V. PROTEST LETTER SENT TO THE SKM CENTRAL COMMITTEE

V. PROTEST LETTER SENT TO THE SKM CENTRAL COMMITTEE

Skopje, March 1976

To the SKM Central Committee (Appeals Commission Department) SKOPJE

The attached text represents a protest and request to do something to remove an absolutely unacceptable phenomenon.

Not too long ago, the Institute of National History (INI) in Skopje published a well-formed book under the title “Aegean Storms”, in which it was declared that former members of the Communist Party Aegean Macedonia (KOEM) leadership, i.e. the People’s Liberation Front (NOF) in the Aegean part of Macedonia, were traitors who worked against the interests of the Macedonian people.

Some time later, I submitted a 30 page article to the Directorate of INI. By looking at already published original documents of that time, there is undeniably and clearly something not right with this book. It is an undeniable fact that the author of the book “Aegean Storms” has invented many of the things he claimed. His claims are based on superficial logic that miss the truth, cast mud on others, and bury the Macedonian KOEM-NOF leaders politically. Moreover, he alluded to the fact and made claims that the KOEM-NOF leaders be declared traitors, as they were declared by their opponents and then sentenced to long jail terms. On top of that he has insulted the leaders by asking that the following phrase be placed on their tombstones:

“Treachery is loved by everyone, and traitors are loved by no one…” (Ibid. p. 406.)

It is always a joyous event to see a new book come out about the liberation struggle of our people in the Aegean (Greek occupied) part of Macedonia. It deservingly honours our people’s huge human and material sacrifices. In doing so, it is understandable that sometimes the author’s weaknesses appear in that book, as was the case with the book “Aegean Storms”. But what is disappointing and difficult to understand is why would the publisher not want to remove or correct these proven, discovered injustices and untruths? Specifically, here’s what happened. Corrections to the above-mentioned text were made and submitted to the directorate of INI. After the corrections were examined and presumably accepted, they asked that they be left at their disposal, which was done. Unfortunately they did not publish any of the material. Almost two years have passed since the corrections were submitted and nothing has been done.

That is why I wrote this letter and here is my reason:

Lidia Simovska’s book “Macedonian periodical journalism in Aegean Macedonia during the national liberation war and the Greek Civil War, 1941-1949”, is expected to be published soon. On December 26, 1977, Radio Skopje did a broadcast with one part of the book where Simovska herself read a dozen pages, during the “Lights of the Past” program. It should be pointed out that this was a wonderful thing, especially since it was part of her dissertation. In her work, while she quoted information from original documents, newspapers, magazines, etc., she also added her own brief comments which created a unique, beautiful and rich image of the full heroic and self-sacrificing liberation struggle of our people from this part of Macedonia in the mentioned period.

However, according to the subject matter, this new book also follows the same line as the book “Aegean Storms” claiming that the leading KOEM-NOF Macedonian activists in the Aegean (Greek occupied) part of Macedonia were traitors.

(In both books, especially in the second book, I personally have been attacked and publicly offended.)

Our wide democracy is great here especially with our freedom of speech. But in this case, that freedom is being abused. Case and point: While the KOEM-NOF leaders, by Decree from Josip Broz Tito, President of the SFRY, were awarded high praise for their work in the battlefield, there are people here who have publicly accused them of being traitors for doing the same work.

Please, do whatever you can to stop this. The law requires you to correct publicly committed injustices...

Skopje, December 26, 1977 With much respect, (Pavle Rakovski)

CRITICAL REMARKS

Our subject is Lidia Simovska’s work: “Macedonian periodical journalism in Aegean Macedonia during the national liberation war and the Greek Civil War, 1941-1949”.

She has done a great job in her graduate work which is expected to come out in print soon. With her quotations of numerous original texts (newspapers, magazines, etc.), as well as with her own brief comments, she has created a uniquely beautiful and rich image of the Macedonian people’s liberation struggle and captured their heroism and self-sacrifice...

I will now go through the text and make a few critical remarks pointing out some of what I believe are weaknesses in her work.

I. Lidia has started her text by expressing her gratitude to the people in the Macedonian archives “for the assistance and insight they provided her and for allowing her to access the archival collection ‘Aegean Macedonia in the national liberation war 1941-1949’ and the ‘revolutionary Macedonian press for Aegean Macedonia’ for the same period”. She then went to especially thank the two doctors F. Breg and B. Iskrov for their advice...

All of this is okay.

However, Lidia said nothing about all the other documents she received that were crucial for her work. Namely, she was silent about receiving the document “Macedonian Journalism and Press in Aegean Macedonia”, and my (Pavle Rakovski’s) other two manuscripts and a collection of important first-hand information. If we are to judge by what Lidia said in her statements of gratitude, then how much of the information I gave her was used in her work, compared to the information taken from the other sources? Lidia unfortunately has kept silent on this. Perhaps she was not happy with the “first-hand” information…? This is not worth talking about, of course, but it will help us understand the characteristics that follow.

II. In one of my articles, in the above-mentioned manuscripts, I (Pavle Rakovski) began with three quotes from the well-known “theses for the Macedonian national question” by Velko Vlahovich. All three were taken together in a certain order and in a certain way and placed outside and before my basic text.

Lidia (and this is not surprising) did exactly the same thing in her work, with exactly the same quotes. Simply put, she copied the same quotes to the comma, in the same order and in the same way placed them outside and before her basic text. Her work is soon expected to come out in print, and since my articles have not been published, I have no choice but to “give up”, not only these three quotes, but many other important quotes I have made that were used in her text...

(These first two remarks (I and II above) were omitted from the letter sent to the SKM Central Committee Appeals Commission...)

III. On page 59 of her manuscript (which was made available to me) Lidia wrote:

“With the newly formed NOF leadership (at the NOF Central Council I Plenum on August 8, 1948) made up predominantly of so-called Grkomani (Macedonians loyal to Greece), who exclusively now and before served the Greek cause and the CPG on the one hand, and by applying strong pressure and the threat of death on the remaining NOF staff and on the editorial board of “Nepokoren”, on

the other, Zahariadis was able to succeed in carrying out his anti-Macedonian policy in a practical way. It (NOF) has increasingly popularized the CPG, its leadership and itself, while concealing its true motives, because it needed to further mobilize Macedonian fighters with its hypocritical views and slogans about the Macedonian national struggle, and by claiming that: “The CPG is a protector of the Macedonian people in Greece.”

And immediately after that, Lidia informs the reader that:

“This came to the fore in the first of its kind article written by Pavle Rakovski, editor of ‘Nepokoren’, known until then as a supporter of full rights for the Macedonian people. In the article entitled ‘The Macedonian National Liberation Movement expresses its real needs for the development of the Macedonian people’, he struggles to express NOF’s political line in a correct sense. At the beginning of the article he wrote: ‘The Macedonian National Liberation Movement is a reality…’ Organizationally this was formed in NOF: His political goals have become NOF’s political program…

Further down in his presentation he becomes confused because, due to the newly emerged situation and control over him, he is unable to bring to an end his earlier known attitudes which were NOF’s views…”

Meaning, because of this “first of its kind article” of Rakovski’s, in which he is “confused”, and as Lidia puts it, Zahariadis’s anti-Macedonian practical line “came to the fore”, one can conclude that Rakovski too is anti-Macedonian.

This is a very important conclusion, especially since it refers to the activities of a former NOF leader, and it seems Lidia was the first to publicly formulate it. This is perhaps believable to readers who are not familiar with the events of the struggle and pay no attention to details. There is, however, something missing in this conclusion, namely, Lidia has not cited or quoted a single word from this article or from any other of Rakovski’s articles, to substantiate her conclusion. She should have cited or quoted at least something, a phrase or two about what was ambiguous, confusing or anti-

Macedonian. Therefore this kind of conclusion is without foundation and will remain floating in the air, as arbitrary and incorrect...

IV. On page 60 Lidia wrote:

“From now on ‘NEPOKOREN’ will carry loud titles ‘FOR THE GREAT GREEK COMMUNIST PARTY WHICH LURKS OVER THE MACEDONIAN PEOPLE LIKE IT IS THEIR PROTECTOR AND SAVIOUR.’….

IN THAT SPIRIT, on December 10, 1948, under number 17, NEPOKOREN carried the following articles entitled:

‘THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF GREECE (CPG) - ORGANIZER, GIVER AND LEADER OF THE PEOPLE’S STRUGGLE FOR SOCIAL AND NATIONAL FREEDOM’.

‘CPG – INITIATOR OF SOCIAL AND NATIONAL FREEDOM’, ‘NIKOS ZAHARIADIS’, ‘CPG – PROTECTOR OF THE MACEDONIAN PEOPLE IN GREECE’, ‘CPG ASSISTING OUR PEOPLE’, ‘CPG POINTING TO THE ROAD OF SALVATION’, ‘CPG POLICY - PRINCIPLED POLITICS’...”

I decided to capitalize the above titles because they do not correspond to the truth. Namely, no such alleged titles of any such “articles” appeared in the December 10, 1948 issue of “Nepokoren”. All this is invented and untrue. The only article about the CPG that I (Rakovski) wrote was the article about the CPG’s 30th anniversary jubilee - 30 years since the CPG’s inception. It would appear that the title of this article and the subtitles in the text were consciously altered to look like “titles of many articles”. Unfortunately by doing this and by not taking care to make the appropriate corrections, and necessary adjustments, Lidia damaged her own reputation and principles. In other words she made claims about things that do not exist...

V. But in order for Lidia to show how things were done “in that spirit”, i.e. in the anti-Macedonian spirit, she used quotes from another of Rakovski’s articles. This is what she wrote:

“The Macedonian people, writes Rakovski, enjoy full social, political and national equality with the Greek people in the free territories. He is fighting organized in these people’s national organizations. Our political organizations NOF and AFZH are already renowned and have Macedonian newspapers and magazines. NEPOKOREN – is an organ of NOF, NOVA MAKEDONKA – a magazine, is an organ of AFZH and BILTEN – is a NOF newspaper. All these are printed by the thousands in the same printing house where the Greek newspapers are printed…” (page 60.)

This was written and published in December 1948.

As is well-known, Zahariadis refused to accept the Macedonian reality - the emergence and existence of the People’s Republic of Macedonia as a nation state of the Macedonian people in the Yugoslav composition and - the emergence and existence of a strong Macedonian Liberation Movement (NOF) here, in the Aegean (Greek occupied) part of Macedonia. This was made obvious during the CPG Central Committee II Plenum, held in February 1946, during which Zahariadis pronounced and treated the Macedonian people like they were some kind of nationally incomplete “Slavophone population” and like some “Slavophone Macedonians who lived in Greek Macedonia on the territory of the Greek state”.

After this Plenum, all previous CPG hostilities against NOF looked like a picnic. The new hostilities were more like a real war against the Macedonian national ideal, that is, against the active bearers of the Macedonian national ideal. In Siantos’s time, during the national liberation war against the fascist occupation, the “Slavophone Macedonians” (this is what they were first called during the CPG Central Committee VIII Plenum resolution in February 1942) were treated like “Slavophone Greeks”. Zahariadis, however, was a bit more cautious and, without using such expressions, continued to use the same kind of anti-Macedonian policy. Namely, he continued Siantos’s hostilities with much less intensity.

But his open frontal struggle proved to be unsuccessful. Instead of weakening it, he amplified NOF. Eventually Zahariadis was forced to use different tactics. As is well-known, with a declarative acknowledgment of NOF, he succeeded in getting his hands on it

and on its military formations - the NOF Macedonian battalions (November 21, 1946).

On top of the well-known heavy political crimes perpetrated against the Macedonian people, the CPG began to eliminate the more important and active bearers of the Macedonian national ideal. More precisely:

It ordered the Macedonian battalions to withdraw to the southern part of Greece and, after their commanders were replaced by Greeks, ordered their destruction.

It then ordered the physical liquidation of many individuals, mostly prominent Macedonian activists like Dzhodzho, Shamardanov, Koroveshovski, Tanurov, Kalkov, etc.

At the same time it dissolved and disbanded the NOF central agitation and propaganda department. Rakovski and the other members were individually inducted into DAG’s ranks as simple fighters and sent to join the various DAG units in the front.

The Macedonian teachers’ school and seminars were abolished.

The NOF cultural and art groups were dissolved.

The Macedonian national brass band was also disbanded and its leader, folk musician Timo, was later killed. This was a remarkable band whose Macedonian folk melody echoed in the mountains wherever it played.

But the worst thing the CPG did in all this was that it beheaded NOF of its founding leadership. Zahariadis and the CPG leaders, through the NOF I Congress (January 1948) and through the NOF Central Council I Plenum (August 1948), prepared and executed the removal of the NOF leadership, that is, they “neutralized” three out of the initial five NOF founding members - Mitrevski, Keramitchiev, and Rakovski. The other two Dzhodzho and Koroveshovski were killed. The NOF founding leadership was replaced with a “new leadership” (the tandem Kotsopoulos-Koitsis), and NOF gradually began to turn into an anti-Macedonian

organization. In other words, it began to lose its Macedonian national spirit, its Macedonian national colours, and to reorient itself towards Athens and, in the spirit of the Greek cause, promote the idea that “we are part of Greece… we are part of the Greek people...”

A tense, electrified and dangerous situation began to develop that was followed by a wave of Macedonians deserting DAG’s ranks. Rakovski was brought back from the army followed by Mitrevski and, after the NOF Central Council II plenum was held, at Zahariadis’s request, they were both reinstated in the NOF leadership. By then Keramitchiev had left Greece and gone to seek medical treatment in the Republic of Macedonia. He remained and worked in Skopje. NOF regional activists and leaders had also fled the war and withdrawn to the Republic of Macedonia...

It was under these conditions, i.e. Zahariadis’s chauvinistic anti-Macedonian politics, that Rakovski was returned from the army in order to help consolidate the “new NOF leadership”. And, according to “Nepokoren”, to consolidate NOF-AFZH, the central organs, as a Macedonian people’s organization… as a distinct people, as a self-serving people, as a non-Greek nation that enjoys (should enjoy) full equality with the Greek people who are struggling (should be struggling) organized in their own Macedonian national organizations as they are (must be). NOF and AFZH have (should have) their own Macedonian (not Greek) newspapers and magazines...

Because of this Rakovski was later suspended and sent to DAG as an ordinary fighter and dispatched to the Gramos front (Arapades Sector) where he fought and was later arrested and jailed for being a dangerous Macedonian “nationalist”...

This, in its essence, is what happened...

But then we have people like Lidia who would not hesitate to use this information in any way possible to achieve their objectives. Their intentions are quite clear. They want Rakovski to look like a person who popularized the CPG and as a result of that to label him as anti-Macedonian...

But Lidia’s witch-hunt did not end with Rakovski. She had reached similar conclusions about NOF itself. The NOF leadership and the “Nepokoren” editorial board were also negatively presented in her writing. This is what Lidia wrote about them:

“Gradually they lost their independence and turned into tools and apologists for Zahariadis and for CPG policies…” (p. 57.)

This is how our historiography, whose main bearers are the INI researchers, who work on the “historical material and problems” that have to do with Aegean (Greek occupied) Macedonia, treat our KOEM-NOF leaders and our people who fought in that struggle in general. Sadly they are seen as nothing more than traitors…

Let us now have a look at some things more closely, basic moments in history that should be analyzed and discussed, but instead our main bearers have chosen to hide them by being silent…

1) It was believed that the Greek Communist Movement and the CPG, in principle, were not and could not be enemies of the Macedonian people. This was because CPG members and cadres were persecuted, arrested, sentenced, and sent to prison because they publicly defended the rights of the Macedonian people in the Greek state. The most famous of these trials was the one in Solun, where fifteen Greek CPG activists were convicted and sentenced to a total of eighty (80) years of hard labour.

This, of course, was not and could not be “anti-Macedonian politics” - to tell the Macedonian people about this and propagate solidarity between the two nations...

2) It is a historical fact that exponents of the domestic bourgeoisie and the international anti-communist movement took over the CPG leadership. Included among them were Stavridis, Puliopoulos, Maximos, Sargogolos, etc., then Siantos, followed by Zahariadis. They were eventually exposed, some completely, some partially, and expelled from the party. But not before they damaged the general communist movement and the people’s revolution in Greece. Because of them the people’s interests, rights and freedom

suffered, not only the interests of the Macedonian but also those of the Greek people. The abnormal number of crisis situations inside the CPG, the break in its ranks, open treachery, the devastating defeats of the people’s revolution in 1936, 1944, 1949… they are all indications of this.

Naturally they keep silent because they are not willing and will not blame the communist movement and the CPG for this...

3) The Macedonian liberation movement, in all its phases (such as MAO, SOF, SNOF, TOMO, NOF, KOEM) never stopped, not even for a moment, to express to the Macedonian people the needs for change and development. By their very existence, they highlighted the Macedonian national question in front of the Greek and world public (asking for a practical solution), affirming the struggle and legitimate rights of the Macedonian people in the Greek state.

And this is how it was…

4) The Macedonian national liberation movement was a subject of controversy, discussion, and cooperation between the CPM (CPY) and the CPG. Tempo was sent to Greece and Abas to Solun. There were also other contacts made over time. The various stages of the Macedonian liberation movement did not occur spontaneously. They were reflections in the course of activities carried out by the CPG and the CPM/CPY. After NOF was formed in Skopje it worked for a year and a half under the influence, assistance, and leadership of the CPM/CPY, and not “independently”. Similarly NOF was transferred from CPM/CPY hands to the hands of the CPG under a CPM/CPY directive. This is how it happened. NOF was informed of this transfer in the CPM Central Committee building in which I had the privilege to express my opinion and to inform everyone present that “Zahariadis was not honest in his convictions”. Namely, I was certain that he would remove the NOF leadership and replace it with his own people – Grkomani (Macedonian supremacists loyal to the Greek cause). What, then? How are we to act under these conditions…?

The answer to that was: “Whatever happens don’t return to us… You will be disciplined. You will go as simple fighters wherever they send you…”

The Macedonian communists, leaders and members of NOF accepted their role and generally led the Macedonian national liberation movement, but it was always done under the leadership of the CPG or the CPM/CPY.

This is exactly how it was and it would be misinformation and mere demagogy to write and speak about any sort of “independence” NOF had and that it lost it when it was handed over to the CPG leadership...

5) After NOF was handed over to the CPG on November 21, 1946, it was completely cut off and isolated from the CPM/CPY. “Nepokoren” had no opportunity to receive or publish information about life and progress in the People’s Republic of Macedonia and in Yugoslavia. But there was more to it than that. Before “unity” was established, anti-Macedonian acts had dramatically escalated and, as I mentioned earlier, they had led to severe political crimes perpetrated against the Macedonian people. Then it became clear to us that “there was no return for us no matter what happened”, which in fact meant “don’t wait for support from the CPM/CPY, no matter what happens…” Obviously, by doing this the CPM/CPY, in fact, not only surrendered NOF to Zahariadis, but literally destroyed all bridges, preventing any and all CPM/CPY interventions in support of NOF.

Just because the CPM/CPY remained silent on the issue, did not mean that it approved of Zahariadis’s anti-Macedonian-anti-Yugoslav policy. But, regardless of that, it was hard for the Macedonian communists and NOF leaders not to feel abandoned. It was hard for them to have sentimental views of things given the harsh reality they were under...

6) Zahariadis founded KOEM on March 27, 1949, under which he collected all Macedonian military and political cadres. Less than three months later, on June 20, 1949, he called a KOEM meeting. He attended the meeting in person during which he outlined, in the

form of a party document, his famous resolution against the Communist Party of Yugoslavia and against Tito, that is, against the CPM and the political leadership of the People’s Republic of Macedonia. He then demanded that it be adopted and individually signed by everyone.

The CPG itself, however, never did publish, under its own name, such a document supporting the Informburo and condemning the CPY. The small regional KOEM organization, however, was in no position to act on behalf of the CPG in this matter so why ask it to do this? It is likely that there was another purpose for this. According to logic and the actual facts, it was a provocation, a trap set to trap:

a) The Macedonian military and political cadres.

If the KOEM leaders were to refuse to sign the document, because of sympathies for the CPM/CPY, then they would come into collision with the CPG. Of course they could not have taken into account, and perhaps did not even know about the Tito-Stalin collision. A collision between KOEM and the CPG would certainly cause cleavage and confrontation within the CPG and DAG leaderships. This would inevitably lead to the disintegration of DAG units which would be catastrophic for DAG. Then Zahariadis could blame KOEM as being the main and public triggers for the defeat of the people’s revolution and for the downfall of the Macedonian liberation movement. As an integral part, the KOEM leadership would then be labeled traitorous to both the Greek and the Macedonian people. And that, of course, would be enough to earn it its liquidation.

If, on the other hand, the KOEM leaders decided to sign the document against the CPY/CPM and against the leadership of the People’s Republic of Macedonia, they would discredit themselves in the eyes of the “Skopje leaders” and the CPY. And that, it seems, was most important and most acceptable to Zahariadis...

b) This was also a provocation and a trap against the “Skopje leaders” and the CPY.

Namely, if the KOEM leaders signed the document (and that’s what happened) against the CPM/CPY and against the People’s Republic of Macedonia’s leadership then, perhaps in response (this is what Zahariadis was certainly hoping for), the “Skopje leaders” and the CPY would declare the KOEM leaders traitors and would anathematize them. That, of course, would be a brilliant move on Zahariadis’s part. By doing so the “Skopje leaders” and the CPY would not only remove themselves from the game but would abandon the so-called “Slavophones” altogether for at least one generation. Then, led by enthusiastic anti-Macedonian leaders, these “Slavophones” would have nowhere to turn except to remain as an internal Greek phenomenon - as a “Slavophone” speaking part of the Greek people...

After everyone signed Zahariadis said:

How many of them are honest…?

One month passed. A second and a third month passed… and no anathema from Skopje. Then, on October 3, 1949, in a dangerous and insincere tone of voice, Zahariadis publicly proclaimed them traitors and “agents of the CPY and Tito”, who allegedly worked to undermine the CPG and DAG. He then accused them of working against the Greek and Macedonian people’s common struggle. This was done in the spirit of Zahariadis’s famous fabrication of the “attack from behind”.

Zahariadis even popularized the slogan “Death to the Traitors!”

However, because of Beria’s interest in these “CPY and Tito agents” they were plucked from Zahariadis’s hands, because Zahariadis would have liquidated them out of anger and sent them away to the USSR. In Moscow, ten of these Macedonians received jail terms for a total of ninety-six (96) years of hard labour. Although not as planned, Zahariadis did get rid of them.

Furthermore, Zahariadis dissolved NOF and replaced it with a new organization tailor-made for the “Slavophones” and staffed it with his choice of Macedonian Janissary’s, “Slavophone Greeks”. Fearing a dangerous reaction from the Macedonian masses and the

Macedonian fighters, he named it “Ilinden” as a preventive measure. And while using the name “Ilinden” he tried to kill the spirit of Ilinden. Namely, the Macedonian alphabet was thrown out and a new alphabet was hastily created based on the Russian alphabet. The Macedonian literary language and Macedonian grammar were also removed from use. The spoken language was replaced with a crippled Macedonian language based on the one spoken by Kotsopoulos, Koichis and others. A new grammar and new literary language were then compiled especially for the “Slavophones”. The “Ilinden” publishing department was tasked with promoting all the works, publishing new school textbooks and upholding the literary values of this new so-called literary language.

So now, on top of having the Macedonian territories divided, on top of having the Macedonian people living under different economies which were achieved by the Macedonian people’s neighbouring monarchies through the Balkan wars, Zahariadis tried to break the Macedonian language and culture in order to prove to the world that the “Slavophones” living in the Greek state are just a Greek internal problem… They are a “Slavophone” part of the Greek people… and in that, as is well-known, a huge number of Macedonians were ruined...

“Treachery is loved by everyone, and traitors are loved by no one…”

And, as I said earlier, the above phrase has been used as a kind of political epitaph for the KOEM-NOF leaders and activists who were declared traitors and politically buried in the book “Aegean Storms”.

Both the author of the book “Aegean Storms” and the INI reviewers and collaborators, mentioned earlier, who allowed this book to be published, are prominent people and known for their efforts and attempts to politically bury the KOEM-NOF leadership. They are the political grave diggers who want to politically destroy the KOEM-NOF people who Zahariadis proclaimed as traitors, just because in a “moment of weakness”, because of their lack of faith, they succumbed, and out of fear committed treason and signed Zahariadis’s document which spoke against the Communist Party of Yugoslavia and against Tito, and respectively against the CPM and

the political leadership of the People’s Republic of Macedonia. They were then arrested because of their treachery and yes, no one likes traitors...

This, of course, is just formal and superficial logic. Since every animal has four legs it does not mean that everything that has four legs in an animal. Is my desk an animal because it has four legs? Anyone today who is interested in the history of that time knows that Zahariadis’s expert maneuver with the KOEM resolution missed its mark. Namely, the military and political leaders of the Macedonian national liberation movement did not follow the line of open confrontation with the CPG and DAG leaderships. They did not cause a new split in DAG. DAG did not disintegrate on the eve of the last and decisive battle with the enemy. The KOEM leaders did not betray the joint struggle and were not traitors to the Macedonian and Greek people.

Zahariadis even failed in his other alternative. His idea to get the “Skopje leaders” and the CPY caught up in his scheme to anathematize the KOEM-NOF leaders did not work either. On the contrary! As I have mentioned before, everyone that is here today, as many as there are left and settled in the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, was decorated for their activities in the then struggle by the President of the Republic with appropriate high decorations.

But, as you can see, there is someone who doesn’t agree with this. And, in a rather lame and irresponsible manner, is publicly declaring them traitors.

And who gave them this right…? Who needs these sandstorms and why? It is not a joke to publicly call someone a traitor! But this exactly what is happening to the former leaders of the Macedonian liberation movement in Greek occupied Macedonia…! What evil god or demon skillfully pitted Macedonian against Macedonian like it did during the time when Macedonians were killed on the streets of Sofia…? Skopje, however, is not Sofia and this must not be allowed to happen here. Moreover, all these people are Communists… Unfortunately the Party is absent in all this. The authorities are silent and are standing on the sidelines, as if waiting for the “Aegeans” to eliminate each other. Why is that…?

What is happening here is absolutely unacceptable and must not be allowed to happen.

Young Lidia, as well as the author of “Aegean Storms”, is mistaken to have accepted the role in this sad story to denigrate the leaders from that part of Macedonia...

Skopje, January 1978.