KING CONSTANTINE’S TELEGRAM - Part 03

the war, were outside the Greek border, Greece closed its borders. The partisans were completely confused as to what had happened and did not know what to do…

Here is what Vera Foteva, leader of AFZH, had to say about the last moments of that dreaded war:

[From August 10th to the 15th, 1949 the Monarcho-Fascists carried out a violent, hellish attack against DAG with unprecedented air support supplied by the United States. The poet Atso Shopov was right when he wrote the poem “Gramos” telling us that “no bird can fly in Vicho from the hail of bombs and grenades”. This struggle has been objectively presented in two volumes by Greek historian Giorgos Margaritis, a professor at the University of Crete. Margaritis has relied on the memoirs of prominent anti-Fascists for his source material. The information presented is the best example I have read that describes why DAG aborted Vicho and pulled out of Gramos, leaving the population unprotected and running for its life.

One hundred and thirty bombing runs were made on August 10th, 1949 by the American supplied air support using “Dakota” and “Spitfire” military aircraft to bomb units of DAG and columns of fleeing refugees. The next few days the military aircraft did the same, at the same pace, providing air support for the Monarcho-Fascist artillery and infantry. There was not a square foot of space that had not been bombed on Mount Vicho, on Lisets, on Mount Malimadi and in Prespa along the Albanian and Yugoslav border. The entire area had been bombed with aerial bombs, grenades, napalm bombs and rockets and was garnished with machine gun fire by the dive-bombing aircraft. This clearly indicates the conditions under which DAG was placed and the kind of pot its fighters were put in to boil. There was an insurmountable amount of pressure and worry placed on the fighters not only for saving their own lives but also for caring for the wounded and for saving the huge columns of fleeing refugees. DAG was again attacked in Gramos with the same vigour. It was under these circumstances, created mainly by foreign intervention, that the “freedom-loving democrats” of Gramos dropped the “last flag”.

DAG was defeated by the Monarcho-Fascists on Mount Gramos on August 30th, 1949 with Anglo-American support. After Vicho fell to enemy hands, Nikos Zahariadis, General Secretary of the CPG Central Committee, said: “Gramos will be the tomb of the Monarcho-Fascists.” But that did not turn out to be the case. DAG suffered numerous casualties but had it not backed down and fled to Albania, the opposite would have been true. Gramos would have been the tomb for DAG. For the longest part, after removing General Markos Vafiadis from his command and after abandoning the proven military strategies of the so-called “Supreme War Council Law”, Zahariadis worked personally with his Politburo installing new “military strategists” who had absolutely no relevant experience. Units of DAG from Gramos and from other places withdrew to Albanian territory.

The main culprits for DAG’s defeat naturally were Nikos Zahariadis, General Secretary of the CPG Central Committee and his Politburo. But that’s not who they found guilty. Instead of laying blame where it squarely belonged, Zahariadis and his clique pointed their fingers at the Macedonians, specifically at the NOF and AFZH leadership and at the Provisional Democratic Government of Greece. In Bureli, a town in Albania, Zahariadis staged a fake political trial, similar to those staged by Informburo countries. He had the last word.

On October 2nd, 1949 we were camped in a meadow under some olive trees beside a creek outside Elbasan. There was a beautiful white building on top of the hill. It had been converted into a hospital for the sick and wounded DAG fighters, cared for by doctors and nurses who were also members of DAG. There were both Macedonian and Greek patients and caregivers in the hospital, they were people who had fought shoulder to shoulder in the struggle and who had suffered and celebrated together. All the anti-Fascists were united as one people then and had the same goal.

From earlier on, October 2nd was designated International Day of Peace in honour of the International Congress which was held in Prague on April 20th, 1949 as well as in Paris and Tokyo. A delegation from Greece also attended the Congress including representatives from Macedonian organizations. We, the cadres of

NOF, AFZH, DAG, Ministers of the Interim Government of Greece and members of the CPG Central Committee were planning and making preparations for that extra-special occasion to mark this day with an appropriate program followed by speeches from several leading cadres, including some from the Macedonian side.

Even before the celebrations began many fighters and civilians began to gather and fill the hospital courtyard. Around 8 o’clock a jeep arrived carrying an officer from DAG Headquarters, whom I did not recognize. As soon as he got off the jeep the officer came in the direction where we were standing: Mihail Maliov, Urania Iurukova, Tashko Hadzhiianov, Gora Petrichevski, my (not yet married) spouse Mincho Fotev and I. The officer knew me. When he came close to me he said: “Comrade Vera, this letter (he handed me a blue envelope) is for you from Comrade Bardzhotas, he wants to meet with you at his place.” Vasilis Bardzhotas was a political commissar of the DAG General Staff and a member of the CPG Politburo inner circle. I quickly opened the envelope. In it was a short letter with the following text: “Comrade Vera, You, Mincho, Urania and Hadzhiianov, the moment you receive this letter, are to immediately get in the jeep and come to Bureli” signed “Vasilis Bardzhotas”. When I read the letter I was stunned, I froze like lightning had just struck me. I looked at my friends all around me. I had the feeling that something bad was going to happen and I could not get that feeling out of my head; an evil feeling that had been hovering in my head for a while now.

My friends looked at me strangely as I was eager to tell them what the letter said. Mincho became impatient and grabbed the letter out of my hand. I quietly squeezed my words out of my mouth and said: “Us four: Mincho, Urania, Hadzhiianov and I are being called to immediately take the jeep and go to Bureli, to DAG’s General Headquarters”. There was silence. The message was worrisome to everyone and we all kept silent. A group of civilian men and women traveling with DAG units from the free territory, with whom we had camped together in that place, surrounded us and wondered what was going on.

We told our friend Gogo Petrushevski, a seasoned NOF fighter, that “we were sure that they would arrest us. If you can, leave now

because you will suffer the same fate.” I also told some of my fellow villagers, my aunts and a first cousin that I was sure they would arrest us. This kind of threat against the central NOF leadership had been “circulating” for a long time and now they were putting it into practice in order to hide the real culprits for DAG’s defeat. Despite the threats that we would be liquidated, taken by some provocateurs, we were and remained to the end faithful to the people whom we organized, fought with, died with and rejoiced with.]

Vera was one of Zahariadis’s staunchest followers and she truly believed they were going to win the war, like Zahariadis had told them.

There are volumes of evidence in our history books and among the eye witnesses who survived the dreaded Greek Civil War, which leads me to believe that the Greek Civil War was a perpetrated war to get rid of the Macedonians from Greece, just like the British wanted. But, I believe, the 10 points listed above are sufficient evidence to give credence to my theory and to also confirm the behaviour of the players in this war which otherwise would seem illogical.

Keeping the above ten points in mind, we will now continue with our story.

The moment Germany invaded Greece, the Greek government capitulated and the troops fighting against Italy on the Albanian front were abandoned. The majority of the soldiers fighting at this front were Macedonians and after Greece surrendered they were abandoned, left without provisions or support. Without orders to disband they remained at the front. The Germans found them starving. After disarming them they sent them home.

Some time after Greece was occupied by Germany, Greek occupied Macedonia was placed under German, Italian and Bulgarian control. Kostur Region was placed under Italian control but the Macedonian people living there were still having problems with the Greek Fascists who used every opportunity to harass them. So, some of the village elders turned to the Italians for protection. But instead of protecting them, the Italians gave them arms so that they could

protect themselves and the Macedonians were able to repel the Greek tormentors.

In the absence of the Greeks the people in Kostur, as well as in other places in Greek occupied Macedonia, found a new freedom they had never experienced before in their lives. The Italians allowed them to speak their Macedonian language openly in the streets without being arrested, fined, or jailed. The Macedonians took advantage of this freedom and began to read and write in Macedonian, even perform liturgy in the Macedonian language in church.

INTERVIEWER – During the occupation?

RISTO – Yes, during the occupation. The Kostur Region village Macedonian armed bands protected their villages from Greek attacks and combined together to form larger bands to protect themselves from bigger dangers. They became a formidable force in the region.

“This Macedonian patriotism was put into action on March 5th, 1943 in Kostur Region when an Assembly of 48 members, representatives of the various villages, was convened and decided to form the “Macedonian Committee” for Kostur Region whose aim was to defend the 54 to 60 villages in that region. They were allowed to arm themselves because they needed protection from the Greeks. Everything else that has been said about them is a lie.” (Stoian Kochov)

Unfortunately, being occupied by Italy, an ally of Bulgaria, the Bulgarians too had access to Kostur Region and used their propaganda to not only convince some of these Macedonians to support the Bulgarian cause, but also to convince the world that these bands were “actually Bulgarian”. Some of the fighters in the Kostur bands did join the Bulgarians and began to spread Bulgarian propaganda among the people and as tensions mounted they did commit crimes against the Macedonian people. Both the Greeks and Bulgarians unfortunately used these incidents to vilify all the Kostur bands and label them criminal and Fascist.

People still write me to tell me that these people were “no-good Bulgarians”. But what leads me to believe that they were neither criminals nor Bulgarian Fascists, with the exception of a few, is the fact that they spoke Macedonian, allowed the Macedonian language to be taught and to be used in church. They also operated under a code of conduct that protected the Macedonian people and supported the Macedonian cause.

The fact is the Kostur rebels were guided by Delchev’s philosophy and by the Macedonian freedom fighters who believed that if you die for something then die for Macedonia. And this is exactly what led them to create their own Macedonian army and refused to be subservient to the Greek government or to the Communist (internationalists) and that is exactly why they were vilified and destroyed.

History will record the strategy of the eternal rebel desire: to have our identity and language returned, to protect our families, properties and villages and to remain masters of our grandfather’s hearth.

“First: The rebels, as the rightful sons of these Macedonian lands, brought back the Kostur dialect of the Macedonian language, which for years had been prohibited from being spoken, by Greek law;

Second: The rebels re-opened the Macedonian churches and liturgy was conducted in the Macedonian language and so were other rites including baptisms, weddings and funerals;

Third: The local militia addressed the people in their native Macedonian language.” (Stoian Kochov)

The Kostur rebels believed in driving the Greeks out of Macedonia and forming a united Macedonian state. Why would they do that if they were fighting for the Bulgarian cause?

At about the same time, when Russia began to push the Nazis out of Russian soil, a resistance movement started growing in the Balkans with aims at driving the occupiers out. This resistance movement was organized by the communists at a grass roots level. The

Macedonians also began to organize their own resistance movements in the various regions of Greek occupied Macedonia including Kostur, Lerin and Voden.

Unfortunately, instead of combining and forming a single Macedonian force, the Greek communists “convinced” the Macedonians to join the Greeks and fight a united front against the occupier. From this point on the Greeks took the upper hand and began to control the entire movement including the one started by the Macedonians.

The National Liberation Front (EAM) in Greece was formed on September 27, 1941 without any Macedonian markings. Its aims were to expel the German, Italian and Bulgarian occupiers, establishing the integrity of Greece, establishing the self-determination of Cyprus, the Dodecanese and Northern Epirus but nothing was said anywhere about the Macedonians.

After EAM was formed and joined by the CPG, it called on the entire Greek population to resist fascism. Then, in a joint meeting with the CPG Central Committee, it called for organizing a resistance army. This new Greek Army, appropriately named ELAS, was created on February 15, 1942 with the appearance of its first ELAS military units. The first detachment of ELAS formed in Greek occupied Macedonia was in Kostur on December 7, 1942 and it consisted of 10 Macedonians, 7 Greeks and 2 Vlachs.

Here is the ELAS oath that everyone who joined ELAS had to take: “I swear that I will fight to the last drop of my blood for the complete liberation, stability and independence of Greece. I will fight to preserve the integrity of the Greek people and the establishment of order and basic human rights… by performing due diligence and demonstrating discipline. I will follow orders and instructions from my superiors and I will avoid every process that may turn me into a traitor against the Greek people.” Still nothing about the Macedonian people.

And as the allies started to gain the upper hand over the occupiers and the German army began to retreat, the armed groups, such as the ones I mentioned earlier in Kostur Region, started to become a

problem for the Greeks. EAM and the CPG communists wanted them eradicated.

The Greeks could have put a Greek armed force to pursue and eradicate the Kostur rebels but they didn’t. The CPG decided to create an all Macedonian force and let it deal with them.

“The CPG, EAM and ELAS leaderships, ‘concerned’ about the situation that existed in Greek occupied Macedonia, especially in Kostur, Lerin and Voden Regions, decided to create a separate Macedonian organization; SNOF (Slavo-Macedonia National Liberation Front). SNOF, for Kostur and Lerin Regions, was created on October 20, 1943 and for Voden Region a little later. The people who created SNOF were Greeks who belonged to the CPG District Committee for Western Macedonia; Hristos Kalfas (Andreas), Antonis Andonopulos (Periklis), CPG District Committee Secretary for Kostur Region and Thanassis Kartsunis, CPG District Committee Secretary for Kozhani Region.” (See the book: “Giorgi R. Peikov (1915-1991)” by Stoian Kochov, Skopje 1995, for more information.)

Why did the Greeks insist on using the prefix “Slavo”? There were no “other” Macedonians in Greece! They used the prefix “Slavo” to distinguish them from whom? Why were the Greeks so keen on hiding the Macedonian identity in Greek occupied Macedonia? If not to, yet again, deny the Macedonian people their rights and their rightful place in their own homeland? Who were these “Slavo-Macedonians”?

SNOF was allowed to recruit only for a short period of time, after that its fighters were subordinated to ELAS. On September 16, 1944 all military units belonging to the Slavo-Macedonian National Liberation Army (SNOV) were disbanded.

It is a historic fact that the CPG and EAM leadership, up until April 1944, used SNOF for its own political and military aims, primarily in dealing with the armed bands. Then in the beginning of May 1944 the CPG disbanded SNOF and SNOV (its armed wing) because they say SNOF had become an obstacle in the CPG’s negotiations with

the Greek government in exile and with the other coalition government parties scheduled to meet in mid-May 1944.

The CPG did not explain who was objecting and why they were having problems with the Macedonians being armed, even though they were allies in the struggle against the occupiers and even though SNOV was instrumental in the removal of the armed bands in Greek occupied Macedonia. The CPG did not even object to the British and Greek government request to disband SNOF.

So, less than 6 months after it was created by strangers and foreigners, SNOF was disbanded, again by strangers and foreigners, even after proving that it was a great asset to the CPG.

Clearly, the Greeks on the entire political spectrum had a problem with the Macedonians, both with SNOF and with the armed Kostur bands.

So after getting SNOF to do the dirty work for the Greeks the CPG ordered SNOF to disband.

SNOF and its fighters were told, through Greek communist propaganda, that the armed bands in Kostur and other regions in Macedonia were “Bulgarian Fascists” who were fighting for the Bulgarian cause. The Macedonian partisans that were sent to destroy them had no idea that these bands were Macedonian. In other words, through deceit, SNOF was sent to liquidate its own people.

This was yet another “unfortunate” Macedonian mistake in a string of historic mistakes.

Macedonians “must” learn not to be so trusting! Macedonians must learn that they cannot depend on foreigners and strangers to lead them and tell them what to do! Macedonians must grasp the fact that the world around them was built on lies and deception and no one cares about them!

In short, the Macedonians were lied to and used to disarm and destroy the village bands.

Even before SNOF was disbanded, relations between the Greek communists and the SNOF leadership were abysmal to say the least.

The Greeks were promising “cooperation” between SNOF and ELAS but that cooperation never materialized.

Many Macedonian leaders, particularly Gotsе, a Macedonian battalion commander, were upset and unhappy about the Macedonian situation in Greece.

Then tensions came to a climax in October when Gotse found himself face to face with ELAS units deployed in front of his SNOF units ready to attack them.

Instead of fighting, Gotse, along with 800 of his fighters, crossed over the Yugoslav border and entered the Republic of Macedonia. He did not want a direct confrontation with ELAS, especially with the Macedonian fighters who had joined ELAS. And especially not on Macedonian soil. The implications would have been horrendous to say the least…

INTERVIEWER – How big was the battalion?

RISTO – In those days a battalion numbered around 600 soldiers.

First the Greeks wanted to disband the battalions, later they wanted to move it south, outside of Macedonia. But Gotse refused their orders. He told the Greeks that the fighters in his battalion were all Macedonians and wanted to stay in Macedonia to protect their families and the Macedonian people. His fighters were all volunteers; kids who joined his force to fight for Macedonia and not for Greece.

INTERVIEWER – Like your uncle?

RISTO – Yes like my uncle. Initially my uncle was a policeman in the Macedonian forces but later joined all kinds of youth groups.

He was ready to fight… for equality. The Macedonians were fierce fighters and very patriotic. Unfortunately they were easily

manipulated because of their strong patriotism. They were simple people who were fed up with Greek aggression and wanted it to end.

Their strength was in their patriotism and that worried the Greeks. But the Greeks used their patriotism against them. First, they used it to destroy the Macedonian armed village bands on account that they were allegedly “Bulgarian bands”. Then they promised the Macedonians political and military cooperation. Later they promises the Macedonians human rights and equality...

This was purposely done to get the Macedonians to do their bidding.

The Greek communists even promised the Macedonians complete independence.

But, none of these promises materialized… They were all Greek lies. But were they believable?

In those days anything was believable because the world was in constant flux. The Macedonian people on the other side of the artificial border, the ones who had been occupied by Serbia not too long ago, just gained their independence and now had their own country, a Yugoslav Republic… with human and national rights…

So, yes, it was believable! The Macedonians in Greek occupied Macedonia felt they too could and should be recognized and given their human and national rights. Why not?

The need to “believe” unfortunately clouded the Macedonian mind and blinded the Macedonians from seeing the signs and the fact that they were being manipulated.

Everything was always within their reach but always out of their grasp. The Greeks made sure of that. The Greeks took full advantage of their patriotism and used it against them.

But, this was nothing new. The Bulgarians manipulated the Macedonians during their 1903 Ilinden Uprising to get them to rise up against a stronger opponent and they did… I already explained what happened.

So, let us now get back to our story.

As I mentioned earlier, the turning point for Greece was when Stalin and Churchill decided that Greece would go to the British sphere of influence and no socialist system would be allowed to take place in Greece. But given that Greece was over 80% in favour of a socialist system, Stalin pushed the point that Greece’s future should be decided by an election. Both Churchill and Stalin agreed on that point and decided to put that matter into the hands of the Greek people.

It was agreed that an election would take place. It was also agreed that the election would take place under certain conditions. One of those conditions was that all armed groups inside Greece were to be disarmed, including ELAS, the communist led army.

And, as I mentioned earlier, the Macedonian units were to be disbanded and all Macedonian organizations were to be shut down and eliminated. That was Churchill’s request.

The British and the Greek political right were certain they could not possibly win the elections fair and square so they began to take measures against their opposition.

As the national election date in March 1946 approached, terror and pressure on the Macedonian people increased dramatically. On March 5th, 1946 members of the National Guard jailed 10 people from the village Nered. They were all taken to court and, without a shred of evidence, accused of being members of illegal organizations. Similar events took place in the villages Neokazi, Popozhani, Boreshnitsa and Sekulevo.

On March 13th, 1946, 10 people from the village Petoratsi were sued in the Lerin court and were given 10 to 15 year prison sentences. They were accused of belonging to illegal socialist organizations. Among those sued were Bitko Mijalev, Lazo Damianov, Naso Zhinzov and Vasil Popov.

Another 18 people from the village Setina were also sued by the same court and handed 8 to 10 year prison sentences. These people were accused of various crimes. Their accuser was the teacher Miltiadis Dulukas who was a witness at their trials.

The amount of violence used by the Greek government was much greater than in the past. Even the death penalty was used against Leftists between 1945 and 1950. This overshadowed the violence perpetrated in all previous and subsequent periods.

It is interesting to point out that while Greek governments in the immediate postwar period were disinclined to carry out death sentences against known and convicted German collaborators and war criminals, such reservations were much less in evidence against the Leftists and against Macedonians especially after the 1946 elections.

While the British and the Greek press continued to speak of free elections in Greece, the nationalist and chauvinistic elements continued to rain terror on the civilian population arresting and imprisoning people uncontrollably. By the time the elections took place on March 31st, 1946, almost all of the former resistance fighters were either missing or serving jail sentences under trumped up charges.

Terror and persecution escalated before the elections and peaked on the day of the elections, prompting even Sofulis himself, who was running for office, to say: “It is impossible to hold impartial elections under these conditions.” Not only were people terrorized to vote for whoever their tormentors wanted but there were also all sorts of other irregularities which were being ignored by the state apparatus.

Interestingly some of these irregularities were confirmed by British, Colonel Shepard who was quoted by the newspaper “New Democracy” on December 8th, 1947 as saying: “During the election a Greek officer was watching a British officer and finally got enough nerve to speak to him. The Greek officer boasted to the British officer about how his regime was capable of creating conditions where 100% of the people would vote for the royalists.

‘Even if not 100% then at least 95% and for those 5% who vote differently we will call them the enemies of the regime and invent reasons as needed to bring them in’ explained the Greek officer.”

The March 31st, 1946 Greek elections were a total farce, not only because of the coercion by the rightist regime forcing voters to vote for them but also because of the perpetrated election fraud. In most European countries like France, Italy and others the population had naturally shrunk because of the war but not in Greece. In spite of the half million deaths due to starvation and war, Greece, according to the number of people who voted in 1946, showed a massive population increase, much greater than those voting in 1936. For example, 1,753,000 voters participated in the 1936 elections and 2,200,000 voters participated in the 1946 elections (voting in Greece was mandatory). Above that another 250,000 voters, known democrats were intentionally left off the lists so that they could not vote.

Please note that NOF was formed on April 23, 1945 under Tito and Kolishevski’s leadership and was dispatched to Greece by Kolishevski in the fall of the same year. The elections in Greece were scheduled to take place on March 31st, 1946. Why would Tito and Kolishevski prepare and dispatch NOF to Greek occupied Macedonia to start a new conflict even before the elections had taken place unless they knew something beforehand? The election was the key to ending the conflict by letting the people decide what course to take.

Right after the CPY and CPG agreed on what to do regarding the continuation of the war in Greek occupied Macedonia, Lazar Kolishevski, Secretary of the CPM Central Committee, invited the NOF Board, headed by Paskal Mitrevski, for a briefing during which Kolishevski said the following: “Now you go down there (in Greek occupied Macedonia). The CPG is now responsible for you. You must have faith in the CPG. Its policy on the Macedonian question is clear. Any questions that may surface will now be decided by the leadership of the CPG Party. Be careful not to splinter or stray from the Party. You are to work under its directives. You are to struggle and fight to strengthen your unity with the Greek

people and fight hard with all your strength against chauvinism, separatism and localized tendencies.”

Also let me remind you of what Rakovski said: “... During our meeting with Kolishevski when we were preparing to return to Aegean Macedonia in order to lay the foundations of the revolution, Kolishevski, in his first class cynical speech, said to us: ... ‘That we Macedonians were a talented people, with appallingly visible international and revolutionary orientation, with a sense of tact and strategy’ and that Tito told him: ‘Now is your moment!’…”

The elections in Greece were scheduled for March 31st, 1946. NOF was already dispatched to Greek occupied Macedonia in the fall of 1945 to start a conflict.

Immediately after the March 31st, 1946 elections, when it was made abundantly clear to everyone that the elections in Greece were neither fair nor democratic, many Macedonian small groups re-armed and took to the mountains, Kajmakchalan, Pajak and Vicho, not only to save themselves but to fight back and provide protection for their families and villages.

Many detachments led successful battles in several villages including Lukovits in Voden Region and Sarakinovo in Lerin Region. Thousands of Macedonians expressed their readiness to fight for freedom in Greek occupied Macedonia and many more were prepared to leave the ranks of the regular army and join the Partisan units.

The first fighters to show desire to abandon the regular army and cross over to the Partisans were a group of soldiers from a unit stationed in the village Pondokersija in Kukush Region. Similar desires were expressed by a group of men from the 5th division stationed in Kozheni.

When the Greek authorities found out, the men were court-martialed by a military court which sentenced 14 soldiers and 1 officer to death, 22 soldiers received life imprisonment and 23 others were handed down lesser sentences. All the above mentioned soldiers were accused of cooperating with the Partisans.

Most historians would argue that the Greek Civil War began on December 3rd, 1944 with the bloody demonstrations in Athens when the police opened fire and killed a number of demonstrators. But it would be more appropriate to attribute the beginning of the Greek Civil War to March 31st, 1946 the day of the elections, the day when, instead of voting, many Partisans re-armed and rebelled against the Greek Government.

The rebellion manifested itself as an attack on the Greek right which began in the village “Lithohorion”, situated in Thessaly east of Mount Olympus directly south of Katerini. Other attacks soon followed and in no time the conflict escalated into a full scale war, engulfing not only Greece but also Greek occupied Macedonia.

In a bizarre turn of events, the National Liberation Army of Greece, which less than a year before had turned their guns on Macedonian fighters, now regrouped as the Democratic Army of Greece and extended its hand in friendship. It seems that all was forgiven and forgotten when the former National Liberation Army of Greece leadership asked the Macedonians for their help. This time the Greek communists came with offers of “equal rights”, “recognition” and even possibilities of “re-unification with the Republic of Macedonia”.

Many Partisan fighters from Greek occupied Macedonia who had crossed over into the Republic of Macedonia the year before got their chance to return home. On their return they organized themselves under a new organization bearing the name the National Liberation Front (NOF).

Many Macedonians were well-aware of the saying “beware of Greeks bearing gifts” and knew that the Greek offer was too good to be true. But there was always that small ray of hope that perhaps this time the outcome for Macedonia might be different. Besides, their families, homes and lives were in Greek occupied Macedonia. What other choice did they really have?

They returned because they were lonely, loved their families and because they had to live with the guilt of having to leave their loved

ones in dire straits. Every Macedonian born in Macedonia, even in the most desolate places, knows the feeling of homesickness and yearns to return.

And so the seeds of deceit that were planted earlier began to germinate. The Macedonians were fooled into joining the so-called Greek Civil War knowing nothing and perhaps suspecting very little of where this storm was going to take them. And where did this storm take them? To their own extinction, just like Britain wanted.

After the conflict started, details about which can be found in my books, in Stoian Kochov’s books and in Petre Nakovski’s books which I translated from Macedonian to English, Greek occupied Macedonia began to be emptied of its population in a dramatic way.

Just to give you an idea of how dramatic, just look at my own village Oshchima. In 1939 my village had 600 residents. In 1949 it had only 60 residents. This was not a small loss this was a disaster from which the village never recovered.

By the time I left Oshchima in 1966, there were less that 10 people, only three families left. In 2015 there was only one family left. The entire village is in ruins.

A lot of people were killed fighting in the war, being bombed by Greek planes and being murdered by the Greek fascists. The majority left and crossed over the border into Albania; pushed north and out of their homeland by the Greek army.

This was typical of all the villages in Lerin, Kostur and Voden Regions.

A flood of people ended up in the camps over the Albanian border that no one wanted. They left their homes to save themselves from the Greek bombs and to return when the conflict was over. That was their plan. They left their homes because they were told to.

[“The front has been breached! The front has been breached!” voices called out, bringing fear and spreading it among the people. The

horror grew. People were frightened and panic filled the air. It was time to flee, to run away.

Messengers on horseback were running around everywhere warning people, telling them to leave, showing them which way to take and where to go. Irritated, they spurred their horses to run through the village streets while they yelled: “Leave! Leave! The Greek army is coming! Leave now!”

With the pounding of horse hooves, for as long as the warnings lasted, like echoes repeating again and again, was the message: “Leave! Leave! The front has been breached! The Greek army is coming! They will beat you, rape you and kill you! They will hang people and burn everything! Leave now!”

The horsemen who had orders to sow the seeds of fear and horror into the people crossed over Preval and split up at the crossroads, one ran to Bukovik, L’k and Drenovo and the others took the road to German.

People in Prespa were gathering their most important things, from what remained, and packing them in sacks. There was yelling, screaming, pleading and crying. The roads were packed with people leaving. A woman was wailing at the top of her voice looking up and cursing the sky. Winds of fear hovered over the people spreading panic and horror, making them run. The people who passed Perovo, the narrow passage where the water flows between the two lakes, and took the road to Vineni, could see the rising smoke and flames behind them. They could also see the same horsemen who had warned them to leave, burning the wheat fields. Flames were now consuming the mature grains from which bread was made…

The thick smoke generated by the cannon and mortar fire covering the mountains and valleys was blown away by the wind and the sky had opened up. The broken stones were warmed by the summer sun.

No one dared move. The hill seemed dead. The enemy was monitoring the region with binoculars from over yonder. They were

combing every bush and every stone. The slightest movement awakened the cannons and the hill was on fire again.

Explosions burned the piles of broken rock. The days in August were long. Tired, numbed, faces were glued to the ground, coiled they squatted in the shallow trenches. The sun was hot and the earth was burning. The Sergeant repeated the order: “Not a single step back, hold your ground to the last one!”

Every attempt to take a new position was met with death. There was not even 300 meters to the forest behind them. It would be safer there. The space between them and the forest was bare like a shaven head. The silence and anticipation was torturing them.

The earth was baked by the sun and burned by grenades. They broke stone with their dull pickaxes. They shoveled soil and broken stone with their bare hands. Their hands were raw, bleeding and full of sores. Their bodies baked, burned and blistered with bubbles full of yellow fluid.] (Petre Nakovski).

The Greek government closed the border behind them and would not allow anyone back, not even the women and children. No Macedonian was allowed to return ever since to this day. The Macedonian refugee children who were evacuated in 1948 are still not allowed to return. Having no prospect of returning home, the Macedonian flood of refugees and fighters was settled in the camps in Albania until a place could be found for them to go.

Russia decided to take the fighters. Most of the civilians were taken by Poland. The refugee children who were evacuated earlier were taken mostly by Yugoslavia, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Hungary with some being taken by other countries including Bulgaria.

INTERVIEWER – None stayed in Albania?

RISTO – Some of the refugees remained in Albania, but a very small number. Albania took some, Germany took some.

INTERVIEWER – Germany? Oh East Germany?

RISTO – East Germany took a small number of the refugee children. Most went to Yugoslavia, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Hungary. These children left home in 1948. They were sent to Yugoslavia first and then they were separated and sent to the other countries. The children were not told that they would be separated.

INTERVIEWER – Why did they separate them?

RISTO – Well basically for educational purposes, they wanted them in different age groups and certain countries wanted a certain age group and so on. So the younger ones ended up in Yugoslavia.

When the Royalist and Republican Greek Government began to use heavy artillery and aerial bombardment, the idea for evacuating the children quickly gained CPG support and the “save the children” program was born. Before the program was put into action it gained approval from the Macedonian National Liberation Front, the Women’s Antifascist Front and the Red Cross. The host countries, willing to look after the children, were contacted to gain their approval and information campaigns were begun to inform the people about the program. The district and village organizations were also asked to participate and were eventually given the responsibility of organizing and implementing the actual evacuations.

When the authorities in the Greek Government found out about the “save the children” program they initiated their own so-called “pedomazoma” (collect the children) campaign. The Greek army upon capturing Macedonian villages was ordered to evacuate the children, by force if necessary. After being gathered at various camps the children were eventually sent to the Greek Island Leros. There they were enrolled in schools to study religion and became wards of the Greek Queen Fredericka.

After the conclusion of the Greek Civil War (1951-52) some children from the “pedomazoma” were returned to their homes in Macedonia. Most, especially those whose parents were killed or had fled the country as refugees, became wards of the Greek State and

remained in dormitories until adulthood. All the children who remained at Leros were completely Hellenized and were never heard from again.

The Leros camps became active again after 1952, this time with children who had returned from the “save the children” program from Eastern European Block countries who had to declare themselves Greek in order to be allowed back. As a result of Red Cross intervention some children were allowed to return home. Unfortunately the Greek authorities collected them and sent them to the camps in Leros where they were kept until the fall of 1959 before they were released.

Pressure from the community prompted organizers of the “save the children” program to expedite the evacuation process to stop the “Burandari” (nickname for Greek Government soldiers and policemen) from taking more children.

The evacuations carried out by the Partisans were done strictly on a voluntary basis. It was up to the child’s parents or guardians to decide whether the child was to be evacuated or not. No child was ever evacuated by force or without consent, but fear and peer pressure were certainly motivating factors.

The evacuation zones were selected based on the severity of the conflict and the degree of danger it posed to the children. Central command organizers decided on the selection criteria and qualifications for which children were to be evacuated. The lists included all children between the ages of two and fourteen as well as all orphans, disabled and special children.

Before the evacuation was put into effect, women over the age of eighteen were enlisted from the local population and from the Partisan ranks to be trained to handle young children.

Widows of fallen Partisans were also recruited as “surrogate mothers” to accompany and assist the children through the evacuation process and during their stay in the host countries.

The evacuation program began to gain momentum in early March of 1948, starting with the recruitment and training of the special teachers. The actual evacuations were carried out en masse starting on March 25th through to March 30th, 1948 until all the designated villages were evacuated.

Most children were transported through Yugoslavia and were sent to Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia and Poland. Some were evacuated through Albania and Bulgaria. As the numbers of the evacuated rose, children were also sent to East Germany and the USSR.

It is estimated that about 28,000 children in all were evacuated, most of them from northwestern Greek occupied Macedonia. Although smaller in number some orphans, children of Partisans and children of families who were in trouble with the Greek Government authorities were also evacuated.

When their turn came the children from each village were summoned and escorted by Partisan guides to the closest designated border crossing. For their safety the children traveled under the cover of darkness and away from the main roads. In some cases, due to heavy aerial attacks and falling bombs, some villages evacuated their children in haste without escorts and they became stranded in the snow-covered mountains without shelter.

Mothers prepared luggage, a change of clothing, food and eating utensils before escorting their little ones to the designated meeting places. With eyes tearing, mothers said goodbye to their loved ones before sending them into the hands of destiny. Their cries could be heard for a long time as they disappeared into the distance. It didn’t take too long before the emptiness was felt and many mothers could not stop crying, contemplating the fate of their little ones.

The children walked in single file behind their surrogate mothers, holding hands. The older children comforted the young as they moved into seclusion.