THE ACTIVITY OF THE FIRST MACEDONIAN PARTISAN UNIT OF LERIN DISTRICT - Part 01

THE ACTIVITY OF THE FIRST MACEDONIAN PARTISAN UNIT OF LERIN DISTRICT

Important Actions under Lefter Olevski

Right after the formation of the unit, they immediately started cleansing the territory of the many monarcho-fascist police units situated in the mountain villages in order to create liberated territory with normal living conditions and shelter for the partisan units.

During June, we attacked the village of Lagen, where there was a police station, and with the help of the local population, we managed to disarm them and chase them off to Lerin.

At the beginning of July, we attacked the police station in the village of Bapchor, where we disarmed the police and chased them from the village.

After disarming the police in these villages on the slopes of Vicho Mountain, the first free territory in Aegean Macedonia was created.

The monarcho-fascists organized an offensive against Vicho in order to exterminate partisan units. However, they came across strong resistance, and the government sustained heavy casualties, including one army major. They retreated to Lerin in a panic.

In September, during the battles in the village of Negovan, Lerin District, Vangel Ziko was killed. He was born in Negovan but was

married and lived in Banitsa. He was a house painter and devoted his entire life to the struggle for the ideals of the working class.

In September 1946, the unit attacked the village of Vrtalom, Lerin District, which was populated by Greek settlers from Asia Minor. The populace had been armed by the monarcho-fascists, but was defeated, and large quantities of weapons and equipment were taken. In this battle, Kostas Kidrikidis-Avgerinos of the village of Pashoshnitsa was killed.

In the same month, we attacked the village of Nevoleni, Lerin District, and after the win, we took the weapons and equipment that had been supplied to the villagers by the government. The commander Hristos Apostolidis-Keravnos of the village of Kleshtina was killed here.

During the autumn of 1946, the First Macedonian Partisan Unit of Lerin District conducted an ambush on Bigla Mountain west of Lerin on the Lerin-Korcha highway, and attacked a government army formation that was moving from Lerin to Kostur. There were casualties on both sides, but the enemy incurred heavy losses of transport vehicles and military equipment.

In this battle, Lazo Gjorgi Rapov was killed. Born in Banitsa, he was a brave and disciplined warrior, a machine gunner with a great will to fight for the freedom of his people.

A Rift Between NOF and CPG and Renewal of Agreement

In September, Lefter Olevski recounts, a rift occurred between the Macedonian and Greek military units, so two groups of partisan units were formed which operated separately and without cooperation in the struggle against the monarcho-fascists.

In November 1946, a new agreement was reached between the Greek and Macedonian cadres, that is, between the leadership of NOF

and the CPG, for the formation of a joint military headquarters on Vicho Mountain with the following leaders: Pando Shiperkov, commander, and Kuzmas Spanos-Amintas, commissar. Other members of the staff were Lefter Olevski, Gjorgi Kalkov, Vangel Mangov and Mihali Graniti.

The partisan units were reorganized and the following partisan detachments were formed:

• to operate on the mountains of Kajmakchalan, Vicho, Bigla and Prespa, a detachment under the command of Lefter Olevski;

• to operate in Koreshija and Dailo, a detachment under the command of Gjorgi Kalkov of the village of Vishina;

• to operate in Malimadi, a detachment under the command of Vangel Mangov-Vangelis of the village of Zhupanishta;

• to operate in Sinachko, a detachment under the command of Karabera Jani from Blatsi.

Thedetachmentsoperatedwiththisstructureupuntiltheformation of the larger military units and the creation of DAG in the summer of 1947, when these units were re-organized into brigades:

• the Vicho unit expanded to become the 18th Brigade;

• the Malimadi unit expanded to become the 14th Brigade;

• the Sinachko and Gramos unit expanded to become the 197th Brigade.

People from Banitsa Return from Yugoslavia and Join the Partisans

During 1946, the following Banitsa villagers returned from Yugoslavia and joined the partisan units: Vangel Zabrtski, Gligor Kjosev, Tane Jovchev, Metodi Apchev, Metodi Gaskov (Mangov), Blazhe Nedelkov, Trifo Malinov, Lazo Rapov, Ziko Mangov, Metodi Vasev, Risto Vasev, Lazo Katronov, Slave Kurtov, Ilo Vasev, Kitse

Vasev, Boris Dimanin, Natse Risto Malinov, Pavle Dajkov, Stojan Katronov, Kitse Apchev, Metodi Katronov, and Natse Rapov.

I recall that all the above-mentioned people were part of the Yugoslav People’s Army after the disbandment of the First Aegean Assault Brigade and voluntarily returned to continue the struggle in their homeland.

Likewise, a lot of people returned from Bulkes, Yugoslavia and joined the partisans: Vangel Kujchev, Sofika Dzugomanova (Petkova), Kire Dzugomanov, Dine Robev, Kitse Kochev, Mitse Nedelkov, Fana Dine Robeva, Lazo Popdimitrov, Stojche Genev, Trende Malinov, Mitse Laev, Dika Malinova and Natse Janchev.

In the course of 1946, the following people from Banitsa joined the partisan units: Boris Olev, Andra Oleva, Gjorgi Malinov, Kalipsa Malinova, Goche Nichov, Pando Tanev, Dimo Tanev, Gjorgi Dzugomanov, Vasil Dzugomanov, Dine Janin, Blazhe Pendzov, Petse Malinov, Stojan Robev, Dine Dimanin, Blazhe Ilo Nedelkov, Blazhe Katronov, Ilo Genev, Fana Shishareva, Goche Nichov, Blazhe Ricalov, Mihail Toshev, Stojan Toshev, Tase Veljanov, Trajko Veljanov, Todor Risto Malinov, Ilo Gjonde, Mitse Mangov, Dine Genev, Kocho Jovchev, Leta Vaseva, Kitse Apchev, Harishi Pandev, Kitse Koprin, Kitse Janchev, Kire Gaskov, Slave Nedelkov, Pando Nedelkov, Gele Apchev, BogleBabulov, Boris Nedelkov, DineMinchev, TaneGjergev, Pando Dzugomanov and others. By the end of 1946, around 200 people from Banitsa had joined the partisan units and were fighting against the monarcho-fascists and international imperialism doing various military and political tasks.

During this period, all the other combatants who were in the First Aegean Brigade of the Yugoslav People’s Army returned and joined the partisan units of Aegean Macedonia and the rest Greece.

Dine Robev, The First Fighter Killed

InDecember 1946, apartisangroupunder theleadershipof thefirst organizer of the movement in Banitsa and more widely in Lerin District, member and instructor of the district commissary of the Communist party for Lerin, Dine Robev, participated in an action to disarm the armedvillagers and collaborators of the monarcho-fascists inthevillage of P’p’zhani, Lerin District. Informed by agents on the ground that on the critical evening everyone would be in a meeting at the school building around 7 p.m., Robev and his group approached and blockaded the school building and, unnoticed, caught and disarmed the guards. He and three otherpartisanswentthrough the frontdoorwith machine-guns in their hands; everyone surrendered except one in the back row, who fatally hit Dine Robev. The next day the monarcho-fascists took Dine Robev’s body, tied it by the legs to a truck, and dragged it all the way fromP’p’zhanito Lerin,in orderto intimidate the revolutionary-minded populace. Such a crime had the opposite effect on the people, for the atrocities and humiliations of the monarcho-fascists were well known to them. Actions like this one drew people closer together and spurred them to greater mobilization for self-protection and for the fight for human dignity and national freedom.55

The loss of this champion of the people resonated painfully in Banitsa and the Lerin region because he was well known to everyone.

In a fight between the partisan and the monarcho-fascist units in the village of Kotori, Lerin District, also in December 1946, the fighter and machine gunner Gjorgi Stefo Abov of Banitsa was killed. From an early age, he’d had to cope with life himself, being from large and destitute family.He wasforced toherd otherpeople’s sheepandtowork barely-paid menial jobs in the village just for a crust of bread. When he was a little older, he got a job in the coal mine as a pit worker and did the most difficult physical work. After the occupation, he joined the youth movement and became a member of OKNE in 1941, a member

55Vangel Ziskov, another partisan was also killed around the same time. His body was then dragged to the village centre. His daughter was informed of this by the police while she was dancing at a wedding the same day.

of the Party in 1942 and at the end of 1943, he voluntarily joined the ranks of Banitsa’s partisan detachment under the command of Lefter Olevski. He travelled a long journey through the maelstrom of the revolution, taking part in all of the battles led by his unit—battles for the liberation of Bitola, Resen, Ohrid, and Struga. After the brigade disbanded in the beginning of May 1945, he voluntarily joined Lefter Olevskiand Risto Kolentse’s detachment, returnedtohis hometownand continued the struggle for freedom. During all this time, he was a machine gunner, a great marksman and a master in handling this heavy and dangerous weapon. He rarely shot but never missed. He was disciplined and had a high degree of military and political consciousness, a member of the Party who self-sacrificingly carried out all his assigned tasks.

Large Participation in NOF but Return of Terrorism

Despite the occasional clashes between the leaderships of the CPG and NOF leaderships and fairly serious shortcomings and weaknesses, after the agreement between the two leaderships for a more decisive armed struggle, the uprising in the Aegean part of Macedonia was gaining momentum.By the spring of1947,whole regionsofthe Aegean had been liberated, including Prespa with the mountains of Vicho and Gramos. The mountain massifs of Kajmakchalan and Pajak were also free territory under the control of the partisan units. The Karakamen (Vermion) mountain region was also liberated. There were also freed territories created in the eastern part of Aegean Macedonia. The armed uprising was successfully spreading south into all of Greece.

The people of Banitsa en masse joined the ranks of NOF, while in the DAG partisan units, there were over 400 Banitsa combatants and leaders behind the scenes. Because of its mass participation in the resistance, the population of Banitsa was increasingly attacked by government military personnel. The monarcho-fascists made attempts at general mobilization to fill their regular army units, but there was not a great response. The days of enthusiastic enlisting, such as in 1946 when the CPG advised all those called up to join the ranks of

government units and at then to cross with all their weapons into the ranks of DAG partisan units, was in the past.

The position of the Central Committee of the CPG was now clearly and decisively in favour of an armed struggle against monarcho-fascistic and international imperialism to final victory. The people were entering the ranks of the DAG’s partisan units.

All of Greece was involved in the civil war at this time. Everywhere, the government’s forces were suffering losses and failures from the attacks from the DAG partisan units, which were now well organized and well equipped.

In the spring of 1947, government soldiers and police stationed in Banitsa, Sorovich and Lerin began a campaign to cleanse the area of Banitsa and further afield. They were not successful. They had been well-informed that large partisan detachments under the command of Vangel Kujchev and Lefter Olevski were stationed in the Radosh Mountain area. Their members were mostly from Banitsa. However, the detachments’ leaders were tipped off in time by the intelligence service in Banitsa and they managed to escape the encirclement.

The government units based in Banitsa, returning from this action feeling humbled and insulted by the failure, caught some shepherds herding their flock of sheep at the site called Long Furrows (Dolgi Ornitsi) at the Petkov sheep pens. They beat up Stefo Dzugomanov, Gjorgi Nedelkov, and Bogle Boglev and demanded that they admit that they were accomplices of the partisans. On the night of 19 July 1947, there was a house-to-house search conducted with extreme brutality and disrespect towards the population. They wanted to demonstrate their power and intimidate everyone, especially those with family members who were partisans in DAG. Thirty people were arrested, including Lambo Dajkov, Krishe Janchev, Krishe Gajrev, Tole Kochev, Kitse Rudnichki, Blazhe Krapin, Pavle Dzugomanov, Pavle Malinov, Nune Vasev, Janko Malinov, Pando Dzugomanov, Kocho Mangov, Makile Mangov, Lambo Kalpakov, Stojan Rapov, Filip Nedelkov, Gjorgi Nedelkov, Bogle Boglev, Nune Tanev, Petse Olev, Lide Ziskov, Jane

Ziskov, Metodi Katronov, Dore Mitse Janin, Natse Rapov and others. All those arrested, except Dore Janin who was detained in the police station, were loaded onto trucks and taken to the prison in Lerin. The Lerin military court accused them of treasonous activities in the service of a foreign power (Yugoslavia). All were sentenced to long prison terms and shipped off to the concentration camp on Makronisos.

At the police station in Banitsa, Dore Janin, the celebrated former commander in the national militia in Prespa from 1944 to 1945, was subjected to severe and brutal torture and interrogation by various methods that caused the death of this fearless warrior and legendary commander. To cover up this barbarous murder, on the night of 19 June 1947, his body was taken north of the village near the cemetery and dumped into a ditch along the local road. The police declared that the prisoner had escaped, and because he refused to surrender when finally caught outside the village, he was killed. However, his dead body was in such a condition that it was obvious to everyone that the crime had been committed at the police station.

In July 1947, others were arrested: Mitse Dzugomanov, president of the local communist youth wing; Gele Krishe Kochev, Kocho Rapov, both members of the same group; villagers Blazhe Dajkov, Stefo Dajkov, Petse Alushev, Gjorgi Tanev, Kole Malinov, Jane Janchev, Makile Olev, Natse Malinov and Kata Hrisafova, a young girl. They were all sent, without trial, to the infamous concentration camp on Makronisos.56

Special War Measures by the Athens Government

The Greek monarcho-fascist government, unable to deal with the armed partisan units of DAG, undertook special measures for warfare taught by the U.S. intelligence service, the CIA. These were specific American strategies also used later in Vietnam. The Minister for

56Vangel Ziskov’s wife was a neighbour of May Mallinos. A policeman overheard her inviting a neighbour over for coffee by saying “I am making coffee” in Macedonian (“Varam kafe”). She was fined 100 drachmas, which was a very stiff penalty.

Internal Affairs of thegovernment inAthens, Colonel NapoleonZervas, undertook the following measures: to forcibly evacuate the villages in the troublesome area in order to deprive DAG of reserves and an influx of new fighters; to cut off DAG from food resources in the field, since the villages were the main suppliers of DAG’s units; and to cut communications links and break partisan codes.

Tragedy in Banitsa

Banitsa was also hit by these special measures. In the early morning of 8 July 1947, the village was blockaded, and a house-to-house search begun in order to clear out and expel partisan families. In the most brutal manner, the government soldiers stormed the houses, breaking everything in their way and chasing out the naked and thirsty owners, even mothers with new-born babies. They were taken to an improvised camp in the middle of the village, in the churchyard of St. Dimitrija.

The government soldiers took everything that was valuable— books, magazines and ownership documents, and burned them in the middle of a yard so that proof-of-ownership documents would no longer exist.

The village informants, among whom were the brothers Stamati and Mihali, Greeks married to women from Banitsa, pointed out the partisan families. Kole Kolerov and Mitse Katin were also traitors who always collaborated with the monarcho-fascists because of a son killed by the partisans.

This action was led by the infamous Captain Deligianis, commander of the army unit stationed in Banitsa. There were around forty-three families with 165 members taken to the makeshift camp. They separated the boys over 12 years old from their mothers by force, loadedthemintrucks andsent themtothe concentration camp Aja Strati to brainwash them and set them free 3 months later. They chased the rest away towards the mountains while shooting over their heads. When

they wanted to return home, they were not permitted by the monarcho-fascists. They were forced all the way to the Yugoslav border, constantly exposed to attacks and the roar of enemy explosions. They crossed the border and were met by their compatriots in the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, far from home, but safe.

Among the families driven out of the village was the family of Atanas Katinovski-Goche, member of the regional committee and instructor for EPON in western Macedonia, who had joined the ranks of the YNA. His mother, sister, and sister-in-law had legal documents to travel to Canada, where his father Lazar had been living since 1928, but the permits meant nothing to the monarcho-fascists. At rifle point, the family was forced back among the villagers. They sought shelter on the slopes of the local mountain and the same night left for Lerin, staying with friends, and several days later managed to get visas and travel documents and left for Canada via Athens.

Operation “Terminus”

During this period, on Gramos Mountain where the headquarters of DAG was situated, the government forces, helped by Anglo-American military advisers and experts who directly participated, took extensive action to terminate the partisansin a campaign underthe name “Crow”. This action started on 22 June 1947, and was the third stage of “OperationTerminus”whichhadbegunon5April1947.Thefirststage, which had taken place in north Rumelia under the name “Eagle,” had failed. The second stage under the name “Hawk” began on 1 May and covered the region of Grevena and Western Macedonia, ending with the defeatofthe enemiesofDAG.In these battlesof“Operation Terminus,” around 400 people from Banitsa took part in DAG and a substantial number of them had leadership roles.

In campaign “Hawk”, the second stage of Operation Terminus, in the battle in Negovan village, Lerin District, Vangel Ziskov was killed. He had married into a Banitsa family and lived there, but was from Negovan. In the same operation in the battles near the village of

Nostimo, Gjorgi Kole Nichov, a messenger of DAG’s general staff was killed. Lazo Vasil Lakov also died. He was a unit commander in the battles of Flchato-Kosinets and was buried with military honours in village Lobanitsa, Kostur District.

Epirus Manoeuvre

The third stage of Operation Terminus, called “Crow” took place on Gramos Mountain. Blazhe Marko Pendzov and Kocho Vasil Janin of Banitsa were killed on 8 July 1947 during the battles for Sinachko in the DAG’s Epirus Manoeuvre.

General Markos commented on the Epirus Manoeuvre:

“After seven days fighting, things got even hotter. The position of the DAG units deteriorated as the enemy was constantly receiving fresh reinforcements. The partisans had to retreat. Day by day, the pressure was increasing, but our free territory was decreasing. Enemy aircraft destroyed settlements and unit positions on a daily basis and set forests on fire with phosphorus bombs. Our units were under threat of being surrounded. We at General Staff were facing a great challenge. On 8 July, I ordered a six-battalion manoeuvre towards Epirus. It was a forced march. Nonetheless, Greece will at some point be proud of its people such as these without considering the estimation of the fighting of my forces. They were fighters, heirs to the Ancient Greeks (even though most of them were Macedonians). The battalion that was commanded by Barbaljas was surrounded on Zmolikas, the second-highest mountain in Greece.”

The battalion managed to break through the barrier, and with an intensified march at night, crossed the river Sarantaporo in the Gramos region and later reunited with the other DAG units. The other five battalions could not break through the barrier, but their actions confused the enemy. Believing that it knew the direction of the partisans moving away from the barrier, the enemy sent a considerable number of soldiers in this direction, and became weaker on the other side of the barrier. The

partisan unitsimmediately seized the momentand attacked with alltheir might, inflicting considerable damage to the government forces.

It was the night of 12 July that changed the course of military operations. After dark, secretly, in two groups, the west Macedonian and the Epirus battalions broke through the barrier in the region of Konitsa and by morning found themselves behind the government forces in the Zagore. area. We called this operation the “Epirus Manoeuvre” and it gave the other units a chance to attack the enemy in the direction of Janina, the capital of Epirus. The endangered city panicked, and municipal authorities burned the city’s archives. Monarcho-fascist members’ families fled the city. The partisans were only twenty kilometres from the city.”

This turn of events started to worry the King, the advisors to general staff and the American and British authorities. They were desperate. In order to save the honour and reputation of their armies before the world and the general public, they sought justification for the failure. They started rumours that the partisans’ successes were aided by external forces from Yugoslavia and Albania, which had sent international brigades to Markos to help DAG.

These fabrications were intended to compromise the DAG units and Yugoslavia, and to protect the prestige of government forces abroad. On 16 July, General Madinakis admitted that there was no objective evidence to indicate the presence of international brigades.

The “Epirus Manoeuvre” was of great importance to the movement.”

Crime in the Concentration Camps

At the infamous Aja Strati concentration camp, Dore Vasil Malinov was killed in mysterious circumstances. He was an activist and veteran revolutionary, and an unrelenting warrior for the liberation of Macedonia. He had been arrested in 1946 along with ten other

Banicheni. The Ilinden veteran Filip Nedelkov, snatched on the night of 19 July 1947, was at the same camp. Nedelkov was markedly abused and tortured with special police methods to the brink of death, and not given any medical care even by the other prisoners, who had been banned from doing so. In 1951 he was sent home so he would not die in the prison and cause a scandal for the government.57

Special Measures for Banitsa

A curfew was implemented for Banitsa and the surroundings from 6 p.m.to 6 a.m.to preventany contactwith the partisans.Measureswere also taken to protect government vehicles on the roads: women and children were made to walk in front of government trucks as human shields against DAG attacks, and to ensure the road wouldn’t be planted with landmines. Hence the population became the enemy’s forced protection against the partisans’ sabotage.

Nevertheless, the partisans were successful in mining the Lerin-Kozhani highway near Banitsa in the fall of 1947. This took place at the site of the Velikin hut where they waited in ambush. In the early hours one day, a truck loaded with soldiers rode over a mine and was thrown in the air. A large number of soldiers were killed while those who survived or were wounded were met with a quick shot from the partisans, who then returned to their base.

Military units stationed in Banitsa arrived at the scene immediately. They were led by the notorious Captain Deligianis. Near the scene, two villagers working as roadside guards, Kitse Janchev and Gire Gaskov, were spotted. They were immediately shot in the head in retaliation for the dead men. The perpetrators of this crime went unpunished.

57Dore Vasil Malinov was a great-great uncle of C.Mallin. Filip Nedelkov’s grandson Paul Kirakou lives in Ontario, Canada.

Partisan units of DAG attacked the Banitsa military garrison many times during the course of 1947, but could not conquer it, as the enemy had built bunkers and other structures, well-barricaded and fortified. After each attack on the garrison, the infamous Captain Deligianis would attack the peaceful citizenry, which consisted only of women, children and frail old men, since the young and the fit were either in DAG or in the monarcho-facists’ concentration camps. He and his soldiers would conduct house-to-house searches, looting anything of value and leaving behind beaten-up householders accused of being DAG collaborators.

The Supreme Council of NOF Leads the Battle

During this time, partisan activity was massively dominated by the participation of Aegean Macedonians, and this included “Madzhiri”, emigrants from other areas into this region. (Ed. note: This included those exchanged populations from Asia Minor in the 1920’s). The Athensmonarcho-fascists, in cooperation with the imperialist powers of Britain and America, had with special measures of warfare envisioned and built a military strategy for the physical extermination of the Macedonian people, by settling other nationalities in among the Macedonians to change the ethnographic composition of the area.

In the course of the civil war, Macedonians in the ranks of DAG comprised abouthalfofthe effective partisan units.About6 to 7 percent of the Macedonian population was involved, while only 0.4 percent of the Greeks were in the partisan ranks.58 In the war’s critical period in the course of 1947, the Macedonian partisans sent their own wives, mothers, and children to take part in the construction of fortifications on Vicho and Gramos. This was under the most difficult working conditions in the time of the fiercest military operations and battles of Vicho and Gramos. According to the CPG’s General Secretary General Zahariadis, they made this region both a bastion of freedom and a tomb for thousands of monarcho-fascist government soldiers.

58Peev, Naum. “Macedonians in the Greek Civil War” INI, Skopje, 1968

The village of Banitsa, at the forefront of the movement’s activities and with the largest number of fighters in the ranks of DAG of any villageintheLerinregion, nowhadahighnumber of cadres intheranks of leadership. These included: Vangel Kujchev, commander in the Greek National Militia and a member of the general staff of DAG; Kitse Kochev, member of the general staff, also responsible for the rights of nationalities and minorities and president of the board of NOF; Todor Kochevski-Victor, president of NOMS for Aegean Macedonia; Micho Velikin, lieutenant colonel byrankandcommissar of thebrigade; Lefter Olevski, battalion commander; and Sofika Dzugomanova, member of the AFZ board of Lerin District. Dine Robev, Tone Lulov and Dimitar Kochevski were members and instructors of the regional committee of the CPG for Lerin District. There were many other political and military leaders who were organizers and activists in the national liberation movement in this period of the civil war.

Greek Democratic Decisions

On 10 August 1947, the general staff of DAG passed the first statutory acts for the organization of a people’s government, a people’s court, agrarian reform, and education.

On 17 August 1947, DAG’s radio station broadcast a proclamation of the supreme commander of the Democratic army, General Markos, who declared Greece to be a free and independent republic. The general staff was to take all necessary legal and executive measures, which it would submit for approval to the National Assembly once it was convened.

The General Staff made a decision that can be said to have been of great significance: It laid the foundation for the people’s government in the liberated territory. With this decision, the mistakes of the CPG’s Central Committee from 1941 to 1945 concerning ethnic minorities were corrected. Namely, in chapter 5 it stated: “Ethnic minorities have an equal political and civil right to nurture and develop their ethnic

culture,language,religion,education,etc.”Furthermore,sanctionswere laid out to punish any discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, religion, race or political persuasion.

Based on the above-mentioned decision, in November 1947, in the village of Gremen, Lerin District, the first Macedonian teacher-training course was begun. In the liberated territory area of Kajmakchalan and Vicho, within just a few months eighty-seven Macedonian schools were opened, with about 10,000 students attending. (More on this may be found in the book, ‘General Markos’ by Dragan Kljakikj, page 140).

At the DAG headquarters, there was an officers’ military school, and training courses for non-commissioned officers were organized towards the end of September 1947. The Macedonian Officers’ School trained several Macedonian cadres who were later appointed to various military and political duties.

The following soldiers from Banitsa finished officer training at DAG headquarters: Gele Metodi Apchev, receiving the rank of captain; Boris Natse Olev, receiving the rank of lieutenant; and Lazo Ilo Dafov receiving the rank of lieutenant.

In addition to the above-mentioned people who completed the DAG officers’school, therewas alargenumber of soldiers fromBanitsa who held senior military positions, of Banitsa who held senior military positions, who grew up during the revolution and the daily struggle for freedom, and went on to command platoons, troops, battalions and brigades as part of DAG.

During the Civil War those who completed officers’ school or held other leadership positions but lost their lives were: • Dine Tipe Robev—instructor and member of the CPG Regional Committee; • Gele Metodi Apchev—captain and squad commander; • Mitse Filip Nedelkov—captain and battalion commissar

• Blazhe Lazo Tashev—lieutenant and squad commander; • Boris Natse Olev—lieutenant and platoon commander; • Lazo Ilo Dafov—lieutenant and platoon commander; • Ilo Natse Mangov—platoon sub-commander; • Lazo Tsile Lakov—squad commander; • Blazhe Metodi Katronov—platoon commander; • Lazo Tane Gjergev—platoon commander.

Formation of the Provisional Government

The Provisional Government of Greece was formed on 23 December 1947 on Gramos. All its functionaries were communists except the Minister of Public Health, Petros Kokalis. General Markos was installed as President of the government.

The government established the following goals and tasks:

• The mobilization of the masses

• The strengthening of the people’s government within the liberated territory

• The reorganization of the national liberation councils, people’s courts and the state apparatus, and to bring them within the spirit and principles of the People’s Liberation Struggle

• The nationalization of foreign enterprises, large banks and heavy industries

• The implementation of agrarian reform

However, the composition of the provisional government did not include other leftist parties belonging to EAM. Nor did it include representatives from NOF, the Macedonian leadership, which represented about 50 percent of the fighting force of DAG.

In retaliation for the measures taken by DAG and the CPG Central Committee in the liberated territory, on 31 December 1947 the monarcho-fascist government in Athens published Law Number 509, detailing measures for security of the state, the state apparatus, and the protection of civil liberties. The CPG, EAM and other democratic parties were dissolved and outlawed.

On 7 January 1948, the Athens government enacted a resolution to purge the state apparatus of DAG members and other suspected democrats and to dismiss them from the civil service. The government banned all democratic newspapers and the CPG newspaper “Rizopatis”. They carried out a general action aimed mostly at the Macedonian nation, whose people the government sent to Greece’s concentration camps without trial.

The First Congress of NOF

Amid circumstances of serious weaknesses in the movement and in relations between the CPG and NOF and nationwide participation of the Macedonian people, conditions were created for the convening of the first congress of NOF on 13 January 1948, at which the Program and Statue of the organization were adopted. At that moment, there were 10,177 Macedonians in DAG, of whom 9,477 were men and 670 were women.

In the leadership ranks of NOF, there was no gender division between combatants. The organization even printed its own publications: “Defiant,” newspaper of the NOF main board; “Victory,” the Voden region newspaper; “Dawn,” the Lerin region newspaper, and “Unity,” the newspaper of the Kostur region.

That first congress of NOF gave a new impetus to the movement and had a great impact on the armed struggle of the Macedonian people inunity with Greek people.Immediately afterthe congress,newrecruits were mobilized as members of NOF into the ranks of DAG. Their number swelled to over 20,000 and that number increased daily.

The Spring Offensive: Operation “The Heights”

After the failure of the government forces in the previous autumn offensive, a new government offensive began in February 1948, named “The Heights”. This was aided by American and British military advisors and by the arrival of new weapons and warplanes, the expansion of ports and the construction of new airports, especially in Aegean Macedonia. In this operation, special methods of warfare were used, namely, they rounded up the local citizenry in areas in which the military actions were taking place and sent them to special camps outside of the action, guarded by special police detachments. In this way, the local population was prevented from giving aid and support to the partisan units.

In an additional measure, the National Guard was tasked with the protection from sabotage of larger buildings away from the front lines. There were also special detachments trained for battle in the mountainous regions. These special methods of warfare were the invention of officers of the intelligence service of the CIA, who acted as commanders and led the government military units.

Operation “The Heights” began on 25 February 1948 in the mountain massif of Murana in Epirus. However, the monarcho-fascist government encountered strong resistance and suffered failure, with heavy lossesofmen and military equipment.They were forced to retreat to their original positions.

Government forces launched a new operation called “Caravan” on 16 July 1948 against the partisans on Gramos Mountain. In scale, this operation was much more comprehensive, both in area and in the participation of larger combat units, which were reorganized under new generals because several generals involved in the failure of Operation “The Heights” were replaced with new officers on the advice of the Americans.

There were about 11,000 DAG troops on Gramos at that time. Between 15 March and 20 August 1948, they dug about 150 km of fortified lines with machine gun nests and bunkers of wood and earth, which were occupied by DAG fighters.

Government forces with artillery and air support set off to engage DAG units along a 250 km front. Fierce fighting went on for five days. The brave men of DAG withstood every enemy attack, and then with counterattacks forced the enemy to return to its starting positions with heavy losses. This was another failure for the government forces.

Over 400 soldiers and officers from Banitsa participated in the battles of the two operations “The Heights” and “The Caravan”. From 16 July to 5 August 1948, the following were lost on Gramos: Vane Pando Velikin, Tane Gele Jovchev, Kole Lazo Malinov (father of Dr. Blazhe Mallin), and Dimo Nune Tanev. Lazo Boris Genev perished on Sinachko Mountain.

Therenownedwarrior andbattalioncommissar CaptainMitseFilip Nedelkov perished on 21 August 1948 in the action by the DAG Malimadi detachments to break through the enemy’s encirclement. Platoon sub-commander Ilo Natse Mangov and platoon commander Lieutenant Lazo Tane Gjergev also perished in the same action. Stojan Tsile Robev was badly wounded and evacuated to a hospital in Korcha where he succumbed to his injuries. Lieutenant Blazhe Lazo Tashev, platoon commander, perished in the village of Smrdesh. Petse Kiro Malinov (father of Jane) was seriously wounded in the battles of the village of Zagorichani, Lerin District. He succumbed to his wounds in the military hospital in Bapchor.

Lazo Blazhe Kirev, a courier in the 28th Brigade of DAG, and a soldier of many years’ experience, was taken prisoner near the village of Ekshiso when he fell into an ambush. After interrogation, torture and the use of special methods to force a confession, he was publicly shot in the village of Ekshiso to serve as an example the villagers.59

59He was executed after a false confession, according to K. Rappos.

Due to the mistaken policies of the CPG, many former party members and former ELAS fighters were mobilized into the ranks of the government forces, including ten from Banitsa. After the general call of the CPG Central Committee for these soldiers to cross over and join the ranks of DAG, many managed to do so, with their military equipment. However, others had no opportunity as they were under surveillance by government officers.

The former ELAS fighters Dine Lazo Dimanin and Leko Mitse Nichov were killed on Gramos while fighting with the government forces against DAG. According to the remembrances of surviving government soldiers, these two men were caught trying to cross over and join the ranks of DAG, and were shot on the spot by their superiors. As front-line soldiers and advance guards, the government side would particularly send soldiers of Macedonian ethnicity, and therefore the number of Macedonian soldiers killed was huge. This was done consciously and maliciously to get rid of the Macedonian population.60

Measures for the Protection of Children

The campaign of the government forces for DAG’s liberated territory brought into question the safety of the innocent population, especially women and children. Many had come into the liberated territory from government-held areas after their houses had been destroyed and they had been expelled by governmentforces.There were also many refugees from the Lerin and Kostur districts. They participated in building the fortifications on Vicho and Gramos mountains.

In his memoirs, General Markos said, “Today there are 50,000 people in Greece in jail or in concentration camps. Around 7,000 people have been killed or shot. Over 700,000 people, men, women and

60Some of the author’s claims need to be viewed with skepticism but Evan Mallin was sent to the frontlinesontheBulgarianfrontbecausetheGreekarmybelievedhisfather waslivinginBulgaria.

children have been forced out of their homes and taken to the cities, where starvation, illness and cold destroy them. The continuous airstrikes on free territory are killing innocent people, especially women and children. The mothers in the liberated territories, unable to come to terms with their children’s fate, asked our government to help shelter their children in a safe place. In response to their pleas, we requested help from volunteer organizations, especially the Red Cross in the neighbouring countries, and we found they were receptive to the request. Democraticwomen’svolunteerorganizationsagreed to care for these innocent victims of the inhuman policies of the Athens regime. Thus 10,000 children of Greek citizenship, at the initiative and with the consent of their parents, were transferred abroad. The mothers themselves escorted their children to the border. In each village, the mothers chose their own guides who would accompany the children. There were cases where the mothers broke through enemy lines and ambushes to get their children to the border”.

General Markos is Replaced

On 27 August 1948, the provisional government removed General Markos from the post of commander-in-chief, and formed a supreme militarycounciltoleadtheDAGforces.On15November1948,Markos was relieved of all duties and excluded from the CPG Politburo. There was a reorganization of the DAG army units and large military formations were created—divisions and armies. Many military and political officers, including Macedonians, were replaced: some made available for reassignment, but others arrested and sent to prison in Albania. This had a negative effect on the ordinary fighters. Not a single Macedonian was selected to join the Supreme Military Council, even though half the fighters were Macedonian.

Towards the end of 1948, the fighting subsided and the partisans rested in anticipation of renewed action in the beginning of 1949.

New Military Tactics

With newly-adopted military tactics, the DAG forces readied themselves for large-scale actions against towns such as Lerin, Voden and Negush.

The government forces attacked the liberated territory on Vicho and the Supreme Military Council ordered the DAG forces to occupy several defensive positions. According to General Markos, “This meant throwing the partisans into the slaughterhouse, especially in the capturing of the elevation of Bukovic, Kostur region. Hundreds of fighters fell for that elevation, and for Lerin, Voden, and Negush. The results were a tragedy for DAG, and we could not hold the captured towns of Negush and Karpenis.”

In the liberated towns, DAG activists tried to mobilize new people, but failed due to heavy casualties among the fighters. It was demoralizing, and the new recruits, young and inexperienced, were getting killed en masse.

On 15 January 1949, after many days of battle and many victims, the partisans entered Lerin. Because of their losses, they left the town and withdrew to their bases. The youngest DAG fighter from Banitsa, Fana Dine Robeva, perished there.

The DAG troops who participated in the attack on Negush (Naoussa), not succeeding in capturing it, withdrew towards the Vicho and Kajmakchalan mountains. On the night of 18 January 1949, they fell into to a trap near the villages of Spantsi and Negovan, Lerin District. Their heavy losses included a World War II senior veteran partisan from Banitsa, Pavle Filip Mangov. Despite these heavy losses the central committee of the CPG proclaimed these actions as victories.

Encouraged by their partial successes, the monarcho-fascist forces set out at the beginning of 1949 to clear Rumelia and Thessaly of DAG forces.

Reorganization of the Supreme Military Council and the Provisional Government