REVIEW

REVIEW

The book “Macedonians who suffered in Greek hands” is a reminder of how much more the part of the Macedonian nation living inside Greece has suffered in comparison to the other parts. Viktor Cvetanoski, the author of this book is an experienced journalist who has a good command of language and has capably communicated the whole physical and psychological drama the Macedonians went through in the period of their eviction from Macedonia’s ethnographic territory until the years of their adulthood in the children’s homes throughout the eastern-European countries.

The thing that has to be especially stressed is that, with a simple style, Viktor Cvetanoski has covered a great number of individual destinies of persons who have suffered and survived from childhood to adulthood, carrying traces from their traumas inflicted by the Greek regimes when they were children. Those are destinies that belong to Macedonians and only because of their Macedonian identity, which was not complying with the creation of the Greek nation. Those who refused to be assimilated were forced out to leave the Macedonian territory inside Greece’s borders.

The thing that makes this book unique is its directness. It is not loaded with history but allows the reader to be part of what happened to the exiled Macedonians. The mosaic of destinies and their everyday sufferings is evident in the eyes of the reader. The testimonials are honest and refrain from having interest in politics or geo-strategy. In the high-politicized games however, even those who today negotiate respect for human rights in those days stood on the side of the Greek authorities and supported the ethnic cleansing of Macedonians. This clearly demonstrates the world’s hypocrisy which is only concerned with interests and all others sacrifices are collateral damage.

This book is not intended to cause hatred or revenge toward those who did this. The purpose of the book is to maintain a record of what happened so that it is not forgotten, because those who forget the past will face the same situation again and repeat past mistakes.

The book is also intended to opens a process of deep deliberation on how a nation exposed to such violent repression can manage to exist, to keep its own identity, language and culture.

This book is intended to provide the Macedonian reader and all English speaking readers a window of authentic information of how much the Macedonian nation in the part of Macedonia under Greece has suffered in Greek hands. And for the above mentioned reasons we recommend publishing this book.

Todor Cepreganov, PhD.