PERSONALITIES - Part 08

1948 - January 13. NOF’s 1st Congress is held at the Sv. Dimitria Church in the village V’mbel, Kostur Region during which it was concluded that more then 20,000 of the 25-28,000 DAG fighters in the entire country were Macedonians. This means that by 1948 8,000 fighters, at most, were Greeks i.e. of non-Macedonian origin. The name “Coordinating Bureau” was replaced with “Central Council”. This last “nickname” given to the highest NOF governing body remained until NOF was dissolved.

1948 – January 13. Because of the terror perpetrated by the Greek government forces on the Macedonian population as well as DAG’s

decision to forcibly mobilize more Macedonians, NOF held its 1st Congress. The purpose of this Congress was to implement the decisions made during the CPG Central Committee 3rd Plenum to add more Macedonians to the DAG reserves. In the meantime, Stalin radically changed his attitude, and he requested the uprising in Greece to be finish immediately, and for Yugoslavia to stop supporting DAG.

1948 - January 20. Legal Act M is issued, on the strength of which the property of those who were stripped of their citizenship was confiscated. The law was updated in 1985, but it is still binding on Macedonians.

1948 – February 10. Stalin literally told the Yugoslav delegation in Moscow that: “I do not agree with you, my Yugoslav comrades that the revolution in Greece should continue. That struggle has no hope of success. What do you think the UK and the USA, the strongest countries in the world, will allow it to bring down a line of communication with the Mediterranean Sea? Nonsense! And there’s almost nothing of naval forces! No! The revolution in Greece should stop, as quickly as possible.” That is what Stalin recommended to the Yugoslav delegation, most likely based on what was decided between Stalin and Churchill in Yalta and in Moscow from October 5th to the 20th 1944, during the division of spheres of influence of the Balkans between the Great Powers. Another of Stalin’s clear and undeniable positions was that the USSR was against Zahariadis’s decision to announce the creation of a “United and Independent Macedonian state within a Balkan Federation” passed during the CPG Central Committee 5th Plenum. Stalin’s dislike of this was made very clear in the correspondence files between the USSR leadership and Chernishov, Soviet Ambassador to Athens.

1948 – February 18. The plan here was to destroy a column of over 1,000 fighters which had both military and psychological significance. About 1,600 newly recruited DAG fighters were dispatched unarmed from Rumeli to Gramos. They were to be armed upon their arrival in Gramos and then engage in the fighting against the government forces. The column was dispatched from Rumeli without enough provisions to last the trip. The trek led the fighters along a difficult terrain and over almost impassable mountains

coated with half a metre of thick snow. They arrived exhausted and starving in Pieria in mid-March where they were welcomed by the 16th brigade, which had traveled by a different but equally difficult passage around Grevena to get there. The 16th Brigade was initially tasked with initiating an offensive near Solun to distract the enemy but later received new orders to join the column of new fighters and go back to Gramos. To stave off starvation the Brigade redistributed its food supplies and supplied the unarmed fighters. The two columns left Pieria during the night on March 15, 1948 and headed for Gramos. But, as it turned out, the enemy was aware of this plan and knew what path the columns were going to take and greeted them with an ambush while they were still in Pieria.

1948 - February 24. The American Military Advisory and Programming Group working with General Van Fleet arrived in Greece. It was announced as the “high visit” to Athens.

1948 - March 15. Call for evacuating children. The newspaper “Eksormisi”, issued by DAG in Gramos Region, carried an announcement from the Provisional Greek Government’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs dated March 7, 1948 entitled “Parents and children appeal to the government”. Further down the article it said: “From mid-February to March 5, 1948 parents from 59 villages from the free territory gave 4,784 children.” The same newspaper carried an article on March 20, 1948 saying that the Interim Government decided to evacuate all the children up to age 14.

1948 – March 21. The 16th brigade, which included many unarmed fighters that left Pieria during the night on March 15, 1948 decided to run. The fighters hid the two mountain cannons and a set of heavy machine guns and set off along the Pieria main cliff. The road was frozen and covered with a layer of snow a metre deep. They eventually reached the peaks of Mounts Arvanitis (1,995m) and Flamburo (2,199m), and with all their might descended down on the enemy and broke the ring. But they still had to make their way to safety which exposed them to enemy tanks and aerial attacks. Finally, during the night, they managed to cross the Solun-Larisa highway and arrived in Amarbei. But as soon as they thought they had escaped they were attacked again. The enemy caught up to them and, on March 25, 1948, attacked them again near the village Sina

Kerasia. At this point the brigade was running out of ammunition and would have been decimated if it were not for Ipsilantis’s Brigade which arrived just in time to rescue it. The whole incident was a real drama.

1948 - March 25. Mass evacuation of children. 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 on mass starting on March 25 through to March 30, 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 North-Western 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. In the first half of 1948 columns of small children (ages 2 to 14) began to move from Greek occupied Macedonia into the People’s Republic of Macedonia, and from there to the Yugoslav republics and to the other democratic countries. The children were accompanied by women called “mothers” who dedicated themselves to lead the column of children to safety and to deliver them to the free countries where the children were placed in homes and boarding schools. The paths taken during the long trek led the children through gullies and mountains to the territory of the People’s Republic of Macedonia, and hence to Bitola, Brailovo and beyond to Skopje, Belgrade, Gakovo, Bela Tsrkva, Tsrkvenitsa, Stara Gora and other places. The majority of the Macedonian refugee children, after they were given medical assistance, food and clothing, were sent to Belgrade and from there were deployed in Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia and the Autonomous Province of Voivodina. This is where the majority of the centres were set up to accommodate the Macedonian refugee children, whose numbers, although negligible to the total number of children uprooted and displaced, was still rather significant. Several researchers have pointed out that the figure of displaced children was 28,600, 90% of whom were Macedonians and the others were from the other national and ethnic groups living in Greece. A Greek

settlement was established in Bulkes, Autonomous Province of Voivodina, from 1945 to 1949 to accommodate Greek party leaders, fighters and other staff as well as Greek refugees. The entire overall policy regarding the Greek refugees, including the refugee children, regardless of the fact that the vast majority were Macedonians, was led from Bulkes. The “Committee for helping the children” was formed here. Their job was to place the refugee children in homes (boarding schools) in Yugoslavia and to make sure they received a proper education. Here they printed newspapers and brochures and created all the political means to deal with the refugee children. After the Informburo Resolution was adopted in mid 1948, which publicly proclaimed that there was a conflict between the then Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, two things came out: first, the Greek leadership in Bulkes adopted the Informburo Resolution and began to brutally and mercilessly attack the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. This was done regardless of the fact that Bulkes was right in the middle of Yugoslavia. Secondly, the Greeks in Bulkes attempted to exploit the refugee children for their own propaganda purposes. Besides printing leaflets attacking the social and political system in the former Yugoslavia, they insidiously began to organize riots in the refugee shelters and in children’s homes. They informed the foreign media, especially the media in Eastern European countries, to publish fabrications and rumours that the children in orphanages in Yugoslavia lived under extremely difficult conditions because they were exploited. They were forced to work hard in physical labour camps instead of being educated in schools. Naturally, these were lies perpetrated by the Greeks which the Yugoslav and Macedonian authorities had to fight against with the strength of argument and the truth. They organized visits for several foreign journalists to visit the homes that sheltered the refugee children from Greek occupied Macedonia, and to show the world that the children were indeed being well looked after as well as being educated. This, the journalists had to see for themselves and verify how the children lived. In the end their articles were published in several prominent newspapers. The articles were impartial and showed the actual conditions under which the refugee children lived and were educated in Yugoslavia. This was a slap in the face for Greek and Eastern European propagandists. It showed the world that the situation in Yugoslavia was completely different and positive and that there

should be no concern for the wellbeing of the refugee children living there.

1948 - April 29. AFZH held its 1st Congress near the village Besfina in Prespa, Greek occupied Macedonia, in an open space because of the threat of the Greek Monarcho-Fascist aviation bombing the villages. More than 420 delegates participated in the Congress from all the districts in Greek occupied Macedonia, including women DAG fighters and guests from all the organizations and parties participating in the Greek Civil War. The Congress chose a new AFZH Main Board. Evdokia Baleva-Vera was again elected AFZH Secretary. The main task of AFZH was to strengthen the organizations ability to act. According to Evdokia Baleva-Vera: “AFZH invited its sisters from AFZH in the People’s Republic of Macedonia to take part in the First AFZH Congress in Greek occupied Macedonia. Unfortunately the People’s Republic of Macedonia’s delegation, comprised of Mara Minaneva, Liliana Maneva and one more member, was stopped in Korcha, Albania, and because of that it was unable to attend the Congress. Afterwards, however, the women were familiarized with the events that took place in Greek occupied Macedonia.” The 1st AFZH Congress had the same objectives as the NOF 1st Congress where, this time, the CPG succeeded in convincing the Macedonian women to join DAG as was decided by the CPG Central Committee during its 3rd Plenum, with regards to solving the reserve problem for DAG. Now the Macedonian women too were coaxed into joining DAG and fighting at the front.

1948 – June. According to secret CIA documents, the conflict between Stalin and Tito was about Tito not adhering to the idea that the Soviet leader did not want problems with the allies of America and England because of the Yalta agreement. So Tito continued to supply the communist rebels in Greece with weapons, equipment and officer corps to fight on the Greek partisan side. Stalin sent a letter to Tito criticizing him for opening the “Greek line” and for helping the Greek communists who started a fight that had no chance of success because Athens was supported by America, “the most powerful country in the world”. CIA documents have also revealed that immediately after Yugoslavia was discharged by the Informburo, Tito suspended aid to the communist resistance in

Greece, even closed the borders. This was destined to end the civil war in Greece. From what has been said above it should be obvious to everyone that not only did the Macedonians have no chance of uniting Macedonia because the West would not allow Greece to break up, but the communists in Greece had no chance of succeeding either! So why did Yugoslavia, against Stalin’s advice, continue to support this campaign? Again, it is important to understand that events such as this war do not happen by chance, there is always a purpose to them and to understand that purpose we need to take look at the final outcome. There is no doubt here that the Macedonian people were lied to in order to get them involved in this war and eventually led, not to the victories they were promised but to their demise! Why? Because the powers to be did not want the presence of Macedonians in Greek occupied Macedonia… They wanted the Macedonians out of Greek occupied Macedonia! And by doing what they did, the CPY and the CPG made that happen! They emptied Macedonia of its Macedonians! And what are the chances of that ever happening purely by chance alone? Very small… very small indeed!

1948 – June. The Informburo resolution was announced which called for isolating the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, which the CPG leadership used as an excuse to remove all NOF leading figures, because they were accused of creating internal problems, and to replace them with its own cronies.

1948 - June 1. Mitrevski and Keramitdzhiev suspended. The CPG Central Committee Political Bureau made a decision to suspend Mihailo Keramitdzhiev, President of NOF, and Paskal Mitrevski, NOF Board Secretary, because they were alleged to have conducted an “unprincipled factionist struggle”.

1948 – June 14. The CPG Central Committee Politburo decided to extricate and replace the NOF leadership during the period from June 14 to August 21, 1948, which coincided with the Monarcho-Fascist government’s major offensive against DAG in western and central Greek occupied Macedonia. This was also the time when the Macedonian people were still led by NOF and bore the entire burden of fighting at the front. These were the same Macedonian people

who, in the past, had fought and demonstrated mass heroism and self-sacrifice that was recognized by the CPG.

1948 – July 28. The CPG Politburo took a resolution during the CPG Central Committee 4th Plenum held on July 28 and 29, 1948 during which, it said: “The CPG Central Committee Plenum underlines the extraordinary contribution of the ‘Slavo-Macedonian’ people for their struggle in our common cause for freedom.” In other words, the “Slavo-Macedonian” participation in the liberation was nation-wide and wholeheartedly complete. With the blood of their sons and daughters, the Slavo-Macedonian nation in this struggle had earned its solid freedom and equality in Greece, which was guaranteed in the future by the people’s liberation movement. The Macedonian people had massively fought in the armed struggle from the beginning of the Greek Civil War to earn their rights. They lived through the fiercest terror and persecution campaigns perpetrated by the Greek police, army special units and air force bombings by the Monarcho-Fascist regime. The Greek police and special Monarcho-Fascist army units loaded truck loads of old men, women, babies and young children into military trucks and, through the village Visheni, drove them to the free territory on Mount Vicho. All the young people over the age of 15, from the displaced families, were put in jail. Since over 90% of the expelled families were Macedonians, and the others Vlachs, their homes were completely looted and their properties usurped... The Monarcho-Fascist army, led by US officers headed by the notorious General Van Fleet, forcibly evicted around 50 villages in the Lerin and Kostur Regions and in the Anasel Region, and gathered them in the cities in ghettos under very difficult conditions. Many of the villagers who protested at being moved were accused of collaborating with the DAG partisans and sent to prison in the Aegean islands. The Monarcho-Fascist aviation, flown by US and English pilots, bombed and destroyed the free zones on a daily basis. Flying the British military aircraft “Spitfire” and the American aircraft “Dakota” they bombed everything including flocks of cattle and sheep in their pastures. They also bombed the crop fields with flammable liquids. The Monarcho-Fascist army led a totally destructive war not only against DAG but also against the people. The lives of the people were turned into real tragedies. Their physical existence was threatened by the bombardments and from disease and hunger. The Provisional

Democratic Government of Greece called on the governments of the people’s republics to start taking refugees from this part of the population. Their calls were answered in the spring of 1948 when about 28,000 young children under the age of 15 were accepted.

1948 – August 8. The 1st NOF Central Council Plenum was held in the village Bukovo, Prespa Region. The proceedings were conducted by a high CPG Party delegation led by Ianis Ioanidis, CPG Central Committee Secretary. It took no time before a raging controversy developed between the two polarized factions in the NOF leadership. Mihail Keramitdzhiev accused the NOF leaders of being “anti-Party elements”. He personally and vehemently accused Paskal Mitrevski of being an anti-Party element. The entire Plenum was ignited with polemics, with the separatist group arrogantly and brazenly, in a manner similar to the style of the Bulgarian supremacists, attacking all the NOF leaders who Keramitdzhiev considered to be Hellenophiles and alleged anti-party elements. Paskal Mitrevski was personally attacked by Mihail Keramitdzhiev. The CPG representatives used this situation to adopt a resolution to remove both Paskal Mitrevski and Mihail Keramitdzhiev from NOF because of the controversies they created. Mihail Keramitdzhiev was sacked as president and Paskal Mitrevski as secretary of the NOF Central Council and both were made available to DAG Headquarters. After their dismissal Stavro Kochev was appointed president of the NOF Central Council and Vangel Koichev was appointed Secretary. The NOF Central Council did not vote to confirm their appointments.

1948 – August 10. The CPG Central Committee Politburo published a resolution regarding the faction-ism that had developed in NOF’s Central Council, as observed during its First Plenum. The CPG, according to its own accounts, had no choice but to suspend both Mitrevski and Keramitdzhiev from their NOF leadership functions in order to stop their “unprincipled factionist struggle”.

1948 - August 27. DAG reorganized. Sitting of the CPG Central Committee Politburo with an agenda: a/ The struggle in Gramos called: “Epic of the Northern Pindus, political and military questions and decrees.”

b/ Removal of Markos Vafiadis as General and Leader of DAG due to illness and his departure for Moscow. (Note: Then, the system produced the term “ideologically crazy”, which grouped very smart and healthy people with the lunatics.) c/ The New Military Council was to consist of: 1. Nikos Zahariadis - President and Supreme Commander of DAG. 2. Georgios Vonditsios - Head of military battles. 3. Vasilis Bardzhiotas - Political Commissar of General Headquarters. 4. Michos Vlandas - Responsible for military resources. 5. Leonidas Stringos - State Administration. d/ Reorganization of General Headquarters by region and creating military divisions. Promotion of officers into DAG high military ranks.

1948 – August. After the DAG units were relocated from Mount Gramos in August 1949, due to extreme enemy pressure, the CPG’s position began to deteriorate. There were large divergences in the ranks of the CPG Central Committee leadership even before the serious crisis broke out. The main culprit for the crisis, according to claims made by Nikos Zahariadis, was Markos Vafiadis, DAG General Headquarters Commander. Vafiadis was suspended from his position and responsibilities in August 1948 while he was still DAG’s Commander and Chief and President of the Provisional Democratic Government of Greece. The CPG leadership, headed by Nikos Zahariadis, suspended Markos Vafiadis from his positions because of his views that “DAG should not lead a frontal campaign and should continue fighting a guerrilla warfare”.

1948 – October 3. A NOF military and political Conference was held in the village Rudari, Prespa Region. This Conference was personally attended by Nikos Zahariadis, CPG Central Committee General Secretary. Among other things discussed there, was NOF’s situation starting from the day that Mitrevski and Keramitdzhiev were removed from their duties. During this Conference the CPG leadership decided to completely remove Mitrevski and Keramitdzhiev not only from the NOF Central Council but also from NOF. The NOF Central Council, at the end of the Conference, was comprised of Vangel Koichev (Secretary), Stavro Kochev (President) and Evdokia Baliova Vera, (Vice-President). Vera was

also AFZH Main Board Secretary. During the Conference Nikos Zahariadis asked Paskal Mitrevski what he would like to do, i.e. where he wanted to work while being suspended from the NOF leadership. Mitrevski said: “I am a communist and a fighter... I will go wherever the Party sends me...” To that Zahariadis replied: “Then go and join the ranks of DAG and fight like an exemplary fighter…” And that’s exactly what happened. On October 5, 1948 Paskal Mitrevski was sent to the ranks of the DAG 107th Brigade to serve as an ordinary fighter. The order for this came directly from Nikos Zahariadis.

1948 - November 15. Markos Vafiadis is suspended. The CPG Central Committee Political Bureau decided to suspend General Markos as Chief of DAG and member of the CPG Central Committee. By a special flight from Tirana, Markos was transferred to Moscow in March 1949.

1948 - November 23. DAG HQ to mobilize Macedonians. DAG headquarters ordered the mobilization of Macedonian men and women ages 17 to 35 only in the Vicho area. Practically all Macedonians in Kostur and Lerin Regions were mobilized.

1948 – December 24. DAG’s artillery was ordered to assemble somewhere near Solun and bombard targets inside the city where there were large concentrations of enemy units. But just as the attack began the enemy units disbursed and were on the move. But even though the targets were gone the partisan artillery was not allowed to retreat and, according to its orders, continued with its bombardment. This continued well into the next day, December 25, 1948, until the enemy units surrounded the artillery and seized all cannons and artillery pieces. DAG was hard hit by this both militarily and psychologically, especially psychologically...

1949 - January 9. Zahariadis refuses to see reality of war wants more sacrifices from the Macedonians. During the CPG Central Committee’s 5th Plenum, held on January 9, 1949, Zahariadis, refusing to face reality and continued to speak of DAG as an invincible force that would defeat the Greek government’s regular army, destroy the Republicans and Royalist, take over the government and bring victory to the Democratic people. He threw

around slogans like “1949 will be the year of victory” and “Death to Monarcho-Fascism and American-Imperialism”. He then called on the Macedonian people from the “free territories” to continue their struggle and sacrifice and in place of promising them “equal rights with the Greeks as a minority” as has been done before, he now promised them “National self-division as Macedonians” but only when the CPG came to power. He said all this when even the most lay of people knew that DAG was facing an unavoidable defeat. Was this an act of an incompetent commander or an act of a treacherous and deceitful traitor? Let the historians of the future decide. As was done during the 4th Plenum, the Macedonian contribution to the struggle was again complimented at the 5th CPG Central Committee Plenum. Among other things it was stressed that the Macedonians in Northern Greece have given their all in the struggle with outstanding heroism and self sacrifice which calls much admiration. There should be absolutely no doubt in anyone’s mind that as a result of their effort and spilling of blood the Macedonian people have earned their full national restitution in the way they themselves would want it.

1949 – January 30. The CPG Central Committee held its 5th Plenum on January 30-31, during which it coined the slogan “United and Independent Macedonia within a Balkan Federation.” And because of this the Central Committee of NOF convened its 2nd Plenum on February 3, 1949 and proclaimed its new principles for the future of the Macedonians in Greece. This was an unpardonable cruel manipulation: Just a few months before DAG’s liquidation, during the CPG Central Committee 5th Plenum, held on January 30 and 31, the CPG decided to: “Recognize the Macedonian people’s right to self-determination”. Naturally this was only a ploy to “intensify” the war on both sides! And as it turned out, this “offer” lasted only until DAG was liquidated! After that it was business as usual for the CPG… Accordingly, this position was taken quite independently and outside of the Balkan reality and, of course, it was absurd and not true. Here Zahariadis was publicly speculating playing on emotions and on centuries-old Macedonian aspirations with a specific goal in mind. This position, or resolution, was also published in DAG’s organ “Pros ti niki”, number 12, on March 27, 1949 and even more spectacularly announced through the radio program “Free Greece”. Thus, given the current situation in the

Balkans, the announcement caused vivid public interest and a sharp reaction from the Athens government. Because of this, or perhaps because of someone else’s complaint, Zahariadis, on March 10, 1949, denied that such a resolution was ever made during NOF’s 2nd Plenum and that this was an enemy fabrication. Among other things, this is what was specifically said: “There are rumours that the 2nd NOF Congress is expected to declare the creation of a single Macedonian state, and that this state will then join Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Greece, or the Balkan Communist or Democratic Federation. Our enemies always choose to say what they think is better for them. The truth, however, is different. The 2nd NOF Congress is a military congress, a congress for further strengthening and not breaking our unity. This is a congress that will organize our victory... To expel the foreigners, destroy the Monarcho-fascist killers and ensure a free and independent life for our people’s democracy.

1949 – February 3. The 2nd NOF Central Council Plenum was held and program principled introduced. The Second NOF Plenum during which the new NOF program principles were introduced in which it was proclaimed: “That Macedonia will be unified and the Macedonian people will live in a single independent Macedonian state.” This, as it turned out, was a drastic attempt, a last political maneuver on the part of the CPG to keep the Macedonians in the war. We already know how the Greek government and the West, Britain and the Unites States in particular, felt about splitting Greek occupied Macedonia from Greece.

1949 – February 9. As requested by Porfirogenis, member of the CPG Politburo, a CPG delegation was sent to Skopje to meet with NOF representatives who had deserted DAG and demanded that they recruit at least 300 new fighters from the refugees who had fled to Yugoslavia to save themselves. Those demands were not met.

1949 – February 12. Partisans fight battle for Lerin. This was one of the bloodiest battles in the so-called Greek Civil War, which was unnecessary because the partisans were already losing the war. But Zahariadis insisted on capturing Lerin because, as he said, if the Partisans won this battle and captured a city then they would be taken seriously by the outside world. DAG units attacked in an

attempt to enter the city Lerin but their actions failed because of the poor coordination and strategy, DAG endured a catastrophic defeat. Around one thousand DAG soldiers died and were wounded. The enemy was well-aware of this attack and all the details. DAG’s attacks were anticipated and wherever the partisans came from they were welcomed with well-prepared counter-attacks and ambushes. The enemy commanders knew everything, all the details about the attack. According to the accounts of a Vlach from Lerin: “exactly that evening of that February night in 1949, our unit was informed that the partisans would be attacking from there, from there and from there... Many partisans were killed. We recognized many of the women fighters; they were from the Prespa villages...” At the time the Vlach was mobilized in the enemy reserves as a non-commissioned officer.

1949 - March 7. CPG backtracks on promises. The CPG Central Committee denied coining the slogan “United and Independent Macedonia within a Balkan Federation.” The CPG also denied accepting NOF’s new program principles drafted during NOF’s 2nd Congress on February 3, 1949. In March 1949 the Interim Government in Greece was overhauled. More specifically the CPG Central Committee issued a statement denying any decisions being made during the 5th CPG Plenum regarding the Macedonian Question and regarding NOF’s programming principles outlined at the 2nd NOF Congress on February 3, 1949.

1949 – March 8. Soviet Ambassador to Greece Chernishov telephoned Moscow to report that the Greek reactionaries were using unprecedented aggressive and active propaganda against the Communist Party and against the partisan movement (DAG). The reaction was in regards to the “Macedonian Question” about which a decision was made during the CPG Central Committee 5th Plenum and during the Macedonian National Liberation Front 2nd Congress. The main thrust of this propaganda was aimed at the Communist Party and at the DAG partisans, who allegedly wanted to break the sovereignty of Greece. The reason for this was the “unification of Macedonia”… This propaganda gave Athens reasons and opportunity to conduct recruitments, transfer government troops and place the military on high alert in the areas controlled by the partisans. The Greek people have special sensitivity to the issue of

Greece’s sovereignty and integrity. The same concern is found in people living in the cities who are supporters of the Communists and of DAG. The Macedonian National Liberation Front (NOF) is expected to convene a Congress, scheduled to take place on March 10, 1949, in the free territories held by DAG. Regarding this, the government press of the Anglo-American League has declared, with provocative measures, that the aim of the Congress is to split Greek Macedonia and create a common state with Bulgarian and Yugoslav Macedonia and, as such the Communist Party of Greece “has committed treachery against Greek Macedonia.” According to the information Chernishov received from Moscow, the Congress organizers were told that such intent was imprudent and that the Congress should not focus on this question, and not even on the future of the Macedonian people within a Balkan Federation. It was recommended that the delegates turn their attention to the population in Greek Macedonia and orient it in the direction of combating the Monarcho-Fascist society in Greece and to fight to create a free and democratic Greece. What this boiled down to is that after World War II, when people believed that the war was over and that the bloodshed had ended, the Macedonian people paid a high price for fighting to support a communist ideology which was not willing to support the Macedonian cause. In other words, the Macedonian people fought defending an ideology which worked against their interests…

1949 – March 20. In a speech delivered to the DAG Political Commissars, Vasilis Bardzhotas, DAG General Staff Political Commissar, regarding the Macedonian fighter contribution in DAG’s ranks, among other things, said: “...The Slavo-Macedonian fighters and officers are considered the best that DAG has to offer. They fought and still fight bravely. These heroic people give their best. They sacrificed their children, their property, their houses... Every house has a wounded or dead person. The DAG Vicho Mountain unit fighters are 20 to 50% Slavo-Macedonians...”

1949 – March 24. Zahariadis convened an emergency meeting with NOF and DAG military and political leaders in the school building of the village Nivitsi, Prespa Region, with a single item on the agenda: “To determine Paskal Mitrevski’s attitude towards Yugoslavia”. Rather surprised, Mitrevski refuted and dispelled these

libelous provocations. At the end of Zahariadis’s speech Mitrevski angrily said: “...No one can convince me today that Tito’s Yugoslavia has gone down the road of capitalism. I, as a Communist and a fighter in the Democratic armies of Greece, will continue to fight against the Greek Monarcho-Fascists and against the Anglo-American imperialists for the final liberation of my people...” After Mitrevski spoke at this meeting, all of the Macedonians that were in attendance greeted him with applause and congratulated him for his courage, for standing up to Zahariadis and for setting the record straight with Tito and Yugoslavia. Zahariadis angrily walked out without saying a word. Zahariadis’s logic was strange indeed. His approach to the Macedonian National Question was even stranger. He was an experienced and fanatic demagogue who many times demonstrated his care for a Greater Greece and his distaste for the courage of the NOF Macedonian leaders and DAG fighters, attacking them and accusing them of being enemies of the democratic movement in Greece.

1949 – March 25. A 2nd NOF Congress is held in the village Nivitsi. It was here that resolutions were adopted to invite the Macedonian people to join the struggle (Greek Civil War) en masse. It was here that the Macedonian people were told and retold by the Greek Communists that they would allow them to create their own Macedonian state. But there was a condition, a catch. For that to happen, every able bodied Macedonian man and woman had to join the struggle. “All to arms – everything for victory,” read one slogan. Zahariadis also said: “You Macedonians have a right to secession, within a Balkan federation…” There were many slogans written especially in honour of Zahariadis, the so-called “greatest”, wisest and most respected son of Macedonia and then, a little later, no one wanted to believe that he was the “greatest” liar and cheat! But the leaders of NOF (National Liberation Front) and all those serving under him, believed and trusted him and that is why they all suffered and many died; because of those beliefs!

1949 - March 27, 1949. The Communist Organization of Aegean Macedonia (KOEM) was created by Zahariadis. After his failure to win over NOF and turn it into an anti-Yugoslav weapon to satisfy his own purposes, Zahariadis invented another so-called Macedonian organization and imposed it on the Macedonian people.

This time the CPG General Secretary created the organization KOEM (Communist Organization of Aegean Macedonia). At its founding meeting, on March 27, 1949, Zahariadis appointed the Organization’s Committee comprised of Mihali Maliov, Vangel Koichev, Paskal Mitrevski, Stavro Kochev, Evdokia Baliova Vera, Vangel Nichev, Urania Pirovska, Hristo Kolentsev and Tashko Hadzhiianev. This Committee was tasked with leading KOEM until a Party leadership was elected at an all-Macedonian KOEM Conference. The First KOEM Conference was held on August 2nd, 1949. At Zahariadis’s request, 17 regular and 14 deputy KOEM members were selected. Included among the regular members chosen were Mihali Maliov, Vangel Koichev, Stavro Kochev, Hristo Kolentsev, Andon Sikavitsa, Paskal Mitrevski, Tashos Gushopoulos, Pando Vaina, Sterio Dachov, Evdokia Baliova Vera, Ziso Deliovski, Lazo Poplazarov, Vangel Nichev, Urania Iurukova, Traiko Popsermedzhiev, Giorgi Nedelkov and Foti Urumov. Included among the deputy members chosen for the KOEM leadership were Krsto Mangov, Ahileas Papaioanou, Lambro Gakidov Dzhavela, Dimitar Prikov, Argir Kuzevski, Paskal Paskalevski, Atanas Angelovski, Mincho Fotev, Lambro Moshov, Micho Velaki, Mahi Pilaeva, Hrisanthi Tsanzovska, and Andonia Filipova. Obviously Zahariadis did all this to show sincerity and to remove all suspicions from the anti-Macedonian acts he and his Central Committee had committed against the Macedonian movement and people. He wanted the Macedonian people to remain in DAG’s ranks, the small rebel army which he himself insisted remain small, and to become cannon fodder for the opponent’s mighty war machine. Even though DAG was already bleeding profusely, instead on negotiating a peace deal, Zahariadis preferred his small rebel army to fight on, at the front, so that it could be milled one hundred percent, to the last man, in an absolutely uneven battle, under a single catastrophic disaster.

1949 – March 27. Extract from the Dispatch from His Majesty’s Consul in Skopje: The Yugoslav communist Party’s entire Macedonian policy is based on the assumption that they can carry in the teeth of fierce opposition from most Bulgars and some Serbs their thesis of a distinct Macedonian language and national tradition. The Party is therefore particularly committed to support advanced research in the little explored subjects of Macedonian national history and philology. Such studies have, of course, had little chance

until recently of getting very far, owing to ferocious opposition from Greeks, Bulgars or Serbs, and as a result there are really no trained specialists in this field. The discovery that at Skopje University very few students are showing any interest in Slavonic Philology or the Macedonian language, and that during the recent end-of-term examinations they showed themselves much keener on the Serbian language and Yugoslav literature, is therefore a good deal more significant than might appeal at first sight. One or two other minor incidents that I have observed would appear to suggest that some Macedonians, at least in Skopje, may prefer to read in Serbian, rather than Macedonian, when they get the chance. Add to this the fact that a large number of the students here are showing very little interest in their compulsory Russian studies, or at any rate are scoring deplorably bad marks at Russian in their examinations, and it will be seen that Crvenkovski has a lot to think about in his new post. The apparent lack of interest among certain sections of the intelligentsia in the “Macedonian National Tradition”, so essential to party ideology here, is no doubt also reflected in the “indiscipline” and “passivity” of the Macedonian writers and poets referred to earlier in this dispatch. It is a fact that, to judge from Dimitar Nitrev’s speech, various brands of “decadence” (meaning, apparently, a failure to express oneself unequivocally as on the side of the Yugoslav Communist Party or, at the very least, to be interested in individual, rather than in mass emotions, and thus, by implication, “apolitical”) is a far commoner offence here, and certainly very much graver, than any inadequacy in form or style. Some clue to the degree to which the “Macedonian National Tradition” has captured people’s imaginations here may also be afforded by the long series of free public lectures given in Skopje recently by Dimitar Vlahov. At the beginning of the series, when Vlahov was speaking on the early history of the Macedonian Revolutionary Movement, his audiences were quite large -perhaps 500 or more -but a very high proportion of them appeared to be elderly people such as may have had some personal experience of the period he was describing. As the series progressed, however, not even Vlahov’s considerable reputation, as the “Grand Old Man” of the Macedonian movement was able to compensate for the impossible dullness of his lectures. When I looked in one minute before he was due to begin the lecture entitled “The successes of the Macedonian People’s Republic” there were precisely three people