FATE OF THE GEMIDZHII SENTENCED TO DEATH

FATE OF THE GEMIDZHII SENTENCED TO DEATH

The death sentences imposed on the Gemidzhii had to be confirmed by the Sultan. And, since they were not immediately confirmed, it became clear that the Sultan had not made up his mind. In the meantime the Gemidzhii were transferred to the central Edi-kule prison where there was a large number of Macedonian prisoners arrested because of the Solun assassinations. Many of those arrested on suspicion were released by the end of June 1903. Many others were not released until April 1904 when a general amnesty was granted by the Sultan. About 1,300 people were arrested after the Solun assassinations and during the Ilinden Uprising.

The amnesty included all political prisoners, except those who were involved in the destruction of public and private properties. The four Gemidzhii were among those who were not pardoned. There was

also a group of Macedonian villagers who were also not pardoned because of their involvement in the diversion carried out at Angista under Gotse Delchev’s instructions.

There was no hope for the Gemidzhii and they had nothing to hope for. The first option was execution, and the second life-long imprisonment. The first option meant a quick end for them. The second option meant a cruel and lingering end. But, the second option seemed more humane: to hope while they were alive.

Months and years passed while they waited for their death. While hundreds of Macedonian martyrs, who paid the usual “tax” for their involvement in the Macedonian liberation struggle, entered and exited the gates of Edi-Kule, the Gemidzhii still remained there. In April 1906, two groups of different kinds of prisoners arrived in Edi-Kule. These were political prisoners from the Bitola and Skopje prisons. Among others, in the first group, were Priest Georgi Vasilev from Lerin, Simeon Shishkov from Ekshisu, the famous leader Aleko Dzhorlev from the village Banitsa, Lerin Region, and Blagoi Simeonov from Demir Hisar, Bitola Region. In the second group were Petar Kushev from Veles, renowned revolutionary Todor Lazarov from Stip and others. All of these people were sentenced to over 10 years of hard labour but were kept in captivity.

May 6, 1906 was a beautiful spring day. There was a lot of activity among the guards opening and closing doors. There was the constant snapping and clatter of iron. The prisoners were being moved around. Then the day came when the Gemidzhii too were “moved” from Edi-kule. They were led together with the other prisoners. Some were destined for Asia Minor and some for Fezan, Africa. They were chained together, one hundred and fifty of them, and paraded through the streets of Solun, through a narrow cordon of curious onlookers, as they approached the harbour towards the ship “Konstantinople”. A person, accompanied by two policemen, arrived at the ship and gave the prisoners a modest amount of money. It was assistance money from the Protestant Church community in Solun.

On May 10, 1906 the prisoners arrived in Smyrna. Here the authorities separated the large group into three smaller groups. The

group convicted with 10 year prison sentences was sent to Podrum. The group convicted with 15 year sentences was sent to Rhodes. The third group, after spending 3 weeks in a Smyrna prison, on May 28, 1906 was loaded on a ship destined for Tripoli. The journey was very difficult. The prisoners were chained by their legs and neck at all times and were almost immobile. As a result Rizo Tpaikov, a 35 year-old man from a village in Gevgelia, died. He was ill and could not withstand the difficult journey. After being blessed by a priest, his body was then buried in the sea.

The prisoners sent to Tripoli stayed in a Tripoli prison for a month. Then on July 6, 1906, accompanied by a group of horsemen and 11 guards, the group was taken to its last destination - Fezan. There were a total of 55 prisoners of whom 51 were Macedonians. After much suffering, thirst, hunger, deprivation and being fried by the unbearable burning sun, on August 6, 1906 they arrived in Murzuk, the largest settlement in Fezan. Nikola Traikov never made it to Murzuk. He died a terrible death from sunstroke. Nikola Tpaikov was a 45 year-old illiterate but healthy man from Bitola with a strong will for life and freedom. His body, like that of Rizo, was blessed by Priest G. Vasilev and then buried somewhere in the Libyan Desert.

The prisoners were sure surprised at Murzuk by the reception they received from the authorities. Lieutenant-Colonel Mevlid, head of the gendarmerie and Secretary A. Hilmi, head administrator of the administrative order, did everything in their power to make life, more or less, easier for the prisoners. Mevlid informed them about the conditions in which they would be forced to live, advising them to be diligent and careful, because there were no means of receiving any help from the outside. Such attention left a great impression on them. But this kind of relationship was not approved by the higher authorities, which prompted them to replace Mevlid. But A. Hilmi, on the other hand, was an educated Turk, a writer and publicist, and continued to support the prisoners. Thanks to his authority the prisoners were freed from their chains. “The conditions under which the prisoners lived in the prison,” wrote Hilmi, “were very difficult. The prisoners could hardly bear the very hot weather.”

In November 1906, the head of the prison left and was temporarily replaced by Judge Murat, an Albanian from Podgoritsa. He was a terrible fanatic and very hostile towards the Macedonian prisoners. He thought that they were guilty of causing the crisis in Turkey and seemed to fulfill his patriotic duty by torturing them. In order to provoke the local population to rise against the Christian prisoners, Murat spread rumours that they were not only fugitives of the sultan and the state, but also great foes of the Muslim faith. The prisoners were forbidden from leaving their prison cells. Not even to wash their clothes. They were denied all care packages received from home that were sent to them through the post office. They were given salty bread to eat and not allowed to drink water. Those who needed it were not given medical assistance. But thanks to Hilmi, some of these bad deeds were curtailed.

The prison situation somewhat improved with the appointment of Dzhelal-Bey, as head of the prison in March 1907. Dzhelal-Bey promised the prisoners that he would do his best to give them everything required by law and tried to keep his promise.

Many Macedonian prisoners suffered greatly in the Ottoman prison in Murzuk, starting with the long and arduous journey to get there from Macedonia, the terrible climatic conditions, the difficult life in prison, the lack of medical assistance and so on. How many of the 50 prisoners left their bones there, we don’t know. Two of the Gemidzhii also did not survive.

After suffering for eight days from a terrible fever, on February 14, 1908, Marko Boshnakov the “grocer” died. Then in May of the same year, suffering from a serious illness, Milan Arsov, the youngest of the Gemidzhii, also fell ill. His illness caused particular grief among all the prisoners. Realizing that his end was nearing and that he would never again see his beloved Veles, Solun and Vardar, the young Arsov gathered enough strength to say goodbye to all his friends in the prison. “He,” wrote Shatev,” surprised everyone before he died. We all shed tears for him... The last moment, before he closed his eyes, he saw our tears flow. It was a memorable and sad moment. During the afternoon of June 21, 1908, when the sun was preparing to hide behind the highest mountain peaks, we all

kissed out deceased comrade before putting him in the sandy black tomb and covering him with sand...”

And then, when the prisoners began to believe that this was how it was going to be for the rest of their lives and that there would be no salvation for them other than death, something unbelievable happened. News came out through the Libyan Desert that they would be freed. It was a hot day in July when a telegram arrived in Murzuk, which said: “On the occasion of the dissolution of Parliament, the Sultan has decreed a general amnesty.” The majority of the prisoners were delighted with the prospect of being freed but, at the same time, they could not help themselves in believing that this was some sort of trick. The news was sudden and unexpected and therefore it had to be a lie. But it was not a lie. The July 1908 Young Turk Uprising opened a new page in the history of the Ottoman Empire and it also opened the doors of the Sultan’s dungeons to all political prisoners.

On July 30, 1908, an official telegram arrived in Murzuk with orders to free the prisoners. The Muslim prisoners were released the same day. However, the prison took its time with the release of the Macedonian prisoners. On August 13, 1908 the prison director summoned several prisoners and told them:

“I have just received a telegram from the Rumelian Vilayet head inspector who informed me that you too are covered by the general amnesty. Therefore from this moment forward you are all free. I salute you with joy and congratulate you on your liberation.”

After that all the Macedonian prisoners were immediately released. Obviously they all celebrated the good news but then problems began to surface. The Macedonians were having difficulty finding transportation from Murzuk to Tripoli. But since they were now free men, the authorities were no longer interested in them. The worst problem they faced was finding water, camels and guides. In the end, after lengthy insistence and pleas to the authorities, all the obstacles were overcome and the former prisoners were ready to return to their native lands.

The historian is not the one who can describe the psychological situation experienced by the Macedonian prisoners from the first day they received the news about the amnesty to the day they were freed and allowed to go home. That responsibility falls on the writer of the story.

The common ideals they fought for, as well as the same fate they shared in the Ottoman dungeons, greatly contributed to the solidarity between the Macedonian prisoners. This was for understandable reasons and it was particularly strong among the Gemidzhii. This was one of the reasons why Shatev and Bogdanov had difficulty accepting the idea that they were actually going home while their two close comrades, albeit dead, had to remain in this distant and quiet country. But what could they do? Only a few months had passed since they died and their bodies were just beginning to decay under the sand. Digging them out was forbidden and the penalties were high. However, there was no such thing as “difficulties” in the eyes of the Gemidzhii. Their debt to their friendship proved to be stronger than any obstacle.

After they were ready to go, the two Gemidzhii, with help from four other Macedonian prisoners, secretly unearthed Arsov and Boshnakov’s graves, cut off their heads and took them to their temporary residence. There they soaked the skulls in an iodine solution, placed them in two metal boxes and sealed them tightly.

On August 18, 1908 the population of Murzuk witnessed an unusual event. The Macedonian prisoners loaded a number of camels with supplies and set off for their homeland. On September 4, 1908 the caravan arrived in the Seba oasis, and on September 12, 1908 it arrived in Sokna. And so, from settlement to settlement, traveling through areas where there was no water for about 200 kilometres, the former Macedonian prisoners, on September 29, 1908, arrived in Tripoli. There they were well received by the local authorities. Mayor Asuna personally came out to see how they were doing. On October 4, 1908 they boarded the ship “Sumatra” with tickets paid for by the city authorities, and on October 5, 1908 they arrived in Malta. Then, traveling through Crete, Piraeus, Smyrna, Dede-Agach, Kavala, Lesbos, on October 16, 1908 they arrived in Solun. They returned to the same city where, more than two years before, they

were bound with chains around their necks and, like wild beasts, sent to the outer reaches of the still expanding Ottoman Empire, from where they could never return.

“After 2 to 4 days,” wrote Shatev, “we parted company and went home to our own houses, in the different parts of the three districts -Solun, Bitola and Skopje. When we parted company we were all alone, living with our memories of our captivity in Fezan…” (Pavel Shatev, Incarnation in Sahara - Fezan, Sofia 1910, Solun assassination and prisoners in Fezan according to Pavel Shatev’s memoirs.)

Boshnakov and Arsov’s skulls were handed over to their parents to give them a proper burial in their native cemeteries.