 2003, p. 15 60 See: Dimitar Solev’s review of the novel “Postela za chemernite” (A bed for the wretched) by Petre Nakovski, Skopje, Kultura, 1983 61 Petre Nakovski: Postela za chemernite. - Skopje: Kultura, 1985, p. 185

We believe that modern Macedonians living in a whole new age and under new conditions should draw their own conclusion about this tragic part of Macedonia and with a single goal: for this to never happen again.