MINORITIES IN GREECE DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR - (1940-1945)

MINORITIES IN GREECE DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR - (1940-1945)

The Macedonian population

During the Greek-Italian War, the Macedonian population was not interested in fighting for the integrity of a state that severely oppressed them. “For whom are we going to fight? For those who persecute us for speaking our mother tongue?” said one man to his wife while he was mobilized to be sent to the Greek-Italian front in Albania.

The Macedonian people were relieved after Greece capitulated and did not ask or care who liberated them. After they fell under Italian occupation they were free to speak their Macedonian language, express their Macedonian ethnicity and call themselves by their Macedonian names. Their mother tongue came back not only in their homes and streets but also in institutions and the church. Old Slavonic was again heard in the performance of church rites and rituals.

The Macedonian population was not ethnically united during the war. The first ethno-ideological split was expressed by the “counter-band” rebel movement in Kostur, Lerin and Voden on one hand, and by the so-called “Slavo-Macedonian National Liberation Front” (SNOF) on the other. While the “counter-band” movement protected the so-called exarchate ethno-lingual traditions, SNOF spread ethno-Macedonian-ism among the Macedonian population.

The “counter-band” movement was formed on March 3, 1943 in the city Kostur and was led by Pando Makriev, Luka Dimanov, Paskal Kalimanov and Kolio Shestavarov (Bai Kolio). The “counter-band” movement in Voden Region was led by Giorgi Dimchev, creator of the Bulgarian leaning organization “Ohrana”, which accumulated over 5,000 armed counter-bandits. Overall Andon Kalchev was responsible for the development of the “counter-band” movement in Greek occupied Macedonia, the Bulgarian club in Solun (formed in 1941), and for providing material assistance to the former exarchate population. The “counter-band” movement was anti-Greek as well as anti-Communist. The “counter-bands” fought against both the political right’s Greek nationalist forces and against the political left’s (EAM-ELAS) democratic forces which included the ethnic Macedonian communists (SNOF).

On the advice of the CPY and with the approval of the CPG, SNOF was formed in October 1943 to fight to safeguard the Greek state’s integrity as well as for Macedonian minority rights within Greece and to wage war against the “counter-band” movement. With help from the CPG, SNOF followed an ethno-ideological policy (Macedonian-ism + communism) for the duration of World War II.

The two different ethno-political factions in the ranks of the Macedonian movement often came to blows characteristic of a civil war. Numerous military clashes took place between them. The “counter-bands” as well as the villages that supported them were frequently attacked by the Greek Left (ELAS) and by the Macedonian Ethnic Communist Left (SNOF), as well as by the Greek right nationalist forces. One of those villages, Starichani, was completely destroyed by ELAS units. At the same time Greek right armed forces attacked many Macedonian villages. In April 1944, Greek forces that collaborated with the occupiers razed the village Katranitsa and killed 640 women and children. In May 1944 the village Bapchor, Kostur Region, were fiercely attacked by ELAS and 31 “counter-band” fighters, led by Kosta Kachunov, were killed. There were Macedonians serving in the ELAS units that attacked Bapchor.

After the Germans withdrew from Greece the “counter-band” movement was wiped out. Some of the “counter-band” fighters fled to Bulgaria, and some to Yugoslavia. Many who fled to Yugoslavia were executed by the Yugoslav communist authorities and those who fled back to Greece or were returned to the Greek authorities were also killed or imprisoned. Many of those who survived joined the anti-Greek struggle during the Greek Civil War. After the “counter-bands” were disarmed and destroyed SNOF, under CPG orders, was disbanded.

The Vlach people also developed an ethnic movement during the Second World War. After Greece was occupied, the Vlachs of Thessaly, Epirus and parts of western Aegean (Greek occupied)

Macedonia, led by Alkibiade Diamandi, formed the so-called Pindus Principality with Metsovo as its capital. This was done under the auspices of the Italian authorities. After Italy capitulated and the Germans withdrew from Greece, the Greek resistance forces abolished the Principality. During the course of the second world war the Albanian population living in Epirus also expressed dissatisfaction with the living conditions in Greece and opposed the Greek terror carried out by the Greek nationalist right (EDES) led by Napoleon Zervas.

The Jewish population also faced a tragic fate during the Second World War. It was exposed to a policy of ethnic genocide and many atrocities were committed against the Jewish people. After Greece was occupied all Jews over 5 years old were obliged to wear David’s star. All Jewish shops and homes were marked with the inscriptions “Jewish shop” and “Jewish house”. Their movement was restricted and Jews were not allowed to visit certain public spaces. Pressure on the Jewish population culminated in 1943 when 46,000 Solun Jews were assembled in the “Baron Hirsch” camp and, with support from the Greek Quisling authorities, were deported to death camps (Birkenau and Bergen-Belsen).