1.3.1 FACTS AND ARGUMENTS – THE MACEDONIAN FREEDOM FIGHTING REBELS OF KOSTUR - Part 02

Yugoslav question on account that the CPY formed the organizations NOF, AFZH and NOMS in Aegean Macedonia and placed you in charge to lead them. These organizations have been tasked to give the Macedonian people in Aegean Macedonia a Yugoslav orientation. The Macedonian people and the Macedonian movements are now led by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. The Macedonians from Aegean Macedonia will get their full recognition and acceptance within a Federal Yugoslavia and Aegean Macedonia will join Yugoslavia.” (AM. Macedonian Archives. F-20/276, F-20/196.) (See: Kirazovski Risto 1966/181 and Rakovski Pavle 1990/199.)

According to historian Lazar Lazarov 1998/62, on September 26, 1945 a report was sent to the French government by Gerard Raul Duval, French Consulate General in Solun, in which, among other things, he said: “... The headquarters of the organization NOF is located in Skopje, Yugoslav territory... after all it seems that the propaganda generated by the NOF Slavophones is realizing the idea of an autonomous Macedonia. The Yugoslav government controls this organization and sees Greek Macedonia as its own, as part of the Yugoslav territory...” (p. 62)

This was a time period when these organizations acted outside and independent of the CPG and were exclusively run by the CPM/CPY (see Kirazovski 1995/10).

There is no doubt that NOF’s optimal aim, as ordered by the CPM/CPY), was to totally enlist all the Macedonian people in Greek occupied Macedonia into the liberation front and utilize them to deliver their program goals. So, the question is: “If this strategic objective was put in place because the CPM/CPY ‘cared’ for the Macedonian people and wanted to create a ‘united Macedonia’ for them, then why, only three months earlier, did Yugolav officials prohibit them from going to fight in Solun? Why was Yugoslavia against the slogans: “Let us turn our guns towards Solun!” and “To Solun, not to the Srem front!”?

Obviously the CPM/CPY’s strategic objective for creating NOF, AFZH (Anti-Fascist Women’s Front) and NOMS (People’s Liberation Youth Movement) must have been important because

after these organizations were dispatched to Greek occupied Macedonia they established 5 regional, 10 district and 3 urban offices with 32 regional leaders and 120 professional staff organized in 220 villages operating 170 rural and community organizations. They even established military formations as large as battalions. (See Kiriazovski 1985/143.) It is worth mentioning at this point that half of the villages that had offices were destroyed during the Greek Civil War.

From a historical point of view, it seems that the need for NOF and AFZH was outdated because their slogans and what they stood for, i.e. fighting to defeat “Fascism”, were also outdated. Fascism had already been defeated but it seems for the Macedonians that did not matter. But it did matter for the Greek government because it sanctioned and passed special laws that applied and were valid only for us Macedonians. These laws opened the door for violence against NOF, AFZH and the Macedonian people in general. Violence and unprecedented terror were sanctioned by the Greek government. This was done even before the Greek Civil War was active. The Greek Civil War did not officially begin until March 31, 1946 by a decision of the CPG Second Plenum held on February 12, 1946. After the Second World War, the Greek Civil War was a new test for us Macedonians. The war had a dual purpose; one, expel the population, and for that reason the war was located inside Greek occupied Macedonia; two, liquidate the Communists who obviously were grossly misinformed and wanted to create socialism inside Greece.

Russia’s (Stalin’s) position in all this was very odd: Stalin wanted to interfere in capitalist affairs even though it had been decided and he had agreed with the Western Powers that: Greece in its entirety was going under the English and American spheres of influence. This was done under the Yalta (4) Agreement which guaranteed that no socialist system would be implemented in Greece. This Agreement negated and made the need for the Greek Civil War unnecessary. So, if the War was not about “installing” socialism in Greece, then there was only one other option left: internationalize the problem and legally ethnically cleanse the ethnic Macedonian population and

then replace it with the new Asia Minor colonists and settlers, commonly known as “Prosfigi”.

So, now allow me to highlight some facts: NOF, AFZH and NOMS were created in Skopje on April 23, 1945, independent of the CPG. The national strategic error, which the Greeks introduced by calling us “Slavo-Macedonians” was corrected and, perhaps because of decisions made by ASNOM, there was no longer “room” left for alien bodies to Manipulate us… and so we thought. But let me also point out that none of the Macedonian organizations created in Skopje had the word “Macedonia” or “Macedonian” in them. “Slavo-Macedonian” was taken out and replaced with nothing…

To find out more about what happened with NOF in the course of the Greek Civil War, you will have to read my book “(Self) Sacrifice of the Macedonians under Greece”.

I received a lot of criticism when the book first came out, which filled many pages in “Nova Makedonija”. At the height of this cynicism, many of my critics were hoping that all this would go away and that “people would eventually forget about it!” They also felt that they could heal all wounds by performing “memorial services” for our dead. One such memorial service took place this year (2000) in Shtip. It was done to commemorate the death of 150 young Macedonian people forcibly taken from sovereign Yugoslavia and sent to sovereign Greece; dumped in the arms of death during the Greek Civil War… their only crime… they were born in Greece…

Who was responsible for this? Who sent these young people to their graves? On May 29, 1994, an article in “Nova Makedonija” openly identified the person responsible… for “paying our national debt”… for “freeing” our youth; for sending them back to Greece so that they could leave their bones in Gramos.

This person was our “Sindrofos” Mitchos who saw himself as a politician, a revolutionary and a recruiter for DAG. At one point he said: “... I have been in Skopje for only four months and I was able to send hundreds of fighters to the ranks DAG.” Bravo Mitchos!

But before we all celebrate your accomplishments let us re-examine what DAG stood for, what these young people went back to fight for… Let us review the DAG fighters oath or, if you prefer, “Ο ΟΡΚΟΣ ΤΟΥ ΜΑΧΙΤΗΤΟΥ ∆ΣΕ” which basically said: “I, son of the Greek people, a fighter of the Democratic Army of Greece, will fight to defend the frontiers, integrity and sovereignty of our motherland Greece...”

And to think that this guy felt sorry for the mothers who, during the memorial service, were crying for their children, who he had sent back to Greece where they were killed. But that’s not all, this was the person, our Sindrofos Mitchos, who tried to convince us that, during the Second NOF Congress held on March 25, 1949, just prior to DAG’s liquidation, Zahariadis had said: “You Macedonians have a right to secession, within a Balkan federation…”

What was that DAG fighter oath again?

“I, son of the people of Greece and fighter of the Democratic Army of Greece, swear that I will fight with a rifle in hand, will shed my blood and will give my life, to expel the last foreign occupier from my motherland Greece. I will fight and liquidate all presence of fascism. I will fight to acquire and to establish national freedom and to defend the territorial integrity of our motherland Greece. I will fight for democracy and for the good of the people.

I swear that I will be a good, distinguished and disciplined soldier, and will carry out all my orders and canons and will never reveal any of DAG’s secrets.

I swear that I will be a good example and I will have the best attitude towards people with a view to lasting reconciliation and I will avoid all attempts to discredit or humiliate myself as a person and as a fighter. My primary interests will be: to fight for Greece’s freedom and permanent democracy. With rifle in my hand, I am ready to lay down my life for all these interests of the people of Greece.”

Regardless of the sacrifices Sindrofos Mitchos, otherwise known as Dimitar Ugrinoski – Micho, made for them, the Greeks in ELAS and

DAG gave him the name “Vorias” (North), a conspiratorial and unpopular name.

Sindrofos Mitchos understood and learned nothing from my book. I think it was better that way because he immediately launched a negative campaign against me and mentioned names and things that were not even in my book. He entirely missed my point. He took the opposing direction. He even missed my comments on the first page where I honoured our fighters and mentioned names that deserved mentioning. He called my book an “unscientific” pamphlet and accused me of copying historical facts from other authors, i.e. of plagiarism...

But in spite of what he said, which defies logic, I want to remind this “great, self-affirmed ELAS fighter” of what his ELAS comrades did against the Macedonian people! (See: “Aegean Macedonia in NOV” by Dr. R. Kiriazovski Volume 7, Book 3, page 220, document no. 76, October 18, 1944. Also see memorandum ACKSJ-K 1/40, written by the Macedonian activists from Kostur about the unhealthy relationships and the ELAS Greek leadership policies against the Macedonian people in Greek occupied Macedonia.)

From the one letter he wrote it was obvious that this “Vorias” fellow was not alone. Someone else was involved because this pseudo-fighter and communist did not have the mental capacity to respond the way he did. Someone else must have advised him and lit the fuse of hatred in him. He was not a man one could talk with, argue scholarly, or have a civilized discussion. He exhibited bizarre behaviour and acted in a vulgar manner. He even used words whose meaning was beyond his understanding.

As far as I am concerned this Vorias fellow and his Yugo-nostalgic associates may and are free to discuss whatever they want… What I don’t understand is why do they still play the role of blind and deaf witnesses to their own people’s tragedy? They may consider themselves “professional revolutionaries” with internationalist views. They may even see themselves as ideologists or belonging to a cosmopolitan world, but the fact remains; our people experienced a great tragedy to which they were witness! This, consciously or not, raises an ethical issue. Are they still under the obsession of

imaginary power? Are they under the illusion that they can offend, abuse, etc., anyone that gets in their way, but those offended and abused can do nothing? Do they think that because I have a different view of events than they do, that I have no right to express them?! They still say: “Your allies were killing you (thinking of the Macedonian Kostur freedom fighting rebels) on the road at the end of World War II...” But none of Vorias’s companions have asked the question: “What happened at the end of the Greek Civil War? Why were communists, Macedonian leaders, sent to the camps in Siberia?” They were certainly not sent there for a summer vacation…? A smart person from the civilized world once said: “Profanities are the arguments of those who are not right.” This again confirms that all divisions that took place between us in our recent history have left deep scars in our lives. This was the destiny chosen for us when we allowed others to represent us when we were seeking justice and even now, more than 50 years later, it seems we are still following the same path. This shows how deeply we are divided and how much we are determined to remain that way. Have these people, with their personal erudition, completely circumvented Macedonian historiography, a vital national issue, from being fully developed? Or can it be concluded that their intentions are actually consistent with the pre-designed “execution” orders, to disqualify the people who may want to know something more than their own genocide? Why do we still dread the opening of the “white pages” of our past? Is there a danger in knowing our historical truth; or political combinations and permeations of it? And why are we Macedonians still measured by the emptiness of historical phrases and inconsistencies? How can we forget our legacy which has left deep trauma and scars in us, which will always excite our feelings? This too is a reminder of our Macedonian history.

After this brief overview of events an important question comes to mind: “WHO FINALLY ACTIVATED THE “MACEDONIAN SYNDROME” TO CAUSE US TO (SELF) SACRIFICE OURSELVES IN THE YEARS 1945 TO1949 DURING THE GREEK CIVIL WAR?”

a) Were we Macedonians the direct cause for this unbearable tension in that region?

b) Did we Macedonians “accidentally” find ourselves swept under this military hurricane, which uprooted everything Macedonian, or did someone “perpetrate” this act at the right time and in the right place and urge us to commit to it because it was “either now or never!”? Author D. Kliaich, in his book entitled “General Markos”, wrote: “During a CPG Central Committee Plenum, held on September 15, 1947, which lasted for three days, a discussion took place about the military affairs during which the Plenum emphasized the use of the slogan: ‘All to arms, everything for freedom!’ After which it was decided to create a ‘free territory’ in the Kozheni plateau, in Karakamen, in Kaimakchalan and in Vicho.” In other works, right in the heart of Greek occupied Macedonia. Did anyone find it odd that not a single Macedonian attended this plenum? Not a single Macedonian participated in the Plenum even though decisions were being made about the fate and future of Macedonia and the Macedonian people and as much as 50% of the people and resources available to this war were Macedonians? What is even more surprising about all this is that “our historiography” claims that NOF was a military and political factor in this evil war.

After this decision was made and before the “Provisional Democratic Government of Greece” was appointed as a representative DAG, illegal mobilizations began as follows:

September 27, 1947 – DAG Headquarters ordered the mobilization of all men between the ages of 17 to 35. With much intensity, over the course of 4 to 9 months, the Macedonian political refugees who had fled to Yugoslavia and were living in Skopje, Veles, Shtip and Bitola were also mobilized into DAG and shipped from Yugoslavia to the front in Greece, in trucks covered with tarps, during the night. (See: F.M INI SK.4-271/60 p.73-76.)

General Markos Vafiadis, in a statement he made in March 1947 to the French daily “Imanite”, among other things, said: “We demand full equality for the Macedonians and other nationalities, the same as the Greeks. The Macedonians have experienced nothing else except debt, persecution, torture and murder. Greek governments have sought to denationalize them, not recognizing their most basic rights, even their right to speak their native language...” (Macedonian archives bb 1947, translated from Greek.) But it is

interesting to see how things developed from what General Markos said and from what he did after the “Provisional Democratic Government of Greece” was created and he was appointed President. When it came to the needs of DAG, Markos appointed the senior officers by decree. He selected those who were originators of the partisan movement in the various headquarters in the Greek territories and promoted them to colonels of DAG:

1. Alexandrou Gianis Diamandis, 2. Georgiadis Georgios, 3. Giakoglou Nikos, 4. Gianulis Georgios, 5. Ziguras Dimitris -Paleologou, 6. Iliadis Sofianos, 7. Koukoulidis Georgios 8. Kalinos Theodoros, 9. Kanelopoulos Kostas, 10. Kariofilis Gianis, 11. Konitalonis Georgios, 12. Kontaksis Anastasios, 13. Kirandzopоulos Dimitris, 14. Papadimitriou Ilias 15. Papastergiоu Levteris, 16. Prekezes Giorgios, 17. Raftis Kostas, 18. Rosios Alekos Ipsilantis, 19. SpanosTomas, 20. Statakis Manolis, 21. Sfakianos Georgios, 22. Terzoglоu Nikos, 23. Tсelifis Tomas, 24. Tombоulidis Pavlos, 25. Triandafilоu Nikos, 26. Folrakis Harilaos. It is interesting to note that none of the above people are Macedonians; not one! Yet these were the officers that commanded the DAG army, 50% of which was Macedonian. WHY?

It is interesting to note that, regarding the September 27, 1947 mobilization, Risto Kiriazovski, in his book “NOF and the other organizations from Aegean Macedonia (1945-1949)” on page 279, wrote: “The leadership of CPG and DAG not only underestimated the Macedonian leaders and fighters, but illegally executed some” -citing the example in Kaimakchalan where Iraklis Miltiadis -Kiriakos shot 10 innocent Macedonians. Besides this documented event, in which Kiriazovski provides the names of those who were shot, in chapter four of his book he also mentions a number of other events that truly exemplify his arguments. What does this mean? It means that the Greeks could do whatever they wanted to the Macedonians and nothing was considered a crime against humanity, as defined by international law. Macedonians could be forcibly sent from sovereign Yugoslavia to sovereign Greece to be killed or to die as guerillas in Gramos with no consequences to anyone.

Here is what Dr. Risto Kiriazovski had to say about this:

First: February 9, 1949. As requested by Porfirogenis, member of the CPG Politburo, a CPG delegation was sent to Skopje to meet with Kolishevski and demand from him permission to recruit at least 5,000 Macedonians from the refugees who had fled to Yugoslavia to save themselves because they were considered Greek citizens.

Second: February 9, 1949. Again as requested by Porfirogenis, member of the CPG Politburo, the same CPG delegation met with NOF representatives who had deserted DAG and demanded from them to recruit at least 300 new fighters, again from the refugees who had fled Greece to Yugoslavia to save themselves.

Third. A meeting was held in Belgrade on February 16 at the CPY level with representative - Popivoda. A shocking new reality hit our people after DAG’s liquidation, at which time our misconceptions turned into a great tragic irony. It seems that we, in our own minds, turned from legends into martyrs from the time we entered this unforgettable tragic war and the time we left it. We became witnesses when, for the first time in history, a Macedonian turned against a Macedonian and we all behaved like ideological primitives towards the interests of our own nation. Great propaganda was used against us, at our “historical crossroads”, not only to turn us against one another but also to lead us to a supposedly “brighter future”. And we were convinced of this by our own people, the only people we trusted; the people of NOF. But, as it turned out, we were not led to a “better future”, we were led to hell. NOF was not a political or military factor in this strategy. It was only a pawn, a means for the architects who did this to us to spread their propaganda! A means to convince us to do their bidding, at our own expense!

This means that we, as a people in our own country, were unable to anticipate the things that were happening to us. It also means that we depended on others, strangers, to look ahead and lead us. That is precisely why we were not only surprised but shocked when we found out that DAG had been defeated, when all along we had been “assured” that we would win, and that it was only a matter of time! We trusted our so-called “allies” with our lives up to the point when they led us to our defeat and eviction from our homes and lands. What happened in the end was a total and devastating surprise for us

all, for which we paid with our blood tax at the highest possible price and with a permanent eviction from our homeland!

Now let us have a look at how propaganda and other tools were used to mobilize us? Let us have a look at how events unfolded in Sobotsko, Voden, Negush and Lerin Regions, in accordance with the plan for obtaining the new free territories, who led the project and how new people were mobilized and recruited.

In his book “DAG (Leadership, strategic and political issues)” Gerasimos Maltezos - Dzhumerkiotis, Superintendent of DAG headquarters, wrote: “Led by DAG’s Lieutenant-General Gusias (a shoemaker by profession), on December 28, 1948 an enormous number of DAG people, DAG units and brigades, in which more than 70% of the people were Macedonians, were on the move. According to the plan for conquering the free territories, as was decided at the CPG Central Committee Plenum, brigades 18, 103 and 14 were sent to attack the government troops stationed at Sobotsko and free the territory. Gusias himself led the operation,which resulted in a disaster of epic proportions, which should be recorded in the military annals under the title ‘Marching to their death with eyes wide open!’…”

But of all those “military marches” of the time, the hardest to describe was the hellish February 12, 1949 battle for Lerin. The available forces for that battle were as follows: In its composition DAG had brigades 13, 103, 14 and 107. It also had the school of officers, one mining battalion, one sanitation battalion and one battalion for transferring the wounded. DAG had approximately 5,354 soldiers at its disposal. The government forces stationed in Lerin numbered about 4,000 soldiers.

After about eight hours of fighting DAG suffered devastating losses: 334 dead, 1500 heavily wounded and 199 missing. Even so, today there are no graves or markers to commemorate the sacrifice of our fighters but certainly there are graves and markers for the soldiers of the government army. There is no trace of our people anywhere in Lerin because they were buried in a ditch, in a mass grave; both dead and heavily wounded - but still alive, were buried together in a common grave. This, however, is only one part of our whole

tragedy; those who were buried we buried everywhere, wherever they fell, most without markers on their graves. Many we left where they had fallen, for nature to take care… we ran for cover to save our own lives… What is most tragic about all this is that we were victims of someone else’s doing… victims of someone who wanted to start a war… the Greek Civil War… in order to turn us into casualties… for their own interests.

This problem may look complicated but it is very simple… if we open our eyes, set our prejudices aside and look impartially at it, we will discover the truth. We don’t need to look at how historiography reflects the facts, because history is written by those who won and who want to change the past to reflect the present; history is written by those who want to put the blame elsewhere... All we need to look at is exactly what happened and ask ourselves “why did it happen the way it did?” First, we were not ready or able as a people to seek justice with fire and sword. Second, we were led by Greek generals, such as Gusias, whose interest was not for us to win the war. In other words, the Greeks who led us had a lot more to gain if we lost the war and were driven out than if we won and stayed in our homes. Looking at this from a different angle, if the Greeks wanted us to “win” like they said they did, then they would have allowed us to have our own generals! And why did we not have our own generals? Why did we need “permission” from the Greeks to have our own generals? Because, as I said earlier, “we were not ready or able as a people to seek justice with fire and sword” on our own! And thus we not only relied on strangers to lead us, we believed their lies until it was too late and we all became sacrificial casualties… for foreign interests.

3. Was the “Macedonian syndrome” part of a bigger mess, a vacuum created after the Second World War as a result of undefined policies from both the socialist and capitalist camps? It is difficult to say. But, to give it the benefit of the doubt, even with a maximum commitment from the Macedonians there was no clear picture that there would be a possibility for “a final victory” and that Greece would have turned socialist. But, we Macedonians always hoped that such a scenario would be possible and, through the Soviet-ization of the Balkans, we Macedonians would find ourselves in a Balkan federation and our problems would be solved. How did we

come to believe this was even possible? Was this another concocted lie? These are some of the many questions that need to be looked at.

According to the book “Ksenokratia” prepared by a team of experts and written under the editorship of John Freeman, which came out in 1975, “... At the beginning of February 1948, a Yugoslav delegation arrived in Moscow. Included in the delegation were Kardeli, Gilas and Vladimir Dedier. Stalin received them in the Kremlin and in a conversation that he led, he attacked Belgrade for taking arbitrary initiatives and actions on fundamental issues of foreign policy without consulting with Moscow. Kardeli wanted to justify what was done but Stalin interrupted him and in a high tone of voice said: ‘No, do not ask about anything and we do not agree with all your international initiatives. We do not agree with you, my Yugoslav comrades, that we need to continue helping the Greek partisans. That struggle has no hope of success’...”

Stalin’s statement mentioned above is also included on page 218 in Dedier’s book entitled “Tito”, published in 1953. Gilas, in his book entitled “Conversations with Stalin” on page 182, confirms everything that Dedier had written, adding that Stalin had said that the revolution (struggle) in Greece needed to end! And as confirmed by what Gilas had written, Stalin had used the word “svernut” which means: “To roll it up” the way one rolls a carpet. Then Stalin turned to Kardeli and asked: “Do you believe the revolution in Greece will succeed?”

“Only if American intervention does not increase and if the Greek partisans don’t make too many serious political and strategic errors…” responded Kardeli.

Stalin interrupted nervously and said: “if, if, if... No! Make mistakes! They don’t have the slightest chance of success. What do you think, that Great Britain and the United States - the United States the most powerful country in the world - will allow you to break the line of communication to the Mediterranean Sea? This is silly, nonsense. The revolution in Greece should be aborted as soon as possible...” (Gilas, p.182.)

From what was said above, the key to the war was in the hands of the Americans. They were the real masters of the war and they only had the task of defending their interests, that is, politicians start wars and politicians decide when to finish wars. But that war was extraordinary and most difficult for us Macedonians who were manipulated into joining it.

4. Should we Macedonians be forgetting that we were in the middle of an explosive conflict and, for a long time, had found ourselves between diplomacy and guns? Should we be forgetting that on April 17, 1946 the Solun right wing newspaper “Nea Alithia” (New Truth) published an article entitled “Our Sudetenland”, speaking about the Macedonians and how they qualified to be Sudetenland-ers and, as such, the newspaper wrote: “... in the interest of peace and security in Greece, these people should be liquidated…”? Should we be forgetting that they called us “Slavo-Macedonians” and “If Greece did not get rid of us WW III would start at the Greek border?” It seems that everything that was said and done in those days has been blamed on us… They manipulated us into joining this horrid war and now it is our fault… Almost the entire Macedonian population was expelled and exiled from Greek occupied Macedonia in order to make Greece “pure Greek” and that also is our fault! Are we expected to forget “all this” and go on and accept our fate living in exile for the rest of our lives… and keep quiet about it? Is that what people do in the democratic world?

5. In our quest to join this Balkan Federation was there ever any guarantee that such a Federation was even possible? Or did we just put our faith in foreign hands and go along playing these Balkan games? Why did we do this, especially since we knew and were fully aware that foreign interests hid behind all this (Soviet-ization of the Balkans). Unfortunately there are still Macedonians out there who do not believe that there was a plot to intentionally involve us in this tragic war so that they could remove us from our homeland. Some don’t even believe that Greece and Yugoslavia worked together against us to salvage their own Greek - Yugoslav relations. I suppose that they also don’t believe that those two (Greece and Serbia) were involved in Macedonia’s partition and in the signing of the 1913 Treaty of Bucharest? It is naïve to have such expectations, which are not only false but work against the interests of the

Macedonian people. In those “exceptional circumstances” Greece and Yugoslavia did whatever was needed to protect their own interests and used us to achieve their objectives, which is understandable because that’s what ‘strangers’ do. Unfortunately we walked into this war with eyes closed placing our full trust in the same people who deceived us time and time again since our country was invaded, occupied, partitioned and annexed by them. It would have been a surprise if they had done anything different, other than to deceive us! We need to rely on ourselves to solve our problems including the “Macedonian Question” and not on those who created them in the first place in an attempt to get rid of us! These same naïve people may continue to believe that the Greek Civil War was a “Macedonian revolution” and that NOF and AFZH were somehow the “carriers of revolutionary ideas and the ideals of the Ilinden rebellion” but the truth is that it was never about “us being freed”, it was about us being removed from our homeland. This is what the British wanted and this is exactly what happened. The facts are there in front of us. They wanted a controlled conflict and it was controlled! That is why no Macedonian people were allowed to lead or occupy high ranking positions in this so-called struggle! They wanted us involved but they did not want us to win! They wanted us to lose and have no options to negotiate a truce! We lost the war and gave up “unconditionally” giving Greece many wide options to deal with us! And what did Greece do? It exiled us permanently! Why? Because that’s what Britain and later the United States wanted! We were never a political or military factor in that war; we were simply pawns in a deadly war waged against us!

Were the Macedonians a military and political factor in this war? In his book “DAG (Leadership strategic and political issues)” Gerasimos Maltezos - Dzhumerkiotis, Superintendent of DAG headquarters, referring to what was said at a meeting held on January 15, 1948 about the all-Greek military – political advisements on strategic issues and on further development of tactics, wrote:

“The advisory meeting, held at Vicho, was attended by 22 functionaries of the Party and of DAG”. Gusias informed the attendants about all the defeats, the split in the CPG and the Greek left in general. Present at this event were Zahariadis, Ioanidis,

Markos, Bardzhiotas, Stringos, Zografos, Kolianis, Vazvanas and others... Not a single Macedonian was present even though this meeting was held on Vicho, on Macedonian territory! What does this mean? It means that the Greeks wanted no Macedonians present, as simple as that! Macedonians were not allowed to have knowledge of important information!

I will now provide a few examples of how the CPG manipulated the Macedonian people to achieve its own objectives.