MEMORANDUM - Part 03

After we had our dinner in the military canteen, those responsible for us took attendance and put all 250 of our names onto a single list. Of the 250 children on the list, 200 were Macedonians and the rest were Vlachs and Asia Minor settlers. While taking attendance, the CPG representative ordered us to provide them with our ‘Greek names’. At every opportunity they insisted that we use our ‘Greek names’, even when Macedonian schools were opened in the free villages, they keep saying to us: ‘Tomorrow when you go to Greece to fight Fascism, the hostile Greek propaganda will say that you are not Greeks, you are Yugoslav and Bulgarian volunteers’.

We unanimously and explicitly protested against this ‘Great Greek’ theory and refused to give them our ‘Greek’ names. We insisted that we were registered by our Macedonian names and that orders be given to us in the Macedonian language. After they did that they separated the Greek children (the Vlachs and Asia Minor settlers) from us and they did everything in Greek with them.

The next day those responsible for us separated us into three companies, two Macedonian and one Greek...”

Further on in his book, Tome Miovski wrote that on June 4, 1949 they were visited by Petros Kokalis, CPG Minister of education and culture in the Interim Democratic government and Politburo member who said: “Comrades, friends, allow me to convey to you greetings from the DAG fighters who achieve combat successes on a daily basis... The struggle has no need of new fighters...”

Miovski then went on to say: “For a moment there we all went silent. We had come a long way to get here and we could not understand why now they did not need us. We had trained for 41 days and nights and were ready to fight. Then, the government decided it didn’t want us? Was victory very near or what was going on? Even those responsible for us did not know what was going on. We were so upset we could not even eat; we wandered through the yard and wondered and wondered...”

If we didn’t know then, we sure know now that exactly at that time Zahariadis was summoned to Moscow by the Soviet leadership and was instructed and ordered to stop the armed struggle and withdraw DAG from the battle zones. The Provisional Democratic government was advised to appeal to the United Nations General Assembly for a peaceful resolution to the conflicts. At the same time DAG was being liquidated.

But after reading this text from Miovski’s memoirs about the then “evacuation of the children” a person cannot remain indifferent regarding the actions of these “merchants of human destiny.”

What did they do “In the name of the people”? What didn’t they do! These words were a mandatory part of the political vocabulary, motive and an alibi for “coating” many acts they committed, be they ideological, military, territorial conquests, or ethnic cleansing!

The Minister Porfirogenis acted more like a merchant of souls with regards to the children’s fate, than he did like a minister in the Interim Democratic government. He showed no care for the children even though 60% of DAG’s fighters were Macedonians, parents of those children. His agitation was full of insolence towards the children, promising them that they would see their parents, beautiful villages, friends, and feel free at their grandfather’s hearth… when he had absolutely no intention of doing that!

At the same time he instructed them to say nothing about their return home, not a word, not to their siblings and certainly not to those who volunteered to take care of them. He instructed them not to write to their parents, relatives, or friends and anyone that did, would be labeled an enemy of the struggle? The actions of just this one person should give the reader a good picture of the overall situation in which the Macedonian children found themselves under Greek rule inside and outside of Greece and on both sides of the ideological spectrum.

For those who led the war there were no ideals, there were no sacred things, there were no moral constraints. Anything and everything was possible in order to satisfy their own aims, their own careers and their own egos. After the war they proved themselves to be spiritually void, empty! They only held power because of the war. They held power through deception and dictatorial means and by repeating words such as: patriotism, loyalty, ideals, traditions and commitment to the revolution, words which meant nothing to them but were used to manipulate those for whom these words did have meaning.

Every person should be asking themselves: “Is this what we fought for??!!” Where were NOF and AFZH and why did they not protect us? Was it because they were powerless to do so? Given what we now know, yes they were!

Greek government concerns and complaints about the children taken by the CPG and DAG

On February 27, 1948 the Greek government sent an official letter to: The United Nations Special Committee on the Balkans (UNSCOB) complaining that:

“Greek children have been abducted by force by the Andartes (DAG Partisans) and taken outside the Greek border to Albania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia and to other Eastern European countries, and are held there against their will.”

Further on the letter said: “General Markos’s agents had planned this a long time ago and have compiled lists with names of children from Northern Greece, ages 3 to 14. All this is presumably done to:

(A) Terrorize Greek families into helping the Andartes; (B) Indoctrinate Greek children into the Communist ideology; (C) Destroy the Greek national consciousness and distance the children from Greece; (D) Reorganize the rural economy (agriculture) in order to force the peasants with their families to escape (emigrate) from the villages to the cities to protect their children” (49) Did the Greek state really care about the children being taken or was this a ploy to ethnically cleanse the population?

It is well known that Greece has strived to create a “pure Greek nation”. Greece has taken pride in its claims that its population is “pure Greek”. And how has Greece done that, given that Greece is yet another Balkan country with a mix of all kinds of ethnicities? Well for one, Greece, over the years, has implemented policies and taken active action to eliminate all minorities who do not consider themselves Greek, including the large indigenous Macedonian population that has lived on those lands from time immemorial. Greece has exiled and assimilated people! Greece has changed people’s names and toponyms! Greece has prohibited people from speaking their native non-Greek languages! Greece has exchanged massive numbers of people with Turkey and Bulgaria, just to maintain the illusion of purity! So what makes one think that Greece “cared” for the Macedonian children and wanted to “save” them and not “ethnically cleanse” them from its territory. Greece would be working against its very own policies if it tried to “help” people who openly claimed that they were not Greek! Therefore it is more believable that Greece cared less about “saving” the children and more about “exiling them” from its territory! How can I say that with such certainty? Let us examine the facts!

How can Greece, an EU member, pass legislation that discriminates against people who presumably do not exist in Greece? On one hand, Greece claims that there are no “minorities”, i.e. no non-Greeks, living inside Greece and on the other hand enacts racist laws such as the repatriation law where only Greeks by birth can return to Greece.

On the basis of a decision made by the Ministry of the Interior 106.841/5-1-83 only “Greeks by genus” are allowed to be repatriated into Greece.

This law was enacted and signed on December 29, 1982 by Giorgos Genimatas, Minister of Internal Affairs, and Gianis Skularikis, Minister of Public Order.

Given that Greece claims it has no minorities living in Greece and everyone in Greece is Greek, then by passing this law Greece has created conditions to discriminate practically against anyone. Clearly this law was enacted to keep the Macedonian children out of Greece; the very same children Greece was pretending it wanted to save. Obviously this law was not enacted to prevent the Greek communists from returning because they eventually did return and were integrated into Greek society and their properties were given back. This law was directed against all the Macedonians who participated in the Greek Civil War, including all the children who were exiled by the communists, who felt Macedonian and who had their names changed back to their original Macedonian names. Clearly a person with a Macedonian name cannot possible have been born in Greece because the Greek state and the Greek Church make sure that that does not happen inside Greece!

Were the Greek communists in on this? Obviously they were because it is well known and well demonstrated that regardless of who is in power in Greece, be it the extreme left or extreme right or everything in between, Greece has one policy towards the Macedonians; to wipe them off the face of the earth!

By use of this law, Greece has answered our question and confirmed that the “PEDOMAZOMA” (Save the children program) was part and parcel of a planned eviction of Macedonians from their homeland perpetrated by Greek authorities since Greece acquired Macedonian territories in 1913. This latest act is only part of Greece’s strategic long term plan to de-Macedonia-nize Macedonia!

Creation of UNSCOB and its role in researching the “Pedomazoma” problem

This “Greek issue” arrived at the United Nations Security Council for the third time over the course of 1946. The first two sessions, which were met with sharp complaints from the Soviet Union and the Ukraine, logically ended without any results. (50)

The third debate was held on December 3, 1946 after the issue was addressed by the Greek government. After extensive consultations with the United States, it was decided to ask the Council General Secretary to put the issue on the UN agenda as soon as possible. The issue was Greece’s dispute with neighbouring countries. (Report UNSCOB A/574-1948, s. 1. According to the Commission report this issue was added to the agenda of the 174th Security Council meeting).

On December 19, 1946 the Security Council proposed creating a research committee (51) to research the issue and generate a report by May 23, 1947 at the latest. But when the names of the research team were chosen, it was obvious that the majority would support the Greek government side. Representatives of the Soviet Union (52) and of Poland (53) objected to this but since they were in the minority, their objections were taken to the Security Council where the Soviet Union vetoed the plan.

The issue was then taken to the General Assembly, where the Soviet Union could not veto it. A General Assembly vote was taken on October 21, 1947 (with 40 votes for, 6 votes against and 11 abstentions) and it was decided to establish The United Nations Special Committee on the Balkans (UNSCOB).

The UNSCOB team consisted of representatives from Australia, Brazil, China, France, Mexico, Netherlands, Pakistan, England and the United States. It was decided to leave out the amendments made by the representatives from the Soviet Union and Poland, which resulted in those two abstaining from joining the team.

UNSCOB’s mandate was to investigate all Greek government complaints. Included among these complaints were allegations that the Partisans in Greece were receiving aid from Albania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia.

These countries refused to cooperate and would not allow the UNSCOB observers to enter their territory. On December 1, 1947 UNSCOB established its central offices in Solun. (Report is UNSCOB A/575 -1948 s. 1-3) It was decided to create around 6 groups, each consisting of four observers and one auxiliary person. They assigned themselves to six zones in Northern Greece and at the end of February 1948, groups 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 found themselves in these zones. (Report UNSCOB A/574-1948 s. 3)

Group 4, in its June 1948 report entitled “Movements and retention of Greek children” mentioned the following specific events:

1. A census of the children was taken in certain Partisan controlled regions of Northern Greece. There is evidence that this census was started a long time ago.

2. The greatest number of children taken from Northern Greece were sent to Yugoslavia.

3. Some parents did give consent, even after they had their children enrolled but many children were also forcibly taken with great opposition from their parents...

Regarding the various regions, it was discovered that the census of the children was taken in two main areas which were under the control of the Communists:

a) In the “Slavophone” regions of western Macedonia the census was taken in areas around Lake Prespa and in the Lerin and Kostur villages where the people are Greek citizens but speak a Slavic language. (Report UNSCOB A/574 -1948 s. 29-section 2)

... One witness from Kostur Region said: “Many children from his village found sanctuary in Kostur in order to avoid being taken by the Partisans. According to this person’s opinion, only 10% of the parents agreed to give up their children voluntarily. But UNSCOB discovered actual evidence that many children, especially from the Slavic regions of western Macedonia, were taken with the consent of their parents.

Another witness from Prespa Region said that “many parents were grateful to see their children go to Yugoslavia”.

In all the statements given there seemed to be great differences in figuring out whether or not the children were freely given between the Slavophone villages and Greek villages.

In Greek villages, it took a lot more convincing and the collection resembled a mobilization. There were also cases where the children were taken without asking their parents.

It was determined that the children of Partisans, and those of the people who supported the Partisans, were sent to the North-Eastern countries. (See: Report UNSCOB A/574-1948 s. 31)

American reactions to Greek government appeals to implement “Pedomazoma”.

The Greek government used strong and emphatic words to criticize the child collection program implemented by the CPG and DAG. Tsaldaris, Minister of Foreign Affairs, pointed out that what took place on March 27, 1948, when Greek children were taken from their homes, was not something simple but “an offense against human rights and a breach of agreements that constitute crimes against humanity”.

The government called this a National tragedy in its simplicity. (Report UNSCOB A/574 (1948 p. 18)

Of course, the government in Athens was confident and expected that the Americans would join in with the same intensity and ferocity in expressing themselves. Many prominent Americans in authority, however, including George Marshall, Minister of Foreign Affairs, did not believe that such strong propaganda and accusations were necessary.

The only thing this ferocious propaganda did was exert pressure on the United Nations to consider the “Pedomazoma” as a violent communist act.

In the beginning, some Americans in Athens thought that this issue could be of great benefit in terms of generating anti-communist propaganda. On March 10, 1948 Carl Rankin, from the U.S. Embassy, wrote a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in which he said: “The embassy believes that the Greek children taken by General Markos... is a psychological blunder, which can be used in a propaganda campaign to put pressure on the United States and make this issue known worldwide.” On March 3, 1948 Rankin thought that “the problem could be reversed by use of anti-communist propaganda”, but some Americans began to wonder whether the United States would benefit from such propaganda and how it would be interpreted by the communist side.

AMAG leaders Dwight Gliswold, in a telegram sent to Washington, dated March 23, 1948, said that the recent news about the Communists taking children “proved to be unusual and deliberate psychological warfare against the government of Athens.” (Lawrence Witner, -162 )

Gliswold believed that the Queen too “opposed this excessive communist means” but knew very well that children, in the thousands, were also taken by the government from the Partisan districts. This, he had no doubt, would cast a shadow on the Greek government for its doing.

The United States General Consul in Solun, in regards to the children being displaced by the Partisans, thought that “it was a result of saving the innocent from the war” and that their aim was to show the world that the Greek army was incapable of guaranteeing safety to the people.

On April 24, 1948 George Marshall, during an announcement he made in Washington regarding the suspected problems and the Greek government’s complaints, said that even though several young children were “illegally taken by force from their families, the majority of the children were taken from Partisan held territories with permission because taking care of them presented a problem, especially for the Slavic minority whose children belonged to communist parents”.

Later, when the Greek Embassy in Washington requested U.S. assistance to support the United Nations during its next General Assembly sitting, the U.S. foreign ministry gave its answer. It said that it believed the reason for taking the children outside of the country was to convert them into armed fighters and use them against the Greek state.

On August 14, 1948 the U.S. Mission in Greece familiarized itself with the issue in more detail. This was expressed in a telegram by Marshall who wrote that there were many allegations made by witnesses which could not be verified, who were claiming that children were taken by force and then armed.

It does not matter what Marshal thought. It does not matter what the condemnations and protests were from the United Nations General Assembly, the Greek Partisans and only the Greek partisans were responsible for the collection and eviction of the Macedonian children from Greek occupied Macedonia!

For a more detailed report regarding the “pedomazoma”, written by an American historian, see: Howard Jones, “The Diplomacy of Restraint: The United States’ Efforts to Repatriate Greek Children Evacuated during the Civil War of 1946-1949”, Journal of Modern Greek Studies.

Howard Jones confirmed that there were two basic assumptions made regarding the particular stance taken by the U.S. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and personally by Marshall: First, Marshal “swore that the Greek government showed concern for the exiled children” and that for this issue “there was no other way out except to request the return of only those children who were taken by force and that this ethical and moral act was to be done in the name of humanity”.

The other assumption, according to Jones, was for “Washington to attempt to avoid strained relations with Yugoslavia, which, according to the Greek government, was the main culprit in all this”.

It is most certain that the gap between Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union widened because the U.S. was doing its best to maintain good relations with Yugoslavia and Marshall’s solution for the “pedomazoma” was placed on the back burner. Unfortunately this is only speculation because there is no U.S. evidence to prove it.

Whatever the motive, the Americans had practical results. The actions of the United States, conceptually, generated desired results. According to Jones: “Marshal’s Diplomatic experience worked during multiple impasses from which no one could have gained anything and left American and Yugoslav questions open which allowed the U.S. government to concentrate on Western Europe, very important for American security”. See: Studies in the History of the Greek Civil War, 1945-1949, edited by L. Baerentzen, J. O. Smith, “Museum Tusculanum Press”, Copenhagen, 1987. In November 1948, during the third United Nations General Assembly, it was decided to treat the issue of Greek children separate from all other Greek issues.

After long Parliamentarian discussions regarding the problem in Greece and regarding claims made by the First Political and Security Committee, before the four powers: China, France, Great Britain and the U.S., a plan was proposed to resolve the alleged external assistance, which the Greek Partisans were receiving from neighbouring countries.

After this, the representative from Greece proposed adding a request to the resolution to return all Greek children taken (without separating the Macedonian children).

The Belgian representative and President of the Commission said that this request will have to be changed (modified and supplemented) to say: “… to be returned by request of the parents…”

After a long debate, on November 9, 1948, the Belgian representative and President of the Commission announced that, any effort to be made to reach an agreement on the question of repatriating the Greek children, and how to approach this issue from a purely humanitarian point of view, will have to be undertaken at a separate session, and outside of the scope of the four forces (China, France, Great Britain and the U.S.).

After many long discussions, the president was asked to set up a plan to resolve the situation during the next session. The request was accepted.

On November 11, 1948 the First Committee (in modified form) made their pitch with the Belgian proposal which began with the following paragraph: “The General Assembly has recommended (approved) the return of Greek children to Greece who are now located far away from their homes, under the approval of their father or mother-parents, but if they are absent, the same can be done by people who are close relatives or by those show desire and care for these children.”

The Yugoslav representative made note of the words “... if parents are absent, then ‘they’, who care for the children…” and wanted to know who ‘they’ would be and who determines what kind of people ‘they’ are. And will ‘they’ have the same intentions for their children as their parents or will ‘they’ have ‘different’ intentions?

This impasse was finally resolved by the Australian proposal which the General Assembly approved by making the following statement: “We recommend (approve) the return of all Greek children (not distinguishing Macedonians from Greeks) to Greece, now located far away from their homes. These children will be returned by approval of their father and mother, but if they are absent, the same can be done by a living relative if such a person shows desire for it.”

The resolution was approved in its current form with 45 votes for and none against. This article was “distributed” and was insisted upon that all States undertake necessary measures to achieve the objectives of the resolution and “gives directions” to the Secretary-General to ask all States concerned to inform those responsible for this resolution and to also seek assistance from the International Red Cross. (Yearbook of the United Nations, 1948-1949, p. 239-244)

The plan was put in place before the voting procedure and on the General Assembly agenda for November 26 and 27, 1948. The item was unanimously accepted as: << (Resolution 193 (III) C >>. While the Soviet Union and its supporters, we were told, were against this decision, even after being presented with UNSCOB’s findings (United Nations General Assembly, Official Records, Plenary Meetings). Third Section, place 1, 1948 p. 661662)

The Greek Red Cross announced the news of the resolution immediately after the United Nations passed it and began its work for the receipt of applications for the repatriation of children. But in time, the issue of Greek (meaning generally taken kids, but here we need to say that up to this point it was assumed that the Macedonian or Slavophone children were given willingly) children who were taken forcibly and evicted became mainly the responsibility of the Red Cross.

On January 11, 1949 Trygve Lie, the United Nations Secretary General, officially requested from the International Committee of the Red Cross and Organizations and subsidiaries of the Red Cross in Geneva (in continuation of the Red Cross) “to establish necessary links directly with the Greek government and with the Greek Red Cross and principally with governments and Organizations of the other countries, i.e. in which Greek children existed and to examine the possibility of delivering on the unanimously approved resolution approved by the United Nations General Assembly on November 28, 1948 and recommend that it be implemented by those states and governments (and not to distinguish the children of the Greeks and Macedonians) for the repatriation of all children in Greece”. (54) The first step the Red Cross took was to send a mission to Greece. Mr. R. W. Roth (representing the International Committee) and Mr. Gaile Galub (representing the Red Cross Organization) remained in Greece from February 10 to March 11, 1949 in order to study the repatriation problem.

During their visit, the Greek Red Cross received 3, 445 repatriation requests from people who wanted their children returned. The Delegates had several meetings with the Greek government, with UNSCOB and were also received by the King and Queen of Greece.

“… The Delegates studied the conditions the children would have to undergo in order to be repatriated and the readiness and preparedness of the Greek state to receive them.”

The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave a formal written guarantee that it would not take any measures against children who were of other religions, who had parents of other ideological affiliations, or for any kind of other reason.

* * *

It was also stated that, as of April 1949, the Greek children who had gone through Yugoslavia to other Eastern European countries numbered 13, 500. (Red Cross, first detailed report, page 19). The report also contained information regarding the places where the children were sent in those other countries.

From April 1948 to March 1949:

Czechoslovakia ............. 3,550 Hungary ........................ 3,050 Romania ........................ 6,400 Poland .............................. 500

Total: 13, 500 children.

(See book: ΜΕΛΕΤΕΣ ΓΙΑ ΤΟΝ ΕΜΦΥΛΙΟ ΠΟΛΕΜΟ 1945−1949, p.153−158).

Macedonian concerns

(In our communication with the top CPG and DAG leadership we did not even secure our own native language).

I truly made an effort in my research to find documents, it did not matter what kind, written in the Macedonian language, sent to any high partisan body of the CPG or DAG military headquarters. I wanted to see and prove that NOF did have clout and was a military and political factor in this conflict. Even a single document, or a paragraph, in the Macedonian language would have been a historic discovery for me, but unfortunately I found none, not a trace, as all correspondence or communication was conducted in the Greek language. I also looked for documents that dealt with the “save the children program” but there too none were to be found. Why?!! It would appear that for NOF and AFZH, in my opinion, the Macedonian language was not a politically strategic issue?

If one of the primary national attributes was language, then how could the organizations NOF and AFZH in 1946 have entered the “Brotherhood and Unity” partnership without it? What kind of partnership was this? What kind of “brotherly” partnership would negate your mother tongue? What kind of “brotherly” partner would accept their mother tongue to be negated? Why did we accept such conditions from the CPM/CPY and from the CPG? And most importantly, why does our historiography say that all the “brotherhood and unity” conditions were agreed upon between NOF and the CPG? Why did we make such concessions to the communists?

If NOF and AFZH were a political and military factor in this war, why then after this “Unity” debacle did the CPG intelligence network put each and every one of them (former ELAS members who fled Greece to Yugoslavia and were labeled traitors by the CPG) through the finest ideological sieve? Was this done to determine their guilt for past sins and to find a suitable punishment for them? And what did they do to avoid the wrath of the CPG? They became flatterers of the CPG leadership in hopes that their guilt of past ELAS sins be forgotten; at least that is what I think!

Well, after this act we easily accepted “Greek assimilation” forgetting that we have a language and a culture of our own, and followed the then famous Communist thesis and did everything: “In the interest of the Party, the Greek state and the majority of the people (who were Greek)”.

Meaning, we silently and without any resistance, included ourselves in the “Hellenization process” and allowed ourselves to be abused by the Greek authorities.

To be honest we also need to say that, in “Free Greece” (Kostur Region, part of Lerin Region and Gramos), the people could speak Macedonian as much they wished but there was no one in the villages, all the people were mobilized into the ranks of DAG. Now, if those same people who could speak Macedonian in their villages were deployed further south into Greece, they were prohibited from speaking Macedonian and from using their Macedonian names! What does that tell you? On top of that the Macedonian fighters were told that “if you speak Macedonian and use your Macedonian names here the people will think that you are Bulgarians or Yugoslavians!” So, my question is: “Why couldn’t the CPG make the least bit of effort to explain to ‘the people’ that these fighters were here fighting for you and for the benefit of Greece and that they were Macedonians”? Here is another puzzling question: “Why were all Macedonians recruited into DAG, some under violent mobilization conditions (1947-1949), recorded by their Greek names and surnames and not by their Macedonian names. Why did NOF and AFZH not register these people under their Macedonian names?

Most likely, all these issues were left to be settled after DAG won the war. No doubt many other vital issues of interest to the Macedonians, who died in the name of the CPG, we also left to be sorted out later.

Now let us get back to the problem with the taken children. In my research I could not find who officially authorized this sinister plan and under whose account were the children taken (outside of NOF and AFZH who were involved in organizing the collection). But, as far as they were concerned, they were bound solely to carry out CPG orders. The CPG, on the other hand, lavished enormous power and was capable of subordinating NOF and AFZH to a point of giving up their people’s children.

If this, аs Dr. Kiriazovski claims, is historically true then it becomes very apparent that we the Macedonians were responsible for the migration processes, but it remains to be investigated under what ideological obligations did NOF and AFZH bend to the will of the CPG and sell out (perhaps unwittingly) their own people. Here is what Kiriazovski said: “... To successfully carry out this function, the organs of the people’s authorities had to be engaged. This included the national militia, political organizations and other authoritative institutions. Of course NOF and AFZH played a special role and used their full potential by mobilizing their entire staff…

NOF and AFZH contributed to the success of the child evacuation program mainly in the areas of the Aegean part of Macedonia where the fighting was the fiercest and bloodiest, and thus taking the children abroad from these areas was much easier, also because these areas were under DAG’s control. But most important, the parents of these children were mostly Macedonians and the vast majority were on DAG’s side and were easily convinced and agreed to have their children evacuated…” (See: Kiriazovski 1989/36-37).

From what was said and done (wittingly or unwittingly) this is how the elite of NOF and AFZH operated propagating their common illusions, thinking that they had the strength to hold onto power and in time, in their lifetime, things would change for the better and thus held the Macedonian people’s fate in their hands. These “elite” must have been confident in their abilities and must have trusted their CPG Greek leaders without second guessing them and continued to function to the end without even second guessing themselves. Since I have no proof to think differently, I must assume that they were very focused in their task. Then, when ordinary peasants began to question their actions, even their motives, they were greeted with the words: “You are not one of us!” So, my interpretation of all this is that “if you don’t do what we tell you, then you are not working with us and therefore you are working against us”. And this, my friends, is how we managed to not only lead our people to oblivion but to also fill their souls with bitter feelings, feeling betrayed and all this “perfection” that they fought and bled for became their destiny and life without meaning. Blind faith did not only deliver us to hell, it created a wide unbridgeable divide in our trust of one another!

The sad part about such thinking and blind trust is that it turned us into wanderers, endlessly wandering the world. We marched ourselves out of our homes, out of the Balkans and more that six decades later, one by one, we are dying off without the slightest hope of ever returning to our place of birth.

With the loyalty and obedience we had for our Greek partners and leaders we, the Macedonians from Greek occupied Macedonia, became a nation of ideological soldiers. The moment we partnered with the Greeks, the moment we accepted the “brotherhood and unity” deal, our Macedonian patriotism, our sense of love and loyalty for our homeland was stripped away from us. How can I say this with certainty? In retrospect, knowing the outcome of all this, all I have to do is examine who was in charge when all this took place. Examine who the top leaders were when these fateful decisions about us Macedonians were made. Were these decisions made by NOF? No! Because NOF and all other Macedonian organizations were subordinated to the CPG, whose motives for starting the Greek Civil War are still unclear. The fact that we partnered with the Greeks in this fateful “brotherhood and unity” deal, a deal negotiated by the CPM/CPY and the CPG in the absence of Macedonians, is enough evidence to show me that the Macedonians from Greek occupied Macedonia were never a “partner” with anyone. They were simply “used” to serve an unclear foreign designed ‘ideological function”!

But, what is more painful and tragic than being “used” is the fact that we kept silent, collectively, about this for more that half a century. How did this happen to us? How did we allow this to happen to us? How could we have allowed this to happen to us? How did we accept being turned into world wanderers without having the desire to find out who did this to us and why? Families were not only uprooted from their ancestral homes, they were broken up and separated and some still remain separated to this day. This in itself is a crime against humanity!

The world knows so little about the Macedonians from Greek occupied Macedonia and the tragedy they had to live through. What is even sadder about the largest part of this tragedy is that we the Macedonians know so little about our own experience… and that is the cruel reality…

Here is another sad fact to ponder! The Macedonian state and state institutions, as a representative of all the Macedonian people, did nothing for half a century, not even respond to the situation…

It is really hard to find the truth in this vortex of confrontation “historical justice and historical truth”. See: Archive of Macedonia (AM) collection: “Aegean Macedonia” in NOB 1945-1949, AE: Volume 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, all documents are translated from Greek.

With this I will finish NOF and AFZH’s historic testimony.

However it happened, it was a deliberate foreign strategy aided with slogans from NOF that riled up the Macedonian people into frenzy. They were told that they would be fighting for a free and independent Macedonia under Yugoslavia. A free and Independent Macedonia is exactly what the Macedonian people desired… Once riled up, they were told that this could be easily achieved through a communist agenda. They convinced NOF and AFZH of this and they in turn “emotionally charged” the people. But then the story began to change… conditions began to be added. First, the Macedonian people had to “give it their all”… and win this war… despite the fact that “no one” supported them and that the “entire western world” supported their opponents… Then they had to partner with the Greeks and still fight to win the war… But this time they would be fighting for their human rights and survival… And thus the Macedonian people remained loyal to their commitments and witnessed bombs falling on their houses and on their heads, destroying them and their properties which their families had possessed for generations. Death and despair filled the air as they clinched their teeth and fled breathing heavily, faces and bodies soaking in sweat... blood dripping from their wounds. They became desperate and that’s when they were asked to give up their children… to save them from the bombs… to save them from the horrors…

I also want to tell you, even though I spent a lot of my time researching this subject and personally lived through the war, I still find it difficult to believe what went on. And in spite of all this, I still don’t know who to believe. All I can tell you is that the Macedonians were “forced” into this war and as a result lost many lives and their homes. And this was confirmed by General Markos when he returned to Athens from the Soviet Union.

9.0 The sixth fateful year – CPG leadership loses the Greek Civil War - August 27, 1949

“Do not believe those who constantly speak about their fairness.” Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)

Important events - end of 1949

Deteriorating relations between the CPY and CPG impacted many sectors of cooperation between Yugoslavia and Greece. This created particular difficulties, such as impatience and intolerance, among the DAG fighters where Macedonians were present, which manifested on a daily basis. The change in relations between the CPY and CPG was also reflected in the CPG’s position towards the Macedonian who once again became the reason for the cold attitudes towards the Balkan states. On January 30-31, 1949 the 5th CPG Central Committee Plenum was held.

Here is what was written in the book: << ΕΦΥΛΙΟΣ ΠΟΛΕΜΟΣ - 60 ΧΡΟΝΙΑ ΑΠΟ ΤΗ ΛΗΞΗ ΤΟΥ >>:

“During the 5th Plenum held in January 1949, the CPG rejected its old position which called for ‘equality of minorities’ and adopted the position of ‘self-determination’ of the Slavo-Macedonian people, without having defined what that meant.” See: CPG episima Kimena, t. 6, p. 337.

And here is what was written in the book: <Η ΤΡΙ ΧΡΟΝΙ ΕΠΟΠΟΙΙΑ ΤΟΥ ∆ΙΜΟΚΡΑΤΙΚΥΟ ΣΤΡΑΤΥΟ ΕΛΛΑ∆ΑΣ 1946 - 1949, on the occasion of the CPG’s 80th year: During the fifth plenum, regarding the Macedonian Question, the following proclamation was made:

“The Slavo-Macedonian people in Northern Greece are giving it their all when it comes to fighting. They are fighting with enviable heroism and self-sacrifice which causes unprecedented excitement. There should be no doubt that after DAG achieves victory in the People’s Revolution, the Macedonian people will take (find) their place in this establishment, exactly the way the Macedonian people want it and deserve it and will achieve all this by their contributions and spilling of their blood. The Macedonian communists have always stood at the forefront of the People’s Struggle.” (55)

See: ∆ΗΜΗΤΡΗΣ ΒΛΑΝ∆ΑΣ-ΥΠΥΟΡΓΟΣ ΣΤΡΑΤΙΩΤΙΚΩΝ ΗΜΕΡΟΛΟΓΙΟ 1947 -1949.

In January 1949, during the CPG Central Committee 5th Plenum, the most recent Provisional Democratic Government composition was decided. News of the new composition was released to the Provisional Democratic Government’s newspapers on April 3, 1949. Included in the new government body, appointed by the CPG, was one Paskalis Mitsopoulos (Paskal Mitrevski), member of NOF (Liberation Front of the Slavo-Macedonians), appointed to Minister of......) and the Agrarian Party of Greece - AKE with its ministries.

Michos Partsalidis was appointed President and Head of the government and D. Vlandas was appointed Minister of Defense.

See: Provisional Government Journal, April 3, 1949. The same was published in CPG official texts, Athens, contemporary epoch, 1989, vol. 6. p. 347.

See also: ΑΜΥΝΤΑ ΚΟΣΜΑ, ΕΘΝΙΚΗ ΑΝΤΙΣΤΑΣΗ ΕΜΦΥΛΙΟΣ ΠΟΛΕΜΟΣ; αναµνεσεις ενος Καπετανιου, 240. (Aminta Kozma “national resistance - Civil War, memories of a captain. p. 240).

The CPG’s stand towards the Macedonian Question was completely changed during the 5th Plenum from “fighting for equality” to “fighting for self-determination”. Zahariadis, regarding his support in the change in position, in a brochure entitled “Ten years of struggle” on page 122, wrote: “And of course what (Partsalidis Michos) did not understand is that by making this change we were able to mobilize all the Slavo-Macedonian forces (fighters in DAG) to fight for us and destroy Tito’s intentions…”.

Zahariadis’s recognition, denials and disclaimers regarding a Balkan Federation

February 3, 1949. After the decision to “fight for self-determination” was made during the CPG Central Committee 5th Plenum, the slogan “independent and united Macedonian state within a Balkan federation” was coined. Because of that, on February 3, 1949, the 2nd NOF Central Council Congress was convened during which NOF’s new principles were proclaimed regarding the Macedonian people’s future in Greek occupied Macedonia.

In my long and hard search in Macedonia’s history I could find no reasonable answers for these manipulations perpetrated against our people by the Greek communists. So I must ask: “Was there no one among us Macedonians who was wise to what was happening?” Even an idiot or a

politically blind person should have been able to understand that we were being manipulated!

Here is what was said at NOF’s 2nd Congress regarding this “famous” resolution: