Risto Stefov - Articles, Translations & Collaborations

[George S.]

Macedonian Struggle for Independence - Part 40 - Macedonia between the Great Wars

Macedonian Struggle for Independence



Part 40 - Macedonia between the Great Wars



By Risto Stefov

[email protected]

April 2011



After the 1919 Peace Treaty of Versailles was concluded and the 1913 Treaty of Bucharest was ratified, Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria reestablished authority over their respective Macedonian territories and resumed their assimilation and denationalization policies forcibly turning Macedonians into Greek, Serbians and Bulgarians under the harshest measures.



Serbia quickly took the initiative to change peoples’ names into Serbian sounding ones, colonized the most fertile parts of Macedonia with Serbian colonists and installed the Serbian language as the official language of correspondence in its occupied part of Macedonia.



Greece took its assimilation policies a step further and replaced all Macedonian names, both personal and toponyms, with Greek sounding ones. Each family and person were stripped of their Macedonian name and given an alien name. The Macedonian name of every village, town, city, river, lake, mountain, township, region, etc., in the entire Greek occupied Macedonian territory was changed and replaced with a Greek one. Meaningful names that had historical, cultural, mythical and symbolic meaning for the Macedonian people were replaced with alien meaningless names, very difficult to remember. Clearly this was a Greek attempt to not only erase everything that was Macedonian from the geographic map but to also erase everything Macedonian from the memory of the Macedonian people. Unfortunately that was not all that Greece perpetrated against the Macedonian people. During the 1930’s the Macedonian language was banned and Macedonians were forbidden from speaking it, even in the privacy of their own homes. This was done to a people that spoke no other language and without the simplest care as to how they were going to survive. I do not believe a word has yet been invented to describe the Greek cruelty perpetrated against the Macedonian people, a cruelty that still exists to this day about which no one seems to care, not even those who supposedly champion human rights.



It seems that the only opposition to this cruelty came from Bulgaria, not because Bulgaria cared for the Macedonian people but because Bulgaria was smarting from what it had lost for a second time and was looking for ways to recover it. But instead of making things better, Bulgarian complaints about the mistreatment of the so-called “Bulgarians” in Macedonia prompted both the Greek and Serbian regimes to further cleanse the Macedonian population. While the Serbs evicted Macedonian people affiliated with the Greek Patriarchate and Bulgarian Exarchate Churches from their Serbian occupied Macedonian territories, the Greeks evicted those affiliated with the Serbian Patriarchate and the Bulgarian Exarchate Churches. But even after that Bulgaria continued to complain, claiming that all Macedonians were Bulgarians.



If this “Bulgarian interference” in any way served the Macedonians, in a positive way, it did so by keeping the Macedonian question alive. By maintaining that the Macedonian question was not resolved, as had been claimed by Greece, Serbia and the Great Powers after Macedonia’s partition in 1913, Bulgaria, in a small way, helped some Macedonians, especially those who had left Macedonia, to hold onto their Macedonian national consciousness, not to accept Macedonia’s division and to continue to struggle for liberation and unity.



Macedonians with a developed Macedonian national consciousness who dared to show their sentiments in public were exiled from Greek, Serbian and Bulgarian occupied Macedonia and many found their way to various cities in Europe and the world, from where they continued to work for the Macedonian cause. But unfortunately there was always some external factor or some kind of “ideological reason” to divide them.



Many Macedonian intellectuals, after fleeing the oppressive atmosphere at home, managed to educate themselves abroad only to be caught up in the clutches of another ideological division, the so-called “left” and “right”.



At the same time it was well understood that the “right”, which was in power at the time, was against the Macedonians and against the creation of a Macedonian state. Those on the left, on the other hand, saw the Macedonian Revolutionary Struggle as a potential ally in the struggle against the right, particularly against the Balkan monarchies. But in order to entice the Macedonians to see things their way, the left needed to give the Macedonians its support and did this by recognizing the Macedonian nation and its place in the Balkans.



By accepting the problems Macedonians were faced with, the communists or “left” expected the Macedonian Revolutionary Movement to initiate a revolution in the Balkans, which would later expand to all of Europe. This however was a Macedonian problem and had to be solved by Macedonians and for this reason the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (MRO) needed to be bolstered, starting with uniting all of its various factions. Their first attempt was to unite all the parties grouped around MRO and its current leader Todor Aleksandrov and bring them all under the influence of the communists and the Comintern.



The first serious negotiation to create a United Macedonian Revolutionary Organization began in 1923 and ended successfully in Vienna in May 1924 with several agreements being reached. The MRO’s character, it was decided, would more or less remain the same as that of the Ilinden era; that is to fight for the liberation and unification of Macedonia. Unfortunately Todor Aleksandrov and Aleksandar Protogerov, the then leaders of the MRO, removed their signatures immediately after signing the agreements. This created friction between the delegates and placed a permanent wedge between the forces on the right and those on the left.



Denouncing the work of the left, on July 10, 1924, Todor Aleksandrov declared that his MRO was the only competent Organization to struggle for a free and independent Macedonia. Unfortunately when he called Greece and Serbia “occupiers of Macedonia” he neglected to mention the same for Bulgaria.



Being divided along too many lines, any attempt made to unite the Macedonian forces at that time was futile. This unfortunately only served the interests of the Macedonian people’s enemies, Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria, who also strongly opposed any form of Macedonian political unity. To be sure that Macedonian unity was never achieved, at least in the short term, Macedonia’s enemies, particularly the Bulgarians, took further action and on August 31, 1924 had Todor Aleksandrov murdered and replaced with Vancho Mihajlov who took over the MRO leadership after the February 25, 1925 Gorna Dzhumaja Congress.



Mihajlov took complete control of MRO and personally directed its activities. He reorganized MRO’s military wing and added new divisions. The militia was reorganized along with the Organization’s intelligence service and both were given new directives. A new combat strategy was also worked out and secret armed groups were introduced in almost every village, town and city in his jurisdiction. Small versatile armed units were also created for the purpose of invading the Serbian and Greek occupied parts of Macedonia and carrying out various missions, assassinations and terrorist activities.



It was estimated that in the period from 1925 to 1928, in the Serbian occupied part of Macedonia alone, 149 armed incidents were recorded during which 43 officials were killed and 76 wounded, 90 civilians were killed or wounded, 25 soldiers and gendarmes were killed and 23 wounded, and 9 MRO fighters were killed and 15 wounded. (Vanche Stojchev. “Military History of Macedonia”. Military academy. Skopje, 2004. Page 531)



MRO under Mihajlov’s leadership, after Aleksandar Protogerov’s assassination on June 7, 1928, took an unusual turn and became a “state within a state”. Mihajlov not only took control of the MRO and its military wing but also imposed his own rules on the entire civilian population under his jurisdiction. He introduced the collection of taxes and implemented a recruitment program to recruit civilians into his military and militia formations. In fact the MRO Central Committee under Mihailov’s rule went as far as to create military and judicial rules for administering the entire region under MRO influence and made an effort to induct the entire civilian population into its militia formations.



Mihajlov’s rules and personal interests were supported and enforced by his militia, which he seeded in almost every populated sector of his jurisdiction. The smaller formations consisted of a group of about 30 persons that, when necessary, could combine with other small groups to form larger formations. In 1927, in Nevrokop Region alone, 7,390 people had joined Mihajlov’s militia of whom 5,853 were armed. Mihajlov even employed students in his intelligence service, all paid for by the tax money he collected from the Macedonian people.



By carrying out armed missions and assassinations, Mihajlov attempted to demonstrate to the European Powers that the Macedonian question was not resolved, at least not until the entire Macedonian territory was annexed by Bulgaria. After 1929 Mihajlov attempted to stifle the reestablishment of friendly relations between Bulgaria and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In fact, to maintain control of his jurisdiction, Mihajlov persecuted everyone who got in his way including communists, anarchists, federalists, members of MRO (United), the Agricultural Party and all persons who seemed suspicious. Mihajlov was responsible for the murder of many prominent Macedonians including Gjorche Petrov, Dimo Hadzhi Dimov, Vladislav Kovachev and Arseni Jovkov.



Unfortunately, instead of improving the situation for the Macedonian people, Mihajlov’s murderous rampage completely discredited the Macedonian Liberation Movement and its reputation abroad. The European public did not approve of such behaviour and called for such activities to be curtailed. Taking advantage of the situation the Greek and Serbian regimes were first to react by taking strict measures against the Macedonian population in their respective areas.



Having European public opinion turned against him and being cut off from the Greek and Serbian occupied parts of Macedonia, Mihajlov quickly became a liability to Bulgarian interests.



During a coup in Sofia on May 19, 1934, a new government took power in Bulgaria and among other things ordered a halt on all of MRO and Mihajlov’s activities inside the Bulgarian state. In fact this new government outlawed all Macedonian organizations, associations and newspapers. MRO’s records, properties and weapons were all confiscated by the Bulgarian police. Among the material confiscated were 10,938 rifles, 7,767 bombs, 637 revolvers, 47 machineguns, 15 automatic rifles, 3 mortars, 701,388 bullets and 21,339,421 levs (Bulgarian currency). (Vanche Stojchev. “Military History of Macedonia”. Military academy. Skopje, 2004. Page 532)



Being forced out of Bulgaria, Mihajlov found sanctuary in Istanbul, Warsaw, Berlin and Zagreb and was supported by political factions in Italy, Germany, Hungary, Croatia and other places where assassins were in demand. Mihajlov was credited with planning Yugoslav king Aleksandar’s assassination in October 1934 in Marseilles. The king was assassinated by Vladimir Georgiev Chernozemski, a member of Mihajlov’s MRO.



While the right wing MRO pursued violence and terror, the left wing came to an agreement in 1924 to unite all other MRO factions under the name MRO (United) by which it was recognized by the Comintern and accepted as a partner in the Balkan Communist Federation in 1925. MRO’s recognition by the communists, particularly by the Balkan communist parties, implied that a Macedonian people with a Macedonian consciousness existed and was struggling to free itself and to create an independent Macedonian state. Gotse Delchev’s ideology, along with the Krushevo Republic platform, was adopted as part of MRO (United)’s platform while MRO (United) itself set its course to liberate and unite Macedonia.



This was going to be a socialist revolution under the influence of the Comintern where a Balkan communist federation was going to be created in which Macedonia would be united within its ethno-geographic borders and would become an equal member among the other Balkan countries. At least this was the plan, initially.



Many Macedonians saw this as a good plan and an opportunity to finally realize their dreams. By accepting MRO (United)’s meager demands and recognizing the Macedonian people as an identity with the need to liberate itself and create its own country, the communists became very influential over the Macedonian people, drawing many into their ranks.



I must emphasize at this point that MRO (United) was not a communist organization. It was a national revolutionary organization just like its Ilinden predecessor which fought to liberate all of Macedonia. Most Macedonians who joined the communist parties in their respective countries did so because there was no Macedonian communist party at that time. They joined the communists not because they were “ideological believers” of communism but because the communists were willing, at least in principle, to help them achieve their goals, gain their independence and create their own country.



The creation of a Balkan communist federation would have meant that all people in the Balkans would coexist as nations of one country under the influence of one party, something like the Yugoslav model which came to exist later. Unfortunately not all communist parties in the Balkan countries were comfortable with that idea, even though they initially approved it.



Because there was no Macedonian communist party, the Macedonian party members were integrated into the communist parties of the countries in which they lived. Unfortunately due to more pressing and more important concerns, Macedonian issues were given little to no attention. In other words these parties cared more about their own country than they cared about Macedonia, particularly in nationalistic countries such as Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria.



There were also other factors which influenced MRO (United)’s ability to work in the various occupied parts of Macedonia. Factors such as the forced assimilation and repression had taken a toll on the Macedonian people in the occupied territories. Also there was no communication between the younger Macedonian generations now divided and occupied by a foe determined not only to erase their national identity but to eradicate their language, culture and everything that was Macedonian.



After its acceptance by the Cominturn, the MRO (United) established branches in all three parts of occupied Macedonia. The branch established in Bulgarian occupied Macedonia issued several publications including one about the Macedonians in Greece wanting to speak their mother tongue in public and in schools. In 1935 it publicly made a bold statement declaring that the Macedonians living in Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria were neither “Slavophone Greeks”, “pure Greeks”, “Serbians” nor “Bulgarians”, they were simply Macedonians; a people with a past, present and future, not as a patchwork of the imperial states but as an independent Macedonian nation which had been fighting for decades to gain its own right to self-determination.



The Bulgarians unfortunately did not see things the same way and began to arrest MRO (United) leaders. The heaviest blow came in 1936 when about sixty distinguished leaders and activists were arrested and taken to court. At their trial the group was accused of openly stating that they were Macedonians fighting for the establishment of a Macedonian nation. The group did not deny the charges, despite the heavy sentences it was going to receive. Their courageous stand found wide echoes among the Macedonian masses in Bulgaria and helped them raise national awareness regarding their problem. The trial ended with all receiving heavy sentences. Tried in absence were also members of the MRO (United) Central Committee, Dimitar Vlahov, Vladimir Poptomov and Metodi Shatorov, who at the time were working abroad.



Towards the end of 1925 and 1926 the MRO (United) with the help of the communists began to form branches in the Serbian occupied part of Macedonia. Soon after branches were established in Veles, Kumanovo, Shtip, Skopje, Prilep, Kavadartsi, Strumitsa, Gevgelija and other places, they began receiving newspapers and publications such as “Macedonian Work” (Makedonsko delo) and “Balkan Federation” (Balkanska Federatsija) from the MRO (United) headquarters in Vienna. The Vienna based headquarters was engaged in extensive publishing activities, printing and distributing various publications throughout Macedonia, the Balkans, Europe and America.



Unfortunately MRO (United)’s struggle for an independent Macedonia was not well received by the Serbian authorities either and here too MRO (United) found it difficult to operate, especially after the January 6, 1929 dictatorship. After a secret printing press was discovered, Serbian authorities became suspicious and arrested a group of 49 people in Veles. This literally put the publications, including the worldwide well-known “Macedonian Work” (Makedosko delo) publication, out of commission. Members of MRO (United) who were arrested received heavy sentences and were imprisoned.



It took a little longer for MRO (United) to establish itself in Greek occupied Macedonia but with the help of the Communist Party of Greece (CPG) it took root there too.



The CPG had a revolutionary platform and stood behind the unification of the whole of Macedonia and for its inclusion in the federation of Balkan Peoples as an equal member. This was of enormous significance in attracting the Macedonian people into its ranks.



Soon after establishing itself in Greek occupied Macedonia the MRO (United) made contact with the Central Committee of MRO (United) in Vienna. This was done through Dimitar Vlahov, a leading MRO (United) personality and through Nedelko Pop Nedelkov, a famous Macedonian revolutionary.



A distribution channel was soon established through Solun for receiving and distributing the newspapers "Balkan Federation" (Balkanska federatsija) and "Macedonian work" (Makedonsko delo) as well as a variety of propaganda materials sent out by the central organization in Vienna. Another distribution link was made through Albania which involved the clandestine transportation of difficult and dangerous materials, which in 1934 led to the death of Gjorgji Krontselchev in Solun at the hands of the Greek police.



Immediately after the CPG’s Fifth Congress, a conference was arranged to take place in Voden in March 1934. During this conference, attended by delegates from Voden, Kostur and Enidzhe Vardar Regions, the MRO (United) leadership for the branch in Greek occupied Macedonia was elected. Andrea Chipov, a well-known Macedonian revolutionary, Communist functionary and candidate-member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece, was appointed head and Hristo Galabov, Mihail Kljonev and Aleko Tenekedzhiev were elected leaders. The seat of the organization was established in Solun along with a small printing press used to publish leaflets and other propaganda material.



The Comintern and CPG’s recognition of the Macedonian people as a distinct Macedonian nation greatly contributed to MRO (United)’s success in Greek occupied Macedonia, which prompted it to put forward demands for the opening of Macedonian schools, for the use of the Macedonian language in public life and for other national and cultural rights for the Macedonian people.



Proof of these demands being supported by the leaders of the Greek Communist Party can be found in the following statement made by Sklavenas, leader of the Parliamentary Communist Group, in the Greek Parliament on April 25th, 1936: “The question which the government is ignoring in its declarations is that of granting equality to both the local population and to the national minorities living inside Greece. This in the main concerns the Macedonian nation. Anyone who has traveled through Macedonia, especially in those districts which are inhabited by compact masses of Macedonians, has surely felt the particular pressure which is being exerted upon them. The right to have their own schools, to use the Macedonian language and practice their own customs is strictly forbidden to them. Such a situation has compelled the Macedonian population to organize itself and to wage a struggle to achieve these rights, a struggle in which we cannot but support them.” (A History of the Macedonian People, Skopje: Macedonian Review Editions, 1979. page 310)



A statement such as the above went beyond certain attitudes held at the time by the leadership of the CPG. During the CPG’s Sixth Congress, held in December 1935, suggestions were made to replace the slogan “united and independent Macedonia” with the slogan “full equality for the minorities”. This change was justified because of the change in the population’s composition in Greek occupied Macedonia as a result of the Asia Minor colonists being settled there.



Circumstances which had been favourable for the MRO (United) only a short time ago quickly became unfavourable, especially after the Metaxas dictatorship came to power in August 1936. The new regime declared the CPG and the MRO (United) illegal and set in motion large-scale arrests, prosecutions and internments for both. Among those affected by this were Andrea Chipov, Lazo Trpovski, Hristo Galabov, Trifun Hadzhijanev, Aleko Tenekedzhiev, Foti Urumov and Kosta Dumov. Thus the life of MRO (United) in Greek occupied Macedonia also came to an abrupt end.



To be continued.
Taken from a personal email from R.Stefov

[George S.]

Where did we lose our country? – External support

Where did we lose our country? – External support



By Risto Stefov

[email protected]

April 10, 2011



Another factor that has tremendously contributed to losing our country to our neighbours is our inability to gain support from other nations, people and the Great Powers.



Why this is I don’t know. Is it perhaps because the 19th century powers did not want a Macedonia to exist from fear that what happened 2,300 years ago might happen again? That Macedonia would rise up again and swallow the world? Was it hatred for the Macedonian people for what they did to the world under Alexander the Greats’ reign? Was it jealousy because of ancient Macedonia’s glory and accomplishments? Was it because Christianity in Europe began in Macedonia and the Macedonians gave the Eastern European world their alphabet?



Like I said, I don’t know for sure but I do know with certainty that no one came to the Macedonian peoples’ rescue when they attempted to liberate themselves from the Ottomans in 1903.



That unfortunately was not the first or the last time the Macedonians were left on their own to take their punishment while the rest of the world watched.



Macedonia fought fiercely against Roman dominance but lost to the Romans because of arrogance and because they underestimated Roman military capabilities. But none the less Macedonia did put fear in the hearts of the Romans to have it divided into four parts so that it could never again reunite and become a threat; a division that lasted approximately 600 years.



The Roman division of Macedonia was repeated in 1913 when the Great Powers allowed Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria to invade, occupy and partition Macedonia. Could this latest division have been purely a coincidence or for fear that a united Macedonia would again pose a threat to the world? Think about it! Most major wars, including two major Roman battles, have been fought in Macedonia and over Macedonia. Macedonia seems to be a magnet for conflicts, conflicts which have always been brought from the outside and which drew the world into them.



One can think what they like about Macedonia but if they know Macedonia’s history they will arrive at the inescapable conclusion that there is something mysterious about this land and its people which one cannot put their finger on. One will come to the conclusion that Macedonia is timeless and glorious but at the same time is put down, de-emphasized and diminished, but one will not understand why.



Lesser people with lesser accomplishments have been emphasized above the Macedonians and even helped to create their own countries. These same people who emphasized and helped these lesser people de-emphasized Macedonia and tried to erase it from history. Why? This is not something we can take lightly; we must view this with some suspicion.



Allow me to run down highlights of our most recent history:



The Macedonian people’s problems began in 1878, first with the Russians and then with the Western Great Powers, mainly Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy and Great Britain.



Even though Macedonians fought on Russia’s side in the Russian-Ottoman War of 1877-78, expecting Russia to help liberate them, Russia sold them out by creating a greater Bulgarian state and handed Macedonia to the Bulgarians.



Then when the Western European Great Powers became involved and met at the Berlin Congress in 1878 the Macedonians were certain that their situation would be well looked after and that Macedonia would be given autonomy just as Bulgaria was. Unfortunately that did not happen. But worse the European Powers ignored the Macedonian people’s pleas and gave Macedonia back to the Ottomans. Even worse than that, knowing that the Ottomans would retaliate against the Macedonians, none of the Powers made sure that the Macedonians would not be harmed. Was this a coincidence or was it done on purpose to ethnically cleanse the Macedonian population?



By signing the San Stefano treaty Russia agreed to the creation of a greater Bulgarian State which was to include Macedonian lands and people. Then as the Western Powers intervened in the Berlin Congress, instead of sorting things out and giving Macedonia autonomy as they did Bulgaria, they again sold out the Macedonians by giving Macedonia back to the Ottomans.



Instead of granting Macedonia real autonomy like they did for Bulgaria, the Great Powers offered empty words that led nowhere. According to articles 23 and 62 of the Berlin Congress, the Macedonian people were to receive political and religious autonomy within the Ottoman Empire. They were also promised political, religious and educational reforms which never materialized. Given that Macedonia was handed back to the Ottomans to do as they pleased, the situation was further aggravated by the Ottoman decision to bring Muslim settlers into Macedonia. Macedonia in fact became the dumping ground for renegades from the Ottoman army and for Muslims who escaped from Bulgaria, Bosnia, Serbia, Herzegovina and other regions from which the Ottomans lost territories. More than 60,000 Muslim families were dumped and disbursed in Macedonia to be accommodated in Christian homes and to become an economic burden of the Macedonian people.



After the Berlin Congress those Macedonians who stubbornly fought against the Ottomans fled to Serbia and Bulgaria, in fear of their lives. More than 200 Macedonian villages were emptied of their inhabitants. The ones that remained unfortunately faired the worst as the Ottomans hit them with new taxes to pay for war damages and to supply the fast growing Ottoman military machine, which by now numbered 80 battalions. The devastation in Macedonia was further exacerbated by the arming of Albanian Militias and allowing them to settle in Skopje and establish their own rule in Macedonia.



There was also a matter of the huge debt of money which the Ottomans had borrowed from the Western Powers that now had to be paid back, which again became a burden on the Macedonian people. By now Macedonian villages were paying over thirty different taxes which became a struggle for survival. It was during these times that Macedonians found themselves wishing to be liberated or dead because life the way it was, was not worth living.



Even before the Berlin Congress and before their fate was sealed by the Western Great Powers, leading Macedonians could not accept the idea of a Macedonia unified with Bulgaria so the decisions of the San Stefano Treaty were opposed. But after the Berlin Congress Macedonians were in disbelief and horrified by the actions of the Western European Great Powers, especially when they gave Macedonia back to the Ottomans without any guarantees that the population would be protected from retaliation and harm.



In the eyes of the Macedonian people the Great Powers committed many sins. They sold out Macedonia and their Christian brothers for profit. No wonder some European Union states today are intolerant of the Macedonians. How could they recognize Macedonia and Macedonian people today when they were guilty of selling them out in the past?



To recognize the Macedonians today would mean that they would have to admit that they made grave errors in the past. These errors on the side of the Western European Great Powers however were no small matter for the Macedonian people who a century and a quarter later are still fighting for their rights and freedoms.



But that was not the first time the Macedonian people were betrayed by European countries. In spite of the Macedonian people’s attempt to again liberate themselves in 1903 and create their own Macedonian state, they were again betrayed by allowing Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria to partition Macedonia by the 1913 Treaty of Bucharest to which the European Powers were signatories and again in 1919 after European borders were again recognized.



In 1945 the Macedonian people living in Greece, after helping to expel the Fascists and Nazis from Greece, came close to being recognized as Macedonians and here again none of the Western European states supported their recognition.



In 1991 when the Republic of Macedonia declared its independence most Western Europeans states again voted against the recognition of a Macedonian state.



Are these all coincidences? Doesn’t anyone see a pattern here?



Is there a conspiracy to erase Macedonia and its accomplishments from history?



There are those today who say that Greece is “nobody” and has been “nobody” from the day it was created for the first time in 1829. Greece is a front for others who hide behind it and don’t want to see the emergence of a Macedonian state.



To some extent they are right, Greece has been and still is a protectorate of the Great Powers who always come to its rescue whenever it gets itself into trouble, be it economic or otherwise.



So who are these Great Powers and what do they have against Macedonia and the Macedonian people?



Since I don’t know the answer to either question I would have to speculate from its behaviour that France is one of the Great Powers. But I have no idea why the French would dislike the Macedonians so much that they would want to see the Macedonian name and ethnic identity disappear? I am somewhat mystified here. What have the Macedonian people done to France that was so wrong, that France wants an end to their existence?



Was it because our forefathers wanted to create a Macedonian republic in 1903 when France was a kingdom?



I feel as I have failed to provide answers to the most puzzling questions, questions that cannot be taken lightly if we are to survive as a people. Therefore it is imperative that we find out why we as a people have been put down, de-emphasized and diminished by France and the other Great powers. Correcting this, I believe, will put us back on track.



To be continued.
taken from a private email from R.Stefov

[Onur]

Actually, these questions are not that difficult to answer.

Russians fought with Turks for centuries, only for one reason; To be able to set sail on Aegean and then Mediterranean sea. They couldn't defeat us in numerous attempts, even when Ottoman empire was in weakest situation because western Europeans always supported Turks vs Russians since Russian dream of reaching Mediterranean sea was also western European`s nightmare too.

Russians took over Bulgaria in 1878 but their ultimate goal was getting western Thrace and Salonika to reach Aegean sea but they failed, mostly because western Europeans didn't allow that happen. They preferred Turks to keep Macedonia for some more time instead of letting Russians get it by using their puppets in Bulgaria.

Why great powers wanted Greece to get Aegean Macedonia? It`s because Macedonia`s population was so diverse and as the author wrote here, some Macedonians was pro-Russian and Pro-Bulgaria as this was seen in 1877-1878. So, Macedonian people was dangerous for the aims of great powers. They preferred Greeks to get it because they would be much loyal to them than Macedonians.

But instead of questioning why Russians didn't "liberate" you in 1878, like Risto Stefov does, you should be grateful that Russians couldn't do that because most likely you wouldn't exist today. You all would be Bulgarians now, adhered to Sofia church and speaking Bulgarian dialect.


Besides that, no one "liberates" anyone for nothing. Do you think Bulgaria really liberated in 1878? They just became vassals of Russians, nothing else. Do you really think Russians "liberated" Bulgaria just to save their fellow christians? Apparently this author named Risto Stefov thinks like that because he is angry about why orthodox Russians or christian Europe didn't "save" Macedonia. He is either too romantic or naive because religion has no place in world politics except being a tool or a pretense to abuse.

[Risto the Great]

Interesting observations Onur.
I fear you may be correct. Russia certainly has never helped a nation. The Russians would not have cared less about the differences between the Bulgarians and the Macedonians. I suspect church matters would have been the undoing of that union as Russia would have tried to bind us all in some kind of Orthodox alliance.

I think Stefov is addressing that notion that many Macedonians feel the Russians should have helped them. I have no idea why they feel this way.

[Soldier of Macedon]

Russians took over Bulgaria in 1878 but their ultimate goal was getting western Thrace and Salonika to reach Aegean sea but they failed, mostly because western Europeans didn't allow that happen. They preferred Turks to keep Macedonia for some more time instead of letting Russians get it by using their puppets in Bulgaria.

That 'preference' of the European 'powers' was a devastating blow for Macedonia, as it left the Macedonians helpless against vengeful Ottoman refugees, troops and mercenaries. The Macedonians had their own aspirations too, Onur, you seem to think that most of the revolutionary activity in Macedonia was generated by external elements, it wasn't. And Macedonians in 1878 would have chosen Russian over Ottoman rule at the drop of a hat, for a number of obvious reasons.

It`s because Macedonia`s population was so diverse and as the author wrote here, some Macedonians was pro-Russian and Pro-Bulgaria as this was seen in 1877-1878.

Onur, are you suggesting that Macedonia's population was more 'diverse' than others in the empire? 19th century Ottoman losses against the Russians and the influx of Muslim refugees in the part of Europe that was still controlled by the Porte did alter the balance in Macedonia somewhat, but Macedonians were always the majority.

So, Macedonian people was dangerous for the aims of great powers. They preferred Greeks to get it because they would be much loyal to them than Macedonians.

The Macedonians were also dangerous for the Ottomans, and they too preferred the Greeks because they could rely on their loyalty against the common foe (Macedonians).

But instead of questioning why Russians didn't "liberate" you in 1878, like Risto Stefov does, you should be grateful that Russians couldn't do that because most likely you wouldn't exist today. You all would be Bulgarians now, adhered to Sofia church and speaking Bulgarian dialect.

That is just completely wrong. Firstly, despite repeated attempts to gain recognition, the Ottomans didn't allow the Macedonians to be considered a separate people with their own institutions. If Macedonia rid itself of Ottoman rule within the context of San Stefano, it's intellectual classes and common people would have found it easier to assert themselves and their culture. At least it would have been a level playing field. Friction in terms of identity, historical interpretation, literature, learning material, political leadership, etc was already in existence. Furthermore, with Ohrid also located in the boundaries of San Stefano, the Macedonians would have reacted to the encroachment of the Exarchate (as it eventually did in any case). Therefore, Macedonian aspirations for liberation and self-control would have continued, as another clash for freedom (this time from the Bulgarians) was inevitable. And much easier.

I would rather that situation than all of the propaganda, rape, murder and pillaging that was inflicted on the Macedonian population for the next 25 years by the Ottomans and neighbouring states.

Do you think Bulgaria really liberated in 1878? They just became vassals of Russians, nothing else. Do you really think Russians "liberated" Bulgaria just to save their fellow christians?

I don't think the Russian government really cared as much for enslaved Christians than it did for its expansionist aims, but better a Russian vassal than an Ottoman slave. You will not be able to find many Christian peasants from the Ottoman Empire during the 19th century that would argue otherwise.

We have had this conversation before Onur, I will give you the parallel that I did last time - consider the Turkic peoples within the Russian Empire during the 19th century. How many of them would have chosen Russian over Ottoman rule? Not many, irrespective of Ottoman expansionist aims and their questionable dedication to liberate enslaved Muslims.

[Soldier of Macedon]

I think Stefov is addressing that notion that many Macedonians feel the Russians should have helped them. I have no idea why they feel this way.

The Russians were free, Orthodox Christians, in a rising empire, and the most populous and powerful in the Slavic-speaking 'world'. Despite their ulterior motives, they often provided assistance to rebel movements and helped the other Slavic-speaking peoples in the Balkans obtain freedom to one degree or another.

I am not sure about 'should', but I can see why Macedonians during the 19th century 'would' feel that the Russians would come to their aid. Having said that, I think as a people there was much more collective action by Macedonians than the Bulgarians in the pursuit of freedom.

[Onur]

The Macedonians had their own aspirations too, Onur, you seem to think that most of the revolutionary activity in Macedonia was generated by external elements, it wasn't.

Yes, there was groups who worked for the autonomous Macedonia for Macedonians (incl. Aegean side) but they were weak comparing to pro-Bulgar, pro-Russian ones. Young Turks was perfectly aware of Russian and western European aims for Macedonia and they immediately agreed with Sandanski for autonomous Macedonia to create federal Ottoman state in 1908 but when pro-Bulgars realized that, they tried to kill Sandanski and all the other Macedonians who works for free Macedonia because they got scared of the plans of Young Turks revolutionaries and Sandanski. Already, Athens, Sofia and Belgrade started Balkan wars soon after that.

And Macedonians in 1878 would have chosen Russian over Ottoman rule at the drop of a hat, for a number of obvious reasons.

Thats exactly why Macedonians were "dangerous" for the aims of western Europeans. You were untrustworthy to them. Especially Athens was non-stop warning western Europeans against pro-Bulgarian Macedonians, like how Macedonia under Bulgarian regime would be dangerous for them and Macedonia should be part of Greek kingdom instead of slipping in to the hands of Bulgaria, the vassals of Russia. You know, Bulgarian army reached to the Salonika first in 1912 but British got involved and threw Bulgarians out of Salonika by ordering Russia to do so. Then Russians sent Bulgarian army to invade Istanbul because their supposed exit to the Aegean sea closed down in Salonika with British intervention, so they tried the impossible, invading Istanbul. Bulgarian army invaded eastern Thrace for few months but they were never able to go further in to Istanbul. You know that pro-Bulgar Macedonians was enrolled in that Bulgarian army and they were busy fulfilling the wishes of Russians in eastern Thrace instead of defending Aegean Macedonia against Greeks. Greeks virtually took over Aegean Macedonia without much conflict. Turkish army immediately pulled back in to eastern Thrace along with Bulgarian army and Greeks found Aegean Macedonia as free to swallow. There was no Turks, no Bulgarians, no Macedonians to defy them.

Also, another interesting thing is, today`s nationalistic Bulgarians asks from Turkey to pay 15 billion dollars of compensation just because we threw them out from eastern Thrace in 1912. They say that Turks did genocide upon them!!! But they don't even question whatta fuck Bulgarians was doing in there at first, trying to reach Istanbul. I mean what was the relation with Bulgarians(incl. enrolled Macedonians in their army) with Istanbul? They died trying to do that but for what and why? Just like the Australians at Gallipoli in 1915. What Australians was doing in Turkey at first and why they were there???

SOM, now do you understand what i mean while i said that Bulgarians were just Russian vassals? A yoke is a yoke, no matter what or who, Turks or Russians.

Onur, are you suggesting that Macedonia's population was more 'diverse' than others in the empire? 19th century Ottoman losses against the Russians and the influx of Muslim refugees in the part of Europe that was still controlled by the Porte did alter the balance in Macedonia somewhat, but Macedonians were always the majority.

I was mostly pointing out the diversion of Macedonian population in terms of opinions. There was Macedonians who favored Greece, some working with Armenians, some with Bulgars, some supported Russians, muslims and Jews was supporting Turkish government and even the Macedonian followers of Sandanski was supporting Young Turks revolutionaries. Then there was some Albanian muslims who worked for creation of Albania within Macedonia.

The Macedonians were also dangerous for the Ottomans, and they too preferred the Greeks because they could rely on their loyalty against the common foe (Macedonians).

Firstly, despite repeated attempts to gain recognition, the Ottomans didn't allow the Macedonians to be considered a separate people with their own institutions.

Young Turks started to negotiate with rebels for autonomous Macedonia within the Ottoman empire after 1907. Ofc they spoke with the ones like Sandanski, not with the ones who works for Sofia or Athens. I`ve read numerous memoirs about that and i would like you to read these too but it`s in Turkish. Especially the memoirs of Albanian officers are quite interesting. They were thinking like Young Turks are destroying Albanian-Turkish muslim unity by agreeing with christian slavs in Macedonia and they should have negotiate with Sofia to virtually sell out Macedonia to them (so Albanians can get their own share from Macedonia laters!!!).

If Macedonia rid itself of Ottoman rule within the context of San Stefano, it's intellectual classes and common people would have found it easier to assert themselves and their culture. At least it would have been a level playing field. Friction in terms of identity, historical interpretation, literature, learning material, political leadership, etc was already in existence. Furthermore, with Ohrid also located in the boundaries of San Stefano, the Macedonians would have reacted to the encroachment of the Exarchate (as it eventually did in any case). Therefore, Macedonian aspirations for liberation and self-control would have continued, as another clash for freedom (this time from the Bulgarians) was inevitable. And much easier.

I would rather that situation than all of the propaganda, rape, murder and pillaging that was inflicted on the Macedonian population for the next 25 years by the Ottomans and neighbouring states.

All these are just theory but i don't agree with you. If Russians would get Macedonia too in 1878, then they would leave you in to the hands of Bulgarians and all the Russification processes after 1878 would be undergone in Macedonia too. Bulgarian Exarchate who gained this status in 1870 from Ottoman empire would never ever allow your Ohrid church to have an authority over Macedonians. Bulgarian authorities would also NEVER allow your distinct culture and habits to continue. I am 100% sure that they would immediately start Bulgarization of Macedonia and Russian supported Bulgar church would start widespread education of new Bulgarian language with zillions of Russian words in Macedonia.

I don't think the Russian government really cared as much for enslaved Christians than it did for its expansionist aims, but better a Russian vassal than an Ottoman slave. You will not be able to find many Christian peasants from the Ottoman Empire during the 19th century that would argue otherwise.

We have had this conversation before Onur, I will give you the parallel that I did last time - consider the Turkic peoples within the Russian Empire during the 19th century. How many of them would have chosen Russian over Ottoman rule? Not many, irrespective of Ottoman expansionist aims and their questionable dedication to liberate enslaved Muslims.

Yes, this is true. We can compare the Turkic people of Russian empire with the Macedonians, Bulgarians of Balkans for this. Both Russia`s and Ottoman empire`s intentions was just expansionism of territories or least their ideas. There is no need to be so naive and think about that was just for saving christians or saving muslims respectively. This is just a game of politics still exists between Russians and Turks. You know, it was the Russians who created Armenia, just to serve as a buffer between Turkey and central Asia and they also supported Armenia to invade Azerbaijan in 1990. We still continue to play that little game of politics with them.

[Soldier of Macedon]

Yes, there was groups who worked for the autonomous Macedonia for Macedonians (incl. Aegean side) but they were weak comparing to pro-Bulgar, pro-Russian ones.

The Macedonian revolution was much more complicated than that, and often individuals considered to be of a particular 'persuasion' would overlap into another. This history of IMARO is a tangled web which will take a great deal of discussions to clear up.

You know, Bulgarian army reached to the Salonika first in 1912 but British got involved and threw Bulgarians out of Salonika by ordering Russia to do so.

I have heard about it. Do you have any sources which support it?

You know that pro-Bulgar Macedonians was enrolled in that Bulgarian army and they were busy fulfilling the wishes of Russians in eastern Thrace instead of defending Aegean Macedonia against Greeks.

Not all of them were pro-Bulgar, they just saw more hope in their assistance than anybody else at the time. I have read about some suggesting that there were 100,000 Macedonian fighters that enlisted in the Bulgarian, Greek and Serbian armies on the hope that Macedonia would become a free land. Desperate and naive.

I was mostly pointing out the diversion of Macedonian population in terms of opinions. There was Macedonians who favored Greece, some working with Armenians, some with Bulgars, some supported Russians, muslims and Jews was supporting Turkish government and even the Macedonian followers of Sandanski was supporting Young Turks revolutionaries. Then there was some Albanian muslims who worked for creation of Albania within Macedonia.

That may be true, although it has a lot to do with the propaganda of neighbouring states. One thing that can confidently be said is that the majority of Macedonia's inhabitants remained Macedonian in culture, language and conviction - when not forced, coerced or brainwashed into declaring as something else. I am not sure if the same can be said about many other former Ottoman regions in Europe and Asia of the same size.

Young Turks started to negotiate with rebels for autonomous Macedonia within the Ottoman empire after 1907. Ofc they spoke with the ones like Sandanski, not with the ones who works for Sofia or Athens. I`ve read numerous memoirs about that and i would like you to read these too but it`s in Turkish. Especially the memoirs of Albanian officers are quite interesting. They were thinking like Young Turks are destroying Albanian-Turkish muslim unity by agreeing with christian slavs in Macedonia and they should have negotiate with Sofia to virtually sell out Macedonia to them (so Albanians can get their own share from Macedonia laters!!!).

It would be great if you could translate those Albanian memoirs about the Macedonian Christians in English and post them up here, even if they are just short sentences. What did the Young Turks contribute to the idea and/or realisation of an autonomous Macedonia? I am not aware of anything, those discussions which took place with Jane Sandanski resulted in nothing but more empty promises from foreigners.

All these are just theory but i don't agree with you. If Russians would get Macedonia too in 1878, then they would leave you in to the hands of Bulgarians and all the Russification processes after 1878 would be undergone in Macedonia too.

You can't agree because you're not understanding the point I am trying to make - any Macedonian from that period would have preferred to take their chances in the 'hands' of the Bulgarians than the Turks.

Bulgarian Exarchate who gained this status in 1870 from Ottoman empire would never ever allow your Ohrid church to have an authority over Macedonians.

The Ottomans never allowed it either, so again, refer to the point I made above - our chances against the Bulgarians were greater than our chances against the Turks.

Bulgarian authorities would also NEVER allow your distinct culture and habits to continue.

After being occupied by Bulgars, Serbs and Greeks and Albanians who have never been sympathetic to Macedonians asserting their own culture, and still surviving, I think we would have managed to hold our own. I fear that you underestimate Macedonian tenacity way too much.

I am 100% sure that they would immediately start Bulgarization of Macedonia and Russian supported Bulgar church would start widespread education of new Bulgarian language with zillions of Russian words in Macedonia.

Lol, relax mate, you're exaggerations are bordering on scare-mongering. There is no doubt that the Bulgars would've tried, and the Russians would have probably been supportive of them, at least initially, but the Macedonians would have resisted. You must understand by that time Macedonians were no longer prepared to be ruled by foreigners, self-rule was the ultimate goal.

You know, it was the Russians who created Armenia, just to serve as a buffer between Turkey and central Asia and they also supported Armenia to invade Azerbaijan in 1990.

You don't think Armenia had the right to exist as a country? I think the Armenians have a little more precedent than a mere by-product of Russian aspirations.

[Onur]

It would be great if you could translate those Albanian memoirs about the Macedonian Christians in English and post them up here, even if they are just short sentences. What did the Young Turks contribute to the idea and/or realisation of an autonomous Macedonia? I am not aware of anything, those discussions which took place with Jane Sandanski resulted in nothing but more empty promises from foreigners.

I am quite busy these days but i can translate some of them whenever possible. As far as i remember from what i`ve read, Young Turks and Sandanski agreed about the terms of autonomous Macedonia (incl. Aegean side). Already, Young Turks government`s initial plan was saving Ottoman empire by creating federal states by giving autonomy to Arabs(Syrians, Palestinians, Libyans etc), Albania and Macedonia. They already created multi-ethnic parliament in Istanbul and worked for it. According to the terms agreed with Sandanski, Young Turks disbanded the Albanian bashibozuks in Macedonia and forbid them to carry firearms by ordering them to leave their weapons. Arabs was also quite happy but these developments created panic in great powers. Bulgaria sent assassins to kill Sandanski and his friends, Italy invaded Libya in 1911-1912 and Belgrade, Sofia, Athens immediately agreed to start Balkan wars because if autonomous Macedonia would be supported by local people (all muslims and Jews already supported that), then this would be the end of dreams about Greek Macedonia, Serbian Yugoslavia, Bulgarian Macedonia.


I don't know if there are such programs already but i think Macedonian government should set up student exchange programs with Turkish universities and send master and phd students here for history departments. As you can guess, there are a lot of historical documents here about Macedonia and all they need to do start working on them and translate to Macedonian. I saw two Turkish students from Skopje before but they told me that they prefer to stay in Turkey since they don't have any visa or work permit problems, just because they are Turks, so, they stay here. But these people comes here by their own. If Macedonian government sets up programs, then they can call these people back to Macedonia.

Lol, relax mate, you're exaggerations are bordering on scare-mongering. There is no doubt that the Bulgars would've tried, and the Russians would have probably been supportive of them, at least initially, but the Macedonians would have resisted.

I know, sometimes i do exaggerate things but i don't think that the case for this issue. After all, i know what Bulgarian regime did to Gagauz, Pomak and Turkish people in Bulgaria. So, it`s not difficult to guess what would happen to Macedonians under Bulgarian regime. If they were thinking about Bulgarization of Turkish people by changing their names to Vladamir, Sophia and even changing the names on gravestones of Turkish people, then what they would do to you and what would be the result?

You don't think Armenia had the right to exist as a country? I think the Armenians have a little more precedent than a mere by-product of Russian aspirations.

Ofc they have a right to have a country but this doesn't change the fact that Russians founded current Armenia to create some kind of buffer between Turkey and central Asia. Especially between Turkey and Azeri Turks who controls most of energy rich Khazar sea. Bolsheviks was clever by doing that because in WW-2, they were able to beat Germany with the oil they leeched from Azerbaijan.

Maybe you don't know that but Azeris were majority in current Armenian lands before 1915 but they have been expelled to further east by Armenians and Russians after formation of Armenia;

YouTube - Putin on Armenian History

[George S.]

From the Once Classified Files - Part 9

British Embassy - Moscow



May 2, 1944



My telegram No. 1128.



1. Taken in conjunction with articles to which attention was drawn in my telegram under reference article in “Trud” of May 1st (see my telegram No. 1138) warrants assumption that Soviet press has received a directive to play up EAM and to discredit new Greek Government by argument that Greek situation is in all essential respects analogous to that prevailing in Yugoslavia. This assumption is supported by detached tone of Molotov’s acknowledgment of Prime Minister’s message about Greece (your telegram No. 1309). It looks therefore as if though attitude of Soviet Government towards Greece is beginning to crystallize in a direction which diverges from our own.



2. When speaking about Balkan situation as instructed in your telegram No. 1261 I shall take opportunity to draw attention to unfortunate impression “Trud”’s article conveys at the time when we are bending our efforts towards restoration of Greek unity. When referring to Macedonia I shall moreover mention article in “Red Star” of April 30th (see my telegram No. 1138) with its favourable references to Tito’s recent promise of an autonomous Macedonia. This last-named article, which goes to show that Tito’s views on this subject are endorsed here is incidentally the first reference we have seen in the Soviet papers to Marshal Tito’s recently proclaimed program.



3. In view of importance of our avoiding serious divergence between Soviet Government and ourselves about Greece it would seem advisable that my own forthcoming representations to Soviet authorities should be reinforced by some plain speaking to Soviet Ambassador in London.





British Embassy Moscow



May 1944



My immediately preceding telegram.



H.M. Minister from his local knowledge of pre-war Balkan problems, has suggested to me that Marshal Tito’s program as disclosed in Sulzberger interview which we have just seen is historical sequence of pre-war movement towards creation of an integrated Ygoslavia. Following are his comments on the subject which may possibly assist in clarifying the present situation.



2. On the Bulgarian side this movement played an important part in the 1934 coup d’etat at Sofia which lead at the same time to the collapse of the Mihailovist Macedonians and their supporters in the army backed by King Boris. Bulgarians responsible for this event, some of whom are presumably still active behind the scenes, were ardent believers in a rapprochement with Yugoslavia and inclined to amalgamation with Yugoslavia in a federal state in which Macedonia would naturally fall into place as an autonomous unit.



3. In Yugoslavia Mr. Balfour found that a similar concept prevailed not on1y amongst Pan-Serbs who argued that a greater Yugoslavia would offer a bulwark to great power domination of the Balkans, but also among the Croats who looked upon fusion of Bulgaria and Yugoslavia as a means of counteracting predominant influence of the Serbs. Leaving aside its Pan-Serb advocates, the greater Yugoslavia concept bore a distinctly agrarian, not to say left wing, complications. It was in any case most disquieting to the Greeks and Romanians and an important factor in their refusal of the Balkan entente to contain Bulgaria.



4. Development of integral Yugoslavia idea was retarded in the pre-war period by existence of separate dynasties in Bulgaria and Yugoslavia, by deep mistrust of Bulgaria in Yugoslav governing circles, and by the interplay of great power rivalry in the Balkans. Martial Tito's present programme, which appears to commend itself to the Soviet authorities, revives the concept in its essential features excepting that it specifically excludes Greek Macedonia from the proposal to give Macedonia full autonomy within a federated greater Yugoslavia. The evident corollary to this exception is that Greece should be ruled by those elements best qualified to ensure their permanent friendship to the proposed new Slav State.





Bulgaria – Macedonia - Greece

Minutes

H.E.



In accordance with foreign office telegram No. 1261 of the 27th April (at 64/4/44) and in the light of subsequent press articles commented upon in Moscow telegram No. 1139 of the 2nd May (at 122/10/44) Y.E. when next seeing M. Molotov might say that you have the following remarks to make about Balkan problems: -



1. Bulgaria



Y.E. might tell M. Molotov you are still awaiting the written answer which M. Vyshinski informed you on the 4th April would be returned to your letter of March 31st asking whether the Soviet Minister at Sofia was coming to Moscow and whether the Soviet Government had any plans for exploiting the situation in Bulgaria to the common advantage.



Y.E. might then remind M. Molotov that, as you told M. Vyshinski in your talk with him on the 4th April, we had heard from our Ambassador at Angora at the end of March that the Bulgarian Military Attaché there was spreading the story that when the ed Army reached the Danube the Bulgarian Government would invoke the aid of the Soviet Government to persuade its Allies to get Bulgaria out of the war in return for them being allowed to keep Greek Thrace and Salonika. Y.E. might then go on to say that H.M.G. are still inclined to think that like drowning men who clutch at straws, the Bulgarians may be counting on some such absurd idea as a means of saving their own skin. Does M. Molotov think that there are any means of disabusing the Bulgarian Government that they have nothing to gain by sitting tight in the hope that they may trade themselves out of the war at the expense of Greece? In general Y.E. might repeat the H.M.G. would welcome any information which the Soviet Government felt able to give them about the attitude of these Balkan Mr. Micawbers who seem to be waiting for something to turn up.



2. Macedonia



Y.E. might say that H.M.G. have noticed that in an interview given to the American journalist Mr. Sulzburger published in the “New York Times” on the 11th April, Dr. Joseph Smodlaka, who deals with foreign affairs on Marshal Tito’s National Committee, spoke of the need to solve the relations between Yugoslavia and Bulgaria by giving Macedonia full autonomy within a federal Yugoslavia. You might then say that you had yourself noticed an article in “Red Star” of the 30th April which approved the declaration about an autonomous Macedonia. Y.E. might go on to say that H.M.G. have asked you to tell him that they assume the Soviet Government share their view that this idea of an autonomous Macedonia, on which we ourselves at present do not wish to commit ourselves, should stand over for eventual discussion at the peace conference when it should be decided in agreement with fully representative Yugoslav and Greek Governments.



3. Greece



Y.E. might say that you have noticed from the reply of M. Molotov to the Prime Minister’s message of the 25th of April about Greece, the text of which you had received from the Foreign Office, that the Soviet Government did not feel able to accept any responsibility for Greek affairs or for measures taken by the British Government. You might go on to say that you hopped that the Soviet Government at any rate fully appreciated that we are spending all our efforts to secure Greek unity.



From Bulgaria to War office



December 13th, 1944



From: A.C.C. Bulgaria

To: The War Office



EMERGENCY



Ref. A.F.H.Q. FX 66493 of 10th Dec and my M/279 of 11th Dec., Most reliable information tells us that within last 24 hours he has received following news from several independent sources of whom bone fides he is sure but whose reports are so far unconfirmed. Partisans of General Apostolovski’s Macedonia Army have crossed Greek frontier ostensibly to give aid to ELAS but in fact to establish themselves in Greek Macedonia. These troops described as 1st Macedonian Bde reported commanded by Petsko Trajkov probably number about 3,000. Some source states that Bulgarian Partisans under Slavche Trnski have entered Thrace between Nevrokop and Drama in co-operation with Macedonians.



It is not (rpt not) believed that Bulgarian Govt is in any way party to either of these movements. Personality notes on Trajkov and Trnski follow. Please pass to foreign office.



T.0.0.1710.
taken from email from R.stefov

[George S.]

The little Dictionary had no chance

The little Dictionary had no chance



By Risto Stefov

[email protected]

April 17, 2011



Ever wonder why the Greeks behave the way they do? Ever tried or wanted to try to explain this “Greek behaviour”? I have, unfortunately for various reasons, not taken the time to do so. But after reading the following chapter in J.S.G. Gandeto’s book “The Theft of a King Who Stole Alexander” I didn’t have to, my friend Joe has done a wonderful job of eloquently “pegging the Greeks just right” in a way that I could only dream of doing!



Here is what Joe had to say;



Greek Alter TV’s program Atheatos Kosmos reviews the Greek-Macedonian Dictionary



By J.S.G. Gandeto



Among European nations, perhaps even in the world, Greece holds a unique position for being absurdly obsessed with national homogeneity and racial purity. As a matter of fact, this exorbitant indulgence with preserving the "achievements" from the Megali Idea, drives the Greek leadership bonkers. They suspect that their "creation", since it was achieved through very dubious historical means, would not be able to withstand the test of time. The whole nation is gripped with fear; they see potential enemies and spies under every nook and cranny. While this fear, this obsession with the "Greek race", is used as a motivational impetus to keep the masses occupied and united in preserving the artificial Hellenic fabric on one hand, it alienates the very segment of the society which they so feverishly try to prevent from escaping the Hellenic net on the other.



Insecure in their own beliefs that others will not be persuaded to see the aim of their foreign policy as they see it, and fearful of the potentially dangerous outcomes thereof, they continually shift strategies, erect cultural barriers, create new conflicts and are endlessly engaged in debates about someone or something. There is always somebody out there who is trying to usurp, to copy or to steal their precious little heritage.



For example, Greeks will debate anything and everything. One must belong to a kemp; you are either for it or against it, but one rarely finds people who would stand and maintain a middle ground. The main objective is to belong somewhere and to have a competing opinion about it. The next objective is to be vocal about your stand and to defend it vigorously. You must be able to argue your point-that is a prerequisite-and even if all else fails, you must find a reason to continue to argue. At the end, no outside opinions matter, because Greeks think and behave like they are the only one authoritative people who have the answer. This obsession with themselves has to be classed as a peculiarly, Greek thing.



But what surpasses all topics, what strongly encompasses and overshadows all other discussions, what overwhelmingly dominates all the political arguments in the media, is the debate about defending the cause of Hellenism and saving Greece from her aggressive neighbors. Here, these topics, these arguments and these issues are seen as being of paramount significance to Greece's survival and serve as an arena where political ideology is being sharpened, the enemies of Greece are being exposed and Greekness is stoically defended and pompously demonstrated. On matters of Hellenism though, its glory and its preservation, there is no choice. If you even dare to stay neutral, you are automatically branded anti-Hellene or even worse; you are labeled as a traitor and a foreign spy and you ought to be dealt with accordingly.



If problems with Greece's neighbors do not exist, then one must be created. If it does not come from the East with Turkey or Bulgaria, then it must come from the Albanians to the north-West. And, if that frontier is quiet and dormant, then, a problem with the new state of "Skopia" (The Republic of Macedonia) must be created, to stirred up and invigorate the "complacent" masses. How else can one justify the Greek mutinous disapproval with a published Greek -Macedonian dictionary? It took seven Greek panelists on this TV program Atheatos Kosmos that aired on 01/07/09, to tackle this well armed and highly dangerous... well... this dictionary.



In all fairness though, I must mention the moderator who, in this case, besides being a cheerleader, occasionally had the presence of mind to ask the Greek panelists to "slow down" , (wipe the foam from their mouths) and coherently explain their thoughts "so people can understand" them. Watching these highly charged Greek "hoplites", I couldn't suppress the sadness that overwhelmed me regarding this lonely, defenseless dictionary, left at the mercy of these highly sophisticated Greeks. I knew right then and there, that it stood no chance; thus the epitaph that I shall write for the fallen dictionary bears some similarities with that of Demosthenes for the fallen comrades at Chaeronea:



"Time, whose o'erseeng records all human actions, bear word to mankind what fate it suffered, how striving to safeguard the holy human rights of the ethnic Macedonians in Greece, upon Athenian TV program it died."



Rest in Peace my beloved little dictionary. Your premature death in the hands of these Greek heroes will bear a witness to the democratic values practiced and promoted in Greece. Farewell my little book. Farewell, indeed.



The well planned attack had two major objectives in mind:



(a) Discredit the author and

(b) Discredit the book.



(a) Attacking the author of any publication that does not agree with Stoho's feudal views, with Chrisy Avgy's neo-fascists ideology and with LAOS's party dark-ages interpretation of the truth, is a well known and documented practice in Greece. This was to be expected; the track record of these Greeks is explicitly clear and proven. They have attacked much more formidable foes than the author of this little dictionary, Mr. Vasco Karadza. Here, among many others, we can mention Eugene Borza, Ernst Badian, Anastasia Karakasidou, and any other author-ancient or modern-who dared to disagree with these Greeks. It is like throwing a bone at a pack of hungry hyenas.



While I can understand, and to a certain degree agree with people who maintain opposite views on various controversial subjects depicted and presented in a given book, I am quite puzzled and totally lost for words as to why anybody would object to a dictionary. Dictionary's main purpose-there is no hidden agenda here-is to be used for practical means-facilitation of communication and improved understanding.



But our ethnologists, our linguists in Greece saw something more sinister than that; they saw this dictionary as a dark horse used by the "Skopjans" (Republic of Macedonia) to elevate the "idiom" spoken in Northern Greece by the ethnic Macedonians-who, by the way, "do not exist"-to the level of a language. In the words of this panelist Ilias Hrisantopoulos:



"They want to impose it (the language spoken in the Republic of Macedonia) on the population that speaks the idiom".



I have a slight disagreement with Mr. Hrisantopoulos' assertion:



(1) The verb 'impose' denotes usage of an outside force; to make people agree or comply with something by having superior strength or authority. The Republic of Macedonia possesses neither means to accomplish such an act, nor power to do it. This practice of imposing ones culture and language on other peoples is a well-patented Greek trademark. Aside from being the most proficient thieves and fabricators of history in the Balkans, Greeks are the best when it comes to suppressing and suffocating other people's culture and language and imposing their own. In the name of Hellenism, Mr. Hrisantopoulos, the Greeks have destroyed and exterminated Macedonian culture and language, Albanian culture and language and definitely, you have done away with the Vlach's language and culture. The fact that you refer to the language that the ethnic Macedonians speak in Greece as an idiom, is an indication that reality and human rights in Greece cannot coexist and do not register on your radar. By minimizing the significance of a language as an idiom, you inadvertently expose your more ominous designs for it-total elimination from Greece. Eliminating or hiding an idiom is much easier to do than it is with a language.



The other panelist, the so-called ethnologist Mr. Evangelidis, in his expose offered an interesting proposal for solving the problem. He said:



"I think that all our actions through historical arguments, linguistic arguments etc., will have no effect; the issue is purely political. We could assist by opening some issues but there is no dialogue with this people."



He did not elaborate his plan of action because he had "no time to explain the stupidities from the whole state of Skopje; the entire administrative and state mechanism; professors, academicians, institutes etc., etc…"



His voice, his composure and his countenance did not hide the hate and the malice that this person possessed. He looked like a person with a sword drawn out and ready for a battle. He reiterated the other panelists' conclusion that there is no such language. That, where these locals live "there is an idiom that is a mixture of Greek, Turkish, Slavic and etc., words" and that "the idiom was made for practical purpose."



However, he cautioned that "they (referring to the ethnic Macedonians) took it and made it an official language and they teach with it." He stressed that he sees danger of a dialect because "in the words of a great linguist Max Weinreich, a language is a dialect with an army and a navy."



Yes, Mr. Evangelidis, you are correct because (a) no dialect can ever exist without a language. If there is smoke, there is fire too. (And it was not Max Weinreicht who coined the term but Joshua Fishman), and (b) that the "idiom" you have described as a mixture of Greek, Turkish, Slavic etc., had evolved in the very same way that your Greek state has. We keep telling you that your state was artificially created from an admixture of Slavs, Turkish, Greeks, Albanians and Vlachs individuals. Disappointed?



The fact that you Greeks claim that this language does not exist is entirely a different ball game. You see Mr. Evangelidis, according to your administrative decrees the language does not exist because it was forbidden by your government. In reality though, it is still there in spite of all your vehement denials and repressions.



By burying your head in the sand, the language will not disappear. You may choose not to see it, you may persecute people who use it and you may pretend that it was fully wiped out but the truth still remains; you did not succeed in eliminating it. The fact that you pretend that this language does not exist and you attempt to reduce its stature by calling it an idiom, is an admission of your insecurities and perceived danger from it. Every dialect, every idiom if you will, has an "elder mother" called a language somewhere. Your statement: "I have stressed so the viewers can understand the language made in Skopje has no relation with the idiom in our area", is a revelation of your masked intentions: by denying the obvious, that the language spoken in the Republic of Macedonia is the same with the language spoken by the ethnic Macedonians living under Greek occupation, you hope to disengage and disconnect the Macedonian identity across the border. Your loathsome attitude over the name issue reveals your vile and dark intentions. Watching the TV segment about a published dictionary and the Greeks' reaction to it, reaffirmed my previously held convictions about Greeks, their sinister intentions towards the ethnic Macedonians and their racist government's policy toward the Republic of Macedonia.



Repugnant and toxic is the revelation that emanates from Greece's hidden agenda to completely wipe out any trace of the ethnic Macedonian identity and language. Repugnant and loathsome is the thought that Greece in the 21 century attempts to denigrate, culturally assimilate and ethnically erase a minority population whose lands they have confiscated and whose rights as people they have abrogated. Repugnant and revolting is Greece's shameful denial that there are no people who identify themselves as ethnic Macedonians in Greece and repugnant, hideous and downright evil is Greece's behavior towards the Republic of Macedonia. There has to be an end to this menacing Greek locust. There has to be an end to this, more than a century old, Greek plague; there has to be a way to get this monkey off of our backs once and for ever. There has to be a way...There has to be a way to abolish the Greek apartheid.



I couldn’t agree with you more Joe and thank you for allowing me to use segments of your book in my articles.



J.S.G. Gandeto’s book “The Theft of a King Who Stole Alexander” is available through;

http://www.outskirtspress.com/thetheftofaking

This is a book that every Macedonian needs to own and must read. Since I purchased it I could not put it down.



J.S.G. Gandeto was born in Lubojno, Macedonia. Educated at Ss Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. He immigrated to United States and continued his studies at Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan and Nova South-Eastern University in Fourth Lauderdale, Florida where he received his post graduate degrees. He recently completed his 29th year as an educator and has since retired and is continuing to pursue his passion in writing. In 2002 he published his first book Ancient Macedonians - Differences between Ancient Macedonians and the Ancient Greeks. In 2005 he published the romantic novels One Golden Ray upon the Rock and in 2007, The Wolves of Trappers Bluff.



In the Macedonian Language he has published the following novels: Spasa's Light in 2004, Saraf in 2009 and Rosamarina's Grave in 2010. Book of poems Muabeti in 2003, poemata Ko Jagne in 2005 and Majka -Egejka in 2009. Currently, he is preparing for publication his latest novel Folded Impressions
taken from a personal email from R Stefov

[George S.]

From the Once Classified Files - Part 10

The Bulgarian Character of the Macedonian Villagers



October 18, 1943



The Foreign Service of the United States of America

No, 1578 (R-1484

American Consulate General, Istanbul, Turkey



SUBJECT: The Bulgarian Character of the Macedonian Villagers



THE HONORABLE THE SECRETARY OF STATE WASHINGTON



Sir:



I have the honor to present below a signed editorial from the Bulgarian newspaper ZORA of October 13, 1943, written by Yordan Badev, one of the most vigorous and enthusiastic exponents of the unification of Macedonia with Bulgaria. Badev is himself a Macedonian born at Bitolya in 1888/ He received his higher education in the University of Sofia and Lausanne. By profession he is a newspaper writer and in addition is a literary man and dramatist of some repute. He is an able writer and doubtless a sincere Macedonian patriot. He has made his home in Sofia for many years.



Mr. Badev is concerned to show the Bulgarian character of the Macedonian villagers. He maintains that in spite of Serbian rule - or Serbian slavery, as he calls it -during the last twenty-five years the Macedonian villager is still essentially Bulgarian, speaking the Bulgarian language and maintaining Bulgarian traditions. The Serbian effort toward the de-Bulgarization of Macedonia made its greatest efforts in the towns rather than the villages, the Serbian policy being to Serbianize the towns and then to Serbianize the villages. The three principal agencies in this work were the school, the barracks and the police station. The writer points out that the Serbians gave very little attention to education in the villages, as shown by the fact that the number of village schools found in Macedonia by the Bulgarian authorities in 1941 was approximately the same as the number of schools maintained there by the Bulgarian Exarchate in Turkish times before 1912.



One of the means of arousing the interest of the village population in Macedonia and of encouraging their Bulgarianism, has been the opening of reading rooms in the villages. These reading rooms (chitalishta) contain a small library, Bulgarian newspapers, a lecture room and sometimes an assembly hall, or a social room for gatherings o: various kinds. They are found all over Bulgaria and have been spread through Macedonia during the last two years. The writer points out that the number of these reading rooms in the Bitolya district has now reached seventy. Apart from their pro propaganda uses, these reading rooms are most useful institutions, as they form social centers in the villages and small towns where such are otherwise lacking, except as provided by the local church. The writer believes that the villagers in Macedonia have responded with great enthusiasm to the unification movement.



This editorial emphasizes the primary problem connected with the settlement in Macedonia, the fact that a large proportion of the population there is consciously Bulgarian. The Macedonian population as a whole is very much mixed, a fact always overlooked by the Bulgarian propagandists, but in most areas of that part of Macedonia which was under Serbian rule from 1918 to 1941 the most numerous element in the population is undoubtedly Bulgarian in its sentiment and in its language and traditions. This fact only adds to the extreme difficulty of arriving at any settlement of the Macedonian question which will bring peace and the opportunity for prosperity to that troubled province.



In free translation Mr. Badev's editorial reads as follows:



THE PEASANT WITH REGARD TO HIS OWN EDUCATION



By Yordan Badev



“Among the impressions which the former Prime Minister -now a Regent -Professor Bogdan Filov, gave as the result of his recent tour in Macedonia, there was one characteristic affirmation: that the people in the Macedonian villages have been kept unspoiled both in their Bulgarian language and in their national or patriotic sentiment. Serbian slavery of a quarter of a century has not succeeded in erasing from the spirit of the peasants the memory of recent struggles for free Bulgaria, nor from the life of the peasants the hold of Bulgarian national customs. It is true that the Serbians considered it as one of their first problems in Macedonia to win over the towns and from there to creep on to the villages. And they tried by all means of suggestion and of moral and physical pressure--particularly through the school, the barracks and the police station -first to separate the youth from its Bulgarian tradition by directing it more toward the lightness and laxity characteristic of Serbian national character. For such 'cultural conquests' the villages lacked suitable conditions. And as it was the village that held secondary place with regard to the educational policy after a quarter of a century of Serbian domination, the Bulgarian educational authorities found in the Macedonian villages about the same number of schools as had been established there by the Exarchate down to 1912. The Serbs showed absolutely no interest in the enlightenment of the villages. And so much the better, for in this way the Macedonian village was left more freely to follow along the path of its own national traditions. There is hardly a village in Macedonia which does not keep alive the memory of some Bulgarian leader, some teacher or priest, some national celebration, some battle of its own living or dead heroes of the time when the whole Bulgarian nation of Macedonia fought with arms in its hands for its freedom and for its national unification. In the villages more than in the towns have been preserved those Bulgarian national songs about kings, heroes, supernatural creatures, about the sun god, about the earth and bread and the like and also new songs concerning 'glorious leaders' and ‘standard bearers’. In these songs are treasured, parallel with the image of that distant and recent national past, also the unity, the uncorrupted wholeness of the Bulgarian national language. Far from the dynamic culture of the towns, the village also lives far from the destruction of the gossip, slander and looseness of the town vagabonds. It treasures in a crude primitive way the whole, sound and lasting Bulgarianism which is expressed today in the inspiration coming from the achievement of national unification, is loyalty to Bulgarian law and in zeal and efforts for more education. This was best understood and declared by the numerous teachers who, in many Macedonian villages, were the first teachers delegated to teach and instruct, and who had to make their own path to the villages and to separate households in order to find a place both for a home and a school.



“A new and inspiring manifestation of the love of the Macedonian peasant for education is his interest in the national reading room. Twelve kilometers northwest of Bitolya at the feet of Mount Pelister, there nestles a small village -Lara -of about one hundred households, of which fifty are Bulgarian and forty- seven Turkish. Enthused for good work, the teacher in charge of the Bulgarian Reading Union stirred by his preaching these wide- awake but poor Lara villagers arousing in them the desire for a reading room. In a short time in the most prominent place in the village, with the labor of ants and with the free offerings of the villagers and without significant help from outside, a large two-story structure was built with all the necessary rooms for a reading room, library, social hall, cooperative room and the like. And the example of the people of Lara has spread as a beneficent contagion; all surrounding villages are planning to equal and surpass them in their zeal and sacrifice. Thanks to the regard of the peasant for education and to the noble rivalry for spiritual priority in the Bitolya district alone, in the two years of freedom the reading rooms have increased from two to seventy. It is clear that the peasant in Macedonia has been kept sound and wide-awake ready to make sacrifices in the name of a more fortunate national future. But in order that this readiness may be wisely used, one condition is absolutely necessary; that this spirit be awakened and encouraged not by a dry order but by conviction and love. The people give readily only to him who knows how to ask.” (ZORA, October 13, 1943).



Respectfully yours Burton Y. Berry, American Consul General

To Department in original and hectograph





FOREIGN NATIONALITY GROUPS IN THE UNITED STATES



MEMORANDUM BY THE FOREIGN NATIONALITIE BRANCH TO THE DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC SERVICES



NUMBER 189 - 13 MAY 1944



BULGARIAN-AMERICANS AND THE MACEDONIAN QUESTION



Bulgarian-Americans, most of whom originated in the disputed areas of Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Greece known as "Macedonia," are concerned that this irredentist Balkan region shall become independent or autonomous after the war. The nationalistic Macedonian Political Organization (MPO), standing traditionally for an independent Macedonia, is showing signs of coming closer to the view of the pro-Soviet Macedonian-American People's League (MAPL) which wants to see Macedonia an autonomous member of a Slavic or Balkan federation, and whose leaders have played an important part in the pro-Tito United Committee of South-Slavic Americans.



OF PRIMARY INTEREST to Bulgarian-Americans is Bulgaria's irredenta- Macedonia. Three wars have been fought over Macedonia in recent times and its fate in the present war has yet to be decided. Lately the Bulgarian-American press has become almost exclusively concerned with discussion of this question. The Macedonian Political Organization (MPO), recently assembled in special meeting, drew up a declaration to be sent to President Roosevelt urging the establishment of a free and independent Macedonia. On the other hand the Macedonia-American People's League and the Bulgarian-Macedonian Congress, both Sovietophile and pro-Partisan and both standing in opposition to the MPO, have been moved to appeal to all Macedonians and Bulgarians in the United States to join the United Committee of South-Slavic Americans and work for a South -Slav federation.



Though Bulgarian- and Macedonian-Americans (1) are agreed on two points- that Greek and Yugoslav Macedonia must not remain in Greek (2) and Yugoslav hands after the war, and that Macedonia must become "whole" again - this difference of opinion among them as to what is to be done with the disputed region once it is reconstituted, is fundamental. Macedonian-Americans are divided between those who want an independent Macedonia and those who want the region to be autonomous within a Balkan federation. Bulgarians and Bulgarian-Americans for their part insist that Macedonia must be a part of Bulgaria.



Bulgarians in the United States



Although the 1940 Census lists only 15,500 persons of Bulgarians in Bulgarian origin in the United States, the Bulgarian- the United States Macedonian-Americans themselves claim a total of nearly 40,000. They point out that many Bulgarians were listed in the Census as Greeks, Yugoslavs, and Turks because they were born in places which became incorporated in Greece, Yugoslavia, or Turkey. Most of the Bulgarian emigrants in the United States did not come from Bulgaria proper. It is estimated that 70 per cent of the Bulgarian emigration came from Macedonia, beginning as early as 1878, at the end of the Russo-Turkish war. It was not until the decade preceding the First World War that a large wave, estimated by some as high as forty thousand, reached American shores. After 1920, a large number of Bulgarian-Macedonians, seeking to escape oppression and to find better living conditions, emigrated from areas annexed by Greece and Yugoslavia. For the most part the immigrants settled in the mining and manufacturing sections of Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri. Very few chose to work on farms.



Geographically, the emigrants of Bulgarian origin are scattered over a wide area of the United States. Though most of them were of peasant origin and though few were literate at the time of their arrival, the fact that they were less segregated than most foreign emigres tended to speed up their Americanization. This has been especially the case with the new generations which tend to sever all connections with their foreign-born forebears.



In Europe Bulgaro-Macedonians number, according to varying estimates, from one and one-half to three million persons. Linguistically, they are more akin to Bulgaria than to Serbia, and politically also they are closer to the Bulgarians than to either the Greeks or the Yugoslavs. Especially in times of political upheaval, the Bulgarian-Americans point out, Slavo-Macedonians turn their eyes toward Bulgaria-a tendency which receives further impetus from the fact that their Orthodox Church looked to Sofia rather than to Athens or to Belgrade.



Bulgarian-American Organizations



Bulgarian -and Macedonian -American immigrants Bulgarian-American in the United States are grouped around a number Organizations of fraternal and mutual aid societies, four of which are politically active. Among the most important is the Macedonian Political Organization (MPO) of the United States and Canada, led by Luben Dimitroff, with headquarters in Indianapolis. The MPO, organized in 1921, has 1,800 members grouped into thirty-six branches. Its single political objective, expressed through its weekly, the Makekedonska Tribuna of Indianapolis, is the independence of Macedonia. (3) However, the MPO has also argued for, an autonomous Macedonia within the Bulgarian state, and before Pearl Harbor approved of King Boris's policy of collaboration with the Axis. The MPO has been regarded as the American branch of the IMRO, the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization which has sought by terroristic means to "liberate" Macedonia; but the MPO leadership claims there is no such connection. More recently, MPO leaders have, begun to look with favor on the idea of "federation."



Standing in opposition to the MPO is the Macedonian-American People's League (MAPL) headed by Smile Voydanoff. The League represents the pro-Soviet wing of the Macedonian movement and is the publisher of the Communist-line Bulgarian-language weekly, Narodna Volya. The MAPL was founded in Detroit in 1930. It has worked closely with the Federation of Bulgarian-Macedonian Educational Clubs whose pro-Soviet Views are also expressed through Narodna Volya. Arguing for an autonomous Macedonia within a Balkan federation, MAPL leadership, along with its counterpart in the Federation of Bulgarian-Macedonian Educational Clubs, has found its way into the pro-Partisan United Committee of South-Slavic Americans which was organized by the Slovenian-American writer Louis Adamic.



A body of Bulgarian-American nationalists not united in any formal organization express themselves through the semi-weekly Naroden Glas of Granite City (Illinois). The oldest and one of the most influential Bulgarian- language papers in the United States, Narode Glas supports the idea of a "greater Bulgaria." It opposes MAPL for following the Communist-line and it opposes the Macedonian-nationalist MPO because Macedonia, according to Naroden Glas spokesmen, is a "natural part of Bulgaria" and must belong to that state entirely.



The Bulgarian-Socialist Labor Federation is a small group of old-time Bulgarian- and Macedonian-American Socialists whose activities are more intellectual than political. They take little interest in the affairs of the homeland. Their mouthpiece is the Granite City weekly Rabotnicheska Prosveta, scornful alike of the Macedonian nationalists and the conventional Socialists and Communists. The professed aim of Rabotnicheska Prosveta is ". ..to preach among the Bulgarian workers the principles of the true proletarian revolution-the destruction, and not the reform of capitalism and the creation , of the Workers' Socialist Industrial Republic.”



Collaboration with Germany Explained



In this war as in the last, most Macedonian- and Bulgarian- Americans claim that Bulgarian support of the "Central Powers" resulted from the unwillingness of the democracies to support Bulgaria. When their homeland accepted Hitler, they argue, Bulgaria was, in the words of an MPO spokesman only "applying the principles of the Atlantic Charter.” Luben Dimitroff, editor of Makedonska Tribuna, and secretary of the MPO, explained the collaboration between the Macedonians and the Nazis as follows: “The ideology of Nazism is completely foreign to the Macedonians ...[the Germans] freed about 2,500 young Macedonians exiled on various Greek islands and permitted the Macedonians to use their own language and worship in their own churches. No matter who would have given them those privileges they [the Macedonians] would have been grateful...”



Macedonian Independence Demanded by MPO



The problem of Macedonia was the single concern of a meeting held by the Macedonian Political Organization at the Macedonian-Bulgarian Hall in Akron (Ohio), 23 April. Gathered in extraordinary session, about 200 members of the MPO discussed a declaration demanding independence for Macedonia. The flnished memorandum, sent to President Roosevelt asserted that "in the land bearing the ancient name Macedonia...there live approximately three million inhabitants whose ethnic and linguistic diversity [has served as a] ...pretext upon which Macedonian neighbors have based their claims for domination of Macedonia." Mindful of the political and administrative problem which Macedonia has created "for every Balkan state," the declaration called for a "Macedonia for the Macedonians."



In addition to its own delegates, three delegates led by Cross Misheff, representing the Macedonian-American Unity for Victory Club of Detroit came to MPO's assembly. Formerly a leader with George Pirinsky, secretary, of the Michigan Slav Congress, in the pro-Soviet Macedonian-American People's League, Misheff broke with that organization, which he had helped to found, and established his own Victory Club.



Cross Misheff vs. the anti-Communists



Misheff's participation in the MPO meeting gave it a unique flavor. A renegade fellow-traveler, signed the declaration calling for Macedonian independence but not before he succeeded in having a line of its text changed to read "allied" instead of "American" occupation of Macedonia. He proposed several resolutions which the Assembly passed. One was a message to Macedonians in the "armed forces fighting fascism." The other, addressed broadly to Macedonians fighting the Nazis abroad, brought up the question: to whom, specifically, should the resolution be sent? Misheff suggested that it be sent to Dimitri Vlakhoff, a Communist and at present reported to be in Moscow as the Macedonian representative of Tito's Government, and to Mihailo Apostolsky, a Major General leading Macedonian guerrillas under Tito's banner in Macedonia. Although there were objections to the resolution, it was finally decided to submit the message to the Office of War Information to be short-waved to Europe. Misheff failed in his attempt to have a resolution passed calling for an understanding with the pro-Partisan Macedonian- American People's League. MPO leadership tabled it. Nothing, said Luben Dimitroff, secretary of MPO, would be done to encourage any, meeting with "Communist-line" groups.



Dimitroff and Balkan Federation



What political weight Luben Dimitroff has, derives from the fact that he represents the views of some 5,000 American citizens on an issue about which the American public as a whole will probably never be called to express an opiriion. Dimitroff's ruling passion is Macedonian independence. Born in Macedonia in the first decade of this century, he was reared and educated in Sofia. He was active in the Macedonian movement there and came to this country in 1931 to carry on MPO's struggle for Macedonian freedom. In a recent talk with a representative of this Branch, Dimitroff said: "We want a Macedonia like Switzerland. The Swiss have no nation but consist of Germans, French, and Italians. We have no nation -only a geographical location- but we want to be known as Macedonians."



Dimitroff prefers a Balkan to a South Slav federation. In his opinion a Balkan federation should include Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Croatia, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, and Rumania, "roughly a bloc of 60,000,000." A federal government elected by all groups would rule the federation in which each nation would preserve its own nationality. Dimitroff's preference for a Balkan rather than an exclusively Slav federation is based upon his belief that the exclusion of Greece and Rumania would produce friction; the traditional Slav desire for an outlet to the Medifterranean at Salonika would prove particularly troublesome if Greece were excluded.



Asked for his opinion of the Yugoslav Partisans, Dimitroff replied, "We will not take any definite stand until the thing crystallizes. However, if it has to be a choice between King Peter and Tito, we prefer Tito. In my opinion the Tito movement is not all communistic.” He would oppose a Bulgaro-Macedonian republic, he added.



Dimitroff expressed his attitude towards the Adamic-Balokovich United Committee of South-Slavic Americans in this way. "We are not working against the South-Slavic Committee, but we are not joining them either. If they had based their committee on broader principles I would have been for them but up to now they have followed the Communist-line too closely. So far, their path is too narrow but if they should change their attitude we might join with them.”



Bulgarian-American Communist-Line Politics



Pro-Soviet Bulgarian-American organizations, though envisaging the creation of a federation of republican Slavic states in which Bulgaro-Macedonian aspirations to "liberation" would be realized, tend to play down specifically Macedonian aims. Blago Popoff, Bulgarian-American member of the United Committee of South- Slavic Americans, expressed this inclination when he stated the leftist case against the MPO program. "There is a tendency on their part," he said, "to work out the borders of Macedonia at the present time. ..[when] ...the main thing now should be the winning of the war." In like manner most leftist Bulgarian-Macedonian leaders in the United States have joined the United Committee whose program is Balkan rather than Bulgarian or Macedonian.



The Macedonian-American People's League, as noted above, and its affiliates, the Federation of Bulgarian Macedonian Educational Clubs and the Bulgarian-Macedonian Congress (organized by leftists in July 1943) were quick to ally themselves with the Adamic-founded United Committee. George Pirinsky and Smile Voydanoff, respectively general secretary and president of the MAPL; Peter Peff, wealthy New York businessman and chairman of the Bulgarian-Macedonian Congress; and Victor Sharenkoff of the Bulgarian-Macedonian Educational Clubs; all hold offices in the United Committee. The political activity of these leaders has not been focused on their own organizations. Instead their efforts have been directed to bullding up the United Committee which, over the signature of Peter Peff, all Bulgarian- and Macedonian-Americans have recently been asked to join.



NOTES;



(1) The term Macedonian-American, as used in this paper, refers to those whose mother tongue was Slavic and excludes the Greek-speaking element deriving from Macedonia.



(2) For a description of the Greek-American concern with the Macedonian question, see FN Number 153 of 29 September 1943.



(3) A map published by the Central Committee of the MPO (February 1944) illustrates what is conceived by this organization to be Macedonia. It includes all western, central, and eastern Greek Macedonia plus the island of Thasos; southwestern Bulgaria; southern Yugoslavia to a point north of Skopije; and a small strip of eastern Albania. The territory is described as an area of 23,000 square miles (about as large as the State of West Virginia).

Taken from a personal email by R.Stefov

[George S.]

Isn't it amazing the greeks have been influenced by the slavs so mu "chheetham argues that the Slav immigrants were progressively intermingled with the Greeks so that an eventual fusion took place. "That is true no wonder the greeks are scratching their heads as to who they are.

[George S.]

Where did we lose our country? – United we stand

Where did we lose our country? – United we stand



By Risto Stefov

[email protected]

April 24, 2011



Another factor that has contributed to losing our country to our neighbours is our inability to unite as a people and pull in one direction.



It is not so much that we are not united as much as it is that we are being constantly pulled apart by our enemies. Many non-Macedonians have said that as a community we appear well organized and perhaps better organized than most communities. There may even be more Macedonian patriots, percentage wise, than there are in non-Macedonian communities. But unlike many communities the Macedonians are constantly tested and pulled apart. At home they are told they are Macedonians, in school they are taught that “Macedonians” don’t exist and depending on the time and place, they are told that they are “barbarians”, “Slavs”, “Turks”, “Bulgarians”, “Serbians”, “Greeks”, “Skopjans”, etc. So who and what to believe?



Macedonians are like any other people in this world who strive to improve their lives and are prone to follow the path of least resistance.



There is no doubt that every Macedonian, particularly those from Greece and Bulgaria, has experienced the difficulties of being Macedonian and there is no doubt that this constant pressure and torment drives some to change identities. I have met many Macedonians who, to a stranger, would say they are “Greek” just to avoid the humiliation of having to explain “what a Macedonian is” or get into a geography and history lesson just to prove that they are Macedonian; only to get a funny look for their effort. So for some it is simply “easier” to say they are “Greek” and avoid the doubt, interrogation and belittling.



As much as this type of behaviour will give Macedonians some momentary relief, it has the effect of sending them on a guilt trip. In time however, they feel less and less guilty as they fall into the comfort of calling themselves and having others call them “Greek”.



Worse than calling themselves “Greek” these people also teach their children to call themselves “Greek”, throwing them into confusion. Not having mastered the trickery of knowing in which situations to call themselves “Greek” and when to call themselves Macedonian, many of these children become victims of ridicule from Macedonians which stigmatizes them to despise their own kind and pushes them further away from the Macedonian community.



I have met a person whom I have known to be a “Greek” and later found out that he was Macedonian. I would like to share his story.



During a work assignment I was sent to meet with a garage supervisor nicknamed “George the Greek” and collect information about computerizing the garage where he worked. My greatest dilemma was how George would react when he found out that I was Macedonian. Even though we both worked for the same company, George could have made things difficult for me in a number of ways. What was I going to say when he asked me, in typical Greek fashion, if I was “Greek?” I had to decide to accept the assignment and deal with George or reject it and explain my dilemma to my boss. And why would my boss care or be understanding about my problem with Greeks?



I chose to see George and when he asked me if I was “Greek” I calmly answered that I was not and that I was Macedonian! To my surprise he said he was also Macedonian!



Feeling somewhat relieved, I asked him why people called him “George the Greek?” He said, “I guess because of my Greek last name some of the Irish employees thought I was Greek and began to call me “George the Greek”, a nickname which over time stuck with me and now everyone calls me that.” George was not only Macedonian but he came from a village close to mine so we had a lot in common.



There are many Macedonians from Greek occupied Macedonia who are in a similar situation and unless you know them personally you don’t know if they are “Greeks” or Macedonians with “Greek” last names who take advantage of their situation in order to improve their economic and social status.



I can’t tell George what to do as much as I can’t call George a “traitor” for accepting to be called “Greek”. He believes it is helpful to him. But at the same time I must emphasize that had I not met George in person I would have, for the rest of my life, continued to believe that he was a Greek. So in situations like this, which are common among the Macedonian people from the various parts of Macedonia, how do we distinguish the Macedonians from the others and most importantly bring “cohesion” to the Macedonian people?



There is an old saying “United we stand, divided we fall”, which should strongly suggest that if we are to survive as a Macedonian identity we need to find the necessary cohesion in order to unite and bring all of our people together.



As much as I don’t have an easy answer as to how to do this, particularly for those in the Diaspora who are pulled in many directions, I do want to emphasize the importance of the problem we are facing. What I described above is but one small example of the many ways the Macedonian people are divided in this world today.



Outside of the Republic of Macedonia, mainstream history tells us that Macedonians do not exist, which has been the “world view” for more than a century now. This has been the view our enemies have projected about us. So in addition to doing everything possible to eradicate us as Macedonians, our enemies have taken steps to also erase our history. They have not only lied to the world about us but they have also lied to us. Macedonians born in the Republic of Macedonia know a different history than those born in Greek, Bulgarian and Albanian occupied Macedonia, even though we are the same people who as a whole only as recently as 1903 fought to liberate ourselves and create our own country.



In addition to occupying our lands and living in our homes, our enemies have changed our names and given us Greek, Serbian, Bulgarian and Albanian names, have stolen our history and have taught us to look down upon ourselves and hate one another. They taught us that Greeks hate Bulgarians, Bulgarians hate Greeks and Serbians and Serbians hate Bulgarians. At the same time, even though they all claim that Macedonians don’t exist, they all hate the Macedonians with a passion.



What I am telling you here I have not read in any “fantasy novel”. It is reality, a reality that exists in the world today, particularly in the Diaspora. This spread of hatred did not happen by accident; it has been planned and placed there to turn people, even our own people, against us.



The Greeks, Bulgarians and Albanians want more of Macedonia and hate each other because they are in competition. They hate the Macedonian people to justify their claims on Macedonia.



Macedonians, on the other hand, who have been mislead to believe that they are Greeks, Bulgarians, or Albanians hate each other because of the false beliefs instilled into them and, even more, hate the Macedonians in the Republic of Macedonia because they have been mislead to believe that the so-called “Skopjans” are out to steal their Macedonian heritage which they falsely believe belongs to the Greeks, Bulgarians, or Albanians respectively.



Pulling the Macedonian identity in every direction, unfortunately, is nothing new. It has been going on for centuries. Here is what Nick Anastasovski has to say:



“From the late fifteenth and throughout the sixteenth century, Islamicisation [in Macedonia] was intensified, primarily in urban centers. It was first directed at the old land-owning nobility, who were encouraged to accept Islam in order to protect their wealth. Others viewed conversion as a means for economic gain as well as an opportunity to enter the Ottoman administration. Hadzhivasilevich provided an example from 1570 in Skopje, where an individual was prepared to accept Islam on condition that he was given a particular administrative position. The affluent urban element of Macedonian society during early Ottoman rule that accepted Islam adopted the characteristics of Turkish people, including the Turkish language, and over time became indistinguishable from the Turks.” (Anastasovski, Nick. The Contest for Macedonian Identity 1870-1912. Abbotsford: Pollitecon Publications, 2008. Pages 54 and 55).



Unfortunately this is the juncture at which we Macedonians as a people find ourselves today. Our enemies made sure that to be Macedonian would be most unpopular, unpleasant and demeaning in a national sense with economic and social disadvantages.



There are also those stubborn Macedonians who will remain true to their identity no matter what the circumstances; unfortunately they are a few and far between.



One way to regain our dignity as a people is to shed ourselves of the image our enemies have created for us. We can do this if we educate ourselves as to who we really are.



Unfortunately how can we educate ourselves as to who we truly are when we have to compete with the images our enemies portray of us? For every book that Macedonians have written about the Macedonians, our enemies have written a dozen more. For every Macedonian website that exists on the World Wide Web there are ten more Greek ones pretending to be Macedonian. It is a never ending vicious cycle where our enemies try twice as hard to put us down every time we try to get up.



We have survived this far and, in my opinion, we as a people are thriving compared to how we did before the creation of the autonomous Republic of Macedonia in 1945 and how we are doing today after the Republic of Macedonia became a sovereign and independent state. In my opinion we will do even better if we can unite all Macedonians worldwide by striving to remove the stigma that our enemies have put on us.



Many Macedonians under the thumb of their oppressors knew they had no hope and yet struggled to keep true to themselves, believing that as long as a single smoldering ember existed, hidden deep in the ashes of their burning souls it, would one day produce a spark that would re-ignite the Macedonian fires that once burned so brightly.



The End.

From email from R.Stefov

[George S.]

amazing stuff that they wanted to liberate macedonia after the 2nd world war.revealed in 1944