Part I

Part I

MINCHO FOTEV’S LIFE AND REVOLUTIONARY CONTRIBUTIONS

According to an undated “Short Autobiography” (Brief biography of Mincho Fotev (typed in Latin letters B.M. – B.D.) Family archive-Fotev (hereinafter: CA-Fotev), 4-5.) Mincho Fotev comes from a revolutionary family which had actively participated in the Macedonian revolutionary liberation movement since the Ilinden uprising. Members of the Fotev family, which included his grandfather, his grandfather’s brother and uncle, have fought in the Ilinden Uprising and have laid their lives for Macedonia’s liberation. Then, in the years 1941 to 1949, the entire Fotev family actively participated in the Macedonian struggle in Greek occupied Macedonia. Mincho’s father was a fighter in the ELAS units. His brother was a veteran in the war which he joined in 1941 and was killed as a partisan officer in 1944. His mother and his two sisters were also actively involved in the PLM. In 1946 his mother was arrested by the Greek authorities, for participating in the PLM, and was sentenced to 8 years hard labour by the Greek military court. She became gravely ill from the brutal torture in prison. She was released from prison in 1954 and died the same year.

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Mincho Fotev was born into a “working family” on September 30, 1922 in the town Rupishsta, Kostur Region, Greek occupied Macedonia. In 1938, while still in high school, Mincho joined the Union of Communist Youth in Greece where he began his revolutionary activities. Unfortunately his involvement and activities with the communists were soon exposed by the Greek police. In September 1939 he was arrested and sentenced to six months in prison. A few months after serving his prison sentence he was again arrested for the same offense and, in 1940, he was again convicted to six months in prison. He served both sentences in the Kostur Region prison.

After Greece capitulated to Italy during WW II, and after the Italian occupation authorities established themselves in western Greek

occupied Macedonia, Mincho Fotev, in April 1941, joined the resistance movement.

As a proven activist and a young revolutionary, Mincho Fotev, in May 10, 1941, became a member of the Communist Party of Greece. But because he was registered as a “dangerous communist” he was constantly followed by the occupying authorities. In June 1941, before he was arrested, Fotev became involved in strictly illegal activities by fully dedicating himself to organizing and managing a youth antifascist movement in Kostur Region. At that time he was a member of the Secretariat of the Municipal Committee of the Communist youth in the town Rupishsta and a member of the Secretariat of the Regional Committee of EPON in Kostur Region. In the fall of 1941 he began preparations for the start of the armed struggle. As one of the organizers, Mincho Fotev directly participated in the formation of the first ELAS unit in Kostur Region which then tranfered to Mount Gramos. The unit was formed on December 7, 1942 and consisted mainly of fighters from Rupishsta. Fotev personally joined the unit and became part of the ELAS Headquarters Staff. (M. Fotev, about the counter-bands, 33.)

Fotev actively participated in the implementation of political propaganda to win over the Macedonian pro-Bulgarian counter-band movement that was formed by the occupiers to fight against the Macedonian PLM. He aimed his efforts at freeing those who were seduced by Bulgarian propaganda or were forced to fight against their people by the armed occupiers. On March 12, 1943 Mincho Fotev, Paskal Mitrevski and Periklis approached the armed counter-bands in the Macedonian village Starichani and, through long discussions, managed to convince the counter-bandits to surrender their arms to the Macedonian partisans led by Gligor Kiosev from the town Rupishsta. (M. Fotev, about the counter-bands, 51.)

(Paskal Mitrevski was from the village Chuka, Kostur Region. He was born in 1912. He participated in the PLM along with the Macedonian people in Greek occupied Macedonia. He also participated in the Greek resistance movement and the Greek Civil War. He led the Macedonian propaganda section responsible for winning over the pro-Bulgarian counter-band movement. He was also SNOF Regional Secretary for Kostur Region, a member of the

CPG District Committee for Macedonia and Thrace, NOF Central Committee Secretary, NOF Central Council Chairman, and Minister in the Provisional Democratic Government of Greece -Representative of NOF. Following DAG’s defeat and the partisan withdrawal to the territory of Albania, Mitrevski was charged by the leadership of the Communist Party of Greece as “Tito’s agent” and arrested by the CPG security services. On October 7, 1949 he was imprisoned in the prison in Bureli, then on October 13 he was sent to the Central prison in Tirana where he spent time until December 14, 1949, at which point he was loaded onto a Soviet ship destined for Odessa. From there he was taken to Moscow where he was imprisoned from January 1950 to April 19, 1952. He was prosecuted in Moscow and sentenced to 25 years in prison with his sentence to be served in the camps in the northern part of the USSR. After his early release from the camp in 1956, he returned to the People’s Republic of Macedonia and remained there until the end of his life. He worked in various high government positions including as a judge in the Constitutional Court and as its president. He died in Skopje on November 10, 1978.)

(Periklis was CPG Regional Committee Secretary for Kostur Region.)

On March 14, 1943, as the duty officer at unit headquarters in the village Langa, Kostur Region, Fotev received Lazo Trpovski, a member of the CPG Regional Committee for Greek occupied Macedonia and Thrace, who had arrived in the capacity of instructor and was accompanied by Periklis, CPG Regional Committee Secretary for Kostur Region. On March 21, 1943 Mincho Fotev participated in the military and political body Conference held in the Village Nestram in Kostur Region, together with the anti-fascist people’s liberation leaders and representatives belonging to the organizations CPG, EAM, OKNE, EA and ELAS. After everyone had their say, a common position was considered and measures for further action were adopted. Some of the measures adopted included strengthening the armed struggle in Kostur Region by increasing the partisan units and preparing for large-scale action. Other measures sought were confirmation and agreement from the CPG and the other Greek anti-fascist organizations, and confirming the Macedonian participation in the struggle against the fascists and in

opposition to Bulgarian propaganda, and actions taken to end the pro-Bulgarian counter-band movement. From April 2 to April 4, 1943, as a staff officer, Fotev accompanied Lazo Trpovski on his travels from the village Nestram to the village Charchishta, Kostur Region, and from there to the town Tsotili, Anaselichko Region, during his appointment with Simos Karasidis, member of the CPG Political Committee for Greek occupied Macedonia and Thrace and other political and military leaders. After safely delivering Lazo Trpovski and Stratos Kendros to Tsotili, Fotev went to the unit headquarters in the village Nestram, Kostur Region.

(Lazo Trpovski was born in the village D’mbeni, Kostur Region in 1900. He was educated in the USSR where he acquired higher education in the political sciences. In 1935 he returned to Greek occupied Macedonia and became a member of the CPG and VMRO (United). Because of his revolutionary activities he was arrested and sent to prison on the island Acronaphplion where he served a sentence from January 1939 to June 1941. He later joined the resistance movement. He was a member and CPG instructor for Greek occupied Macedonia. He was killed on April 11, 1943 in Imere, Kozhani Region, by the PAO, a Greek armed organization.)

(Stratos Kedros was from Lerin. He was Trpovski’s personal friend and collaborator who decided to accompany Trpovski from the village Charchishta to Tsitoli (M. Fotev, about the counter-bands, 37.)

Fotev occupied senior leadership positions in the ELAS XXVIII Regiment ranging from Party Secretary and Political Commissar of a Unit, to Regiment Headquarters Department Chief. In his capacity he performed various investigative duties. (M. Fotev, about the counter-bands, 11.) In early October Mincho was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff of the counter-intelligence services, in the same ELAS regiment. (Mincho Fotev’s Notes under the title “National Liberation Front and other Macedonian organizations in Aegean Macedonia (1945-1949)” by Risto Kiriazovski, manuscript (CA-Fotev) 15.) He also personally participated in 83 combat actions against the occupying forces. (According to his own notes, he was wounded and received a contusion (CV 1).) After the formation of the Macedonian battalion in 1944, Fotev was appointed political

commissar of a unit. In that capacity, as part of the 3rd unit of the Battalion, on September 3, 1944 he participated in the attack to take the city Kostur. (M. Fotev, about the counter-bands, 57.)

In September 1944 the CPG leadership decided to disband the Macedonian units. They were no longer to be considered as separate units in ELAS. Up until now these units were viewed as an act of recognition of the Macedonian people and the “Macedonian National Question”. The Macedonian fighters who refused to be disbanded, with arms in hand, crossed over the Yugoslav border and entered the territory of the now Republic of Macedonia, then known as “Vardar Macedonia”. Mincho Fotev was part of those fighters who crossed over. Then these same fighters, from Greek occupied Macedonia, were assembled in Bitola and transformed into the “First Macedonian Assault Brigade” with Ilia Dimovski – Gotse as their commander. Fotev was appointed Secretary of SKOJ and a member of the Party Committee. (M. Fotev, about the counter-bands, 2.)

(The “First Macedonian Assault Brigade” was formed on November 18, 1944 and participated in the clean-up of the Balist (Nazi Albanian) armed groups.)

(Ilia Dimovski Gotse was born in 1905 in the village Statitsa, Lerin Region. He was z member of the CPG and a brave revolutionary ready to act. In 1941 Ilia Dimovski Gotse founded an independent Macedonian communist organization with its own Macedonian national platform. He participated in the armed people’s liberation movement and, from February 28, 1943 to October 12, 1944, he was commander of the partisan unit “Vicho”, then Political Commissar, Commander of the Lerin-Kostur Battalion and Commander of the Macedonian Lerin-Kostur Brigade. On November 18, 1944 he was appointed commander of the “First Aegean Assault Brigade”. In September 1946 he led the Macedonian partisan units in Vicho and in 1947 he was Commander of a DAG battalion. He was also a member of the main NOF Board. He died in Skopje on July 26, 1961.)

During the month of April 1945, after the “First Macedonian Assault Brigade” was dissolved on April 2, 1945, by decision of NOV and

POM General Headquarters, Mincho Fotev was ordered by the CPM Central Committee to deploy as a Political Commissar in the headquarters of the KHOJ Division in Skopje, at the rank of captain. Then, in May 1945, the CPM Central Committee selected a number of people to lead the Macedonian movement in Greek occupied Macedonia that was to organize and lead a national liberation front in that part of Macedonia. At that point Fotev was discharged from the army and recruited as part of this organizing body. Other members who were also recruited into this body included were Paskal Mitrevski, appointed political secretary and members Giorgi Urdov – Dzhodzho, Mihailo Keramitchiev, Atanas Koroveshovski, Pavle Rakovski and Mincho Fotev who was elected as political secretary of the Main Board of NOMS from Greek occupied Macedonia. The organizational and party leadership acted on CPM Central Committee directives and was under the direct control of the person in charge of it. That role was performed by Nikola Minchev, Dimitar Aleksievski and Tsvetko Uzunovski.

(The Macedonian revolutionary Giorgi Urdov-Dzhodzho was born in 1914 in Voden. He was a member of the Communist Party of Greece and a participant in the Greek resistance movement as part of the PLM of the Macedonian people in Greek occupied Macedonia in 1941. In 1942 he was appointed CPG District Committee Organizing Secretary for Macedonia and Thrace. In June 1944 he was appointed Political Commissar of the Macedonian Voden Battalion. In April 1945 he was appointed member of the Governing Committee in the formation of the NOF leadership. In November 1947 he became a member of DAG Headquarters for Western Greek occupied Macedonia. He died in Pieria, Olympus on June 21, 1947.)

(Mihailo Keramitchiev was born in 1915 in the village Gabresh, Kostur Region. He participated in the PLM for the Macedonian people in Greek occupied Macedonia. He was a member of the Communist Party of Greece since 1935 and was arrested because of his revolutionary activities in 1939. He served his prison sentence in the Kostur prison until he was released in May 1940. He participated in the October 1940 Greek war against fascist Italy. He was arrested for being involved in “communist activities” and was interned on Kafalonia Island. In 1943 he joined the PLM and was appointed commander of a SNOF reserve unit. In 1944 he was chosen as a

political candidate of the PEEA in Kostur Region. He received the rank of colonel in DAG. In November 1944 Keramitchiev was appointed political commissar of the “First Macedonian Assault Brigade”. In May 1945 he was appointed a member of the Governing Body for the establishment of NOF. On May 20, 1947 he was appointed secretary of the NOF Coordinating Bureau. From January 13 to August 8, 1947 Keramitchiev was Chairman of the NOF Central Council. In August 1948 he crossed over into the People’s Republic of Macedonia where he was active in the Republic’s political life. He died in Skopje on May 31, 1981.)

(Atanas Koroveshovski was from the village Smrdesh, Kostur Region. He was a participant of the PLM for the Macedonian people in Greek occupied Macedonia. In October 1943 he was appointed Commander of the Macedonian unit “Lazo Trpovski” operating within ELAS. Later he was appointed battalion commander in the “First Macedonian Assault Brigade”. He was a lieutenant in the Yugoslav National Army and a member of the NOF Central Board Secretariat. He died in battle near the village Kornishor, Enidzhevardar Region, on September 3, 1945.)

(Pavle Rakovski was born on May 23, 1913 in the village Dolno Kleshchina, Lerin Region. He was a revolutionary and a communist. He participated in the PLM with the Macedonian people in Greek occupied Macedonia and was a NOF leader. After DAG’s defeat, following the Greek Civil War, Rakovski, on October 7, 1949, was arrested in Albania and jailed in the “Bureli” prison. On October 13, 1949 he was transferred to the Central prison in Tirana and on December 14, 1949 he was loaded onto a Soviet ship and, along with the other NOF, NOMS and AFZH leaders, was transferred to Odessa and from there to Moscow to central interrogation. There he was interrogated from January 1950 to April 19, 1952, when he was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was ordered to serve his prison sentence in the camps in Siberia. After his early release in 1956 he returned to the People’s Republic of Macedonia where he died in Skopje in 1990.)

Before the end of May 1945 the organizational leadership, among whom was Fotev, received a directive to go to Greek occupied Macedonia and begin to organize the Macedonian people in a mass

national liberation movement by creating NOF, NOMS and AFZH regional and local organizations. As a political secretary in charge of NOMS, Mincho Fotev’s role was to massively strengthen NOMS in Greek occupied Macedonia.

In early 1946, at the request of the CPM Central Committee, Fotev arrived in the People’s Republic of Macedonia (PRM). From January to June 1946 he regularly attended classes at the Party school until he completed the political course offered by the CPM Central Committee in Skopje. After he completed the course he returned to Greek occupied Macedonia. After he was released from his function as secretary of the youth in the “First Macedonian Assault Brigade”, he joined the eight member NOMS delegation for Greek occupied Macedonia and was to participate in the People’s Republic of Macedonia’s People’s Youth 2nd Congress. During the 1st NOF Congress of the People’s Republic of Macedonia, held August 2, 1946, Fotev was elected member of the NOF delegation for Greek occupied Macedonia. (M. Fotev, about the counter-bands, 3-4.) He was unable to participate in the Congress because the overall composition of the “First Macedonian Assault Brigade”, along with its headquarters in which he was a member, was moved to the western part of PRM to conduct operations against the Albanian Balist formations.

The organized political actions carried out by NOF, NOMS and AFZH in Greek occupied Macedonia were not welcomed by the Greek Monarcho-Fascist regime, which took fierce paramilitary measures to persecute the activists, and all the Macedonian people, through terror and violence. Given the situation, the Macedonian leadership decided to organize an armed defense and transform the struggle into a mass armed resistance. The Macedonian national liberation movement in Greek occupied Macedonia decided to follow the PLM World War II example of the People’s Republic of Macedonia and reorganize. The organizational leadership renamed itself to NOF Main Board and held a Board meeting on July 7, 1946, during which it reorganized its duties. Mincho Fotev was now directly responsible for the formation and dispatch of partisan units in the area of Mounts Vicho and Gramos. (M. Fotev, Developments through NOF, 17.) A short time later two partisan units were formed

which, by October 1946, numbered 930 fighters ready to defend the people. (M. Fotev, about the counter-bands, 2.)

By decision of the CPY Central Committee, the independent developments in the Macedonian people’s liberation movement in Greek occupied Macedonia were ordered to stop. At this point the Macedonian organizations were ordered to subordinate to the CPG leadership. The CPY-CPG Central Committees had agreed that NOF should be subordinated to the CPG and that the CPM Central Committee and the Government of the People’s Republic of Macedonia were in charge of this transition. Towards the end of October Paskal Mitrevski, Ilia Dimovski-Gotse and Mincho Fotev were invited to travel to Skopje where Lazar Kolishevski personally informed them of the Agreement reached in Belgrade between the CPY and the CPG Central Committees, with which it was envisaged that the PLM for the Macedonian people in Greek occupied Macedonia was to unite with the Greek anti-Monarcho-Fascist movement under the leadership of the CPG. Under this “unification” Agreement Paskal Mitrevski was appointed to the CPG Regional Committee Secretariat, Giorgi Urdov-Dzhodzho was appointed member of DAG Regional Headquarters and Mincho Fotev was appointed to the Presidency of EPON, the CPG Regional Board youth organization for Greek occupied Macedonia and Thrace. After that Kolishevski ordered the leaders to immediately depart for Greek occupied Macedonia to inform the other Macedonian members of these changes. The group left PRM on October 19 and arrived in Greek occupied Macedonia through Albania. They arrived in Korcha. On October 20 Fotev went to Kostur to inform the NOF District leadership and to begin implementing the CPY-CPG Agreement. (M. Fotev, Development through NOF, 22.) In mid-November Mincho Fotev and a group of Macedonian fighters stayed over in the village Vrnik, located in the territory of Albania but inhabited by Macedonians, where, on November 16, Fotev met with Lambro Cholakov, German Damovski-Stariot, Iani Pirovski and a group of Macedonian fighters. Here they confirmed the NOF and DAG senior leaders Paskal Mitrevski as Political Secretary of NOF and Nikos Theoharopoulios-Skotidis as Assistant Commander of DAG General Staff, and through the villages Besfina and Rulia, escorted them to Mount Vicho.

On November 21, 1946 Mincho Fotev attended a meeting held in the village Bapchor. The meeting was between NOF, CPG and DAG representatives and members of the NOF, NOMS and AFZH district leaderships for Lerin and Kostur Regions. The next day, on November 22, 1946, he attended a NOF Main Board meeting held in the same village. These meetings were dedicated to implementing the CPY-CPG Agreement with regards to “uniting” the Macedonian partisan units with the DAG units. (M. Fotev, Development through NOF, 23.) Towards the end of November Mincho Fotev, accompanied by Micho Koroveshovski (acting as a courier), left for Mount Paiak and arrived there in early 1947. (M. Fotev, Development through NOF, 25-26.) On January 7, 1947 the NOF District Board held a meeting in the village Barovitsa to discuss the situation in the region and the problems that NOF, NOMS and AFZH were experiencing in their strained relations with the CPG and with the Greek partisan movement in Central Greek occupied Macedonia, due to Captain Panos’s hostile behaviour. Panos was Commander of the Greek partisan units. (Ibid, p. 26, 39.) On January 8, 1947 Fotev went up Mount Paiak and met with Captain Panos, Lefteros, Stavros and other Greek political and military leaders to settle these problems and to continue with the implementation of the “unification” Agreement. (Ibid) Fotev also participated in a joint meeting between NOF, CPG and DAG representatives, held in the village Kupa, Gumendzhe Region. This meeting was dedicated to the unification of the Macedonian partisan units on Mount Paiak with those of DAG. The resolutions adopted during this meeting practically completed the entire “unification” Agreement process. (M. Fotev, Development through NOF, 28.) Fotev remained at Partisan Headquarters until the end of January, 1947 where he waited for Paskal Mitrevski to arrive so that he could accompany him on his travel to Solun. In Solun they expected to meet with the CPG Regional Committee and come up with an agreement regarding the operational aspects of the NOF-CPG Agreement provisions for cooperation between the Macedonian organizations NOF, NOMS and AFZH with the CPG and other mass organizations under its leadership. There were also other outstanding issues that needed to be discussed. But as soon as the CPG representative found out that Mitrevski wanted to travel to Solun, he categorically refused to provide him with a secure route. He also insisted that Paskal Mitrevski travel alone and through CPG

representation in Yugoslavia. By his own advocacy, Paskal accepted this solution as the only possible option. (Ibid, p. 29, 30.) At the end of January Mincho Fotev left for Central Greek occupied Macedonia to coordinate regional NOF activities in Enidzhe-Vardar and Gumenidzhe Regions. (Ibid, p. 29)

(Micho Koroveshovski was from the village Smrdesh, Kostur Region. He was a participant in the NLM of the Macedonian people from Greek occupied Macedonia and was Corporal in the “First Macedonian Assault Brigade”. He also served as a courier for the NOF Main Board and was Commander of a DAG platoon. He died in 1947.)

Towards the end of March 1947, with the NOF Main Board Secretary being absent, Fotev went directly to Panos, a CPG representative, and asked him if he could make contact with EPON (the all Greek National Youth Organization) and become a member under the NOF-CPG unification Agreement. But, even after repeated requests, Panos’s answer was always “no”. Given the current situation, in early April 1947, accompanied by courier Micho Koroveshovski and by Giorgi Rachev (Paskal Mitrevski’s personal courier), Fotev took a trip to the free territory on Mount Vicho. On his way to Vicho, Fotev made a couple of stops in the villages Krontselevo and Dolno Rodovo where he held meetings with Vangel Aianovski, NOF District Board Secretary, Petre Shorev-Fidan, head of NOMS, Risto Bukuvala-Zhukov, Giorgi Manchov and other NOF district leaders. The purpose of holding the meetings was to exchange information regarding the political and military situation in the Voden and Enidzhe-Vardar districts and to evaluate the activities carried out by NOF, NOMS and AFZH in relation to the CPG, EPON and DAG. (M. Fotev, Development through NOF, 31.) Upon his arrival in the free territory on Mount Vicho, in the village Prekopana, Fotev, through the NOF village secretary, made contact with German Dimovski-Stariot, NOF District Board Secretary. In the village Smrdesh he met with Lambro Cholakov, NOF District Board Secretary, and with other District leaders including Krsto Mangov, Iani Pirovski, Nikola Panov, Tpaiko Supelov, Panaiot Karadzha and Hrisanti Tsanzovska to discuss NOF activities and the situation in Kostur Region. (Ibid. p. 32.) From May 15 to 18, 1947 Fotev traveled with the NOF

Kostur District delegation and attended a NOF working committee meeting in Kaimakchalan in the locality “Mishovi Kolibi” near the Greek-Yugoslav border. In his capacity as member of the NOF Main Board and as NOMS Secretary, Fotev strongly protested to Mihailo Keramitchiev for convening a NOF meeting in the absence of Secretary Paskal Mitrevski and without consulting with the other NOF Main Board members. (Ibid, p. 34.) Fotev also spoke up in Paskal Mitrevski’s defense about the untruths expressed by CPG representative Georgios Eretriadis-Petris, regarding Mitrevski’s long stay in Yugoslavia. Eretriadis’s aim was to remove Mitrevski from his position as NOF Secretary and from every other function. During the meeting Fotev said: “Comrade Petris, I am familiar with the situation. I was personally witness to Paskal Mitrevski’s plans to go to Solun via Yugoslavia at the request of Evripidis Kapetanos-Panos, member of the CPG Political Committee, and not for what you are blaming him.” (Ibid, p. 35.) On May 20, 1947, during the NOF working committee meeting, Fotev was not elected to the new body of the NOF Coordinating Bureau but was tied to the EPON Regional committee Secretariat for Greek occupied Macedonia and Thrace. (Ibid, p. 36, 51.) Following the decision of the Coordinating Bureau to dismantle NOMS, Fotev was removed from the Political Committee of EPON. (Ibid, p. 37-38.)

(Vangel Aianovski-Otse from Voden was born on February 5, 1909. He was a revolutionary and a participant in the 1928 labour movement in Greece. He was a member of OKNE and the Communist Party of Greece, CPG Regional Committee Secretary in Voden (1941), deputy political commissar in the “First Macedonian Assault Brigade”, NOF District Committee Secretary for Voden Region (from April 1947) and NOF Central Committee Organizational Secretary for Macedonia. He died in Skopje in 1990.)

(Krsto Mangov from the village D’mbeni, Kostur Region, was a fighter in ELAS and a participant in the PLM of the Macedonian people from Greek occupied Macedonia. He was deputy political secretary in the “First Macedonian Assault Brigade”, NOF District Committee Secretary for Kostur Region, member of the NOF Central Council Executive Committee and a representative of the Provisional Democratic Government of Greece for local people’s

government. He died on August 11, 1949 in the village Breznitsa, Kostur Region.)

(Iani Pirovski was from the village Kosinets, Kostur Region. He was a fighter in ELAS and a participant in the PLM of the Macedonian people from Greek occupied Macedonia. He was Secretary of SKOJ in the “First Macedonian Assault Brigade”, member of the NOF District Board for Kostur Region, NOMS Secretary for Kostur Region, member of the CPG District Committee for Kostur Region and assistant political commissar of a DAG brigade. He died in February 1949 during the battle for Lerin.)

During the 2nd NOF Congress, held on March 25, 1949, Fotev was elected member of the NOF Central Council Executive Committee. (Ibid, p. 55.) From the Executive Committee he was elected President of the NOMS Main Board responsible for the recovery of the youth organization, as well as to manage the NOF District organizations in Kostur and Lerin Regions. (Ibid, p. 57.) On April 3, 1949 he was appointed assistant political commissar at DAG Headquarters. (Ibid, p. 59.) Then, after the Informburo resolution and the deterioration of relations between the CPY and the CPG, as well as the change in attitude towards the “Macedonian National Question”, Mincho Fotev along with the other Macedonian NOF leadership, under strong pressure from the CPG leadership, began a propaganda campaign against Yugoslavia and against the Macedonian state leadership. Nikos Zahariadis, Secretary General of the CPG Central Committee, became personally involved in this matter. (M. Fotev, Development through NOF, 62-63.)

As a DAG officer, under the command of Lt. Gen. Georgios Protopappas-Kikitsas, Mincho Fotev participated in the battles of Gramos. On August 29, 1949, after DAG’s defeat, Fotev, together with the other Macedonian officers and DAG fighters who crossed over into Albanian territory, found himself in the Albanian camps. (Ibid, p. 67.) On September 9, 1949 he attended a meeting with other DAG military personnel. The meeting was called by Mitchos Vlandas, Minister of War and member of the CPG Central Committee Presidency, who announced the CPG Central Committee’s conclusion that Yugoslavia and NOF as its agent were the main culprits that caused DAG’s defeat. (M. Fotev Development

through NOF, p. 67-68.) Shortly afterwards, on September 30, 1949, the CPG leadership decided to arrest the NOF leaders, including Fotev. At the time Fotev was President of the NOMS Main Board and member of the NOF Central Council Executive Committee. On October 7, 1949 Fotev, together with the other arrested Macedonian leaders, was imprisoned in the “Bureli” prison in Albania. Then, on October 13, 1949 they were transferred to the central prison in Tirana. On December 14, 1949 they were transferred to the port of Durres, loaded onto a Soviet cargo ship and transported to the port of Odessa in the Soviet Union. On December 25, 1949, upon arriving in Odessa, the Soviet police took them to Moscow. On January 1, 1950 Fotev was taken to the prison “Liublianka” by members of the USSR Ministry of Security. (Ibid, p. 68-69.) He was held and interrogated in the Moscow prison until April 19, 1952 when he was sentenced to 10 years in prison and sent to the concentration camp “Varkuta”, in the far north of the USSR. (Ibid, p. 72.)

In 1956, after the normalization of relations between the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Yugoslav Communist Party, Mincho Fotev and the other PLM leaders from Greek occupied Macedonia were released and repatriated in the People’s Republic of Macedonia.

Upon his arrival in the People’s Republic of Macedonia, Fotev was sent to school in Skopje to upgrade his education in Administrative Studies. After he finished the course he was appointed adviser to the State Secretariat for general administration. When that position was closed in 1965, Fotev went to work for the Secretariat of Justice. Mincho Fotev died in Skopje on May 28, 1987.

Fotev was awarded 6 times for his contributions to the PLM of the Macedonian people from Greek occupied Macedonia. (Ibid.)