PREFACE

PREFACE

The idea of preparing and publishing a book dedicated to the refugee children from Aegean (Greek occupied) Macedonia was born and accepted in the former Yugoslavia at about the same time when preparations for holding the Third Refugee Children World Meeting began. The Meeting was to be held in 2003.

There was already a book out, a monographic edition, about the Refugee Children entitled “We too are children of Mother Earth” by Dr. Fana Butskova, which covered the topic of Refugee Children from Aegean (Greek occupied) Macedonia in the various former Yugoslav republics (People’s Republic of Macedonia, People’s Republic of Serbia, Autonomous Province of Voivodina, People’s Republic of Croatia and People’s Republic of Slovenia), which later became independent states as well as in the former Eastern bloc people’s democracies (Poland, Romania, former Czechoslovakia, former East Germany, Hungary and Bulgaria). The Monograph, we felt, gave more space to the refugee children in the eastern European countries and there was plenty of space available to be filled in former Yugoslavia. And this was sufficient reason for us to take on this project and present a more detailed view about the lives of the refugee children in the boarding schools in former Yugoslavia.

However, the first to research and publish such a book was Petre Nakovski who, in the eighties, published a monograph entitled “The refugee children from Aegean Macedonia in Poland”. Using existing documents and well-prepared arguments, Nakovski wrote about their arrival, accommodation, education and development in the children’s homes in Poland. One can say that Nakovski’s monographic edition raised the need for more books to be written on the subject of the refugee Children...

An extensive number of poems, short stories and novels have been written about the exodus of the refugee children from Aegean (Greek occupied) Macedonia in Macedonian literature by writers such as Tashko Georgievski, Petre Shirilov, Kata Misirkova-Rumenova, Ivan Chapovski, Liubisha Taskovski, Vasil Puiovski, Risto Iachev and many others who were part of the flood of uprooted refugee children. There are also the writers Atso Shopov,

Slavko Ianevski, Gogo Ivanovski, Lazo Karovski and others who were born in the Republic of Macedonia.

Professor Dr. Milan Ristovich published his book “Dolgo vrakianie doma” (Long return home) in Belgrade which he dedicated to the Aegean Macedonian refugee children in Yugoslavia. His work opened the child refugee issue for discussion and offered interesting insights into their forced uprooting, exodus and prospects of “returning home”.

It is important at this point to mention that the question of refugee children leaving their homes in Aegean Macedonia was also tackled by Dr. Nikifor Robovski in his book “Makedontsite od Egeiska Makedonia vo Chekoslavakia” (Macedonians from Aegean Macedonia in Czechoslovakia), and by Vangel Popovski in his book “Detsata Begaltsi vo Chekoslavakia” (Refugee children in Czechoslovakia). Other authors to tackle this subject included Lazar Minkov in his book “Makedontsite vo Ungaria” (Macedonians in Hungary”, Giorgi Donevski in his book “Bapchor”, Sokrat Panovski in his book “V’mbel”, Nikola Kichevski in his book “Trsie i Trsiani”, Tome Miovski in his book “Orovo i Orovchani”, and Hristo Ristovski and Goche Drbitski in their book “Grazhdeno”. Two books have been written about the village “D’mbeni” by authors Atanas Bliznakov and Lazar Pop Ianevski, a book about the village “Pozdivishta” by Dr. Fana Butskova and Risto Shanev, a book about “Buf” by Done Panovsky, a book about the memory of German by Todor Iovanovski, a book about “Visheni” by Dimitar Prstenarov, a book entitled “Chiflidzhik selo vo Egeiska Makedonia” by Nikola Balkanov and Angel Balkanski, and others. All of these books have tackled the refugee children issue regarding the Macedonian children in Aegean Macedonia, in the former Yugoslavia and in the Eastern European countries.

More information about this ordeal (Child refugee exodus) and Europe’s biggest embarrassment in the twentieth century can be found in contemporary editions of the newspapers “Nova Makedonija”, “Glas na Egeitsite” (Voice of the Aegean) in Skopje, “Borba” and “Politika” in Belgrade, “Dnevnik” of Novi Sad, “Viesnik” and “Novi list” from Zagreb and Rieka, “Delo” from

Lubliana, as well as Red Cross bulletins and releases in Yugoslavia, and others.

Apart from the above-mentioned publications, which helped us shape this document, we found Stanoia Obranov’s work most helpful. Obranov at that time was director of the homes for refugee children in Bela Tsrkva. His grasp of the problem was really important, offering numerous facts about the children’s destiny and life.

Our goal is modest. This document is an attempt to glance at how we all lived, how we, as refugee children from Aegean Macedonia, survived in the homes (boarding schools) in some of the republics in the former Yugoslavia. We used the strength of argument and memories to tell at least part of the story of the great ordeal and unprecedented exodus that was played out in the middle of the twentieth century on the territory of Aegean Macedonia in Greece.

We used authentic documents and counted on our personal experience to prepare as much of a realistic picture as possible in order to portray the fate and ordeal of over twenty thousand refugee children who had been estranged from the homes… this is a warning and a testament directly addressed to our descendants and future generations, to be careful and never again repeat such evil… to never forget who you are and where you come from... We have been marked with scars but worse than that a fire burns within us, a fire of desire to return to our paternal homes and the fireplaces of our ancestors... We live in sorrow that we have spent most of our lives uprooted and replanted. If this is indeed what the book portrays to you the reader, then we have done our job and justified its publication.

Note: As can be seen from the text, we have used terms that are now historically obsolete. This was dictated by the conditions themselves and by the then terminology. We did this primarily because we wanted to maintain the authenticity of the described events!

We would like to thank all our contributors and express our love and gratitude to them because without their boundless contributions and love, this book would not have been possible, which we hope will be

a roadmap for future researchers. That they too will feel everything we felt being out of our homes and neighbourhoods, away from our loved ones. We can say that we are children without a childhood... with sad and bloody memories, with many scars and tears, hopes and suffering for our return home. Indeed, if ever there will be a return to our homes and to our childhood memories...?

Also we would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to the Red Cross of Yugoslavia, to the Historical Museum -Belgrade, to the Republic of Macedonia State Archives, to the Institute of National History Archives and to Slobodanka Filipovska, employee of the archives, who enthusiastically helped us collect materials for this book.

Our exodus from our homeland is indisputable and the greatest shame civilized Europe has experienced in the last century. Words are always stronger than bullets and hostilities.

The Authors - September 2002