IORDAN POPIORDANOV’S TWO LETTERS

IORDAN POPIORDANOV’S TWO LETTERS

We saw how Sarafov helped the Gemidzhii materially but little has been said about how Gotse Delchev helped them, whose help was considerably larger and more diverse. But in spite of that, the Gemiddzhii proved to be more loyal to Boris Sarafov than to Gotse Delchev. Why that is we don’t know for sure. One of the reasons, obviously, was because Delchev always had conditions attached to his help (prepare but do nothing on your own), while Sarafov, who

took no account of consequences, did not do that. There was also the belief that the money they received from Delchev was money that the people had donated for the cause. The money received from Sarafov, however, they believed was Sarafov’s “personal” money. That is why Ortse wanted to return it all to him. They were even grateful to Sarafov for the 1,000 kg of dynamite he sent them even though they never got it.

Here is what Shatev had to say about some of Ortse’s gestures:

“Not only Ortse Popiordanov, but most of the Gemidzhii felt morally obligated to Boris Sarafov because of the material assistance he provided to us since the very beginning and because of the great confidence he had in some of us, especially in Ortse Popiordanov, whom he liked very much. We all respected Boris Sarafov mostly for the gesture he made in front of the Supreme Committee Congress when they asked him to provide a financial report. He did not want to tell them he gave the Gemidzhii money in case such a report ended up in Ottoman hands. He put his own reputation on the line rather than divulge the truth of where the money went. About the missing money he said: ‘That sum of money I used to pay a loose woman with whom I had an intimate relationship’…”

“In our view,” wrote Shatev, “Boris Sarafov ran over all the other leaders who could not do what he did and he branded himself... For those reasons he was our best friend and leader to whom we were grateful and admired... He was the only one who helped us unconditionally and that is why Ortse decided to pay back the money he had spent assisting us and to repay him for the money he had spent for the 1,000 kg of dynamite.” (P. Shatev, 339-340.)

There is no doubt that Sarafov was capable of making such a “heavy” statement. Perhaps he did make such a statement. It was certain that he was accused of embezzling committee money.

In the beginning of 1901 it became quite clear that Sarafov would not be able to remain president of the Supreme Committee. After realizing that Sarafov’s main task was to take over the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization’s leadership, in order to direct its

activities according to the wishes of Prince Ferdinand, Gotse Delchev and Giorce Petrov pulled away the support they had given him in the beginning.

Sarafov’s refusal to resign and voluntarily hand the Supreme Committee leadership over to General Tsonchev split the committee of officers into two groups, one headed by Sarafov and the other by Konchev. To solve the problem of who was going to be in the Supreme Committee led by Tsonchev, the 8th Extraordinary “Macedonian” Congress was convened and held in April 1901. Gotse Delchev, who also attended the Congress, made every effort to prevent Tsonchev from being elected head of the Supreme Committee. In a speech to the Congress, among other things, Delchev said that now no relationship exists between the MRO and the Supreme Committee. This is “because Sarafov wanted to send his people from here and appoint them heads of the Internal Organization (MRO). But that organization is local, secret... We are opposed to Boris Sarafov, because if he were to send his people there and appoint them leaders... it would have been a catastrophe...” (Krste Bitoski, Macedonia and the Principality of Bulgaria, 158.)

Because the Supreme Committee elected during this Congress was staffed by both Sarafov and Tsonchev’s supporters, Tsonchev was unable to lead it by himself. As a result, another Congress was convened in July 1901. This was the 9th Regular Congress of the Macedonian immigrant’s organization in Bulgaria.

It was during these two Congresses that Sarafov was accused by the central camp of embezzling committee money. This was done in order to compromise Sarafov and eliminate him as a factor in the immigrant movement. Because the missing funds could have been easily justified if Sarafov were to say that he gave most of them to assist the revolutionary movement in Macedonia, Delchev said: “The only funds that count as donations for the needs of the MRO are those that can be confirmed by the MRO Central Committee treasurer through receipts. If there are no proper receipts, it means that the money was not given to the Internal Organization (MRO). And in that case it should be known that these funds were not received in Macedonia...”

During the April Congress, Sarakinov, a well-known supremacist, accused Sarafov and other members of the former Committee of pilfering 100,000 francs and splitting them among themselves. However, neither Sarakin nor Tsonchev could prove their accusations. A special committee for auditing their finances was selected, but it did not do its job.

The indictment against Sarafov was renewed at the July Congress. Sarafov said that his reason for not wanting to disclose these sums was because he had personally raised them without invoking the name of the immigrant’s organization. In July 1902 during the Tenth Congress, Sarafov was told that his finances had been audited by Tsonchev’s Committee and found that he was short 6,000 leva. A committee was again formed but the embezzlement still remained undocumented. Sarafov said that all this was done to slander him and nothing more. (Memoirs - Damian Gruev, Boris Sarafov..., 62-73.)

Even if there was embezzlement, it was committed before April 1901, while Sarafov was still president of the Supreme Committee. But the help the Gemidzhii received from Sarafov was exactly one year later, in April 1902, when he did not have any function in the Supreme Committee and when no one could accuse him of embezzling this money. The things that Shatev wrote so well about “the degradation of Sarafov’s dignity with the loose woman”, we could not confirm.

Sarafov was an outgoing person who often came into contact with various people abroad. He had a great “weakness” for soliciting help for his “cause”. His contemporaries knew him as a person who spent a lot of money easily (for his personal satisfaction, and to help others), but who also knew how to come by money in various ways. In March 1902, while visiting in Geneva, he received 50,000 francs from a wealthy Englishman. In Europe Sarafov made sure that he was well-known as the “leader” of the Macedonian revolutionary movement. And because of that he received a lot of money, but we don’t know exactly what he promised to give his patrons in return. All we know is that the Englishman’s daughter “strongly sympathized with his work”. (Ibid, 71.)

Knowing that the Gemidzhii were in great need of financial assistance, the moment Sarafov received this money he contacted Ortse and asked him to come to Geneva and meet with him. Sarafov knew that the Gemidzhii had asked Delchev for help and thought that they probably did not receive it because of the conditions attached to it. When Ortse arrived in Geneva Sarafov gave him 10,000 francs. At the same time Sarafov promised him that he would also supply the Gemidzhii the 1,000 kg of dynamite for which they were desperate. It was said that Ortse was very happy when he returned from Geneva.

But there is a slightly different angle to this story. Simeon Radev, who then studied in Geneva and was a close associate of Sarafov’s, said later that Ortse, for the three days he was in Geneva, had stayed at his place. He also said that Ortse had several secret meetings with Sarafov and that he was unhappy when he left Geneva. (H. Silianov, 258, note 1.)

Did Ortse promise Sarafov that he would return his money? According to Shatev’s early memoirs (P. Shatev, Solun Assassination, 53.) the Gemidzhii were afraid that if they failed in their mission that money would have to revert back to the Organization and that it was why it was decided to return it directly to Sarafov.

A few months before the Gemidzhii enacted their plans in Solun, Ortse purchased 10,000 franks worth of life insurance with the “New York” company. He made the policy payable to Simeon Radev. Neither Radev nor Sarafov knew about the insurance. Then, just before the Gemidzhii began their actions, Ortse wrote a letter and sent it Simeon Radev, informing him of the insurance policy and begging him to cash it after he was gone and give the money to Sarafov. Then, in the fall of 1903, the “New York” company informed Radev that “he was the recipient of 10,000 francs”. It was a great surprise to him. A little later, a friend of Ortse’s came over and read him Ortse’s last will and testament. That money was then given to Boris Sarafov. Ortse’s friend explained to Radev that the 10,000 francs he received from Ortse’s life insurance policy was to pay back the 10,000 francs owed to Sarafov. (Silianov, 258, note 1.) Radev then gave Sarafov power of attorney and Sarafov himself

claimed the money from the “New York” company. Part of the money, probably one half of it, Sarafov gave to Ortse’s father who he had summoned to go to Sofia for that purpose.

Radev does not mention the letter by which Shatev claims Radev was informed.

Very few documents from the Gemidzhii exist or have been found and for that reason the two letters Ortse wrote, which we have, are very precious. We have decided to publish them here in full. (Cultural life, XXIII, 6, Skopje 1978, 20.) The first letter is from Ortse to Simeon Radev:

“My dear brother Simeon,

The time is nearing when we put our plans into action and realize the work we began. Because I have decided that I will no longer be here after my work is done, as is the charter of my consciousness, I have decided to write these few lines to you so as to inform you of my intentions and to make my peace with you. A few months ago, I went to the ‘New York’ insurance company and I purchased a life insurance policy for 10,000 golden francs, the sum of which will be paid to you after my death. I want my effort for the liberation of our beloved Macedonia, for which I live, work and die, to be of benefit even after my death.

I beg of you, after you cash the policy please give the entire sum of money to our great comrade and friend Boris Razlogov (he means Sarafov). The other Gemidzhii and I value him highly. We love and respect him. He understood and helped us with both advice and money. Without his help we would not have been able to put together a dowry for the bride and celebrate her wedding. (By ‘bride’ and ‘wedding’ he means the Gemidzhii and their actions.) Give him our regards and express our gratitude.

We will not see each other again. Please wait for the celebration of our general deeds and experience the liberation of Macedonia.

I kiss you brotherly Ortse.”

The next letter was sent to his girlfriend. And from it, the reader can see Ortse’s devotion to the work of the Gemidzhii and his love for his people and his homeland.

“My beloved and only Kate,

When you read my letter, I will no longer be here - I will be a corpse, or already thrown into a hole like a dead dog. But in the situation I am in before my death, in which I have another hour or two to live, for as long as I throw the last bomb and pull the trigger of my nagant (pistol?), I think of you. This letter will prove to you how much I love you.

I loved you from the first time I saw you. You were my only joy, but I felt I had no right to tie myself to you. I don’t belong to myself… I belong to my work, which has been the purpose and meaning of my life - to work and die for the freedom of my people and for my esteemed and beloved Macedonia. I loved you with all the pores of my body. I felt the need to see you, to listen to your voice, which sounds like a sitar (Indian stringed instrument). And yet I avoided you because I was afraid that my frequent encounters with you would weaken my will and soften my resolve, because you were my only relation with life and nothing should have bound me to it. Sometimes I was rude, even angry with you - forgive me for my rudeness and cruelty, behind them I hid my boundless love and my heart bleeds. I believe you will forgive me, you are a good person. Now I feel sorry, I was not myself a better person… more attentive and gentler towards you.

You will surely ask: Is it necessary for me to die? Is there no other way for me? But I have to tell you that I must be true to my commitment to my friends: The one who gambles with the lives of others has no right to spare his own. I knew that what we do will bring tears, suffering and death to many innocent people, and do you think I still deserve to live after that? I don’t think that would be right. To die for me is a supreme honour of my conscience. And then my motto would not be just words, but deeds which in the end would adorn my work. There is also one last thing - I don’t want to give my enemies the pleasure of mocking me and making fun of me.

Why do I need a life deprived of freedom to rot in some dark cell in Edi-Kule prison, or to melt under the scorching sun in the Sahara? No, I prefer to die! - With my death I toss my infinite contempt at my foes and occupiers of my homeland. I want to die the way I live - modestly and honestly, while faithful to myself - I wanted to be and remain a complete person.

I must finish. Time does not wait. There are a lot of things flooding back into my soul, but you will not get a chance to hear about them. It is best this way; your heart has foretold what I would like to write to you in this last hour.

Time will pass, your wounds will heal. Life is stronger than everything. I ask you, no I beg you, please find yourself another man, worthy of your love, and give him your heart and your love, give him the joys you kept for me. I wish you to be happy. Sometimes, in the evening shadows, when memories come out and penetrate into your soul, remember me. I thank you for this.

Hugs and kisses from your first and last of the self-denying Gemidzhii.

Your Ortse”