MACEDONIAN CONDITIONS - Part 02

The Greek Civil War experience taught us to conform to the Party’s ideological orientation and that the “attitudes of the stronger are always better for us!”

But not just during the war, 60 years after the war in the sectarian “History of the Aegeans” they assured us that the communists (Tito and Zahariadis) did recognize our self-determination? Let’s not go crazy, shall we?

Obviously it doesn’t take much to see that we, the Macedonians from Greek occupied Macedonia, were misled by the false gods we believed in and died for and they used our blood to rearrange our identity and history, to uproot us from our homeland and to separate us from our Macedonian family. We were outright lied to in order to gain advantage of us and use us to perpetrate acts that eventually led us to our demise. We became pawns in a political game especially after Tito and Stalin had their tiff. Tito and Stalin’s problem became a Macedonian problem especially for those who were massively mobilized in DAG’s combat units and had very little choice regarding their options; particularly when asked, “are you with Tito or with Zahariadis!?”

But the most tragic thing about all this is that we served these gods to achieve their goals, and even 60 years later we are still silent about it and suffer as a result of it.

We all know that our participation in the war was instigated by NOF and AFZH. They called on us nationwide to rise-up en masse to fight for our freedom, for an independent Macedonia; a national virtue! Unfortunately it proved to be a national fraud, a big fat lie. If NOF and AFZH decided to call on the Macedonian people in Greek occupied Macedonia to join a nationwide people’s front in order to implement our own strategic objectives, then the question that needs to be asked is: “If NOF and AFZH believed (had guarantees) that what they were doing was legitimate before the world then why didn’t they pose the Macedonian Question to either the Security Council or the United Nations? Why did they count on Greece and Yugoslavia to do that? Did they not know that they were firmly and strictly controlled by the Balkan communist Parties? And how were they expecting to realize our historical wishes through the very same people who divided Macedonia by the 1913 Treaty of Bucharest, in the first place?”

Unfortunately, and as it turned out in the end, it seems that for some of us, our participation in the wars (1940-1950) was never about any “national strategy”, or “unity”, or “dignity”, it was more about personal gains and individual benefits for members of the Communist Party be it the CPG or the CPY.

Meaning: If we wanted to be accepted by the CPG or by the CPY we had to play by their rules. We needed to show them our loyalty and allegiance, in other words, sell them not only our souls but also the souls of our people, even if it led to our defeat and national genocide.

Eventually (1945-1949) we became blind with obedience (it didn’t matter to whom) to anyone who dared tangle with our destiny…

Which means, after the Second World War, when people began to believe that death, destruction and bloodshed were a thing of the past, we Macedonians suffered genocide. We suddenly began to play with fire without evaluating our options, without realizing that we were firmly grasped and controlled by the communist Parties. We Macedonians went wild without a plan, without a defense of our national interests and with no regard for what had already been decided by the rest of the world. We went wild in the defense of an unproven ideology, first thinking that we were fighting to free ourselves and later to gain our human rights. And in the end we lost everything, especially our identity and our grandfather’s homes forever.

I don’t know if we have fully realized what happened to us as a nation, but it was traumatic and should remain in the Macedonian consciousness forever as permanent testimony; - a frightening experience of legendary proportion which resulted in tragedy, ethnic cleansing and genocide.

Unfortunately it was not over, even after the war ended. Unable to return to our homes we, the fighters along with the civilian refuges, found ourselves abandoned, in ghettos, in camps, in alien worlds, away from our national traditional homes. As individuals, for us there was no salvation, no place we could call our own; there was only pain and sorrow from missing our loved ones and our homes. Our exodus and exile was not our choice but we had to live with it, some of us to the end of our lives!

It is absolutely bizarre to even think about it. What kind of people were these political strategists who planned all this, especially in the Balkans where historical fanaticism and various accumulated deadly ideologies existed? The Balkans were and have remained to be the region of conflict in Europe, especially the Western Balkans which have always been simmering potential trouble spots. What is even more bizarre is the fact that while these same strategists and politicians were engaged in building new “civilizations” in Siberia and in the Goli Otok, we, the Macedonians, in those same 55 years could not even assess if these people did more good or more evil to us? No! We all kept silent like dummies! There was safety in silence, especially after the 1953 Balkan (61) Agreement. There was a wall of silence after that for certain!

In every ordinary person exiled, there was only a small primordial desire: to remain Macedonian no matter how much suffering it took, just so that one day they could return to their own country and speak their own language and see their own family.

Unfortunately, those who physically divided Macedonia and the Macedonian people also wanted them spiritually divided and made sure that these people would never return and never have their desires fulfilled. This, unfortunately to this day, has been a problem for the Macedonian people not only in Greek occupied Macedonia but also outside. Macedonia’s enemies, particularly Greece and Bulgaria, over the last century, have vilified the Macedonian people and are making sure “no one” is sympathetic to them! In fact the spiritual division of the Macedonian people is also an attempt at eliminating the Macedonian people’s integrated desires and vision of a single Macedonia.

A great number of arguments investigated in this write up are not part of the “official” history written about the “Aegeans”. Greece has completely omitted the Macedonian contribution on both sides of the war. In addition to Macedonians being mobilized in the resistance movement, the Greek government also drew on the Macedonian population by drafting Macedonians into its armed Greek government forces. That too was not mentioned in history. In fact all sides in the Greek Civil War today deny that Macedonians even existed! Macedonians on one side were deceived into joining a struggle which promised them freedom and self-determination; Macedonians on the other side were then forced into a draft to fight against the struggle; brother fighting against brother; husband fighting against wife; sister fighting against brother. When will all this come out? When will we wake up to the reality of what truly happened to us? This is what happens when you allow strangers to control your destiny and use and abuse you! All the things stated in this write up “did” happen to us Macedonians from Greek occupied Macedonia because we allowed ourselves to be placed in the hands of those who wanted to control our fate. We placed our trust in them, we placed our fate in their hands and they did what they wanted to do; destroy us! This is exactly what happened! Deeds speak for themselves!

The conflict between the two warring sides was supposedly a class struggle which had little meaning for the ordinary Macedonian who was living a self-sufficient life in the village, working for himself. So, how was this global project called socialism going to improve his life? Would the ordinary villager have been better off surrendering his grandfather’s fields to the state and working for the state? And what villager, if he had known this, would have willingly agreed to give up his meager ancestral possessions to a strange Greek or Yugoslav institution? So, you can see how the Macedonian people were lied to and duped into joining the struggle during the Greek Civil War. The ordinary Macedonian was told and believed that they were fighting for freedom and justice. He believed he was fighting to free himself from the injustices of the Greeks and the Greek state. Greek injustices pushed the Macedonian people into this war which began even before Macedonia was invaded, occupied and partitioned during the Balkan wars of 1912 and 1913. Attempts by Greek authorities to extinguish everything Macedonian and the prejudices of Greek society against the Macedonians pushed the Macedonian people into this war because they were looking for a way out! They had had enough of Greece and the Greeks and took their chance to unshackle themselves from the Greek yoke, being totally unaware that all this was a ruse and that they were being set up for a big fall! If you don’t believe me then take a look at who was at the top leading this struggle and ask yourself, if not to get rid of the Macedonians then what were Markos and Zahariadis, both colonists from Asia Minor, fighting for? Were they fighting to help the Macedonians achieve their rights? What was their interest in that and how would they have benefited “helping” the Macedonians gain control of their territory, especially after they had colonized their lands? Or, to ask the question another way, what would have been more beneficial for the colonists, to drive the Macedonians out or to allow them to regain their lands which they lost to the very same colonists in the first place? I think the answer is obvious! Even Markos, on several occasions, had told the Macedonians not to be such dreamers!

Sovietization of the Balkans

The role of NOF and AFZH during this period of time was of paramount importance. The organizations NOF and AFZH at that time were faithfully serving the Communist Party of Greece (as advised by the CPY). The CPG on the other hand, used this opportunity and its “communist card” to get NOF and AFZH to organize and mobilize a large number of Macedonians into the Greek Civil War. NOF and AFZH were very successful in mobilizing the Macedonian people who were totally blind to the outcome of the game they were asked to play. In retrospect we can see for ourselves what happened; we fought for socialism in Greece and the socialists gave us a one way ticket out of our homeland.

It is important that every sensible person ask themselves these questions: “What exactly was the purpose for forming NOF (62) and AFZH to lead the Macedonian people in Greek occupied Macedonia? Why were these organization placed under Yugoslav influence (CPM/CPY)? And why were they later surrendered outright to the CPY? Why were the Macedonian people told that they would be fighting for a United Macedonia under a Yugoslav federation and later reversed direction and told that they would remain under Greece but would be fighting for their rights? Who made all these decisions for the Macedonian people and what was gained by it all? And how does our history answer these questions? These are serious questions and should be answered by our history.

Unfortunately our history has not been very kind with regards to the story of the Macedonian people from Greek occupied Macedonia and its chapters are full of “not answers” but “politicized terms”. For example: “The Macedonian Bureau of the CPG”, which was an office for the Macedonians in Greek Macedonia, has used the following “favourite” attributes to describe our story: “Aegeans”, “The bloody epic of the Aegeans”, “Belomortsi” (Mediterranean people), “Chetniks”, etc. Why is that? As far as I am concerned, we are “Macedonians from Greek occupied Macedonia” which perfectly defines us and describes our current situation. By calling us by any other name, you are helping our enemies break us down. It makes their effort easier to break down our collective consciousness. I can understand why this needs to be pointed out to outsiders who are not familiar with our history and current situation. It is a darn shame however, to have to point this out to Macedonians and to official historians no less!

It is not just the terminology; some authors have problems with asking the right questions and getting the right answers. There are too many stories, too many points of view, too many contradictions. This however should not be the case; facts should speak for themselves and, in retrospect, what the facts say does not paint a pretty picture. Some say we fought for our freedom and to secure our homeland. Okay then, how did we do that? What evidence do we have that supports this? Some say we fought for “ideology”. There is some credibility in that statement but then for whose ideology did we fight? The ideology we fought for turned out to be a curse that nearly obliterated us. So, what did we fight for? What did our almighty historiographer Kiriazovski say we fought for? Illusions? Why did he wish to remain silent regarding important issues? Why did he become a guard of state secrets and only supported the facts that were favourable by current politics?

As I have, I am certain that every single Macedonian refugee and casualty of the Greek Civil War has raised the question: “Why has our real story not been told? Why must our dramatic and tragic experience be twisted to fit the current political climate? Even though we lost over 20,000 lives doing what we were asked to do, what was expected of us to do, today historiographers make up stories about us. Some say we never existed; some say we were a creation of Tito; some say we fought in a revolution to create a Macedonian state; some say we fought for our human rights! Did we fight for some or all of those things? Or are we still clueless as to what we fought for? Someone must know? If so then, how long are they going to remain silent to protect the interests of the CPG and the CPY? Until all refugees and fighters are dead and gone?

Let me go back to the question: Was the Greek Civil War a Macedonian revolution, an extension of the traditional Ilinden Uprising? Could we have United Macedonia as many official historiographers have speculated? For

more information see Risto Kiriazovski’s book “Macedonians and their relations with the CPY and the CPG (1945-1949)”, 1995.

Well here is what our official history, written for us, has to say: “On April 23, 1945, before the Second World War was over, the Right, with help from Great Britain, imposed its authority in Greece by introducing harsh repressive measures against the resistance movement, especially in Greek occupied Macedonia. The Right did this outside and independently of the CPG. To counter the Right’s policies, strategy, and tactics the Organizations CPM, SKOJ and NOF (NOMS and AFZH) appeared. Simultaneously with NOF, armed units were organized, poised to start guerrilla warfare. The CPM was the organizer of all these activities. By this act, the Macedonian National Liberation Movement in Greek occupied Macedonia was institutionalized. As the leader of the Macedonian Liberation Movement, NOF’s aims were to use all forms of struggle, to fight for self-determination and unification of the Macedonian people.” P. 10

Also see the book “Great Legal Discrimination - Greek politics in Aegean Macedonia after World War II”, Skopje, 1996. According to this book: “NOF and the other organizations were led by the CPY-CPM since their inception in November 1946”. P. 181

Also see the book: “National Liberation Front and the other Macedonian organizations of Aegean Macedonia (1945-1949)”, published by “Kultura”, Skopje 1985. The authors of this book wrote: “NOF’s first Congress of NOF (January 13, 1948) was the brightest event in Macedonia’s post Ilinden history.”

Here are some more facts for you! In spite of our bitter experience as Macedonians living under Greek rule; in spite of our experience with the CPG being insincere and opportunistic and in spite of the general Greek attitude towards the Macedonians; the NOF leadership agreed to send 75% of the Macedonian fighters in DAG to go and fight south of Olympus or in all areas in Greece! To save Greece! Sending Macedonian units to the depths of Greece was apparently done to prevent them from slipping out to Yugoslavia. In other words, to prevent a repeat performance of what took place in 1944 when the Macedonian battalions separated themselves from ELAS and crossed over the border into Yugoslavia.

Further on in the same book the author wrote: “The National Liberation Front (NOF) has emerged as the all-national, anti-fascist internal Macedonian people’s movement. It intervenes under all conditions against the Anglo-American imperialists…” And so, this is what we are being told by this author… Yes, to a casual observer, like watching a scene from a film, NOF performed admirably. In fact, it is to NOF’s credit that, given the circumstances, so many Macedonians joined that war. The Macedonian people’s participation was unprecedented. But the question still remains; was it a Macedonian revolution or a scam?

Calling on all Macedonian women (only) to sacrifice themselves at the frontline

By this call Gramos became the largest tomb of forcibly mobilized Macedonians.

Captivated by AFZH politics, instead of guarding the family and Macedonian home, these obedient women became the new pawns to be drawn into the war effort to fight at the fronts in this political game played by the Party.

We don’t need much sophistry to explain this phenomenon for women to be included in the forefront of a war. It was not done so much for patriotism as it was done from fear of again falling into the hands of the enemy. Believing the lies they were told, the women felt their effort would provide the last push needed to liberate themselves from the conditions they were faced with under Greek control since 1913. They were clueless as to how they were played and trusting as they were of their Macedonian leaders, to a point where they were prepared to give their lives; they actively joined the war effort. This was the scene as viewed from the inside. As viewed by the simple peasant women who just wanted to be left alone in peace to look after their children and pursue their work in their homes without fear of being reported to the police for saying good morning to their neighbours in their Macedonian language. They wanted so little, yet it seems that too was too much to ask for and they too needed to be sacrificed to honour the Red gods of war.

June 16, 1949. The AFZH women’s Executive Board led by Evdokia Foteva - Vera, passed a resolution to induct Macedonian women en masse into the fighting force in defense of the Vicho frontline. The call appeared in “Nova Makedonka”, AFZH’s own publication. This call was the last mass mobilizations of Macedonian women and the beginning of the end of the Macedonian home for so many Macedonians in Greek occupied Macedonia...

August 10 – 14, 1949. A Greek government offensive was initiated against DAG. A force of 60,000 Greek government troops commanded by General Van Fleet of the U.S.A., organized in 6 divisions from all branches of the military, with 200 tanks and armoured cars and with about 100 aircraft of all types, was unleashed on Mount Vicho. Opposing this force was commander Michos Vlandas of the resistance with 9,863 fighters and 40 cannons. DAG was defeated in the period during August 13 and 14 with 1,859 dead, wounded, missing and captured fighters. The Government side sustained only 256 dead and 1,336 wounded.

August 15-16, 1949. DAG units retreated into Albania, but in the following days about 6,000 were transferred to reinforce the fighting in Mount Gramos.

August 20, 1949. The CPG Central Committee Politburo held a meeting and promised its fighters that “Gramos has all the means necessary to deliver the enemy a death blow” and coined the slogan “Gramos will become the tomb of the Monarcho-Fascists Government troops”.

August 22, 1949. A meeting between Zahariadis, on one side, and APT’s Enver Hoxha, Mehmet Shehu and Kapo on the other side was held in Korcha.

Among the current issues discussed at the meeting was the transfer of about 6,000 DAG fighters to the battlefields of Gramos. These were the fighters who retreated to Albania after they were defeated in Vicho and Zahariadis wanted them transferred to Gramos. But in order to do the transfer Zahariadis required Albanian government approval and engagement.

Enver Hoxha: “What will you do if the Athens government attacks with all its forces?”

Zahariadis: “We will fight to the last one. Or, maybe we will retreat into Albania.”

To that Enver Hoxha expressed fear that something serious might happen that would expose and complicate Albania’s international position.

Mehmet Shehu, knowing about the Soviet Union suggestion that Zahariadis should quickly dissolve DAG, about which Zahariadis persistently kept silent, said: “It’s time to admit defeat and it would not be inappropriate or unreasonable to do so because the enemy forces will cause you a lot of damage and turn Gramos into a tomb for many of your fighters”.

August 24-29, 1949. During the night of August 29-30, government troops began a new campaign against Gramos. Again, commanded by U.S. General Van Fleet, this force was larger by three battalions than that of Vicho. Placed in charge of the resistance side in Gramos and of Gramos DAG General headquarters, was General Georgios Vontisios-Gusias, with about 12,500 fighters (6,000 were transferred from the battlefields of Vicho). The last battles took place on August 29 and the retreat for Albania began on August 30. DAG losses amounted to 922 dead, 944 captured, 650 wounded and about 400-450 voluntarily surrendered. Losses on the government side amounted to 243 dead and 1,452 wounded.

Who were the guilty culprits in this tragedy?

(NOF and AFZH were labeled “agent” organizations)

(Stalin took a hard stand against Tito and Tito slammed the door on the informburo countries with the Macedonians caught in the middle)

Zahariadis ordered the NOF and AFZH leadership to join DAG’s combat ranks. With all this going on around them, did the Macedonian leaders and general population have any idea what was happening?

In her book “To Hell and Back”, Evdokia Foteva - Vera wrote:

“... On October 3, 1948 Zahariadis called a meeting inviting all NOF military and political Cadres to attend. The meeting was held in the village Rudari, in Prespa, Lerin Region… Zahariadis ordered me to go to the ranks of DAG. I immediately agreed. The meeting was held to assign the NOF leadership to the various combat locations. He ordered me to go to DAG’s 18th Brigade to serve as an Assistant Commissar to the Political Commissar of the 18th Brigade. The Brigade then was considered Macedonian and was led by Political Commissar Tashko Gushevski -Maki, and commander of the Brigade was Pando Vaina.”

At the end of her autobiographic notes Vera concluded the following: “With our arrests, NOF was practically extinguished. The organization continued to live in emigration but in 1951 was renamed to “Ilinden”. The new heads of “Ilinden”, appointed by Zahariadis, were Pando Vaina, Stavro Kochev, etc. These internal enemies fled to Bulgaria and practically extinguished all NOF or “Ilinden” activities.

Position of our official history after 1995

See what official historiographer Risto Kiriazovski has to say about the Macedonians, the CPG and the CPY in his latest book entitled “Macedonians and their relations with the CPY and the CPG (1945 - 1949) - official documents with comments” published in 1995. Pay particular attention to Chapter 8, p. 201. In this book Kiriazovski had taken a totally new approach and changed his position with regards to what he wrote in his older books.

Excerpt A: “... It is time for the Macedonian people from the Aegean part of Macedonia, and beyond, to learn the entire truth and for every stakeholder to take responsibility for what happened. It is time to call things by their real names. It is our obligation.”

Hunting down “Tito’s agents” and DAG’s deserters fleeing to Yugoslavia under the protection of the CPM/CPY

Some of the deserters fleeing to Yugoslavia were yesterday’s senior members of NOF and AFZH. They abandoned their posts, DAG and the people they had recruited and sent to this war. They were considered loyal and patriotic whose agitation created a strong party apparatus, brought up in the spirit of the CPY. They were all loyal communists supported by the CPY. Here is what AFZH leader Evdokia Foteva – Vera had to say about them later:

“…They always, even down in Aegean Macedonia, in the CPG, NOF, AFZH, NOMS served with intrigue (she is referring to all the DAG deserters who fled to Yugoslavia during the Greek Civil War)... Mincho and I, by nature, were truth-loving, brought up to be honest… I stayed true to NOF, the Macedonian organization of Aegean Macedonia…” “To Hell and Back”, P. 204

“Dimitar Trpovski, a friend of mine from my village, on April 11 – 12, took me to the Greek ‘Iafka’ (telegraph office) in Skopje so that I could visit with a group of NOF leaders who had deserted DAG and fled to Yugoslavia in 1948. Included among them were Mihail Keramitchiev, leader of the group, Vangel Aianovski - Oche, Steriana Vangelova -Slavianka, Lena Stoikova - Mirka and others who immediately attacked me and told me that we had surrendered to the Greeks. I got angry and told them that they were despondent and deserters who had left their people in disarray and ran off to hide, to save their own skin and their own families, while we, who were loyal to the Party and to our people, remained there and were prepared to fight and die…” For more information see p. 85.

So, given that Vera has offered us her honest opinion about these people being “deserters” the question that comes to mind is: Were these people ever in favour of a United Macedonia in a Balkan federation or were they defending the Party (CPY) thesis that the Party would give the Macedonian people from Greek occupied Macedonia a Yugoslav solution? So, why did they leave Aegean Macedonia for the second time? The first time was when they left with the Aegean Brigade. Why did they leave after convincing and pushing so many Macedonian fighters to join DAG and fight in the battlefields all across Greece? Why did they leave the Macedonian fighters in the hands of the Greeks? Why did they not fight for what they preached, for a Macedonian solution?

This most striking condition outlines their commitment to the CPG and the reaction towards their own comrades whom they called deserters. Their focus and commitment should have been to Macedonia and they should have sought a solution that benefited the Macedonian people and not ask people “are you with Tito or with Zahariadis”? Unfortunately instead of promoting what was good for Macedonia and for the Macedonian people, they allowed divisions to foster and alienated the people by asking them: “Are you with us and if you are not, then, you are not with everyone!” These kinds of statements were premeditated and had a devastating effect on Macedonian unity. I am more afraid of distortions of the truth than I am of having to mention this fact:

Liljana Panova in her book “End of an Illusion, the Greek Civil War and the Macedonians 1946-1949”, on page 159, wrote: “... Nikolova (Vera) confided in Aianovski – Oche and told him that the ‘CPG began to again implement its policy of creating divisions among NOF cadres’, and that ‘today there are three factions in NOF, one with Paskal Mitrovski, one with Pavle Rakovski and the third with Koichev’ and that the ‘CPG was again preparing something against NOF’.”

There was an explanation in a footnote that went something like this: “A meeting took place during the night of April 12 and 13. Attending the meeting were Rakovski, Nikolova, Tane Naumov, NOF Board Secretary of Lerin District, Keramitchiev, Dimovski - Gotse and Vangelova – Slavianka.”

So, from what Vera has told us, there was something going on with the Macedonians from Greek occupied Macedonia. Whatever it was it took place between 1940 and 1949, especially among our Macedonian leaders: “Propagandize, organize, lead the Macedonian people to war and then leave…” That is precisely what happened! It is a fact that our leadership in the organizations: CPG, KOEM, SNOF, SNOB, NOF, AFZH and NOMS led the people to war and then fled, leaving them in the hands of our enemies to be slaughtered like lambs and to be exiled from their homeland forever!

After the NOF and AFZH leaders pushed the Macedonian people into the clutches of war, they began quarreling among each other as to who “loved” Macedonia more, who was “better” at “uniting Macedonia” and with whom should the “Macedonian Question” be resolved.

Then, as things became clearer and they began to realize their predicament, being tightly grasped in the clutches of the “Parties”, they understood that “any one of them could be a candidate for the firing squad”!

Unfortunately there was no unity among the Macedonian NOF and AFZH leadership and almost every leader had his or her own view and expectation regarding the outcome of this struggle. Leaving the outcome in ambiguity and Macedonia’s future undefined, these people concentrated their entire effort recruiting fighters for the war without a clear idea as to what was eventually going to happen to them.

What does that tell us?

It tells us that our political leaders (regardless of their ties to the CPY or the CPG) did not understand how wars were fought. Their understanding was that wars were fought with full distinctiveness and had a clear beginning and clear end. But we the Macedonians, during the Greek Civil War, had nothing to distinguish us. We did not plan the beginning or the end of the war. We were simply manipulated and used to the maximum and then left out in the cold to become eternal wanderers of the world.

In essence, the Macedonian leadership was basically told what to do either by the CPY or the CPG or both and never did develop a plan of its own. It was driven from the outside by these different forces with differing objectives which caused conflicts and “disunity” among the leaders. Each Macedonian leader was influenced differently by this tag of war which caused them to form unique visions about which direction to take. Thus there were underlying weaknesses in the internal overall plan and lack of consensus on key Macedonian national issues. In other words, the Macedonian leadership never did develop a unique, shared Macedonian national feeling.

Continuing to follow Vera, who so far has given us insight into her position and that, even though she was a leader and organizer in the struggle, she does not feel responsible for what happened because she feels she acted diligently and did everything that was required of her by the Communist Party.

But it also shows us that after so many people lost their homes, so many people became wanderers of the world and so many more people became victims of their doing, Vera, as a leader of AFZH who fought for a united Macedonia and then firmly accepted the CPG attitude that the Macedonian would be guaranteed “equality rights” the same as the Greeks and status quo with respect of the borders and nothing more, felt like a victim herself who was manipulated by the Greeks just like every Macedonian from Greek occupied Macedonia.

What about the “deserters” who defended the thesis that Yugoslavia had all the answers for the Macedonian people from Greek occupied Macedonia?

It is more than obvious that those who were against the CPY’s position were not “for” a “United Macedonia in a Balkan Federation”, as was later stated by the CPG. No, they were not for a United Macedonia as not all Macedonians were who took part in the 2nd NOF Congress. They were now “courting” the CPY and the Yugoslav authorities and claiming that they were a “pro-Yugoslav Macedonian movement” and were happy with the status quo regarding the borders!

All those leaders of ours now referred to as “deserters” have written their own historiographies, biographies and books of personal encounters after they came to Skopje. They even wrote about how the CPG attempted to convince them to return to Greece and establish their own Macedonian units. In other words, the Greeks were now hunting the very souls who had earlier left the battlefields to save themselves. They now wanted them to return to Greece and fight in the battles in Gramos.

But they were not interested in going back to Greece; they were more interested in “making history on behalf of Yugoslav interests” and, as a result, they left no details about the Macedonians in Greek occupied Macedonia.

So what does this all mean? There is an old saying: “If you don’t know why you suffered a setback, you are no smarter than you were before.” Even half a century later, surely someone must want to know how and why we got mixed up in this Greek Civil War.

We were sold on many illusions. We did whatever we could without realizing that we were harming ourselves. Our national goals were blurred at best and our leaders were efficiently manipulated by our enemies no less. We were naïve and we were sold on a lot of goods that were unrealistic and unattainable. We had big dreams and big aspirations and foreigners and strangers took advantage of us and turned our dreams against us. And that very well, I believe, sums it up.

Situation of the Macedonian fighters at the end of the war

Nineteen forty nine was a year of vicious fighting and burning emotions. Only the misguided and ordinary mobilized peasants remained in the DAG units. Most of our NOF leaders fled without even saying good bye to us... The liquidation of DAG entered a dramatic stage and the deadly trap for the Macedonians was set… It was then a matter of time before the Macedonians were made homeless and wanderers of the world.

It is true that all politics are dirty, but then there are dirtier politics, vicious and horrible politics. Those were the politics of those people who called upon the Macedonian people to rise and fight in a revolution that had no turning back. I do not know if history has even seen a similar example made of a nation.

I have personally witnessed such dirty politics. I was sent to Prespa with a group of saboteurs to blow up the bridge over the waterway that connected the two Prespa lakes. This was after the catastrophic fall of the front line on Vicho Mountain. Even though I saw this with my own eyes, I could not believe how the CPG, NOF, or AFZH leadership could have agreed to order the return of crippled fighters who had already left for Albania, to go back to the frontline to die. These fighters were all crippled, most were without legs and had no option but to die fighting. These battles took place at the end of the war and we all were in the Elbasan camps in Albania.

September 29-30, 1949. A Party Conference was held at the camp in Burreli in Albania where all the Macedonians were gathered. Present among the Conference participants were the CPG senior executive which adopted a resolution to seek out and find the guilty culprits responsible for DAG’s defeat. It did not take long before fingers began to point at the CPY/CPM and at NOF. The CPG executive decided to prosecute the Macedonian NOF leadership. Based purely on speculation and innuendo the entire leadership was found guilty and on October 7, 1949, 11 members and one other activist, were arrested and later sent to the prison camps in Siberia.

This is what we read in a newsletter dated October 17, 1949, circulated in the military camp:

“We have paused but we are not defeated”

“At dawn on October 17, 1949 the already exiled Partisan ‘Provisional Democratic Government’ put an end to hostile activities with a proclamation issued by the radio station in Bucharest. Among other things, the following were stated in the proclamation: ‘DAG (Democratic Army of Greece) will not lay down its arms and will maintain in readiness. DAG only withdrew from battle because it was betrayed by outside invaders aided and supported by Tito who attempted to break its back from behind. But DAG did not fall down and has not been destroyed. It remains complete and powerful in its entirety’...”

Political refugees after the Greek Civil War

After the Greek Civil War was lost, all DAG military formations, by order of General Headquarters, were sent to Albania where they were disarmed and sent to the military camps in Bureli and Elbasan. Some crossed the Berkovitsa border into Bulgaria where they were also disarmed.

While at Bureli, the CPG held its 6th Plenum during which it reviewed its political and military strategies and prepared a schedule of how many fighters were to be sent to which countries. Here is part of that schedule:

Czechoslovakia – 13,500 people (later 6,000 more from Yugoslavia). Poland – 9,000 people (later 3,000 more). Romania – around 5,600 people (later 1,000 more). Bulgaria – 8,800 people. Hungary – around 4,000 people (later 2,000 more). East Germany – around 2,200 people (1,500 were young children). USSR - Tashkent - around 16,500 people (later 5,500 more.)

It should be noted that from these numbers, which were verified from Greek sources, around 56-60% of the people were Macedonians.

There are no sources that list the exact number of people that fled for Yugoslavia. Some sources, however, put the number at 60,000, almost all of them Macedonians.

It would be appropriate at this point to provide a chronological review of DAG’s military strength throughout the course of the Greek Civil War. Here is a list of numbers and their sources: 1. Tassos Vurnas, p. 159-160; in the fall of 1948 DAG had about 18,000 fighters;

2. Vasilis Bardzhiotas, second most important person in DAG, wrote that by the end of 1949, the number of DAG fighters had reached 30,000;

3. “Neos Kozmos” in 1950, p. 624, 637, wrote that the total number of DAG fighters in 1948-1949 reached 25,000;

We should also note at this point that there exists another significant source, the book, “ΜΕΛΕΤΕΣ ΓΙΑ ΤΟΝ ΕΜΦΥΛΙΟ ΠΟΛΕΜΟ (1946-1949)”. According to statements made by General Markos: “Up to 1947, 90% of DAG’s fighters were forcibly mobilized. After that and throughout the entire Greek Civil War there is no confirmation that any of them were volunteers.

So, given what Markos said, can we really entertain the idea that the Greek Civil War was any kind of “Macedonian Revolution” and the continuation of the famous Ilinden Uprising?

Finally, in place of an epilogue, the heaps of facts and arguments spell out the final and horrific outcome of events, which the Macedonian warrior in DAG had to outlive; frightful events that reek of genocide.

Perhaps all this for us Macedonians is a lesson for which the Latins have an old saying that goes something like this: “There are times and there are situations that call for large spending of national energy from which the nation benefits very little!”

Following is a list of battles that took place during the Greek Civil War. These were frightful battles where the opponents had forces as high as ten times larger and much better equipped.

1. Battle at North Pindos, (June 26 to July 22, 1947); 2. Battle for the city Konitsa (December 24, 1947 to January 4, 1948); 3. Battle in Kailari, (October 18, 1948); 4. Battle in Bukovic (November 10 to 14, 1948); 5. Battle for the reception of the heroic unarmed phalanx from Rumeli to Mount Pieria, (March 16, 1948); 6. Battles in Agrafa: Villages Karoplesi, Smokovo, Kerasovo and Mount Niala (April 8 to 22, 1947); 7. Battle at Ilia, Furka, Taburi-Greco, (July 31, 1948); 8. Battle at Golio-Kamenik, (June 21, 1948); 9. Battle at Klevti (June 28 to August 1, 1948); 10. Battle at Taliaro-Likokremasma and Eastern Smolika, (July 31, 1948); 11. Battle at Alevitsa, (June 14, 1948); 12. Battles to conquer the cities Edessa, Sobotsko and Negush, (December 22, 1948 to January 14, 1949); 13. Battle for the conquest of Lerin, (February 12, 1949); 14. Battles in Kajmakchalan, (June 4, 1949); 15. Major battles for the re-taking of Gramos (April 1 & 2, 1949); 16. Battles at the heights of Bulgara, Kotelsko-Gramos, (April 4, 1949); 17. Battles at Patoma-Gramos, (June 2, 1949); 18. Battles for Vicho. The fiercest battles were fought at Lisets and at Iamata, (August 10 to 14, 1949); 19. Dramatic battle fought at Kulata - Prespa between the two lakes, (August 14, 1949); 20. Battles at Black-Gramos, (August 24 1949); 21. The last battles of Gramos, (August 24 to 29, 1949); 22. Battles at Kiafa (elevation 2322) in Gramos, (August 30, 1949, just less than 10 hours before DAG’s defeat).

On this day, history will witness a terrible event; the heroic death of Petso Romev, commander of the 426 battalion within brigade 118. He was born in the village Gornichevo, Lerin Region, in 1919.

So many fierce battles, so many senseless deaths and so much suffering! We have shown you, dear readers, how these false gods, with their empty slogans, lied to the Macedonian people. We have shown you the many promises they made and delivered none. We have also shown you how the Macedonian people were manipulated, divided and turned against one another in spite of doing everything that was asked of them. In the end, we lost everything including our homes and native hearth. And who do we have to blame for all this? Instead of screaming and yelling, for the past 60 years or so, we kept silent! For this we have no one but ourselves to blame! I hope this time history has taught us something, because if it didn’t we will continue to be manipulated, used and abused and history will repeat itself again and again!