MESSAGES

MESSAGES

“A stone? That too is soil – a part of you... everything has its own roots and should be supported by them…” 87;

“I will not take the primer from you... From wherever you will be, you will talk to your people only with letters…” 88;

“… Kire my son, wherever you go, wherever you are, protect the language, protect our word... because life begins and ends with it…” 89

Through the words: stone, word, root, the author has sent a clear message 90 which is characterized by actuality. This means that the events described in the novel are not just an attempt to “capture” history, at the moment when the events take place, but to point out that the Greek Civil War was a great evil for the Macedonian people. This is a lesson we will learn from this novel. Actions such as white terror, poverty, hunger, fear, life lived in constant terror, death, personal and collective disasters, traumas in a marginalized environment, being forgotten, all left a great and lasting mark on the Macedonian people. At the same time there is also some hope in this social upheaval as promised by the communists. However, the most important thing in all this is the truth. Its significance stems from the fact that the more diligent it is, the more it is a source of

85 Ibid., p. 175 86 Ibid., p. 117 87 Ibid., p. 84 88 Petre Nakovski: I kamenot e zemja. - Skopje: Ogledalo, 1988, p. 144 89 Ibid., p. 174 90 Temperature of message - See: Venko Andonovski: Struktura na Makedonskiot realistichen roman. -Skopje: Detska radost, 1997, p. 126

historical facts, realities taken from life, knowledge from people, motivation from their attitudes, relationships, acts, consciousness and the time in which they lived and acted.

There are two more events with their great symbolism in the novel that require our attention.

First: Reverend Vasil wrote down some information about certain historical events in the pages of the Holy Scriptures. Why? Because this information would be permanent and the truth would remain fixed through these entries on its pages.

Second: Old lonely Krstovitsa’s request, living alone in the village Krchishta, leaves an unusually big impression in the epilogue:

“…to tell everyone… tell all our people that I am the last one to remain here… I am the only one left in our village… To protect the soil, to light candles, to burn wood in the fireplace. Tell them my chimney is the only chimney that smokes and my window is the only window that has light in the night that can be seen from Dishonor, Stenite, Telok, Borovo, Pratselo… so that the beasts don’t get the idea that there is no life here...” 91

This is not only a message but also a symbol that, despite all the mishaps, life still goes on in that region...

91 Petre Nakovski: I kamenot e zemja. - Skopje: Ogledalo, 1988, p. 180

5.3. “GOLEMATA UDOLNITSA” (THE GREAT DECLINE)

“For as long as its smoulders, for as long as a single spark exists, for as long as you feel its warmth on your fingers, then it is a part of life. If it runs out of smouldering coals then the fireplace becomes a simple ornament, a simple memory just like a distant childhood memory...” 92

The novel “Golemata udolnitsa” (The great decline) by Petre Nakovski is a kind of chronicle and testament to the people who lived and experienced the war storm during the Greek Civil War. It was published in 2003 and is a continuation of the novel “I kamenot e zemja” (A stone too is soil). The novel follows the agony of life, the bitterness and harsh truth about the Macedonian burnt offering expressed through the fate of the characters that are sacrificed in the name of freedom and national and individual dignity.

Why the title “Golemata udolnitsa” (The great decline)?

Figure 8. Cover page of the novel “Golemata udolnitsa” (The great decline)

About this, Academic Gane Todorovski will write: “This is a terrible allegory down our historical path - is it a fall into a metaphorical abyss or is it just an ugly illusion of a historically frightened people of whom none wholeheartedly offered a hand of support, at least so far?” 93

92 Petre Nakovski: Golemata udolnitsa. - Skopje: Makavej, 2003, p. 64 93 Stozer, January-March 2004, p. 42

The title “Golemata udolnitsa” (The great decline) carries the truth which is completely opposite to the model and to the message imbedded in the song that the Macedonians sang while going to fight at the front:

“Vo borba, vo borba, vo borba (To struggle, to struggle, to struggle), Makedonski narode (Macedonian people), Za sveta narodna sloboda (For holy national freedom), So pesni I rados se mre-e-e. (With songs and joy...” 94

The ideal expressed in the song with the words: Macedonian people to struggle for national freedom was lost because, in place of the “ideal of liberating the Macedonian people”, the CPG dropped the slogan: “DAG fights against Anglo-American imperialism.” The moment the ideal of struggling for national rights and liberation was removed the Macedonian struggle was lost. All hope expressed in this verse was lost and hence the title of the novel “Golemata udolnitsa” (The great decline) a symbol for the lost ideal, aspiration and hope.

The action in the novel is set, in part, in Kostur Region and in the North Pind Region known as Gramos. The time frame is from August 1947 to August 1948 and is a literary chronotope, showing the essential connection between temporal and spatial relations, because “time and space are the strongest advocates of reality” 95 through which the author reconstructs the past from the testimonies given by the characters, who believe that after winning the war they will also win national rights. The novel is literature about the Greek Civil War, literature about the destruction of the human psyche, literature about the characteristics of the DAG fighters, young men and women and mostly literature about the Macedonian women’s participation in the Greek Civil War.

The chronological composition of the course of events is followed through the facts presented in the novel. It then gradually introduces us to time, to military events and follows the fate of the young Macedonian men and women, especially those from Kostur Region.

The following events are processed in the core content:

• Mobilization (by deception) of young ladies and their preparation for war.

• The courage of young men and women at the front and the civilian population in the background, logistical activities of the Greek Civil War.

• Mutual suspicion between the main communist characters regarding the way to conduct the armed movement and DAG’s combat tactics.

94 Petre Nakovski: Golemata udolnitsa - Skopje: Makavej, 2003, p. 7 95 Venko Andonovski: Struktura na Makedonskiot relistichen roman. - Skopje: Detska radost, 1997, p. 147

Nakovski begins the novel with a description of a real event where AFZH activists use fraud in the Kostur region villages to mobilize women ages 16 to 20, assuring them that they are only needed in free Gramos to process wool into sweaters, socks, gloves, etc., for the needs of the DAG fighters. The words the AFZH activists used were convincing:

“Ladies, fall is coming and will soon be followed by winter which will bring cold, rain and snow. Our fighting brothers will need sweaters, socks, gloves. Who will give them these things if not we, their sisters? We need to knit day and night?” 96

Through a net of shameless suggestions, these young ladies were taken to the front to end up in circumstances unworthy of people. The young women were deceived and taken to the Gramos front, and instead of being given spindles and knitting needles, they were given rifles and were surrendered to the military for training. They were then rigorously trained by the political commissars. One of the things they insisted on was that: “Your rifle must always be clean... Your soul can be dirty but your rifle must be clean at all times! 97 They were then taken to the front where they faced all the hardships imposed by the war. They were pushed into a military typhoon and thrown into the trenches where they fought side by side with other fighters.

In that ideal there was no chance to fulfill the dreams of the young people. There was no conscience and no love… everything was about destruction. And this is exactly what should be entrenched in our individual and collective memory. Not only were their joy and dreams killed, but they were instilled with the wrong mind-set; the feeling of hope that they were fighting for something magnificent, and that they were sacrificing their lives in the name of that magnificence. This novel also describes what war is really about. The author authentically describes the nightmare and evil taking place at that time.

Figure 9. Young ladies - DAG fighters

96 Petre Nakovski: Golemata udolnitsa - Skopje: Makavej, 2003, p. 5 97 Ibid., p. 18

Young people participating, especially Macedonian girls, in DAG’s realization of military goals at the war front are vividly and dramatically presented throughout the pages of the novel “Golemata udolnitsa” (The great decline). The courage of these young men and women is shown through the authentic descriptions the author has included in his novel, derived from testimonies of people who were direct participants in the war front. Their courage is a consequence of the warmth in the family home and the Macedonian folk songs they sang in the trenches during breaks in the fighting. So, it is no surprise that a senior military commander, addressing the fighters, said: “Your songs are good… They grab you by the throat, by the heart, but they are not for these kinds of occasions. The following must be sung now: Vrondai o Olimbos, ke se stravti i Giona… (A Greek song).” 98

While these young people were freezing in the trenches they tried to raise their morale by thinking and remembering how it was at home, the warmth of being at home in winter. The fire and the hearth - as they were at home were also present in the trenches. Memories of them warmed the fighters and brought them back to their homes. The author uses this symbolism to signify home, fire, family happiness. But the war destroyed and erased everything...

While serving in the trenches the fighters constantly looked back and thought of how nice it was when they were at home. Most characteristic of this were the statements made by Tsilka whose memories are also testimonies of her warm home in Krchishta: “Since I was very young I listened to my grandfather and remembered what he told me. I remember him saying: ‘odeshchem, placheshchem...’ And some words I memorized from the prayers. My grandfather often read the scriptures and I repeated them. ‘Dear Lord, I call thee, to protect me, God; please hear my words… and then he would cross himself three times in front of the icon of the Virgin Mary… One day Dina, our neighbour, came inside our house. The woman had a habit of entering houses without knocking. She came over to borrow a cup of sugar and heard my grandfather praying. She had a big mouth and told many people about it. Ten days later the police came and took my grandparents away... they sent them into exile.” 99 “At home for Tsilka, above all, were her grandparents, her younger sisters and her brother... At home were the spindle and other instruments for processing wool... At home was also the old smoky icon of the Virgin Mary...” 100

Family values were contrary to the communist ideal. Under this condition and behaviour, the morals acquired in family upbringing became devalued.

The greatness and courage possessed by the young Macedonian women are described by the author through these young women, who were forcibly mobilized into DAG’s ranks, crossing paths under difficult climatic conditions, often hungry, thirsty, exhausted from marches, insomnia… Here he shows examples of courage, heroism and dedication. Macedonian DAG fighters together with their Greek comrades show high

98 Ibid p. 156 99 Ibid., p. 122 100 Ibid., pp. 183-186

morale and determination when performing their combat tasks. Macedonian fighters at the Sveti Ilia-Gorusha-Krusha-Gupata war front stood out and proved themselves worthy. The fighting there lasted from June 16 to August 20, 1948. About this General Zafiropoulos, in his book “Antibanditskata vojna 1945-1949” (Anti-Bandit war 1945-1949), wrote: “During the fighting Slavo-Macedonian units were deployed, whose fighters were characterized by firmness and strength in spirit and body.” 101 The fighting spirit of DAG fighters is especially highlighted in the ninth chapter of the novel “Golemata udolnitsa” (The great decline), which features Iani’s expression, a DAG fighter who demonstrates commitment in the following way: “They are all dead, the hill is gone... the top of the hill is now a foot or two lower…” 102

The entire population was mobilized for the 70-day battle on Gramos. Entire villagers in the immediate front vicinity were evacuated and relocated to Albania. Nakovski followed their fate in the novel “Postela za chemernite” (A bed for the wretched). The long battles at Gramos were called epic, about which the author, through Iani’s character said: “They became eternal guards at the front in Kopanche, Sveti Ilia, Koteltse, Gupata and Gorusha as well as in Bel Kamen and Krusha.” “Yesterday shamelessly brave and before birth they promised to be crowned in front of the altar...” “The crippled pines poured resin like tears...” “The wind weaved wreaths from the burning leaves and laid them on the burning earth...” “The flames in Gramos should have crowns and each of the tombs should have the image of a king...” “Church bells should ring and lamps lit for as long as the world shines, and for as long as life exists...” 103

Here we get the answer to the question: “Did the Macedonians in Aegean Macedonia (Northern Greece) enter the Greek Civil War as communists, i.e. as disciplined members of the CPG or did they enter the war looking for something other than what the communist idea carried?

All this necessitates the reader to pass on the message to future generations 104 to tell them the truth about everything that happened and in this we want to recall a thought expressed by Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz: “If I forget Them, You God in heaven forget me.”

In the novel “Golemata udolnitsa” (The great decline), the author vividly describes the characters of Markos and Zahariadis who had different opinions about how to lead the movement.

The author’s aim in this novel is to present the evil perpetrated against the Macedonian people, and in connection with this are described “scenes and chronicles of cruelty, ruthlessness, humiliation, betrayals and slaughter perpetrated by pro-communist Greek generals and later by the then communist countries who, as refugees, accepted the

101 See: Zafiropoulos: Antibanditskata vojna 1945-1949, p. 394 102 See: Petre Nakovski: Golemata udolnitsa. - Skopje: Makavej, 2003, pp. 215-217 103 Ibid., pp. 216-217 104 Venko Andonovski: Abduktsia na teoriata. - Skopje: Galikul, 2011, p. 204

Macedonians from Aegean Macedonia who only dreamed of their homeland and of their altar of autocephaly…” 105

This war novel, which is the subject of our analysis, contains a series of elements of “literature of fact” through which we learn the truth about time, events, people and their views.

The first element, which confirms that the work has elements of “literature of fact”, is the authenticity of space, names of settlements, toponyms. The author has accurately recorded the topography through the use of Macedonian names such as:

Villages: Krchishta, D’mbeni, Pilkati, Breznitsa, Slimnitsa, Kosinets, Lobanitsa, Smrdesh, Ianoveni, Kalevishta, Miroslavitsa, Tuhuli, Chetirok, Nestram, Kosinets, Dolno Papratsko, Zhelegozhe, Koteltse, Chuka, Grazhe, Sveta Ana, Ludovo, Ezerets, Visheni, Trstika, Sveta Nedela, Popli, Blatsa, Pozdivishta, Aetomilitsa and Gramoshta - Vlach villages, Kalevishta, Drenovo, Nivitsi, Stenie, Psoderi, Revani, Shak, Rabi, Medovo, Peroo, Vineni, Statitsa, Kleshtina, Rakovo, German, Bulkes, a village in Serbia 106, Sveti Ilia - monastery.

Cities: Sukt – a town in Albania near Durres, Konitsa, Kiuteza - a town in Albania, and Rupishta, Kostur, Solun.

Sveti Ahil - an island on Little Lake Prespa.

Mountains: Gramos, Vicho, Pind, Krastavets, Flamburo, Charno, Alevitsa, Amuda, Nikoler, Dolna Arena, Mali Madi, Morava Planina, Kopanche, Chuka, Bigla, Vrba, Ivan Planina, Siniachka, Gorusha, Krusha, Kopanche, Suva Gora, Vrba, Arena, (Gorna and Dolna) Bela Voda, Gupata, Bel Kamen, Lunzer, Vrba, Faltsata, Lisets, Kulkuturia, Iamata - name of a mountain hill, Baro and Roto.

Toponyms: Koreshtata, Bel Kamen, Kostursko Pole, Stara Livada, Bei Bunar, Shekaritsa, Preval, Polenata, Golinata, Misodagista.

Rivers: Bistritsa, Morava, Novoselska Reka.

Even though the Greek state today has renamed (Hellenized) all these villages, mountains, toponyms, rivers, and had given them Greek names, the reader can find their original and real names in this novel; the old names of places which existed in Aegean Macedonia (Northern Greece). Here the readers are given an opportunity to enrich their knowledge of the past, of history and all this should be preserved in the altar of our national memory.

105 See: Branko Cvetkovski’s review of the novel “Golemata udolnitsa” by Petre Nakovski, Skopje: Makavej, 2003 106 See: Petre Nakovski: Golemata udolnina. - Skopje: Makavej, 2003, p. 205

The second element that confirms that the work has elements of “literature of fact” is the time frame and the events that took place during that time period.

In this novel the author accurately and chronologically presents the events which left a lasting mark on the Macedonian people. He has described facts and given us information on events that took place in the life of certain individuals and social groups that are key to shedding light on the fateful turmoil of the Macedonian people from Aegean Macedonia (Northern Greece).

In the fall of 1947, while the Greek Civil War was raging on, the UN sent an international commission of inquiry to Greece to find out, through talks with DAG fighters and civilians, the reasons for its outbreak and whether or not the USSR and theEastern Bloc countries were involved, especially the neighbouring countries: Yugoslavia, Albania and Bulgaria.

One American journalist who went there independently in search of reasons for the outbreak, in a long conversation with a grandmother, learned many truths about the Macedonian situation. Also in a letter to his son, which his son never received, he expressed admiration for Macedonia, the Macedonian woman and her attachment to her country and home. At the same time, he expressed his protest against the US Congress decision to grant Greece 300 million dollars in military aid through the Truman Doctrine. 107

It was said on record that throughout the fighting the Greek National Army was using state-of-the-art American weapons, while DAG was using infantry weapons from World War II. While the Greek National Army was getting its American weapons and ammunition by truck loads, the DAG fighters were getting theirs by donkey, mule and horse. Most of the Prespa population and many villages in Kostur Region were engaged in delivering weapons and ammunition using 300 to 400 draft animals and traveling 50 km over dangerous terrain to Gramos at night on foot.

A description of the UN effort to confirm how the neighbouring countries were helping the communist side is given in the novel. It is correctly recorded that 11 thousand fighters of Macedonian origin fought on DAG’s side. It is also confirmed that the entire civilian population was involved in the war providing logistical support. 108

As part of the general propaganda, NOF and AFZH used the slogan “All to arms -all everything for victory” repeatedly calling on the villagers of Kostur and Lerin Region to provide the DAG fighters with spiritual and material support in order to endure the difficult battles fought on Gramos. In connection with this, the Prespa villagers from the village German wrote an encouraging, characteristic of the times, letter to the DAG fighters. 109

107 Petre Nakovski: Golemata udolnitsa. - Skopje: Makavej, 2003, p. 60 108 See: Nikos Kiricis: Dimokratikos Stratos Eladas Vasiki statmi tu agona. - Athena: Sinhroni epohi, 2003 109 See: Egejska Makedonija vo NOB, tombr. 5 Arhiv na RM

There is also an example of doubt expressed in the novel. This is what some DAG fighters said regarding the usefulness of the struggle: “Being Partisans for us Greeks, is not good. It is good for the Slavo-Macedonians because they defend their language...” 110

All dates listed in the novel are accurate:

- Hundreds of government army artillery batteries simultaneously began firing from all over Pind at five-thirty in the morning on June 16, 1948. 111

- The battle for Gramos began and lasted 70 days and nights.

- With permission and orders from US General Van Fleet, Napalm bombs of American origin were used for the first time in war. 112

The description of battles that took place at certain positions at the front is correct:

- Kleftis fell on August 2, 1948. This was a key position at the front. Dragan Kljakic wrote about the importance of this battle in his book “Izgubenata pobeda na general Markos” (General Markos’s lost victory). Before that, when Klefitis was taken and retaken, General Markos sent the following characteristic telegram to the defenders of this hill: “I am filled with enthusiasm now that you have re-taken Kleftis. Now you need to hang on to it at all costs. Holding Kleftis in your hands is the key to holding on to the entire southern front. Defend it heroically; defend it with your lives. I will tell you again, Kleftis must be held to the end. Kleftis is the backbone of Gramos; Kleftis is the fist of Gramos.” 113

- After it was decided 114 to leave Gramos on August 18, 1948, during the route planning, Markos and Zahariadis blamed each other for the failure. The novel “Golemata udolnitsa” (The great decline) has captured the essence of that blame 115 The author based this on a number of written and published documents 116 in history books dedicated to the Greek Civil War.

- On August 20 to 21, 1948, a decision was made to withdraw DAG fighters from Gramos, in the area of Vicho. 117

110 See: Petre Nakovski: Golemata udolnitsa. - Skopje: Makavej, 2003, p. 227 111 See: Dragan Kljakic: Izgubenata pobeda na general Markos. - Belgrade: Narodna kniga, 1987, pp. 133 and 138 112 See: Petre Nakovski: Golemata udolnitsa. - Skopje: Makavej, 2003, p.247 113 Ibid., p. 253 114 See: Dragan Kljakic: Izgubenata pobeda na general Markos. - Belgrade: Narodna kniga, 1987, pp. 133 and 137 115 See: Petre Nakovski: Golemata udolnitsa. - Skopje: Makavej, 2003, p. 271 116 See: Gorgi D. Kaculi: Istoria tu Komunistiku Komatos Eladas, tomos ST, 1946-1949, Athens: Nea Sinora 117 See: Dragan Kljakic: Izgubenata pobeda na general Markos. - Belgrade: Narodna kniga, 1987, p. 137

Figure 9. DAG and government army front in Vicho and Mali Madi Legend: The red lines represent DAG’s positions; the blue lines represent the government army positions; the green line represents the front

In order to capture the authenticity of battles, author Petre Nakovski has introduced some precise military positions in reference to the combat sector on whose heights the most difficult and decisive battles took place. Here are some examples: Kleftis elevation 254, the front line Amuda - Nikoler - Petrepeleni - Buff, Golio -Kamenik - Tamburi, elevation 1957, the front line Buff - Amuda - Alevica, elevation 1435 and 1017.

Also mentioned in the novel are names of camps, as well as historical figures and military and political organizations, confirming the thesis of “literature of fact”.

In the novel we find authentic character names such as: Van Fleet - American general, Zahariadis, Tito, Stalin, Dimitrov, Kardelj, Rankovich, Marx, Metaxas, Zafiropoulos, Veluhiotis, Sarafis, Kikitsas, Bardzotas, Gusias, Vlandas, Vendiris.

Military and political organizations: CPG, ELAS, DAG, AFZH, NOF, OZNA, UDBA, Aegean Brigade.

The main female characters in the novel who participated in the military operations in Gramos were: Tsilka (Vasilka), Mita, Tsana, Iana, Zoia, Tinka, Leftera, Lenka, Marika, and Velika. They showed courage, heroism and dedication. Their male counterparts were: Mitre, Kole, Iani, Ilio, Stoian, Argir, Kolio, Traiko, Vane and Vasil. They were all Macedonian fighters who fought in DAG. These characters are ordinary regular people through whom the destiny of the collective is represented. The author

reveals the psychological depths of these characters who are bearers of painful destinies, persecuted, separated, but continue to last in and through time.

Here Nakovski also paints a picture of the ordinary villager represented through the characters: Dedo (grandfather) Kiro, Baba (grandmother) Kirevitsa, Pop (Reverend) Vasil, Giorgievitsa, Giorgi and Krstovitsa. This novel also features the characters Kuze and Lazo - members of the people’s government, as well as Vera who plays a key role in the mobilization of the Macedonian population through agitation and propaganda and its efforts to destroy the Macedonian people by introducing and propagating the communist ideals that were practiced in the USSR and in Eastern European countries. The last three are the same characters who were mentioned in the novel “I kamenot e zemja” (A stone too is soil).

In building the characters, the author uses specific facts from true life situations, dramas and testimonies. Nakovski is a tireless researcher dedicated to revealing the tragic destinies of the Macedonian people from this part of Macedonia (Northern Greece).

The third element that confirms that the work has elements of “literature of fact” are the real characters such as Lazo, Kuze, Giorgi, Fimka (my own grandmother), Tsilka (my own aunt), whose testimonies are a certificate of personal defeats, of tragic fate, of broken families, of joy in subsequent reunions, of human dignity, of endurance, of burdens and of a series of destinies.

Through Tsilka’s fate the author demonstrates the real tragedy that a war can bring. He also reveals the emotional depths in Fimka’s character, whose crying is not unique to her but also relates to the entire collective. This novel gives you an idea about the eternal changes in the generations as a kind of confirmation of their indestructibility.

In this novel, too, the author takes us back to the situation of the exiled children collected and taken to Eastern European countries. In connection with this, characteristic are questions Tsilka asks and answers her mother Fimka provides: “Home, mother… How are things at home?”…“Home… My dear daughter... there is no home... Everything was burnt down… Turned to ash...”… “We have no home, my dear child… we have no home…”…“What about the children, mother? What happened to them?”… “They took them too…”… “What?! Who took them?!”… “Those from NOF (National Liberation Front) and AFZH (Women’s Anti-Fascist Front). They came to the village, went from house to house and invited everyone to a meeting. They told us that a big battle was coming, everything was going to burn. The rivers and the wells were going to evaporate from the heat and the fire was going to reach the sky. It was difficult for us to give away our children… to strangers… Who knows what will happen to them… And who to trust...” “Oh, mother, mother… Why did you give them up?”…“What choice did I have? They took them…” … “They took you and they took Risto and Tashko… Do you think they asked me or any of the mothers if we wanted to give you up and how we felt? No! They gathered the little children and took them before we even understood what was happening…” 118

118 Petre Nakovski: Golemata udolnitsa. - Skopje: Makavej, 2003, p. 188

The fourth element that confirms that the work has elements of “literature of fact” is the common Macedonian code “traditional things that are symbolic” 119, presented through authentic descriptions of Macedonian dress such as a maiden’s robe with silver buckles, money from different times, embroidery, hand-embroidered items with red thread on a white cloth; Macedonian dances and Macedonian folk songs such as Nevestinsko, Bairacheto, More chupi kosturchanki, Ne rusai prusai; Macedonian dishes such as: pita so presul (pita with ??), so pras (with leeks), so kastitsi (with walnuts), so kromid i svinsko (with onions and pork), so urda i pras (with cottage cheese and leeks) 120; old way of spinning wool; celebrating traditional Macedonian holidays, such as: Easter, St. George’s Day; celebrating name days and holidays such as: Mitrovden, and the Great Mother of God, praying in front of the Virgin Mary’s icon, saying prayers, praying on Sundays and holidays, keeping bridal clothes in a chest, customs of dressing friends for a wedding, welcoming guests with sweets and water. All this is valuable evidence of the essence of what it is to be Macedonian. The great importance here comes from the fact that the simpler it is, the more it is a source of factual information, a reality taken from time and life, knowledge of the people and the time in which they lived.

The author uses the Macedonian literary language in his work, but his writing is also enriched with authentic words from the Kostur Region dialect to capture the authenticity of place and language: “chupi” (girls), “zborvam” (I speak), “bratia” (brothers), “nimnio” (their), “grei” (sin), “doi” (come), “esti” (??), “prenesvate” (you transfer), “rekoe” (they said), “oite” (go), “doidi” (come), “tua” (here), “ke ojme” (we will go), “pulish”, (you’re looking), “zevaite” (take), “opitvam” (I am asking), “chendo” (my child), “vlegva” (enters), “liudieto” (the people), “izbegae” (left), “de” (where) “mnuchenishcha” (grandchildren), “zvee” (took), “volovoite” (oxen), “kolee” (slaughtering), “tepae” (beating), “palee” (burning), “poganee” (ruined), “sede” (sitting, staying), “nashche” (ours), “chuzh” (foreign), “vrne” (return), “roinini” (relatives), “pusfashe” (let go), “sendutsi” (chests), “liulka” (baby crib), “cheresha” (cherry), “nishcho” (nothing), “opuli” (look), “tsrno” (black), “ftasa” (arrived), “eziko” (the tongue), “reku” (I said), “zoshcho” (why), “kadro” (photograph), “eno” (one), “r’ka” (hand), “d’lga” (long), “pokazhva” (showing), “kosmata”, (??), “chezma” (fountain), “zentsko” (female), “tsrkvi” (churches), “spoliati” (thank you), “fasuli” (bean). There are also Greek words that have crept into Macedonian speech which the population uses, such as administrative, legal and court terminology. These are words accepted and Macedonian-ized in the local speech: “astinom” (ashtonomos) - chief of police, korofilak (Horofilakas) - police officer, “nipia” - preschool children, “epiteoritia” (epitheoritias) -inspector, “endopi” (enthopios) - indigenous, “apodiktsi” (apothiksi) - confirmation.

The work being analyzed is ennobled with symbolism: a broken cradle -symbolizes abandonment, loneliness; embers in the hearth – symbolize existence; fire -symbolizes eternity, warmth, life. The author uses the colours red and black as symbols to connect to the Macedonian tradition where colours are used in embroidery which are also

119 See: Venko Andonovski: Structura na Makedonskiot realistichen roman. - Skopje: Detska radost, 1997, p. 176 120 Petre Nakovski: Golemata udolnitsa. - Skopje: Makavej, 2003, p. 185

symbols in the famous poem “Vezilka” (Embroidery) by Blazhe Koneski. Here red-black thread is used, where black symbolizes evil, fear, sorrow, disaster, destruction121, and red symbolizes courage, struggle. A black head kerchief symbolizes - sorrow, prayer - a personal religious experience based on thinking of God or another object of worship.

Nakovski here is an architect of artistic testimony who, by original means, enters the heart of the war and feels the pain of the individual and the collective population as it relates to the collective expulsion and displacement of the Macedonian people. His novel is a condemnation of the war and its destructive character, full of scenes of cruelty, ferocity and ugliness. It follows a chronological path and common places very vividly. It introduces drama in the imagery and through them follows a gradation of feelings. This is a book soaked with traumatic emotions and harsh truths. Through it the author has revealed and brought time closer to us, brought us closer to the then military, political, sociological and psychological situation. Academic Gane Todorovski wrote the following about this: “... this work is not just a chronicle; this is a blood transcript with a sound that captures the senses of Macedonia’s death... It is good to know that at the end of the novel the author made a remark in italics - instead of a stern warning – ‘this is not the end – that’s right. This is not the end, because the Macedonian darkness has no end’…” 122

Similarly the novel can also contain many answers to questions that are still relevant for Macedonia and the Macedonian people today and for our centuries-old struggle for self-discovery, respect and survival.

We find one such answer in publisher Branko Cvetkovski’s review, who wrote, among other things, the following on the back cover: “In his works ‘Golemata udolnitsa’ (The great decline), Petre Nakovski, in an unprecedented way, novelized the Macedonian Golgotha; the years of self-sacrifice in the name of freedom, national and individual dignity... This novel is also a respectable authorial replica of the historical massacre perpetrated in 1948 and 1949. This is a moral rebellion against the ‘trap’ that the pro-communist Greek generals and the then communist countries prepared for the Macedonian people from Aegean Macedonia, turning them into world drifters who could only dream about their homeland and about their altar of autocephaly.” 123

We would like to end our analysis of the novel “Golemata udolnitsa” (The great decline) with the words of academic Gane Todorovski who said: “…these are not questions that can arise from panic after a first or second reading of Petre Nakovski’s impressive novel thoughtfully entitled with strict symbolism. A book is good when it will not allow you to sleep peacefully. It is not just the title of the book, but our history is also horrifying, which, as it seems to us, only after reading it, demands, requires, commands a mentality framed in persistent naivety, in a historical curse and in hereditary gambling with happiness. (...) it should be made known that Macedonian contemporary literature in the field of prose fiction has been enriched and has acquired a work of special

121 Wladislaw Kopalinski: Slownik simboli. - Warszawa, 1990, p. 53 122 Stozher, January-March 2004, p. 44 123 See: Branko Cvetkovski’s review of Petre Nakovski’s novel “Golemata udolnitsa”. Skopje: Makavej, 2003

significance.” 124 Professor Gane Todorovski believes that with this novel Macedonian literature has acquired a work of fiction that rises to the very top of critical realism in our fiction prose and recommends reading and re-reading this novel loaded with Macedonian illnesses.

124 Stozer, January-March 2004, pp. 42-44