CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER THREE

1. Siantos declared a traitor

As it turned out the provocateurs, about whom I spoke earlier in front of the fighters from Voden and Voden Region, were inside the CPG and at the very top of the Party pyramid. Their hostile policy against the Macedonian people was an integral part of their global treachery against the democratic people and against the revolution in Greece. Although posthumously, but rightly and fairly so, it was during the 3rd CPG Conference, held in October, 1950, that Georgios Siantos, Central Committee First Secretary, was proclaimed a traitor. Here is what was said about that in the resolution:

“After the CPG Central Committee delegation heard the keynote address on the subject of ‘Ten years of struggling: Lessons learned, Conclusions made, Tasks completed…’ and after the problems that were addressed were discussed, the CPG Central Committee decided to accept that the assessments made were wrong and did not follow the basic Party line during the Fascist occupation 1941 to 1945 up to the CPG Central Committee’s 11th plenum.

As a consequence of this basically wrong policy and activities implemented by the CPG during the first occupation, we lost the revolution and our ability to govern, solely thanks to our mistakes. The actual betrayal against the revolution was consciously carried out solely by Georgios Siantos without the knowledge of the CPG leadership. Siantos was the one who set things in motion and created the line while the others simply followed it. Because of that, they bear a heavy responsibility...” (CPG from 1931-1952, p. 219. Neos Cosmos, number 10, 1950.)

That is all that was said. Past that the resolution talks about other things. I don’t know if the opening statement was published since I had no opportunity to examine it but I do know that both this and the revolution are Zahariadis’s doing. All resolutions and published introductory speeches from all the CPG Congresses and from the CPG Central Committee Plenums, including the one from the CPG Central Committee 12th Plenum, from Zahariadis’s time, are Zahariadis’s works written in his style and carry his seal. He set the

line and tasks and the others adopted them and followed them. It is a commonly known fact that our Greek friends often justified this because they were afraid of being charged with committing faction-ism!

I don’t know how Siantos’s betrayal was proven because it was not explained during the introductory speech given at the 3rd CPG Convention. I belief that Siantos did commit betrayal, which I need to explain, however, it is difficult to believe that the “others” in the CPG leadership of that time did not know about it and blindly continued doing business as usual. They are not as innocent and naïve as Zahariadis tried to make them. But he had no choice. He inherited these people when he took over the Party leadership after his return from Dachau.

It seems to me that Zahariadis allowed the “basically wrong policy” that “undermined” the people’s revolution and the Party to continue to be implemented until things finally fell apart. No matter how unpredictable and unacceptable it may seem, the fact remains that it was Siantos who, together with those few around him, “eliminated” ELAS. And later it was Zahariadis who, together with those same few around him, “liquidated” DAG. In the mid-sixties (1960’s), those same few broke the Party apart into rival camps. This created chaos in the communist movement in Greece resulting in its elimination of revolutionary activities and clearing the ground for the bourgeoisie to successfully establish the April 21, 1967 dictatorship.

But let us not get ahead of ourselves... Let us have a look at the basic elements of the “basically wrong policy” led by Siantos and the top CPG leadership of the time...

2. The proletariat was incapacitated

When the party called on the Greek people to join the national front to liberate the nation from the fascist occupation, it did not arm them for a massive armed struggle, nor did it create a revolutionary army. All it did was initiate illegal struggles in cities that included economic and political strikes, demonstrations and fighting in the streets.

This actually reveals that:

The proletariat, which in the best case was only lightly armed, was constantly exposed to heavy blows from the numerically superior and heavily armed occupying forces which were concentrated in the cities. As a result of this, the proletariat had no chance of winning decisively over the occupier. The standpoint of such a policy was very clear:

The Party did not want Greece to be liberated by its own people and was counting on the allied armies to liberate it when they came from the West and Egypt and, most importantly, by doing this they knew that the bourgeoisie would be chosen over them to take power in Greece...

3. Changing tactics

The fascist terror waged against the people was so severe that it forced many people to gradually leave for the mountains where they organized themselves into what eventually became ELAS, the revolutionary People’s Liberation Army which, by the middle of 1943, was waging a general partisan war. Commanded mainly by communists on the ground, ELAS was already becoming an important military force with obvious opportunities to become a decisive factor in the liberation and social and political arrangements of the country.

The Party leadership at this point decided to change tactics. It left the cities and effectively took firm control of ELAS in the field. This is what General Srefanos Sarafis, then ELAS Supreme Commander, wrote about it in his famous book “ELAS”:

“The Greek people, under EAM leadership, began their resistance in the cities with protests, strikes and other beleaguered actions, but eventually became organized in the partisan army…” (Stefanos Sarafis: ELAS, Athens 1946, p. 92.)

So, in brief, the General echoed the Party’s policy. Further down in his book he wrote: “In early May 1943, EAM Central Committees

and ELAS decided to establish ELAS General Headquarters... In late July 1943, a Higher Military Council was convened to study the situation and decide on the imminent formation of an army and its structure... After analyzing the situation, as well as ELAS’s capabilities, the number of cadres and its future needs, the Higher Council decided: 1) To convert the partisan army into a regular army and call it ‘Arhigia’, ‘Imparahigia’, etc., in divisions, brigades, etc...” (Sarafis: ELAS, pp. 294-295.)

But, despite what the General said, how the Party ultimately organized the partisan army does not answer what actually happened. This is what happened:

4. The Union of the people’s revolutions in the neighbouring nations was rejected

Representatives from the communist parties of Greece, Albania and Yugoslavia met several times and signed a number of agreements. The agreement signed on June 20, 1943, among other things, said:

“The representatives from these counties have unanimously pointed out the fact that, given the significant rise in the national liberation struggle in the Balkans, today’s conditions require the immediate establishment of mutual co-operation between the national liberation forces in all the Balkan countries in a patriotic struggle for the liberation of the oppressed Balkan peoples. The representatives agreed in principle that it is necessary not only to establish mutual cooperation but to also, above all, establish unity of action involving all the national liberation forces in the Balkan countries by creating a single command under one chief general staff. All the representatives are aware of the historical significance of forming a General Balkan Headquarters, which would amplify the struggle of the Balkan peoples who are fighting for their liberation. Forming one General Staff would make it possible to stamp out chauvinistic tendencies and will contribute to strengthening the convergence and twinning of the Balkan peoples. It will provide new forces in the struggle for a final and universal victory of true democracy in the Balkan countries. It will also eliminate all the difficulties and, after the fascist occupiers are expelled from the Balkans, will pave the way for the creation of a Balkan federation...” (The original

document, written in French, can be found in the Socialist Republic of Macedonia Archives in Skopje.)

However, shortly thereafter, the first CPG Central Committee secretary denounced the document and declared it invalid..., just like he did with the other agreed and signed documents...

5. ELAS placed under English command

Instead of looking to the north, the Party decided to look towards England. Namely, the Party put ELAS under English control. ELAS was placed under the command of the Middle East English General Staff. According to G.D. Kiriakidis, (Civil War in Greece, p. 17), Sarafis, ELAS Supreme Commander, signed a joint declaration with Eddie Myers, Chief of the English military mission and representative of the English general headquarters for the Middle East, on July 5, 1943. In his book “ELAS”, Sarafis wrote: “We signed a Declaration that made ELAS an allied army and placed it under the command of the Middle East General Staff. The operations it will perform will be executed on orders given by English General Headquarters...” (Stefanos Sarafis: ELAS, p. 120.)

And, as we already know, all ELAS units were restricted from doing their functions and systematically prevented from growing and conducting combat engagements. According to Vasilis Bardzhotas, member of the CPG Central Committee Politburo, “large ELAS units, ELAS divisions and groups of ELAS divisions, were all placed in the hands of the British Intelligence Service…” (Vasilis Bardzhotas, “CPG staffing policy during the National Liberation War”, Neos Cosmos, no. 9, 1950.)

6. Joint Headquarters

Another, similar, Agreement was also signed on July 18, 1943, between Eddy Myers of Middle East General Headquarters, and Vasilis Samariniotis (A. Dzhimas), Stefanos Sarafis and Aris Velouhitis, representatives of EAM and ELAS.

Based on this Agreement, the EDES quisling forces, led by Colonel Napoleon Zervas, and those of EKKA, led by Colonel Psaros, were

to also be placed under English command. EDES and EKKA were organized by the bourgeoisie and the English to fight against EAM and ELAS. According to Sarafis: “On June 21, 1943, EDES units accompanied by English officers entered our territory around Gotista and Kalama-Filiates, and there, especially around Filiates, liquidated our organizations, arrested and abused EAM members and even committed murder... In my opinion, by doing this, Majors Chris and Miller, for political purposes, wanted to expand Zervas’s territory to include the whole of Epirus and, once reinforced, be used against ELAS. This English tendency and Zervas’s actions resulted in many ELAS - EDES clashes which ultimately led to their great collision in October 1943.” (Sarafis, ELAS, pp. 122-123.) Again, according to Sarafis: “These covert forces, which even cooperated with the occupiers against EAM and ELAS, were recognized by the English as forces that fought against the occupiers. And there was more to it than that. A joint headquarters was set up for all of them…” According to Sarafis: “ELAS even demanded that Colonel Eddie Myers create the joint headquarters with Sarafis, Aris, Samariniotis, Zervas, and Psaros.) (Ibid, p. 111)

But, as it turned out, the joint headquarters formed was of a somewhat different composition. Namely, on July 29, 1943, during the first English headquarters military mission meeting, the following was announced:

a) The English military mission was to consist of Colonel Eddie Myers - Head of the Mission, Lieutenant Colonel Chris - his assistant and deputy, Major Wallace - Political Adviser and England’s Foreign Ministry Representative, and Captain Ross – Eddie’s assistant.

b) ELAS: Colonel Sarafis, Comrade Aris Velouhiotis and Comrade Samariniotis.

c) EDES: Colonel Napoleon Zervas, Kominos Piromaglu as well as Colonel Mavromatis and Major Gikopoulos, who would continually be present and represent EDES in the joint Main Headquarters. (Sarafis, ELAS, p. 142.)

The representatives of EKKA joined the headquarters later.

By doing this, almost a year before the Lebanon Agreement was signed, the Party leadership officially and practically acknowledged the English right to lead the struggle in Greece and to interfere in Greece’s internal affairs. Accordingly, to say that “an accidental error” was somehow made during the talks in Lebanon was completely pointless, and only served to blur and conceal the historical truth. The top CPG leadership was responsible for systematically implementing “treacherous policies” right from the very beginning...

7. Other characteristic facts

a) The Party led only a “national struggle” (not a social struggle) through “national unity” together with the bourgeoisie. Here is what was said in the June 1941 CPG Central Committee 6th Plenum Resolution: “The Communist Party of Greece calls on all the Greek people, all its parties and organizations (bourgeois parties and organizations included), to join one national front... For their national liberation...” (CPG from 1931 to 1952, CPG Central Committee 1952 edition, p. 105.)

b) The Party refused to carry out a social revolution inside Greece which would have been in favour of the Greek people and especially the minorities living in Greece. This would have been the right course to take. This could have been done in cooperation with the neighbouring nations. Instead of doing that, the CPG placed ELAS, which by its nature was a people’s army, under English control and prevented it from doing the function it was meant to do, start a social struggle in favour of the people. In other words, no matter what you call it and how you see it, the Party objectively prevented ELAS from doing its job and turned the social struggle into a national struggle.

The significance and function of the English officers in ELAS headquarters was made clear by Chris Gunthous, the new head of the British military mission in Greece, a person of authority, years after these events took place. Among other things, he made the following comments in a lecture held in Munich in 1957, before an astonished German audience:

“If there were no British officers involved in the resistance movement in Greece… not only Greek but also European history would have taken a different direction... The presence of the British mission in Greece prevented the communists from taking absolute control of Greece in 1943-1944. If the communists took power in September 1944, when the Germans withdrew, it would have been difficult to deprive them of that power before the international public, and today Greece would be behind the Iron Curtain…” (“The Secret Archives of Wehrmacht”, published by “To Vima”, July 11, 1963, fragment of ZZ, Andonovski: “Macedonians under Greece in the struggle against fascism”, INI 1968 edition, p. 214.)

“Waiting for the ultimate goal - socialism, the Party of the proletariat, the Communist Party of Greece, is today struggling for national liberation, and after the war is over it will struggle for a people’s democracy...” (Taken from the CPG Central Committee proclamation made on July 2, 1943, and issued on the occasion of the Third International dissolution.)

Accordingly, when the armed struggle was finished after the war ended, the governing top promised the revolutionary forces that the Party would start to lead a people’s liberation struggle, a struggle for a people’s government, for a people’s democracy...

c) The Party is leading a “national struggle” through “national unity with the bourgeoisie and its parties, but not only for the liberation and establishment of the territorial integrity of the state, but also for strategically securing its borders” with its neighbours. This meant, as I said earlier, expanding the Greek state borders at the expense of Greece’s neighbours. In other words expropriating new territories…

This was a Greek bourgeoisie policy implemented through the CPG...

8. The Lebanon Agreement

According to the Lebanon Agreement, signed on May 20, 1944, the CPG leadership:

- Voluntarily relinquished all claims to power. It then recognized the bourgeois government in exile as the legitimate government of Greece, calling it the “Government of National Unity”.

- It condemned the struggle against fascism led by the Greek armed forces in the Middle East and, together with the bourgeoisie government, surrendered the Greek army to the English. By doing that the CPG top leadership objectively allowed the English imperialists to not only control all armed actions, but to also conceal the armed intervention against the democratic forces at home. This, in effect, placed the democratic fighters in a dangerous position.

- It agreed to create a non-party “national army” which was to remain under full authority of the bourgeoisie government in exile and under English Middle East General Headquarters control. With this, the CPG top leadership recognized the English imperialist regulatory role and its right to demand the dissolution of ELAS when it deemed it was appropriate.

- It accepted to fight a joint struggle with the bourgeoisie “to fully satisfy Greek national rights”, that is to expand the Greek state borders by annexing new and foreign territories. As I mentioned earlier, this line was imposed by the CPG leadership during the CPG Central Committee 10th Plenum, held in January 1944, and adopted as the official line “for strategic security of borders”.

By doing this the CPG leadership, once again, clearly betrayed the people’s revolution and the working people of Greece. (For a broader perspective see: St’armata, st’armata, chronicles of the national resistance 1940-1945, P.L.E., 1967, pp. 330-332.)

9. A leaflet spelling out Greek demands

According to the Athens newspaper “Elevetria”, published on February 6, 1945, a leaflet entitled “Greece has the right!...” was distributed with the following demands:

a) Greece’s northern borders are to be extended to include Northern Epirus (Albanian territory) because this area was granted to Greece

during the 1915 secret London Treaty and during the 1919 Venizelos-Tigoni Treaty, when the division of Albania was planned.

b) The entire Rhodope Mountain massif and the Sultan Dere, Egri Dere, Dari Dere and Ali Chelebi Plains should be granted to Greece. In other words, Pirin (Bulgarian occupied) Macedonia should be given to Greece in order for Greece to “secure” its northern borders.

c) The Yugoslav-Greek border should be “regulated” in order to give Greece the opportunity to protect the flows through which the German forces invaded its territory in 1941. This would also extend to Solun occupied by Hitler’s forces.

d) Border issues with neighbouring and friendly Turkey have not been decided. But if questions are raised regarding the Dardanelles and Istanbul, Greece should not be ignored. Greece’s views on this issue have long been known.

e) All territories, such as the Dodecanese and Cyprus, which historically, ethnologically and socially have been part of the Greek people, which have not yet been liberated, should be included within the Greek borders...

The above were the Greek demands mentioned in the leaflet.

There was nothing wrong with the CPG making demands, like the accession of the Dodecanese and Cyprus to Greece, because these demands benefited the Greek people and supported their right to self-determination. But it was wrong for the CPG to make demands such as taking over foreign territories - a large part of Albania, part of the People’s Republic of Macedonia, and almost all of Pirin Macedonia, to simply satisfy Greece’s “strategic border security”.

By signing the Lebanon Agreement the CPG top leadership connected itself to the Greek bourgeoisie and publicly advocated its actions, positions and policies.

10. The Caserta Agreement

The Caserta Agreement was signed on September 26, 1944, which not only opened the way for the bourgeois government in exile and its Fascist forces to return to Greece, but also placed the ELAS armed forces in jeopardy by surrendering them to the bourgeois government. But there was more to it than that. ELAS was placed under British General Skobi’s direct command as were all the military forces in Greece.

The Caserta Agreement was yet another act which the CPG leadership committed against the Greek people and in favour of the Greek reactionaries and English imperialists. By accepting Skobi as the commander of all military forces operating in Greece, the CPG committed itself to following its orders, according to which ELAS was not allowed to act on or liberate certain major cities, especially Athens, and some of the more important strategic places. In other words, ELAS was forbidden from taking power. All actions taken by ELAS had to be approved by General Skobi himself.

By leaving the large cities and more important strategic places to the English, the CPG leadership actually secured the bourgeois government’s success for a military intervention against ELAS, for which the English were intensely, openly and publicly preparing. (Chronicles of the struggle, to arms to arms, History of National Resistance, Gianakos, Volume 3, pp. 205-208. Naum Peiov, Macedonians and Civil War in Greece, INI 1968, p. 193-195.)

11. ELAS liquidated

With the Lebanon and Caserta Agreements behind them, and with the German withdrawal from Athens on October 12 and 13, 1944, the bourgeois “national government” returned to Athens and, with English support, attempted to consolidate its power in Greece. Unfortunately for the government, armed military ELAS formations existed in almost all of Greece. Being a people’s army by nature, ELAS was dangerous for the English imposed Greek “national government”. To solve this problem the English pitted “Greeks against Greeks”, it was the English thing to do, ordering ELAS to be liquidated. By using their secret agents the English began to finance the arming of various reactionary forces in Greece and to concentrate them in certain strategic places. Included among the

reactionary forces were EDES, EKKA, PAO, IBE led by the likes of General Hrisohou, Colonel Poulos, Anton Chaush, who earlier cooperated with the occupiers, etc., which then led to the “great collision” in October-November, 1944 during which the “treacherous forces” were easily crushed.

The EKKA forces, led by Colonel Psaras, were surrounded and liquidated and so were the combined forces led by Colonel Poulos and those led by Anton Chaush. The EDES forces in Epirus, led by Colonel Zervas, were also smashed. The survivors fled towards the sea and were rescued by the English navy.

Even though this one-sided strike against ELAS, aided from the outside, was a failure for the English, they soon organized and ordered a combined strike from both inside and outside. The outside strike was provoked by the English which manifested itself as the Athens December 1944 collision. It was done to bring attention to the need to disarm and dissolve ELAS as per the Lebanon Agreement. This was followed by a strike from the inside provoked by Mitsos Patsalidis, CPG Central Committee first secretary and member of the Politburo when he signed the Varkiza Agreement on February 12, 1945, allowing all ELAS units in Greece to be liquidated. The Athens strike however, unleashed by the combined English and Greek government in exile forces, was not a success and managed to defeat only some of the ELAS units in Athens...

12. Treachery

If one looks at each action committed by the CPG top leadership independently of other actions, they may conclude that these actions are likely due to policy mistakes. But it would be a mistake to reach such a conclusion. One needs to look at the entire series of events and how they are interconnected in order to come to the right conclusion; which is high treason. The people’s revolution was led by bourgeoisie agents or a kind of people who were emotionally and spiritually connected to the bourgeoisie. This was a well-executed masterful plan which not only controlled events and prevented them from running away, but eventually brought the entire struggle to capitulation...

The undeclared war the CPG waged against the Macedonian national liberation movement was only an integral part of this high treason against the worker and communist movements, against the social revolution, and against the people living in the Greek state in general...