Foreword - Part 01

Foreword

This book is not an attempt to convey historical facts; it is not an accurate historiography of the time, of events and of personalities. Why? Because the book was based on notes the Risto, Spiro’s father left him which he wrote in the 1990’s, more than 40 years after these events took place. The notes were handwritten in 3 separate notebooks. Some of the events described were repeated. The names of various personalities and the villages they originated from were given with no other information. So Spiro felt it was important to fix this, to sort things out and to provide the reader with a complete picture, particularly about Risto’s family past and present. This was an opportunity for Spiro to tell his father’s story and his understanding of life the way he experienced it, so that we today can continue his work and be proud that Spiro and his siblings had a great father who left them so many things. “We will continue, to the end of our lives, to be proud, to mention his name and to talk about his work. But I would be most grateful to the readers for reading this book and it would be very much appreciated for them to send me feedback and more information on the topics, if they possess such information”, says Spiro.

In this book the reader will find basic information on the Mavrovski family from today, extending back many generations. The reader will also find historiographical, geographical, ethnological, cultural and other information on the village Zhelevo where Risto was born and lived through good times and bad, including through World War II, the Greek Civil War, his participation in DAG and his personal struggle of being wounded. The reader will find out about his trek to Poland and the activities he carried out with the Party, in military school, working in factories and participation in cultural and political organizations. The reader will learn about his arrival in the Republic of Macedonia, about life and events in Skopje and Bitola, about his work at the refrigerator plant, about his participation in society and family and ultimately about his participation in sports as an inevitable part of his life. In short this is what the reader will learn from reading this book, but of course there are also Spiro’s and other paople’s thoughts and personal comments about him as a person, a family man, a father, a husband, a grandfather... In addition there will be photographs (in the Macedonian version only)

of personalities and events that were important to the Mavrovski family. The book contains a small number of historical facts which speak about the same events that Risto had described, which confirmed his view of these events, unfortunately Spiro could not find much information to confirm the other events he described. This is why Spiro needs the readers of this book to help help him out. Spiro owes it to him for all the things he did for him, for his family and for society in general.

This is Spiro’s first book, his first attempt at writing and putting together his view on “Aegean Macedonia” (Greek occupied Macedonia); a complicated subject about which Spiro has spoken many times in the Macedonian Parliament, at many speeches at various Aegean Macedonian Association meetings and publicly during his tenure as a Member of Parliament. This is Spiro’s first attempt, and he hopes not his last, of organizing and putting together what he had learned from the long talks he had with his father about the many things and the many misunderstandings that had taken place in Risto’s past; the events, the personalities and the deeds. Spiro would like to present the reader with all sides of the story if that is possible.

Finally, if Spiro has written something personal, his thoughts of certain events, a little or a lot different from his father’s, who after all was a direct participant in these events, it is because this was done in retrospect and things sometimes look different in hindsight.

A short autobiography of Risto Mavrovski

Risto Mavrovski (or Hristos Mavrou as he was called in Greek), son of Mihail and Neda, was born in 1928 in the village Zhelevo, Lerin Region, Aegean (Greek occupied) Macedonia.

Risto completed primary school (grade 6) in Zhelevo and after that remained at home with his parents. A life changing day in Risto’s life was October 28, 1940, the start of the Greek – Italian war. In 1941 Greece capitulated after which the Germans and Italians came to the village and remained there until Italy’s capitulation on July 9, 1943. After that the Germans returned again and remained in the village until October 20, 1944. After the Germans left, ELAS

fighters came to the village and remained there until March 1945. All this time Risto remained in the village and worked in the family farm and in the background.

After ELAS left, the Monarcho-Fascist army arrived in the village and remained there until April-May 1947. The Greek Civil War began in the spring of 1946 and ended in late August 1949.

Risto joined the Partisan movement as a fighter in June 1947 and fought in the Greek Civil War to its end. He was wounded three times and was sent to Albania, Yugoslavia and Poland for treatment, during which time he was operated on four times. His injuries unfortunately left him permanently disabled (70%) to the end of his life. Risto had a family; a wife, two sons Spiro and Vasil, a daughter Neda, two daughter’s-in-law Elena and Mariana, a son-in-law Zdravko and grandchildren Tsvetanka, Hristo, Vasko, Metodia and Marika and now he has great-grandchildren.

Risto has dedicated this short biography, which he wrote himself, to his family which he was happy to see grow and multiply in numbers. To let them know and assess for themselves what he did in his life and to leave them to continue his work and carry on his unfinished business.

With this Risto hopes to gain his family’s consideration and, for whatever else in life he has not said, will remain forever written.

Family roots – Risto Mavrovski’s great grandfather Risto Shkavrev

Risto Mavrovski’s great grandfather Risto Shkavrev and his wife had four children, three sons, Iote, Trpo and Iovan and a daughter named Mitra.

Iote, the first born son, was married to Stoina with whom he had three daughters and a son. The daughters were named Mara, Tasa, and Neda (Risto’s mother) and the son was named Risto.

Mara married Giorgi Trendov and had two sons Pando and Tanas, and three daughters Dafina, Velika and Mitra.

Tasa married Giorgi Perelov and had four sons named File, Vangel, Pando and Ilo, and one daughter named Fania.

Risto married Vana, a bride from the village Ianoveni, Kostur Region, and had a son named Vasil. Unfortunately Risto died and Vana left their child in the care of Stoina and her daughter Neda. Vasil grew up with Risto Mavrovski and Neda’s family. Vana remarried and took Krsto Iandrevski as her second husband.

Neda (Risto Mavrovski’s mother) married Miaile (Mihail) and had four sons named Krsto, Spiro, Risto and Nikola and a daughter named Sofia.

This has been the family tree of Risto Shkavrev’s first son Iote.

Risto Shkavrev’s second son, Trpo, had three sons named Kote, Pavle and Vasil and one daughter named Dafina. Dafina and her husband Traiko and their family are living in Canada, about which Risto Mavrovski has no more information.

Risto Shkavrev’s third son, Iovan, had one son named Lazo. Lazo has two sons named Tanas and Done and two daughters named Petra and Velika.

There was an unpleasant incident involving Iovan before he was married. One day, while he was out in the forest collecting firewood, Iovan was captured, tied and taken away by a number of Gheg (Albanian) bandits. While traveling on the road they came across a young boy who the bandits instructed to go back to the village and tell Risto Shkavrev, Iovan’s father, to bring gold coins because if he didn’t they would kill his son. Risto took his gold coins and caught up to the Ghegs at a place called “Bachorno orniche”. Iovan was still tied up then so Risto figured that the Ghegs were up to something. Risto understood a bit of Albanian and from the conversation they were having he gathered that they also wanted to capture him and take them both to Albania. Risto offered the Ghegs a cigarette while he motioned to Iovan to move away and run as fast as he could. And while Iovan escaped Risto remained in the hands of the Ghegs who

then took him to the village Trnaa, beheaded him and took his head to Korcha. His body was buried in the fields in Trnaa.

A number of Vlachs from the village Psoderi recognized Risto Shkavrev’s head and contacted the people in Zhelevo to let them know that he had been beheaded and that, according to his assailants, he was a great outlaw, which of course was not true.

Tanas married a woman from the Ginovtsi family, Done married a woman from the Trpchevi family, Petra married Iane Mandzhukov and Velika married Iovan Bekiarov.

Risto Shkavrev’s daughter Mitra married Ilia who later became a reverend (priest). They had four sons named Nikola, Bogoia, Pando and Pavle and six daughters named Mara, Elena, Sofia, Tsveta, Kala and Arhonda. One of them married in the village German, another married in Armensko and the rest married in Zhelevo.

This is what Risto Mavrovski has left us about his great grandfather Risto Shkavrev’s family.

Mihail Boikov’s (Risto Mavrovski’s father) family

Risto Mavrovski’s father Miaile (Mihail) and mother Neda had four sons named Krsto, who died at a very young age, Spiro, Risto and Nikola and a daughter named Sofia. Among the family members that grew up in that family, as mentioned earlier, was also Vasil Shkavrev, Risto Mavrovski’s cousin. Risto’s grandmother Stoia also lived with the family, which made them eight family members in total.

Risto Mavrovski’s cousin Vasil was born in 1914, but after his father died he stayed with Risto’s grandmother Stoina and mother Neda. Stoina died in 1936 but before that she went blind and the entire load of looking after everyone, including Vasil and Stoina, fell on Risto’s mother Neda.

Risto’s father Mihail Boikov (1903-1964)

Risto’s father Mihail, who married his mother Neda in Zhelevo, was born in the now Albanian town Bilishcha in 1903. He was Macedonian by origin and of the Orthodox religion. Mihail had three sisters, two of whom were married in the village Orevoo in Prespa Region. Mara was married to the family Dzhambazovi, Sandra was married to Miail of the family Mialovtsi and Ristana was married in the village Rabi to a man named Bozhin. Mihail’s last name was Boikov, named after his father Boiko. After he married Neda in Zhelevo he took Neda’s surname and became known as Mihail Shkavrev (later renamed by the Greek state to Mihalis Mavrou). But because Mihail was from an Albanian village, the people of Zhelevo referred to him as, or nicknamed him, Miaile the Arnaut, as was customary in those days to call newcomers to the village. Mihail was an experienced master builder of houses and other works and took care of the entire Skavrev family. Mihail spent a great deal of his time building homes, not only in Zhelevo but also in many surrounding villages, including Bouf where the entire village knew him as Mishe (Mihail) the master. In Bouf Mihail did a lot of work for many families of which Risto would like to mention a few. He worked for the Opashinov’s, Popovtsi’s, Iankula’s, Eminagovi’s, Chinchevi’s, Trgachovi’s, Serbinovi’s, Vasilevi’s Gagachevi’s, Beikovi’s and many other families which Risto could not remember. Mihail left a big impression in the village Bouf. Other places where Mihail worked included the villages Armensko, Sveta Petka, Gorno and Dolno Kleshtina, Klondorabi, Lazheni, German, Rabi, Rudari, Shtrkoo, Papli, Orovnik and Lak in Prespa Region. He had also worked on the road to Prespa, on the watchtower at the Greek-Albanian border (telonioto) in the village Smrdesh, at the Greek-Bulgarian border in 1936 where he helped build the defensive line “Grami Metaxa” to defend Greece from Bulgarian attack. Many skilled builders worked there for an entire summer, among whom was Risto’s father Mihail who built the defense wall that extended from Argirokastro to Kavala. The group of masters with whom Mihail worked included Trpo Popov, Kole Altano, Giro, Lambro Trkalov, Sterio Trkalov, Spiro Lasko, Kole Puchugov and Dane Chakov who later became a miller. These men were the older and best masters amongst whom were also younger helpers, including Risto’s brother Spiro, Kole Karafilov, Risto Trkalov and Giorgi Gushev.

Mihail was always a very diligent and well-respected man in the village. He never owed anyone anything and never quarreled with anyone. He was always cheerful and liked to lead the dances in festivities, especially when dancing the “difficult” dance (teshkoto). Despite all the work he did he always found time for his children. He always taught them to be industrious, honest, appreciative of everyone, to not steal, to not lie, and he always said “If you work hard you will always have the things you need”.

In addition to being a great master builder, Mihail was also an educator and an organizer. He never turned down any work no matter how mundane and low paying it was. During the occupation years, 1941 to 1945, he always found time to clear land so that new fields could be created and planted with rye, barley, oats and potatoes so that the family could survive. From 1947 to 1949 Mihail was organized into the movement with hammer in hand and, even though he was an older man, took part in the ranks of DAG in Gramos, Vicho and Albania until the end of June 1949, when he was appointed civil guard (poliak) in the village until August 16, 1949, when he was captured by the Greek army stationed in Preval and as such he was unable to flee to Albania with the refugees. Afterwards he continued to live and work in the village in even more difficult conditions than before. He remained in the village with his daughter Sofia. His son Spiro died in June 1949 in Shestevska Buka. His son Risto was sent to Poland and youngest son Nikola was sent to Hungary. Mihail’s wife Neda died in April 1948 and he remained a widower at age 45. Later he married a woman named Stoia, from the village Oshchima, with whom he had a son named Giorgi Boikov. But because both Mihail and Stoia had children from previous marriages they put Giorgi up for adoption. He was adopted by a childless couple from the village Lazheni, Lerin Region.

Spiro Mavrovski’s view of his uncle Giorgi Boikov

This was another encounter with a long lost relative, which unfortunately lasted less than a day. This was the first time Spiro Mavrovski (Risto’s son) met Giorgi Boikov, a man from his father’s family; Risto’s step-brother. Spiro felt fortunate to be part of that encounter. It was during the summer of 1978 when a young man with a sympathetic look on his face showed up at the Mavrovski

home, rang the apartment door bell and asked for Risto Mavrovski. Risto was at work at that time but, because the young man spoke Greek, Spiro asked his mother to speak with him. After speaking to him, Sofia (Spiro’s mother) told Spiro that this young man was Risto’s brother, which surprised Spiro because no one had ever told him that he had another uncle, let alone an uncle not much older than himself. Risto arrived after lunch and spent some time with Giorgi before they took him to visit Kole (Nikola), Risto’s younger brother. When they arrived at Kole’s home the first thing they did was ask Kole if he recognized the young man. Kole looked at him and, because of his young age, guessed that he was one of Spiro’s friends. When they told Kole who Giorgi was, he burst into tears of joy for having met his brother he had never seen before. The saddest part about this pleasant encounter was that Giorgi had to return home immediately because he was leaving for Canada to be with his sister Sofia, who had made arrangements for him to move to Canada. After that Giorgi was gone from Spiro’s life but did keep contact with Spiro by letters. Giorgi was one of the uncles who regularly sent Spiro and the family greetings during the important holidays such as Christmas and Easter. Giorgi got married in Canada and has children of his own. Spiro’s wish is that he continues his relationship with Giorgi and his family and to not let Risto’s death stop that. Giorgi is part of the Mavrovski family and will remain that way forever. “You are one of us Giorgi and we love you,” says Spiro.

A couple of years after the Greek Civil War ended Mihal’s daughter Sofia, who remained with him in Zhelevo, married Kole (Nikola) Filev (Stefou) a man from the village Oshchima, one of Zhelevo’s neighbouring villages, who had just been released from the Greek Island concentration camps. Mihail was married to Stoia who was also from Oshchima and as such he spent his time working in both Zhelevo and Oshchima. Then, after Mihail’s marriage to Stoia ended, he spent more time in Zhelevo until he became sick and moved back to Oshchima to live with Sofia so that she could look after him. Mihail died in Oshchima in September 1964. His desire to go and live with his sons in Bitola was unfulfilled. Before that he had recently visited Bitola, unfortunately for the last time. Sadly he fell ill after that and died.

And, as such, Mihail’s story ended but his work continued through his surviving children Risto, Sofia, Kole and Giorgi Boikov. Mihail’s grandchildren will always remember him, respect and love him because he was their grandfather. “May he rest in peace and may his fame be eternal!” wrote his son Risto Mavrovski.

Spiro Mavrovski’s view of his grandfather Mihail Boikov

It was most unfortunate that Spiro’s grandfather Mihail happened to live on the other side of the “Iron Curtain” so close to Bitola yet so difficult to cross. But, despite that, Spiro feels fortunate to have met him. Spiro remembers the last time he met with his grandfather. This was the day when he got to sit and talk with his grandfather while watching his father Risto and Uncle Nikola busying themselves planning to build a house for their father so that the entire family could live together. Mihail, as a master builder himself, thought they would do that together so he brought a lot of money with him. But before he could settle in Bitola, Mihail said he had to return to Zhelevo and sell his properties. Unfortunately he never made it back to Bitola. None of his grandchildren in Bitola got to see their grandfather do the things he did best, including leading the difficult dance. The only things that remained for them were memories and the photographs the family had acquired over the years. “May he rest in peace!” says Spiro.

Risto’s mother Neda Ioteva-Shkavreva (Mavrova) (1900-1948)

Risto’s mother Neda Ioteva-Shkavreva (Mavrova) was born in 1900 in the village Zhelevo. She was the daughter of Iote and Stoina (maiden name Bachkova) Shkavrevi. Neda was the youngest child in her family. She never had any formal schooling but was a very bright, beautiful and smart woman. All of Neda’s older siblings were married and she married a man named Krsto Iandrovski with whom she had a child named Vasil. But after her father Iote died and later her brother Risto, her older sisters asked her to return home to look after the rest of the family. Neda had no choice but to return to her father’s home and be with her mother. Her son Vasil was left in the care of his aunt and grandmother. After Neda returned to her father’s house, Krsto Iandrovski left her. Her sisters found her a new husband in the village Bilishta who was willing to live with her at

her home. His name was Miaile (Mihail). There was a three year difference between Mihail and Neda. Neda was older. Even after she married Mihail, Neda continued to look after her father’s family of whom, by then, only her mother and nephew remained at home. Mihail and Neda’s first child Krsto was born in 1923, followed by their second child Spiro, born in 1925. As the family gradually grew in number there were new mouths to feed, which forced Neda to take on more work. She found a menial job working for her sisters and for other, richer peasants, in the village in order to make ends meet.

But, despite her meagre earnings, Neda still managed to send her nephew Vasil, born in 1914 and now of middle school age, to school in Lerin to be educated so that the villagers would not think that he had been abandoned. A little after that, in 1927, Neda experienced another great tragedy when her four year old son, Krsto, fell and died, running after a car. Neda was devastated, now left with one child, Spiro. A year later, in 1928, her third child was born, a boy, whom Mihail and Neda named Risto, after Neda’s brother who had died earlier. A little after Risto was born, Neda’s mother went blind. Some say because of grief for her son Risto and grandson Krsto and because of all the crying she did. This posed another problem for Neda; to look after her blind mother. Neda, however, never gave up. With the help of her husband Mihail and her sisters, working day and night, she managed to deal with life. Neda was very busy working at home and in the fields and, as such, time passed quickly for her. In 1932 Neda gave birth to a girl whom the family named Sofia. In 1935 Stoina, Neda’s mother, died. In 1935 her nephew Vasil was drafted into the Greek army. After that Neda was left with only looking after her husband and her three children, which somewhat relieved her from having to work so hard. Her son Spiro too had grown up and was capable of looking after his brother and sister. Neda, however, continued to work for her sisters as well as on her own properties. It should be mentioned here that Stoina’s property (Neda’s mother) was divided by the sisters. They gave Vasil half her assets and the other half were given to Neda and the rest of her family. Around 1936 Vasil was discharged from the Greek army and came back home. He took on the job of the village’s civil guard (poliak).

Then, in 1937, Neda and Mihail had another son who they named Kole (Nikola). Neda’s family had now grown to seven (including Vasil) but this was until 1939 when Vasil married Elena Sandrina and things started to go downhill. Vasil and his new bride insisted on dividing up the property and assets, which left very little for Mihail and Neda, in spite of all the work they had done for that family. Discussions were followed by quarrels about what belonged to whom, so Mihail and Neda decided to build Vasil and Elena a new house, inside the same yard, so that the family would not split up. Mihail, Neda and their children stayed in the old house.

Unfortunately the Greek-Italian war started in the fall when Greece was attacked by Italy on October 28, 1940. At that time Greece closed all schools. Shortly after the attack numerous Greek columns of soldiers and military vehicles, day and night, traveled on the road from Lerin, passing through the village Zhelevo. The front was located about 24 kilometres away from the village. Three days later three Italian air force bombers bombed Zhelevo and wounded Kala Gligorovska who was left without a hand.

Several days later the village was evacuated. Neda took her children to the village Bouf and stayed with the Baikovski family. During that time the Greek military captured the airport in Korcha and there was no longer danger from bombing so the villagers from Zhelevo returned to their village. All this time Mihail stayed in Zhelevo and looked after the house and properties.

Vasil, Neda’s nephew, and other young men from Zhelevo were drafted by the Greek army and sent to fight at the Albanian front. Mihail was not drafted because he had four children.

Life went on as the war continued until about Easter 1941, when Greece fell under German and Italian occupation and the Germans arrived in Zhelevo. Soon afterwards the Italians arrived. The border between the Italian and the German zone was set at Mount Bigla. The Germans controlled Zhelevo and Prespa Region and the Italians controlled Kostur Region. The occupation brought hunger and starvation in the village as the warehouses were emptied and reserves exhausted. Thousands of people died of starvation in Greece. Having money, or even gold, did not help the hungry.

Neda and Mihail tried not to allow anything bad to happen to their family. They hid their resources and used them sparingly. They ate very little food, mostly potatoes, beans and a little bit of flour. The entire village was fortunate that nothing bad happened during that time. Mihail continued to work hard for very little compensation, which amounted to a handful of grain for an entire day’s work. He did not want his children to suffer.

During the spring of 1942 the villagers again began to work in their fields plowing, planting rye, barley, corn and other grains, in order to stave off starvation.

Just as life began to reach stability the Italians, in 1943, began to take the village livestock; sheep, goats, cows, oxen, calves, etc. This clever idea was thought of by a person named Marino from Gabresh who wanted to make a lot of money. So he persuaded the people of Kostur, who worked with animal skins, to get the Italians to order a collection of livestock from the villages. So anyone who owned sheep had to donate one for every ten they owned. If a family owned two oxen they took one. If a family owned a cow and a calf, they took the calf, etc. Neda and Mihail lost their calf. They had no sheep, only a cow, a calf and a donkey. At the same time Kalchev’s (Bulgarian agent) armed hoods roamed the villages and robbed them. They particularly targeted Zhelevo because, according to them, it was a “Grkoman” village (Loyal to the Greek regime). The people of Zhelevo, however, sought help from the Italians who put an end to the plundering. They allowed Kalchev’s bandits to eat in the village and then drove them off. Later the Italians gave the villagers guns so that they could defend themselves. At about the same time, in the village Armensko, grain was given to anyone who declared themselves Bulgarian. But this was a far fetched idea for Neda and Mihail and they did not want to get mixed up in it.

At about the same time the Italians began the confiscation of livestock, in the spring of 1943, a partisan movement began to develop, in which Spiro, Neda and Mihail’s oldest living son, actively participated. Spiro believed that the people should be patient and endure for a little longer and that the occupation would crumble. And indeed Spiro was right; Italy capitulated on September

9, 1943. Unfortunately the Germans took their place. They came to Zhelevo the same day the Italians left and took up residence in Foto Sotirov’s coffee shop, in Tanas Ianovski’s house, at the Broda house and at the Nanovtsi house where they established their German headquarters for the village Zhelevo.

When the Italians left the village they abandoned a lot of their things. Neda and her children went around and collected whatever they could find, which included clothing, military uniforms, ammunition, etc. She took the ammunition and gave it to her nephew Pando Trendov, as her contribution to the partisan movement. Neda and Mihail did not approve of Spiro’s activities with the partisans because what he was doing was very dangerous. Unfortunately, Spiro was stubborn and would not listen, so the best his parents could do was remind him to be cautious at all times.

One day in the summer of 1944, while Neda and Risto were heading home, returning from the Dolni Kup field with their donkey loaded with straw, the German SS service stopped them. This was at the entrance of the village near the coffee shop where the water ditch ran, which supplied water to the nearby mills. Here the Germans had dug a ditch, filled it with water and used it as a swimming pool. For some reason, unknown to Neda or Risto at the time, two German SS soldiers came over, grabbed Neda by her shoulders and threw her into the pool of water. They then released a dog and sent it after her. Neda, not knowing how to swim and fearing that the dog was going to tear her apart, was petrified and sank deep into the pool. The Germans thought it was funny and laughed as they watched. Some moments later they took her out of the water and tossed her on the grass in the meadow. She was unconscious. Risto quickly ran to Tanas’s house and called on the Germans residing there to send a paramedic. Neda was still unconscious when the paramedic arrived. He gave her an injection but still she remained unconscious and lay on the grass for a long time. Later, more German soldiers came and took her home. From that moment on, Neda never felt the same. She never recovered from her ordeal. She was the kind of woman who had fought everything but from this she could not recover.

The family believes that Neda was thrown into the pool of water because she was fingered by some peasants for allegedly bringing

food to the partisans in the mountains. But the real reason for the fingering was because she had quarreled with some villagers about who had the right to use the water in Dolni Kup to water the fields. Neda eventually died because of this. It is most unfortunate that Neda never saw any of her grandchildren and they in turn never got to know their grandmother, except for the few pictures of her that were left behind.

Later, the same Germans who had tossed Neda into the pool were killed by the partisans near the villages Trnava and Rulia. The dead Germans, ironically, were buried near the same pool where they had tossed Neda, at the entrance to Zhelevo near the coffee shop. After the Germans were defeated in 1945, Neda became bed-ridden. That summer she was taken to the hospital in Lerin but there was nothing that could be done to help her. She returned home and lay in bed half dead. She was looked after by her young daughter Sofia.

In 1946, Mihail, with the help of his sons, took down the old part of their house and built a new house on top of it. Spiro, Neda and Mihail’s older son, got married in 1946 to a young and beautiful woman from Zhelevo named Ristana Bekiarovska, Vasil Bekiarovski’s daughter. Ristana was poor but made up for it with her beauty. Neda was very happy for her son. Unfortunately that lasted only a short time, as Spiro joined the partisans in early June 1947 and left for the mountains. Later in June of the same year, Risto, Neda and Mihail’s second son, also left to join the partisans. Less than a year later, in the spring of 1947, Neda and Mihail’s youngest son Nikola was enrolled in the “Save the children program” and sent outside of the country as a child refugee. Neda was left alone with Ristana, Spiro’s wife, and her daughter Sofia. Unable to cope with all that was going on and with her own condition, Neda died at the end of April 1948. A little later during the struggle, Spiro became mortally wounded in the Bukata locality. He was taken to a field hospital in Trnaa where he died. Spiro was brought back to the village and buried in a grave near his mother. Spiro gave his life for freedom and for the Macedonian cause. He was a great Macedonian patriot.

Neda’s children were brought up to be good people, to be patient, calm, courageous, honest and decent. Neda died before her time but

left a good impression in the hearts of her children Risto, Sofia and Nikola. May she rest in peace! Neda lived a difficult life from the day she was born to the day she died, but in spite of that she was always kind and generous to everyone. Neda may have been 48 years old when she died but her death began in 1944 when the German fascists entered her life.

Neda Ioteva-Shkavreva-Mavrova’s story was written by her son Risto in Bitola in 1988, forty years after her death, so that she may never be forgotten.

Risto’s brother Spiro Mihail Shkavrev (Mavrovski) (1925-1948)

Spiro was born in 1925 in the village Zhelevo, Aegean (Greek occupied) Macedonia. He was Neda and Mihail’s second child. Spiro was born to a poor working class family. After he finished grade six in the local Greek public school in 1938 he went to work. He had no opportunity to continue his education and as such went to work with his father Mihail and learn his father’s trade as master builder. Spiro was an intelligent young man and could not agree with the exploitation that was committed against the Macedonian people and sought ways to become organized in the workers’ struggle. Spiro decided to join the CPG’s (Communist Party of Greece) youth organization in the village Zhelevo, whose chief organizer was Pando Trendov. Spiro worked for the Party organization from the start of the war (October 28, 1941) until the spring of 1941 when the German army arrived in the village and was quickly replaced by a detachment of Italian troops and a special police unit known as the “carabinieri”.

The CPG leadership in Zhelevo consisted of Pando Trendov, Spiro Simovski, Ilia Markov, Tode Kirovski, and Kole Nikolov. Spiro along with other youths were responsible for gathering guns, various types of ammunition, military uniforms and whatever else they could find that belonged to the Greek army that withdrew from the region after Greece capitulated. All the materials that were collected were hidden in secure places. Later the same year, Spiro and the others were tasked with helping the poor and needy families in the village and beyond.

The EAM (National Liberation Front in Greece) was formed in September 1941. In addition to working for the EAM, Spiro also worked with his father and other family members on their own farm, fields and gardens. During the winter of 1942 Spiro and others from the Zhelevo Organization, in addition to doing organizational work, also volunteered for snow removal services and cleared the snow off the main road to Lerin.

The Italians were bringing guns to the village and arming a particular group of villagers. The Bulgarians, on the other hand, were handing out guns and corn to those who declared themselves Bulgarian. Spiro did not get mixed up in these affairs because he was organized in the CPG. The Italians raided the village and took a number of villagers to Kostur. A little later they did the same thing and took a second group of seven villagers. The first group was released and allowed to return home. From the second group only Pop Spiro was allowed to return, the rest were executed. Among those executed from Zhelevo were brothers Pando and Pavle Popovski, Pando Laskou Stergiou, Vasil Giamov and Ilo Iandrovski.

The first group of partisans appeared early in 1943. Included among them were Pando Markov, Giorgi Sideri, Giorgi Bogdanov, Kole Findako and Lazo Ioanovski Gligorov. And as such the struggle began against the occupiers. Then, in the summer of 1943, a new group of partisans joined the units. Spiro, as a member of the CPG, was among the group that remained in the village to carry out various courier and sabotage actions. This lasted until Italy’s capitulation on September 9, 1943. During this time Spiro, under the leadership of the CPG, was responsible for supplying the Macedonian partisans, stationed in the village Bouf, with weapons. He also performed other acts such as cutting telephone lines and collecting food and clothing. During the Epiphany celebration when the cross was thrown into the freezing cold water, Spiro jumped in and retrieved it. All the proceeds from the cross, money and food that he collected in the village he donated to the partisans. Spiro was instrumental in the disarming of the villagers who had acquired guns from the Italians. He also helped those, including foreigners, who wanted to escape the Germans. Spiro surrendered them to the partisans.

After the German army left in the fall of 1944, ELAS units arrived in the village and, for the time being, there were no enemies from the outside. The people, however, needed help with the various problems they were facing in rebuilding their lives, which Spiro and other like-minded individuals voluntarily offered. A little earlier, in September 1944, a number of Macedonian units, led by Gotse, broke away from ELAS and crossed the border into Vardar (Republic of) Macedonia. This literally broke up the movement; some wanted to struggle with the Greeks and others didn’t… but the war was not over.

In December 1944 the English invaded Athens. Many people were dying as Greece was slowly turning into an English colony. This is because ELAS, EAM, DAG…, had earlier signed some agreements with the British government and with the Greek Royalist government in exile in Egypt, to allow this to happen. It seems, even though the Greek partisan movement had 160,000 fighters (more like 25,000) at its disposal, it still could not win and become master of its own country.

At that time Spiro was in the village and struggled in accordance with Party directives. In the spring of 1945, the first units of the Greek Monarcho-Fascist army arrived in Zhelevo. Soon afterwards a British company arrived but did not stay long. And so, Zhelevo again found itself under a new occupation by another enemy. And as such, from that moment on, a new struggle begun, more brutal than the last.

From the moment the Greek Monarcho-Fascists arrived in the village they began: forced searches of houses that belonged to the partisans; beating partisans and members of their family in public in the village square; jailing partisans and those suspected of aiding them and performing other gruesome acts against them.

Spiro, at the time, was home with his father, building their new house. In 1946 Spiro married Ristana Bekiarovska, a poor but beautiful girl. Free elections in Greece were scheduled to take place in 1946 but the CPG ordered its supporters not to vote. As directed by the Party, Spiro was fully engaged in the agitation convincing people not to go and vote. But later Spiro understood the full effect

of the CPG supporters not having participated in the elections. The Greek government conducted a general mobilization and mobilized only those who were loyal to it. A large group from the village, including Spiro, was rejected because they were allegedly ill and could not join the Greek army.

The Greek Civil War started in the spring of 1946 and lasted until August 1949. Fearing persecution, imprisonment, or even death, because a lot of that was going on during that time, Spiro and a large group of young people fled Zhelevo and in the spring of 1947 joined the partisans on Mount Vicho. Spiro became a DAG (Democratic Army of Greece) fighter and as such began his sacrifices; isolation from his young bride, from his friends and from his beloved family. As a DAG fighter Spiro demonstrated great courage. He along with Leko Markov and other fighters were assigned to a special demolition unit responsible for placing mines, destroying tanks, demolishing bunkers, cutting down telephone poles, cutting communication cables and blowing up roads and bridges. The special demolition unit was stationed at the Vicho General Headquarters. In 1947 Spiro participated in the following battles: Rakovo, Neveska, Gorna and Dolna Kleshtina, Ovchareni, Dmbeni, Chetiroc and other places in Kostur Region. In the fall of 1947, Spiro was heavily wounded during a battle at the village Srebreno, Lerin Region, during which he lost an eye. Despite his wounds, Spiro stayed at his post and fought, not wanting to abandon his comrades. For the courage he showed, his name and deeds were announced over a radio broadcast (Free Greece). He was also awarded recognition of bravery and declared a national hero by DAG General Headquarters. When the battle was over, Spiro was sent for treatment to a camp called Sukt in Tirana, Albania.

When the offensive began in Gramos during the summer of 1948, despite of having lost an eye, Spiro volunteered for combat duty. He joined up with Tsvetko from Lerin and fought in several battles until he was wounded again. During an enemy aerial attack a bomb fell on his bunker and he was buried in the rubble. He was again sent to Albania for treatment, this time to Korcha. Spiro, unfortunately, could not stay put and again volunteered for combat duty. In the fall of 1948 he was again sent to fight, this time at the Mount Vicho front, but not for long. He again was wounded in battle in

Shestevska Buka. This time he was sent to Bulkesh, Yugoslavia for treatment. Because of the large damage done to his body, including the damaged eye, in January 1949 Spiro was transferred to Budapest, Hungary for treatment. He had large pieces of shrapnel stuck inside his head that needed looking after. But, at his own request, in the spring of 1949 Spiro asked to be returned to the front. Spiro returned to the “free territory” in Prespa through Albania where he was appointed political commissar of a unit stationed in Vrro locality, near the village Pozdivishta, Kostur Region. Spiro remained at the Bukata locality until he was mortally wounded during a vicious battle on June 28, 1949; wounded for the fourth time. Many fighters lost their lives during that battle. Mortally wounded, Spiro was taken to a field hospital in Trnaa where he died. Spiro’s co-fighters Fana Simovska, Sevda Stanisheva, Tena Temovska and another fighter whose name Risto could not remember, took Spiro’s body to Zhelevo. His body was buried in a grave next to his mother’s. Risto Mavrovski and the entire Mavrovski family would like to thank all those who showed respect for Spiro as a fighter for DAG.

Spiro left behind his father Mihail, brother Risto, sister Sofia, brother Nikola and wife Ristana. Risto was a fighter fighting in the ranks of DAG and Nikola was in Hungary with the refugee children when Spiro died.

After Spiro’s death the struggle continued and was fought the way Spiro would have wanted, but unfortunately the partisans lost the war. But the things that will always be remembered are Spiro’s cheerful character, his spirit, his love for justice, and his patriotism. “Spiro, we will love you forever. We will never forget you and you will live in the memories of our children and grandchildren!” says his brother Risto.

Ristana, Spiro’s wife, left for Poland where she re-married. Spiro’s father Mihail remained in Zhelevo and briefly in Oshchima with his daughter Sofia, until his death in 1964. In 1966 Sofia left Oshchima and went Canada. Risto was sent to Poland. Kole was sent to Hungary. But eventually Risto and Kole returned to Bitola and made it their permanent home.

Risto named his first born son Spiro so that his older brother Spiro, his name, his character, his bravery and his honesty will never be forgotten and will remain alive in the memories of his brothers Risto and Nikola and his sister Sofia.

Risto’s sister Sofia Shkavreva-Mavrova (Stefova)