DEAR BROTHER JOANI

DEAR BROTHER JOANI:

Here is where the archicomitadjis [Macedonian revolutionaries] live. We have massacred them all. And the places we have passed will remain in my memory forever.

SER. CLETANIS.

Letter 5

RHODOPE, Bulgarian Frontier, 11th July, 1913. BROTHER MITZO:

And from Serres to the frontier, we have burnt all the Bulgarian villages [Macedonian villages associated with the Exarchate Church].

My address remains the same: 7th Division, 19th Regt.; 12 Battalion at Rhodope. JOAN CHRISTO TSIGARIDIS.

Letter 6

NESTOS, 13th July, 1913. Village Banista [Banitsa],

If you want to know about the parts where we are marching, all are Bulgarian villages [Macedonian villages associated with the Exarchate Church], and everyone has fled. Those who remain are “eaten” by the Mannlicher rifle and we have also burnt a few villages. The Bulgarians [Macedonians associated with the Exarchate Church] suffered the same fate at the hands of the Servians [Serbians].

S. NAKIS.

Letter 7

In the desert, 12th July, 1913.

...in Bulgarian territory, we are beating the Bulgarians who are continually retreating, and we are on the point of going to Sofia. We enraged them by burning the villages, and now and again when we found one or two, we killed them like sparrows.

Your brother GEORGE (name unreadable) I am writing you in haste.

Letter 8

Zissis Coutoumas to Nicolas Coutoumas.

With the present I give you some news about the war that we have made against the Bulgarians. We have beaten them and have reached the Turkish-Bulgarian frontier. They fled into Bulgaria and we massacred those who remained. Further, we have burnt the villages. Not a single Bulgarian [Macedonian associated with the Exarchate Church] has been left. God only knows what will come of it. I have nothing more to write you. I remain, your Son Zissis Coutoumas. Many compliments from Thimios. He is well as also the other young men here.

12th July, 1913.

Letter 9

M. Zaharia Kalivanis, Erfos-Milipotamos, ethimo, Crete. RHODOPE, 13th July, 1913.

Seal of the Commandant of Public Safety, Salonica

We burn all the Bulgarian villages [Macedonian villages associated with the Exarchate Church] that we occupy, and kill all the Bulgarians [Macedonians associated with the Exarchate Church] that fall into our hands. We have taken Nevrocop and were well received by the Turks, many of whom came to our ranks to fight against the Bulgarians. Our army is in touch with the Servian [Serbian] and Roumanian [Romanian] armies, who are 32 kilometers from Sofia. With regard to ourselves we are near the ancient frontier.

S. Z. KALIYANIS.

Letter 10

July 15th, 1913. MY BROTHER SOTIR:

Thanks to God, I am well at the moment of writing you. We are at present on the Bulgarian- Thracian frontier. As far as the war is concerned, I can not tell you anything about the situation and what takes place. The things that happen are such that have never occurred since the days of Jesus Christ. The Greek army sets fire to all the villages where there are Bulgarians [Macedonians associated with the Exarchate Church] and massacres all it meets. It is impossible to describe what happens. God knows where this will end. The time of...has come for us to start eating one another. Love from your brother PANAGHIS BEGLIKIS.

I am writing you in haste.

Letter 11

Bulgarian Frontier,12/VII/1913.

Everywhere we pass, not even the cats escape. We have burnt all the Bulgarian villages [Macedonian villages associated with the Exarchate Church] that we have traversed. I can not describe it to you any better.

Your loving brother GEORGES (corporal). My address is as follows: To Corporal Sterghiou George, 12th Squadron, 3rd Battalion, 19th Regt. 7th Division-if away, send on.

Letter 12

RHODOPE, 13th July, 1913. My DEAR LEONIDAS:

Keep well, as I am. That is what I wish you. I received your letter, which gave me great pleasure. I also received one from Aristides, who is well, and writes that he has also been enrolled, which pains me, because my sufferings are such that could not be consoled by tears, because everything is lost, because you can not imagine what takes place in a war. Villages are burnt, and also men, and we ourselves set fire and do worse than the Bulgarians.

Your affectionate brother, THOMAS ZAPANTIOTIS.

Letter 13

Mr. Demetrios Chr. Tsigarida For the Greek Army, at Mexiata as souvenir of the Hypati-Phtiotis. Turco-Bulgarian war. COPRIVA ( ?), 11th July, 1913.

Seal of the Commandant of the 19th Regt.

I was given 16 prisoners to take to the division and I only arrived with 2. The others were killed in the darkness, massacred by me.

NICO THEOPHILATOS.

Letter 14

IN BULGARIA, 13th July, 1913.

What a cruel war is taking place with the Bulgarians. We have burnt everything belonging to them, villages and men. That is to say we massacre the Bulgarians [Macedonians associated with the Exarchate Church]. How cruel! The country is inundated with Bulgarians [Macedonians associated with the Exarchate Church]. If you ask how many young Greeks have perished, the number exceeds 10,000 men.

Your Son, TSANTILAS NICOLAOS.

P.S. Write me about the enrolments that are taking place. They are surely on the point of enlisting old men. Curses on Venizelos.

Letter 15

To Georgi D. Karka (Soldier) First Section of the Sanitary Corps, 9th Division. Arghirocastro, Epirus. The River Nestor, 12th July, 1913.