PART TWO THE GEMIDZHII AT WORK

PART TWO THE GEMIDZHII AT WORK

GEMIDZHII - THE REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATION -SUPREME MACEDONIAN COMMITTEE

The Gemidzhii believed that they, as individualists and as revolutionaries who were ready to sacrifice themselves without having to engage the broad masses of the people, would be able to achieve everything they set out to do provided they had enough money. As a result they spent a lot of time looking for money. They constantly thought that money and then dynamite were the main obstacles in their way to fulfilling their revolutionary objectives. Of course, they never thought of coming into money in a legal way -through membership, work or the like. According to their plans, their first objective was to find money in a quick and easy way. For example, at first they thought of raising the money by stealing it from a wealthy Turk named Arshin-bey, living in Veles, but could not break into his house without being seen. They then made attempts to raise money from other sources but again without much success. (Ibid, 118.) After that they came up with the idea of obtaining the money through “ransom”.

Kosta Kirkov and Todor Bogdanov belonged to wealthy families so it was suggested that they be “kidnapped” for “ransom” and then have their parents pay for their release. And indeed one day they “disappeared” and hid in one of the houses they used in Solun. The others got in contact with their parents and suggested to them that if they wanted their sons to be returned to them alive and well they should pay the ransom. Kosta’s father pledged to pay 400, and Todor’s father pledged to pay 200 Turkish lira. The two parents did not go to the authorities and tried on their own to determine where their sons were hidden. Their first survey of Solun did not yield results. After that it occurred to them that the “abducted” may have been taken to the mountains. To find out more about this they would have to go to Sofia. (According to some sources, Kosta and Todor were hiding in Solun, Dupnitsa and Rila.) While Todor’s father refused to pay the ransom, Ivan, Kosta’s father, went to Sofia to search for his son. In Sofia he found out that the boys were alive and well and that they would be released once the ransom was paid. After that Ivan made contact with Gotse Delchev and gave him a considerable amount of money (200 Turkish lira). However, the negotiations to pay the “ransom” were delayed for a longer time than expected and a lot of that money was used to pay for other expenses. In the end only 20-30 lira ended up in the Gemidzhii coffers. (T. Organdzhiev, 118; P. Shatev, Macedonia under slavery, 74, S. Simeonov, 6.)

Their first attempt, although partially successful, proved to the Gemidzhii that raising money would be a very complex, risky and difficult process. This forced them to look at their situation more carefully and their planning more realistic.

After receiving the “ransom”, Kosta and Todor were “freed”. But, realizing that they did not have enough money to start anything the Gemidzhii got together in Sofia to discuss future plans. According to Shatev: “Nothing could be started with the little bit of money left over from the ransom and they had no other means of supporting themselves. They discovered that it was not easy being conspirators and so they moved back with their relatives.” (P. Shatev, 75.)

The “kidnapping” attempt by the Gemidzhii had another consequence: the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization discovered their existence as a revolutionary conspiratorial group planning to fight against Ottoman rule and immediately received its support directly from Gotse Delchev. But the Gemidzhii, as they had done right from the start, did not want anyone’s help, especially help from the MRO. They did not want to have a relationship with the MRO because they believed they would not be able to easily accomplish their goals.

While Merdzhanov’s group remained in Bulgaria, the rest of the Gemidzhii returned to Veles and remained with their parents. Here they became connected with the local committee of the MRO, whose main representatives were Petre Boshnakov and Traiche Hristov. Even though they did not join the MRO it was understood

that they all worked together for a “common cause”. In January 1900, Traiche Hristov and Todor Organdzhiev went to Sofia and met with Gotse Delchev who then approved this cooperation. (T. Organdzhiev, 118.)

In order to expand their activities in other cities in Macedonia, the Gemidzhii used their relationship with Gotse Delchev and the MRO. They even asked if Gemidzhii could be appointed as teachers in Shtip and Strumitsa, but they were rejected.

Being together in their hometown in Veles, the Gemidzhii spent the winter 1899/1900 in a “winter sitting” reading books and reviewing them. Bazarov, Turgenev’s main character and hero, left quite a striking impression on them. They all wanted to imitate him: talk little and work hard!

The Gemidzhii were not completely idle in Veles. In 1899 they opposed the Exarchate bishop in Veles when he asked the Veles residents to donate money to pay for the Sv. Panteleimon bell tower. They also objected to collecting funds for the Sv. Stefan church in Tsari Grad. The Gemidzhii opposed both initiatives by gluing posters to the doors of churches and schools advising the people to spend the money allocated for the bell tower on renovating the ruined and old schools, and the money allocated for the church in Tsari Grad on educational purposes, “By doing this,” wrote Simeonov, “the Veles circle manifested itself as a entity working against the leaders of the Bulgarian cultural works. They also showed that they were against the administration in Tsari Grad and against its representative the bishop of Veles”. (S. Simeonov, 7.)

Kosta Kirkov forwarded the idea that a plan be made for the Gemidzhii to expand their operations in several cities in Macedonia. But the Gemidzhii, it appears, did not have the means to do that.

Attempts to self-fund such initiatives did not yield the desired results. Therefore, the Gemidzhii made a decision to use MRO resources. They established a close connection with Traiche Hristov.

Traiche Hristov was a prominent revolutionary in Veles, where he operated a grocery store. Wanting to educate himself, he went to

school as an adult and after completing his courses joined the revolutionary movement as an agitator and organizer. Later he was given a teaching job in Strumitsa, Pehchevo and Maleshevo, where he was also a regional leader in the MRO’s network. The Gemidzhii felt that such persons could be of great benefit to their work and tried to win him over. They did the same with Boshnakov. On top of that the Gemidzhii believed that the most prominent people of Veles should be convinced to help the revolutionary movement. Unfortunately both Christov and Boshnov were more inclined towards the MRO and did not want to be associated with the Gemidzhii circle. When the Gemidzhii left for Solun, Hristov and Bosnakov went with them but quickly left and returned to Veles. After that they left for Sofia.

P. Shatev, who personally knew both men as well as many prominent people in Veles, wrote about them and gave an interesting assessment about their contribution to the liberation movement: “Traiche Hristov and Petre Bonakov were two complementary individuals, two typical representatives of the popular revolutionary masses and intelligentsia in the Skopje Region. They were educators of many famous as well as less known fighters and revolutionaries in Veles and in the surrounding region. Traiche Hristov, Petre Boshnakov and Milan Popiordanov were precursors to all the fighters and revolutionaries from the first revolutionary epoch in Veles and the surrounding region...” (Traiche Hristov served in the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization in Bulgaria and was a close collaborator of Gotse Delchev. Pavel Shatev met with Hristov, while doing some other task in Bulgaria, and then took him to a secret house where he met with Gotse Delchev and Iane Sandanski. When Shatev asked Hristov why he had brought them to this house, he said:

“To hide them. The money from Miss Stone has been received and the police know about it. The Supremacists are not sleeping and the government wants them apprehended at any cost. They don’t want to give the Internal Organization the opportunity to step up and be more independent...” Shatev wrote about Hristov and Boshnakov’s activities in Bulgaria with great sympathy. In Veles Hristov was the centre around which groups of emigrants, citizens, craftsmen, merchants, and especially villagers, circled. Boshnakov was a

central personality in Veles region, as well as in parts of the Skopje intelligentsia in the Skopje Revolutionary District. Traiche Christov was accidentally killed in 1902, and Petre Boshnakov died in 1908 in Skopje after a long illness. - P. Shatev, 222-224. P. Boshnakov is the author of the famous book entitled: Edin Makedonets, Bulgarian Propaganda in Macedonia and Odrin, Sofia 1902.)

The inability of the Gemidzhii to get close to the people of MRO caused them some disappointment but at the same time reinforced the idea of being independent just the way they were planning to be when they first started. It strengthened their old conviction that involving too many people was not a good idea!

As mentioned earlier, Delchev was on board with the Gemidzhii and promised them support at the meeting in Sofia he had with Organdzhiev and Hristov. However, the MRO at that point in time was not in a position to support the Gemidzhii materially. But what Delchev could not do for them immediately could be done for them by Boris Sarafov.

Gotse Delchev and Giorche Petrov, who were also the foreign representatives of the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization in Bulgaria, made an effort to gain the cooperation of the Macedonian immigrant organization (Supreme Macedonian Committee) leadership in order to utilize the immigrant organization as a contributor to the revolutionary movement. As a result of that effort a joint platform for action was devised.

The Sixth Extraordinary Congress of the Macedonian immigrant organization in Bulgaria began on May 1, 1899 during which a list of names for the election of a new Supreme Committee was accepted. Boris Sarafov was elected chairman of the Committee. The new Supreme Committee with all its material forces put itself in the service of the Macedonian Revolutionary Movement. It immediately called for a fundraiser to be organized and for voluntary donations to be accepted. And with help from Delchev and Petrov, Sarafov’s fundraising Committee did well yielding significant results. During the Seventh Congress, attended for the first time by Delchev and Petrov, 450,000 leva were raised, which was a large sum of money. That money was donated mostly by the

Macedonian immigrants in Bulgaria who wanted to help the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, and a good deal of that money was spent on exactly that.

However, the venerable Sarafov began to deal in “dirty politics”. He used his presidential position in the Committee and the full coffers belonging to the Committee for his own thrills and fantasy of making himself a “great” person and a “great” politician. Bulgaria’s borders for him became very tight. He used the large sums of money to found the “L’Effort” newspaper, which was edited by Simeon Radev and, among other things, played a major role in popularizing Sarafov’s name as “the leader” of the Macedonian movement.

Cooperation between MRO representatives and the Supreme Committee was sanctioned during the Supreme Committee’s Seventh Congress held in early August 1900. However, it did not take too long after this congress was held for the fundamental differences that existed between the Macedonian Revolutionary Movement and the Supreme Committee to emerge. After Sarafov’s Committee was formed it was impossible to starve these differences but only apparently to squeeze them to the side. In fact, as it turned out, even before Sarafov’s Committee was elected, officers headed by General Ivan Tsonchev were involved in the committee’s affairs and secretly plotted to take over the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization. Delchev and Petrov were unaware of this. When this was done, Tsonchev was planning to resign from the Bulgarian army, take over the presidency of the Supreme Committee and raise an uprising in Macedonia. Sarafov, however, breached all agreements and invested his entire energy in taking over the leadership of the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization. Sarafov’s politics ruined his relationship with Delchev, Petrov and with the MRO, which later led to a complete breakdown and open confrontation between the MRO and the Supreme Committee.

Sarafov’s Committee and Sarafov himself created the impression that if the material assistance provided to the MRO from his end was to be was cut off, especially during the beginning of the revolution, the struggle would not succeed. This stunt unfortunately caused a great deal of damage to the moral and political character of the MRO. Sarafov led the European governments, the world public and

the other two neighbouring countries (Greece and Serbia) into believing that everything that was done in Macedonia, all the preparations of the uprising, were done by Sarafov. Believing that Sarafov and Bulgaria itself were behind the impending rebellion in Macedonia, the MRO became a target in the hands of all those who had ill intentions. The MRO became a target and was punished for something it had not done. By giving the impression that the MRO was subordinated to the Supreme Committee and the Supreme Committee was subordinated to the Palace and to the Bulgarian government, Sarafov opened the doors to speculation that the revolution in Macedonia was prepared, led and controlled by Sofia and would begin with a sign given by Prince Ferdinand and his government.

By doing this Sarafov compromised himself and could no longer remain at the helm of the Supreme Committee. Because he did not want to leave the committee voluntarily, Tsonchev and his committee of officers decided to remove him during the next convention. Tsonche’s people, through demagogy, deception and force managed to remove Sarafov during the Ninth Congress held in July 1901. (Krste Bitoski, Macedonia and the Principality of Bulgaria (1893-1903), Skopje 1977, 126-166.) At that point Tsonchev, a loyal and confidential face of King Ferdinand, took over the Supreme Committee (with Stoian Mihailovski, the famous Bulgarian writer holding the presidency). Sarafov continued to deal with the “revolution” by working hard to present himself as a friend of the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization.

Even though Boris Sarafov was removed from the Supreme Committee the Gemidzhii continued to maintain ties with him. Sarafov on the other hand continued to provide them with material aid. He helped Merdzhanov’s group when he was head the Supreme Committee and continued to help the Gemidzhii later.

The Gemidzhii almost exclusively concentrated their activities in Solun and, wanting to or not, were forced to maintain a relationship with the MRO Central Committee whose seat was also in Solun. In the beginning all Gemidzhii actions were limited to ideological and political preparations and there was no need for any sort of relationship to be imposed. However, when they decided to act on

their plans the situation changed. Even if the Gemidzhii did not like or did not need to have contacts with the Central Committee, the Central Committee itself could not be indifferent and not be interested in everything that was happening in the revolutionary field in the city and in the whole of Macedonia.

When the Central Committee, consisting of the old composition, was led by Dr. Hristo Tatarchev, the Gemidzhii dealt with him with much respect. He was the “authority” for them and there were no problems between the MRO Central Committee and the Gemidzhii circle. But when the Gemidzhii began to put their plans into action, without letting the MRO Central Committee know, problems began to appear between them. The situation changed in January 1901 when, after a major failure, the MRO Central Committee was shut down, taken over by Ivan Garvanov and replaced with a new Central Committee. Who was Garvanov and who were the new members of the Central Committee?

The appearance, growth and rapid spread of the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization throughout Macedonia worried all the contenders who harboured aspirations and who plundered Macedonia. The most worried of all was the Exarchate circle which thought it had the right to own Macedonia. The Bulgarians were under the impression that they had the right to govern Macedonia and the Macedonian people and no one had the right to do anything without their knowledge and approval. They thought nothing could be undertaken without their consent that would lead to any changes in the life of the Macedonian people. The Macedonian Revolutionary Organization was born as a result of the terrible social and economic conditions in Macedonia and had nothing to do with Bulgaria. Its development, path, goals and aspirations were dictated by the Macedonian people’s historical need for their own freedom, and not from the policies and pretensions of the neighbouring countries.

The MRO was seen as a dangerous entity by the Bulgarians which worked against the Exarchate’s interests, and because of this the Exarchate authorities, without hesitation, decided to paralyze its activities. Having publicly proclaimed that the MRO was an Organization led by a bunch of “vagabonds” shows that these circles

were actually seriously concerned about the independent way the Organization had set off, which inevitably would lead to Macedonia’s autonomy. Therefore, to prevent it from achieving its goals, they (Bulgarians) began to hinder MRO activities. They did this by infiltrating MRO ranks and by taking over its leadership. These infiltrators not only pretended to be anti-Exarchates but they appointed themselves leaders of the revolution and demanded that at least half of the Organization’s ranks be filled by their people. Naturally their proposals were rejected outright and they were only allowed to join the Organization’s ranks after they took an oath. But none of them wanted to take the oath. The oath would have obligated them to serve an organization whose principles were basically unacceptable to them and they did not want to fight for an Organization which worked against Bulgaria’s interests.

When the “Exarchate side” found it difficult to “negotiate” itself into the MRO ranks, it took a different approach. Its people could not possibly stand there idle with their arms crossed while the MRO was spreading its branches far and wide in Macedonia and sailing into Solun and Tsari Grad. As the bearer of Great Bulgarian politics, the Supreme Committee in Bulgaria decided to confront the MRO. The Exarchate “party” inside Macedonia began to mimic the MRO.

The main players in this counter-revolutionary “party” were Vasil K’nchov, head of the Exarchate Department of Education in Tsari Grad, M. K. Sarafov, director of the two Exarchate gymnasiums in Solun, formerly a minister of the Bulgarian government, Ivan Garvanov, professor at the Exarchate Gymnasium in Solun, and others. All these people who were serving the Exarchate in Solun were of Bulgarian descent. So, no matter what action they took in everyday life in Macedonia it was taken for Bulgaria’s interests in accordance with official Bulgarian policy. Several wealthy Macedonian merchants had joined them, but this does not change the fact that the main bearers of Exarchate politics in Macedonia, against whom the Macedonian intelligentsia fought, were known Bulgarian intellectuals who became the main bearers and organizers of the struggle against the MRO and the Macedonian people who were fighting for freedom and for self-determination.

Even though it was an insignificant minority, the Exarchate “Party” decided to form its own organization tasked with fighting against Ottoman slavery and opposing the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization. The “Revolutionary Brotherhood” was formed in the spring of 1897 in order, as Ivan Garvanov himself had said, “to remove the Committee (the MRO Central Committee) from its evil path and to avoid the hassle of the revolution which, we think is premature, thinking that it will quickly break out.” (Memoirs -Damian Gruev, Boris, Sarafov, and Ivan Garvanov, Sofia, 1927, 116.) The real goals of the “Revolutionary Brotherhood”, led by Ivan Garvanov, according to Ivan H. Nikolov, member of the Central Committee, were to organize the masses “to be subordinate to the orders of the Exarchate and to the Macedonian Supreme Committee respectively”. (I. H. Nikolov, Il. Ilinden, IX, 2. Sofia, 1937.)

Attempts by the “Revolutionary Brotherhood” to expand its influence in Macedonia did not yield the expected results. Its agitation to “wait for help and to be freed by Bulgaria” was not acceptable to the Macedonian people. When the “Revolutionary Brotherhood” became aware of the fact that the Macedonian people did not want its help, it decided to start its own campaign and initiated a program to recruit “like-minded” (Bulgarophils) people to work against the revolutionary movement. The first step Garvanov took was to establish a relationship with the Supreme Committee and put himself in its service. He then wrote an extensive report (dated April 28, 1899) and sent it to the Sixth Congress of the Macedonian immigrant organization in Bulgaria (mentioned earlier), in which he described the MRO inaccurately, slandering its more senior leaders by calling them thieves, blackmailers, extortionists, slanderers, etc. In the same report he requested that the MRO leaders, especially Dr. Tatarchev, I. H. Nikolov and Giorche Petrov, be removed from the Organization’s leadership. Garvanov complained that the MRO had closed its doors to the people of the “Revolutionary Brotherhood” and was persecuting and intimidating them and if this situation continued the “Revolutionary Brotherhood” would be compelled to use force against the MRO. Garvanov was hoping that this report would put pressure on the MRO to work with the “Revolutionary Brotherhood” and place all

the revolutionary organizations under the banner of the Supreme Macedonian Committee (Bulgarian control).

Finding itself in danger of being liquidated by the MRO, the “Revolutionary Brotherhood” decided to send Garvanov to Bulgaria to link up with the Bulgarian state authorities and get their opinion on the matter and possibly their support in confronting the MRO. In Bulgaria, Garvanov first met with General Racho Petrov (who was loyal to King Ferdinand and President of the Bulgarian government) and then with Dr. Stoilov (former President of the Bulgarian government). Garvanov wanted to find out if the Bulgarian government was supporting the MRO Central Committee. Dr. Stoilov told him that the Bulgarian government not only “did not support” it but was totally against the MRO Central Committee. Garvanov also paid a visit to Radoslavov (whose party at the moment was in power) and he assured him that he was entirely behind Sarafov’s Committee. Garvanov then went to see the Supreme Committee and spoke with Sarafov who also agreed that the MRO posed a danger to Greater Bulgarian interests in Macedonia, and promised him that his Committee would do its best to achieve “agreement” with the MRO.

Everyone Garvanov met with in Bulgaria advised him to give up everything and come to terms with the “separatists” and with the “partisans”, or whatever the MRO leaders called themselves. All the people Garvanov consulted with in Bulgaria were well aware of the fact that the “Revolutionary Brotherhood” did not have the strength to fight the MRO, but could do far more for the supremacist cause if it infiltrated the MRO’s ranks. On the insistence of B. Sarafov, and thanks to H. Nikolov’s opportunism, “reconciliation” between the “Revolutionary Brotherhood” and the MRO Central Committee was achieved in September 1899, which called for members of the “Revolutionary Brotherhood” to be included in the ranks of the MRO. According to Sarafov: “This agreement was concluded against the wishes of the MRO representatives present at the meeting. By us sending a special person from outside (Lieutenant Ivan Kamburov was sent to Solun to perform the reconciliation) Giorche saw through our plan and foresaw the MRO Central Committee’s demise. We tried hard to convince him otherwise but he became even angrier. We thought there would be no

reconciliation. Giorche insisted that this process was fundamentally incorrect because in some ways it seemed that the Committee (in Sofia) was more concerned with satisfying certain ambitious groups, which wanted to infiltrate the Internal Organization as external elements, than it was in the MRO’s revolutionary objectives... We lost Giorche’s trust”. (Boris Sarafov’s memoirs, 50-51.)

It did not take too long to prove that Giorce Petrov was right. The inclusion of the “Revolutionary Brotherhood” in the ranks of the MRO proved fatal to the interests of the Organization. Up until 1901 Garvanov was not a factor in the movement (he was a member of the local Solun Committee) and he did not conspire against the MRO. But his chance came in January 1901, when members of the MRO Central Committee were arrested and imprisoned. Expecting to also be arrested, H. Nikolov invited I. Garvanov and Spas Martinov and showed them all the MRO’s connections (codes, ink, channels, etc.). In other words he transferred (surrendered) all MRO Central Committee prerogatives into the hands of Ivan Garvanov. He surrendered the MRO to the Supreme Leadership and dropped it into the hands of its ideological and political opponent. (Krste Bitoski, Deity and the role of the “Revolutionary” fraternity in the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization - History, IX, 2, Skopje 1975, 59-84.)

The Gemidzhii had profoundly unfavourable opinions of the “new MRO Central Committee” and saw it as an obstacle to the revolutionary movement’s development. They went so far as to believe that if, for political reasons, members of the new Central Committee could not be “removed”, then their functioning in Solun should be made very difficult if not impossible. And while relations between the Gemidzhii and the MRO Central Committee (which we will discuss later) remained stretched and unacceptable, relations with Sarafov remained favourable.