5.4 “GOLEMATA IZMAMA” (THE GREAT LIE)

5.4 “GOLEMATA IZMAMA” (THE GREAT LIE)

“… And refused to believe that the thread had somehow been broken, that the loom no longer worked, that the spring had dried up and that the streams had gone dry... Then in the corner, in the place where the icon was, a spider wove its web and over the village a raven crowed foretelling its fate... It hurts to know, it hurts even more and his heart aches to imagine the narrow village cobblestone blanketed with ash and debris from the ruins, a village laid waste – it is even harder to accept that when the new sun sets no human will be left to set foot in this place… 125

The novel “Golemata izmama” (The great lie) by Petre Nakovski was published in 2007 and is a continuation of the novel “Golemata udolnitsa” (The great decline). This novel sheds light on the dark episodes of an unjust, absurd and mindless war (Greek Civil War). This war novel is testimony to the events that shaped the fate of the Macedonian people from the Aegean part of Macedonia (Northern Greece). The title is eerie and carries the truth about our historical catastrophe, about our lost and betrayed illusions, and about our eviction from our homeland.

Figure 10. Cover page of the novel “Golemata ismama” (The great lie)

The action in the novel is set in a specific time frame which covers the period from August 1948 to August 1949. The novel is a literary chronotope because it represents an entirety of space, time, character and story. It intertwines document with artistic narrative and portrays details about the then military, political, sociological and psychological condition of the general population and of the DAG fighters. This novel is also typically representative of “literature of fact” and is a literary reflection of the Greek Civil War, a factograph of the destruction of the family, of the uprooting and

125 Petre Nakovski: Golemata izmama. -Skopje: Makavej, 2007, p. 37

eviction of the Macedonian people from their ancestral homeland. It speaks the truth about the Macedonian people’s catastrophic fate.

About this, Julia Kristeva will write the following in her work “Tokati i figi na drugosta”: “As much as political and military cataclysms are horrifying and provoke the mind with the monstrosity and power of their destruction, so much is the shaking of spiritual identity, whose intensity is no less fierce, remains difficult to comprehend.” 126

In his novel “Golemata izmama” (The great lie), Nakovski chronologically follows events that remain a permanent mark after the battles fought on Gramos and Vicho.

The following events are dealt within the content core:

• Visiting birth place and being reminding of the past

• Mobilizing the Kostur Region population to carry wounded, digging trenches and building bunkers

• Historical moments in DAG’s activities

Figure 10. A destroyed house in the village Ezerets

The novel begins with a very sensitive picture of Giorgi’s return to his native village during the war. This image of a devastated and exiled village with demolished houses gives a true picture of the state of the villages in Kostur Region during the last year of the Greek Civil War. “There wasn’t a single house left intact in the upper neighbourhood, only wrecked black walls remained. ‘So they burned the village’, he

126 Julia Kristeva: Tokati i figi na drugosta. - Skopje: Templum, 2003, p.158

thought to himself, as dark and sorrowful thoughts began to cross his mind. He spat a bitter spit.” 127

In his description of the village, the author unfolds Giorgi’s memories of his past village life, of his family, of the Macedonian customs, of the gatherings, of his joy with his newborn, of weddings, and of love. All of which has now been replaced with desolation, loneliness, pain, and hopelessness.

Typical and particularly striking is the description of the oak tree located at the outskirts of the village:

Figure 11. Oak tree located near the village Ezerets

“The hill looked naked and washed over by the rain, the great oak tree named D’MBOT stood mute, a witness to times past, with only three hacked up branches still standing and a trunk marred with dents of shrapnel… Stuck to it like lichen is the silence and pain of the times... They stood together – two muted loners, each weighed down with years of burden and with the grief of emptiness in them.” 128

The image of the oak tree - one trunk and three branches - is a symbol of a divided Macedonia. 129

The tragedy which Giorgi personally experienced is in fact a tragedy of the entire Macedonian nation. The devastated desolate village left an incredibly tragic impression, sublimated in the question:

127 Petre Nakovski: Golemata izmama. - Skopje: Makavej, 2007, p.10 128 Ibid., p.14 129 The original photograph of the oak tree called “D’MBOT” has been preserved in the author’s personal archives.

“Who did all this to us and why?” 130

In the novel we find a description of the Kostur Region population being mobilized to dig trenches and build bunkers for defending Vicho.

Figure 12. Women carrying logs and stones to build bunkers

“Soldiers with mules and horses loaded with ammunition passed through Zhelevo all night long, singing and cheering with excitement. Behind them, 380 women followed from the Koreshtanski and Prespa villages - mobilized to carry the wounded.” 131

“Women, mobilized to transport wounded during the Lerin battle, were detained and temporarily settled in an underground hangar dug in the shaded beech wood forest, located between Zhelevo and Psoderi. The night shift, consisting mostly of women, was tasked with carrying logs on their shoulders and transporting them over open space, over the bare hills where other women and men, escorted by DAG (Democratic Army of Greece) fighters, carried and placed the logs over dugout holes. The logs were piled over the holes in rows. First a row of logs, then a row of rocks and soil then a second perpendicular row of logs on top followed by more rocks and soil. The process was repeated five, six, seven, or eight times.” 132 They silently carried the burden on their shoulders, under the slogan: “The enemy will not pass Vicho!”

130 Petre Nakovski: Golemata izmama. - Skopje: Makavej, 2007, p.39 131 Petre Nakovski: Golemata izmama. - Skopje: Makavej, 2007, p.131 132 Ibid., pp. 167-168

The author has very faithfully and consistently documented DAG’s activities carried out in 1948 and during the crucial period in 1949. The documents are based on the author’s extensive knowledge and research of the situation in that time period.

Events in the novel “Golemata izmama” (The great lie) are chronologically arranged and supported by authentic texts from the various communication exchanges such as resolutions, proclamations, appeals, letters, many of which were translated from Greek. These can be found in official published materials as well as in documents in the Republic of Macedonia’s archives. 133 This confirms that the military (documentary) novel “Golemata izmama” (The great lie) contains a number of “literature of fact” elements which we will be analyzing as follows.

A central historical fact in the novel “Golemata izmama” (The great lie) which refers to 1949 and from which the novel gets its tiled “Golemata izmama” (The great lie) brings to the surface two elements: military lies and political lies.

The military lie under the slogan: “The enemy will not pass Vicho” deceived the population and the fighting force (of less than 20,000) to believe that it could overpower and defeat almost 200,000 government troops, armed (at the time) with the latest American weapons.

The second element of the above-mentioned central historical fact is the CPG Resolution taken during the Fifth Plenum, which was an open political lie in order to mobilize the Macedonian population en masse with the promise that Macedonians in Aegean Macedonia (Northern Greece) will gain the right to self-determination after DAG’s victory. Here is what was said in the resolution:

“In Northern Greece the Macedonian (Slavo-Macedonian) people gave their all in the struggle and fought with heroism and self-sacrifice, and deserve our respect and admiration… There should be no doubt that as a result of DAG’s (Democratic Army of Greece) victory and the people’s revolution, the Macedonian people will gain their national renewal as they want it and will get it, because today they are sacrificing their blood.” 134

This great lie led to a sharp political reaction from the CPY, which, in addition to the Inform Bureau Resolution, led to an increase in disagreements between the two communist parties.

This is what Traian Petrovski said about this at the promotion of the novel “Golemata izmama” (The great lie) in Bitola:

“The Inform Bureau’s infamous appearance, which, instead of providing freedom and democracy, dictated a new harsh reality with far-reaching consequences, especially

133 See: Egejska Makedonija vo NOB 1949, volume 6, Skopje, 1981 134 Petre Nakovski: Golemata izmama. - Skopje: Makavej, 2007, p.74

in the wider international arena. This was the bloody axe that cut and shattered all hope.” 135

The Fifth Plenum Resolution calling for the Macedonian people’s self-determination by acclamation was accepted by the Second NOF Congress held in the village Nivitsi on March 25-26, 1949. To further manipulate the Macedonian communists Zahariadis created the organization KOEM (Communist Organization of Aegean Macedonia) in Greece. He created it to oppose the CPM (Communist Party of Macedonia) in the People’s Republic of Macedonia in Yugoslavia.

Zahariadis and several of his CPG Central Committee supporters soon abandoned the resolution for the Macedonian people’s self-determination and replaced it with the slogan “equality for minorities”.

Zahariadis’s decision to replace the Resolution “Macedonian people’s self-determination” with “equality for minorities” coincided with the border closure with Yugoslavia, as per Tito’s speech in Pula. This greatly disappointed the Macedonian people, the DAG fighters and especially members of DAG lower command.

It’s a historical fact that the Greek Civil War ended on August 15, 1949 with DAG being catastrophically defeated and forced to leave Northern Greece and relocate to Albania. In fact all the Macedonian DAG fighters, Macedonian political organizations such as NOF and AFZH, along with almost the entire Macedonian civilian population in the war zone was forcibly evicted from its ancestral home and sent to Albania. The description of the exodus in the novel is typical of what really happened and is presented through the characters of an older DAG fighter and Krstovitsa who, while carrying the woolen bedcover everywhere with her, carried the fate of her entire family.

With intention to calm and encourage her to keep moving, the exhausted DAG fighter accompanying Krstovitsa on her exodus to the foreign land and said the following:

“Come, sit and let me see what you are hiding there in that spool. Let us open it up together. Don’t hide it, let me see it. Let us put that reddish black string behind us, let us tie it to this rock or to that oak tree and along it, like blind people, tapping and feeling our way with a stick, we can find our way, hold on to the string so that we can both find our way to the source from which we were uprooted…” 136

The author here equates Krstovitsa’s spool with that in the myth about Ariadne, daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë who gave Theseus the thread with which he found his way out of the Minotaur’s labyrinth. 137 Ariadne and Theseus followed the unwrapped string from the spool, found their way out and returned to their home, but Krstovitsa and

135 Trajan Petrovski’s review of the novel “Golemata izmama” by Petre Nakovski given during the novel’s promotion in Bitola on December 14, 2007 136 Petre Nakovski: Golemata izmama. - Skopje: Makavej, 2007, p. 356 137 http://www. stil-magazin.com/clanak/broj-82-21-jul-2008/cudesni-svet-bogova

her generation of Macedonians never returned to their homes. They remained in foreign lands forever.

This war novel, the subject of our analysis, contains a series of elements of “literature of fact” through which we find the truth about time, military actions, events, people and their destinies.

The first element which confirms the work has elements of “literature of fact” is the authenticity of space, names of settlements and toponyms. The author uses accurate topography with Macedonian names for the sole purpose of preserving them in the individual and collective national memory:

Villages: Labanitsa, Breznitsa, Osheni, Borovo, Telok, D’mbeni, Orovo, Lagen, Dolno and Gorno Kotori, Krushoradi, Setina, Krontselevo, Dolno and Gorno Pozharsko, Psoderi, Zhelevo, Smrdesh, Oshchima, Trnaa, Rulia, Tikveni, Zhapunishta, Izglebi, Zhelin, Buf (Macedonian villages: Medovo, Shtrkovo), German, Nivitsi, Grazhdeno, Iamata, Aposkep, Tiolishta, Visheni, Bapchor, Konomladi, Gorno and Dolno Statitsa, Drenoveni, and L’k.

Cities: Kostur, Rupishta, Lerin, Voden, Kukush, S’botsko.

Mountains: Pind, Mali-Madi, Gramos, Vicho, Sinadev Rid, Stenite, Gorusha, Krusha, Aliavitsa, Tumbite, Bela Voda, Lisets, Dreniche, Dzvezda, Galichitsa, Odreto, Kaimakchalan, Moro, Lundzer, Golinata, Kulkuturia, Olenata, Baro, Roto, Glavata, Kresto, Plati, Nikoler, Amuda, Charno, Bigla, Dabche.

Peninsula: Sv. Ahil

Rivers: Bistritsa

Lakes: Mala Prespa, Golema Prespa

Toponyms: Devolsko Pole, Lerinsko Pole

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

Here the author accurately and chronologically portrays events and describes military actions that took place which left a lasting mark on the Macedonian people. He has used facts to present the life events of certain individuals and social groups in order to confirm the great lie that was committed against the Macedonian people.

The author takes us back to the past through Zahariadis’s chronological recollections in order to highlight the course of events that led to DAG’s defeat.

Events:

- In September 1947, while the Greek Civil War was still ongoing, the CPG Third Plenum was held in Prespa during which there was division of views between Zahariadis and Markos regarding how Aegean Macedonia (Northern Greece) was going to be liberated. For that purpose, the plan “Limnes” (Lakes) was introduced.

- On October 14, 1946, an agreement was signed to unify NOF and the CPG.

- On November 21, 1946, all Macedonian detachments were placed under CPG leadership.

- On December 23, 1947, the Provisional Democratic Government of Greece, headed by Markos, was formed in Asamati.

- Voden was attacked at 3 o’clock on December 22, 1948.

- Lerin was attacked on February 10, 1949.

- KOEM was formed on March 27, 1949, in Nivitsi during a NOF Congress.

- Tito’s speech given in Pula was broadcast over the airwaves on July 10, 1949.

- The attack on Vicho by the government army was started on August 10, 1949 at 5 o’clock.

The author has given us a precise description of the battles that took place in separate positions on the front lines prepared by the government army - front line: Kula-Plati; northern front line: Bela Voda - Bigla - Lundzer - Kulkuturia; central front line: Polenata - Plati - Kula - Roto; southern front line: Mali Madi.

The novel has authentically described precise military positions that refer to the combat sector on whose heights the most difficult and decisive battles took place: elevation 1186, elevation 1964, elevation 2156, elevation 1922 and elevation 1685.

The author has given us a complete picture of the government military arrangement such as divisions, brigades, battalions, reserves, artillery combat activities, tanks, government army and air force used to attack DAG. He has also given us a description of the four offensive phases carried out in the area in Vicho from August 10 to 16, 1949. After being acquainted with the operational plan, code named “Pirsos”, General Kozmas (from the government army) said:

“We are interested in one thing: victory! There will be no negotiations. Only our weapons will speak. No capitulation. There will only be defeat from which they will never recover! Gentlemen, it is my honour to tell you that the offensive will commence on August 10th at 5 am.” 138

138 Nakovski: Golemata izmama. - Skopje: Makavej, 2007, p. 258

The novel also cites newspaper headlines as well as historical figures and military and political organizations confirming the thesis of “literature of fact”.

Newspapers: “Nepokoren” 139

Authentic names of historical characters: King George, Zahariadis, Markos, Velouhiotis, Sarafis, ELAS Greek officers Gusias, Vlandas, Bardzotas, Ioannidis, Partsalidis, General Georgiadis - Commander of the 14th Brigade, Porfirogenis, Stringos, Kolishevski, Tito, Rankovich, Stalin, Vangel Aianovski-Oche, Keramidzhiev, General Van Fleet, Alexandros Papagos - commander-in-chief of the government army, Kozmas -general in the government army, Tsakalotos, Manidakis, Grigoropoulos – also commanders of the government army.

Military and political organizations: ELAS, NOF, AFZH, CPM Central Committee, KOEM (Communist Organization of Aegean Macedonia), LOC (special units for combat in mountainous conditions), Bureau A2 (military security and intelligence service).

The action in the novel “Golemata izmama” (The great lie) is continued following the action in the novels “Postela za chemernite” (A bed for the wretched), “I kamenot e zemja” (A stone too is soil) and “Golemata udolnitsa” (The great decline) by following the fate of the main characters: Giorgi, Lazo, Numo, Pop Vasil, Tsilka, Mita, Kolio and Krstovitsa. The characters Mare, Ilia, Mitre, Krste, Evgenia, Kole, Krste, Risto and Labrovitsa are also found in the novel “Golemata izmama” (The great lie).

As the characters throughout this novel are analyzed, the truth about Macedonian life in Kostur and Lerin Region is revealed and followed. In its portrayal, the people’s collective destiny is characterized. The characters in the novel are heroes, fighters, villagers… who are characterized by their own way of evaluating things. Traumas are revealed through their expressions and psychological depths. They are bearers of a painful destiny, persecuted, separated, crippled and mentally and physically exhausted, but they continue through time with their troubles, fears, expectations and most importantly - hope.

Tsilka, Mita, Mare, Ilia, Mitre, Krste and Kolio are fighters from the 103rd DAG Brigade and participants in the military operations in Gramos and Vicho. Following their difficult existence, we learn about the grueling weather conditions, the long and exhausting marches, the deliveries of food and weapons, but also about heroism, courage, endurance and faith.

Giorgi, Numo, Krstovitsa and Labrovitsa are key characters who are typical representatives of the Macedonian people from Kostur Region. These are ordinary people who got lost in the whirlwind of the war.

139 http://www.rastko.rs/cms/files/books/4f344d3d7fb2d

Evgenia is also a typical character. She is representative of the mobilized women. Simple, lonely, with nothing of her own, mobilized to dig trenches and build bunkers. But through her character the author reveals the courage, disobedience, fighting spirit and determination of all Macedonian women who struggled to oppose evil. Her simple speech is especially characteristic of a villager as was discovered when she was asked to addresses the Second NOF Congress through which a true picture of the situation was revealed. She tells the truth about her family, about the abducted children, about the mobilization of her older children, about carrying young wounded and maimed fighters, about carrying logs and digging trenches, about the ruined houses, the empty and desolate village, the uncertain future and the daily bad news. Her address - contrary to Vera’s teachings - is an address to all Macedonian mothers and women:

“…when will the day come when I get the chance to meet and see, how do you say, our dear and beloved Zahariadis, so that I can ask this celebrated, clever and brave great son of ours, not only for myself, but for the many mothers out there, outside of our borders, in the mountains and on the battlefields who, before everything else brave the war to bring water, bread, ammunition and bombs high up the mountains and then to bring the wounded and dying back.’ I often thought of asking our great son Zahariadis, on behalf of all the mothers out there, who cried while burying the dead, especially the barely grown young men and women consumed by this war, the mothers who while burying someone else’s child receive bad news from whispers that ‘her child was just lost’. I would like to ask our esteemed guest: ‘Zahariadis, why must we carry such great fear, day and night, for our children, for our homes, for our crops, for our livestock, for our closest and most beloved?’ In front of us and behind us, dear Zahariadis, we see only mourning, only fear, only trembling and tightening of our hearts, only evil all around us. Did you not tell us to give everything for the struggle? We trusted you and we gave everything we had. You said all to arms and we all went to arms. We did exactly as you asked. Now our villages are desolate and our homes are empty, only spiders live there weaving their webs… We are in constant fear that we will receive bad news about our children, husbands, brothers, friends and every day more darkness falls on us. And now you tell us that victory is near? Near for whom? Who is going to remove the darkness from us? You say victory is near, but when it comes will there be anyone left to give birth, to make a home, to light a fire, to sing a song? Our fires have been put out, my dear Zahariadis… We are not what we used to be and what we want is no longer there for us, it is all gone…” 140

Evgenia paid for her courageous presentation of the truth by being arrested and sent to a concentration camp.

The third element that confirms that the work has elements of “literature of fact” is the real characters: Lazo, Kuze, Giorgi, Tsilka and Krstovitsa. In building the characters, the author starts from specific life situations, drama, character testimonies, which are consistent with the truth. These are real characters whose testimonies are a document of personal failure and personal tragedy which turns into a tragedy of a nation,

140 Petre Nakovski: Golemata izmama. - Skopje: Makavej, 2007, pp. 184-188

of the tragic fate of broken families, of ruined houses and devastated villages, and of uprooting and exile.

Similarly, the author follows the activities of the negative characters, Kuze and Vera, who also appear in previous novels. Kuze is a negative character who persists in fulfilling the orders of those in NOF and AFZH, and who is cowardly and humiliatingly helpful. Here is a small part of his character:

“Besides the seeds he was carrying in his sack, with him he also carried the awareness that the authorities had forbade him from speaking the Macedonian language which is why he spoke Greek to his oxen. Those passing by his fields would hear him yelling at the oxen “Pano Gaito. Kato Balio”! (Up Gaito. Down Balio)! Unfortunately Gaito and Balio stood there dozing, waving their tails and shaking their ears. Kuze, frustrated, kept yelling and poked the oxen with his poker, but all the oxen did was kick and jab one another. Kuze stood behind them then ran in front of them showed the oxen where up, down and forward were as he spoke to them in Greek. Unfortunately Balio and Gaito still stood there motionless, dozing away. When other plowmen or shepherds passed by his field, they would stop for a moment and greet him with the words: “Good luck plowman… and teacher!” 141

Similarly, Vera too is a negative character, an ever-present propagandist and a spokesperson in the service of the armed struggle, its current needs and the communist movement. Characteristic is her helpfulness and devotion to the party, which is confirmed in Evgenia’s preparation on how to give a speech at the Second NOF Congress:

“First and foremost you should call out a slogan about our comrade Zahariadis, you should greet him first with a warm and sweet voice, tell him that he is the greatest and most beloved son of the Slavo-Macedonian people… And why, Vera, should I not say ‘Macedonian people’, are we not Macedonians? You will say what I tell you! We are what we are but Party politics and Zahariadis want us to be Slavo-Macedonians. Whatever Zahariadis says, goes.” 142

In this novel Nakovski has portrayed Zahariadis’s character as a man who wanted to establish a connection with the masses, while having a different vocabulary for individuals. He was able to grab them by the legs and sow into them the spirit of faith and hope and make them believe that he was indeed their saviour… and the masses placed their unquestionable trust in him. He knew how to stand before the masses and speak to them, he knew how to raise them up high and bring them down low. He knew how to converse with villagers even though he knew nothing about farming, about plowing, hoeing, or shoveling. He spoke with the workers as if he was a worker himself even though he had never been in a factory. He knew how to talk and dance with the fighters even though he had never held a gun in his hands… “With the help of the narrow-minded, boot-licking middle cadres, he was a villager, a worker and a soldier. And that is exactly how the individuals and masses wanted him to be – one from respect and others from fear.

141 Petre Nakovski: Golemata izmama. - Skopje: Makavej, 2007, p. 31 142 Ibid., p. 178

By words and by looks he knew how to reward, criticize, boast and penalize and by his suspicion he knew how to destroy…Such rarity was this Zahariadis, for whom songs were sung and miracles and legends told.” 143 Most villagers in the Kostur, Lerin and Voden Regions believed in those miracles and legends, which by the merit of his middle, low and lower cadres, their beliefs were turned into a ‘burnt offering’ and a ‘heroic suicide’…

Zahariadis’s perverted character is evidenced by the conversation he had in Moscow between himself and a fortune teller who, among other things, told him:

“You are handsome and clever but you have the character of a scoundrel. Are you by any chance not a communist?” 144

What the fortune teller told him came true about twenty years later. Unfortunately, the half-literate Macedonian cadres in NOF and AFZH (the likes of Vera) who believed in him, managed to introduce him as a principle among the Macedonians who then led them to one of the biggest Macedonian national defeats in Macedonian history.

The fourth element that confirms that the work has elements of “literature of fact” is the Macedonian common code, “traditional things that are symbolic” 145, presented through authentic descriptions of traditional Macedonian customs: for giving food for the soul – giving out boiled wheat, zelnik (pita), mlechnik (pita with milk), pogacha (large round loaf of bread), wine, rakia (brandy); Lamenting the dead; Celebrating traditional Macedonian religious holidays: Mitrovden, Petrovden, Voditsi, Golema Bogoroditsa, Easter, St. George by gathering in the meadows; dancing dances such as: Bairacheto, Nevestinsko, Levoto; singing the songs: More chupi Kosturchanki, Eleno mome, Mlada partizanka, Na Vicho planina, Vo borba, vo borba; kneading homemade rye bread, praying in front of the icon of the Mother of God, baptism, saying a prayer. These are sources of fact, a reality taken from everyday life during that time, which confirms the real meaning of what it is to be Macedonian.

The author has also made reference to surnames of families such as: Nakovtsi, Zisovtsi, Mitrevtsi, Popovtsi, Petkovtsi, Pandovtsi...

This is what Traian Petrovski will say about this during the novel’s promotion:

“Nakovski’s narrative mastery is especially captivating, which is intertwined with impressive dialogues and the most shocking events. The melodious language and the rich vocabulary helped him in that. He consciously inserts parts of the Kostur speech in the epic work, in order to preserve the authenticity, and through that the mark of identity.” 146

143 Ibid., p. 195 144 Ibid., p. 63 145 See: Venko Andonovski: Abduktsia na teoriata. - Skopje: Galikul, 2011, p. 176 146 Traian Petrovski’s review of the novel “Golemata izmama” (The great lie) by Petre Nakovski. The novel was promoted in Bitola on December 14, 2007

In addition to the Macedonian literary language, the author has also used words from the Kostur dialect, such as: “jastie” (??), “velentse” (woolen bedcover), “pliachki”, (clothes), “vidu” (I saw), “da vime” (we will see), “fustanite” (women’s dresses), “vagia” (??), “chupi” (girls), “kosma” (??), “cherven” (??), “kelku” (how much), “umo” (brain), “tua” (here), “ka sho me pulish” (the way you see me), “ogno” (the fire), “laf” (word), “shlukaa” (??), “opitvae” (were asking), “osh” (are you going), “godinieto” (the years), “grobishcha” (cemetery), “oide” (went), “kinee” (tearing), “krshee” (breaking), “palee” (burning), “geoite” (sins), “svite” (everyone), “z’mbi” (teeth), “grede” (coming), “dadome” (we gave), “tsrnitsa” (mulberry), “padinva” (??).

We also find curses in the novel: “... they have disappeared, the village has been burned down... they burned it, let the fire burn them…” 147 … you’re teaching them to kill, may lightning strike you…”, “Well, they hardly grow and you collected them… may the evil collect you!” 148

In order to capture the authenticity of space, time and circumstances, Nakovski uses both Greek and Russian words and expressions: Ekso! Avrio sto tmima sas ta ertun i naftergates, Ma then te xerume, Keratades ta mathete, Omorfa, poli omorfa traguthia, Vot, smotri, milenkii, linia dorogi nikuda ne vedet.

The novel is rich with symbolism: a black head kerchief symbolizes sorrow, tears, pain. A prayer symbolizes a personal religious experience based on thinking of God or another object of worship. Silence symbolizes loneliness. A broken cradle symbolizes abandonment. The icon, word, speech, the oak tree are symbols of permanence and survival of the nation.

The story in the novel ended on the shores of the Prespa lakes. While the government’s victory over the communists was celebrated all over Greece, a white bearded priest stood on the ground at the great Prespa tomb dotted with tanks and bulldozers and, in a trembling and broken voice, whispered:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are those who fulfill His commandments, to have the right to life and to enter the city through the gates. And outside are the dogs, the dammed, the prostitutes, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who wants to lie and deceive…” 149

At the same time, Giorgi rescued a child he found in the reeds by the lakeshore, and, while carrying it in his arms and holding it tightly against his chest “... he walked through the huge tomb and when, only for a moment, without interrupting his trembling step, he looked at the sky, it occurred to him that the stars were traveling with him.”

147 Petre Nakovski: Golemata izmama. - Skopje: Makavej, 2007, p. 36 148 Ibid., p. 186 149 Ibid., p. 381

The novel ended with the centuries-old prayer and the traditional ringing of the village church bell - three times for the peace of the souls:

“Three times and all night dong-dong-dong… ringing three times for everyone in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, AMEN…” 150

After completing the analysis of the novel a question comes to mind: “What did the Macedonians gain and what did they lose by participating in the Greek Civil War en masse?”

The author did not provide an answer. He left that for the reader to decide. It is up to the reader to evaluate the situation and judge and evaluate what has been gained and what has been lost. The reader is left to decide what motivated the Macedonian people to enter the Greek Civil War en masse, which, half a century after it ended, is still looked at as a great adventure. The Greek Civil War was started after World War II ended and after the Great Powers had agreed on their strategic and political interests.

We would like to end our analysis of the novel “Golemata izmama” (The great lie) with Traian Petrovski’s assessment:

“Very few authors have such a grasp of matters associated with destiny and as good a sense of objective judgment... Nothing binds so strongly as what is written. That is why Petre Nakovski writes with understanding, with devotion to the truth and manages to give us a valuable novelistic reading of the Macedonian uneasiness...” 151

It is worth repeating the question that Giorgi asked at the end of the first chapter in this novel when he returned from the cemetery:

“Who did all this to us and why?” 152

150 Ibid., p. 384 151 Traian Petrovski’s review of the novel “Golemata izmama” (The great lie) by Petre Nakovski. The novel was promoted in Bitola on December 14, 2007 152 Petre Nakovski: Golemata izmama. - Skopje: Makavej, 2007, p. 39