- “ALL TO WORK” - Part 01

- “ALL TO WORK” - “ALL TO LEARN A CRAFT AND RETURN TO THE MOTHERLAND PREPARED” - “MORE WORK, BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE THAT EXCEEDS THE NORM” - “COMPETITION BETWEEN PLANTS AND FACTORIES” - “EDUCATION, BROTHERHOOD AND POLITICAL UNITY AMONG THE IMMIGRANTS, GREEKS AND MACEDONIANS” - “HELP BUILD POLAND WITH ALL OUR MIGHT TO MAKE IT BETTER”

These slogans were a motivating factor in the lives of the Macedonian people in Poland.

Correspondent of the newspaper “Dimokratis”

The newspaper “Dimokratis”, published in Vrotslav, was printed in both Greek and Macedonian. This newspaper was included with the daily workers’ newspaper called the “Gazeta”, which was very popular among all immigrants, Greeks and Macedonians. This newspaper had correspondents in all the cities that sent daily reports describing life and work in those cities. The main correspondent for the Macedonian language edition in Shvidnitsa was Risto Mavrovski. The Greek correspondents were Demakopoulos and Zogas. For his work Risto was praised and rewarded several times by the editorial board and was sent on a three month course in Vrotslav to learn more about journalism. Risto successfully completed the course and continued to work in Shvidnitsa as a correspondent and contributor to the newspaper. Later Risto

engaged his brother Nikola to investigate and report on the activities and work of the young people in Shvidnitsa.

A major political event that took place at that time was Joseph Stalin Visarionovich’s death in March 1953, about which many correspondents had written. There was material written about his glory days, his death and his burial, marked by the sounding of sirens, standing ovations and some tears here and there. A little earlier, Boleslav Bierut, Secretary of the Polish Party PZPR had died. The new Secretary appointed was Edward Ohab. This was also the time when a decision was made to automatically include all CPG members living in Poland into the PZPR. From then on Risto had become a member of the factory and the city committee. During this period, as was said earlier, the following slogans became very important:

- “WORK MORE” - “BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE” - “PEACE IN THE WORLD”

And for the immigrants:

- “HELP OUR COMRADES WHO WERE IN PRISON IN THE DRY GREEK ISLANDS, MAKRONISOS AND GIURA”

From employee contributions, aid packages were put together and given to the Red Cross to deliver.

The organization had its own kitchens in Shvidnitsa, where Pando Shiperkov’s mother and father and Dedo Kole’s daughter worked.

Cultural and artistic life in Shvidnitsa

Besides the kitchen, the organization had a large room used as a club. It was given to them by the Polish authorities to use for personal business, gatherings, dances and other ceremonial performances. To improve the living standards of the immigrants, the following cultural associations were formed in Shvidnitsa:

- A Choir and an Orchestra

The following people were included in the choir and orchestra:

- Ilia Sklifov, conductor and first violin - Georgi Kostadinov, mandolin and guitar - Vangel Dramov, mandolin - Nikola Mavrovski, drums (Risto’s brother) - Kuzo Sklifov, guitar, (Ilia’s younger brother) - Todor Giakovski, guitar and drums

The group of singers and dancers consisted of the following people:

- Nikola from Bapchor (in charge of the group) - Iana Trpovska - Micho Purovski - Lina Purovska - Tashko Chapkanov (responsible for the entire Board)

This was a very large mixed group comprised of Greeks and Macedonians, young and old. It was very capable and was praised for its many competitions. This group competed in Vrotslav against similar groups from Zgorzelets, Legnitsa, Ielenia Gura, etc. The group won and took first place for which it was awarded a prized cup and a set of costumes. The group performed every Saturday in Shvidnitsa. It also performed regularly in neighbouring cities such as Nemcha, Belava, Dzhordzhonov and others. Basically every holiday, including Ilinden, was celebrated with various performances. Both Macedonians and Greeks participated freely and there were no misunderstandings or problems between them.

In the fall of 1952, in Shvidnitsa, Risto was given a place to live on 24 Panska Street, together with his friends Vasil Zogas, a Greek, Sokratis Krlingichi, a Greek and Dedo Micho from Voden Region. This building belonged to the factory and all who lived in it worked at the plant for manufacturing wagons. Risto liked this place because it was located downtown, close to the people he wanted to be with and who worked and lived near the other factories in the city. As mentioned earlier, the plant for making wagons was at the end of town but its management decided to build apartments for its employees and a dormitory for the young people downtown. All

employees were given apartments according to the number of family members. All single people were given residence in the dormitory. This was during the summer of 1952 when everything was done for a better quality of life.

The Political School at the Wagon factory

In early 1953 Risto Kotsmanov, who earlier worked in the ZVAR factory, was sent to the Agricultural Engineering School in Warsaw to further his education. In September 1953 the wagon manufacturing factory, which at the time was working two shifts, morning and afternoon, started a political party school to educate its own factory activists, which lasted for the next nine months. Risto participated in the educational program and studied the following subjects:

- International struggle of the working class - Marxism - Political Economics - Struggle of the Polish Communist Party - New technology and the construction of the Peoples’ Republic of Poland - History of the USSR Communist Party - Various other side items and themes

The subjects offered at the wagon factory were taught by well-educated personalities. At the completion of the course, students were given tests to assess their theoretical and practical knowledge. The information learned subsequently proved to be very useful in future work. Apart from taking courses at the wagon factory school, Risto continued to write for the newspaper “Dimokratis”, serve on the Board, assist in the Macedonian language school, help the folk group, participate in plant activities, help the sick and elderly, and perform other important activities. He did everything he could in the interest of his people.

In the summer of 1954, a new group of young people began to arrive from Romania. Included in the group were Micho and Lina Purovski, a brother and sister, who immediately became involved in all activities. In September 1954 Sotir Asencharov, who resided in

Shvidnica, was sent on a course to the party school in Lodz, which lasted nine months. With his departure the 1954 Board needed to be re-structured. The new composition was as follows:

- Risto Mavrovski, President - Manoli Benovski, Secretary - Tashko Chapkanov, Treasurer - Todor Stamkov, member - Ilia Sklifov, member - Metodia Dafov, member - Aleko Ilievski, member - Kole Giorgievski, member - Micho Purovski, member

Dating and marrying Sofia Rosi

Sofia Rosi arrived in Shvidnitsa from Legnitsa sometime in November 1954 and settled at Tsveta Sklifova’s (her sister’s) place. Risto knew Sofia from before. She often came to visit her sister and attended many of the local functions with Risto. But now that she had moved much closer their relationship became more serious, which later ended in marriage. Risto found true love in Sofia Rosi and, almost three months later during the 1955 New Year celebration, they got married. The wedding was attended by Vasil (kum), Tashko Chapkanov (pobratim), Ilia and Tsveta Sklifov (Sofia’s brother-in-law and sister), and many friends. From that day forward that small group of people had grown into a community and became part of Risto’s family who, after that, was an “officially” married man with family and extended family obligations. Up to that time Tanas Trendov, Risto’s cousin, lived with Risto. When Risto moved he gave Tanas his old apartment. Risto, for a brief time, moved in with Tsveta and Ilia Sklifov and later settled in his own apartment on Tribunalska Street 1/1, a much larger apartment. After that Risto invited his cousin Tanas to move in with them. Some time later there were four people living together as a family; Risto, Sofia, brother Nikola and cousin Tanas. They were all looked after by Sofia. Risto’s younger brother Nikola Mavrovski had arrived in Poland from Hungary in the spring of 1955. Initially Nikola lived in Zgorzelets but later Risto brought him to Shvidnitsa.

Spiro, Risto and Sofia’s first born son

Risto continued to work at the wagon manufacturing factory until one day, on April 4, 1957, he received some good news. His wife Sofia had given birth to a healthy baby boy. This brought joy into Risto’s life and made him a proud father. A short time later the baby was baptized and given the name Spiro, named after Risto’s older brother, a national hero who died in June 1947 while fighting for DAG.

From the moment Spiro was born, however, Risto and Sofia had concerns about the boy’s health. The climate in Poland was quite variable and humid. Risto and Sofia consulted with Dr. Zhelinski, who informed them that Spiro had problems dealing with the climate in Poland and urged them to leave Poland and move to a more moderate climate, if they wanted to save their child. Risto did not want to go back to Greece, if Greece even wanted him back. Greece, at the time, was not a good place to bring up children, so the family decided to look into Yugoslavia as an alternative place to move. Risto, Sofia, Nikola, Tsveta and Ilia sent their applications to the Yugoslav embassy in Warsaw. A short time later a questionnaire arrived which they filled out and, with photographs, sent to Belgrade. A short time later a positive response came and they left Poland and went to the People’s Republic of Macedonia. The permission they received, unfortunately, was good for only six months and it was necessary for them to do a lot more work and produce many more documents, including the kind of work they did, the Party they were members of, the union and city councils they had joined, etc. Even though these were formalities they were necessary.

As was stated earlier, Risto strived to get a better and higher paying job to support his family, that is why he enrolled and completed a course in technical drawing, worked as a KV locksmith in the new plant, where new wagons were manufactured, and worked as a foreman in a work brigade. At that time Risto was elected secretary of the PORP organization in the wagon assembly plant and worked alongside Tadeusz Kowalski, who was organizing secretary. They were required to increase production, maintain schedules and fulfill monthly plans. This was required of all plants across the country in

order to accelerate construction of housing, schools, hospitals, factories and to increase production of agricultural yields. The slogans “PEACE AND REPATRIATION”, however, were still valid for the immigrants. All groups worked according to plan and often had rallies, dances, parties, concerts, etc. All these events were successfully done and 1955 passed relatively peacefully for the immigrants in Poland.

Unfortunately Risto cannot say the same for 1956, during which time there was much unrest and upheaval in the daily life of Polish society. Among the many problems experienced there were also massive strikes in the “Stalin” factory for manufacturing wagons in the city Poznian. Strikes began to grow larger in Warsaw, Vrtslav, Krakov and even in Shvidnitsa, but these were less intense. People were getting hurt during these deadly strikes. At the same time riots were taking place in Hungary where a counter-revolution was brewing, led by Imre Nagi. These riots, however, were quickly suffocated by the Soviet army. Unfortunately the incident left many human victims and a lot of material damage.

After Stalin died, Nikola Sergeievich Khrushchev was appointed Party Secretary-General of the Soviet Communist Party. During the Twentieth Party Congress, for the first time Khrushchev spoke about Comrade Stalin’s personality cult. He spoke about the mistakes Stalin had made since Lenin’s death and told the world about the millions of honest communists that Stalin had destroyed in the USSR and around the world. Now, as the chief executive and the right-hand of these executions, much was said about Beria who was sentenced to death and executed. These kinds of atrocities were also popular in other Socialist Republics such as Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Albania, etc., where many people were convicted and killed.

It is worth while, at this point, to mention something about the Informburo issue with Yugoslavia, when Yugoslavia was expelled from being a member. Yugoslavia was expelled because it was considered a “revisionist state” and needed to be taught a lesson and, as such, an anti-Yugoslav campaign was started. Yugoslavia, in turn, started its own anti-Informburo campaign which caused many problems between Yugoslavia and the people’s republics. As a

result, Bulgaria sentenced and killed Traiche Kostov, Hungary sentenced and executed Laios, etc. This was absent in Poland except for the removal of Vladislav Gomulka from his position as Secretary General of PORP. After that he was free without any danger of losing his life. In the period from 1948 to 1955 a person had only two choices, either to be a Stalinist or Informburo supporter of a Titoist, with the first group being a majority and the latter being a minority.

Risto’s move to Macedonia

The Mavrovski family permanently left Shvidnitsa and Poland on August 28, 1957. The following families left Shvidnitsa during the months of June and July, 1957:

- The Sotir Asencharov family moved to Bitola where Sotir’s mother and daughter lived - Mitra Adzievska (and her children) moved to Bitola to be with her husband - Stavre Gruev moved to Skopje - Aleko Ilievski moved to Skopje - Tashko Chapkanov moved to Skopje to be with his mother, brothers and sisters - Pando Zaridzhev moved to Skopje - Sotir Popovski moved to Bitola and then left for Australia - Nikola Giorgievski moved to Bitola - Aleko Liangovski moved to Skopje - Manoli Benovski moved to Tetovo - Lambro and Mara moved to Titov Veles to be with their mother - Trpo Gichevski and his family moved to Skopje

Risto and his family, his brother Nikola, Micho Shkordov and his family, and Vasilka Purovska and her family picked up their things, got on a train and left for Bitola. Their trip lasted from August 28, to September 1, 1957. The train took them through Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Subotitsa and Belgrade before they arrived in Skopje. The next group of families to leave Shvidnitsa were the Sklifovs, Todor Giakovski, and Pando Manchev. They left in 1958 and also went to the Republic of Macedonia. Included among the families that left for Greece to join their relatives were Giorgi Popkonstandinov and

Tanas Trendov. Gelo Dramov left for Romania, Vasil Trpovski and his family and Micho Angelov left for Bulgaria. Remaining in Shvidnitsa were Aleksandra Kirova’s family from the village Pozdivishta, and Todor Stamkov. Later Aleksandra and her family left for Canada and Todor Stamkov returned to Greece. The last family to remain in Shvidnitsa was Metodi Dafov’s family. That was because Metodi had married a Polish woman. And as such the community that Risto and the others had worked so hard to build, in Shvidntsa, broke apart and so did the happy and sad times they experienced in the most difficult period of their lives. What remained after that were only memories, good and bad.

Risto’s family arrives at the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, People’s Republic of Macedonia on September 1, 1957

After the families arrived in Skopje they were taken to the barracks of the Idrizovo Prison, which at the time served as the centre for the arrival of displaced Macedonians. They were housed here temporarily until their past was investigated; their involvement in the Greek Civil War, in DAG, where they went after they left Greece and what they did in those countries. The authorities were also interested to know if any of these people were involved in the slandering of Yugoslavia when they were living in the other People’s Republics and in the Soviet Union. This was the time when the struggle between the Informburo and Yugoslavia was still active. By then several families from Shvidnitsa had already arrived in the Republic of Macedonia and had given the authorities detailed information about Risto; where he was from, what he had done in the ranks of DAG, what work he had done in Poland, that he had worked for a Polish political party, etc. There was no secret that the authorities did not know. Unfortunately there were also lies among the truth, which Risto had to adamantly reject. The names of those who slandered him were not disclosed and, as such, Risto never did find out who had done this to him. Perhaps it was better that way.

After their stay at the prison barracks, Risto was given an offer to stay in Skopje but only if he had someone with whom to stay. Unfortunately at that time Risto’s closest friends were Iovan and Vasilka Bekiarovski but they had no space for them. There was also Leko Balko but he did not want anything to do with Risto. Finally

Ilo and Leko Markovski took them, but for only three days, for a short visit. After that Risto and his family went back to the Idrizovo prison barracks where Risto decided that he did not want to stay in Skopje and picked Bitola as his final destination.

Hotel “Solun”

So, on September 9, 1957, for the first time in their lives, Risto and his family found themselves at the train station in Bitola. They arrived at night and reported to the local police station where the authorities ordered a coach to take the family to a hotel and not charge them a fare. The coachman took them from hotel to hotel but they were all full; that is after finding out who their perspective customers would be and where they had come from. When they arrived at the last hotel, hotel “Solun”, Risto personally went to the hotel clerk and asked him to rent him a room for three people, for one night only, and offered to pay for it. The clerk agreed and Risto paid him 560 denars. Risto remembered that Done Fermanov, from the village Bouf, was a porter at this hotel. But that night Done showed himself to be, let’s say, a little less than human. There were many people who had taken residence in the hotel, mostly new arrivals from the various People’s Republics, including some from Shvidnitsa. Risto did not sleep at all that night. All night he was concerned about what he was going to do with a wife and a five-month-old baby. He went out and walked the streets all night long. On his walk he accidentally ran into a police station. He walked in to find the duty officer surprised to see him walking the streets so early in the morning. Risto explained his situation and why he was feeling so anxious. To Risto’s surprise, the police officer telephoned the hotel “Solun” and told the manager to house the family for as long as it takes to clear up the situation. So in the morning, as instructed, Risto reported to the committee responsible for the new arrivals and met with a man named Lazo, a local from Bitola. The man was in charge of all the new arrivals who were coming from the various People’s Republic and called the hotel to negotiate the hotel fee which his committee was going to pay. He also gave Risto some coins, a small sack of powdered milk, some melted cheese, some beef fat and some butter. This was great help for Risto. He also told Risto to ask the hotel for his money back. Risto did ask but never got his money back. Let bygones be bygones…

The hotel room had two beds and nothing more. It was very dirty and heavily soiled with mice droppings and lice stains. The hotel had no other rooms available. Most of the bed covers and drapery had been destroyed by the mice. Several days later Risto’s baggage, which he had sent from Poland, arrived but there was a problem, there was no space in the hotel room to store it. Risto, at the time, had made contact with a woman from Zhelevo named Atina who lived in Bitola. Atina had remarried; she was now married to a man named Stamko from the village Rabi. He was a good man. Atina offered to store Risto’s luggage at her place until Risto found a place of his own. Risto will never forget this gesture of kindness and the endless hospitality Atina and Stamko offered the Mavrovski family. At that time Nikola, Risto’s brother, was still with Risto but resided in a different room, much worse than the one Risto was in. The room was in the attic and was loaded with lice. Risto complained to the Committee and Nikola was moved to a cleaner room. All these things happened in Bitola in September 1957.

Discovering Bitola in 1957

Bitola was a typical Balkan city, a remnant of Ottoman times, with narrow cobblestone alleys and no paved roads. Every road was narrow, wide enough for horses and donkeys but not for modern vehicles. Only once in a while one would see a government car squeezing by very slowly. The drainage and sewage system was also a remnant of Ottoman times. There were no tall multi-story buildings, only a few old-style short ones. The city had two rivers passing through it, Dragor and Kurderes. Kurderes was very dirty and polluted for the entire length that passed through the city.

People often traveled by train, a few old passenger rail cars pulled by a coal-powered locomotive. There were also a few old buses and the odd old truck here and there. Taking a trip out of town was long and hard. Inside the city people traveled on horse drawn carriages. The number of private cars in existence at that time could be counted on the fingers of one’s hands.

The factories in existence at that time were Monopol, Tekstil, Blazhe Rogozinar Furniture, Gorgi Naumov Refrigerators and

Kozhara. All these factories were small and operated with outdated technology. There were also smaller cooperatives. Almost all agriculture was in private hands except for a co-operative in the village Porodin, which had next to no mechanization.

In terms of schooling, the following primary schools existed in Bitola at that time: “Dame Gruev”, “Todor Angelevski”, “Kiril i Metodi”, “Gotse Delchev” and a “Turkish and Albanian” school. More schools were built later including “Giorgi Sugarev”, “Kole Kaninski”, “Elpida Karamandi” and “Trifun Panovski”. In terms of secondary and high schools, there was the “Josip Broz” Gymnasium which later became the lower gymnasium, a secondary agricultural and commercial high school for apprenticeships. More schools were built later including the technical school “Diuro Salai”, a school for studying medicine and a school for studying economics. Later the “Rabotnichki” university was built, which offered various courses including night school and foreign language education. At that time there were no canteens or child care services in the factories. There was only one kindergarten in existence and that was part of the home for orphans who were under social care.

Bitola at that time had dense forests, clean air, beautiful clear and clean mountain water and a great desire for a better tomorrow. Each passing day was better than the previous one for every person in Bitola. Bitola was a beautiful and growing city praised by many songs.

Bitola had an arcade, a large indoor market, which had operated since Ottoman times, many mosques and a tall clock tower. There were many bridges connecting roads over the Dragor River including the “Tsrn Most”, the “Lenski Most”, the bridge at Sali, the wooden bridge and the railway bridge. The famous “Kamen Most” connected one of the roads running over the Kurderes River. Bitola was divided into many neighbourhoods including the Ieni neighbourhood, the Bairo neighbourhood (a gypsy neighbourhood), the Smilevski neighbourhood, the Arnaut neighbourhood, the Chinaro neighbourhood, the Vleshko neighbourhood and the Gradsko neighbourhood. There were also many natural springs of running water including the Kazam Chesma, the Sharena Chesma

and the Bairska Chesma. Bitola had two parks, the city promenade and the Tumbe Kafe hill.

Most developed were the small businesses located in the “Stara Chershia” district with many stores and various workshops. Included among the hotels in Bitola were hotel “Solun”, the hotel “Makedonija” and the hotel “Trudbenik”. There were also inns such as the “Kichevo”, the “Debar” and the “Ingiliski”. These were all purely feudal remnants from old Yugoslavia. There were also many churches including Sveti Dimitria, Sveta Bogoriditsa, Sveta Petka, Sveti Naum, Sveti Arangel, Sveta Troitsa and Sveta Nedela. There was also a Russian church and a building that housed the Metropolitan. For the many people who had died and were buried in Bitola, as a result of the wars, there were several cemeteries including the “Sveto Nedeski”, the “Bikovski”, the “Vlashki” (Vlach), the “Katoliski” (Catholic), the “Evreiski” (Jewish), the “Srpski” (Serbian), the “Germanski” (German) and the “Fransuski” (French). Included among the markets and bazaars in Bitola were the “At-Pazar”, the “Stochin Pazar”, the “Mas Pazar”, the “Drven Pazar” and the “Madzhun Pazar”. The markets were always open on Tuesday and Friday and were frequented by young people looking for love and to find a mate for marriage, according to old customs. The trade in Bitola was almost nonexistent and items sold in the shops were very expensive.

Following the years 1957 and 1958, new buildings, with a new look, began to appear in Bitola to house the influx of Macedonians coming from the Socialist Republics.

A large number of people were relocated in the period from 1956 to 1958. Many Turks left Yugoslavia (the Republic of Macedonia) permanently and went to Turkey and were replaced by the so-called “Aegean” Macedonians (Greek Civil War refugees driven out of Greek occupied Macedonia by the Greek regime). At that time state borders were closed tightly, which forced people looking for their relatives or for a better life to cross them illegally. As a result, many of those who crossed the Greek borders illegally ended up in the Island prison camps in “Lavrion”. Some, who went the other way, ended up in Italy, Trieste and Austria. Earnings were very meager and survival was difficult.

The “Aegean” Building

All this time, up until June 1958, Risto and his family remained at the “Solun” hotel. Around mid-June 1958 Risto received word that an apartment was available on Ivan Milutinovich Street in building number 13/12 in Bitola. The apartment was 33 square metres. It was a new apartment located on the third floor on the south side and had a large balcony. This building was built for returnees from the People’s Republics. All the people in this building were from the Aegean (Greek occupied) part of Macedonia. This building in Bitola was known as the “Aegean building”. Risto’s neighbours on the third floor we Tane Paskov from the village Ofchareni, Nestor Kostov from the village Bouf, and Nikola Damianovski from Bitola, who had married a woman named Fula from Voden Region.

From what Risto remembers, the following tenants lived in the “first” entrance of number 13 on Ivan Milutinovich Street in the so-called “Aegean” building:

- Niko and Hristina Giorgievski with their daughters Maria and Elena. Niko was from Katerini and Elena from Zhelevo.

- Nikola and Ristana Giorgievski with their daughters Kiratsa and Lena and son Vasil. Nikola was from the village Korfula, Kostur Region and Ristana was from the village Rula, Lerin Region.

- Mihali and Elpiniki with their son Pando and their daughter. Mihali was from the village Sveta Petka, Lerin Region and Elpiniki was from the village Lakomata, Kostur Region.

- Giorgi and Marika Skefovski with their son Tanasi and daughter Slavitsa.

- Micho and Viktoria Dzhalev with their sons Petre and Pavle. Micho was from the village Blacha and Marika from the village Shistevo, Kostur Region.

- Damian and Domna Malkov with their sons Kosta and Pero. Damian was from the village Zhelenichevo, Kaliar Region and Domna was from the village Lakomata, Kostur Region.

- Todor and Hristina Anastasov with their sons Lambro and Vasil and daughter Rina from the village Polikastano, Grevena Region.

- Alekso and Mara Sivakovi and their sons Vangel, Micho and Traiko from the village German, Prespa Region.

- Nikola and Fula Damianovski and their sons Kire and Itse and daughter Mira. Nikola was from Bitola and Fula was from Voden Region.

- Nestor and Tsola Kostov and their daughters Menka and Olga and son Niche from the village Bouf, Lerin Region.

- Tane and Marika Paskov with their sons Kiche and Gecho from the village Ofchareni.

- Risto and Sofia Mavrovski with brother Kole, sons Spiro and Vasil and daughter Neda. Risto was from Zhelevo and Sofia from Pozdivishta.

- Aristi and Hrisanthi Gatsov with sons Petre and Tome. Aristi was from the village Setoma, Kostur Region and Hrisanthi was from the village Drenovo, Prespa Region.

- Pande and Mara Gulevski with sons Mile and Petse from the village Setina, Lerin Region.

- Kosta and Maria Nedelkov with their daughters and with Nedelko and Nedelkovitsa from the villages Armensko, Lerin Region and Orovo, Prespa Region.

- Boris and Krsta Ristevski and their son Vasil from the village Trnovo, Prespa Region.

- Vangel and Vangelitsa from the village Korfura, Kostur Region.

Just as many families lived in the “second” entrance of the building and only twelve lived in the “third” entrance. The “third” entrance had only one level. Major changes took place a little later and, of all the tenants who lived there, only two families remained.

Spiro, Risto’s son, however, has a lot more to say about this building (later) and about the youth that he grew up with.

Risto’s brother Nikola went with Risto when Risto moved out of the hotel and lived with Risto’s family until he was married. After Nikola left Risto’s family, he rented for a while in a house near the clock tower. Later, with help from his uncle Spiro in America, Nikola bought his own house where he lived with his wife Vasilka. And, as such, everyone’s housing problems were solved.

Sofia Rosi Mavrovska’s story - summarized by her son Spiro

Sofia Rosi Mavrovska was born in 1935, in the village Pozdivishta, Kostur Region, Greek occupied Macedonia. Her mother’s name was Elena and her father’s name was Metodia Rosi. Elena was born in 1903 and died in 1977 in Gara Elin Pelin, Bulgaria. Elena’s father’s name was Stavro Giumarov and her mother’s name was Iovanka. Elena has a brother named Lipo and a sister named Slava who immigrated to Australia. Elena also had a first cousin who Sofia had met in the village Novo Konomlati in Bulgaria near the Greek border. Sofia’s father Metodia Rosi was born in 1905 in the village Aposkep and died in 1989 in the village Pozdivishta. Metodia’s father’s name was Gligor Rosi. Metodia also had a brother but Sofia did not remember his name. The brother had a son named Hristo Evangelov. His son settled in Skopje after returning from Czechoslovakia. Sofia’s father had a house in the village Aposkep, located under the “izvori”, but his brother took him to America in the worst crisis in 1929 and he was reluctant to tell his story. During the war years 1941-1944, Sofia’s father acquired a rifle and served in Bitola. He was always loyal to VMRO.

There were four children in the Rosi family, three daughters and a son named Vasil. The oldest of the daughters was Aleksandra (Letsa), born in 1925, then Vasil, born in 1930, followed by Tsveta, born in 1932 and Sofia born in 1935. The family faced much

hardship. After the Greek Civil War ended, the three sisters found themselves in exile. Lena ended up in Tashkent and Tsveta and Sofia ended up first in Romania then in Poland and eventually in Yugoslavia. When they arrived in the Republic of Macedonia, Sofia went to Bitola and Tsveta first went to Shtip then to Tetovo, after that to Gara Elin Pelin, Bulgaria where, after 1965, Sofia’s son Vasil went to live with her. Sadly Sofia’s brother Vasil lost his life in Gramos during the Greek Civil War. He was 17 years old. His mother was never told that he had died and went on believing, until her death, that he was still alive, living somewhere in Czechoslovakia. Lena remained with the partisans and fought until the war ended. She was part of the last partisan units to withdraw from Greek occupied Macedonia to Albania. From there she was sent by ship to Tashkent where she married Giorgi and had a family. Sadly Sofia never saw her sister after the Greek Civil War or her family. Lena’s son Mihail was killed in a car accident at age 27 and was buried in Tashkent along with his mother and father, all alone, with no one to light a candle on their graves.

Back in the village, the Rosi family had property that included gardens at the Shiroki eli near the river and at the Siviak field under the cemetery. Between the ditches near the rivers was a field surrounded by walnut trees where the family grew the most delicious beans. The family owned a vineyard located under the Sveti Ilia Church on which there was a guardhouse that could house two guards. The family also owned fields in the village Drenoveni, which belonged to Sofia’s grandmother Iovanka who was originally from that village. The Rosi family had a large house with stables, a bathroom, a basement, a cellar, a well and a pigeon loft. And since Sofia’s father was a bricklayer, the house was in good repair and was regularly whitewashed. Unfortunately the house no longer exists, it was destroyed. As for the Rosi property, a neighbour took possession of everything, sold it and pocketed the money. God however is grand, as most Rosi family members survived the war and were able to rebuild again.

Before his property was taken, Sofia’s father was relocated to a new village called Pentohori. This was done by the Greek government with aims at taking his property and erasing everything that was his. Two months after he was forced to move, he went back to his

original village but the shock was too much for him and he passed on. God rest his soul. It terms of property, before the war the Rosi family owned 4-5 cows, 50-60 sheep, pigs, chickens, etc. During the holidays they always slaughtered a lamb and pig for Christmas. While living there, the land owned by the Rosi family was looked after by Sofia’s mother with help from her two older children Lena and Vasil. When Sofia’s father did not tend to the fields, being a mountain man from the village Aposkep, he worked as a builder in the surrounding villages. As a child Sofia remembers going to the village Kolomnati, to her mother’s cousin Trpo who had three children, Tome, Petre and Traianka. They later moved to Australia. Sofia had the opportunity to see them again during one of their visits to Bitola.

The school in Sofia’s village was located right in front of their house. The teachers who taught there at that time were Sotir and Iani. Unfortunately, because of the war, Sofia did not get to attend school but her brother and sisters did. The village also had a priest, a local man. When the war started everything changed. It became dangerous to live in the village especially after the Greeks began to bomb the villages. In the spring of 1948, the partisans organized a collection program to collect all the children ages one to fourteen and take them far away from their homes. And now here they are, roaming the socialist countries with no hope of ever returning home. Sofia and the other children were taken away on foot. They walked all day and arrived in Zhelevo where they spent the first night. The next day they left and by nightfall arrived at the village Liuboino, in the then free Yugoslavia. They stayed there for seven days before they were loaded onto trucks and taken to the Bitola train station from where they were transported to Skopje. In Skopje they were greeted by Romanian authorities who took over 1000 children with them to the city Kalimaneshti. The children stayed there for about nine months. Sofia was then with Dana Kolicheva, Liopa Lazeva and Aleksandra Kirova from her village. The person in charge (mother) of that group of children was Sofia’s sister Tsveta. Tsveta was in charge of 35 children. The older children helped the younger ones. Sofia was 13 years old at that time. Sofia has only praise for the poor children that were taken away, confident and under the impression that they would be returned to their homes and to their parents in a few weeks, or a month, or two at most.

In Romania, every day, nonstop, the children were fed cornmeal. Sofia became sick of it and to this day refuses to eat it. Sofia’s clothes were taken away and she was issued pajamas which she had to wear every day, day and night. Nine months later the children were sent to Poland to Londeg Zdrui where they spent a short time. It was different there, the children were welcomed and given a variety of foods to eat including meat, chocolate, and candy; things that were unthinkable in Romania. In the beginning the children were housed in children’s homes, then in a shelter where they were schooled for three hours in Greek, one hour in Macedonian and the rest of the school day in Polish. From here the children were sent to Zgorzelets. Nine children, including Sofia, were sent to Legnitsa. In Legnitsa they sang in a choir. For a short time they were sent to Vrotslav. Everything was well organized in Poland.

Sofia was enrolled in a four year program to study textiles after which she worked for two years before her sister Tsveta took her to Shvidnitsa. In Shvidnitsa Sofia met her future husband Risto Mavrovski, who at that time was President of the “Ilinden” organization responsible for organizing dances and other social events. Risto was a handsome young man with a lot of energy and was easy to fall in love with, which was crowned by Sofia’s marriage to him in the New Year in 1955. Their wedding was attended by Tashko Chapkanov (dever), a Greek partisan friend of Risto’s (nunko), Sofia’s sister Tsveta and her husband Ilia Sklifov, Ilia’s brother Kuzo Sklifov and wife Olga, and Micho and Leftera Purovski. Before Risto and Sofia were married, Tsveta used to always say to Risto that Sofia does not know how to cook and that she is not one of those typical homemakers, but Risto persisted and they learned how to cook together.

After their wedding Risto and Sofia lived in Shvidnitsa for two and a half years until August 1957, when they left for Macedonia and spent seven days in Idrizovo prison in Skopje before arriving in Bitola where they are to this day. The family first moved to “Ivan Milutinovich” street number 13/12 where their second son Vasil was born on July 31, 1959, and their daughter Neda was born on February 17, 1962. In 1978 the family moved to “Mirka Ginova” street number 13/42 where Sofia lives to this day.

Sofia recalls an incident taking place in 1976 when she received news that her mother was very ill and being hospitalized in Kostur. Sofia, in a hurry, arrived at the Greek border where she was issued a visa for only twelve days. She later extended the visa at the village and was able to stay in Greece a total of forty days. She spent ten days at the hospital beside her mother and another thirty days in the village. After that Sofia convinced her mother to go to Bitola with her and she did, but only for three months before she returned back to the village. One year later she left for Bulgaria and stayed with Tsveta, Sofia’s sister, until she died in 1977. Sofia’s mother was a kind woman. Every time she came for a visit to Bitola she visited everyone and brought gifts for everyone; for her, for Risto and for all the children. She was a wise and fair woman and will be missed by all.

Sofia lived a wonderful life with Risto who was always ready to help at home. Risto always gave Sofia his money because she was a responsible money manager, especially when it came to shopping and family economics. “Risto was simply a wonderful man,” says Sofia, “a good family man with whom I spent many memorable years, especially during the most difficult times in my life.”

Spiro’s view about his mother’s family

Spiro met his grandmother Elena (Sofia’s mother) for the first time at the Kremenitsa railway station. Risto took Spiro and Vasil with him, boarded a two coach train at the Bitola train station and took a trip through the various villages to Kremenitsa. It was like in the movies, says Spiro, with wooden seats and baggage on the side. These were probably the same coaches he saw in the old Macedonian films. The coaches looked like they had been out of order for the last thirty years; and so was the railway. Here Spiro was talking about the late sixties when these wagons were still in use. Some 40 minutes later they arrived at the Greek border crossing. There, Spiro remembers seeing a water spring bubbling carbonated water, spewing jets of water at regular intervals and causing excitement among the children. This was as far as the trains went. From this point on they had to turn back. On the other side of the border, on the Greek side, the coaches came up to the border and

also had to turn back. Risto, Spiro and Vasil arrived at the border first and anxiously waited for Elena to arrive. Their excitement began to rise when the next train arrived on the Greek side, but they were disappointed to see only one elderly man descend from the train. Risto and the boys quickly rushed to ask the man if anyone else was on the train. The man said that there was an elderly woman on board but there was a problem with her.

Time passed by quickly but still no one came off the train. They watched people go through customs and still no Elena, the long awaited grandmother that Spiro had heard so much about from his mother. By now Risto and the boys began to suspect that something had happened to Elena. About an hour later they saw an old woman with two bags in her hands come out of the train and move towards them. It was Spiro’s grandmother Elena, Spiro remembered her from the pictures he had seen of her. She was very excited to see them as tears ran down her cheeks. This was the first time she had met her son-in-law and the family of her youngest daughter.