Front Matter - Part 08

“In order to realize our plan we will need at least five to seven thousand fighters. But from where, where can we get these fighters? I know, from the refugee masses. Not from Albania, we can’t do it from there because there we only have older people and mostly crippled fighters. But we can get some three to three and a half thousand from the ranks of the refugee children, the ones we sent to Eastern European countries. The remainder, the larger share, we can get from Yugoslavia. Unfortunately our job will be difficult because of Tito’s betrayal. As a last resort we could always talk to and negotiate a deal with him but without the knowledge of comrade Stalin. It would be very bad for us if comrade Stalin found out that we had negotiated with Tito. I once agreed to send Mihali, Vangeli and that madman Goche there but up to now I have no desired results. Instead of letting them go we should have killed them and declared that they were spies and traitors to our movement and our Party. But it is still possible! There is time! I want Miltiadis,” said Zahariadis. When Zahariadis wanted to entrust a very important job to one of his close associates he always addressed them by their first name. “Miltiadis, I want to entrust you with a very important task. I want you to go to Skopje, but not alone. Take Paskalis, Mitsopoulos, Mangos and Marika Elkova with you. There you will meet Nikos Daphnis, the person who manages our affairs in Skopje,” said Zahariadis. “Understood!” said Porphirogenis in a quiet tone of voice. “What am I to do there?” “You are to lead the entire group. In the beginning you will only listen to what they have to say, the Slavo-Macedonians, and you will note everything. At the end, you will act harshly. How? We will decide. Those who will keep you company will each have a separate task and their own say. I spoke with each of them separately and everyone knows their role. The aim of the visit and talks in Skopje are; the mobilization of four to five thousand fighters and more if possible,” concluded Zahariadis. “And the children? I think the older ones?” asked Porphirogenis. “It will be easy with them. You will be responsible for that job too. You will select several good speakers and propagandists and, as you know yourself, you will excite the fighting spirit in the children and after that all you have to do is open your notebooks and enlist volunteers. The rest will be done by others… Our representative in Skopje has already been informed about your visit and has made arrangements for you to meet with the people you are going talk to in Skopje. Pay careful attention to Keramitzhiev. He is sly and does not easily lose his nerve. He knows how to listen and how to convince others. Always speak on behalf of the Party and act harshly…” advised Zahariadis. Late at night on February 8th, Porphirogenis sent a coded message, via the contact office in Skopje, to Zahariadis informing him that he had run into difficulties and as a result he wanted to return for more consultations. About an hour later he received a coded reply which simply read “Return immediately!” Before dawn Porphirogenis crossed the border at Markova Noga and in the evening he reported to Zahariadis. “They left me with the impression that they don’t trust us and they ignored us. We will require more time to explain the position of our Central Committee and define what we meant in the Fifth Plenum. And did you know what Oche (Father) told me? This is what he said: ‘With the decision that you made during your Fifth Plenum you sentenced to death the thousands of Macedonians and Greek Communists who are now in prison camps. Be assured,’ he said, ‘that they will now have to sign statements that they agree with your views.’” concluded Porphirogenis. Zahariadis stopped pacing for a moment and said: “Party discipline is important for all. And he, Oche, I know him, he is an OZNA (Peoples’ Security Department) and UDBA (State Security Bureau) collaborator who we were supposed to execute last year.”

Zahariadis went closer to the window and opened it. He looked far away into the mountains. He always felt terrible being closed in. He did not like small windows or dark, narrow rooms. They felt like cages. He often said to his associates that his prison cell in Akronavplia was larger than the largest rooms in these damn village houses. He never stayed more than one or two days in the same house. There was a deep sense of mistrust imbedded in his temperament. He did not trust anyone. Zahariadis turned and said: “Let us go out for a walk. Let us breathe some fresh mountain air…” They went outside. Cold air was blowing on their faces. The frozen snow was crunching under their feet. A dog was barking. They walked side by side. The road was leading them to the house at the end, at the village exit, closest to the forest. They entered the last house. It had a large spacious room. A wood burning stove was stirring in the corner. They took their boots off. Zahariadis stood by the stove and extended his hands, rubbing them vigorously. He was warming up. With his back turned to Porphirogenis, he went to the window, opened it and looked outside. High up on top of Mount Pelister was a full moon. The wavy waters of Lake Prespa were almost invisible in the moon’s reflection on the whiteness of the snow. Far away to the north, the lights of Resen twinkled and above them was the Golema Mechka (Great Bear). Whenever he found the Great Bear in the sky his thoughts turned to Prague. He closed the window, turned around and went to the kerosene lamp. He raised the wick. The dim light illuminated the room. He saw Porphirogenis place his officer’s briefcase on the table and from it take out his thick notebook. Porphirogenis opened it and stood there waiting. Water was boiling in the large kettle. Zahariadis opened the cupboard and took out two glass cups and brought them close to the lamp and wiped them, one by one, with a white towel. He put them on a silver tray (a gift from Stalin), placed a teaspoonful of tea in each and filled them with hot water, which slowly acquired a warm amber colour. “Please, help yourself,” Zahariadis addressed Porphirogenis. “It’s Georgian tea sweetened with honey. Strong. From comrade Stalin’s fatherland. It’s best when it’s hot. It refreshes and soothes the spirit. Drink…” There was silence in the room. The silence was interrupted by the quiet steps of the guards in front of the house. The frozen snow could be heard crunching under their feet. Zahariadis drank the tea and, while reaching for the tea kettle, said: “Докладивай…” (Report…) In his circle of closest associates, he had a custom of starting and ending a conversation with the Russian words “докладивай” (report) and “понятно” (clear). Porphirogenis opened his notebook and, after clearing his throat, began his report: “In accordance with your directives, our contacts in Skopje called a meeting with Goche, Keramitzhiev, Aianovski, the so-called Oche (Father) and Slavianka. We agreed that Stavros Mangos (whom they called Krste Mangov), who knew the four who are sheltered in Skopje, would speak first. He began by giving us information regarding a NOF (Peoples’ Liberation Front) Plenum during which a decision was made to call a second Congress, during which discussions were to take place for resolving the Macedonian National Question and strengthening of the Macedonian Peoples’ Struggle and to amend the program and status. His talk was not well tied. He jumped from subject to subject. He spoke an hour about the desertions and an hour about the weaknesses, about successes, etc. At one point he literally said: ‘The Macedonian people, after Greece’s liberation, will take the opportunity to self-determine, self-separate with the right to establish an independent Macedonian state.’ He also stressed that the Macedonian people would be free and equal in a Balkan Federation.” Porphirogenis turned the page and continued: “Mangos also indicated that there are many desertions among the Macedonians, which the people condemn and view as cowardly and for their acts to be forgiven they need to return.

He said that the new government must have a Macedonian minister and there must also be a Macedonian member in Headquarters who would form a separate Macedonian communist organization as part of the Communist Party of Greece. This Organization will then manage the 11th Division of DAG (Democratic Army of Greece) which will carry the name ‘Macedonian Division’. Mangos also quoted you often. Among other things he said that, according to Zahariadis’s assessments, as long as DAG possesses more troops, then it will hold Olympus and that is why it is very important that those who fled Aegean Macedonia to Yugoslavia be mobilized. There was strong discussion among them, which sounded more like a squabble and mutual accusations. Ours, if I may call them that, performed sternly. Here are some statements: ‘I do not agree with you here. In my opinion your posture is incorrect. Perhaps because you are dissatisfied!’ That’s one. Here is another: ‘Comrades, I want to know what your reasons are for staying in Yugoslavia? Please explain! What is keeping you here? You need to return. You are not helping the leadership of NOF by staying here. It is important that you return as soon as possible at this critical time when the people, young and old, are all struggling at the forefront. If you don’t return the people will condemn you. If we don’t achieve that which we want to achieve, you will be blamed for it. Zahariadis openly told us that you can come with one or two divisions and you can organize your own leadership and you can even lead Tito’s politics if you like…’ And here is one more: ‘Your stay here represents a centre which influences all disillusioned and frightened elements and creates further division. Whether you like it or not, you are responsible for this whole situation for which you will be characterized as traitors. Our NOF movement today is facing many difficulties, there is a struggle for life and death and in such a situation your stay here inflicts great evil on our movement. If you return it is possible that this evil will disappear and, from another side, you will correct your past errors. But before you return it would be a good idea if you could find an understanding with the authorities here, ask them to close the doors on all deserters…’ Nikos, these few statements confirm that in the NOF leadership exists…” “Shorten it,” commented Zahariadis. “It is good that they are not united… That I know. Tell me what did they say with regards to your mission, that’s important. Continue,” concluded Zahariadis. “They, Nikos, most brazenly and harshly attacked our Party’s policy with regards to the Macedonian question, insisting that you personally are responsible. In short, they claim that they had been lied to and that they are not in a position to mobilize Macedonians that had been lied to. He, Goche principally, with an elevated tone of voice literally said… one moment I have written it down. Yes I have it. He said, ‘The issue of establishing Macedonian units is a lie. This is your demagogy and we here believed you and, based on your lies, we also deceived our own people. How can we tell this was a lie? By the fact that it was by your initiative that Macedonian Partisan units created in Prespa were dismantled. And that the agreement which NOF and CPG (Communist Party of Greece) signed in 1946 was not honoured…’” Porphirogenis paused for a moment and then said, “Paskalis reacted to this.” “What did he say?” asked Zahariadis. “Paskalis basically echoed Mangos’s words indicating that the Macedonian people in Aegean Macedonia were granted the right to self-determination and to the establishment of an independent Macedonian state, and that...” “Give me the short version!” interrupted Zahariadis. “Okay!” continued Porphirogenis. “Regarding the 1946 agreement between NOF and CPG, Paskalis said ‘I will argue that work was done in honouring that agreement. We as the then leadership strove to achieve unity and in pursuit of this, we broke up the existing Macedonian units.’ Paskalis later said, ‘I personally do not agree with comrade Oche’s assessment that the Macedonian people in Aegean Macedonia have no confidence in the democratic leadership and no desire to continue to fight.

The truth is that there are a small number of injustices and under estimates of the Macedonian cadres by the Greek party and military officials. The truth is that there was nothing achieved in practice by the 1946 NOF-CPG agreement. But we should not duel on such trifling matters and we should have confidence in Comrade Zahariadis to do the right thing for us Macedonians. For example, let me remind you what Comrade Zahariadis said during the Second Plenum of the Central Council of NOF. He said that the National Question of the Macedonian people will be declared with their participation in today’s struggle and that will go a long way towards creating an Independent Macedonian State… Is this a small thing?’” “And you Miltiadis, what did you say?” inquired Zahariadis. “I, as we agreed, listened and made notes. I left them to argue amongst themselves and persuade each other and then realized that, how can I say, ‘our side came up insecure and without arguments. I got the impression that the only argument was the frequent reference to your last name, which probably convinced them that its very mention was enough to be convincing.’ What did I say? One moment please…” paused Porphirogenis as he flipped through some pages in his notebook, coughed a while and then took a sip of his cold Georgian tea and continued. “Ah, here it is, I found it. I have written it here. This is what I said: Comrades, by Zahariadis’s orders, I brought here Comrades Paskalis, Mangos and Marika Elkova with aims to do whatever is possible to find and send back new Macedonian fighters – reservists. I and you together, we need to help our comrades to achieve success. In my thinking here, in Yugoslavia, we need to find and send back to Aegean Macedonia five thousand Macedonians, which means we need to fulfill fifty percent of the plan put together by the General Staff. Finding five thousand Macedonians and sending them back can be done voluntarily or by force, meaning by forced mobilization. In addition, I gave them a wider explanation of our Central Committee’s resolution drafted during the Fifth Plenum indicating that we dismissed a few opportunists, such as Markos, from the ranks because they were incapable of understanding the capability of the Democratic Army of Greece in leading a frontal war against the enemy. These people were weak and only knew how to survive through Partisan style warfare. Furthermore I emphasized that any misunderstandings between NOF and CPG were meaningless and only principled in character. Then I finally told them to declare in writing that they would immediately begin mobilization of the Aegean Macedonians and send them back to the front. They did not say that they would not come back or would not mobilize fighters, I believe they will do that, but under certain conditions.” “And what did they want?” asked Zahariadis. “They want us to admit that we have not approached the Macedonian issue properly with regards to the composition of DAG to form separate Macedonian units, a separate Macedonian headquarters with an all Macedonian command to act independently on Macedonian soil. They want us to remove Koichev, Kotsopoulos and Gisopoulos from NOF command. They want us to give permission to all the sick, to those who are unable to work and carry ammunition, to all the old men, old women and children to leave for Yugoslavia. They do not want us to mobilize children ages 14 and 15 and women older than 36 years old. They do not want us to mobilize the high spirited Macedonian children who feel Macedonian in their souls and who have already been sent to Eastern European countries. They want us to allow the Macedonians from the two parts of Macedonia to have free contact with each other. They want us to allow NOF to speak freely about the Macedonian Question and how it was correctly solved by the Yugoslav communists and to stop the propaganda against Tito. They want the Communist Party of Greece to apologize to those so-called deserters and to publicly admit that it made many mistakes with regards to the Macedonians.

They do not want us to hold accountable those Macedonians who fled to Yugoslavia and they do not like us calling them deserters and traitors. And all these things they are asking for they want listed in a written and signed agreement and if we don’t agree, they will hold us responsible for all the resulting consequences. At the end they said that all their comments and requests would be their official position, which would soon be submitted to us in the form of a letter,” concluded Porphirogenis. “Понятно…”(clear) said Zahariadis in a stretched tone of voice. He then got up, walked around the table in a circle and went to the window. It was early dawn and the tops of Mounts Pelister and Bela Voda were hidden in the clouds. The lake was covered with fog. Zahariadis opened the window and the room suddenly became cold. Small cold flakes of snow were blowing from the north. Zahariadis turned, came close to the table and filled his cup with tea. He then went to warm up his hands and muttered something quietly. He said: “Like hell you understood each other. I admit I made a mistake. Not that they believed Goche and Keramitchiev. No! Them they never believed, like I don’t believe Paskalis or the entire NOF. But, tell me, what are our chances of bringing those five thousand here?” “In my opinion, Nikos, we have no chance. Tito is on their side. If it were not for the Cominform resolution ... But I, Nikos, think that we should not leave things to chance. Those who found shelter in Yugoslavia are our citizens and therefore we are entitled, according to Greek law, to mobilize them, even by force. If Tito will not allow us, then we will declare ideological warfare on them and their communist party…” replied Porphirogenis. Zahariadis put his cup down on the table and looked into Porphirogenis’s eyes. He looked for a long time while Porphirogenis looked down and bowed his head. “We should declare ideological warfare you say?” asked Zahariadis. “Well, not exactly like that, but…” replied Porphirogenis while being interrupted by Zahariadis who said: “And you like the others, always rushing. Don’t rush. We have time. Everything has its time. Tito is still on our side. The border is still open, material arrives regularly and hundreds of our fighters are hospitalized in the Yugoslavian hospitals. Our bases are there full with ammunition and food. And as long as things remain this way we will not say a single bad word publicly about Tito or his Party. We have already taken our position and reported it to Comrade Stalin that at the right time we will perform our obligation to the Informbureau. When that time comes we will harshly criticize Tito and his Party, in other words, we will attack them…” concluded Zahariadis. “Yes, of course, Comrade Zahariadis, you are right, it is understandable. I may be rushing and sometimes I am not careful about what I say. We are under extreme pressure which, unfortunately sometimes, leads to uncontrolled thoughts. Forgive me...” replied Porphirogenis. “And Kolishevski?” inquired Zahariadis. “Kolishevski? I believe he is stirring up things. We spoke for more than an hour. I informed him of all our needs, especially of our need to mobilize our Slavo-Macedonians,” replied Porphirogenis. “And what did he say?” asked Zahariadis. “He said that their side would deliver on the 1946 promise to continue to equip us with weapons and food and provide hospitalization for our wounded fighters. But when I mentioned to him that we needed to mobilize our Slav-Macedonians, noting that they are our citizens and under our laws we have the right to mobilize them, even by force, he strongly objected and told me that we have no such right. We are the first, he said, who strongly supported your movement and we are the first, despite our difficulties, who came out to help you, but, he said, no one recognized you or your laws and therefore you have no legal rights. During the meeting I familiarized him with the decision our party made at the Fifth Plenum, noting that the Macedonians in Northern Greece would have the right to self determination and to create their own state.

I told him that they would have their own communist organization, one member in the interim government and membership in the General Staff and that it was decided that the Eleventh Division of DAG is to be renamed the Macedonian Division…” concluded Porphirogenis. “And what did Kolishevski say?” inquired Zahariadis. “Here is what he said: ‘The Macedonians,’ he said sharply, ‘have their own country, which they won by struggling and making great sacrifices. Their country was not created by some Plenum decision.’ This is what he told me. I got the impression that he was protecting those culprits and deserters. He is certainly giving them shelter. After leaving his office he added: ‘You underestimate the Macedonian Organizations NOF and AFZH (Women’s Anti-Fascist Front). You are nothing without them in that part of Macedonia. Have you not realized that they are your central strength? Without those Organizations you would have no Macedonians in your ranks, except for those few who are devoted members of your party. Don’t forget that it was with NOF’s help that you succeeded in mobilizing the Macedonians’…” concluded Porphirogenis. Zahariadis took a walk around the room and said: “If it wasn’t for that damn Informbureau, I, through Tito, would have boiled Kolishevski’s wheat. If he acts this way then you know for sure he has Tito’s support. This is more confirmation of Tito’s treason… You say that we have no chance of collecting the Macedonians?” “Honestly, Nikos, we have none… I want you to know that Kolishevski wholeheartedly supports our deserters. This is what I was told by our contacts in Skopje,” replied Porphirogenis. Walking towards the exit of the room, Zahariadis turned and said: “Maybe someone from our NOF or perhaps they in Skopje will be pleased by the decisions we made to bring changes to the NOF leadership…” “And I, Nikos, think…” interrupted Porphirogenis. “What do you think?” inquired Zahariadis. “I think that they are asking for too much under these war conditions,” replied Porphirogenis. “Again that which they sought they obtained. We promoted many military cadres to high ranks and they had their own representative in the government and in the military and council… their children over in the Eastern European countries are learning Macedonian, and in the units in which there are a large number of fighters of Macedonian origin they are organizing classes to learn the Macedonian language… Soon we will also establish a communist organization for them… Our Fifth Plenum decision was unexpected for them and in that spirit we should hold NOF’s second Congress. We are well aware that we are doing harm to the pure Greek character of our movement, from which we have negative reactions from some members of the Central Committee, and let us not speak about the reactions of our enemies… It is clear that we need to meet their demands, because only that way will NOF be able to succeed in mobilizing those people, and it is possible that our struggle can be taken away from us… And for that not to happen, we must not allow the NOF leadership to unite. There has been animosity and suspicion between them for a long time and that situation needs to be fostered carefully and diligently…” concluded Zahariadis. The field telephone rang loudly. Zahariadis quickly turned the handle several times and picked up the receiver. “The Units are in motion… operations have commenced…” said the voice on the other side of the telephone. “Good… I wish them much success…” said Zahariadis with a trembling voice and slowly hung up. The Great Lie – Chapter 10

In a half-lit room, sitting by the table placed in front of the window with a view of Mount Bela Voda, Zahariadis was writing something. He took a small break, just enough to take two or three sips of his tea, and at that moment he heard a quiet knock on the door. He put his cup to the side, collected his papers and placed them inside a newspaper. He opened his appointment book and looked to see with whom he had an appointment. There was a second knock on the door. He stood up, walked to the door and pulled the latch. The platoon duty officer from the General Secretary Security services stood at attention and announced: “Comrade Bardzotas has requested to see you sir! He awaits your response. What should I tell him Comrade Zahariadis?” “Let him in…” responded Zahariadis with a disappointed tone of voice as he walked back to his table. “Moments later Bardzotas appeared at the wide open door and after entering he apologetically said: “Forgive me Nikos, for disturbing you so early…” and, while looking out the corner of his eye at the mass of unfinished papers, asked, “Did I interrupt your work?” “No, not at all. The newspaper,” said Zahariadis in a stretched, yawning voice while pointing at the newspaper tossed in a pile of maps and papers, “I have been browsing the newspaper and drinking tea. Tea, will you have some tea? It is Georgian you know. Even Comrade Stalin drinks tea in the morning. Will you have some?” Zahariadis, in the morning and evening, always served his guests Georgian tea, be it his visitors, people he had conversations with, or his closest aids. They all drank with him and continued to drink with him for as long as he was drinking. It was considered a special honour and despite burning their lips they slurped the tea to let him know that they were enjoying it; a sign of great pleasure. After that they often, in their circles, would say in passing: “You know, yesterday I had tea with Comrade Zahariadis…” just to let everyone know that they had friends in high places and to watch with whom they were messing! When there was no Georgian tea, mountain tea harvested from Mount Gramos, Odreto, or from Mount Vrba in D’mbeni was brewed in the large teapot. People from the Security Services platoon knew his weaknesses and always made sure that they brought him mountain tea in their backpacks. “Georgian tea?!” inquired Bardzotas with an expressionless but captivating tone of voice. “It would be a sin if I did not have tea from the homeland of the great Stalin. Of course I will have some… please.” He knew that if he refused he would offend Stalin and Zahariadis. “I will have some, why not, even two cups! It is cold this morning and it will feel good to have some tea…” said Bardzotas with an appealing smile on his face. While Zahariadis filled the cups with tea and placed them on the tray made of pure silver, Bardzotas justified his unannounced arrival: “I, Nikos, came early to see you because I received an interesting letter from Paskalis.” Bardzotas pulled out an envelope from his officer’s leather briefcase, opened it, put it on the table and asked: “Will you read it or should I read it to you?” Zahariadis handed him a cup of tea, looked at the letter and with an indifferent tone of voice said, “You read it!” Bardzotas detected some dissatisfaction in Zahariadis’s tone of voice but it seemed more like impatience. He reached for the letter but with the outside of his hand he knocked Zahariadis’s pile of papers causing some dust to fly and then began to read:

“Dear Vassilis,

We are thinking about the congress. We believe there should be a formal part, with a festive event, one colour and celebration which will increase interest and strengthen the fighting spirit. It will greatly help our preparation and appearance if we had slogans photographs, symbolic shows, etc. For that purpose we consider it necessary to put together several illustrated displays. First. We will put together an illustrated poster symbolizing unity between a Slavo-Macedonian man and woman and a Greek man and woman, fighters of DAG (Democratic Army of Greece). Standing opposite one another they will be holding a rifle in one hand and offering their other hand in a gesture symbolizing a call to arms in a joint struggle. Standing behind them will be other fighters, men and women. Written on the poster will be the slogans: