INTRODUCTORY NOTES

INTRODUCTORY NOTES

Every nation needs to look back and examine its history, especially after a period of turmoil… and so should the Macedonian nation especially after its national defeat during the war years. Examining and knowing the historical truth can be very helpful in setting the right course for the future… but only if that was done correctly. It seems we have not been doing this correctly, at least not for the last 50 years… which will turn out to be harmful to our course. We have allowed others, foreigners, to write the history of the Macedonian people under Greece, especially after the Second World War. As it turned out things became much more difficult for the Macedonian people after our Macedonia was invaded occupied and partitioned in 1912 and 1913. After that the Macedonian people had to struggle very hard to survive spiritually united, as one nation.

We have yet to learn the true lessons from the so called Greek Civil War 1 during which one of the greatest evils was perpetrated against the Macedonian people when 28,000 of our children were taken away to foreign lands and their parents plunged into a war that they could never win. As a result the Macedonian home was destroyed and the Macedonian family was mutilated. What most people don’t know is that this was a perpetrated genocidal act to finally eradicate the Macedonian people from Greece bringing disastrous changes to the entire Macedonian ethnicity. Most unfortunate about all this was that the Macedonian people do not know the truth about what happened to the Macedonians in Greece during the Greek Civil War. There are some who do not want them to know and prefer to distance themselves from the harm they caused to the Macedonian nation, hiding their actions and hopping in time all this will be forgotten. In the meantime there are some who say Macedonians do not exist so how could they have participated in the Greek Civil War? While other claim that if such a thing happened to the

1 The Greek press, i.e. the Greek authors from the camp of the right (the Athenian government) called the (1946-1949) war “Antisimritikos agon” (anti-bandit war) that the government forces led in general, not with the term “Civil War”. However, when DAG’s (Democratic Army of Greece) defeat gradually passed away over time, the term “Civil War” prevailed in Greek historiography.

Macedonian people in Greece then it must be treated as part of a separate history: “History of Aegean Macedonia”. But when we can no longer run away from the truth because we know those war years (1945-1949) severely harmed the Macedonian nation than we have no choice but to face up to it.

So, how can we interpret this ambiguous reality?!!!

My research in this political process (1945-1949) so called “Greek Civil War” aims to seek answers to the existential and essential questions about the brutal act known in Greek as “Pedomazoma”, referring to the collection of 28,000 children from 3 to 14 years of age, which turned into a terrible (collective) human tragedy.

But it needs to be said that this research, in these political processes, was complex and the answers obtained depended on the various philosophical reference sought! Getting answers outside of these ideological systems was also possible.

In this painstaking research I aim to:

Factually demonstrate actions that depict the reality of this war which so far in our history have been pushed aside in favour of daily politics. In order to obtain a realistic assessment, confirmed by facts and arguments, especially on vital national issues, we need to examine all events as presented by all sides.

We need to define who was at war with whom during this so called Greek Civil War and who fought on which side. Generally speaking, as was made known to the world, the Greek government in Athens was on one side which fought against the CPG (Communist Party of Greece) – the PDG (Provisional Democratic Government of Greece) – and DAG (Democratic Army of Greece), on the other. Unfortunately this is not the whole story; missing is the Macedonian factor, which the winners of this war had managed to cover up to this day.

Taking away the Macedonian children from their parents and homes and giving them a one way ticket to never return again, was one of the most deceitful migration acts in the 20th century. Historically

speaking, this undertaking was an unprecedented and unheard act of evil which has been kept a secret for all these years. Part of this secrecy has been our fault because we have not faced the facts of this war for a long time. Because of fear of retribution and for many other reasons, we have kept silent. Those who perpetrated this act against us, whose design was to erode and destroy the Macedonian people, have put the blame on us. Greece has closed its borders to the Macedonian people who were exiled for more than 50 years simply because they participated in that dreadful war. But in reality the borders have been closed to the Macedonians so that the Macedonian nation in Greece will disappear forever from its Macedonian ancestral land, and this is exactly what the act of the “Pedomazoma” showed.

With this act it was possible to evict, destroy, re-educate, and transplant the Macedonian people in Greece, and for over half a century make them feel like it was their own fault. But was it really their fault? As we will show, it was NOT! Their eviction was perpetrated by outside powerful forces! 2

2 During World War II, when the Western Great Powers thought no Macedonians existed in Greek occupied Macedonia, English spies and military personnel dispatched to Greek occupied Macedonia to monitor the war situation discovered that Greece had been lying to them. Contrary to Greek claims that no Macedonians existed in Greece, a sizable Macedonian population, speaking the Macedonian language and aware of its Macedonian consciousness, was living in its territory. When the British found this out they again resumed their policy of extermination. Some people say the English must have panicked because of fear of Russian influence and the possibility of these people wanting to carve out “Greek territory”, but the truth is England never wanted a Greek Macedonia with Macedonians in it. So the English, as they had done in the past, decided that the Macedonian people had to go by any means possible. This information was later discovered in declassified British diplomatic dispatches in which the English wanted to expel 120,000 Macedonians en masse from their homes in Greek occupied Macedonia. HERE IS THE CLASSIFIED REPORT that England had aims to get rid of the Macedonians in Greece: Balkan States – Report 1 - December 11, 1944 Mr. Leeper to Mr. Eden Athens 24th November, 1944 Sir, I HAVE the honour to submit the following comments on Research Department paper of the 26th August, 1944, on the subject of Macedonia. (1) 2. The two formidable Macedonian problems in which Greece is concerned are: (a) that of Greek relations with the Slav world as represented by Serbia and Bulgaria, both of whom must be expected in the immediate future to be under strong Russian influence and to have Russian sympathy for their aspirations; and b) that of the surviving Bulgarophone minority in Western Macedonia. 3. The former problem turns chiefly on that of Serbian and Bulgarian access to the Aegean, the subject discussed in paragraphs 35-40 and 41-43 of the paper under reference. There is clearly no case (or handing over to Slav Powers any part of the North Aegean coast, which in 1940 had nowhere anything but an infinitesimal minority of Slav inhabitants. On the other hand, the strategic position of Greece here, even with Turkish backing, is very weak, vis-à-vis the Slav world, so that even in her own interests it behooves Greece to come to terms with her northern neighbours. The only possible solution-however difficult in practice under present conditions-seems to be that referred to in paragraph 51, namely, a return to, and preferably an extension of, the system of free zones. A Serbian free zone at Salonica is not difficult, but a Bulgarian zone at Kavala, or even at the outlying Alexandrupolis, would probably be out of the question for a considerable period to come, in view of the passions aroused by the atrocious conduct of the Bulgarians in Northern Greece since 1941. It remains, nevertheless, a Greek no less than a Bulgarian interest that Bulgaria's desire for access to an Aegean port should be satisfied so 9 far as possible; since otherwise Bulgaria's southward political aspiration, which are now largely artificial, will be kept alive by the real and continual irritation of an unsatisfied economic need. (How far this need might be met by the alternative of a free zone at Durazzo is a matter for separate study.) It may further be pointed out that the grant of free zones at her northern ports would, in fact, be of direct financial benefit to Greece herself through the revivifying influence of increased trade on the life of those ports in general and through the restoration of a natural degree of intercourse between these Greek ports and their Slav hinterland. 4. The problem of the Western Macedonian Bulgarophones, who are briefly mentioned in paragraph 7 of the paper, also remains serious and formidable, in spite of its limited dimensions. This minority, which extends through the region from Florina and Kastoria through Siatista to the plain of Yannitsa, has proved exceedingly unreliable during the war.

Satisfactory data are not available, but it appears from events during the occupation that the dissatisfied minority must be considerably larger than is suggested by Greek census figures; and it is certain that successive Greek Governments have shirked facing the problem and have preferred to persuade even themselves that it did not exist. On the assumptions (1) that the policy of His Majesty’s Government is to treat Greece as the most important Balkan country from the point of view of British interests, and to support those elements in Greece which are most stably pro-British and (2) that Greece does not wish to belong to a Balkan Federation in which there would be a large Slav majority, it would appear to follow that Greece had better not contain any Slav minorities at all. And since the amputation of the Slav areas in Western Macedonia and their annexation to a Slav Federation is a practical impossibility and would also be economically disastrous for Greece. It would follow that, difficult as it may be, a home must be found for perhaps 120,000 Slav Macedonians north of the Greek frontiers of 1941. 5. I have sent copies of this dispatch to the Resident Minister at Caserta, to Mr. Houstoun- Boswall at Sofia and to Mr. Broad at Bari. I have, &c. R. A. Leeper. (1) See “Balkan States” print section, 26th August, Section 6. Thus, the young Macedonian children (here we are only talking about the children taken by the communists), sent to children’s homes in foreign countries, arrived with a one-way ticket (unlike the Greek children) with no prospect of ever returning home.

If we consider that childhood is the most beautiful part of every person’s life (and if, instead of happiness and beautiful moments, pain and sadness are experienced), then it deeply marks the child’s psyche and leaves a lasting mark, especially when it comes to the absence of parental love; a mother’s tender hand and a father’s support…

Thus beaten by the dry winds of the foreign lands, torn from the bosom of its parents the Macedonian child could not help but every day ask itself:

Who am I, where am I from, do I have parents: a mother…, a father…? Do I have grandparents, brothers, sisters, relatives… what is happening to me? Who brought me here and where am I going?

When such questions are asked in solitude, they can have an infinite number of answers which can deprive the child of reality and create confusion, especially when it finds itself seized in a collective under the eye of the Party and bombarded daily with “pedagogical” propaganda slogans, questions and answers, which obviously would break its soul. Then it would only be a matter of time before that child is brought up in the spirit of the Party and its leader...

And this is exactly what happened to the Macedonian children that were taken away!

And so in that spirit, every day, while standing in line, or participating in a ceremony, the Macedonian children were asked:

“To whom does General Markos belong?!” And they all loudly answered “To us!” “And to whom do you belong?” they were asked. “We belong to General Marcos!” they loudly answered.

And again here the child would wonder: “Who am I, where am I from, do I have...?”

This was not only done to the children… Their parents and relatives, who were mobilized by DAG and sent to the fronts, also faced a harsh regime. The CPG, under unprecedented pressure, discipline the people and, through its ideological acts using the slogan: “Destroy the Anglo-American occupier”, stripped them of their humanity. Imposed on the Macedonian parents without care, this slogan became a “cancerous wound”. The parents were falsely lead to believe that they could only see their children when they defeated the Anglo-American occupier. Something that was not possible at the time. 3

This was confirmed by the mothers at the front in 1848, four years after WW II ended and the war zones were placed under great power influence. One of the mothers was head saying: “Our poor children. When will we see them again? We will see them when we are free. How nice that would be... But in order to do that, we will have to ‘defeat Anglo-American fascism’. And to defeat it sooner, we all have to fight. And we who dig trenches every day, that’s our fight, that’s how we fight…”

“Last night we made more (3) bunkers. We do it so that our children can return to us faster, so that we and our husbands can go home...”

3 From October 5 to 20, 1944 on the international scene Stalin and Churchill discussed the Balkan division of spheres of influence in Yalta. The Yalta Agreement that resulted guaranteed that no socialist system would be implemented in Greece. Here is what Churchill wrote in his memoirs about the Balkans: “We arrived in Moscow in the late hours of October 9, 1944. We had our first significant meeting and counseling in the Kremlin the next day. Attending the meeting were Stalin, Molotov, Eden and myself. The Majors Boris and Popov performed the translations…” An agreement was reached on the division of spheres of influence. Under this Agreement, Greece was to fall under the English sphere of influence with rights, if necessary, at any time for England to intervene with all possible means. The degree of influence agreed to was England 90% Russia 10%. Stalin’s attitude towards Greece and the CPG during the war was unclear, even suspicious. From the available evidence we have there is a general indication that Stalin’s attitude towards Greece was negative. Stalin thought Greece was a small country and perhaps not a good place for conducting micro-strategic practices for the political interests of the Soviet Union. In the period from April to October 1944, while attending meetings with the British and Americans, Stalin did not bring up any substantial objections to British plans on how Greece was going to be governed.

If our religion teaches us that man is responsible for his every action, then according to his behavior he can be rewarded or punished. The Communist ideology however teaches us that a person must always fulfill Party tasks as required by the Communist Party. The Party!!?? Communist ideology demands that its ideological activists behave accordingly and are not allowed to ‘I think differently’. In other words Communist ideology demanded total submission from a common person. Only the Party was allowed to have power and magic. The individual had no responsibility, because his or her responsibility was fully directed by the Party. In time ideological activists became proud of themselves, knowing that they were strong, intelligent, thoughtful and very important in fulfilling Party postulates!!!!

So, the question that begs to be asked is what was NOF and AFZH’s responsibility? Were they not part of the Communist Party? And what about the slogans they carried?

As we will show, militarily speaking, they were deeply deceived, completely manipulated, utterly terrified and hopeless.

So, what kind of responsibility can we demand from them? If they were not responsible for anything then why were they sent to the Siberian prisons?! This is all nonsense but the gods of war still remain silent!

How did the Macedonian woman feel about all this??? Could her parental heart go against nature?!!!

This was what one woman was heard saying: “...No, I’m not leaving my friend, my sister and my brother to fight here, and I leave with the children. I know that they will be safe, I have full confidence in the women chosen too look after them. I will be able to contribute more to the fight if I stay here...”

How can that be? How can a woman, a mother, who lost everything, suddenly decide to abandon her own children in favour of fighting in an ideological war? Did she even know what she was doing? Unfortunately this is true...

Doesn’t this mean that she totally submitted her will to some external (ideological) force!? Isn’t this unprecedented abuse of ideological power?

This kind of controlled aggressive behavior can also be seen in the slogans:

“No Macedonian should be left outside NOF, the anti-fascist organization.”

“Only if we are organized in this way will we be able to destroy fascism and get our rights and the right to full self-determination.”

“Join NOF, the Anti-fascist organization, on mass.”

“Forward. All Macedonian women in the Anti-Fascist Women’s Front (AFZH) for the complete destruction of fascism, for our freedom, for our rights...”

But there were also those who had not forgotten the painful wounds inflicted on them by the cruel Greek Civil War.

One child, one of the older banished children, who lived through the homes in Eastern Europe, with a hazy memory, wondered: “Oh, I want so much to see my parents again, my family, my friends…” A wish that could not be fulfilled...4

But there is also another thesis, which seems more realistic, if we did not voluntarily leave our country than who made us leave? Remembering his past one such young person asked: “What wrong did we commit? “Who forced us to leave? Who did we serve, whose

4 Greece issued legal acts to ban Macedonians who participated in the Greek Civil War from returning to Greece. The ban on crossing the Greek border also extended to spouses and children. It is still in force for Macedonians, even those who left Greece as children without permission from the Greek government. This included the 28,000 children from the “Pedomazoma” conducted by the Communist Party of Greece. (See Risto Stefov, “Macedonians and the not so Civil war in Greece”, Risto Stefov Publications, Toronto, 2019).

interests did we serve? Are our people obliged to suffer like that? For how long…?! No single person can perpetrated such an act of evil... So, why am I the only one to blame? And what about the orders like me? What did they do?”

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