Part II - Part 05

The headquarters for the Gramos and Vicho operational zones were completed by the end of July 1946. Five partisan units, with twelve Macedonian partisans each, operated in the area of those zones with a total strength of 736 fighters. Two Greek armed detachments with a total of 120 fighters, under the command of Georgios and Stratos, were also operating in the same area. Of the 120 fighters, 30 were Macedonians and CPG members. (Ibid, p. 17.)

At the time the first partisan detachments were being formed in the spring of 1946, the CPG was a legal political party in Greece, in opposition to the Monarcho-Fascist regime, and was contemplating whether or not to undertake an armed struggle. (Ibid.) At that time it only had a small number of Greek partisans and the influx of new fighters was very low, despite the ferocity of the Monarcho-Fascist regime. This was because the CPG leadership restricted the development of the Greek partisan movement until the fall of 1946. According to Fotev, this was “fatal to DAG’s development”. (M. Fotev, developments through NOF, p. 18.). According to Fotev, about this General Markos Vafiadis said: “The CPG Central

Committee, led by Nikos Zahariadis, performed experiments with the partisan movement. According to the instructions I received from the Politburo and personally from General Secretary Zahariadis in July 1946, I was ordered to recruit only under the following conditions:

1. Only partisans who have been persecuted, who were anti-fascists, and who were communists and patriots, and who want to voluntary join were allowed to join the partisan ranks.

2. In no way was I to allow Greek army soldiers, especially groups, who had left the government military to join the ranks of the partisans.

3. Defensive tactics needed to be applied. In no way were cities or other centres to be attacked where units of the government regular army were stationed.

I was categorically forbidden from forming party organizations among the partisan units.” (M, Fotev, developments through NOF, p. 18.) Due to the CPG’s indecision to pursue an armed struggle, the CPG leadership showed no interest in normalizing relations with NOF, and therefore no coordinated actions with the armed partisan detachments were performed. According to Fotev, “It was solely the fault of the CPG for not normalizing relations between NOF and CPG. The absence of coordinated joint activities significantly reduced our ability to successfully combat the Monarcho-Fascists.” (Ibid, p. 18.)

The NOF leadership continued to endeavour to reach an agreement with the CPG for joint actions. Negotiating was “difficult” and with many “barriers” to overcome, erected mostly by the CPG leadership. (Ibid, p. 19.)

In early June 1946 Paskal Mitrevski, NOF Main Board Secretary, under very difficult conditions, traveled to Solun to talk with Nikos Zahariadis, CPG Secretary General, and Leonidas Stringos, CPG Regional Committee Secretary for Greek occupied Macedonia and Thrace. Mitrevski met with the senior CPG leaders and informed

them of NOF’s position and program principles. (Ibid.) The negotiations ended with NOF being recognized.

On June 16, 1946, shortly after the Solun meeting took place, the CPG Regional Committee for Greek occupied Macedonia and Thrace held its 3rd Session during which Secretary General Zahariadis announced NOF’s recognition as a “democratic and progressive organization” of the Macedonian minority in Greece. (M. Fotev, the CPG’s attitude towards NOF, p. 5.) Zahariadis’s speech, during which he recognized NOF, was published on June 19, 1946 in the CPG central newspapers “Rizospastis” and “Laiki Foni”. (M. Fotev, developments through NOF, p. 20.) The publishing of Zahariadis’s speech informed the entire Greek public about NOF’s recognition. This made many Greeks unhappy, including many Party leaders who quickly changed their attitude towards NOF and further deteriorated the internal political situation in Greece. But, as it turned out, the recognition was done in order to secure Macedonian support in the struggle against the Monarcho-Fascist regime. Guided purely by self-interests, the Communist Party of Greece recognized the Macedonian national organization as a respectable political and potential military factor, and according to Fotev, “As the sole legitimate representative of the Macedonian people in Greek occupied Macedonia.” (M. Fotev, developments through NOF, p. 20.)

After Paskal Mitrevski returned from the Solun meeting, a NOF Main Board meeting was held during which Mitrevski informed the Board about the negotiations and decisions reached. The negotiations were assessed as “very successful” because the Communist Party of Greece recognized NOF as a legitimate representative of the Macedonian people in Greek occupied Macedonia as a factor in democratic Greece. (Ibid.) Towards the end of June 1946 the NOF Main Board Committee, consisting of Paskal Mitrevski, Giorgi Urdov-Dzhodzho, Pavle Rakovski, Mihailo Keramitchiev and Mincho Fotev, was summoned to visit Lazar Kolishevski, CPM Central Committee Political Secretary and Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia. The meeting was also attended by Tsvetko-Uzunovski-Abas, CPG Central Committee Organizing Secretary, during which the situation in Greek occupied Macedonia and NOF’s position in relation to the CPG and EAM

were discussed. Kolishevski and Uzunovski expressed support for the normalization of relations and noted that “the unity of NOF with the CPG was of vital interest to the national liberation movement of the Macedonian people in Greek occupied Macedonia.” (M. Fotev, developments through NOF, p. 20.)

Soon after recognizing NOF, the CPG leadership decided to initiate an armed struggle against the Monarcho-Fascist regime in order to seize power in Greece. The Macedonian people and their organization began to emerge as a reliable ally in this fight. According to Fotev, the Macedonian people had no other alternative but to fight against the Monarcho-Fascist regime in solidarity with the CPG. In October 1946, under these conditions, NOF and the CPG reached an agreement to combine forces and jointly fight against the Monarcho-Fascists. (Ibid, p. 21.) Following a directive issued by the CPM Central Committee, the NOF Main Board made arrangements to have NOF put under the leadership of the Communist Party of Greece.

According to Fotev’s understanding and interpretation, the agreement had the following eight provisions:

1. NOF was to remain an independent organization, sole legitimate representative of the Macedonian people in Greek occupied Macedonia, only to be guided by the CPG;

2. AFZH and NOMS were to exist as components of NOF;

3. NOF was to issue its own newspaper – organ of the Main Board.

4. All Macedonian communists from Greek occupied Macedonia to automatically become members of the CPG;

5. All NOF partisan detachments were to merge with those of DAG and all military and political personnel were to be deployed to the appropriate command duties at DAG military headquarters;

6. Paskal Mitrevski, NOF Main Board Secretary to become a member of the CPG Regional Committee Macedonian Bureau Secretariat for Greek occupied Macedonia and Thrace;

7. Giorgi Urdov-Dzhodzho to become a member of the chiefs of DAG General Staff;

8. Mincho Fotev to become a member of the secretariat of EPON Regional Committee for Greek occupied Macedonia and Thrace. (Ibid.)

On October 18, 1946 Paskal Mitrevski, Ilia Dimovski-Gotse and Mincho Fotev were invited to visit Kolishevski at his office. After a brief conversation about an agreement with the CPG, Kolishevski ordered the NOF leaders to show absolute loyalty to the CPG and all problems that NOF had were to be solved by the CPG. According to Fotev, at the end of the meeting Kolishevski told them that: “It was of particular interest that they consistently enforce unity with the CPG on the basis of this agreement, to maintain and strengthen unity in the ranks of NOF, to maintain and strengthen brotherhood and military solidarity with the Greek people, to consistently and unreservedly fight when necessary, and any problems that arose during the fight were to be decided jointly with the CPG leadership and with DAG headquarters…” (Ibid, p. 22.) According to Fotev, after NOF was put under CPG control, all ties and contacts with the socio-political factors in the Republic of Macedonia were to be broken. (Ibid, p. 22) The next day, October 19, 1946, the NOF Main Board representatives rushed back to Greek occupied Macedonia through Albania. They were met by DAG couriers in Korcha and were escorted back in. Paskal Mitrevski, through Gramos, arrived at DAG Headquarters on Mount Hasha where he met with General Markos Vafiadis. Ilia Dimovski-Gotse went to Mount Vicho to the Regional Headquarters of the Macedonian Partisans, where the other NOF Main Board members were, and informed them of the latest orders. Mincho Fotev went to Kostur to inform the NOF district leadership of the agreement and its implementation. (Ibid, p. 22.)

(Ilia Dimovski-Gotse was from the village Statitsa, Lerin Region. He was born in 1905 and was a revolutionary, a communist and a member of the CPG. In 1941 he left the Communist Party of Greece and founded the Macedonian Party with a national platform. He participated in the PLM, was a member of the NOF Main Board, commander of the partisan detachment Vicho in February 1943, a

commissar and commander of the Lerin-Kostur Vicho detachment in 1944, commander of the “First Macedonian Assault Brigade” in 1944, commanded the Macedonian partisan units in Vicho in 1946 and commander of a DAG battalion in 1947. He died in Skopje on July 26, 1961.)

The Greek Monarcho-Fascist government intensified its preparations to break up the Greek communist movement and to liquidate the Macedonian national liberation movement. With financial aid and military equipment from Britain and the USA, the Greek government modernized its army and gendarmerie forces. Under British and American instructions and assistance, the Greek government also created special armed formations, battalions, National Guard units and special squads consisting of fascist elements to fight against DAG. (M. Fotev, developments through NOF, p. 19.)

It was under these conditions that the Markos-Mitrevski talks took place for the implementation of the unification agreement where the Macedonian partisan units were to join DAG. (M. Fotev, developments through NOF, p. 22.) General Markos appointed his assistant Nikos Teoharopoulos-Skotidas to implement the agreement. Immediately after Paskal Mitrevski, along with Markos Vafiadis, decided how to implement the unification of forces, the Macedonian partisan units were integrated into DAG. (Ibid.)

Uniting, grouping and merging of the units was done in the regions where they operated. On November 9, 1946 all DAG and NOF units in the Gramos area were gathered together in the village Drianovo, Kostur Region, and were merged together in the presence of Paskal Mitrevski, Nikos Theoharopoulos-Skotidis and their assistants. (M. Fotev, the CPG’s attitude towards NOF, p. 7.) Here they were also reorganized and a DAG regional headquarters was created for them with Giorgi Ianuli as their commander, Iani Pachura and Ahilea Papaioanou as assistant commanders and Kozma Bukovina as political commissar. With the reorganization four partisan detachments were created. Appointed commander of the first detachment was Vasil Hristovski from the village Dobrolishta, Kostur Region, a former ELAS fighter. Hristovski was later killed in 1948. Appointed political commissar to the first detachment was

Sotir Kostovski-Direktot. Appointed commander of the second detachment was Sterio Mavpandza and political commissar Tasho Mihailovski. Appointed commander of the third detachment was Vangelis Forfalias and political commissar Georgios Papadimitriou-Mavrovounis. Appointed commander of the fourth detachment was Argir Kovachev and political commissar Atanas Kaloianov. Almost the entire leadership composition was made up of Macedonians except for the third detachment in which the commander was a Vlach and the political commissar a Greek. (M. Fotev, development through NOF, p. 22-23.) When they were done in Gramos, Paskal Mitrevski and Nikos Theoharopoulos-Skotidis were quickly escorted to Mount Vicho to implement the merger there. On November 16, 1946 they arrived in the village Vrnik in Albania, inhabited by Macedonians, where they were received by Mincho Fotev, Lambro Cholakov, German Dimovski-Stariot and Iani Pirovski. From there, accompanied by a group of Macedonian fighters, they traveled through the villages Besfina and Rulia and arrived on Mount Vicho. In the locality “Tpchianska Korea” they were met by the military and political leaders Commander Pando Shiperkov, Ilia Dimovski-Gotse, Mihail Keramitchiev and others from the Lerin District leadership where they had a meeting to discuss the military and political situation in the region, the situation with the people, the situation with the partisan units and the status of NOF, NOMS and AFZH. Updates were given by Ilia Dimovski-Gotse, Pando Shiperkov, Mincho Fotev, Lambro Cholakov, Mihail Keramitchiev and German Damovski-Stariot. (M. Fotev, development through NOF, p. 23.)

On the morning of November 21, 1946 a meeting was held in the village Bapchor, among other things, to appoint the leadership of Vicho operational zone headquarters. The meeting was attended by representatives from NOF, the CPG and DAG including Paskal Mitrevski, Nikos Theoharopoulos-Skotidis, Pando Shiperkov, Theodoros Eftimiadis, Ilia Dimovski-Gotse, Mincho Fotev and Mihail Apostolov-Graniti. Appointed were Pando Shiperkov, commander, Lefteris Katsakos, a Greek, political commissar and Mihail Apostolov-Graniti, member. The same day another meeting was held in the same village that was attended by more than 30 NOF, NOMS and AFZH leaders from the Lerin and Kostur Districts. Included among them were also Bapchor residents. Newly

appointed Commander Pando Shiperkov and Paskal Mitrevski spoke at the meeting and informed everyone of the current situation in Greece, the difficult situation created by the Monarcho-Fascist government, the rise of a democratic movement led by the CPG, the agreement made between NOF and the CPG to combine forces, and the significance of building brotherhood and unity between the Macedonian and Greek people. According to Fotev, Paskal Mitrevski’s speech was followed by approval and shouting of slogans like “Long live the brotherhood and unity!”, “Long live NOF!” and “Death to the Monarcho-Fascists…” (M. Fotev, development through NOF, p. 23.)

DAG Assistant Supreme Commander Nikos Theoharopoulos-Skotidis, who was also at the meeting, was given a standing ovation after he said that brotherhood and unity, as well as a common struggle with the Greek people under CPG leadership, were a factor and a guarantee that the country would be liberated from the Monarcho-Fascist tyranny and from the Anglo-American imperialists. The CPG guaranteed the emancipation of the people and the country from the Monacho-Fascist tyranny. The CPG was fighting for democratic rights and was the only way the Macedonian people would win their national equality. According to Fotev, Nikos Theoharopoulos – Skotidis’s speech was also accompanied by slogans being shouted like “Long live DAG and Comrade Markos its Supreme commander!”, “Long live the brotherhood and unity”. (Ibid, p. 23-34.)

After the meeting ended, with singing revolutionary songs and folk dances, the new Vicho zone operational headquarters committed to reorganizing the partisan detachments. According to Commander Pando Shiperkov, his detachments had 607 Macedonian partisans and the Greeks had only 36 fighters under Stratos Kendros’s command. (Ibid, p. 24.)

On November 22, 1946 the NOF Main Board met in the village Bapchor in Kole Kiandov’s house. (M. Fotev, the CPG’s attitude towards NOF, p. 8.) The meeting was attended by Paskal Mitrevski, Mihail Keramitchiev, Ilia Dimovski-Gotse and Mincho Fotev. Among other things, Evdokia Baleva-Vera was appointed AFZH Secretary for Greek occupied Macedonia. Paskal Mitrevski

informed the board members of the negotiations led by DAG Supreme Commander Markos Vafiadis and the status of applying the NOF-CPG Agreement for joining forces; and that priority was given to the unification of the Macedonian partisan units with DAG forces. The Board accepted Markos’s request to put two Macedonian partisan divisions in the areas of Vicho, Paiak and Kaimakchalan Mountain, numbering about 500 fighters, at the disposal of DAG’s General Staff. (M. Fotev, development through NOF, p. 24.)

(Evdokia Baleva-Vera was from the village D’mbeni, Kostur Region. She participated in the PLM of the Macedonian people in Greek occupied Macedonia. She was the AFZH Main Board Secretary, a member of the NOF Main Board, a member of the NOF Coordinating Bureau, vice president of the NOF Central Council, a member of the NOF Central Council Executive committee, vice president of the all-Greek Central Council Union of democratic women, member and AFZH secretariat for a joint delegation, with Malina Markova, representing the Macedonian Congress of International Democratic women in Budapest, in December 1948. In April 1949, as a member of NOF in a joint delegation of the Democratic government of Greece, she attended the international convention of peace. After DAG was defeated, members of the NOF leadership were accused by the CPG and the CPG Politburo of being agents of Tito and on October 2, 1949 were arrested and sent to prisons in Albania where they were held until December 14, 1949. After that Evdokia and the others were transferred to the USSR. She was held in prison in Moscow from January 1950 to April 19, 1952, when she was sentenced to 8 years in prison and sent to a camp in Siberia. After relations between the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia normalized, she was released and went to the People’s Republic of Macedonia in Skopje where she lived until this book was published.)

NOF’s orders were immediately carried out. The Macedonian Vicho partisan units were combined to form a 200 partisan detachment commanded by Lazar Poplazarov. The Macedonian Kaimakchalan and Paiak Mountain units were combined to form a second detachment of 300 partisans commanded by Giorgi Urdov-Dzhodzho. These units were made available to DAG General Headquarters. (Ibid.) At the same meeting the NOF Main Board

decided to delegate the following Macedonian communists to the CPG District Committee: Zhivko Popov to the Lerin CPG Regional District and Iani Pirovski to the Kostur CPG Regional District. (Ibid, p. 25.)

Following the decision made by the NOF Main Board, adopted during the November 22, 1946 meeting, to “unite” NOF with the CPG and “merge” the Macedonian partisan units with those of DAG, members of NOF, NOMS and AFZH began an intense political campaign to persuade the Macedonian people of the importance of conducting a joint struggle with the Greek people. On top of that the Macedonian organizations worked very hard to “mobilize the entire Macedonian people’s potential” in support of DAG in whose ranks many Macedonian young people enlisted voluntarily. (M. Fotev, developments through NOF, p. 24-25.)

The CPG leadership saw the agreement with NOF as an act which NOF took upon itself to enter the Party and infiltrate its organizations. Because of this the CPG wanted the Macedonian movement to end, to cease to exist. The CPG was not bound to take, and had not taken any action to inform the Greek people about its merger with NOF. The CPG did not even inform the population in Greek occupied Macedonia of this merger. The unity agreement was yet another CPG ploy to get the Macedonian people to massively join DAG and participate in the armed struggle. (Ibid, p. 24.) The CPG Central Committee Politburo took every action it could to eliminate NOF and the Macedonian movement leaders, especially those who advocated for an independent Macedonian PLM. The Politburo, in its great wisdom, decided that Ilia Dimovski-Gotse was one of those people and decided to harass him, labeling him an “autonomist”, a “separatist” who cooperated with the British and demanded that he be isolated and stripped of all responsibility. Markos Vafiadis, Supreme Commander of DAG, ordered Dimovski’s removal from DAG. The NOF leadership was notified of this with a request to shun him. (Ibid, p. 25.)

The NOF Main Board discussed Ilia Dimovski-Gotse’s case. The NOF Board received the DAG Supreme Commander’s request “with bitterness and indignation” and condemned the actions of the CPG Central Committee Politburo and the DAG Supreme Commander’s

decision to remove him from his management of NOF functions. (Ibid, p. 25.) Only Mihailo Keramitchiev refrained from condemning these acts because of a personal grudge against Ilia Dimovski-Gotse. According to Fotev: “Mihail Keramitchiev’s dislike for Ilia Dimovski-Gotse dated back to the days when the ‘First Macedonian Assault Brigade’ was formed and Ilia Dimovski-Gotse was appointed commander, while Mihail Keramitchiev served as a political commissar.” (Ibid, p. 25.) But despite the need for an angry response, Paskal Mitrevski decided that it was more important to pursue the agreed upon merger tasks, in the spirit of the agreement, with the CPG. At the end of the meeting Mitrevski suggested that after the partisan “unification” was implemented, he and Mincho Fotev would go to Solun and meet with the CPG Regional Committee Secretary and the EPON Regional Committee Secretary for Macedonia and Thrace and get an agreement on the fulfillment of “other requirements” regarding the unification Agreement between NOF and the CPG. Before leaving for Solun, Mitrevski appointed Mihailo Keramitchiev Acting Secretary of the NOF Main Board, until his return. All motions were accepted by the NOF Main Board. (M. Fotev, development through NOF, p. 25.)

On November 24, 1946 Paskal Mitrevski, Mihaialo Keramitchiev and Evdokia Baleva-Vera went through Lerin Pole towards Kaimakchalan to Voden Region to carry out the NOF unit mergers with DAG in that district. (Ibid, p. 25.) Mincho Fotev and courier Micho Koroveshovski were dispatched to depart immediately for Solun so that they could make more merger arrangements with Nikos Akritidis, EPON Regional Committee Secretary, as per the NOF-CPG Agreement. However, Fotev’s trip to Solun was prevented by Theodoros Eftimiadis, CPG Regional Committee Secretary for Lerin Region. According to testimony given by Evdokia Baleva-Vera, later Vera Fotev: “Theodoros Eftimiadis, from the city Kostur, as a communist was a Greek police recruiter during the Metaxas dictatorship years and worked for the fascist regime.” According to Vera, he always worked for the Fascism regime even throughout the Greek Civil War years. Eftimiadis did this to sabotage the Agreement. Paskal Mitrevski was informed about this by a special courier, at which point Mitrevski ordered Fotev to travel to Gumendzhisko and, with the other members of the NOF Regional Committee, prepare the ground for his arrival to

implement the merger. (Ibid, p. 25.) Fotev and Micho Koroveshovski had to travel through dangerous territory controlled by the Greek Monarcho-Fascist army and gendarmerie and arrived at Paiak Mountain on January 5, 1947. On January 7, 1947 the NOF District Board held a meeting in the village Barovitsa, attended by Ivan Nichev, Vangel Nichev, Ivan Kovachev-Orfias, Sotir Hadzhimitrovski, Kocho Kirov and others. Discussions took place regarding the situation in the region and the problems facing NOF, NOMS and AFZH. (Ibid, p. 26.) The district leadership informed those in attendance of the strained relations between NOF and the CPG party organizations and about its armed groups. Ivan Kovachev informed the group that, ten days before, a member of the CPG Regional Committee and commander of a Greek partisan unit in central Greek occupied Macedonia “insidiously attacked an armed NOF Macedonian group and disarmed it…” (M. Fotev, developments though NOF, p. 26.) To stop further deterioration in relations, the next day, on January 8, 1947, Fotev, with members of the district leadership, traveled to the Greek partisan group headquarters in “Gondach”, Paiak Mountain, and met with Captain Panos, Lefterias, Stavros and other Greek leaders who “strongly reacted” when questioned about disarming the Macedonian partisans. Instead of apologizing, the Greek military and political leaders attempted to justify their actions. (Ibid, p. 26.)

On January 9, 1947 Paskal Mitrevski and Evdokia Baleva-Vera arrived at the Mount Paiak Macedonian partisan headquarters. Upon their arrival Mihailo Keramitchiev asked to be relieved of duty due to his ill health, after which he went to Skopje, the People’s Republic of Macedonia, for treatment. (Ibid, p. 26.) According to Fotev, Keramitchiev did not have a serious health problem. There are two versions to this story. According to one version, Keramitchiev traveled to Skopje on “recovery” and “to see his immediate family”. According to the other version, he left for Skopje because Mihailo Keramitchiev and a small group in NOF, his supporters and “Macedonian separatists”, were against the Agreement to unify NOF with the CPG, and some left the PLM after the Agreement was announced. According to Fotev: “Ever since the Agreement was reached a few in NOF, headed by Mihail Keramitchiev, mostly separatists, were dissatisfied. Some left the

ranks of NOF and DAG voluntarily immediately after the Agreement was reached.” (Ibid, p. 28)

Because of the Agreement, the NOF leadership was somewhat polarized and so was the PLM and the CPG. Some advocated for unity between the Macedonian and Greek people in the PLM against the Monarcho-Fascists under CPG leadership, and some wanted the Macedonian movement to stay independent. Those who wanted unity were a majority.

There were also many Greeks in the CPG and DAG ranks who were opposed to the “merger” because they believed that “the Macedonians were recognized with more rights and granted more power than they deserved…” (Ibid, p. 28-29.)

NOF and the UN Inquiry Commission in Solun

On November 10, 1945 Paskal Mitrevski met with the NOF, NOMS and AFZH District leaderships and informed them that a UN Inquiry Commission had arrived in Greece at its headquarters in Solun and that the Commission was there to examine the causes of the Greek Civil War amid allegations, made by the Greek Monarcho-Fascist government, that the governments of Yugoslavia, Albania and Bulgaria were responsible for the war. (M. Fotev, developments through NOF, 26.) NOF senior officials in the district organizations were requested “to take most urgent measures and form groups of delegates, approach the UN Inquiry Commission, and submit petitions, memoranda and others materials, with irrefutable evidence, that point to the Greek government as the sole culprit for the Greek Civil War and for the causes of the unprecedented terror unleashed against the anti-fascist movement participants, who for the most part were members of EAM and ELAS, and who fought with gun in hand against the German-Italian fascist invaders. The NOF leaders were asked to also inform the Commission of the Greek genocidal attempts to terrorize the Macedonian population with aims at crushing the progressive democratic forces, which represent the vast majority of the Macedonian and Greek population. (Ibid, p 26-27.) This information was to be confirmed and accompanied by thousands of signatures signed by Macedonian fighters and supporters of the anti-fascist struggle and to testify that

thousands more Macedonians were currently in Greek prisons and in Greek concentration camps being brutally tortured by the Greek government. The people being imprisoned, without trial and being killed by the Greek police, were the leaders and fighters who had earlier fought in the anti-fascist movement. The International officials needed to learn that the majority of the chiefs of police in the Greek State apparatus and officers in the Greek army were officials of the quisling government and officers and associates of the fascist occupiers. The highest priority for the NOF leaders at that time was to inform the Commission that the Macedonian people were suffering in Greek occupied Macedonia and that “orgies and crimes carried out by the Monarcho-Fascist government” were perpetrated against them. (M. Fotev, developments through NOF, p. 27.) It was expected that when the world found out the truth, about what was going on in Greece, it would also find out that there were many Macedonians living in Greek occupied Macedonia and that they had participated en masse in the great anti-fascist war and had made many sacrifices and sustained huge material damage. On top of that it was also important to inform the civilized world and the international democratic community about the genocide the Greek Monarcho-Fascists were committing against the Macedonian population. (Ibid.) In other words, to inform the world, in the most comprehensive way, of the Macedonian National Question in Greek occupied Macedonia.

According to Fotev, the United Nations representatives were given over 50 memoranda and petitions. These were documents with evidence showing the tragic situation that existed among the Macedonian people in Greek occupied Macedonia. (Ibid.) The documents also contained requests for the United Nations “to condemn the terrorist policies of the Greek government and to demand of it to commit to providing a peaceful and democratic life for the people in Greece and to recognizing the Macedonian people as an equal nation to the Greeks”. (Ibid.)

Final activities in the implementation of the unification Agreement

The only part of the unification Agreement that remained to be implemented was the merger of forces in the Paiak Mountain region.

On January 11, 1947 a joint meeting between NOF, CPG and DAG representatives was held in the village Kupa, Gumendzhi Region. The meeting was chaired by Paskal Mitrevski, NOF Main Board Secretary. Included among the others from NOF who participated and spoke in the meeting were Evdokia Baleva-Vera, Mincho Fotev and Ivan Kovachev-Orfias. Mitrevski opened the meeting by speaking about the brotherhood and unity between the Macedonian and Greek people, the role of NOF and the other Macedonian organizations in the struggle, and how the Macedonians were helping with DAG’s development. Evripidis Kapetanos-Panos, CPG and DAG representative on the Greek side in the meeting, welcomed the NOF-CPG unification Agreement and promised that the CPG would deliver a “free Greece” and “national equality and freedom for the Macedonian people…” (Ibid, p. 27-28.) At the same meeting Kocho Kirov of NOF was appointed as a member of DAG headquarters in Paiak Mountain. (Ibid, p. 28.) And this was the end of the unification between Macedonian and Greek partisan units in the mountains Gramos, Vicho, Kaimakchalan and Paiak. About this Fotev wrote: “The Macedonian partisans enthusiastically and with a great desire to fight welcomed the unification….” (Ibid, p. 28.) And after that the unification between NOF and the CPG was realized. According to Fotev: “The result of the unification between NOF and the CPG, as well as the merging of NOF and DAG units, was much better than expected. All Macedonian fighters in Gramos, Vicho, Kaimakchalan and Paiak Mountains, wherever they were stationed, enthusiastically embraced and welcomed the mergers…” (Ibid, p. 28.)

The NOF leadership had broad support in its commitment to unity with the CPG. According to Fotev: “The Macedonian people in Greek occupied Macedonia were closely attached to NOF and believed in the organization’s liberation work and, because of that, the people sincerely accepted its unification with the PLM of the Greek people’s progressive revolutionary movement. This is why the people also massively participated in DAG, in the struggle for freedom and independence for Greece and in its national and social freedom…” According to Fotev: “Brotherhood and unity between the Macedonian and Greek people was not only desired, but rooted in the soul of every honest Macedonian, within each fighter and true patriot because it was based and built on the blood and bones of the

best sons and daughters of two peoples in a long, common struggle against a common enemy. The NOF-CPG unification agreement was an expression of the will of the Macedonian and Greek revolutionaries and the will of the Macedonian and the Greek people…” (Ibid.) As confirmation of this, according to Fotev, General Markos Vafiadis, DAG Supreme Commander, had indicated that there were 18,000 Macedonian fighters in DAG of whom 3,000 were women. In addition to that there were another 3,000 Macedonian fighters, both men and women, in the auxiliary units organized into separate units and led by activists of NOF and AFZH. (Ibid, p. 28.) Fotev does not agree with what Naum Peiov wrote about the arrangement of the Macedonian people in the armed struggle, that “they were allies” and “unpaid mercenaries”. According to Fotev the following was written on page 150 in Naum Peiov’s book “The Macedonians in the Greek Civil War”, published in 1968: “... they (the Macedonians) were an ally in the struggle, but simply treated as unpaid mercenaries. This may sound strange, but that’s the way it was…” (M. Fotev, the CPG’s attitude towards NOF, p. 4.)

After the merger of the partisan units was completed, the Macedonian leadership urgently called for a meeting to resolve all outstanding issues between NOF and the CPG. The NOF leaders wanted a negotiated, constructive and efficient way of collaborating. They wanted to know how cooperation between NOF, NOMS and AFZH, on the one hand, and the CPG, DAG and EPON, on the other, were going to work. (M. Fotev, developments through NOF, p. 29.) As a result, Paskal Mitrevski and Mincho Fotev requested an urgent meeting with the CPG Regional Committee in Solun to finalize the NOF-CPG unification Agreement. But it seems the CPG was not interested…

With DAG’s acquisition of the Macedonian partisan units, the CPG achieved its goal of leading the armed part of the Macedonian national movement. Not only that, but it also stripped the Macedonians of their independence as a political and armed factor in Greece. But in order to achieve its full set of objectives, the CPG needed a plan to eliminate NOF completely. According to Fotev: “The CPG leadership now had different intentions. It not only broke its official commitments to the merger Agreement but now refused

to cooperate with NOF and with the Macedonian PLM.” (Ibid, p. 30.) By limiting the representation of Macedonian personnel in leading duties, the CPG prevented Macedonian influence in the party organizations and DAG units in Greek occupied Macedonia.

In spite of the new developments, Paskal Mitrevski and Mincho Fotev decided to travel to Solun to first meet with Leonidas Stringos, CPG Regional Committee Secretary, and second to meet with Nikos Akritidis, EPON Regional Committee Secretary, in order to map out activities consistent with the implementation of the unification Agreement. (M. Fotev, the CPG’s attitude towards NOF, p. 13.) Unfortunately their trip from Paiak Mountain to Solun could not be secured. Evripidis Kapetanios-Panos, a member of the CPG Regional Committee for Greek occupied Macedonia and Thrace, was in charge of their security detail and he refused to let them go. But Mitrevski defied his orders and skipped over the border into Yugoslavia to see the CPG representative there as a link to travel to Solun. But, as he later found out, the real intention of the CPG leadership, for a very long time, was to isolate NOF and set the stage for eliminating its leadership function. But this was nothing unusual for Mitrevski whose only chance was to have a direct meeting with the CPG Regional Committee and clear things up. After strong insistence from Mincho Fotev, Paskal Mitrevski agreed to travel to Solun through Yugoslavia. Before leaving Paiak Mountain Mitrevski instructed Evdokia Baleva-Vera to go the Lerin and Kostur Districts and Mincho Fotev to go to the Enidzhe-Vardar and Gumenidzhe District to manage the NOF District organizations there “until they are recalled”. (M. Fotev, developments through NOF, p. 29.) Immediately after that, via Gevgelia, Paskal Mitrevski crossed into Yugoslavia. (M. Fotev, the CPG’s attitude towards NOF, p. 13.)

Because of the presence of the UN Inquiry Commission in Solun, the Monarcho-Fascist government in Greece took rigorous measures to control the movement of people in the central and western parts of Greek occupied Macedonia. The army, the gendarmes and the police took extraordinary measures to control the settlements that gravitated towards Solun, Enidzhe-Vardar, Gumenidzhe, Voden and Ber, especially the entrances and exits to Solun. The populations in the smaller localities, in which they had difficulty controlling or

could not keep under their full control, were evicted. In October and November 1947 the police moved the entire population from the villages Barovitsa, Ramna, Petgas, Tsrna Reka, Lumnitsa, Kupa and other small villages. Part of that population was expelled and forced to flee to the People’s Republic of Macedonia and the rest were interned in cities and placed under intolerable conditions. According to Fotev: “The Macedonian population in the cities lived under real drama.” (Ibid.)

As a member of the CPG Central Committee for Macedonia and Thrace, Paskal Mitrevski acted in accordance with the directive of the party leadership. By a special courier he was taken to see the CPG representative in Yugoslavia. (Ibid.) After he handed over his documents Mitrevski requested to be granted immediate leave for Solun. But the Greek party representative refused because he was acting under orders from headquarters to prevent his departure for Solun. As a result, he was detained in Yugoslavia for months. According to Fotev: “It is clear that they were attempting to compromise him, to degrade him and to deprive him of his management functions. This was also a direct attack against NOF.” (Ibid. p. 30.) The CPG wanted to remove the entire current, NOF leadership and replace it with people loyal to the CPG, and this was possible with Paskal Mitrevski out of the way. The CPG refused to tolerate the existence of an authoritative Macedonian national revolutionary organization. According to Fotev: “The CPG did not want the Macedonian people in Greek occupied Macedonia to have their own independent Macedonian political organizations and to manage their struggle for national and social freedom…” (Ibid, p. 31) The CPG desired even less to be in a partnership with NOF and to be bound by a unification Agreement.

After taking over the Macedonian armed units and placing them under DAG’s control, the CPG leadership immediately took organized action against NOF to “discredit it before the Macedonian people in both Greek occupied Macedonia and in the People’s Republic of Macedonia…” (Ibid, p. 31.) The declarative promises made for “an independent and free Greece with the Macedonian people having equal rights and enjoying all their cultural and national rights” were only Greek tactics, a ruse to get the Macedonian leaders to surrender their fighters. (Ibid.) All

connections between the NOF Regional Committee in Enidzhe-Vardar and the NOF Main Board in Vicho Mountain were suspended. Evripidis Kapetanos-Panos provided no information on Paskal Mitrevski’s whereabouts for two months after he left Paiak Mountain. All requests made by Mincho Fotev from NOMS while he was member of the Regional Committee to “connect” with EPON were ignored. (Ibid.)

In early April 1947 Mincho Fotev, accompanied by Paskal Mitrevski’s personal courier Micho Koroveshovski, traveled to the NOF Main Board headquarters on Mount Vicho.

A meeting was held in Voden Region in the villages Krontselevo and Dolno Radivo. Included in the NOF composition from the District leadership were Vangel Aianovski, NOF District Board Secretary, Petre Shorev-Fidan (youth leader), Risto Bukuvalia-Zhukov, Giorgi Manchov and others. During the meeting updates were given regarding the military and political situation in Voden and Enidzhe-Vardar Districts, activities carried out by NOF, NOMS and AFZH, and Macedonian relations with the CPG, EPON and DAG. (Ibid, p. 31.) Aianovski informed the members of the deteriorating relations between NOF and the CPG and blamed the CPG for them because of the negative attitude the CPG leadership and the other Greek political organizations had taken towards the Macedonian organizations. Aianovski also strongly condemned the unification Agreement between NOF and the CPG and accused NOF of “abandoning its original programming principles”. (Ibid, p. 32.)

(Micho Koroveshovski was from the village Smrdesh, Kostur Region. He was a corporal in the “First Macedonian Assault Brigade” and commander of a DAG detachment. He was killed in 1947.)

(Risto Bukovalia-Zhukov was from the village Teovo, Voden Region. He was a participant in the PLM, a member of the NOF District Board for Voden Region and a DAG fighter.)

After his arrival in the village Prekopana in the free territory of Mount Vicho where he was expected to meet Mihailo Keramitchiev, a member of the NOF Main Board, Fotev left for Kostur Region.

Keramitchiev was not there. Several meetings were taking place in the village Smrdesh with the NOF Main Board and with other NOF, NOMS and AFZH leaders including Krsto Mangov, Nikola Panov, Tpaiko Supelov, Panaiot Karadzha and Hrisanthi Tsanzovska. Among other things discussed at the meetings were; the situation in the district, NOF’s actions, the situation with the people, especially in the occupied areas, as well as the problems and tensions experienced with the CPG, created by the arrogant attitude of CPG members towards NOF and its activists. (M. Fotev, developments through NOF, p. 32.)

(Krsto Mangov was from the village D’mbeni, Kostur Region. He was a fighter in ELAS, a deputy political commissar in the battalion of the “First Macedonian Assault Brigade”, secretary of the NOF District Committee for Kostur Region, president of the People’s Government in Kostur District, a representative of the Provisional Democratic Government of Greece for the local people’s government and a member of the NOF Central Council Executive Committee. He was killed on August 11, 1949 near the village Breznitsa, Kostur Region.)

(Panaiot Karadzha was from the village D’mbeni, Kostur Region. He was a participant of the PLM, a communist, secretary of the NOMS District Committee, a member of the NOF District Board for Kostur Region, and head of a local DAG people’s militia unit. He was killed in 1948.)

(Hrisanthi Tsanzovska was from the village Chuka, Kostur Region. She was secretary of the AFZH District Board for Kostur Region. She immigrated to Poland and then to Bulgaria, to Plovdiv.)

First AFZH Congress