Most Modern Greeks believe that Macedonians do not exist
Risto StefovOctober 08, 2008
What happens when a Modern Greek who believes Macedonians donīt exist, runs into a Macedonian?
Most Greeks, or at least the ones I have run into, are direct and to the point when they face off with a Macedonian. I have to admit I look Mediterranean and when I run into another Mediterranean looking person I am often asked where I am from. The favoured way for a Greek to ask is "Are you Greek?" to which I respond "No I am not!" The next question would then be "What are you?" to which I would respond "Macedonian". Then without any hesitation the Greek will respond with "What is that? There is no such thing!" Now if I persist and say "Yes there is" I will get a string of insults such as "You are a Slav" or "You are Bulgarian" or "You are a Skopjan". This, as unbelievable as it may sound, happens today not inside Greece but outside, in Canada, the USA and Australia. No Macedonians inside Greece have the courage to call themselves Macedonian without believing their lives would be in danger. I came from Greece and am speaking from experience.
Fair enough! If Greeks think Macedonians donīt exist I accept that but letīs look at the facts about Greece and the Greeks in comparison to the Macedonians and Macedonia.
Modern Greece became a country in 1829. There is no historical record prior to that of the existence of such a state. I welcome anyone to show me a map created before 1800 AD that shows a state called Greece encompassing its current borders.
I would also like to know how many people spoke Greek prior to the 1800īs in the region where Greece is today. It is well known that Greece created the 19th century Greeks by Hellenizing and assimilating a variety of other ethnic groups such as Vlahs, Albanians, Turks, Macedonians, Anatolian Turks and more recently Georgians, Russians, more Albanians and others.
Now letīs look at the Macedonians. The Macedonians are a real ethnic group of people that have existed in Macedonia for at least a millennium.
Unlike most of your Modern Greek great grandparents who spoke anything but Greek, our great grandparents all spoke Macedonian.
Our language which we call Macedonian is a living vibrant language, a language we learned from our mothers, unlike your language the ancient dead Koine which your government resurrected and taught you in school. May I also add that in spite of Greek efforts to stop us from speaking Macedonian for almost a century, we still speak it.
Before the Republic of Macedonia codified the modern Macedonian literary language, Macedonians all over geographical Macedonia spoke a variety of beautiful dialects. Macedonians living in Greece and Bulgaria, which those states refuse to recognize, still speak Macedonian in their original dialects.
Unlike the Greek language which is spoken by only about ten million Greeks, Macedonian is a Slavic language which belongs to a large family of languages spoken by about five-hundred million people throughout Eastern Europe. The fact that this language is so widespread shows that it has survived for many millennia and has been passed on orally from generation to generation.
Modern scholars and scientists believe that the Slavic language has its roots in prehistory. A number of ancient inscriptions deemed undecipherable have recently been successfully deciphered by linguists Vasil Iliov, Anthony Ambrozic, Sergei V. Rjabchikov and others by using the Slavic languages, which indicates that these languages have been around a lot longer than previously thought. Even Alexander the Great may have spoken Slavic. It is well known that Alexander spoke at least two languages. We know one was Koine and the other was a language indigenous to Macedonia labeled "unknown" by Greek historians.
Since no Macedonian or foreign archeologist has even been allowed to dig in Greek occupied Macedonia or examine any archeological findings unsupervised, we canīt verify what other language Alexander the Great spoke. Greek archeologists cannot be trusted to factually report findings, especially those findings that donīt agree with the Greek Governmentīs "politically correct policies".
If Greeks refuse to acknowledge the existence of "living and breathing Macedonians" what makes you think they would acknowledge the existence of artifacts that do not agree with their political ideology?
Arenīt they the same Greeks who destroyed every speck of Cyrillic (Macedonian) inscription from every single gravestone and church icon in Greek occupied Macedonia in order to erase everything that was Macedonian?
Are they not the same Greeks who torched and burned every single Slavonic book and bible and banned the Macedonian language and made it illegal to speak?
The question that begs to be asked is NOT whether Macedonians exist or not but, "Why do Greeks deny the existence of Macedonians?"
I have often asked Greeks that question and to this day I have not been able to get an honest answer. I believe those Greeks who deny our existence genuinely donīt know themselves why they do it. They have been told from a very young age to believe that somehow Macedonians are a threat to their own existence.
I have often heard expressions like, "they will do anything to take our Macedonia away from us" but to this day, I donīt know who "they" are. Sometimes "they" are the "Bulgars", other times "they" are the "Communists", nowadays "they" are the "Skopjans" and sometimes "they" are "the bad people" like me.
I have repeatedly stated that I was born in Greece and am a Greek citizen of Macedonian ethnic descent; yet to this day no Greek has acknowledged that. They keep ignoring what I say and go back to calling me "Skopjan" and treating me as if I was born not in Greece but in a totally different country. (I am using myself as an example but my situation is identical to the tens of thousands of Macedonians who were born in Greece after 1912, after Macedonia was occupied by Greece.)
Why is it so hard for Greeks to accept the fact that Macedonians live in Greece?
It is a well-known fact that Greece occupied about half of Macedoniaīs territory in 1912-1913. The other half was occupied by Serbia and Bulgaria.
It is a well-known fact that Macedonia was already fully populated by Macedonians when it was occupied.
It is also a well-known fact that most Macedonians became Greeks by force.
Is it not possible then that some of those Macedonians who were forced into becoming Greeks actually donīt want to be Greeks?
Well my Greek friends, there IS such a thing as a Macedonian. In fact there are many of us living throughout the entire planet. Our history goes back to about 1,000 BC when the word Macedonian was first coined. I canīt say with certainty that we are direct descendants of those early Macedonians but I can say that there is a high probability that we are not only the descendants of those pre-historic Macedonians but also the descendents of all those who overran and conquered our Macedonia.
Before the nineteenth century, most Macedonians lived in geographical Macedonia. Nineteenth and twentieth century turbulence such as the breakup of the Ottoman Empire, a number of uprisings inside Macedonia, the two Balkan wars, the partition of Macedonia, WW I, WW II, the Greek Civil War and Greek, Bulgarian, Serbian and Albanian oppression, have all contributed to the displacement of many Macedonians. Many left their homeland and went wherever they were welcome. More recently displaced Macedonians as well as political refugees and willing immigrants have been concentrating in Canada, Australia, the USA and Europe where they endeavour to preserve their culture and make their revival.
Greeks can deny our Macedonian existence as much as they want, but it doesnīt mean that we Macedonians donīt exist!
Risto StefovOctober 08, 2008
What happens when a Modern Greek who believes Macedonians donīt exist, runs into a Macedonian?
Most Greeks, or at least the ones I have run into, are direct and to the point when they face off with a Macedonian. I have to admit I look Mediterranean and when I run into another Mediterranean looking person I am often asked where I am from. The favoured way for a Greek to ask is "Are you Greek?" to which I respond "No I am not!" The next question would then be "What are you?" to which I would respond "Macedonian". Then without any hesitation the Greek will respond with "What is that? There is no such thing!" Now if I persist and say "Yes there is" I will get a string of insults such as "You are a Slav" or "You are Bulgarian" or "You are a Skopjan". This, as unbelievable as it may sound, happens today not inside Greece but outside, in Canada, the USA and Australia. No Macedonians inside Greece have the courage to call themselves Macedonian without believing their lives would be in danger. I came from Greece and am speaking from experience.
Fair enough! If Greeks think Macedonians donīt exist I accept that but letīs look at the facts about Greece and the Greeks in comparison to the Macedonians and Macedonia.
Modern Greece became a country in 1829. There is no historical record prior to that of the existence of such a state. I welcome anyone to show me a map created before 1800 AD that shows a state called Greece encompassing its current borders.
I would also like to know how many people spoke Greek prior to the 1800īs in the region where Greece is today. It is well known that Greece created the 19th century Greeks by Hellenizing and assimilating a variety of other ethnic groups such as Vlahs, Albanians, Turks, Macedonians, Anatolian Turks and more recently Georgians, Russians, more Albanians and others.
Now letīs look at the Macedonians. The Macedonians are a real ethnic group of people that have existed in Macedonia for at least a millennium.
Unlike most of your Modern Greek great grandparents who spoke anything but Greek, our great grandparents all spoke Macedonian.
Our language which we call Macedonian is a living vibrant language, a language we learned from our mothers, unlike your language the ancient dead Koine which your government resurrected and taught you in school. May I also add that in spite of Greek efforts to stop us from speaking Macedonian for almost a century, we still speak it.
Before the Republic of Macedonia codified the modern Macedonian literary language, Macedonians all over geographical Macedonia spoke a variety of beautiful dialects. Macedonians living in Greece and Bulgaria, which those states refuse to recognize, still speak Macedonian in their original dialects.
Unlike the Greek language which is spoken by only about ten million Greeks, Macedonian is a Slavic language which belongs to a large family of languages spoken by about five-hundred million people throughout Eastern Europe. The fact that this language is so widespread shows that it has survived for many millennia and has been passed on orally from generation to generation.
Modern scholars and scientists believe that the Slavic language has its roots in prehistory. A number of ancient inscriptions deemed undecipherable have recently been successfully deciphered by linguists Vasil Iliov, Anthony Ambrozic, Sergei V. Rjabchikov and others by using the Slavic languages, which indicates that these languages have been around a lot longer than previously thought. Even Alexander the Great may have spoken Slavic. It is well known that Alexander spoke at least two languages. We know one was Koine and the other was a language indigenous to Macedonia labeled "unknown" by Greek historians.
Since no Macedonian or foreign archeologist has even been allowed to dig in Greek occupied Macedonia or examine any archeological findings unsupervised, we canīt verify what other language Alexander the Great spoke. Greek archeologists cannot be trusted to factually report findings, especially those findings that donīt agree with the Greek Governmentīs "politically correct policies".
If Greeks refuse to acknowledge the existence of "living and breathing Macedonians" what makes you think they would acknowledge the existence of artifacts that do not agree with their political ideology?
Arenīt they the same Greeks who destroyed every speck of Cyrillic (Macedonian) inscription from every single gravestone and church icon in Greek occupied Macedonia in order to erase everything that was Macedonian?
Are they not the same Greeks who torched and burned every single Slavonic book and bible and banned the Macedonian language and made it illegal to speak?
The question that begs to be asked is NOT whether Macedonians exist or not but, "Why do Greeks deny the existence of Macedonians?"
I have often asked Greeks that question and to this day I have not been able to get an honest answer. I believe those Greeks who deny our existence genuinely donīt know themselves why they do it. They have been told from a very young age to believe that somehow Macedonians are a threat to their own existence.
I have often heard expressions like, "they will do anything to take our Macedonia away from us" but to this day, I donīt know who "they" are. Sometimes "they" are the "Bulgars", other times "they" are the "Communists", nowadays "they" are the "Skopjans" and sometimes "they" are "the bad people" like me.
I have repeatedly stated that I was born in Greece and am a Greek citizen of Macedonian ethnic descent; yet to this day no Greek has acknowledged that. They keep ignoring what I say and go back to calling me "Skopjan" and treating me as if I was born not in Greece but in a totally different country. (I am using myself as an example but my situation is identical to the tens of thousands of Macedonians who were born in Greece after 1912, after Macedonia was occupied by Greece.)
Why is it so hard for Greeks to accept the fact that Macedonians live in Greece?
It is a well-known fact that Greece occupied about half of Macedoniaīs territory in 1912-1913. The other half was occupied by Serbia and Bulgaria.
It is a well-known fact that Macedonia was already fully populated by Macedonians when it was occupied.
It is also a well-known fact that most Macedonians became Greeks by force.
Is it not possible then that some of those Macedonians who were forced into becoming Greeks actually donīt want to be Greeks?
Well my Greek friends, there IS such a thing as a Macedonian. In fact there are many of us living throughout the entire planet. Our history goes back to about 1,000 BC when the word Macedonian was first coined. I canīt say with certainty that we are direct descendants of those early Macedonians but I can say that there is a high probability that we are not only the descendants of those pre-historic Macedonians but also the descendents of all those who overran and conquered our Macedonia.
Before the nineteenth century, most Macedonians lived in geographical Macedonia. Nineteenth and twentieth century turbulence such as the breakup of the Ottoman Empire, a number of uprisings inside Macedonia, the two Balkan wars, the partition of Macedonia, WW I, WW II, the Greek Civil War and Greek, Bulgarian, Serbian and Albanian oppression, have all contributed to the displacement of many Macedonians. Many left their homeland and went wherever they were welcome. More recently displaced Macedonians as well as political refugees and willing immigrants have been concentrating in Canada, Australia, the USA and Europe where they endeavour to preserve their culture and make their revival.
Greeks can deny our Macedonian existence as much as they want, but it doesnīt mean that we Macedonians donīt exist!
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