AGENDA - Part 06

Сите настани дo и пo 1970 гoд. се ставени вo истиoт кoш OOМ. Првите гoдини какo штo ги нарече бивсиoт председател пoкoјниoт Геoрѓи Лoукрас: беше "Златниoт век на Македoнскoтo нациoнално движение вo Канада".

Организацијата евалуираше со текот на годините во зависност од раководството во тоа време. Првите години од неговото постоење на Обединети Македонци Кададски Комитет како еден од бившите Претседатели Гиорги Лоукрас ги нарече Слатните години на Македонското движење во Канада Oрганизацијата oд своето oснoвување дo сoбирoт беше една oбединета oрганизација кoја се стремеше за пoгoлеми успеси сo негoвoтo прoширување сo нoви oгранoци вo Хамилтoн, Виндсoр и Детрoит.

Нo, тoа што правеше организацијата , не беше вo интерест на негoвите непријатели кoј не престанаа да бараат начин да ја уништат и сo тoа да го запрат прoгресoт вo oбединуваниетo на нашата етничка Македoнска емиграција вo Канада и во Америка.

Таја е нашата судбина, или пo тoчнo казанo е нашата трагедија, вo кoја сите ние актерите снoсиме кoи пo пoвеке, кoи пo малку нo снoсиме oдгoвoрнoст.

Hекoј кoментари oкoлу некoи тврдења на Др. Вражинoвски:

1) Пoјмата Централен кoмитет гo упoтребуваат Пoлитицки Партии, вo oрганизацијата Oбединети Македoнци не се упoтребува.

2) Превoдoт на уставoт на О.М. за Северна Америка, не е тoчен, читај член 40, ниедна oрганизација не дoзвoлува иметo на oрганизацијата да биде упoтребенo за лицен кoрист.

3) Уставoт на OOМ за СА е сoставен вo два дела: Првиoт дел пoкрај преамбулата вклучувајки гo и параграф 51 се oднесува за cекoја гранка oделнo на O.М. за СА а не на заедницкиoт Извршен Oдбoр, на О.М. за Северна Америка. Oд тука прoизлегува и пoгрешнoтo тoлкувание вo тoцка 1, внатрешната структура на oрг. "Oбединети Македoнци" е целoснo пoгрешна oпштo Сoбрање или Генералнo Сoбрание се oднесува самo за гранките на oрганизацијата.

4) Кoга се гoвoри за групата на Спирo Базел - Василев: се oднесува на

"Обединети Македoнци За Северна Америка" Тoрoнтo гранка.

5) Др. Вражинoвски тoчнo заклучува кoга вели: "Најевидентен е случајoт сo издвoјуваниетo на две oрганизации на Oбединети Македoнци: "Oбединети Македoнци за Северна Америка" и "Oбединети Македoнци за Канада". Прашањетo е "штo е тoлку тешкo да се кажи за кoја oрганизација се oднесуваат тврдењата на Др. Вражинoвски?

6) Др. Вражинoвски гoвoрејки за платфoрмата на Павлoв пишува: "Овoј дoкумент, сепак, не влегoл какo oфицијанлo дoпoлнување на стасутoт. Пoради тoа, штo тoј укажува на некoи елементи oд нациoнална прирoда вo врска сo превирањата на Македoнскoтo иселениствo вo Тoрoнтo, гo oбјаснуваме вo целoст." Ние не гледаме какo Др. Вражинoвски гo oбјаснува нo, мoжиме да кажиме дека Oбединети Македoнци за Канада ден денес се служат сo Уставoт на "Обединети Македoнци за Северна Америка" не само штo немат cвoј устав туку се сoгласуваат на истите oдредби и принципи без никакви измени или дoпoлнуванија.

Баш за тoа немoжиме да тврдиме дека ималo некoја друга прицина oд нациoнален карактер. Расцепoт вo "Обединети Македoнци за Серерна Америка" не се базира на идеoлoшки принцип, туку на личнoсти кoи гo ставие cвoјoт личен интерест над oпштoнациoналниoт интерест на нашата кауза. Тука не би исклучил и надвoрешниот интерес нo, вo главнo сме ние самите криви. Штo беше резултатoт oд oвие недoразбирања? Ја уништија O.М. за Северна Америка. Акo таја беше целта на расцепниците на O.М. за Канада, да, тие успеа вo целoст, нo, Антон Павлoв вo цела oваа прикаска не престигна да стане претседател на: "Јoинт ексекутив Бoрд". Заедницкиoт Управен Oдбoр на "Oбединети Македoнци за Северна Америка", гoлема штета! Акo Антoн се избереше председател тoа време, немаше да печи плескавици вo Скoпје.

The Macedonian Community of Canada and its development in Canada in light of Dr. Atanas Vrazhinovski's Book “United Macedonians” United Macedonians Canadian Committee was the first truly ethnic Macedonian organization in Canada. It was also the initiator of the building of our truly Macedonian Church, first in Canada, St. Clement of Ohrid in Toronto. Most of the initiators of the organization were mainly active members in their respective village benevolent associations and some of them politically inclined in Canada. Thanks to all of those people, the visionaries of the time, who brought about the awakening of our ethnic Macedonian conscience of our community and our heritage in Canada that enable us today to have a strong Macedonian Community.

Keep in mind the fact that the great majority of the Macedonians in Canada were from the Greek occupied part of Macedonia and had nothing to do with Yugoslavia. Therefore, their loyalties were strictly connected to Macedonia only, primarily to Aegean Macedonia and not to Yugoslavia.

Many Macedonians today are trying to identify and judge the people and their activities of 55 years ago, applying today's standards. It is a fact that the United Macedonians Canadian Committee achieved more in the first 10 years of its existence than in the next 46 years, a fact that cannot be denied. Thanks to the people who were in the leadership of the organization at that time and all the patriotic Macedonians in the Macedonian community, they succeeded and achieved a lot. I admit that there were some bad apples in the organization. I would like to deal with them in defense of all those patriotic Macedonians of the past, to whom we say thank you for what you have done for our community in Canada. It must be stressed at this time that our relations and the help from Macedonia was the single most important factor that motivated our work in our community. Macedonia gave us the moral encouragement to do our work and be proud Macedonian patriots. This is why we were loyal to Macedonia as we are today.

After reading Dr. Vrazhinovski's book, I was inspired to provide a detailed and factual account of my long years of activity in the United Macedonians organization and our church community, St. Clement of Ohrid, in Toronto. Most importantly, I felt the need to present an accurate historical account of what actually transpired during my years of involvement that was based on information and facts taken from primary sources like myself, along with copies of meeting minutes and other documents available to me.

Books written based solely on second-hand information and 'word of mouth' cannot be an accurate account of history.

In Dr. Vrazhinovski's book, he wrote that the Macedonian authorities were afraid of strengthening the nationalistic line/platform of the United Macedonians organization and ergo, lose the already fragile control it had over some of the members of its leadership. I disagree with the author's statement. Before the United Macedonians Canadian Committee was established in 1959, there had been very little, if any, contact with the authorities in Macedonia. In fact, The United Macedonians Canadian Committee was formed to address the needs of our Macedonian ethnic community here in Canada at that time. It must be clearly stated that it was not a politically motivated organization, at all, at that time.

The founders of the United Macedonians Canadian Committee were well aware that introducing politics into the organization meant its destruction. The aim of the organization was always the unity of all the Macedonian people in North America, regardless of their political affiliation. We, all of us, were deeply dedicated to the Republic of Macedonia. It was not possible for someone to be anti-Yugoslav at that time as Macedonia was a part of Yugoslavia and was building its future within that federation.

While everything may not have been ideal, it was an important stepping stone to having our own independent Macedonian state, of which all Macedonians are proud. I am happy and proud to be a citizen of Macedonia.

However, it is equally important to understand that Macedonia did have enemies here in Canada and, as such, the need for an organization like ours, in the fifties and sixties, was long overdue. We needed to awaken and encourage the national pride of our immigrants, who were mainly coming from the Greek occupied part of Macedonia. The Macedonian authority with whom we were dealing was the House of Immigrants of Macedonia and it had a clear understanding of our mandate in 1959.

Some modern interpreters have claimed that during this time period, to be a good Macedonian meant one had to be anti-Yugoslav. This claim is totally inaccurate as at no time did the United Macedonians ever declare that they were either pro or anti-Yugoslav.

It can be claimed with certainty, however, that they were definitely pro-Macedonian. It was and remained a national and cultural Canadian Macedonian organization.

Yes, times have changed and so the world has changed. This is why we insist that the time and events play a real part of the storytelling of the activities of the organization and the members' activities. The fact remains that the so-called "federalists", as they are referred to in Dr. Vrazhinovski's book, were the founders of the United Macedonians Canadian Committee and later, the Macedonian Orthodox Church St. Clement of Ohrid in Toronto.

Therefore, Dr.Vrazhinovski, at this time, it is difficult to call them "federalists".

Before they became federalists, as your associate calls them, they must have been true patriots. I'm saying this not because I want to be known as a nationalist, nor to be known as a federalist but simply as a good Macedonian patriot and if that is too much of a demand, then just a good and honest Macedonian. I'm saying this on behalf of all my predecessors and associates who worked hard to promote the Macedonian cause in Canada and the United States of America. As such, we deserve far more recognition and respect than was afforded us in Dr. Vrazhinovski's book. I also happen to believe that in the end, a man will be judged by his actions and the legacy he leaves behind. The problem is that the author of the book, United Macedonians, blindly believed the lies of his associate.

If we accept many of Dr. Vrazhinovski's statements seriously, it would imply that all of our achievements in Canada were done in the name of and on behalf of Yugoslavism, just because someone called us, the founding fathers of the United Macedonians, "federalists". A further implication would be that these so-called federalists were therefore anti-Macedonian. This is simply an attempt, by some people, to demonstrate that they were the good Macedonians by declaring themselves the "big nationalists" in Canada.

The empty slogans of Anton Pavlov were echoed by Dr. Atanas Vrazhinovski in his book, United Macedonians, published in the year 1998 in Macedonia, where the primary source of information was none other than, Anton Pavlov. It is impossible to mention all the contradictions and lies, unfortunately, found in his book, United Macedonians.

Here is what the author of the book, United Macedonians is saying about Anton Pavlov, "I express special thanks to Anton Pavlov and his wife Rosica Pavlova who selflessly helped me in clarifying some moments of the activities of the United Macedonians Organization, that I was not sufficiently clear and crisp, who also gave me documents from the activities of the organization." In addition to the inaccuracies and errors in the book, the writer focuses too much on the alleged problem of Yugoslavism in the ranks of the organization during the sixties and seventies. Those of us who were actually present during these events, recognize that this was not the case until 1975 and onwards. Painting us all today with the same 'federalist' brush is inaccurate and irresponsible. Dr. Vrazhinovski here must be expressing his own views and not the reality of the time and what actually transpired.

Furthermore, Dr. Vrazhinovski fails to distinguish between the United Macedonians Canadian Committee and its successor, United Macedonians of North America and the splinter group, United Macedonians of Canada Toronto Branch. To lump them together in the same basket is totally inaccurate and irresponsible.

I would like to thank Dr. Vrazhinovski for his work and contribution in attempting to tell the story of the United Macedonians Organization. However, I am compelled to say that his declared source of information, Anton Pavlov, failed to tell the true story in its entirety, even if he had the opportunity to do so.

After the split of the organization and the holding of two Ilinden picnics, the pressure coming from the authorities in Macedonia to hold one picnic and to preserve the unity of our community and make amends was quite pronounced. Despite our determined efforts, we were unsuccessful in reaching an agreement to hold one picnic, due to opposition from the splinter group lead by Morihovitis and his so-called 'Nationalists'. At a subsequent membership meeting of the United Macedonians of North America Toronto Branch, it was decided that in the name of unity for our community, not to hold any future picnics and gradually reduce the organization's activities.

As I remained the president of the United Macedonians of North America, a now inactive corporation, I eventually cancelled its corporate charter in 1999. An organization with four branches across Canada and the United States was now defunct. Our enemies, both internal and external, had caused the demise of the organization with the help of the so-called, "Nationalists" in the United Macedonians of Canada Toronto Branch. This begs the question, who was the winner in all this? My answer; the enemies of the Macedonian movement for greater unity of our Macedonian people in Canada and the United States.

The most fruitful years of the organization were during the sixties. It was a time of great unity and positive growth where Macedonians were working together to achieve one common goal, that being the unity of all Macedonian immigrants in North America.

However, when I defeated Anton Pavlov for the presidency of the United Macedonians of North America at the convention of 1970, a group led by Aristotelis Morihovitis called a meeting of the Toronto branch of the United Macedonians of North America six months later, on March 7, 1971. This meeting failed to comply with and therefore was in contravention of the provisions of the constitution of The United Macedonians of North America. The constitution stipulates: "The membership election meeting shall be convened by a registered letter sent 21 days before the election day to all regular members with a stipulated agenda for the meeting." None of the above took place. During the period of 1969 to March 7, 1971, Morihovitis was the president of the Toronto branch and represented it during the convention. Anton Pavlov was the secretary and myself, the secretary-treasurer. What happened? Morihovitis convened a regular meeting calling, however, only his allies to attend. It is important to know that even though I was the secretary-treasurer of the Toronto branch, I was not invited to attend.

I, along with many other uninvited members, became aware of this meeting and when we arrived, we found out that Morihovitis was actually conducting an election meeting, an illegal election meeting. As the secretary-treasurer I was duty bound to provide to the membership a financial statement. There can be no election without first providing current financial statements to the membership. Once again, this meeting and everything that transpired as a result of this meeting was, therefore, illegal. Though we strenuously objected to the illegality of the election, we failed to prevent it and in protest, we left the meeting. The splinter group elected the "Nationalist", Anton Pavlov, as president of the United Macedonians of North America Toronto Branch. These actions taken by the splinter group were nothing more than 'sour grapes' after having lost the presidency of the Joint Executive Board of the United Macedonians of North America; an election that I won, not by one vote as per Dr. Vrazhinovski's book, but rather by 38 votes to 23. These illegal proceedings resulted in the division of the Toronto Branch membership into two opposing groups.

The Joint Executive Board of The United Macedonians of North America, or central committee, held a meeting in Hamilton, Ontario on June 12, 1971, at which meeting were present members of the Joint Executive Board. They were: myself, Vasil Dinevski, Bill Yanev, Anton Pavlov, Don Pappas, John Soukas, Bill Clechov, Alex Yanev and Kosta Romanovski. Also present at this meeting were: Peter Vasilevski, Teli Morihovche, Vlade Ristevski, Pete Kondoff, Kosta Stanwick, Spiro Bassil, Louis Opasini, Spiro Karfell, Angelo Argiro, and Danny Giuchos. It is extremely important and relevant to re-iterate, that both opposing groups were represented at this meeting. At this meeting the Joint Executive Board took the following decisions:

a) The March 7, 1971 (election) meeting, held by the Toronto Branch, was declared null and void. All decisions dealing with the Toronto chapter between the dates of March 7th and June 12th, 1971 were also null and void.

b) The Joint Executive Board instructed the United Macedonians (Toronto) that the

1969/71 executive (the executive in office prior to the March 7th meeting) was to continue and remain in office until further notice.

c) The traditional Ilinden picnic, previously sponsored by the Toronto branch, had become a manifestation of all the branches of the United Macedonians of North America.

Thusly, it automatically fell under the jurisdiction of the Joint Executive Board. This year the Ilinden picnic will be conducted by the Joint Executive Board, with all branches requested to give their full support to make this day a truly representative manifestation of all Macedonians.

d) The decision taken by the first meeting of the Joint Executive Board, to register the organization, had been finalized and approved.

Consequently, after nullifying the illegal elections of March 7, 1971, by the Joint Executive Board of the United Macedonians of North America and the splinter group's refusal to obey by the decisions of the Joint Executive Board, the Toronto Branch called new elections in which elections of all the membership of the United Macedonians of North America was invited by registered mail including the splinter group.

It was at this meeting the invited splinter group members refused to take part in the elections and disrupted the proceedings to such an extent that the police had to be called.

As a result, the chairman was forced to close the meeting before the elections could take place. Consequently, new elections were called for the Toronto Branch of the United Macedonians of North America at which meeting Peter Vasilevski was elected president.

The splinter group opposed the Joint Executive Board's application to incorporate the organization under the provincial corporate laws of Ontario, according to the decisions taken previously by the Joint Executive Board of the United Macedonians of North America, in which decision the splinter group had participated.

Using the opportunity and time where our application was frozen because of their objections, they instead had secretly applied for a federal registration of their organization in Ottawa. They lied to the Federal authorities about the existence of another organization with the same name and of course they did not disclose to Ottawa that they had already opposed, to the provincial authorities', our application of the United Macedonians of North America for registration with the provincial government.

Ultimately, the rejection of the illegal elections of March 7, 1971, by the Joint Executive Board, and already the existence of an application with the provincial authorities, resulted in the splinter group adopting the name, "United Macedonians of Canada, Toronto Branch", with which name they registered their splinter group in Ottawa.

In the months that followed, the splinter group continued to operate separately and apart from the United Macedonians of North America Toronto Branch. They simply split from the parent organization of the United Macedonians of North America. When it became clear that they had abandoned the parent organization, the Toronto branch of the United Macedonians of North America decided to terminate their membership in the parent organization. In other words, they were kicked out of the United Macedonians of North America. The Toronto branch advised them in writing that their membership was terminated. The United Macedonians of North America, Toronto branch, called new elections and, as earlier mentioned, Peter Vasilevski was elected its president.

With the split, the doors were wide open in the United Macedonians of Canada Toronto Branch, allowing the opportunity for individuals and different groups to express all kinds of rhetoric and propaganda in the name of the United Macedonians that was contrary to the principles and constitution of the parent organization. Each group was trying to declare themselves more patriotic than the other. As an example, we can look at Anton Pavlov. Dr. Vrazhinovski describes Pavlov and his platform as being nationalistic in character and therefore, Pavlov was seen as a 'nationalist'. He also described the 'other wing', those who are not of the same mind as Pavlov, myself included, as being 'federalists'. It is important to note, that this nationalistic platform, riddled with contradictions, was never accepted by his own organization, The United Macedonians of Canada Toronto Branch. Instead, they are still using the constitution of The United Macedonians of North America; the so-called 'federalists'. The irony here is rich and cannot be overstated.

Suddenly, the Joint Executive Board were all 'Federalists' and Anton Pavlov was the self-declared, 'Nationalist', who had lost in the presidential elections at the convention.

He was one of these opportunistic individuals. Being the 'Nationalist', he was trying to show that he was a better Macedonian than the rest of us. He came out with his, so-called platform, a contradictory piece of paper, pretending to be the big 'Nationalist' but his platform, however, was never accepted even by his own group. In other words, and may I be blunt, it became a piece of paper good for only the toilet!

Before we address some of the accusations and lies written about me personally, I would like to ask Dr. Vrazhinovski a few questions. Earlier, I made reference to a comment about the importance of real time and events that occurred during the sixties and seventies until the independence of Macedonia in 1991. Dr. Vrazhinovski, would you agree that during the sixties and seventies, and especially at the time when I became president in 1965, that there was only a ray of light on the horizon for us? Was not the People's Republic of Macedonia within the Yugoslav federation, the only hope for a better future for all Macedonians? Don't you think Dr.Vrazhinovski, that at the time when our country was part of Yugoslavia, an organization such as ours had no choice but to cooperate with the Macedonian authorities? Was there any alternative that would have enabled the Macedonian immigrants to hope for a better future? Are you suggesting that the members of the United Macedonians should have resisted the Macedonian government because they were "federalists", knowing full well that they were the fathers of the People's Republic of Macedonia? For us, at that time, the crucial issue was the speedy development and prosperity of the People's Republic of Macedonia, regardless to which federation it belonged. Whether that made us, "federalists" does not concern me a bit today.

Dr. Vrazhinovski goes on and states, "The first split in the organization is noticed in

1964 when the construction of the St. Clement of Ohrid Church started." He was mistaken. If there had been a split, the consequences would have been seriously detrimental to the progress of the church construction, its congregation and its synod.

There was in fact no split in the United Macedonians Canadian Committee. During that time, however, and especially in 1964-1965, some members of the organization were critical of the way the executive board of directors of the church, under the leadership of Kosta Andrews, was conducting business and were outwardly opposing their policies.

Though I was a director on Kosta Andrew's board, I too was opposed to his proposed policy. Thanks to the unity of the United Macedonians Canadian Committee and the members of the church, we succeeded in ousting the executive board led by Kosta Andrews (except for myself, the only re-elected member of that Executive Board) and sidelined its anti-synod propaganda and policies when they were voted out of power in the election of September 1965. This ensured that St. Clement of Ohrid Church would remain under the jurisdiction of the Mother Macedonian Church in Skopje.

Dr. Vrazhinovski also writes, "An important event that contributed to the future problems and splits in the United Macedonians Organization and the immigrants in general, occurred during the consecration of St. Clement of Ohrid by the then Archbishop of Ohrid and Macedonia, His Eminence Dositej, in the year 1964." Are you kidding Dr.

Vrazhinovski? Once again, this is completely false. Was the writer confused or had he been fed with incorrect information? Regardless, what Dr. Vrazhinovski writes is simply the repetition of the anti-synod propaganda of 1965. It is both humiliating and degrading to imply that His Eminence, The Archbishop of Macedonia Dositej, had anything to do with the problems of the organization because there was no involvement by the archbishop, whatsoever!

Dr. Vrazhinovski continues writing, "At that time there was a serious problem which had developed which upset the Macedonian ethnic community in Toronto." Of course the Macedonians were upset. They were extremely upset with those who were spreading their anti-synod propaganda against the members of the church delegation from Macedonia during the consecration of our church headed by His Eminence Archbishop Dositej. It was an overwhelming majority of the church community that agreed to stand firm in their desire to maintain and preserve the unity between our church and its mother church, the Macedonian Orthodox Church in Skopje, Macedonia. It was from a position of solidarity and unity that our organization was instrumental in defeating those elements in our community that were against the jurisdiction of its mother church.

The membership of the United Macedonians, who were also members of our church, and along with the vast majority of the members of St. Clement of Ohrid congregation, voted and put an end to any dilemma and doubts regarding the jurisdiction and the authority of the Holy Synod in Skopje, at the election meeting of September 1965.

The second attempt against the jurisdiction of the Macedonian synod happened in 1981, when some members, deceived in their jealousy, believed that the court case was aimed towards the newly elected president, who was me, and my newly elected board of directors. However, that attempt failed miserably.

Dr. Vrazhinovski attempts to describe the electoral process at the convention of 1970 which I will paraphrase. 'During the Congress, a list prepared by Spiro Bassil appeared, nominating John Givens for president. At that time, the president of the Toronto Branch was Teli Morihovitis and the secretary was Anton Pavlov. With the emergence of the list, two streams in the organization occurred and Anton Pavlov was then also nominated to run against John Givens. With one vote more, John Givens won.' To quote the writer, "For president of the federalist wing was elected John Givens". This is a complete falsehood. After Pavlov's defeat for president, Spiro Vasilev nominated him for the position of secretary. It would have been no surprise for Spiro Vasilev to put forward the candidacy from his own group; someone like John Givens. Why Anton Pavlov?

The results of the elections were as follows - 38 delegates voted for John Givens and 23 delegates voted for Anton Pavlov. Was the logic of the writer and his associate that there were only 23 'nationalists' and that all the others who voted for John Givens were 'federalists'? This of course is not true. In fact, Pavlov was elected secretary by a vote of 50 out of 61 delegates, including my vote. This therefore shows that Pavlov was elected also by the 'federalist' wing. Simple math shows that 27 so-called 'federalists' voted for him too. The truth simply put is that there was no such division of nationalists and federalists at the convention as Dr. Vrazhinovski incorrectly claims. The ability of the candidates and the confidence they had gained amongst the delegates was the crucial reason for the support of the delegates.

Dr. Vrazhinovski further writes, "With the emergence of the list of candidates there occurred two streams in the organization, especially causing discontent among the delegation from Windsor by the action of Spiro Bassil." Yes, the list may have caused resentment among the Vassos brothers from Windsor who did end up supporting Anton Pavlov for president. Having said that, the truth is that I did have support from at least two delegates of the Windsor delegation; the esteemed Vasil Dinevski and John Soukas, both of whom were elected to my Joint Executive Board. The irony here again is rich.

The Vassos brothers, pro-Yugoslavs, supported the nationalist...

Regardless of how the Vassos brothers voted at the convention, I must say that I had good relations with Bob Vassos and had even been a guest in his home when I traveled to Windsor. Everyone has the right to their own beliefs. I am not trying to criticize anyone, nor am I trying to attack anyone but the truth remains that the Vassos brothers were undoubtedly pro-Yugoslav during and after the convention.

The misunderstandings amongst Spiro and the Vassos brothers was on the question of who was pro or anti-Yugoslav. The Vassos brothers considered Spiro to be an anti- Yugoslav. That means that Anton Pavlov, without doubt, was the candidate of the federalists. Otherwise, why would the federalists nominate the "nationalist" Anton Pavlov for president? It doesn't make sense. Before and during the convention, Pavlov and Morihovitis did not declare that they were the nationalist wing of the organization and that the rest of the United Macedonians of North America were the federalists! Therefore, was I in a position to be the candidate of the federalists?

Dr. Vrazhinovski associates the organization with the problem of Yugoslavism, which became more pronounced in the second half of the 1970s and at which time the Consul General of Yugoslavia, in Toronto, was a Bosnian national. His private politics are expressed in his analysis of the work of the organization, before and after the split of

1971. We believe that the contradictory interpretations and lies of his associate (Pavlov)

helped to destroy the work and reputation of Dr. Vrazhinovski.

Dr. Vrazhinovski wrote and concluded that, 'The main reason for the new division in the ‘United Macedonians’ Organization is connected with the establishment of the so-called, ‘Yugoslav Union’. In 1975, a new initiative was started with aims at uniting all Yugoslav immigrants under one organization, which would operate here in Canada. The idea for starting such an organization originated at the Yugoslav Consulate in Toronto.

Avccording to Dr. Vrazhinovski, “The president of the organization at that time, John Givens, agreed that the organization United Macedonians join the Yugoslav Union.

However, his aim was not achieved. Soon afterwards, a new president and a new (United Macedonians) leadership was elected, which was decisively against joining the Yugoslav Union.” This is utter nonsense; all lies concocted by his source. During this time, 1975-1976, I had no contact, whatsoever, with the Yugoslav consulate in regards to this invitation! Nor have I attended such a meeting. Even if I had been contacted, I was never in a position to unilaterally agree or disagree. There would have had to have been an agreement from the Joint Executive Board/Central Committee for such an action to be taken by myself or any other president. The question that must be asked is; how did Dr.

Vrazinovski's sounces know all about my intentions to join the Yugoslav union? The question again is; who replaced me as president? What United Macedonians organization is he talking about? Dr. Vrazhinovski gives an account of Teli Morihovitis' encounter with the Yugoslav Consul in Toronto in 1976 as president of the United Macedonians of Canada regarding joining the Yugoslav Union. What was Dr. Vrazhinovski's source trying to achieve with this kind of a lie? Was that his best shot at John Givens?

Here is the situation that actually prevailed during 1974-1976.

I, John Givens, was the one and only president of the Joint Executive Board/Central Committee of the United Macedonians of North America until the cancellation of its charter in 1999. There was no second convention of the organization and therefore there were no new elections where I could have been replaced. Who then was the new leadership that replaced me as Vrazhinovski is claiming? There was none. James Saunders was president of the United Macedonians of North America, Toronto Branch and the splinter group, United Macedonians of Canada Toronto Branch was under the leadership of Teli Morihovitis and Anton Pavlov.

With all the problems we had with our unity and holding a single Ilinden picnic in 1975-1976, we could hardly bring unity to our own organization, never mind join the Yugoslav Union. We didn’t have the language to unify ourselves, let alone join another organization. Furthermore, of what 'United Macedonians' organization was I president? I believe that it was his intention to confuse the readers instead of enlightening them. It may be noteworthy, however, to point out that in 1975, the Consul General was not a Macedonian national. There would have been no such invitation because of the composition of the membership of the organization as it would not have been in the interests of the United Macedonians of North America as a whole, to join such a Yugoslav union. I would like to challenge Dr. Vrazhinovski to re-visit his source and to prove and confirm his dishonest and unfounded accusations and lies that have filled his book, United Macedonians.

Let us now take a look at Yugoslavism and my views on this subject. (thesis of my personal Yugoslavism.) Allow me to say that I have never lived in Yugoslavia nor in the Republic of Macedonia. In 1988, I was privileged to receive a Yugoslav, and more precisely, my Macedonian citizenship. I received that with internal assistance from Macedonia. Today I am happy to say that I am proud to be a citizen of the Republic of Macedonia but, like I said, I have never lived there. If that is what makes a “Yugoslav”, then I was a Yugoslav! Today Yugoslavia is gone but I remain a loyal citizen of Macedonia. It is a great shame that Dr. Vrazhinovski’s book is full of contradictions, lies and innuendoes. The lies that his associate Pavlov filled him with have not only robbed him of his reputation as a story teller but also of his effort in writing his book, a book of lies. Of course we know that the entire story Dr. Vrazhinovski published is full of Anton Pavlov’s lies, innuendoes and character assassinations!

He continues, "With a decision of the general membership meeting of the United Macedonians of Canada, John Givens and several others, who were like-minded, were released from membership." The question begs, to what membership is he referring?

Vrazhinovski here fails to identify the contradiction. It would not have been possible for Anton Pavlov, leader of the splinter organization, United Macedonians of Canada, to expel members from the "Central Committee" as Anton Pavlov calls it, of the United Macedonians of North America. How would it be possible for members of one organization to expel members of another organization of which they are not even a member?

The truth is that Pavlov and some of his like-minded followers from the splinter group, who were members of the United Macedonians of North America Toronto Branch, were the ones who were expelled from the United Macedonians of North America under the leadership of Peter Vasilevski. (Read the decision of the Toronto branch.)

His failure to differentiate between the different organizations has contributed greatly to the failure of his book.

The wrongly accused, of which I was one, initiated legal proceedings against Anton Pavlov and his group, which eventually led to the issuance of a formal apology and retraction of their libelous statement regarding the alleged expulsion.

Part of the apology/retraction read as follows: "We further state that the above persons to whom we make this apology have never been expelled from the "United Macedonians" organization. We also believe that the above named are sincere and patriotic Macedonians, as well as good Canadians, whose honesty, integrity, and interest of the affairs of the Macedonian community is above doubt and reproach. We make this apology with the sincere hope that our action may be a good and useful lesson for all of us and our future generations and will serve the best interests of our Macedonian community in Canada and elsewhere." (Please see the complete apology in my book).

The question here is; why does Dr. Vrazhinovski fail to write about or even mention Pavlov's apology in his book? Did he not know about this apology? Did Anton Pavlov not tell him the entire story or did Dr. Vrazhinovski intentionally choose not to include this very important truth in his book?

Let us examine what he has written about Professor Dr. Georgio Nurigiani’s invitation to the congress. He writes; “The invited Georgio Nurigiani initially did not accept the ‘United Macedonians Organization’ invitation. By letter he informed the ‘Organization’ and the House of Immigrants of Macedonia that he would not be able to attend the ‘United Macedonians Organization’ Congress. Besides being preoccupied with the publishing of three of his books, another reason for refusing to accept the invitation to participate in the congress was the situation by which the ‘Organization’ was divided and the great misunderstanding in its ranks. His letter to the House of Immigrants was dated August the 20th, 1995. However, Georgio Nurigiani changed his mind and did participate in the congress.” Besides making an obvious error with the date, Dr. Vrazhinovski was completely mistaken or had been misinformed about the contents of said letters from Dr. Georgio Nurigiani, copies of which can be found in my book. Nowhere in his letters does Dr.

Nurigiani cite a reason for not attending this alleged organizational split. Nowhere. This begs the question; how then did Dr. Vrazhinovski come to this conclusion? Which of his named sources provided him with this misinformation and more importantly, why?

I would like to ask Dr. Vrazhinovski's associate, how he knew and who had told Dr.

Nurigiani that there was a split in the organization? What kind of a split was he talking about? Had his associate contacted Dr. Nurgiani and asked him in person, what were his reasons for not coming to the congress? Did Dr. Vrazhinovski's associate advice the professor not to come to the congress when it was well known that the invitation was sent by the House of Immigrants of Macedonia and that all the work went through the House of Immigrants? Why did Professor Nurigiani not mention in his letters to the House and the United Macedonians of North America, that one of the reasons that he refused to take part at the convention was because of our divisions? The only persons informed of Dr.

Nurigiani's refusal to attend must have been Dr. Vrazhinovski and his collaborators on this issue. Our dissatisfaction stems from the fact that Dr. Vrazhinovski knew all about Dr. Nurigiani's decisions but he chose to believe his associate.

Dr. Vrazhinovski writes that at the congress of 1970, "The opposition to Spiro Vasilev's group nominated Anton Pavlov for president. After Pavlov's defeat for president, Spiro Vasilev nominated him for the office of secretary." The question here is, if Spiro Vasilev was a federalist, why would he then turn around and nominate his opponent, Anton Pavlov, 'the nationalist', for position of secretary? This makes no sense at all and is yet another obvious contradiction in his book. This is further evidence that there was in fact, no division in the organization at the congress along the fictitious nationalist/federalist lines.