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Mak News, Macedonia
Macedonians in Greece
1939 - 1949
Part 9 - Break up of the Macedonian National Liberation Front
October 2008
By Risto Stefov
[email protected]
click here for the Macedonians in Greece series
By now it was obvious to every Macedonian that the Communist Party of
Greece (CPG) was not going to tolerate a strong all Macedonian
organization inside Greece. The CPG had never approved of the MNLF(G)
and now that the MNLF(G) was getting stronger and more popular with
the Macedonian people, the CPG felt it had to do something. Although
it needed the Macedonian people to fight on its side, the CPG at this
time was also trying to warm up to the Greek bourgeois parties.
Unfortunately none of the Greek bourgeois parties approved of the
CPG's recognition of the Macedonian ethnicity so the CPG was in a
dilemma. It had two choices; placate the bourgeois parties by
disassociating itself from the Macedonians or forget about creating
unity and humour the Macedonians for as long as they were needed.
The CPG desperately and at all costs wanted "national unity" with the
other Greek parties and was willing to do anything, even sacrifice the
MNLF(G) if necessary.
The CPG chose "unity" over the Macedonians and did not only
disassociate itself from them, it took action to dismantle the MNLF(G)
and effectively took away all the rights the Macedonians had recently
earned including the right to form their own organizations, the right
to form peoples' liberation councils and the right to have Macedonian
schools.
During the MNLF(G) regional conference held on April 12, 1944 Greek
representatives of the CPG and GNLF were very pleased with the
MNLF(G)'s recent successes but a few days later the same Greeks
suddenly and unexpectedly denounced the MNLF(G) calling it a redundant
and useless organization demanding that it be dismantled and its
fighters be merged with the GNLF. They argued that "two organizations
with the same aims were not needed" and "national unity could not
possibly be achieved by having redundant organizations".
In the beginning of May 1944, during a CPG conference held in the
village Mogila, Kostur Region, a final decision was made to break up
the MNLF(G). A similar decision was also made during a conference held
in the village Lagen, Lerin Region and another one in the Macedonian
ward in Voden.
Naturally and justifiably the Macedonian people found it hard to
accept this especially since Macedonians created this organization
through struggle and personal sacrifice.
The fact that the Macedonians in the Republic of Macedonia were having
their own organizations, their own army, their own general
headquarters and their recognized right to separate as an ethnic
Macedonian identity made the Macedonians in Greek occupied Macedonia
feel like they were taking steps backwards. Besides being stripped of
their right to be recognized as an ethnic Macedonian identity in
Greece, these Macedonians began to lose everything they had worked
for, even the rights they had achieved thus far. This was not only
unacceptable, it was incomprehensible.
In addition to breaking up the MNLF(G)'s political body, the CPG-GNLF
leadership also disbanded its fighters and forced them to join
NLAG. This was not what Macedonians wanted and naturally created
negative feelings towards the Greeks which did not go unnoticed by the
Fascists and directly fueled the autonomist propaganda which began to
work hard to attract these disgruntled Macedonians who found
themselves robbed not only of their rights but of also of their
dignity.
The kind of politics the CPG was conducting was neither new nor
unknown to the Macedonian leadership. As early as January 1944 Lazo
Damovski, the secretary of the regional council of the MNLF(G) for
Kostur Region, addressed the CPG council for Macedonia and warned of
this. On January 24, 1944 Damovski wrote: "The conditions created by
World War II for the liberation movements in all of occupied Europe
including the Balkans have opened new roads for the self-determination
of all people. Macedonians are no exception. Macedonians have spilled
blood in the 1903 Ilinden Uprising and are now fighting, spilling
blood and making sacrifices to gain their freedom from the
Fascists. Our friends in Vardar Macedonia are going in the right
direction..."
"The Macedonians in Lerin and Kostur Regions represent the majority of
the population (70%) and are fighting shoulder to shoulder with the
Greek people. When they become liberated, will they, according to the
Atlantic agreements, have the rights to self declare? Will they be
granted the promised rights?"
"The CPG promised the Macedonian people equal rights within the
framework of a Peoples Republic of Greece, the same way it promised
the people of the Dodekanis and Cyprus. If the CPG is serious about
delivering on those promises when will it then allow the Macedonian
people to freely express their ethnic culture? When will it let the
Macedonians fight for their own ideals and for composing something
unique to show that they are truly Macedonians? Is the CPG really
afraid of being criticized by the chauvinist elements? If so, how then
does it propose to form "national unity" and not receive any
criticism? Does the CPG truly understand the Macedonian question?
Because if it doesn't it better learn it fast and start facing reality
and make the right decision..."
One by one the CPG ordered all regional MNLF(G) wards to close down
and all fighters to disband and join the ranks of NLAG. This however
was not what the Macedonians wanted and some began to show
dissatisfaction.
In May 1944 a large group of Macedonian fighters and activists lead by
Naum Pejov, separated themselves from NLAG in a symbolic protest
against the dismantling of the MNLF(G). Ilija Dimovski - Gotse too was
suspended from duty because he was in support of this
separation. Similar events also took place in Lerin Region where a
group of Macedonian fighters lead by Gjorgij Turundzhov fled
NLAG. Another group from Voden Region also fled but their leader
Vangel Ajanov, who insisted on forming Macedonian detachments, was
caught, put in jail and taken away to Mount Pajak. Pursued by Greek
communist forces most of these renegade groups crossed over the
Yugoslav border and fled into the Republic of Macedonia.
These acts of protest demonstrated by the Macedonians were neither
forgiven nor forgotten by the CPG-GNLF-NLAG leaderships. The Greek
communists immediately issued orders to hunt down, capture and punish
these renegades. Captured and jailed were Lazo Damovski, Paskal
Mitrevski and Lazo Poplazov from Kostur region. In a disgraceful
manner killed at Kajmakchalan were Macedonian ward leaders Pando
Dzhikov, Dimitar Leskov from Ostrov Region, ten people from the
village Chegan and three more from the village Rusilovo.
The CPG made no effort to explain why these people were killed or to
justify its action or to take responsibility for its part in the
destruction of the MNLF(G) which propagated these demonstrations in
the first place. Instead it took the easy way out and accused these
people of subversion and of creating "division" among the Macedonians
in Greek occupied Macedonia by allegedly spreading "autonomous ideas"
to the population. In other words the CPG lied its way out by accusing
the Macedonians of wanting to split away from Greece. Greeks have this
inherent and primordial fear that the Macedonians one day will take
away their precious part of Macedonia. I wonder why?
After the fleeing fighters from Greek occupied Macedonia crossed over
to the Republic of Macedonia they joined the resistance movement
there. The CPG however was not at all pleased with their action and
demanded that they be immediately sent back to Greece. While the
fighters explained their reasons for leaving, the CPG insisted that
they were "deserters" and needed to be sent back so that "an example"
could be made of them. Without bothering to explain the underlying
reasons why these fighters fled Greece the CPG took their case to the
Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY) and adamantly insisted that the
fighters be immediately returned. The CPY however did not give in to
the CPG's demands and used this opportunity to put pressure on the CPG
to deliver on its promises to the Macedonian people. Further, the CPY
recommended that if the CPG wanted its fighters back it would have to
allow them to form their own Macedonian military units in Voden, Lerin
and Kostur regions.
Here is what Koliopoulos had to say about this: "A contemporary
Partisan view adds another side to the issue. 'The friction between
our bands and the Greek Antartes in the region of Kastoria and
Florina,' Tempo and Ortche wrote in one of their reports to the
Partisan GHQ in August 1944, 'has been caused by the Greek Antartes,
when they moved into the region and started pressing Macedonians into
their units. The Macedonians, according to their leaders, maintained
that they were prepared to fight the Germans, but that they waited for
their own units to be formed so as to enlist in them. The Greeks did
not approve [the formation of the units] and instead started
oppressing the Macedonian people. The result was an exodus of the
Macedonians in the direction of Monastir, where Michailov waited to
press them into his own units and fight against the Greeks. Faced with
this situation, our political commissars let the fugitives, after
consulting Radosavljevich, form their own units in the
Florina-Monastir area of operations. Some of our commissars then
started spreading the idea that the Macedonians could enlist in our
army and that service with us would be as if they were serving in the
Greek army, since both we and the Greeks are fighting against the
fascist conquerors. At this point the Macedonians started enlisting in
our army en masse, and the Greeks intensified their pressure on the
Macedonians. The commanders of the Antartes issued orders for the
confiscation of the property of those who enlisted in our army, and
this caused confusion. In the talks conducted by Radosavljevich, a
member of the KKE (CPG) Macedonian Bureau said that it was preferable
for the Macedonians to be on the side of the Germans than on our [the
Yugoslav]. The Greeks in general appear to share this view. Our
representatives pressed the Greeks to accept the formation of a
Kastoria-Florina battalion, but they are opposed. We are convinced
that the Greeks must somehow find a way to form such a battalion. If
they don't, we'll have to form it ourselves, in which case we'll clash
with the Greeks.'" (John S. Koliopouls. "Plundered Loyalties". Pages
127-128)
Ortse Dobrivoje Radosavlejvich, mentioned above, wrote a letter to the
Macedonian units from Greek occupied Macedonia, then serving in the
Republic of Macedonia, which was read at a CPG regional
conference. Among other things the letter said that time for
discussions of whether or not to form Macedonian units or what symbols
these units should be wearing, is over. The enemy is well aware of the
situation with the Macedonian people and is using their
dissatisfaction and mistrust to draw them into its ranks under the
slogan "independent Macedonia". The idea of an "independent Macedonia"
was not a Macedonian creation but an enemy invention to draw the
Macedonians on its side just like it is attempting to draw in the
Romano-Vlachs from Pindos by promising them a Vlach state and the
Shiptars with promises of creating a greater Albania.
The idea of creating a united and independent Macedonia was nothing
new. It was contemplated by the Italians and supported by the
Americans in 1919. Even Britain had agreed to create an independent
Macedonian protectorate. Hitler too had toyed with the idea of an
"independent Macedonia" with Solun as its capital. Here is what Walter
Hagen had to say about that: "Hitler's interest in Macedonia began in
1941. Then in 1943 he received a memo from his secret service drawing
his attention to the benefits of forming an independent Macedonian
state with Solun as its capital. Creating such a state would be loyal
to Germany and through it Germany would have access to the Aegean
waters. Such a state could have easily been created in 1943 but by
1944 it was too late. Germany worked through Vancho Mihailov who came
to Macedonia to familiarize the people with this German idea but
concluded that it was too late and by then very difficult to realize
it." (Hristo Andonovski "Vistinata za Egejska Makedonija", Page 127)
Vancho Mihailov in his book "Macedonia - Switzerland of the Balkans"
wrote that the Germans and the Bulgarians were considering creating an
autonomous Macedonian state. Also from what we can gather from
Kalchev's and Dimchev's propaganda Bulgaria, around the middle of
June, also began to arm Macedonians bands in Voden Region for the
purpose of creating an autonomous Macedonia. Again according to
Bulgarian propaganda, the idea for the formation of the "Ohrana", a
Bulgarian sponsored military organization stationed in Voden and
operating jointly with the Germans, was to arm Macedonian bands for
the purpose of creating an "autonomous" Macedonian state. If the
Macedonians truly wanted that, wouldn't they have joined the Ohrana or
cooperated with the Germans to achieve it?
Even after the Greek communists dismantled the MNLF(G) and upset the
Macedonian population, the best the Ohrana could attract was 700
fighters. The majority of Macedonians judged the Ohrana by the unruly
individuals it attracted who were viewed as no better than common
criminals and who enjoyed terrorizing the population. One of the
schools in Voden was converted to an Ohrana torture chamber to torture
not the Fascist Greeks but the patriotic Macedonians and progressive
Greeks. The following individuals were killed by the Ohrana in Voden;
the pensioner major Atanasoglu, Siganidis, Georgios, Ipokratis,
Aspalidis, the teacher Lazaros Vafiadis, Karavasilis, Vasilios, Nasko
Pechinarov, Georgios Akritidis, Stavridis Kariofilis and others. The
Ohrana didn't just target individuals, it also targeted resistance
organizations. Among the Macedonian organizations to successfully
fight back against the Ohrana was the group of saboteurs from
Voden. Members of that group included Hristo Kardalov, Aleko
Tsrvenkata, Tushi Keramitchev, the brothers Gjasherev, Hristo Pochepov
and Leonida Projov.
Whether coincidental or not, right after the Greek communists broke up
the MNLF(G) some Macedonians did join the Ohrana but instead of
offering them a diplomatic way out, the leadership of NLAG, proficient
in well known Greek tactics, ordered the burning of the houses of
those who had joined. This totally illogical act not only did not stop
people from joining, it forced more people to arm themselves for their
defense. Common sense however must have prevailed because the CPG
decided that in order to stop the drift to the Ohrana the people
needed a better alternative. The CPG did that by creating separate
Macedonian units within the framework of NLAG. As a result, the
regional council of the CPG for Macedonia ordered the formation of
Macedonian units in Voden, Lerin and Kostur Regions. I just want to
point out at this point that there may have been other reasons why the
CPG decided to create Macedonian units. In its attempt to burn down
the houses in the village Javorjani, NLAG was repelled several times
by the armed group there and was unable to carry out its mission. This
must have prompted the Greek communists to change tactics. It would
have been disastrous for the communist Greeks to fight against the
Macedonians so they no doubt reluctantly chose to again befriend them.
Even though the decision to form Macedonian units within NLAG appeared
to be a done deal for the Macedonians there were disagreements among
the Greek communists and the decision was not supported by everyone,
especially after the Lebanon Conference.
The Greek resistance leadership signed an agreement on May 20th, 1944
in Lebanon to form a coalition government with other civilian parties
from Greece which was unwelcome to the Macedonians. The agreement was
viewed with suspicion because much of its content was insulting and
demeaning to the Macedonian people. The agreement called for disarming
the Macedonian people and was interpreted as a means to destroy the
MNLF(G). The Lebanon agreement was the end result of the so called
"national unity" with other Greek parties which the CPG so desperately
desired to create.
In order to patch up relations with the Macedonians, a conference was
held in the village Belkamen, Lerin Region on July 20th, 1944 which
was attended by the Partisans active in Vicho and Western
Kajmakchalan. One of the resolutions reached was the re-organization
of the Partisan forces into three detachments. The first lead by Aetos
was assigned to operate in Vicho, the second lead by Ilija Dimovski -
Gotse was assigned to Bigla - Koreshtata and the third was ordered to
go to Western Kajmakchalan. In August 1943 Hristo Kolentsev was
appointed detachment commissar for Vicho, replacing Commissar Naum
Shupurkovski - Leon who left for a new assignment.
The moment the Macedonians in Voden Region found out that the CPG had
reached a decision to allow the formation of Macedonian detachments
they began to work. Then on July 16, 1944 they announced the formation
of the Macedonian Voden battalion at Kajmakchalan. The announcement
was welcome news for the Macedonian youth who began to arrive in
massive numbers to join as volunteers. The battalion was camped above
the village Gorno Rodivo in Kajmakchalan and every day more than a
dozen youths came from the local villages with a single desire, to be
soldiers in the Macedonian army.
This kind of movement was unprecedented in the history of the region
as youths poured in from the Meglen, Baovo and Pozhartsko Region
villages. Besides arriving in large numbers most of them brought their
own arms and ammunition.
As soon as the Macedonians in Voden organized they addressed the
Macedonian people with the following proclamation written in the
Macedonian language:
"Brothers, wake up and understand that this struggle in not a struggle
between Greeks and Bulgarians, it is not a fight between Bulgarians
and Serbians here in the Balkans, it is a fight everywhere between the
people and Fascism. United with the Red army all the people everywhere
are locked in a war of life and death against the tyrannical
Fascists. As long as German Fascism is strong and until Italian
Fascism is still alive, the forces of the people here in the Balkans
will fight against them. Until the Fascist hordes are destroyed at the
front, the German fascists here will continue to attract Macedonian
youths to their camp through the lies of their servant Fascist dogs
Kalchev, Dimchev and others like them.
Our Macedonian peoples' army along with the Greek peoples' army are
now fighting together against a common foe the German and Greek
fascists and against out boys who have been lied to.
The Greek fascists, the Greek royalists; we know what they are
fighting for... And our boys who have been lied to by Kalchev, Dimchev
and others, united with the Greek gendarmes under German fascism are
fighting not for Macedonia but for the Fascists against the Macedonian
peoples' army, and against the Macedonian people.
Macedonia people!
Our way is not with the fascists. Only together with the Greek people
here and with the other progressive people can we gain life fit for
humans and lasting peace.
Know that Fascism will soon die...The Italian people rose against
it. The Romanian people did the same. The Czechoslovakian, the French,
the Fin and the Bulgarian people did the same...
Sons of Macedonia!
Come forth and join the ranks of the Macedonian army against
fascism. Unite with the Macedonian peoples' army; with the Greek
people, against the tyrannical fascists against the Greek fascists and
against all fascists." (Hristo Andonovski "Vistinata za Egejska
Makedonija", Pages 129-130)
Within a few days of distributing this publication the first Cheta was
created with Petar Tanirov as its commander and Parikli Jovchev as its
commissar. As soon as the Cheta was put together it was dispatched on
missions to battle German and Greek Fascist bands in Enidzhe Vardar,
Kria Vrisi (Plasnichevo) in Solun Region and with other bands in
Kukush Region. The Cheta proved itself in combat showing exemplary
heroism and self reliance.
With the formation of the Macedonian Cheta in Voden Region, many
Macedonians who had joined the Ohrana felt they had made a mistake. To
rectify the problem, Dimchev, the Voden Ohrana commander, requested
permission for his unit to join the Partisans. But before anything
could be done, Dzhodzho, the Partisan Cheta commander, called for a
meeting. In August 1944 a meeting was organized in the village Teovo,
Voden Region, where Dimchev and Dzhodzho met and had
discussions. While Dimchev insisted that his unit leave the city of
Voden fully armed with light arms and remain intact under his
leadership, Dzhodzho spelled out his demands as follows:
All Macedonians who had joined the Ohrana and felt they had made a
mistake in joining were to quit the Ohrana and join the Partisan army
fully armed. If they were willing to voluntarily fight against the
occupier they would be pardoned. It was also clearly stressed that
those who had committed crimes would be severely punished. Upon
accepting these conditions, the Ohrana unit would be disarmed and the
arms and ammunition would be given to the Macedonian battalion; this
would weaken the enemy's strength and create the right conditions to
free the city.
Having heard Dzhodzho's demands, Dimchev would agree only if his
entire unit remained intact and separate but was willing to share
joint command. This condition however was unacceptable to
Dzhodzho. Dzhodzho argued that that would not only compromise his
position with his Greek partners, but would place his own Partisans in
a precarious position. The Partisan battalion had enough arms
consisting of old and defective rifles to only arm a single Cheta
while the Ohrana unit had new and modern arms. If there was any sort
of disagreement the Macedonian battalion would have found itself in a
critical situation.
This meeting unfortunately was monitored by the German Gestapo which
took strong measures to stop further contact between the two groups
and to liquidate this branch of the Ohrana. But in spite of all enemy
efforts, many Macedonians fled the Ohrana and joined the Macedonian
Partisans. Those who were guilty of having committed crimes were
certainly punished but the rest who were simply victims of enemy
propaganda fought against the occupied with honour and some even lost
their lives.
On August 2nd, 1944 in the village Pozdivishcha, Kostur Region, the
Lerin-Kostur Macedonian Battalion was formed. This was due to the
persistent demands from the Macedonian people in Lerin and Kostur
Regions to have their own army and their need to have more involvement
in NLAG matters.
There were many preliminary and significant conditions imposed on the
Battalion's formation by the Greek side, mainly due to the Lebanon
Agreement which needed to be ironed out.
In view of the announcement made that another all Macedonian battalion
was going to be formed, some communist Greeks were
nervous. Objections, especially in Kostur Region, became even more
electrified by the attitude of Andonis Andonopoulos - Periklis,
secretary of the regional committee of the CPG, during a party meeting
in the village Dmbeni when he said: "The Macedonians as a minority
will live in socialism, in northern Greece". In other words Greece was
not ready or not willing to discuss the Macedonian question and he was
more that happy to promote the status quo but under a Socialist
system. This was unacceptable to the Macedonians as voiced by one
Macedonian present at that meeting who challenged the secretary: "We
Macedonians want our national freedom now and we can get it..." In
other words we want our full rights now and are fully capable of
fighting for them.
Comments such as the above however only created mistrust between the
CPG and the Macedonians. This mistrust manifested itself in
significantly lowering the induction of Macedonian volunteers into the
ranks of NLAG and other Greek political and military organizations. It
also prompted many Macedonians already serving to desert. As mentioned
earlier, Ilija Dimovski - Gotse at that time was in Gramos, suspended
from duty and very much disappointed in what was happening.
In Greece, particularly in Greek occupied Macedonia, a mass movement
was forming in protest against the Lebanon Agreement. Under pressure
from the people, the central committee and leadership of the CPG took
measures to defuse the situation by canceling the agreement and
re-orienting itself towards the Macedonian Liberation Army in
Yugoslavia.
Opting out of the Lebanon agreement was an indication, at least on the
surface, that the Greek Communist leadership was ready to accept
revolutionary ideals and tactics. In this endeavour the CPG leadership
turned its attention to forming what appeared to be a meaningful and
trusting relationship with the Macedonians. This however, was not done
to give Macedonians more rights but to engage them in the Greek
communist struggle and to fulfill Greek communist ambitions.
As a result of this new relationship, among other things, the Kostur
Region Battalion at Karaorman was ordered to return to Kostur Region
and continue its activities in its mobilization of new recruits from
the ranks of the Macedonian people and to form new Macedonian
detachments, battalions and brigades which were to be commanded by
Macedonians under the leadership of NLAG.
As was decided and agreed upon, the all Macedonian Kostur Region
Battalion, as mentioned earlier, arrived on August 2nd, 1944 at the
village Pozdivishcha where its formation was finally formalized.
The task of forming the Macedonian battalion and commanding the NLAG
division in the region was entrusted to Ilija Dimovski - Gotse, who at
that time was in Gramos fighting the largest Germans offensive of
1944.
On August 2nd, 1944 Ilija Dimovski - Gotse along with 30 more
Macedonian fighters arrived in Pozdivishcha and took command of the
battalion as ordered.
August 2nd, the day of the Ilinden Uprising, a significant day for the
Macedonian people was chosen to announce the creation of a Macedonian
battalion, an all Macedonian battalion with all Macedonian national
characteristics.
On the occasion of the anniversary of the Ilinden Uprising, a meeting
was also held on August 2nd, in the village Pozdivishcha, where,
according to the agenda, discussions between the Greek National
Liberation Front's (GNLF) representative Renos Mihaleas and the
representative of Republic of Macedonia Petre Bogdanov - Kochko took
place. Among the many who attended and spoke was Naum Pejov, who had
returned from the Republic of Macedonia and was pressured to publicly
admit that he was in error when he gave his support for the Macedonian
separation from NLAG.
According to a Greek Party document here is what was said: "Renos
sought to convince Kochko and Pejov, especially Pejov, to admit to
having made an error but Pejov refused to and spoke against the CPG
reaffirming his position for the need for self-government and the
reunification of the Macedonian people." Under this kind of pressure
or for some other reasons Renos replied: "You are entitled to
Macedonia up to Solun. We will take the Dodecanese and Cyprus. Form
you own brigade, division and your Macedonian army. Appoint Ilija
Dimovski - Gotse commander of the division..."
In another similar party document it says that during the gathering
Lambro Pejov also spoke and was very critical of the GNLF-NLAG
politics and asked that Lazo Damovski - Oshenski be released from
prison who, as mentioned earlier, at the time was locked-up by NLAG
being accused for participating in the above mentioned Macedonian
separation.
According to statements made by Renos Mihaleas, it was possible to
form a Macedonian brigade depending on the available number of
fighters. Ilija Dimovski - Gotse, organized four Cheti (bands) from
available fighters from the unit that returned from Karaorman, the
fighters he acquired from Gramos, other fighters who joined the
Karaorman unit after its return and from the inflow of new recruits
which would have constituted the new battalions. Unfortunately the
NLAG leadership would not allow it. The unit which was proposed to be
formed, owing to the number of fighters, constituted the Lerin-Kostur
Region Macedonian battalion named "Gotse" after its commander Ilija
Dimovski - Gotse.
Prior to the objections it was recommended that Ilija Dimovski - Gotse
take command of the battalion and Hristo Kolentsev be made
commissar. Afterwards everything changed. On September 10th, 1944
under orders from NLAG regiment 28, Kozmas Spatos - Amintas, a Greek
of Albanian descent, was appointed commander of the battalion. Ilija
Dimovski - Gotse was reduced to captain and Hristo Kolentsiev was
reduced to party secretary of the battalion.
Afraid that the Macedonians would develop their own military
capabilities, and perhaps slip out of its control, the CPG leadership
made every effort to prevent the renewed Macedonian movement from
expanding but for the time the Greek communist tricks did not work.
Stringos, secretary of the CPG Macedonian bureau, questioned Renos's
rational for allowing the formation of a battalion when orders were
given to only form one Cheta (unit) in Kostur Region and
Karadzhova. Renos replied with a question: "And what will have been
the damages if divisions were to be formed?" To which Stringos
replied: "You are naïve. If the Macedonians had divisions, then they
would not be found in Macedonia..." (Quote taken from a letter from
Renos to Dobrivoje Radosavlejvich Ortse. The original text can be
found in the Yugoslav military historical archives).
Orders, commands, reports and other communications in the battalion
were carried out in the Macedonian language. A few days after the
Battalion's formation, Renos Mihaleos contacted Ilija Dimovski - Gotse
and informed him that a GNLF non communist officer from the NLAG
regiment 28 was going to be paying him a visit to do an
inspection. Renos told Ilija that all communications in the battalion
must be done in the Greek language.
Perturbed by such a request, Ilija replied: "We are not all communists
either. We are patriotic Macedonians and like you and the GNLF who are
fighting for your national rights, we too are fighting for ours and
for our freedom."
Immediately after the "Gotse" and the "Voden" battalions were formed a
massive number of Macedonians began to join the ranks of the
Partisans. With these kinds of numbers, it was possible to not only
form brigades but divisions. When the Gotse battalion was formed it
had 400 fighters. About a month later (September 16) it was numbering
650 and by October 10th, 1944 the number jumped to 1,500. This was
unprecedented for the resistance movement in Greek occupied Macedonia
especially since the CPG had entered into the unfavorable Lebanon
agreement with the enemy the "right".
For the sake of "national unity" a "right wing" government was
appointed to lead Greece under the leadership of Georgios
Papandreu. Papandreu's "right wing" Greek government unfortunately did
not recognize the existence of the Macedonian people in Greece. If a
government did not even recognize the existence of Macedonians then
how was it going to tolerate armed Macedonian units, Macedonian
soldiers and Macedonian institutions? The CPG leadership, in order to
placate the government, again began to suppress the Macedonian people
by taking rigorous action to take away their rights and stop the
expansion of their forces.
One of the measures undertaken was to stop Macedonians from joining
the ranks of the Partisans. In a communiqués to the Central committee
of the Macedonian Bureau on September 12, 1944, the CPG, among other
things said: "Let it be noted that our side recons it's time to stop
recruiting fighters from the ranks of the Slavo-Macedonians".
Even a reactionary historian was prompted to write: "The joining of
the Slavophones in the army was massive and 300 of them traveled to
Langa, the camp of the 28th brigade of ELAS [NLAG], to be armed. But
the commander of the brigade Lazaridis Hr. by his own initiative armed
only 50, who sent them to the units of the 28th foot brigade, and to
the others he gave temporary dismissal..." ("Misteriata na Gotse",
odlumka 169 vo v. "Elinikos Vordas" od VII.1955).
Immediately after the battalion was formed it was sent on a mission to
disarm the villages that were armed by the enemy.
In only a span of fifteen days the villages Prekopana, Chereshnitsa
and others were disarmed collecting around 200 rifles, a few heavy
machine guns and ammunition.
The attack on the city of Lerin too was successful. The Partisans
torched a fuel depot, destroyed an ammunition depot and broke up an
enemy tax collection ring. Bitter battles broke out through the
streets in arm to arm combat killing eighty German soldiers.
Since its formation on August 2nd, 1944 the Macedonian battalion had
destroyed ten German trucks, had taken fifteen German prisoners and
freed one-hundred and ten Armenian captives. In its few missions in
August 1944 the Macedonian battalion had taken out of action 220
Germans in total. The battalion relentlessly pursued the occupier near
the Bigla Mount territory destroying his communications and damaging
his transportation lines. Sixty German soldiers were killed in a
single battle in Kamenik village on the Lerin-Bitola road. But with
all its successes the Greek communists were never satisfied and found
something to criticize the Macedonians about. This no doubt brought
back old suspicions questioning whether the Greek communist "good
intentions" towards the Macedonians were genuine or another ruse to
use them to do their dirty work?
Sources:
Andonovski, Hristo. Vistinata za Egejska Makedonija. Skopje: Misla,
1971.
Pejov, Naum. Makedontsite i Gragjanskata vojna vo Grtsija. Skopje:
Institut za Natsionalna Istorija, 1968.
To be continued.
----------
You can contact the author at [email protected]
http://maknews.com/html/artic les/stefov/stefov138.html
Macedonians in Greece
1939 - 1949
Part 9 - Break up of the Macedonian National Liberation Front
October 2008
By Risto Stefov
[email protected]
click here for the Macedonians in Greece series
By now it was obvious to every Macedonian that the Communist Party of
Greece (CPG) was not going to tolerate a strong all Macedonian
organization inside Greece. The CPG had never approved of the MNLF(G)
and now that the MNLF(G) was getting stronger and more popular with
the Macedonian people, the CPG felt it had to do something. Although
it needed the Macedonian people to fight on its side, the CPG at this
time was also trying to warm up to the Greek bourgeois parties.
Unfortunately none of the Greek bourgeois parties approved of the
CPG's recognition of the Macedonian ethnicity so the CPG was in a
dilemma. It had two choices; placate the bourgeois parties by
disassociating itself from the Macedonians or forget about creating
unity and humour the Macedonians for as long as they were needed.
The CPG desperately and at all costs wanted "national unity" with the
other Greek parties and was willing to do anything, even sacrifice the
MNLF(G) if necessary.
The CPG chose "unity" over the Macedonians and did not only
disassociate itself from them, it took action to dismantle the MNLF(G)
and effectively took away all the rights the Macedonians had recently
earned including the right to form their own organizations, the right
to form peoples' liberation councils and the right to have Macedonian
schools.
During the MNLF(G) regional conference held on April 12, 1944 Greek
representatives of the CPG and GNLF were very pleased with the
MNLF(G)'s recent successes but a few days later the same Greeks
suddenly and unexpectedly denounced the MNLF(G) calling it a redundant
and useless organization demanding that it be dismantled and its
fighters be merged with the GNLF. They argued that "two organizations
with the same aims were not needed" and "national unity could not
possibly be achieved by having redundant organizations".
In the beginning of May 1944, during a CPG conference held in the
village Mogila, Kostur Region, a final decision was made to break up
the MNLF(G). A similar decision was also made during a conference held
in the village Lagen, Lerin Region and another one in the Macedonian
ward in Voden.
Naturally and justifiably the Macedonian people found it hard to
accept this especially since Macedonians created this organization
through struggle and personal sacrifice.
The fact that the Macedonians in the Republic of Macedonia were having
their own organizations, their own army, their own general
headquarters and their recognized right to separate as an ethnic
Macedonian identity made the Macedonians in Greek occupied Macedonia
feel like they were taking steps backwards. Besides being stripped of
their right to be recognized as an ethnic Macedonian identity in
Greece, these Macedonians began to lose everything they had worked
for, even the rights they had achieved thus far. This was not only
unacceptable, it was incomprehensible.
In addition to breaking up the MNLF(G)'s political body, the CPG-GNLF
leadership also disbanded its fighters and forced them to join
NLAG. This was not what Macedonians wanted and naturally created
negative feelings towards the Greeks which did not go unnoticed by the
Fascists and directly fueled the autonomist propaganda which began to
work hard to attract these disgruntled Macedonians who found
themselves robbed not only of their rights but of also of their
dignity.
The kind of politics the CPG was conducting was neither new nor
unknown to the Macedonian leadership. As early as January 1944 Lazo
Damovski, the secretary of the regional council of the MNLF(G) for
Kostur Region, addressed the CPG council for Macedonia and warned of
this. On January 24, 1944 Damovski wrote: "The conditions created by
World War II for the liberation movements in all of occupied Europe
including the Balkans have opened new roads for the self-determination
of all people. Macedonians are no exception. Macedonians have spilled
blood in the 1903 Ilinden Uprising and are now fighting, spilling
blood and making sacrifices to gain their freedom from the
Fascists. Our friends in Vardar Macedonia are going in the right
direction..."
"The Macedonians in Lerin and Kostur Regions represent the majority of
the population (70%) and are fighting shoulder to shoulder with the
Greek people. When they become liberated, will they, according to the
Atlantic agreements, have the rights to self declare? Will they be
granted the promised rights?"
"The CPG promised the Macedonian people equal rights within the
framework of a Peoples Republic of Greece, the same way it promised
the people of the Dodekanis and Cyprus. If the CPG is serious about
delivering on those promises when will it then allow the Macedonian
people to freely express their ethnic culture? When will it let the
Macedonians fight for their own ideals and for composing something
unique to show that they are truly Macedonians? Is the CPG really
afraid of being criticized by the chauvinist elements? If so, how then
does it propose to form "national unity" and not receive any
criticism? Does the CPG truly understand the Macedonian question?
Because if it doesn't it better learn it fast and start facing reality
and make the right decision..."
One by one the CPG ordered all regional MNLF(G) wards to close down
and all fighters to disband and join the ranks of NLAG. This however
was not what the Macedonians wanted and some began to show
dissatisfaction.
In May 1944 a large group of Macedonian fighters and activists lead by
Naum Pejov, separated themselves from NLAG in a symbolic protest
against the dismantling of the MNLF(G). Ilija Dimovski - Gotse too was
suspended from duty because he was in support of this
separation. Similar events also took place in Lerin Region where a
group of Macedonian fighters lead by Gjorgij Turundzhov fled
NLAG. Another group from Voden Region also fled but their leader
Vangel Ajanov, who insisted on forming Macedonian detachments, was
caught, put in jail and taken away to Mount Pajak. Pursued by Greek
communist forces most of these renegade groups crossed over the
Yugoslav border and fled into the Republic of Macedonia.
These acts of protest demonstrated by the Macedonians were neither
forgiven nor forgotten by the CPG-GNLF-NLAG leaderships. The Greek
communists immediately issued orders to hunt down, capture and punish
these renegades. Captured and jailed were Lazo Damovski, Paskal
Mitrevski and Lazo Poplazov from Kostur region. In a disgraceful
manner killed at Kajmakchalan were Macedonian ward leaders Pando
Dzhikov, Dimitar Leskov from Ostrov Region, ten people from the
village Chegan and three more from the village Rusilovo.
The CPG made no effort to explain why these people were killed or to
justify its action or to take responsibility for its part in the
destruction of the MNLF(G) which propagated these demonstrations in
the first place. Instead it took the easy way out and accused these
people of subversion and of creating "division" among the Macedonians
in Greek occupied Macedonia by allegedly spreading "autonomous ideas"
to the population. In other words the CPG lied its way out by accusing
the Macedonians of wanting to split away from Greece. Greeks have this
inherent and primordial fear that the Macedonians one day will take
away their precious part of Macedonia. I wonder why?
After the fleeing fighters from Greek occupied Macedonia crossed over
to the Republic of Macedonia they joined the resistance movement
there. The CPG however was not at all pleased with their action and
demanded that they be immediately sent back to Greece. While the
fighters explained their reasons for leaving, the CPG insisted that
they were "deserters" and needed to be sent back so that "an example"
could be made of them. Without bothering to explain the underlying
reasons why these fighters fled Greece the CPG took their case to the
Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY) and adamantly insisted that the
fighters be immediately returned. The CPY however did not give in to
the CPG's demands and used this opportunity to put pressure on the CPG
to deliver on its promises to the Macedonian people. Further, the CPY
recommended that if the CPG wanted its fighters back it would have to
allow them to form their own Macedonian military units in Voden, Lerin
and Kostur regions.
Here is what Koliopoulos had to say about this: "A contemporary
Partisan view adds another side to the issue. 'The friction between
our bands and the Greek Antartes in the region of Kastoria and
Florina,' Tempo and Ortche wrote in one of their reports to the
Partisan GHQ in August 1944, 'has been caused by the Greek Antartes,
when they moved into the region and started pressing Macedonians into
their units. The Macedonians, according to their leaders, maintained
that they were prepared to fight the Germans, but that they waited for
their own units to be formed so as to enlist in them. The Greeks did
not approve [the formation of the units] and instead started
oppressing the Macedonian people. The result was an exodus of the
Macedonians in the direction of Monastir, where Michailov waited to
press them into his own units and fight against the Greeks. Faced with
this situation, our political commissars let the fugitives, after
consulting Radosavljevich, form their own units in the
Florina-Monastir area of operations. Some of our commissars then
started spreading the idea that the Macedonians could enlist in our
army and that service with us would be as if they were serving in the
Greek army, since both we and the Greeks are fighting against the
fascist conquerors. At this point the Macedonians started enlisting in
our army en masse, and the Greeks intensified their pressure on the
Macedonians. The commanders of the Antartes issued orders for the
confiscation of the property of those who enlisted in our army, and
this caused confusion. In the talks conducted by Radosavljevich, a
member of the KKE (CPG) Macedonian Bureau said that it was preferable
for the Macedonians to be on the side of the Germans than on our [the
Yugoslav]. The Greeks in general appear to share this view. Our
representatives pressed the Greeks to accept the formation of a
Kastoria-Florina battalion, but they are opposed. We are convinced
that the Greeks must somehow find a way to form such a battalion. If
they don't, we'll have to form it ourselves, in which case we'll clash
with the Greeks.'" (John S. Koliopouls. "Plundered Loyalties". Pages
127-128)
Ortse Dobrivoje Radosavlejvich, mentioned above, wrote a letter to the
Macedonian units from Greek occupied Macedonia, then serving in the
Republic of Macedonia, which was read at a CPG regional
conference. Among other things the letter said that time for
discussions of whether or not to form Macedonian units or what symbols
these units should be wearing, is over. The enemy is well aware of the
situation with the Macedonian people and is using their
dissatisfaction and mistrust to draw them into its ranks under the
slogan "independent Macedonia". The idea of an "independent Macedonia"
was not a Macedonian creation but an enemy invention to draw the
Macedonians on its side just like it is attempting to draw in the
Romano-Vlachs from Pindos by promising them a Vlach state and the
Shiptars with promises of creating a greater Albania.
The idea of creating a united and independent Macedonia was nothing
new. It was contemplated by the Italians and supported by the
Americans in 1919. Even Britain had agreed to create an independent
Macedonian protectorate. Hitler too had toyed with the idea of an
"independent Macedonia" with Solun as its capital. Here is what Walter
Hagen had to say about that: "Hitler's interest in Macedonia began in
1941. Then in 1943 he received a memo from his secret service drawing
his attention to the benefits of forming an independent Macedonian
state with Solun as its capital. Creating such a state would be loyal
to Germany and through it Germany would have access to the Aegean
waters. Such a state could have easily been created in 1943 but by
1944 it was too late. Germany worked through Vancho Mihailov who came
to Macedonia to familiarize the people with this German idea but
concluded that it was too late and by then very difficult to realize
it." (Hristo Andonovski "Vistinata za Egejska Makedonija", Page 127)
Vancho Mihailov in his book "Macedonia - Switzerland of the Balkans"
wrote that the Germans and the Bulgarians were considering creating an
autonomous Macedonian state. Also from what we can gather from
Kalchev's and Dimchev's propaganda Bulgaria, around the middle of
June, also began to arm Macedonians bands in Voden Region for the
purpose of creating an autonomous Macedonia. Again according to
Bulgarian propaganda, the idea for the formation of the "Ohrana", a
Bulgarian sponsored military organization stationed in Voden and
operating jointly with the Germans, was to arm Macedonian bands for
the purpose of creating an "autonomous" Macedonian state. If the
Macedonians truly wanted that, wouldn't they have joined the Ohrana or
cooperated with the Germans to achieve it?
Even after the Greek communists dismantled the MNLF(G) and upset the
Macedonian population, the best the Ohrana could attract was 700
fighters. The majority of Macedonians judged the Ohrana by the unruly
individuals it attracted who were viewed as no better than common
criminals and who enjoyed terrorizing the population. One of the
schools in Voden was converted to an Ohrana torture chamber to torture
not the Fascist Greeks but the patriotic Macedonians and progressive
Greeks. The following individuals were killed by the Ohrana in Voden;
the pensioner major Atanasoglu, Siganidis, Georgios, Ipokratis,
Aspalidis, the teacher Lazaros Vafiadis, Karavasilis, Vasilios, Nasko
Pechinarov, Georgios Akritidis, Stavridis Kariofilis and others. The
Ohrana didn't just target individuals, it also targeted resistance
organizations. Among the Macedonian organizations to successfully
fight back against the Ohrana was the group of saboteurs from
Voden. Members of that group included Hristo Kardalov, Aleko
Tsrvenkata, Tushi Keramitchev, the brothers Gjasherev, Hristo Pochepov
and Leonida Projov.
Whether coincidental or not, right after the Greek communists broke up
the MNLF(G) some Macedonians did join the Ohrana but instead of
offering them a diplomatic way out, the leadership of NLAG, proficient
in well known Greek tactics, ordered the burning of the houses of
those who had joined. This totally illogical act not only did not stop
people from joining, it forced more people to arm themselves for their
defense. Common sense however must have prevailed because the CPG
decided that in order to stop the drift to the Ohrana the people
needed a better alternative. The CPG did that by creating separate
Macedonian units within the framework of NLAG. As a result, the
regional council of the CPG for Macedonia ordered the formation of
Macedonian units in Voden, Lerin and Kostur Regions. I just want to
point out at this point that there may have been other reasons why the
CPG decided to create Macedonian units. In its attempt to burn down
the houses in the village Javorjani, NLAG was repelled several times
by the armed group there and was unable to carry out its mission. This
must have prompted the Greek communists to change tactics. It would
have been disastrous for the communist Greeks to fight against the
Macedonians so they no doubt reluctantly chose to again befriend them.
Even though the decision to form Macedonian units within NLAG appeared
to be a done deal for the Macedonians there were disagreements among
the Greek communists and the decision was not supported by everyone,
especially after the Lebanon Conference.
The Greek resistance leadership signed an agreement on May 20th, 1944
in Lebanon to form a coalition government with other civilian parties
from Greece which was unwelcome to the Macedonians. The agreement was
viewed with suspicion because much of its content was insulting and
demeaning to the Macedonian people. The agreement called for disarming
the Macedonian people and was interpreted as a means to destroy the
MNLF(G). The Lebanon agreement was the end result of the so called
"national unity" with other Greek parties which the CPG so desperately
desired to create.
In order to patch up relations with the Macedonians, a conference was
held in the village Belkamen, Lerin Region on July 20th, 1944 which
was attended by the Partisans active in Vicho and Western
Kajmakchalan. One of the resolutions reached was the re-organization
of the Partisan forces into three detachments. The first lead by Aetos
was assigned to operate in Vicho, the second lead by Ilija Dimovski -
Gotse was assigned to Bigla - Koreshtata and the third was ordered to
go to Western Kajmakchalan. In August 1943 Hristo Kolentsev was
appointed detachment commissar for Vicho, replacing Commissar Naum
Shupurkovski - Leon who left for a new assignment.
The moment the Macedonians in Voden Region found out that the CPG had
reached a decision to allow the formation of Macedonian detachments
they began to work. Then on July 16, 1944 they announced the formation
of the Macedonian Voden battalion at Kajmakchalan. The announcement
was welcome news for the Macedonian youth who began to arrive in
massive numbers to join as volunteers. The battalion was camped above
the village Gorno Rodivo in Kajmakchalan and every day more than a
dozen youths came from the local villages with a single desire, to be
soldiers in the Macedonian army.
This kind of movement was unprecedented in the history of the region
as youths poured in from the Meglen, Baovo and Pozhartsko Region
villages. Besides arriving in large numbers most of them brought their
own arms and ammunition.
As soon as the Macedonians in Voden organized they addressed the
Macedonian people with the following proclamation written in the
Macedonian language:
"Brothers, wake up and understand that this struggle in not a struggle
between Greeks and Bulgarians, it is not a fight between Bulgarians
and Serbians here in the Balkans, it is a fight everywhere between the
people and Fascism. United with the Red army all the people everywhere
are locked in a war of life and death against the tyrannical
Fascists. As long as German Fascism is strong and until Italian
Fascism is still alive, the forces of the people here in the Balkans
will fight against them. Until the Fascist hordes are destroyed at the
front, the German fascists here will continue to attract Macedonian
youths to their camp through the lies of their servant Fascist dogs
Kalchev, Dimchev and others like them.
Our Macedonian peoples' army along with the Greek peoples' army are
now fighting together against a common foe the German and Greek
fascists and against out boys who have been lied to.
The Greek fascists, the Greek royalists; we know what they are
fighting for... And our boys who have been lied to by Kalchev, Dimchev
and others, united with the Greek gendarmes under German fascism are
fighting not for Macedonia but for the Fascists against the Macedonian
peoples' army, and against the Macedonian people.
Macedonia people!
Our way is not with the fascists. Only together with the Greek people
here and with the other progressive people can we gain life fit for
humans and lasting peace.
Know that Fascism will soon die...The Italian people rose against
it. The Romanian people did the same. The Czechoslovakian, the French,
the Fin and the Bulgarian people did the same...
Sons of Macedonia!
Come forth and join the ranks of the Macedonian army against
fascism. Unite with the Macedonian peoples' army; with the Greek
people, against the tyrannical fascists against the Greek fascists and
against all fascists." (Hristo Andonovski "Vistinata za Egejska
Makedonija", Pages 129-130)
Within a few days of distributing this publication the first Cheta was
created with Petar Tanirov as its commander and Parikli Jovchev as its
commissar. As soon as the Cheta was put together it was dispatched on
missions to battle German and Greek Fascist bands in Enidzhe Vardar,
Kria Vrisi (Plasnichevo) in Solun Region and with other bands in
Kukush Region. The Cheta proved itself in combat showing exemplary
heroism and self reliance.
With the formation of the Macedonian Cheta in Voden Region, many
Macedonians who had joined the Ohrana felt they had made a mistake. To
rectify the problem, Dimchev, the Voden Ohrana commander, requested
permission for his unit to join the Partisans. But before anything
could be done, Dzhodzho, the Partisan Cheta commander, called for a
meeting. In August 1944 a meeting was organized in the village Teovo,
Voden Region, where Dimchev and Dzhodzho met and had
discussions. While Dimchev insisted that his unit leave the city of
Voden fully armed with light arms and remain intact under his
leadership, Dzhodzho spelled out his demands as follows:
All Macedonians who had joined the Ohrana and felt they had made a
mistake in joining were to quit the Ohrana and join the Partisan army
fully armed. If they were willing to voluntarily fight against the
occupier they would be pardoned. It was also clearly stressed that
those who had committed crimes would be severely punished. Upon
accepting these conditions, the Ohrana unit would be disarmed and the
arms and ammunition would be given to the Macedonian battalion; this
would weaken the enemy's strength and create the right conditions to
free the city.
Having heard Dzhodzho's demands, Dimchev would agree only if his
entire unit remained intact and separate but was willing to share
joint command. This condition however was unacceptable to
Dzhodzho. Dzhodzho argued that that would not only compromise his
position with his Greek partners, but would place his own Partisans in
a precarious position. The Partisan battalion had enough arms
consisting of old and defective rifles to only arm a single Cheta
while the Ohrana unit had new and modern arms. If there was any sort
of disagreement the Macedonian battalion would have found itself in a
critical situation.
This meeting unfortunately was monitored by the German Gestapo which
took strong measures to stop further contact between the two groups
and to liquidate this branch of the Ohrana. But in spite of all enemy
efforts, many Macedonians fled the Ohrana and joined the Macedonian
Partisans. Those who were guilty of having committed crimes were
certainly punished but the rest who were simply victims of enemy
propaganda fought against the occupied with honour and some even lost
their lives.
On August 2nd, 1944 in the village Pozdivishcha, Kostur Region, the
Lerin-Kostur Macedonian Battalion was formed. This was due to the
persistent demands from the Macedonian people in Lerin and Kostur
Regions to have their own army and their need to have more involvement
in NLAG matters.
There were many preliminary and significant conditions imposed on the
Battalion's formation by the Greek side, mainly due to the Lebanon
Agreement which needed to be ironed out.
In view of the announcement made that another all Macedonian battalion
was going to be formed, some communist Greeks were
nervous. Objections, especially in Kostur Region, became even more
electrified by the attitude of Andonis Andonopoulos - Periklis,
secretary of the regional committee of the CPG, during a party meeting
in the village Dmbeni when he said: "The Macedonians as a minority
will live in socialism, in northern Greece". In other words Greece was
not ready or not willing to discuss the Macedonian question and he was
more that happy to promote the status quo but under a Socialist
system. This was unacceptable to the Macedonians as voiced by one
Macedonian present at that meeting who challenged the secretary: "We
Macedonians want our national freedom now and we can get it..." In
other words we want our full rights now and are fully capable of
fighting for them.
Comments such as the above however only created mistrust between the
CPG and the Macedonians. This mistrust manifested itself in
significantly lowering the induction of Macedonian volunteers into the
ranks of NLAG and other Greek political and military organizations. It
also prompted many Macedonians already serving to desert. As mentioned
earlier, Ilija Dimovski - Gotse at that time was in Gramos, suspended
from duty and very much disappointed in what was happening.
In Greece, particularly in Greek occupied Macedonia, a mass movement
was forming in protest against the Lebanon Agreement. Under pressure
from the people, the central committee and leadership of the CPG took
measures to defuse the situation by canceling the agreement and
re-orienting itself towards the Macedonian Liberation Army in
Yugoslavia.
Opting out of the Lebanon agreement was an indication, at least on the
surface, that the Greek Communist leadership was ready to accept
revolutionary ideals and tactics. In this endeavour the CPG leadership
turned its attention to forming what appeared to be a meaningful and
trusting relationship with the Macedonians. This however, was not done
to give Macedonians more rights but to engage them in the Greek
communist struggle and to fulfill Greek communist ambitions.
As a result of this new relationship, among other things, the Kostur
Region Battalion at Karaorman was ordered to return to Kostur Region
and continue its activities in its mobilization of new recruits from
the ranks of the Macedonian people and to form new Macedonian
detachments, battalions and brigades which were to be commanded by
Macedonians under the leadership of NLAG.
As was decided and agreed upon, the all Macedonian Kostur Region
Battalion, as mentioned earlier, arrived on August 2nd, 1944 at the
village Pozdivishcha where its formation was finally formalized.
The task of forming the Macedonian battalion and commanding the NLAG
division in the region was entrusted to Ilija Dimovski - Gotse, who at
that time was in Gramos fighting the largest Germans offensive of
1944.
On August 2nd, 1944 Ilija Dimovski - Gotse along with 30 more
Macedonian fighters arrived in Pozdivishcha and took command of the
battalion as ordered.
August 2nd, the day of the Ilinden Uprising, a significant day for the
Macedonian people was chosen to announce the creation of a Macedonian
battalion, an all Macedonian battalion with all Macedonian national
characteristics.
On the occasion of the anniversary of the Ilinden Uprising, a meeting
was also held on August 2nd, in the village Pozdivishcha, where,
according to the agenda, discussions between the Greek National
Liberation Front's (GNLF) representative Renos Mihaleas and the
representative of Republic of Macedonia Petre Bogdanov - Kochko took
place. Among the many who attended and spoke was Naum Pejov, who had
returned from the Republic of Macedonia and was pressured to publicly
admit that he was in error when he gave his support for the Macedonian
separation from NLAG.
According to a Greek Party document here is what was said: "Renos
sought to convince Kochko and Pejov, especially Pejov, to admit to
having made an error but Pejov refused to and spoke against the CPG
reaffirming his position for the need for self-government and the
reunification of the Macedonian people." Under this kind of pressure
or for some other reasons Renos replied: "You are entitled to
Macedonia up to Solun. We will take the Dodecanese and Cyprus. Form
you own brigade, division and your Macedonian army. Appoint Ilija
Dimovski - Gotse commander of the division..."
In another similar party document it says that during the gathering
Lambro Pejov also spoke and was very critical of the GNLF-NLAG
politics and asked that Lazo Damovski - Oshenski be released from
prison who, as mentioned earlier, at the time was locked-up by NLAG
being accused for participating in the above mentioned Macedonian
separation.
According to statements made by Renos Mihaleas, it was possible to
form a Macedonian brigade depending on the available number of
fighters. Ilija Dimovski - Gotse, organized four Cheti (bands) from
available fighters from the unit that returned from Karaorman, the
fighters he acquired from Gramos, other fighters who joined the
Karaorman unit after its return and from the inflow of new recruits
which would have constituted the new battalions. Unfortunately the
NLAG leadership would not allow it. The unit which was proposed to be
formed, owing to the number of fighters, constituted the Lerin-Kostur
Region Macedonian battalion named "Gotse" after its commander Ilija
Dimovski - Gotse.
Prior to the objections it was recommended that Ilija Dimovski - Gotse
take command of the battalion and Hristo Kolentsev be made
commissar. Afterwards everything changed. On September 10th, 1944
under orders from NLAG regiment 28, Kozmas Spatos - Amintas, a Greek
of Albanian descent, was appointed commander of the battalion. Ilija
Dimovski - Gotse was reduced to captain and Hristo Kolentsiev was
reduced to party secretary of the battalion.
Afraid that the Macedonians would develop their own military
capabilities, and perhaps slip out of its control, the CPG leadership
made every effort to prevent the renewed Macedonian movement from
expanding but for the time the Greek communist tricks did not work.
Stringos, secretary of the CPG Macedonian bureau, questioned Renos's
rational for allowing the formation of a battalion when orders were
given to only form one Cheta (unit) in Kostur Region and
Karadzhova. Renos replied with a question: "And what will have been
the damages if divisions were to be formed?" To which Stringos
replied: "You are naïve. If the Macedonians had divisions, then they
would not be found in Macedonia..." (Quote taken from a letter from
Renos to Dobrivoje Radosavlejvich Ortse. The original text can be
found in the Yugoslav military historical archives).
Orders, commands, reports and other communications in the battalion
were carried out in the Macedonian language. A few days after the
Battalion's formation, Renos Mihaleos contacted Ilija Dimovski - Gotse
and informed him that a GNLF non communist officer from the NLAG
regiment 28 was going to be paying him a visit to do an
inspection. Renos told Ilija that all communications in the battalion
must be done in the Greek language.
Perturbed by such a request, Ilija replied: "We are not all communists
either. We are patriotic Macedonians and like you and the GNLF who are
fighting for your national rights, we too are fighting for ours and
for our freedom."
Immediately after the "Gotse" and the "Voden" battalions were formed a
massive number of Macedonians began to join the ranks of the
Partisans. With these kinds of numbers, it was possible to not only
form brigades but divisions. When the Gotse battalion was formed it
had 400 fighters. About a month later (September 16) it was numbering
650 and by October 10th, 1944 the number jumped to 1,500. This was
unprecedented for the resistance movement in Greek occupied Macedonia
especially since the CPG had entered into the unfavorable Lebanon
agreement with the enemy the "right".
For the sake of "national unity" a "right wing" government was
appointed to lead Greece under the leadership of Georgios
Papandreu. Papandreu's "right wing" Greek government unfortunately did
not recognize the existence of the Macedonian people in Greece. If a
government did not even recognize the existence of Macedonians then
how was it going to tolerate armed Macedonian units, Macedonian
soldiers and Macedonian institutions? The CPG leadership, in order to
placate the government, again began to suppress the Macedonian people
by taking rigorous action to take away their rights and stop the
expansion of their forces.
One of the measures undertaken was to stop Macedonians from joining
the ranks of the Partisans. In a communiqués to the Central committee
of the Macedonian Bureau on September 12, 1944, the CPG, among other
things said: "Let it be noted that our side recons it's time to stop
recruiting fighters from the ranks of the Slavo-Macedonians".
Even a reactionary historian was prompted to write: "The joining of
the Slavophones in the army was massive and 300 of them traveled to
Langa, the camp of the 28th brigade of ELAS [NLAG], to be armed. But
the commander of the brigade Lazaridis Hr. by his own initiative armed
only 50, who sent them to the units of the 28th foot brigade, and to
the others he gave temporary dismissal..." ("Misteriata na Gotse",
odlumka 169 vo v. "Elinikos Vordas" od VII.1955).
Immediately after the battalion was formed it was sent on a mission to
disarm the villages that were armed by the enemy.
In only a span of fifteen days the villages Prekopana, Chereshnitsa
and others were disarmed collecting around 200 rifles, a few heavy
machine guns and ammunition.
The attack on the city of Lerin too was successful. The Partisans
torched a fuel depot, destroyed an ammunition depot and broke up an
enemy tax collection ring. Bitter battles broke out through the
streets in arm to arm combat killing eighty German soldiers.
Since its formation on August 2nd, 1944 the Macedonian battalion had
destroyed ten German trucks, had taken fifteen German prisoners and
freed one-hundred and ten Armenian captives. In its few missions in
August 1944 the Macedonian battalion had taken out of action 220
Germans in total. The battalion relentlessly pursued the occupier near
the Bigla Mount territory destroying his communications and damaging
his transportation lines. Sixty German soldiers were killed in a
single battle in Kamenik village on the Lerin-Bitola road. But with
all its successes the Greek communists were never satisfied and found
something to criticize the Macedonians about. This no doubt brought
back old suspicions questioning whether the Greek communist "good
intentions" towards the Macedonians were genuine or another ruse to
use them to do their dirty work?
Sources:
Andonovski, Hristo. Vistinata za Egejska Makedonija. Skopje: Misla,
1971.
Pejov, Naum. Makedontsite i Gragjanskata vojna vo Grtsija. Skopje:
Institut za Natsionalna Istorija, 1968.
To be continued.
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