Fascist Bulgaria's occupation of Macedonia during World War II

[Daskalot]

Nice collection, here is some more.....

Here is a text describing how the Bulgarians tried to assimilate the Macedonians during their occupation of Macedonia in World War II.

This book was printed in Prilep 1961.

Page 75.


Page 76.


Here is a translation into English of the above text:

THE BULGARIAN AUTHORITES ATTEMPT TO FINALLY ASSIMILATE THE POPULATION.

Before the end of October 1941, the Bulgarian Municipal authorites sent Officials to the village from the Municipal and District capital - Prilep to conduct a census of the whole population.
The Officials had printed documents with them, were they entered the inhabitants of the village. The documents had all necissary paragraphs to enter the exact evidence (year of birth, place, gender, occupation, education) and finally there was a special paragraph which said “political affiliaton” and “nationality”.

The Officials put their hardest effort on the final paragraph in the census. They asked the people what nationality they are - Serbs or Bulgarians, but Macedonians were not at all mentioned.

Before the Officials began to assimilate the Macedonian population they held a short clarifying speech, in which they said that this people is Bulgarian “in origin” and needs to sign as that and further in the Bulgarian books as evidence.
That speech even more upset the villagers who told them that in this village there are no Serbs neither Bulgarians but only Macedonians. They asked the Officials if they could sign as Macedonian under the paragraph “nationality” in the census.

One of the Policemen tried to explaine to the villagers that Bulgarian and Macedonian are the same; that it has no relevance for the document, which is only a Record which will be in a archive.
The villagers forced the Officials and the Policemen to let them sign as “Macedonian” under the paragraph “nationality”.

Thus in the census Aleksandar S… entered him and his family as Macedonian, and after him followed the other villagers: Vanche S…, Vasil V…, Trajko M…, Dushan M…, Aleksa V…, Jovan S…, Tode V…, Nikola P…, Nikola Z…, and other villagers.

This open statement by the villagers against the Bulgarian assimilation made the Bulgarian Municipal authorities revolt and seek thru the District capital for a village leader from somewhere else to be sent to the village who is a Bulgarian and can help Bulgaria, but in the village of ….. there is noone who claims to be a pure Bulgarian. This was told to them by the villagers from their Municipal village leader Nikola K… on the conference where the new village leader Ilija L… from ….. was announced by a decree.

Enjoy!

[Bratot]

I have more reasons to say that about you

Keep coming up with these references TM, great job.

[TrueMacedonian]

Bratot your research is amazing. Thank God you're on our side

[Bratot]

Ченто:

[Bratot]

The Bulgarian propaganda often uses this kind of propaganda photos to depict the Macedonian population as "liberated" and "celebrating" the occupation of the nazi allies Bulgarian armies:

http://www.macedoniainfo.com/Macedonia=WestBulgaria.htm

But here is how the general celebration at the end of WW2 look liked after the Bulgarian troops were expelled:



A reception of the combatants of the Fifteenth Macedonian Corps in Skopje, after finishing the final operations for liberation of Yugoslavia (spring 1945)


We see a huge difference, aren't we?

[Bratot]

The Bulgarian nazi propaganda:


A DECLARATION TO THE BULGARIANS FROM THE TOWN OF STROUGA AND THE REGION ABOUT THE FORMATION OF BCCC IN SKOPJE

Strouga

BULGARIANS!

In the town of Skopje was formed Bulgarian Central Committee for Macedonia, liberated from Serbian and Greek rule. This com*mittee has issued the following DECLARATION:

BULGARIANS!
Macedonia is free! Free is Macedonia forever! The end of the rule under which Macedonia suffered until recently came. The cen*tury-long Macedonian oppression, Greek, Serbian, spiritual and po*litical and in XX century - economical and social, disappeared for* ever. One great ideal - f r e e d o m, for which Macedonia led a century-long struggle with unheard steadiness, and countless cher*ished sacrifices now, is reality.
The efforts of Tsar Boris III to bring this great cause to a happy outcome, was crowned with a final and brilliant success. The leader of one great world revolution, the leader of the great German nation ordered his glorious and victorious armies, in collaboration with his ally Italy, to gain the freedom of our dear Motherland, our great martyr Macedonia.
Macedonia is free, and is already in the whole Bulgarian nation*al community. The Bulgarian nation in Macedonia is deeply excit*ed, and full of joy and gratitude towards the Bulgarian Tsar, towards Boris III, lo the great leader of the German nation Adolph Hitler, and towards the Dutche - the creator of friendly Italy!

Long live Tsar Boris III!
Long live Adolph Hitler, the mighty leader of the great German nation!
Long live Benito Mussolini, The Dutche of ally Italy!
Long live Freedom!
Announcing the above declaration to all citizens from the town of Sirouga, and the region, we invite them to be ready for meeting of the Bulgarian armies, which could come any moment.
On 21 April this year was established the Bulgarian Campaign Committee by Bulgarians, citizens of Strouga.
All Bulgarian men and women, who live in Strouga and in the region, must help morally, and financially the Bulgarian committee. The Bulgarian population is asked to meet the Bulgarian army with flowers and dressed in colourful national costumes from our region, and the houses to be decorated with Bulgarian flags.
Should the local committee of Strouga learn the time of the arriv*ing of the army in Strouga, all Bulgarians from the region will be informed immediately, so that they could participate in the official welcome of our native army. Therefore all Bulgarians have to be ready for this great moment.
From the Local Bulgarian Campaign Committee for Macedonia, Strouga.


CSA, fund 396, file 36, page 15. Original, typed

[TrueMacedonian]

Bump. I wonder what some of you think about the first page posted and what Hitler said about the "Macedonian Question" being settled in Bulgaria's favour?

[TrueMacedonian]

Thanks makedonin. And nice posts BBS.

[makedonin]

That is interesting sumup.

Thanx TM.

[Big Bad Sven]

The Boogarian Slavs where real good "friends" to the Macedonians weren't they......

The execution of the 12 young men from the village of Vatasa, near Kavadarci was carried out by the Bulgarian fascist army on 16 June, 1943.

http://www.cybermacedonia.com/vatasa.html

Macedonian Song "Mi zaplakalo seloto Vataša"
YouTube - Macedonian Song "Mi zaplakalo seloto Vataša"

[Big Bad Sven]

Bulgarian Rule in Macedonia 1941-1945

"Bulgarian troops took part in the invasion of Yugoslavia, and in the subsequent partition of that country Bulgaria was given the right to administer a large share of Yugoslav Macedonia; full ownership was to await a peace treaty at the end of the war.

When Greece was conquered the Bulgarians were given similar rights in eastern Macedonia and most of western Thrace, though much of Macedonia, including Salonika, remained under German control.

The Bulgarians had always regarded Macedonia as theirs by right. Their rule therefore saw the introduction of Bulgarian education, including the establishment of a university in Skopje, and the incorporation of Macedonia into the Bulgarian Church, However, they overplayed their hand: excessive centralization, draft, and corruption eventually made Sofia's emissaries as unpopular in Macedonia as their Serbian predecessors had been."

R.Crampton,
Oxford Companion to the Second World War (1995), pp.169-171

[TrueMacedonian]

Let's give a summary of the text here.

1) The Bulgarian occupiers feared Macedonian Autonomists.
2) Bulgaria had to implement propaganda campaigns in order to "Bulgarize" the Macedonians. Indeed if they were Bulgarians then why the need to "Bulgarize" the population?
3) The pictures todays Bulgarian propagandists love posting of Macedonians cheering for the Bulgarians did indeed happen. But not because the Macedonians felt "Bulgarian" but because the Macedonians wanted to break away from Serbian Chauvanism and terror that they endured for 3 decades. Pages 123-124 and footnote 4 on page 243 destroys this common myth spread all over the internet by Bulgarian propagandists.
4) The Bulgarians suppressed Macedonian culture and language in order to forcibly impose the use of Bulgarian and to forcibly Bulgarize the Macedonians.
5) Tito also feared of Macedonian autonomists ,who he condemned, which destroys the myth that Macedonians only felt Macedonian when Tito recognized Macedonia in 1943 as its own republic within Yugoslavia.


A side note. Notice the author makes mention of the supposed "greeks" in Aegean Macedonia,,, these "greeks" were not really ethnic "greeks" and were all certainly new-comers and johnny come latelys. See here - http://www.macedoniantruth.org/forum...ead.php?t=1622

Sorry Boogarians. At least you can say that a bulk of population is made up of Macedonians http://www.maknews.com/forum/human-r...es-t15400.html

[TrueMacedonian]

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