INTRODUCTION - Part 15

the other Oshchimians to try to encourage her to fight her disease and get better so that they could all be together again. Hospital staff stopped their visits, presumably due to the severity of the disease. The children knew that something was not right and soon learned that the Oshchimians had lost one of their own. While at Dohangiar, they had the honor of being guests at a luncheon in downtown Budapest given by the president’s wife, Mrs. Rakosi. She also donated sports dress for all the boys and girls. After approximately five months they were moved to a resort called Nogmagoch, for the school year 1948 – 1949, where they attended school full time for the first time since arriving in Hungary, learning Macedonian and Greek languages. Nogmagoch was the most beautiful resort. On the front of the building the globe was depicted. The globe was planted with red roses and with four statues placed symmetrically around the globe. The statues represented the four seasons of the year, each with a symbol of the season. The building itself was a beautiful palace. In the spring of 1949 John was moved back to Budapest to a dormitory called Zahariadis where he attended school. By September John was moved again to a dormitory in downtown Budapest called “Trpovski”. From here, boys and girls were directed to different schools and factories in many cities to work and learn a trade. In the meantime a new group of boys and girls arrived at Trpovski, on their way to Poland. At that time, John made an official request to be allowed to leave Hungary for Poland in order to be reunited with his brother Peter. The request was granted and in September of 1949 John left Budapest for Poland, meeting his brother in “Londek Zdroj”. In the spring of 1950 the two brothers split up again. John was transferred to “Zgozelec” in the dormitory called “Zahariadis” and then to “ Ujazd” outside “ Zgozelec” where he attended electrical school. John’s brother Peter left for the city of Shcecin for a while and then to Warsaw, taking auto mechanics. In the year 1951, John was transferred to Wojanow where he finished a two-year school in electronics, as a radio mechanic. It was here, in 1952, that John received news that his mother Christina had died in Toronto, at age 38. Needless to say it was devastating news, shattering their hopes of seeing their mother alive again. In the 1952-53 school year, John was admitted to a 4 year Technikum-College, starting in grade two at “Technikum Mechaniczno-Radiotechnichne” in the town of “Dzierzoniow”. In May of 1955 John graduated and received his certificate – Radio technician (Swiadectwo Dojzalosci) and was directed to work as a radio technician in the Polish radio “Radio Wroclaw” as a service technician at the transmitter site outside “Wroclaw”. John’s two sisters, Sophie and Lena, were in Yugoslavia until their departure for Canada 3 days before their mother died. On September 27th, 1955 John and Peter arrived in Toronto and were re-united with the rest of the family. A few years after arriving in Canada, John met Cena, through a school friend, at a St. Kiril church dance and on January 27th, 1957, John and Cena were married. Cena arrived in Canada, from Poland, in May of 1955. Cena was born on January 7th, 1937 in the village of Visheni, Kostursko, Macedonia, the daughter of Giorgi and Gitcha Stojchevi. John and Cena (Zena) have three children, all born in Toronto, Canada. Christina was born on June 29th, 1959, Mitchell (Mike) was born on May 22nd, 1961, and Caroline was born on August 10th, 1965. John and Cena have six beautiful grandchildren. Since their arrival in 1955, John and Cena have lived in Toronto and have been active participants in the local Macedonian community. Shortly after his arrival in Canada John joined the United Macedonians Committee of Canada. In 1964 he served as Secretary Treasurer and then later that same year, was elected President of the United Macedonians Committee of Canada for the year 1965; the year the United Macedonians had its biggest ever Ilinden Picnic, held at Spring Hill Park, Whitby, Ontario.

Since then, John served in many positions on the Executive Board of the organization. John was a co-founder of the United Macedonians of North America. At the first United Macedonians convention, held on September 3-7, 1970, John was elected President of the Joint Executive Board of the United Macedonians of North America. John was also one of the founders of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, St. Clement of Ohrid, in Toronto. John was elected to the Board of Directors in 1963 and he remained on the Board of Directors, during and after the construction of the church (1963 – 1965). In September of 1965, John was re-elected to the Board and served as Secretary Treasurer of the church in 1966, under the Presidency of Professor James Zugloff. John continues to be active in the church and has served on many boards. In 1980, John was elected President of St. Clement of Ohrid church for the years 1981-1982. Two

years later, at the American Canadian Orthodox Diocese Convocation in Gary, Indiana, in September of 1983, John was elected vice-president of the diocese for the years 1984 – 1985. John has also been an active supporter and member of Benefit Society of Oshchima.

Sofia (daughter of Kata and Vlcho)

Sofia, daughter of Kata and Vlcho was born in the village Zhelevo on August 15th, 1926 and currently lives in Toronto, Canada. Sofia came to live in Oshchima at age three and a half as a result of her father’s death and her mother’s marriage to Florin Mirchev from Oshchima. To protect the young girl’s future, Sofia’s last name was changed from Nikolovski to Mirchevski, thus assuming her mother’s new married name. Her brother Kole, born December 4th, 1924, drifted between Zhelevo and Oshchima while Sofia was joined by two stepbrothers named Kole and Lambro. Sofia completed grade six in the Oshchima public school and afterwards helped her mother look after her baby sister Fana, did housework, and tended the fields. In addition to several fields, the Mirchev family also owned a variety store, which was managed by Kole while Lambro managed the fields and tended the livestock. With the properties and the house well looked after, Florin was free to seek migrant employment (pechelbarstvo) and left for Canada in 1938. Life was typical for Sofia until 1941 when Kole and Lambro decided to move out of the Mirchev household to pursue lives of their own. Without the men, Kata, Sofia, and young Fana were left alone to fend for themselves. Being the most able bodied all responsibilities now fell on Sofia’s shoulders. In addition to housework, Sofia had to do the tilling, planting, and harvesting of the fields, cutting and transporting the wood, harvesting hay from the meadows, and all other chores usually reserved for men. Sofia had one passion in life, to ride her horse (another activity reserved for men) for which she was frequently criticized by her mother. In spite of all criticisms however, Sofia, in the absence of her mother, continued to ride her horse (like a man, instead of like a woman with both legs to one side). As fate would have it, one time she accidentally came across her mother and to avoid being seen she hurriedly tried to dismount. Unfortunately, her foot got caught in the stirrup and she fell face first. She still has the scars to prove it. Startled, the horse bolted leaving Sofia on the ground with bleeding cuts to her face. Her mother ran to her aid and soon after the horse came back and Sofia was rescued. The horse was later confiscated by the German military soon after the invasion. Sofia was sad to see it go. Life became even more difficult after the Italian and later the German invasions. Livestock and food were frequently confiscated and a certain amount of labour was demanded from each household. Sofia recalls one time when she was tilling the soil and her plough (ralo) caught on a thick root and broke. Without a plough she was in serious trouble. If she quit ploughing she would commit her family to starvation. Sofia wished there was some way that she could escape her harsh life, hoping that a door would open to a different world and she could walk away. From bad, life suddenly took a turn for the worse with the start of the Greek civil war. With her stepfather stranded in Canada, her brother drafted by the Greek Royal military, and her stepbrothers drafted by the Partisans she was now truly alone. Unfortunately, when things seemed bleak they became worse when the Partisans drafted Sofia herself. Who was going to look after Kata, young Fana, and baby brother Vasil (born August 1934)? Sofia was comforted by the fact that Fana was a capable girl and loved her mother very much, as long as they were together they would be all right. It was 1947 when Sofia was drafted along with 300 other young women and taken to German, Prespa for military training. Sofia spent three months in training before she found out that her draft was a mistake. One day during a military cleanup exercise, when the women were taken to Rula near central command, Sofia was encouraged to appeal her draft, on the grounds that two of her siblings were already drafted. During the early stages of the civil war the Partisans operated in accordance with set rules, especially regarding the number of family members simultaneously drafted.

Sofia’s appeal was heard and she was discharged.

There was another unfortunate episode in Sofia’s life that took place during the burning of the Oshchima barns. The investigators were pointing fingers at the Partisans but Sofia knew that the perpetrators were not Partisans because they were wearing badges on their hats. She saw a badge as it reflected the light of the flare, the night the barns were burned. But because of her remark in public, Sofia was dragged through a number of unpleasant investigations and frightening inquiries. Unfortunately, as the war progressed it reached a desperate stage and the Partisans again called Sofia to duty. It was January 1948 when she was sent for childcare training to Zhelevo, the town where she was born. After two months of training, Sofia was transferred to Nivitsi, Prespa to begin receiving the refugee children. Her initial task was to round up lost and orphaned children. Later she was to receive and prepare children for the exodus. Sofia recalls it was March 1st, 1948 when she was first transferred to Nivitsi and left for Hungary on April 30th of the same year. When all the children from the villages arrived they were organized into small groups and one by one sent on a trek out of the country. After reaching Rumbi, for their safety, the groups were diverted from the main paths and escorted over the mountains. Much of the terrain was rough and difficult to traverse, and the fear of being discovered made the situation even more tense. The guides were constantly yelling at the mothers to keep the children moving and quiet. At one point the group came across a dangerously steep slope. Sofia recalls the slope was full of loose rocks and led directly into the rushing waters of a river. It was too dangerous for the children to cross alone so each mother had to make several trips to carry the children on their shoulders one at a time. The slope was out in the open, exposed to aerial view and expediency was in order. Sofia was lucky that day as a tragedy was narrowly averted. In her haste to get across, Sofia tripped over a thorn bush and lost her balance. As she stumbled she managed to take the child off her shoulders and toss her up the slope. Luckily, the girl didn’t panic and was able to brace herself. Sofia then grabbed the child’s feet and regained her own balance. It was a frightening experience for everyone. After spending a short time in Yugoslavia, the children were loaded on trains and sent to various Eastern European countries. Sofia’s group, consisting of about 2,000 children (35 from Oshchima), was sent to Hungary. During her trip, Sofia found out that her sister Fana (born July 9th, 1931) had left home and was among the refugee children but it wasn’t until later that the siblings met in person. Sofia was happy to see her sister and at the same time was worried about the wellbeing of her mother. After reaching Hungary, the children gathered together in a military barracks in Budapest. There each child was undressed, sprayed with pesticide, bathed, dressed in new clothing, and given a package of toiletries that included a tube of toothpaste. The children, not knowing what the toothpaste was, mistook it for food. The aroma of mint reminded them of candy and many wasted the toothpaste, attempting to eat it. Initially, Greek and Macedonian children were mixed together in a single group. But due to outbreaks of fights, the authorities were forced to split the children into smaller groups, segregated by village of origin. The Oshchimian children and Sofia were grouped together with the children from Nivitsi and Besfina. After spending three weeks in quarantine the groups of children were adopted by the Hungarian community. Each village community supported by a factory complex adopted a group. Fortunately Sofia’s group was taken by one of the richest communities in the region and her children were privileged to live in quarters made of marble. Nearby there was a small lake teeming with exotic and colourful fish. Unfortunately, the children were all homesick missing their mothers and had little appreciation for luxury.

Slowly, however, routine began to take over as the children attended school and became involved in school activities. Besides the regular curriculum, the refugee children were expected to learn to read and write in their native language. Even though Greek officials administered the programs and scoffed at the idea, the Macedonian children were given the choice of learning Macedonian. There were a total of 300 children in Sofia’s camp attending grades six to eight, males and females mixed together. The dormitory, however, was a Catholic nunnery and the genders ate and slept in separate quarters. In August 1948, Sofia and 120 other immigrant women were sent to Romania for two months of training to upgrade their teaching skills.

As the civil war back home drew to an end, Sofia, through the Red Cross, found out that her mother was well. She had emigrated to Toronto, Canada in 1950 where she joined her husband Florin. From her Greek boss and school administrator, on the last day of school, Sofia also found out that her mother was looking for her. Kata had sent a message via the Red Cross wanting both of her daughters to join her in Canada. After sharing the news with Fana, the sisters decided to go, the urge being too strong to resist. This, however, was not good news for the Greek administration and as a result Sofia was fired from her teaching job. After this, Sofia was unable to find employment anywhere. Without a job, Sofia could not pay her bills and resorted to moving in with Kita Keleshova, another surrogate mother from Oshchima. Kita’s place was small and had no spare bed. Thanks to Oshchimian ingenuity, however, Pandoitsa, another Oshchimian woman, came to the rescue. Pandoitsa found a large burlap bag, filled it with hay and gave it to Sofia to use as a mattress. Her desire to cross the iron curtain landed Sofia in more trouble than she anticipated when she discovered that she couldn’t even purchase items from the stores. The local shops refused to sell her yarn. She had hoped that, being unable to support herself in any other way, she could resort to knitting gloves and sell them in the market. But as she discovered, she couldn’t even do that. Thanks to Kita’s mother however, who regularly purchased yarn for herself, yarn was also procured for Sofia. Fana shared a similar fate as Sofia. After finding out that she accepted the offer to leave Hungary for Canada, Fana in 1955 was kicked out of nursing school and she too ended up living with Kita. Finally the day came when Sofia and Fana were cleared to leave Hungary. They landed in Montreal on January 18th, 1955. When the doors of the plane opened, no one was allowed to leave. On the tarmac, music was playing and people were waving flags as the airplane’s captain announced on the P.A. system that the first Greek children from behind the iron curtain had arrived. Sofia and Fana looked around and concluded that they must be mistaken, there were no Greek children on the airplane. It was not until a Greek voice came over the P.A. asking anyone who spoke Greek to step forward, that the sisters realized they were talking about them. As they descended to the tarmac the media were taking pictures. To this day, Sofia still has the newspaper articles and photographs written about them and treasures them in a frame hanging in her home. The reception in Toronto was even grander, hailed as an historic moment of being the first refugee children to cross the iron curtain. This was also a triumphant event for the Red Cross, for its crowning achievement of rejoining war torn families from the Greek Civil War. No sooner had she landed in Canada than, according to her mother, being the eldest daughter and in the Macedonian tradition, Sofia’s priority was to quickly find a husband. She was twenty-nine years old when Sofia met George, a Hungarian man, whose culture and language she understood well. George was born on November 21st, 1925 and left Hungary for France in 1946 and from there emigrated to Canada in 1954. George married Sofia on January 28th, 1956. A couple of years later, on September 6th, 1958 their son Nick was born. The family followed Hungarian culture at home and brought up Nick in the Hungarian tradition but Sofia remained a Macedonian from Oshchima all her life. Fana, Sofia’s sister, in spite of promising Sofia she would marry a Macedonian boy, on May 1956, married Zoltan a Hungarian boy. Fana and Zoltan have three children, Leslie born June 22nd, 1958, John born January 9th, 1961, and Julie born August 5th, 1967, all born in Toronto. Vasil, Sofia’s youngest brother, left Oshchima in 1947 with the refugee children and ended up in Poland where he remained until 1955. Vasil arrived in Canada in September 1955 where he later met and married Yanna from Kostursko.

Vasil and Yanna have two daughters, Kathy and Dorothy, both born in Toronto. Vasil passed away on April 23rd, 1999.

Lambro (son of Risto and Anastasia)

Lambro, son of Risto and Anastasia Kozarov was born in the village Oshchima on October 23rd, 1922 and currently lives in Toronto, Canada. As a young boy Lambro completed grade six in public school in Oshchima then went to work on the family farm on a full time basis. Risto Kozarov’s family was poor and everyone, including Lambro even during his school years, had to work hard in order to

survive. Lambro’s father Risto was a pechalbar who traveled many places in search of work. On three separate occasions he traveled to Canada. While working in Canada he joined Benefit Society Oshchima and served as treasurer. He made regular contributions to the emergency travel fund set up to help pay the fare for Oshchimians who became ill or destitute and wanted to go home. When Lambro was born, his father was in Canada trying to earn a living. Even with the earnings from abroad, Risto’s family was still poor. The fields they owned hardly provided enough to sustain them. From youth Lambro had done every job conceivable, even the jobs nobody else wanted. During lonely times Lambro had his flute (kaval) to keep him company. Even as a youngster he had a passion for music and was able to play melodies simply by listening to them. By age sixteen he began to play the clarinet and joined local bands. By age nineteen Lambro (clarinet) joined with Pando Stefov (trumpet), Pando Kozarov (trombone), German Tanevski (trombone), and young Vasil Kozarov (snare drums) to form their own band. From time to time they contracted drummers like Ilo Kozarov and became very popular in Oshchima. They played mostly for fun, the love of music, and for enjoyment. They were very popular with young and old and played traditional Macedonian songs providing people with entertainment and culture. There was no television, radio or any form of electronic entertainment in those days; only live music which Oshchimians enjoyed to the fullest. Contracts from playing at festivals, weddings, and other events were a welcome supplement to Lambro’s income. In addition to working at home and playing in the band, Lambro also got a job at a blacksmith shop (kovach) in Prespa. From 1941 to 1947 Lambro, with fellow Oshchimian Kosta Argirov, made daily treks to Prespa to work and earn a living. Money was scarce in those days and services were paid for with grain. In 1943, at age twenty-one Lambro met and married Anastasia (Tasa) from Zhelevo. Tasa, daugher of Spiro and Zvezda was born in Zhelevo on December 22nd, 1922. Tasa completed grade six and began working full time at home and on the family farm. As a young girl, Tasa learned to knit and crochet, making her own wardrobe and dowry. Tasa was a shy girl and wanted a simple wedding ceremony but Lambro spared no expense and gave her a traditional Macedonian wedding. The wedding took place on December 25th, 1943 after which Tasa moved to Oshchima to live with Lambro’s family. A year later they were blessed with their first child Sofia, who was born on September 24th, 1944. During the occupation Lambro and Tasa, along with the rest of the Kozarov family, maintained a low profile and stayed out of harms way. After the occupation on September 4th, 1947, Lambro and Tasa’s second daughter Sevda was born. By now the Greek civil war was brewing and the Partisans drafted him to serve in their music bands. Unfortunately Lambro developed an abdominal hernia and after serving for about a month and a half, in May and June of 1947, he was released. Due to the conflict and the dangers it created for travelers, Lambro gave up his job in Prespa and went to work in Zhelevo as a blacksmith This lasted a couple of years when once again the Partisans drafted him, this time for combat duty. Fortunately before his training was completed the war ended and Lambro was released. He complained to one of the field physicians in the camps about the pain from his hernia and was released a short time before the war ended. Instead of being sent home to recuperate, Lambro was sent to the camps in Albania to wait for new orders. When the war was over Lambro became a refugee and along with many other Macedonians was sent to Tashkent in the Soviet Union. After the Partisans took Lambro in 1949, Tasa remained at home. For the most part between 1947 and 1949 Tasa, because she was a mother of a child younger than two years old, was immune from being drafted by the Partisans.

She was, however, responsible for providing manual labour as required. At that time her daughter Sevda was very ill and Tasa could not leave her alone so she often asked her mother-in-law to be her substitute for duties to the Partisans. Tasa and her mother-in-law got along very well and had a mutual respect and admiration for each other. Tasa’s mother-in-law unfortunately had limited use of one leg and walked with a limp. Because of her condition, most of the time she was assigned to light duties such as delivering food and water to the workers. Sofia was three years old when the Partisans came calling for the evacuation to save the children. With tears in her eyes and sorrow in her heart, Tasa prepared her daughter and sent her off. Sofia, however, did not like the idea of being separated from her mother and by the time the group got to Preol

she went missing. She was miles away from home and too young to take care of herself but luckily made it home safely. After that Tasa had a long talk with her and left her in the personal care of surrogate mother Fania Petkovska from Oshchima. Sofia became a refugee child and eventually ended up in Czechoslovakia. During the fall of 1949 when Oshchima was being evacuated Tasa could not leave because Sevda was ill. She wanted to leave but where could she go with a sick child? Each day she hesitated the situation worsened until one day a bomb fell in her yard killing her calf and smashing her horse’s saddle. The experience shocked her and she packed and was ready to leave the next morning. Unfortunately, by dawn the Greek army was in the village and it was no longer safe to leave the house. Soon after all Oshchimians remaining in the village, including Tasa and Sevda, were rounded up and relocated to Zhelevo where they spent the winter of 1949 and the spring and summer of 1950 before they were allowed to return home. Left alone to fend for herself, Tasa found life very difficult. She worked the fields by herself planting and harvesting potatoes, beans, and corn struggling to make a meager living. After arriving in Russia, Lambro’s first priority was to reunite his family. He was desperately needed back home but politics made it difficult to return. The next best thing he could do was retrieve his daughter Sofia from Czechoslovakia and bring her to live with him in Tashkent. While in Russia, Lambro worked for a year then joined the conservatory of music. There he spent four years learning to read and write music and play musical instruments. He loved music and learned to play several wind instruments, his favourite always being the clarinet. Tasa in the meantime continued her struggle to repatriate her family. By 1958 she had a breakthrough and by 1959 her family was together again. Lambro and Sofia were allowed to return home. The war years devastated the population of Oshchima and life became even harder for the Kozarov family. In addition to the daily toil in the fields trying to earn a meager living, morale was low. The streets were silent as only a few people were left. By now Sofia was nearing marrying age and caught the eye of a Zhelevo man named Kole. He had come from Canada on vacation. Soon after they met, Kole and Sofia were married and in 1961 Sofia left for Canada to join her husband. Sofia had experienced hardship first hand and knew that life in Oshchima would be harsh for her family, especially for her youngest sister Dafina who was just one year old when she left. Dafina was born on February 4th, 1960 a year after the families’ reunion. From the moment she arrived in Canada, Sofia made every effort to give her family a better life. Two years later, on July 3rd, 1963 Lambro arrived in Canada to join his daughter. Six months later Tasa, Sevda, and Dafina left their ancestral home for the last time and the whole family was once again reunited in their new home in Toronto, where they live to this day.

Krsto (son of Iovan and Tsveta)

Krsto, son of Iovan and Tsveta was born in the village Oshchima on September 28th, 1935 and currently lives in Toronto, Canada. Krsto attended grade school in Oshchima up to grade four. His education was interrupted in 1948 by the Partisan sponsored refugee children evacuation program. Krsto was too young to remember much detail about his life in the village but was able to recall a few memories. He remembers the Greek-Italian conflict of 1940 and old men discussing the war and who was going to win. He also remembers the beauty of Oshchima’s vineyards, the variety of grapes, and his fondness for their taste. Krsto lived with his mother and eighty-year-old grandfather in the Popov house, next to the stream Trapo, sandwiched between the cliff Rit and the Keleshov clan. The house was shared with Mito’s (Krsto’s oldest brother’s) family. Besides his aging grandfather, Krsto was the man of the house. Krsto’s father was a pechalbar stranded in Canada, his middle brother Giorgi was a prisoner in the Greek concentration camps, and his oldest brother was a soldier fighting the Italians in Albania. Krsto being the eldest male living at home assumed responsibility for most chores around the house and on the farm. Being of such a young age Krsto found life hard. He recalls collecting wood for cooking and winter heating, harvesting grain and hay, sheep and cow herding, and many other chores that were usually

reserved for grown men. He remembers receiving help from older boys in his neighbourhood, like Nikola Stefou, who gave him tips on cow herding and protected him from the bullies from other neighbourhoods. Krsto also remembers the pestilence of grasshoppers descending from the sky in dark clouds and eating everything in their path. He remembers the old men shaking their heads at the sight and muttering words, predictions of disaster. After the expulsion of the Italian and German occupation, life in the region seemed to be returning to normal. But as it turned out normal life was a short-lived illusion. The same liberation forces that expelled the occupiers, now vying for control of the country, turned on each other and escalated the conflict into a civil war. The Partisan force, half of which consisted of Macedonian fighters led by Greek commanders, pitted against the Greek Royal Army brought the conflict northward as it intensified. The Greek army in possession of bombers, fighter planes, and tanks pushed the lightly armed Partisans into the mountains of Vicho and Gramos. Many Macedonian villages, suspected of harbouring Partisans, became targets of the Greek bombers. The situation placed the civilian population in peril; especially the children and evacuation plans were contemplated. Krsto remembers the day the Partisans came to Oshchima and met with residents in the school to discuss evacuation plans for the children. The Partisans explained the rationale of the program and reassured mothers that it was temporary, three to four months until the danger passed before the children would be back home. Next came the evacuation. Residents were encouraged to voluntarily bring their children ages four to fourteen to the Village Square (stret selo). Mothers quickly prepared luggage, with a change of clothing and bags (torbi) of food and utensils before escorting their young ones to the gathering place. By the afternoon of this day, March 25th, 1948, Oshchima was emptied of its young. With eyes tearing mothers returned home from escorting their children into the hands of destiny. The cries of children, for their mothers, could be heard in the distance as they walked uphill towards Preol for Prespa. They walked behind their surrogate mothers holding hands, the older children comforting the young as they crossed over Preol into Prespa. They arrived in Strkovo and spent the rest of the day there. Under cover of darkness the children silently slipped by Rabi across the Yugoslav border and into Dupeni. From there they were moved to Luboino to wait for more arrivals from Kostour and other regions. Krsto and other Oshchimian children, in the care of mother Sevda Popovska, spent three days in Luboino in a small room on the lower level of a house, sleeping on a straw floor before they were loaded on trucks and shipped to Bitola. After two hours of waiting at the Bitola train station they were loaded on a train and sent to Brailovo. Food was in short supply. The hungry children, lonesome for their mothers and irritated by the constant bites of fleas cried themselves to sleep. After a week’s stay at Brailovo, the children were loaded on a train and sent to Skopie. They arrived in Skopie on April 8th, 1948 and spent two days in the train station. While waiting, Krsto remembers meeting Simo Keleshov, another Oshchimian, who came to the train station looking for his children. Simo took his children and left. A while later, to everyone’s surprise the cars began to roll. At that time the Oshchimian children and mothers were spread out in three cars. While the children were playing the mothers got together for a chat. Unbeknownst to them the cars were separated and now heading for different destinations. Krsto and others went to Romania, the mothers and some children went to Czechoslovakia, and the rest were sent to Bela Tsrkva, deeper into Yugoslavia. Krsto arrived in Kalimeneshti, Romania, April 11th. About one thousand five hundred children were offloaded and sent straight to the baths.

Their flea-ridden clothes were washed in boiling water. After the bath, each child was issued under garments and pajamas and sent to a nearby compound, formerly used by the Germans as a hospital during the war. The children stayed there from April until October 1948. Then on October 25th, 1948 the children were moved to Poland. Before the trip, Krsto remembers trying on his old clothes but they would not fit. Most of the garments brought from home were woolen and shrank during the hot wash. Children were left without clothes. Fortunately, replacement garments were donated and given to them before leaving for Poland. After spending six months in Romania in a quasi-supervised compound and without any schooling, the children became wild and undisciplined. With one supervisor for the entire train, the trip to Poland was a joyride. Krsto remembers mischievously climbing through the window of a car to the roof of the moving train. To this day Krsto cringes at the thought and the danger in which he put himself. After the climb, Krsto and pals Alexander and Vasil stood upright and pretended to fly as the

train sped to its destination. When the train approached a tunnel the trio lay flat on their stomachs. Enveloped in billowing smoke from the steam engine, their faces blackened beyond recognition. When they crossed into Poland the train was taken over by a Polish crew. A supervisor, trained to deal with children was assigned to each car to deal with the rowdiness. For the rest of the trip, the children were well fed and rewarded with chocolates and apples for good behavior. When they arrived in Poland at the city of Londek Zdrui, the children were placed under Greek supervision, grouped by age and assigned to various school dormitories. Children of unknown age were grouped by size. Initially the children refused to cooperate. They distrusted the administrators and feared being separated from each other as had previously happened in Skopie. It took Red Cross intervention and much re-assurance to convince them to cooperate. Unlike the compound in Romania, the dorms in Poland were well staffed with one director and two or three assistants per dorm. Each dorm had eight to ten rooms with four children per room. There was no shortage of food, toys or games. The directors were responsible for supervising morning exercises, breakfast, and getting the children to school on time. After school they made sure the children came back safely, were given supper and put to bed. Krsto was placed in grade four and after spending a year at the dorms of Londek Zdrui he was relocated to Sgozelets, in October 1949, to attend regular school. The older children were enrolled in a two-year trade program. In August 1951, graduates from regular school were offered a four year technical program in mechanical, electrical or textile technologies. Upon successful completion, each graduate was guaranteed a job. Krsto chose to enroll and successfully completed the mechanical technology course. Instead of going off to a job, however, he applied and successfully passed the entrance exams to the Institute Polytechnic. But before he was able to start classes he left for Canada. For years Krsto had wanted to be with his father but global politics made it difficult. With the help of the Red Cross and its repatriation program, Krsto left Poland on September 25th, 1955 to join his family in Toronto. Krsto’s father Iovan came to Canada in 1937 as a pechalbar and had mixed feelings about returning home. The fact that there was a war going on and that the Greek Government had abandoned him made it much more difficult to return. After the partition of Macedonia in 1912 and 1913, Greece began to enlist Macedonians into the ranks of its military. Iovan was drafted prior to the 1922 Asian campaign and ended up fighting for the Greeks in Turkey. Unfortunately, he was captured and remained a prisoner of war for six years, unbeknownst to the village and his family who assumed he was dead, missing in action. Six years later on Easter Iovan came home. He was penniless and in tatters, thrown out of prison literally naked. He had to fashion himself a garment made from discarded burlap in order to travel. Being a non-Greek he received absolutely no benefits from the Greek Government. Iovan was poor, his land and farm could not produce enough to sustain his growing family so he was forced to seek work elsewhere. Canada was a popular choice for fortune seekers especially if they had relatives living there who could assist them in finding work. Iovan was lucky that his wife’s brothers were living in Canada. They came to Canada during the Turkish era before 1912 and were well established. Happy to be in Canada, Krsto got a job in a restaurant and did some traveling that included trips to the Macedonian community in Mansfield, Ohio. While there, at a dance in 1963, he caught the eye of a young lady name Lena. After several more trips to Ohio, Krsto proposed to Lena and they became engaged. On April 4th, 1964 they married and Lena moved to Toronto to live with Krsto. Lena, daughter of Tanas and Anastasia from Orovnik, and granddaughter of the famous Prespan Tanas, was born on August 10th, 1944 in the village of Orovnik, Prespa.

Lena left Orovnik in March of 1948 with her aunt as a refugee and was too young to remember anything about her life there. Her aunt, in later life, told her about her village Orovnik and how life was there. Her trek for the next twelve years took Lena to Romania and Poland where she spent most of her time attending school. Then in 1962 it was made possible for Lena to leave Poland and join her father and sister in Mansfield Ohio, USA. After working for two years in a factory, Lena left Mansfield for Toronto to live with her husband Krsto. Lena and Krsto have two children, John (Iovan), born on March 1st, 1966 and Elizabeth (Tsveta), born on January 19, 1969, both born in Toronto, Canada. Krsto and Lena are both active in the Macedonian community in Toronto. Krsto is an active participant in the organization Benefit Society Oshchima while Lena is an active participant in the Macedonian

churches, retirement home, and Oshchimian events. Krsto and Lena’s children were brought up in the Oshchimian tradition by Baba Tsveta and Dedo Iovan.

Ristana (daughter of Krsto and Petra)

Ristana Minovska daughter of Krsto and Petra was born in Oshchima on December 18th, 1930. As a child, Ristana lived at the Ioanovski house and spent most of her time working on the farm, helping out with family chores and learning to knit and crochet. Ristana completed grade three before the Greek-Italian conflict commenced and forced schools to close. With her grandfather’s help Ristana learned how to read and write and also became good at arithmetic. She was sixteen when her writing skills almost got her into trouble. The incident took place one night when Ristana’s feet were aching from walking barefoot and needed attention. Her grandmother put together a potion and used it on her feet to soothe the pain. This went on well through the night. Every time she cried with pain her grandmother came running. In the meantime, Greek police patrols (bourandari) watching the houses, looking for Partisans, saw the light (kandilo) moving from room to room in the dark. Without hesitation they surrounded the house and forcibly went in, demanding to know where the Partisans were. When Ristana’s grandmother explained that there were no Partisans in the house, the police demanded to know why there was light moving from room to room. Ristana’s grandmother explained the situation to them but they still did not believe her. Even after she took them to see Ristana with bandages on her feet, they still had doubts and searched the house and found a letter they considered suspect. On one side the letter was addressed to an uncle living locally and on the other to an uncle (Stoian) living in Bitola. Young Ristana had been practicing letter writing and had composed a pretend letter to her uncles. This was explained to the police but they were not convinced and demanded to know who was the person living in Bitola and why was this letter written to him. Ristana, her letter, and others in the house were dragged out in the middle of the night and taken to the Moushov house where the police conferred with an unknown person. Ristana and the others were later released unharmed. As the Partisan movement gained momentum, both sides of the conflict were drafting able Oshchimians. By 1946 the Partisans had drafted most of Ristana’s family. The Greek patrols in the area became vigilant, constantly looking for Partisans and for people aiding them. Fearing for her life, one day in 1946 Ristana and her uncle Paso left Oshchima for the safety of Mount Moro. After that episode Ristana joined the Partisan youth core. Along with others her age she was responsible for guarding Oshchima and transporting courier messages between command posts. Ristana could have gone with the refugee children but her concern for her grandmother kept her home. But as luck would have it, the Partisans drafted her and she was sent to the village of Papli to work in the fields. About a year later in July 1948, Ristana was transferred to a military support unit to transport supplies and work in the fields. Using donkeys and mules she and several other women were responsible for picking up and dropping off grain between villages, in Partisan held territories. The group was also responsible for harvesting crops when required. This lasted for several months until the winter of 1948 when Ristana was transferred to the military training camp in Roudari where she spent December and January training in combat tactics and in the use of weapons. She was then sent to Trnaa for more training and re-assignment in preparation for the assault on Lerin. In February 1949, trained troops in good spirits and dressed in white capes were ready to fight. This was Ristana’s first battle. She was anxious and thinking about freeing the captives in the Lerin prison camp. If only this battle took place a couple of years earlier she could have freed her father and uncles. Now they were in the Greek islands suffering humiliation, hunger, and beatings. After arriving at Psoderi near the battleground, instead of engaging the enemy the Partisans were told to hold their position.

The delay cost them three days. Unprepared, many endured the cold and slept in the snow in makeshift tents. After the third day, Ristana’s unit was ordered to take defensive positions at Trsianski Kalivi to prevent the Greek Army from mounting an attack from the rear. Finally the order was given and the offensive on Lerin began but it did not unfold as planned. The Greek Army anticipated