The Human Rights Situation of Macedonians in Greece and Australia
Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: Human Rights Sub-Committee
By Aegean Macedonian Association of Australia
July 1993
printable version
Published in: Parliament of The Commonwealth of Australia Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, Human Rights Sub-Committee, (Reference: Australia's Efforts to Promote and Protect Human Rights), Submissions and Incorporated Documents, Volume 2, Canberra 19 August 1993
CONTENTS
Recommendations
Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: Human Rights Sub-Committee
Section 1: Overview
Section 2: Examples of Human Rights Abuses Between 1913 and the Present
Section 3: The Situation in Australia
List of Enclosures
Appendix 1: Freedom of Expression: the Case of Hristos Sideropoulos and Tasos Boulis
Appendix 2: The Case of Archimandrite Nikodemos Tsarknias
Appendix 3: The Case of Michael Papadakis
Appendix 4: The Case of the Macedonian "child refugees"
Appendix 5: The Situation of the Macedonians in Greece
Appendix 6: The Situation in Australia
Appendix 7: Various Books and Reports
NOTE: The above mentioned supporting documents are with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Human Rights Sub-Committee in Canberra
Recommendations
As a democratic and multicultural country, Australia has an important role to play in the promotion of human rights around the world. The Association requests the Australian Government to use its good standing with the international community and the Greek Government in particular to raise the following matters with the Greek Government:
1. To allow the free choice of national identity in accordance with international principles.
2. To officially recognize the existence of a Macedonian minority in Greece and cease its perennial policy of non-recognition of the many ethnic minorities in Greece.
3. To improve the availability of human rights to Macedonians in Greece, in particular the right to use the Macedonian language; the right to have the Macedonian language taught at all levels of the school system; the right to freedom of religion including the establishment of Macedonian churches; and the right to have Macedonian language radio, television, newspapers, and other cultural media.
4. To allow Macedonians to use their proper Macedonian names and to cease the mandatory use of Greek versions.
5. To allow Macedonian representatives at all levels of public life, including elected office.
6. To end the persecution of Macedonian human rights campaigners in Greece, including the internationally known cases of Hristos Sideropoulos, Tasos Bulis, and Archimandrite Nikodemos Tsarknias. We request the Australian government to monitor the appeal of Hristos Sideropoulos and Tasos Bulis, the April 1994 trial of Archimandrite Nikodemos Tsarknias, other current cases, and new cases as they arise.
7. To cease State discrimination whereby Macedonians and Macedonian activists have been dismissed from employment.
8. To implement United Nations Resolution 193C (III) of November 27, 1948 which calls for the free repatriation of all child refugees from the Greek Civil War of 1946-49.
9. To repeal the Greek laws 106841 and 1540 which discriminate against Macedonians who fled from Greece during the Greek Civil War and are still unable to repatriate to Greece or to reclaim their property.
10. To return Greek citizenship and its attendant rights to all Macedonians whose Greek citizenship has been revoked.
11. To allow the 550 child refugees resident in Australia to return to Greece, to reclaim their Greek citizenship if desired, and to reclaim their ancestral property.
12. To legislate for the nationalistic elements in the Greek media to cease their persecution of the Macedonian minority and to require these media to give Macedonians a right of reply.
13. For Greece to comply with all international human rights agreements to which it is a signatory, particularly the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
14. For Greece to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political, the Optional Protocol on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid.
The Association's remaining recommendations concern Australia. There are a number of areas in this country where Australian citizens of Macedonian background, including Macedonians from Greece, receive less than fair treatment that can be seen as a denial of human rights.
As these areas fall within the influence of the Australian government, the Association recommends that the Australian Government implement measures to:
15. Increase the amount of Macedonian language programing on SBS Television in proportion to the size of the Australian Macedonian population.
16. Investigate why SBS Television broadcasts an average of 156 hours of Greek language programing per year, year after year, while it broadcasts an average of only 2.75 hours of Macedonian language programing per year, year after year. The investigation should also examine why SBS Television employs a vastly disproportionate number of personnel of Greek background, including on screen identities, compared to other nationalities, including Macedonian.
17. Allow the Australian Bureau of Statistics to create a country code for Macedonia for use in the next Census.
18. Instruct the Australian Bureau of Statistics to collate credible statistics on the number of Macedonians in Australia, something it cannot do at present despite having had credible figures on other nationalities for many decades.
19. Instruct the Australian Bureau of Statistics to devise a methodology for the next Census that will allow Macedonians who have emigrated from Greece to be counted as Macedonians. At present the Birthplace and Birthplace of Parents questions in the Census force these Macedonians to place Greece as their country of origin or their parents birth and thus to be counted as Greek. This situation overstates the number of Greeks in Australia and understates the number of Macedonians, a situation that is politically and morally abhorrent to many of our members, as well as casting serious doubts on the credibility of the ABS data.
20. Investigate why Telecom politicized itself and denied the Republic of Macedonia the right to self identify by placing the country under the letter F in the White Pages rather than under the letter M.
21. Investigate why the Australian Customs politicized itself by requiring an Australian importer of Macedonian background to re-label goods imported from the Republic of Macedonia.
22. Request the Australian Labor Party to disassociate itself from a December 10, 1991 letter written by the Greek Central Committee of the Australian Labor Party and addressed to all Federal and State Labor parliamentarians. This letter explicitly denies the existence of a Macedonian minority in Greece.
23. Investigate the level of Greek influence in the formulation of Australian foreign policy. This should include the excessive influence on the policy on Cyprus and other matters as evidenced in the paper The Role Of The Greek Communities In The Formulation Of Australian Foreign Policy: With Particular Reference To Cyprus, which was authored by a Greek-Australian parliamentarian and presented at the Institute of International Relations Conference "The Greek Diaspora in Foreign Policy", held in Athens.
Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: Human Rights Sub-Committee
from the Aegean Macedonian Association of Australia
July, 1993
The Aegean Macedonian Association of Australia welcomes the opportunity to put before the Human Rights Sub-Committee the long standing concerns of Australia's Aegean Macedonian community regarding the intense and continuous suppression of the human rights of ethnic Macedonians in Greece.
The Aegean Macedonian Association of Australia represents the interests of an estimated 90,000 Macedonians in Australia who originate from the part of Macedonia which is now incorporated into Greece. We emphasize, however, that our ethnic origin is Macedonian, not Greek: we speak Macedonian, identify as Macedonian, and have a separate, wholly Macedonian culture.
The Aegean Macedonian community is ethnically related to the Macedonian immigrants from the Republic of Macedonia, which was formerly part of Yugoslavia. In addition the estimated 90,000 Aegean Macedonians in Australia, there are another estimated 100,000 immigrants from the Republic of Macedonia.
Many of the members of the Aegean Macedonian Association of Australia are political refugees from Greece, others are economic refugees due to the Greek policy of not developing Macedonian areas, and the majority still have family members in Greece. Therefore the Association cannot overstate the strength of feeling from our members on the matter of human rights abuses in Greece.
Overview
At the end of the Second Balkan War in 1913 the original Macedonia was divided between Greece, which obtained 51 per cent of the territory, Serbia, which obtained 39 per cent, and Bulgaria which obtained 10 per cent.
At the time of the tri-partition, the population was predominately Macedonian, with well established Turkish, Bulgarian, Vlach, Thracian, Jewish and Greek minorities.
The Greek takeover of Aegean Macedonia was quickly followed by a ruthless campaign of ethnic cleansing of much of the non-Greek population.
The Bulgarian and Turkish minorities were largely ethnically cleansed between 1923 and 1926 with the official exchange of populations between Greece and Bulgaria and Greece and Turkey. Among those resettled were many Bulgarian Macedonians and muslim Macedonians.
However, close to a million Macedonians remained and in regard to these a policy of denationalization and hellenization was instigated. The process of political repression and denial of human rights included:
* The compulsory changing of Macedonian first and family names to Greek versions.
* The banning of the use of the Macedonian language.
* The banning of Macedonian schools.
* The banning of Macedonian churches.
* The banning of Macedonian newspapers, books, radio programs, dancing and other cultural expression.
* A massive population transfer of 632,000 Greeks from Turkey into Aegean Macedonia during the 1920s. This saw a major change in the ethnic composition of the region, and the Macedonians suddenly found themselves a significant national minority within what was previously their own country.
These facts, together with active encouragement from the Greek government, saw the commencement of large scale Macedonian emigration from Greece, with many of these people settling in Australia, Canada and the US.
This anti-Macedonian policy was particularly ruthless during the Metaxas dictatorship of the 1930s and included prison camps where Macedonians were killed in their thousands. Their only crime was to be Macedonian and/ or speak their native language.
Writing in 1938, Australian author Bert Birtles in his book, Exiles in the Aegean, said "If Greece has no Jewish problem, she has the Macedonians. In the name of "Hellenization" these people are being persecuted continually and arrested for the most fantastic reasons. Metaxas' way of inculcating the proper nationalist spirit among them has been to change all the native place-names into Greek and to forbid use of the native language. For displaying the slightest resistance to this edict - for this too is a danger to the security of the State - peasants and villagers have been exiled without trial." (see appendix 5)
A second period of intense repression followed the Greek Civil War of 1946-49 when the Macedonian minority sided with the Greek communists who had promised them national autonomy and human rights if they won the war. Their loss saw another wave of emigrants from Aegean Macedonia. Many of these also came to Australia.
Among the refugees were 28,00 Macedonian children between the ages of two and 14. These were mostly the children of the Macedonian freedom fighters whose parents were fearful for their safety after the war.
The children were evacuated to the Eastern bloc countries. Although the children of Greek fighters were officially pardoned in the 1980s and allowed back into Greece, this human right has not been extended to the Macedonian children. Today there are 550 such children, now adults, living in Australia. These are among the many thousands who are not allowed back into Greece and have never been reunited with their families. (Appendices 4 and 7)
The Greek government's policy of ruthless denationalization of the Macedonian minority has continued to the present day. The estimates of the number of Macedonians in Greece today are between 300,000 and one million. However most of these are too afraid to admit to their Macedonian ancestry.
Several specific cases of current human rights abuses have attracted the attention of Amnesty International. The following examples of repression between 1913 and the present, which are by no means exhaustive, put the current situation into perspective.
Examples of Human Rights Abuses Between 1913 and the Present
* In 1913 following its victory in the First and Second Balkan Wars, Greece officially annexed 51 per cent of Macedonia. This was against the desire of the population of Macedonia for an independent and autonomous country.
* In 1916 the author John Reed in his book, The War in Eastern Europe, wrote about the aftermath of the First Balkan War and how the Greeks and Serbians tried to legitimize their takeover of the territory while also trying to wipe out the Bulgarian influence.
He wrote "A thousand Greek and Serbian publicists began to fill the world with their shouting about the essentially Greek or Serbian character of the populations of their different spheres. The Serbs gave the unhappy Macedonians twenty four hours to renounce their nationality and proclaim themselves Serbs, and the Greeks did the same. Refusal meant murder or expulsion. Greek and Serbian colonists were poured into the occupied country...The Greek newspapers began to talk about a Macedonia peopled entirely with Greeks - and they explained the fact that no one spoke Greek by calling the people "Bulgarophone" Greeks...the Greek army entered villages where no one spoke their language. "What do you mean by speaking Bulgarian?" cried the officers. "This is Greece and you must speak Greek"."
* The Carnegie Report on the Balkan Wars indicated that 161 villages were burned down and more than 16,000 houses were destroyed in the Aegean part of Macedonia.
* On August 10th, 1920 at Serves, Paris, the countries of Britain, France, Italy and Japan concluded an agreement with Greece On the Protection of Non?Greek Nations. Greece pledged full protection of the Macedonian national minority, its language and culture and the opening of Macedonian schools.
In Section 2 Greece pledged to extend full care over the life and freedom of all citizens irrespective of their origin, nationality, language, faith.
Clause 7 reads: "All Greek citizens will avail themselves of the same civic and political rights irrespective of nationality, language and faith... and to legally guarantee the freedom of use by each citizen of any language in personal, trade and religious contacts, in print and publications or meetings..."
Clause 8 states: "Greek citizens belonging to national, religious or language minorities will be treated on a par with native Greeks."
Clause 9 reads: As regards education, the Greek government will create appropriate facilitations and will safeguard the possibility of learning one's own language in schools of towns and areas inhabited by citizens speaking a language different than Greek."
On September 4, 1925, the office of High Commissioner for National Minorities was established at Salonika, northern Greece, for the observance of international agreements concerning national minorities.
However, none of these assurances were put into practice. Instead the Greek government adopted a policy of denationalization and assimilation while simultaneously denying the existence of a Macedonian minority.
* In 1925 the ABECEDAR booklet was published in Athens. This was an elementary book for teaching the Macedonian language and was written in the Latin alphabet. It was designed for Macedonian children. However, it was never distributed to them. After the departure of the representatives of the League of Nations, the booklets were destroyed.
This booklet was republished in Perth in 1993 by the Macedonian Information Centre to prove the booklet's existence and the fact that Greece was once accountable to the world for its Macedonian minority.
* In the 1920s Macedonian schools were closed, not opened. Kindergartens were established in Macedonian localities so children could be inculcated in a Greek spirit and to limit the influence of parents. This was despite a November 11, 1930 press conference in Athens at which prime minister Eleaterios Venizelos said, "The problem of a Macedonian national minority will be solved and I will be the first one to commit myself to the opening of Macedonian schools if the nation so wishes."
* On March 30, 1927 the Greek newspaper Rizospastis wrote that 500,000 Macedonians were resettled to Bulgaria.
* On the basis of a Greek thesis: "the faith determines the nation", hundreds of thousands of Turks and Macedonians of Muslim faith were resettled to Asia Minor. They were replaced by 638,253 Greeks brought in from Asia Minor.
* November 1926: a legal Act was issued to change Macedonian geographic names into the Greek version. The news of the Act was published in the Greek government daily Efimeris tis Kiverniseos No. 322 of November 21, 1926. The same newspaper in its No. 346 published the new, official, Greek names. The names of the people were changed too. First names as well as family names were changed to Greek versions. These are still officially binding to this day.
* In 1929 a legal Act was issued On the Protection of Public Order, whereby each demand for nationality rights was regarded as high treason. This law is still in force.
* On December 18, 1936 the Metaxas dictatorship issued a legal Act On the Activity Against State Security. On the basis of this Act, thousands of Macedonians were arrested, imprisoned or expelled from Greece.
* On September 7, 1938 the legal Act 2366 was issued. This banned the use of the Macedonian language. All Macedonian localities were flooded with posters that read "Speak Greek". Evening schools were opened in which adult Macedonians were taught Greek. There was not a single Macedonian school at the time. It is estimated that nearly 5,000 Macedonians were imprisoned or sent to prison camps for having used the Macedonian language.
* During the Greek Civil War, the Headquarters of the Democratic Greek Army reported that from mid?1945 to May 20, 1947 in Western Macedonia alone 13,529 Macedonians were tortured, 3,215 were imprisoned and 268 were executed without trial. In addition, 1,891 houses were burnt down and 1,553 were looted. 13,808 Macedonians were resettled by force.
* During the war, Greek-run prison camps where Macedonians were imprisoned, tortured and murdered included: the island of Ikaria near Turkey, the island of Makronis near Athens, the jail Averov near Athens, the jail at Larica near the Volos Peninsula, and in the jail at Thessaloniki. Among other places, there were mass killings on Vicho, Gramos, Kaymakchalan, and at Mala Prespa in Albania.
* In 1947, during the Greek Civil War, the legal Act L?2 was issued. This meant that all who left Greece without the consent of the Greek government were stripped of Greek citizenship and banned from returning to the country. The law applied to Greeks and Macedonians, but in its modernized version the Act is binding only on Macedonians. It prevents Macedonians but not Greeks who fought against the winning side to return to Greece and reclaim property. Among those not allowed to return to Greece are the 28,000 child refugees who have not renounced their Macedonian ethnicity.
* On January 20, 1948 the legal Act M was issued. This allowed the Greek government to confiscate the property of those who were stripped of their citizenship. The law was updated in 1985 to exclude Greeks but it is still binding on Macedonians. * On November 27, 1948 the United Nations issued resolution 193C (III) which called for the repatriation of all child refugees back to Greece. However, discriminatory laws introduced by the Greek government have prevented the free return of many thousands of the Macedonian child refugees. This is still the case in 1993.
* On August 23, 1953 the legal Act 2536 was issued. This meant that all those who left Greece and who did not return within three years' time could be deprived of their property. This facilitated the confiscation of Macedonian property.
* Around the same time a decision was taken to resettle Macedonians. A wide ranging media campaign was launched to induce the Macedonians to leave their native areas voluntarily and to settle in the south of Greece and on the islands. The Greek intention was to separate Macedonians living in Greece from their relatives, living in the Republic of Macedonia in Yugoslavia, and to create a 60 kilometre?wide belt along the border with then Yugoslavia where "the faithful sons of the Greek nation" could be settled.
A firm reaction from Yugoslavia saw the cancellation of the plan.
* In 1959 the legal Act 3958 was issued. This allowed for the confiscation of the land of those (Macedonians) who left Greece and did not return within five years' time. The law was amended in 1985, but it is still binding on Macedonians.
* In 1960 the first secretary of the Greek Communist Party, H Florakis, was brought to court charged with high treason for supporting the Macedonian national minority.
In September 1988 at the press conference in Salonika, the same Florakis said that the Greek Communist Party had changed its views and that it now recognized neither the Macedonians nor the Macedonian national minority.
On August 30, 1989, the same H Florakis demanded from the Greek parliament the eradication from the currently legally binding Acts the term "Greek by origin" which made it impossible for the Macedonians to return to their homeland and to recover their property and damages. He branded this term as racist.
The Greek press charged him with treason in order to win the electorate, implying the existence of Macedonian electors.
* In 1961 Gramatnikowski Michal saw his mother on the Greek frontier from a distance of 100 metres. The Greek border guards would not permit them to come closer.
Filip Wasilew Dimitris from Pozdivista (official Greek name: Halara) of Moscow made repeated attempts to obtain a Greek visa in the Greek embassy in Moscow. The last application, in August 1989, was to no avail.
Georgios Nicolaos Cocos, a Macedonian political refugee who fought against German armoured divisions in the defence of Greece, was living in Tashkent (former Soviet Union) and wished to return to Greece. Despite his repeated attempts the Greek authorities did not give him a visa. Not even direct request from the death bed and addressed to the prime minister Andreas Papandreou helped. He died without seeing his family, his home and his homeland.
Cinika Sandra twice tried to go to her home village in Greece on an excursion for old aged and disabled pensioners. Each time the Greek embassy in Warsaw would give visas only to Greeks by origin. Cinika as well as other Macedonians, including mixed Greek?Macedonian couples, were refused visas.
* In 1962 the legal Act 4234 was issued. Persons who were stripped of their Greek citizenship were banned from returning to Greece. A ban on crossing the Greek border also extended to spouses and children. This law is still in force for Macedonians, including those who left Greece as children.
* Macedonians abroad believed that Greek diplomatic posts have a ban on issuing visas to Macedonians and have compiled lists of Macedonian refugees from Greece to enforce this.
* In 1969 a legal Act was issued to allow the settlement by ethnic Greeks of Macedonian farms left behind.
* The Greek government has continued its ethnic restocking program with the relocation in Aegean Macedonia of over one hundred thousand immigrants of Greek origin from the ex?Soviet Union. These are termed Pontiac Greeks.
* In 1978 the consul of the Greek embassy in Warsaw, Poland trampled underfoot a travel document issued by Polish authorities and which had the Polish national emblem. The reason: the name of the applicant was written in its Macedonian/ Polish version? Aleksowski Mito and not in Greek, Aleksiu Dimitris.
* In 1980 the Macedonian Michal Gramatnikowski sent a letter to the Greek prime minister asking him to grant a visa so that he could visit his ill mother. He received neither a reply nor a visa.
* In early 1982 a confidential report by the security branch of the Greek police in Salonika came to light. Dated March 8, 1982, the report contained highly controversial and inhuman recommendations about strategies to deal with the "Macedonian problem".
* On December 29, 1982 the legal Act 106841 was issued by the government of Andreas Papandreou. This allowed Greeks by origin who had fled during the Civil War to return to Greece and reclaim their Greek citizenship. Macedonians born in Greece and their families were excluded and remain in exile. Heads of various State administration departments received the right to use property left in Greece by Macedonian refugees.
Greek authorities frequently reject the requests by Macedonians for the recovery of their Greek citizenship. This is despite the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which says that "Everyone has the right to leave every country, including one's own and to return to his own country," that "Each man has the right to have a citizenship," and that "No one can be freely dispossessed of his citizenship."
* In 1983 the Greek government decided that it would no longer recognize university degrees from the Republic of Macedonia. Its stated reason was that "the Macedonian language is not internationally recognized." This is incorrect and hides the real motive.
* On October 17, 1983 Lazo Jovanovski wrote a letter to the Minister of Internal Affairs asking for the restoration of his citizenship. He has never received a reply.
The same happened to Spiro Steriovski and Kosta Wlakantchovski, also both in 1983.
* In 1983 Toli Radovski, who was living in Gdynia, Poland, wrote a letter to the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Athens asking for the restoration of his citizenship. He did not receive a reply. The lack of reply forced him to ask the Centre for Human Rights in Geneva for help. Thanks to the intervention of the Centre, after four years a reply from Athens arrived. Quoting the relevant legal Acts, the Ministry of Internal Affairs rejected his demand for the recovery of citizenship.
In 1984 Toli Radovski wrote a letter to the Ministry of Internal Affairs asking for a visa. He did not receive the visa nor a reply.
* In 1984 the Movement for Human and National Rights for the Macedonians of Aegean Macedonia, operating in Greece illegally, issued a Manifest for Macedonian Human Rights. This states "In Greece human rights are openly disregarded and our human existence is cursed. We, in the Aegean Macedonia, are determined to carry our struggle on various levels, employing all legal means until our rights are guaranteed."
* On April 10, 1985 legal Act 1540/ 85 was issued. This amended the previously issued Acts regulating property relations so as to make it impossible for Macedonians to return. This discriminatory Act limits the definition of political refugees to ethnic Greeks and permits the recovery of illegally seized property to "Greeks by origin" only. Once again, the Macedonian refugees from Greece are denied the same rights.
* In 1986 former Minister for Northern Greece, N Martis, addressed a letter to the Australian Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, entitled Falsification of the History of Macedonia, in which he denied the existence of a Macedonian nation.
* Several times during the 1980s Greek officials have admonished overseas officials for recognizing a Macedonian nationality. Minister for Macedonia and Trakia (previously for Northern Greece) Stelios Papatamelis sent a letter to Pope John Paul II admonishing him for having uttered his Christmas and New Year greetings in the "non?existent Macedonian language." Greek authorities protested to the US ambassador in then Yugoslavia for having uttered a few sentences in the "non?existent Macedonian language" while visiting the Republic of Macedonia.
* In June, 1986 at its 49th Congress, the international writers' organization, PEN, condemned the denial of the Macedonian language by Greece and sent letters to the Greek PEN Centre and the Greek Minister for Culture. The Greek response was a denial of the existence of a Macedonian minority.
* In 1987 the Encyclopedia Britannica put the number of Macedonians in Greece at 180,000. This is considerably more than the Greek government will admit to, which is around 80,000, but considerably less than what the Macedonians themselves believe, which varies between 300,000 and one million.
* In 1987 Macedonian parents in Aegean Macedonia were forced to send their 2 and 3 year old children to "integrated kindergartens" to prevent them from learning the Macedonian language and culture. The ruling was not implemented elsewhere in Greece.
* The far right Greek newspaper Stohos has written: "Everyone who will openly manifest his views concerning the Macedonian minority will curse the hour of his birth."
* In February 1988, the Athenian newspaper Ergatiki Alilengii criticized the discriminatory policy of Greek authorities towards Macedonians. It also criticized the anti?Macedonian hysteria in certain mass media.
* In June 1988, Gona and Tome Miovski of Perth were on their way to Yugoslavia and wished to visit Greece. They were arrested at Athens airport, beaten up and locked in separate underground rooms. They were beaten up again the next day. They were released 24 hours later, after the intervention of the representative of Yugoslav Airlines and were expelled from Greece.
* On July 5 and 6, 1988 two groups of Macedonian refugees who had come from Australia and Canada wanted to visit their homeland in Greece. Both coaches were stopped on the Greek frontier. Surrounded by armed policemen the coaches stood in the open air at 42 degrees Centigrade: one for two hours and the other for four hours. Opening of the windows was prohibited. The passengers had a seal stamped in their passports which forbade them to cross the Greek frontier. The vehicles and their passengers had to return. There are photographs and videofilm of this incident.
* During late June and early July 1988 a large demonstration of Macedonians who had left Greece as children in 1948 took place in Skopje, capital of the Republic of Macedonia. The demonstration was attended by several thousand Macedonians from all over the world. A petition to the United Nations and many national governments was addressed.
* On August 10, 1988, on the 75th anniversary of the division and partition of Macedonia, a large demonstration by Macedonians was held outside the UN building in New York.
* On September 4, 1988 Mito Aleksovski addressed an open letter to the Greek embassy in Warsaw asking for a visa. He received no reply.
* In the northern autumn of 1988, the Alagi newspaper in Lerin (Greek name Florina) wrote that the Macedonians do exist and that they should have the full rights of a national minority. The newspaper pledged to fight for those rights until victory.
* In November 1988 the same newspaper published the statement by one of the leaders of the Greek Communist Party, Mr Kostopulos, who said that it was a fact that the Macedonian minority existed in Greece.
* In its issue No 1/89 the Athens monthly Sholiastis published an article by Mrs Elewteria Panagiopoulou entitled Nationalists and the Inhabitants of Skopje ? the Gypsies, in which she demands a halt to the discriminatory policy of authorities and abolition of the inhuman legal acts aimed against the Macedonians. In another article the same author calls Macedonians "the Palestinians of Europe".
* In the northern spring of 1989, 90 Greek intellectuals addressed a note of protest to the Greek government in connection with the common violation of human rights in Greece.
* In 1989 during the Bicentenary of Australia, Greece organized an exhibition in Sydney entitled Ancient Macedonia: the Wealth of Greece. The Greek President Sardzetakis toured various Australian cities and disseminated anti?Macedonian propaganda. After a sharp reaction from Macedonians in Australia, the Greek government protested to the Australian government for letting the Macedonian protests occur.
* On May 11, 1989 a Macedonian folk ensemble was expelled from Greece without reason. The ensemble had come to the locality of Komotini for a "Festival of Friendship" at the invitation of its organizers. A similar occurrence took place in 1988.
* On May 20, 1989 Minister for Macedonia and Trakia (Northern Greece) Stelios Papatemelis appealed to the Greeks to wage a sacred war against Macedonians.
* On May 28, 1989 the Association of Macedonians in Poland sent to the Greek embassy an invitation for its first congress. There was no representative from the embassy and there was no answer to the invitation. On June 10, 1989 the participants of the First Congress of the Association of Macedonians in Poland addressed a petition to the Greek government concerning the situation of Macedonians. There was no reply. On June 26, 1989 the Association of Macedonians in Poland sent a letter to the Greek embassy in Warsaw concerning visas for Macedonians. The embassy informed the Polish Post Office about the receipt of the letter. Despite this there was no reply.
* In May 1989 an international delegation of Macedonians from Australia, Canada and Greece presented the problem of the Macedonian national minority in Greece to the Centre for Human Rights in Geneva. They also met with representatives of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
* On June 22, 1989 the Helsinki Committee in Poland addressed an appeal to the state cosignatories to the CSCE Final Act concerning the situation of Macedonians in Greece.
* In summer 1989 the New York Times printed an article entitled Macedonians are not Greeks.
* Between June 26 and 30, 1989 at Columbia University in New York, Greeks held a symposium entitled History, Culture and the Art of Macedonia. The purpose of the symposium was to convince American society that Macedonia is Greek. The symposium occasioned strong protests from Macedonians in the United States and Canada.
* In the summer of 1989 the Atika, the Munich?Athens?Munich express train serviced by Greeks would not take ? despite available places ? passengers from Skopje, capital of the Republic of Macedonia.
* In June 1989, the prime minister A Papandreou said at a pre?election meeting in the Macedonian locality of Lerin (Florina in Greek) that if he won the election he would build a factory in which only the locals (that is how he described the Macedonians) would be employed.
He also said that he would abolish law 1540. This law was issued during his own rule and of his own initiative in 1985 and deprived the Macedonian refugees of the right to the property they had left behind in Greece.
* In July 1989 the Athens Information Agency issued a leaflet in English entitled The So Called Macedonian Problem. This leaflet denies the existence of a Macedonian minority in Greece.
* At a rally in Salonika on July 29, 1989 President Sardzetakis said "Macedonia was, is and will always be Greek."
* After parliamentary elections in 1989 thousands of leaflets were found in the ballot boxes in the area of Macedonia in Northern Greece which contained protests against the disregard for human rights in Greece.
* On August 30, 1989 a legal Act rehabilitating the participants in the Greek Civil War of 1946?49 was issued. The Act granted damages and disability pensions to fighters in the civil war who now have Greek citizenship. By this measure the Macedonian fighters living in exile ? who earlier had been stripped of their citizenship ? were rendered ineligible.
* In September 1989 the Athenian newspaper Avriani wrote that the demands of some members of parliament for the abolition in Greek law of the term "Greek by origin" creates a serious threat to the national unity and territorial sovereignty of Greece.
The newspaper also wrote that the "second group" of refugees i.e. Macedonian refugees as opposed to refugees of Greek origin, could return to Greece under the condition that they unambiguously declare their Greek origin, i.e deny their Macedonian ethnicity.
* In September 1989 the Ta Maglena newspaper asked "Why are the Macedonians discriminated against?" The newspaper also asked "Why does Greece not observe international legal acts?" At the same time it warned Macedonians against the agents of the Greek Security Service whose number in Macedonian localities is unimaginable.
* In November 1989 the Sholiastis monthly published an interview with several members of the illegal Movement for Human and National Rights for Macedonians of Aegean Macedonia.
* In December 1989, during a period when there was public discussion about the Macedonian problem, the Greek press warned "The enemy is at the door."
* On January 29, 1990 The Times newspaper published an ethnographic map of Europe which shows that Macedonians are living in Greece, Bulgaria, Albania and the Republic of Macedonia.
* In February 1990 The Guardian newspaper wrote "the Macedonian problem is knocking on the door of Europe. It must be solved before the Balkans join the united Europe."
* In 1990 a feature film entitled Macedonia was made in Sweden. It is a six part TV series and presents the homeless and wandering lot of the Macedonian nation.
* On February 21, 1990 Constantinos Mitsotakis, then leader of the New Democracy party, said at a press conference in the town of Janina that he is increasingly convinced that the Greek policy in relation to national minorities should be more aggressive. He said "We have nothing to fear. We are clean because Greece is the only Balkan country without the problem of national minorities." He added "The Macedonian minority does not exist, neither is it recognized by international agreements."
* On March 7, 1990 Nocolau Martis, former Minister for Northern Greece, declared that the Macedonian nation is an invention of the Communist party of Yugoslavia.
* On March 25, 1990 in a television address, President Sardzetakis said "Only native Greeks live in Greece."
* The Greek government warned the former Yugoslavia that should it not stop discussing the problem of the "so called Macedonian national minority" Greece will not render it support in cooperating with and eventually joining the EEC.
* In 1990 the High Court of Florina under decision 19/33/3/1990 refused to register a Centre for Macedonian Culture. An appeal on August 9 the same year against the decision was also refused. In May 1991 a second appeal was refused by the High Court of Appeals in Thessaloniki. In June 1991 the Supreme Administrative Council of Greece in Athens dismissed a further appeal.
* In June 1990 at the Copenhagen Conference on Human Rights (CHD), the Greek delegation requested that the executive secretary of the conference remove the Macedonian Human Rights delegation's literature from the non-government organization's desk. The request was refused.
* Later, two Macedonian human rights campaigners from Aegean Macedonia who participated in the CHD experienced official State harassment upon their return to Greece.
One, Hristo Sideropoulos, was transferred through his work to Kefalonia, several hundred kilometres from his homeplace. The other participant, Stavros Anastasiadis, was given discriminatory tax penalties and dismissed from his job.
* On July 20, 1990 at the village of Meliti near Lerin (Florina) a Macedonian folk festival was broken up by force by Greek authorities and police.
* In its June, 1991 edition the Atlantic Monthly magazine ran an extensive story detailing many of the atrocities committed in Macedonian during the Balkan Wars and following the partition of Macedonia.
The author, Robert Kaplan, also said "Greece, for its part, according to a Greek consular official whom I visited in Skopje, does not permit anyone with a "Slavic" name who was born in northern Greece and now lives in Yugoslav Macedonia to visit Greece, even if he or she has relatives there. This means that many families have been separated for decades."
* On December 10, 1991 the Greek Central Committee of the Australian Labor Party in Victoria sent a letter addressed to all Victorian Labor Federal parliamentarians and all State Labor parliamentarians. The letter explicitly denies the existence of a Macedonian minority in Greece. Point 4 refers to "Misinformation claiming that an ethnic "minority" of Macedonians in Greece is being denied its cultural rights. Greece has no ethnic minority other than a Moslem religious minority." (Appendix 6)
* In January, 1992, six members of the OAKKE anti-nationalist group were condemned to 6 and a half months imprisonment for putting up posters for the recognition of Macedonia.
* In February, 1992 the Guardian newspaper published an article about the town of Florina in Greece and the struggle of its Macedonian inhabitants to maintain their identity in the face of Greek repression.
* On March 12, 1992 the Canberra Times ran an article, What's in a Name? For Greeks a Great Deal, by Peter Hill, the author of the section Macedonians in the official Australian Bicentenary encyclopedia the Australian People. The article affirmed the existence of a large Macedonian minority in Greece and the existence of official discrimination and the denial of human rights.
Mr Hill said "The claim by the Greek Republic that their part of Macedonia has "one of the most homogenous populations in the world (98.5 per cent Greek)" is quite absurd. In fact, some parts of it, such as the county of Florina (Lerin), do not have any indigenous Greek inhabitants at all."
* In March, 1992 the organizers of the Moomba Festival in Melbourne asked the Macedonian community participants not to use the name Macedonia on its float after representations were made to the Moomba organizers by the Greek lobby in Australia and by the Victorian Minister for Ethnic Affairs. The Macedonians refused. The ministry later said that threats to the Macedonians' safety had been received.
* On April 2, 1992 the Ambassador of Greece to Australia, VS Zafiropoulos, wrote a letter to the Canberra Times newspaper in which he said "Macedonia, Greece's most northerly province, does not contain "a significant minority who are ethnically related to the Slavs across the border"."
"In fact, Greece has the most homogenous country in Europe and if a small number of Greeks on the border speak, beside Greek, a Slavic idiom, this bilingualism does not constitute a minority."
* In May, 1992 Australian journalist Richard Farmer visited Aegean Macedonia and published an article in the Sunday Telegraph, Sydney entitled Freedom Fragile in Macedonia. The article described numerous examples of human rights abuses witnessed by Farmer, including the jamming by Greek authorities of Easter services broadcast in the Macedonian language from the Republic of Macedonia and listened to by Macedonians in Greece.
The Greek lobby in Australia subsequently took Farmer to the Press Council but were unable to deny him his right to publish.
* In July, 1992 the Archimandrite Nikodemos Tsarknias, a priest with the Greek Orthodox Church and a well known Macedonian human rights campaigner, and a parishioner, Photios Tzelepis, were issued with a Writ of Summons to appear in the Magistrate's Court of Thessaloniki. The priest was charged with insulting his Archbishop. He is also accused of being a homosexual and a Skopjan (Republic of Macedonia) spy.
However, a KYP (Greek Secret Service) report published in a Greek newspaper revealed that the minor charge in the Summons was a pretext to harass the priest for his human rights activism. The report says the authorities "did not find the courage to say that they kicked him out of the church for his antihellenic stance and to ask for his committal to trial for high treason but instead they removed him with the lukewarm "justification" which we reveal today so that it will stain with shame all those who contributed to it."
The priest's trial is set for April 1994.
* In July 1992 the Macedonian Human Rights Association of Newcastle (Australia) published the book The Real Macedonians by Dr John Shea, an Irish academic at Newcastle University. The book gives a great number of reference sources about the ethnicity of the Macedonian people, the partition of Macedonia, the ethnic cleansing and repopulation of Aegean Macedonia, and the Greek Civil War. Chapter 13 is titled Denial Of Human Rights For Macedonian Minorities.
* On August 15, 1992 The Spectator magazine published an article, The New Bully of the Balkans, by Noel Malcolm. The article discusses the plight of the main ethnic minorities in Greece including the Macedonians, the Vlachs, and the Turks.
On the Macedonians, Mr Malcolm asks "How many of these Slavs still live in Greece is not known. The 1940 census registered 85,000 'Slav-speakers'. The 1951 census (the last to record any figures for speakers of other languages) put it at 41,000; many who had fought on the losing side in the civil war had fled, but other evidence shows that all the censuses heavily underestimate the Slav's numbers. The lack of a question on the census-form is not, however, the only reason for their obscurity."
Mr Malcolm says "One group of these Slavs has started a small monthly newsletter, with an estimated readership of 10,000. But they have great difficulty finding a printer (even though it is in Greek), and they say that if copies are sent through the post they tend to 'disappear'. "Even if we find a sympathetic printer," one told me, "he's usually too scared to take the work: he's afraid of losing his other contracts, or perhaps of getting bricks through his window"."
* In 1992 a spokesman for the Pan Macedonian Association of Victoria, a Greek organization, was interviewed on SBS television. The spokesman said that there are no Macedonians in Florina. This was a direct lie as Florina (formerly Lerin in Macedonian) is well known to have an almost exclusively Macedonian population. In fact a large number of Macedonian immigrants now living in Melbourne and Perth are from Florina. This organization has on other occasions made similar claims on SBS television.
* In November, 1992 Amnesty International published a report entitled Greece: Violations of the Right to Freedom of Expression. This gave details on a number of human rights abuses by Greece including the repression of the Macedonian human rights campaigners, Hristos Sideropoulos and Tasos Boulis.
* In November, 1992 Pollitecon Publications of Sydney published the book What Europe Has Forgotten: The Struggle Of The Aegean Macedonians. The book was written by the Association of Macedonians in Poland and was one of the first English language books to detail human rights abuses against Macedonians in Greece.
* On December 5, 1992 The Sydney Morning Herald published an article titled The Balkan Dance of Death by Bob Beale. Mr Beale says "Greece's record of dealing with its Greek Macedonian minority is poor. A specialist in Balkan ethnic minorities, Hugh Poulton, has noted that in the wake of the bitter civil war - during and after World War 11 - Greece actively sought to remove Slav Macedonians from its north as "undesirable aliens"."
"At various times since, it has forbidden Greek Macedonians from using the Slavonic forms of their names, removed them from official posts in Greek Macedonia and suppressed their language - measures that led many to emigrate to places like Australia."
* In January, 1993 Amnesty International published another report - Greece: Violations of the Right to Freedom of Expression: Further Cases of Concern. This report detailed the case of Michail Papadakis, a 17 year old school boy who had been arrested on December 10, 1992 for handing out a leaflet that said "Don't be consumed by nationalism. Alexander the Great: war criminal. Macedonia belongs to its people. There are no races; we are all of mixed descent."
* In January, 1993 the Macedonian Movement for Prosperity in the Balkans held its first congress, in Sobotsko, Greece. The MMPB issued a statement highlighting Greece's discriminatory policy towards its Macedonian minority and in particular the denial of basic human rights.
The MMPB said ethnic Macedonians in Greece and Macedonians in the diaspora should cooperate closely to further ethnic, religious, linguistic and social freedoms for all minorities in Greece. The organization urged the Greek government to allow Macedonian political and economic refugees to return to Greece if they desired.
* In February 1993 a meeting was held between the Macedonian Forum for Human Rights and the Greek Balkan Citizens' Movement to open up dialog to help solve existing problems between the two countries.
* In February, 1993, president of the Republic of Macedonia, Kiro Gligorov, speaking at the United Nations on the possible admission of Macedonia to the body, criticized Greece for its treatment of its Macedonian minority.
Mr Gligorov said "It is surprising that the Republic of Greece disputes article 49 of our Constitution which refers to the care of the Republic of Macedonia for our minority in the neighbouring countries. It should be pointed out that there is a similar provision in the Greek constitution. It is a well known fact that the Republic of Greece does not admit the existence of a Macedonian minority there. From this derive the following logical questions."
"A. If such a minority does not exist in the Republic of Greece, then this article does not refer to this country and their reactions are surprising."
"B. If such a minority does exist, which is indisputable, why does Greece not fulfil at least the basic rights of this minority provided in the UN Charter, the Helsinki Document, the Charter of Paris, etc of which it is a signatory party."
"C. "Most important of all, is this the reason that the Republic of Greece opposes the recognition of the Republic of Macedonia under its constitutional name?"
* In March 1993, the Archimandite Nikodemos Tsarknias was defrocked and expelled from the Greek Orthodox Church for his human rights activism.
* On March 26, 1993, five members of the OSE organization were put on trial for publishing and distributing a pamphlet entitled Crisis in the Balkans: the Macedonian Question and the Working Class. They were charged with exposing the friendly relations of Greece with foreign countries to risk of disturbance; spreading false information and rumours that might cause anxiety and fear to citizens; and inciting citizens to rivalry and division leading to disturbance of the peace.
* On April 1, 1993 Macedonian human rights campaigners Hristos Sideropoulos and Tasos Boulis were put on trial after their comments about the existence of the Macedonian minority were published in ENA magazine in March 1992. They were charged with spreading false information and rumours that might cause anxiety and fear to the citizens. They were sentenced to five months imprisonment.
The World Macedonian Congress said that the defence counsel was not allowed to present its views. An appeal was launched to the higher court in Athens.
* In April, 1993 the Macedonian Information Centre in Perth republished the booklet the ABECEDAR, originally published by the Greek government in 1925 as a teaching aid for Macedonian children, but which was never distributed.
* In April, 1993 the Belgian press was quoted as saying that Greece was quickly losing its democratic reputation. The press was quoted as saying that "Greece, undermining the European principles of respecting basic human rights, is placing itself at the margins of Europe."
* In May, 1993 the Macedonian Movement for Balkan Prosperity, based in Arideja, Greece, said that it wanted to participate in the Macedonian-Greek dialog underway under the auspices of the United Nations to settle the issue of the name of the Republic of Macedonia. The Movement said the participation of the Macedonians in Greece was imperative and that it was time to determine the status of the Macedonians in Greece as well as those forced to leave during the Greek Civil War.
The Situation in Australia
There are a number of aspects about the position of Aegean Macedonians in Australia and of the activities of the Greek lobby in Australia that are cause for concern.
These concerns are fourfold in regard to:
* The Australian Bureau of Statistics Census.
* The influence of the Greek lobby on the Federal Government and parliamentarians.
* The Greek influence in multicultural organizations such as SBS.
* General harassment of the Macedonian community in Australia by the Greek community.
The Census
The Association is concerned that the treatment of Aegean Macedonians in the Census grossly underestimates the number of total Macedonians in Australia, with profound political and social consequences.
Country code
The under-estimation is partly caused by the lack of an Australian Bureau of Statistics' country code for Macedonia.
This means that the true number of Macedonians in Australia is not known, as Macedonians from the Republic of Macedonia have previously been counted as Yugoslavians and Macedonians from Greece have been counted as Greeks. To this day, the ABS cannot say with any accuracy how many Macedonians there are in Australia. Nor can it say how many Aegean Macedonians there are.
In addition, the lack of a country code denies Aegean Macedonians and Macedonians from the Republic of Macedonia of the human right to be classified under the nationality with which they self identify.
Birthplace questions
A second reason for the under-estimation lies with the questions on Birthplace and Birthplace of Parents. One's country of birth does not necessarily indicate one's ethnic origin and identity, and this is the case with the Aegean Macedonians.
Many of the Association's members were born in Macedonia but in a region that has since become a part of Greece. Nonetheless, their ethnic identity is Macedonian, not Greek, and they deeply resent the fact that if they answer the Birthplace question they will be classified as Greek.
Likewise, first and second generation Australians of Aegean Macedonian background resent the fact that if they answer the Birthplace of Parents question they will be identified as Greek rather than Macedonian origin.
The lack of a country code for Macedonia and the lack of a method for distinguishing Aegean Macedonians from Greeks in previous Censuses has had, and continues to have, devastating political consequences for Aegean Macedonians in Australia. The effect is to increase the apparent number of Greeks in Australia and reduce the apparent number of Macedonians in Australia. This has allowed the Greek lobby in Australia to use past Census figures indicating a large Greek population and a smaller Macedonian population to exert political influence over Australia's federal parliamentarians.
This influence has often been to the detriment of the Macedonian and Aegean Macedonian communities in this country.
Although the Macedonian community is one of the largest in Australia, the lack of credible ABS data means it is unable to prove its size, with a consequent loss of political and social influence.
The consequences have included:
* The dissemination of inaccurate Greek and Macedonian population figures for Australia.
* The fact that the Australian Bureau of Statistics has yet to classify the Republic of Macedonia as a separate country with its own country code.
* The delay of recognition of the Republic of Macedonia by the Australian government. The Greek government's foreign policy on this issue has been vigorously adopted by the Greek community in Australia, and has lead to the Australian government adopting a policy on the issue consistent with Greek government policy.
* The over provision of Greek language and other ethnic services and the under provision of Macedonian language and other services.
* Under-representation of Macedonians in the area of broadcasting time on SBS television. An examination of SBS annual reports over the past five years shows that the station broadcasts around 160 hours per year of Greek language programs compared with 2 and three quarter hours per year of Macedonian language programs. Such a discrepancy would be unbelievable, were it not happening year after year.
The Aegean Macedonian community of Australia would like to see an investigation of SBS. The enquiry should focus on the SBS staff and their ethnic backgrounds to determine if any groups are disproportionately represented. This is necessary if the human rights of groups oppressed outside of Australia are to be protected inside Australia.
* There are many other examples that illustrate the suppression of Macedonian identity in Australia.
In 1992, for example, the participants in the Macedonian float in the Moomba festival were asked by the promoters, after Greek lobbying, not the use the name Macedonia on their float. The organizers later admitted that members of the Greek community had threatened the Macedonians with violence. Most Macedonians living in Melbourne are from Aegean Macedonia.
Another example is the existence of the Pan Macedonian Association of Victoria, a Greek organization that claims there is no Macedonian minority in Greece. This organization has on occasion made this claim on SBS television.
* The requirement that imported foodstuffs from the Republic of Macedonia have stickers placed on each item to cover the "Product of Macedonia" labels.
* Inclusion by Telecom of the Republic of Macedonia under the heading of Yugoslavia although Macedonia has been independent since 1991 and every other country of former Yugoslavia is listed under its own heading.
* There are many other examples.
The Association believes that Aegean Macedonians in Australia should have the human right to identify themselves by their own self perceived nationality, and not by the constrictions of a Census form.
The Association has proposed to the Australian Bureau of Statistics that the 1996 Census should contain a method for allowing Aegean Macedonians to identify as Macedonian in origin and thus be distinguished from Greeks.
Our suggestion is that the Place of Birth question be followed with a supplementary question along the lines of "If your ethnic origin is different from your country of birth, please state your ethnic origin." This approach has several advantages over a general ancestry question as only a proportion of people will need to answer it, streamlining processing time and costs as well as improving accuracy.
Aegean Macedonians can then distinguish themselves from Greeks, Kurds can distinguish themselves from Turks, Basques can distinguish themselves from Spaniards and the French, Palestinians can distinguish themselves from Israelis, East Timorese can distinguish themselves from Indonesians, Tibetans can distinguish themselves from Chinese and so on. Surely this is fairer as well as more accurate.
This right is particularly important for all of these groups. It is an intolerable degradation for a conquered people to be unwillingly counted among their oppressors and thereby add to their oppressor's political power.
Yet it is an unrecognized fact of Australian life that the first wave of Macedonian immigrants from Greece during the 1920s were political refugees and economic refugees fleeing a deliberately undeveloped economy.
A second period of intense repression during and after the Greek Civil War of 1946-49 saw another wave of immigrants to Australia from Aegean Macedonia.
It is a humiliating degradation for these people to be forced to put Greece as their country of birth in the knowledge that they will be counted as Greeks and will add to the power of a Greek lobby that has worked so assiduously against the interests of the Aegean Macedonians.
It is within the power of the Australian Government to rectify this appalling situation.
The Association requests the Australian government to implement all of the above mentioned recommendations.
End
The Aegean Macedonian Association of Australia is pleased to participate in this important Australian human rights initiative, and trusts that this submission will clarify the position of Aegean Macedonians in Greece and Australia.
Yours faithfully
The Committee
Aegean Macedonian Association of Australia
Enclosures:
Appendix 1: Freedom of Expression: the Case of Hristos Sideropoulos and Tasos Boulis:
* Hansard extract: speech in the Australian Senate by Senator Sid Spindler.
* The Economist: Greece and Macedonia: Do Not Disagree, an article, August 14, 1993.
* Helsinki Watch report: Greece: Free Speech on Trial: Government Stifles Debate on Macedonia, July 1993.
* Amnesty International: Section on Greece in Amnesty International Annual Report 1993.
* Amnesty International: Worldwatch article: Greece: Government Critics Face Prison, June 1993.
* Amnesty International: Greece: Violations of the right to freedom of expression. London, November 1992.
* Translation of the Summons for the Arrest of Hristos Sideropoulos and Tasos Boulis.
* Four newspaper articles.
* Section on Greece from Amnesty International 1993 Annual Report.
Appendix 2: The Case of Archimandrite Nikodemos Tsarknias:
* Statement by the Archimandrite at the October 1993 CSCE Implementation Meeting on Human Dimension Issues.
* Press release for function organized in Sydney in February 1993.
* Statement by Archimandrite Nikodemos Tsarknias on his sacking and derobing by the Greek Orthodox Church.
* Translation of Writ of Summons for Archimandrite Nikodemos and Photios Tzelepis.
* Translation of a Greek newspaper article containing a "Top Secret" Information Bulletin from the Greek Secret Service.
* Four newspaper articles.
Appendix 3: The Case of Michael Papadakis:
* Amnesty International: Greece: Violations of the right to freedom of expression: further cases of concern. London, January 1993.
Appendix 4: The Case of the Macedonian "child refugees":
* Article.
* Common Decision of the Ministers of Internal Affairs and Public Security
* Application form to enter Greece from Macedonia
* Memorandum to Greek prime minister
* Letter from Greek Department of Citizenship refusing application for return of citizenship
* Information in connection with the demands for property and other rights realization of the Yugoslav citizens in the Republic of Greece.
* Declaration by Australian citizens and residents who were child refugees
Appendix 5: The Situation of the Macedonians in Greece
* Manifest For Macedonian Human Rights, by the Movement for Human and national Rights for the Macedonians of Aegean Macedonia. Salonica, 1984.
* Open letter to elected representatives from Region Pelas
* Title page of confidential report from European Community regarding Greek application for funding to resettle Greeks in Aegean Macedonia.
* Is the CSCE Really Serious About Human Rights In Europe?, by Macedonian Human Rights Movement, Europe, Canada, Australia and USA.
* "The Conspiracy Against Macedonia", a report by the Office of Security, Greek Ministry of Public Order, 1982.
* The Real Macedonians, Chapter 13, Denial of Human Rights: Macedonian Minorities, by Dr John Shea. Newcastle, Australia, 1992.
* Photograph from The Terror In Aegean Macedonia Under Greek Occupation, by the Macedonian Cultural and Educational Society of Australia, Perth, 1980.
* Map of Greece showing settlement of Greeks from Turkey in Aegean Macedonia during the 1920s.
* Two translations from the Greek newspaper Stohos
* Extract from Exiles in the Aegean by Australian author Bert Birtles, published 1938.
* Full Text of (president of Macedonia) Gligorov's Letter to United Nations (see section 8).
* Letter from European Bureau of Lesser Used Languages and article titled Multilingualism in Greece from Contact Bulletin
* Newspaper article: An Act of Discrimination
* Various newspaper and magazine articles:
Freedom fragile in Macedonia.
Extract from The Balkan Dance of Death, Sydney Morning Herald, December 5, 1992.
OSE five on trial in Greece.
Slav search for identity stirs historic passions.
Letters to The Economist and The Independent. First congress of ethnic Macedonians in Greece.
Aegean Macedonians want to take part in negotiations.
Second meeting between Macedonian and Greek intellectuals.
Greece: Balkanised. The Economist, April 18, 1993.
The New Bully of the Balkans, The Spectator, August 15, 1992.
Letter, Stamp on Greece, in response to The New Bully of the Balkans.
History's cauldron, The Atlantic Monthly, June 1991.
Exodus from Bosnia: a repeat of the exodus from Aegean Macedonia.
Editorial: Macedonia is Macedonian.
Setting the scene for the third Balkan War.
What's in a name? For Greeks a great deal.
Greek dinosaurs wallowing in deep trouble.
Appendix 6: The Situation in Australia:
* The Sunday Times article: Perth Group In Border Block, July 17, 1988.
* Letter to newspaper by Greek ambassador to Australia denying the existence of a Macedonian minority in Greece.
* Letter from the Greek Central Committee of the ALP Victoria to all Victorian Labor federal parliamentarians and all state Labor parliamentarians.
* Various newspaper articles:
Moomba Macedonians threatened, says adviser.
Macedonians angry over pressure on Moomba float.
BHP worker 'harassed' over badge.
Macedonians protest.
Tensions deepen on Macedonia.
Advertisement placed by the Macedonian Community of Victoria.
Appendix 7: (in back flap):
* What Europe Has Forgotten: The Struggle Of The Aegean Macedonians, A Report by the Association of Macedonians in Poland. Pollitecon Publications, Sydney, 1992.
* Human Rights Abuses Against Macedonians In Greece, a report by the Aegean Macedonian Association of Australia, July 1993.
* Paper: The Role Of The Greek Communities In The Formulation Of Australian Foreign Policy: With Particular Reference To Cyprus; by Andrew Theophanous and Michalis Michael, May 1990.
NOTE: The above mentioned supporting documents are with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Human Rights Sub-Committee in Canberra
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The Ancient and Modern Macedonians are Related, says Author
By Victor Bivell
2 April 2004
printable version
Ladies and gentlemen, firstly I'd like to thank everyone for being here tonight, and I'd particularly like to thank Dushan Ristevski and the Grigor Prlichev Literary Association for the opportunity to launch this very interesting book, The Descendants of Alexander The Great of Macedon, by Alexander Donski. I'd like to speak for a few minutes in Macedonian and then for a few minutes in English. I hope that everyone here as well as the Macedonian people in general will have a good discussion about the book, the many ideas it covers, both historical and modern, and the political implications of the book for Macedonians everywhere.
It is not possible to say everything I'd like to say about this book in a few minutes so let me pick a few key points.
The Descendants of Alexander the Great of Macedonia is an important book because it starts to address some of the key questions that all Macedonians would like to know - are we descended from the ancient Macedonians, are there real links between the ancient Macedonians and the modern Macedonians, what are those links, and how strong are they?
And I think it is also important that the author, the person asking the questions and looking for the answers, is himself a Macedonian. For hundreds of years we have had other people telling us who we are, some friendly, most unfriendly. Finally, with this book, Macedonians can start to work out these questions for ourselves and to make up our own mind.
Mr Donski strongly believes that the modern Macedonians are descended from the ancient Macedonians, not purely but mostly, and also that many elements of the culture of the ancient Macedonians are alive today in the culture of the modern Macedonians.
In this book he has assembled a very substantial amount of evidence from a wide variety of sources that supports this thesis. Much of the evidence is drawn from the customs and folklore of the ancient Macedonians and how these have survived to become part of the customs and folklore of the modern Macedonians. If we want to see the ancient Macedonians, we should look at ourselves, he says. The influence of the ancient Macedonians is with us here and now in our everyday lives - in our language, in our weddings ceremonies, in our funeral ceremonies, in the stories we tell our children, in our traditional clothing, our superstitions, our dances, our customs and rituals, and so on. Mr Donski says all these can be shown to have some influence from the ancients.
So not only do we have a Macedonian finally leading the investigation, but much of the source material and evidence is drawn from the Macedonian people themselves. This is an approach that many foreign investigators simply do not have the skill and knowledge to adopt, and one that others have pointedly never used.
The evidence itself is quite accessible to the public and to public scrutiny, and there are many independent experts who would be able to comment on the quality of the evidence that falls within their respective fields of research. My own impression is that, overall, the quality of the evidence seems very good.
Also important is that Mr Donski has assembled such a large amount of evidence. He does not base the book, and his thesis, on one or even a handful of points, but gives example after example after example, so many examples in fact that the sheer volume of material and evidence is quite impressive and becomes a factor in itself. Even if some of the evidence is refuted, there is enough material here that even if only a portion of it were corroborated or proven it would be enough to maintain the credibility of the thesis.
The history of the Macedonian people is a subject of longstanding dispute, particularly with the neighbours - the Greeks, Bulgarians, Albanians and Serbians, and also with eastern Slavists and some very pro-Greek western historians, so in many circles to claim that the modern Macedonians are related to the ancient Macedonians is not an everyday statement but is in fact a radical concept.
So this is also a challenging book. The book challenges the version of the history of the Macedonian people as it was presented by the pro-Serbian and later pro-Communist and pro-Slavic governments of Vardar Macedonia. Mr Donski argues that during the Serbian and the Socialist eras, the history and influence of the ancient Macedonians was deliberately ignored or significantly understated, and certainly never explored. It is only with the independence of the Republic of Macedonia in 1991 that the question of the origin of the modern Macedonians could begin to be addressed openly by Macedonians.
Mr Donski also challenges the view that the modern Macedonians are completely unrelated to the ancient Macedonians and that they are purely descended from the "Slav" invaders of the sixth century. This view is most prominent among the modern Greeks, Bulgarians and Slavists for whom it is politically convenient. Mr Donski argues that the evidence for this view is unconvincing and that those who propagate it fail to give the full story, for example that Greece was also invaded by the same Slavs, and that the Byzantine empire removed a significant number of these Slavic people, allowing the indigenous population to remain dominant.
Mr Donski's attack on the theory of descent from the Slav invaders is in fact quite strong. Among other points he asks, why is Macedonian folklore rich with material that can be sourced from the ancient Macedonians but is lacking in similar material about the supposed homeland of the Slavs somewhere "beyond the Carpathian Mountains"?
Mr Donski also challenges another mainstream western belief - that so called "Greek mythology" is Greek. He argues that much of it is sourced from non-Greek writers and can be traced to other countries. "Mediterranean mythology" or "ancient mythology" as he prefers to call it, was an international phenomena to which many countries and cultures contributed, including the Phoenicians, the Egyptians, the Abyssinians, the Persians, the Romans, the Jews, the Anatolians, the Thracians, the Ethiopians, and, among them, the Macedonians. The idea that the ancient Greeks borrowed or adopted or simply took over a lot of other people's ideas is not new, but Mr Donski adds his voice to what is a serious challenge to a longstanding idea that has served the Greeks well politically to the detriment of other peoples including the Macedonians.
To conclude, let me say why this is a good book. The Macedonian people have as much right as any other people to posit a hypothesis about themselves: in this case that the modern Macedonians are related to the ancient Macedonians. The real issue is the integrity and the honesty with which the evidence is identified, assembled and tested. I'm sure most Macedonians feel, as I do, that many Greeks do not approach their own hypotheses, particularly about the ancient Macedonians, in an honest and fair way. They look for the supporting evidence but ignore or misrepresent the contrary evidence. Such an approach is not self discovery, nor is it history. Simply it is either propaganda or self-delusion.
On the integrity scale I think Mr Donski does very well. He acknowledges the opposing arguments and their sources, and he presents his own arguments in a straightforward way and without the impression of guile. Certainly he is enthusiastic for the Macedonian cause, but this is tempered with wide research and his extraordinary knowledge of Macedonian folklore.
The Descendants of Alexander The Great of Macedon is an exciting book. It opens up new areas for research and I suspect it will be the beginning of a whole series of similar books. For me, one of the most exciting parts of the book is on the cover where it says "Part One - Folklore Elements". I believe the author is working on a Part Two and possibly a Part Three, while there are many other Macedonian writers capable of producing Part Four and Part Five and so on.
If I can finish with this quote: "Part of the Macedonian public seems to expect someone from outside to announce to them who the Macedonians are: yet it should be the opposite. Macedonians are the ones who should announce to the world details about their ethnic cultural roots."
With this book Macedonians can start to do that.
New Book
A Girl From Neret by Lefa Ognenova-Michova and Kathleen Mitsou-Lazaridis. Childhood in an old Macedonian village, and a child’s view of war... more »
Macedonian Spark
Reprints of Makedonska Iskra (Macedonian Spark), the first Macedonian newspaper in Australia - 1946 to 1957... »
New Article
A Life in Macedonian Affairs - Interview with Mick Veloskey ... more »
Life in Aegean Macedonia
Original articles and essays on Aegean Macedonia, its politics, culture, history and diaspora... more »
Macedonian Communities
Profiles and information on Macedonian communities around the world... more »
Reprints
Articles and reports on Macedonian human rights reprinted from other sources... more »
Macedonian Essays
Articles and essays on Macedonian themes by the publisher of Pollitecon Publications... more »
Order Form
Order any of our books here ... more »
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How to submit an article or manuscript... more »
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Speech for Book Launch of A Girl From Neret
By Victor Bivell
printable version
Sunday, 25 March 2007
A Message From the Publisher
Guests, ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for taking the time to come here today to help launch this new book, A Girl From Neret, by Lefa and Kathy. I wish I could be there to thank you but Sydney is a long way away, and if all goes well I do hope to be in Perth for the New Year.
A Girl From Neret is the eighth Macedonian book published by Pollitecon Publications. While I am proud of all of them, I am particularly proud of this book because my own family, both my mother and my father, come from Neret, and because it is the first book about our village.
I remember many years ago sitting in a park in Sydney thinking that although up until then I had read several thousand books, I had never read any book, indeed nothing at all, about the village where my mother and father came from. This realization shocked me. I started to look for books and any written material about our village, but I could not find anything, in English or Macedonian.
I realized that while many people from other countries and other towns and villages around the world can pick up and read any number of books about their homeland, I could not. There was nothing about where my parents lived, what the village was like, how they lived as children and as adults, and what life was like.
Now, Lefa and Kathy have given us such a book. Now everyone from Neret and the surrounding villages can read about what life was like for our parents and grandparents who came from the village. For this I am very grateful, and I hope that everyone from our village can appreciate what they have done.
As we know, those cultures that write their own history are more likely to survive and prosper, while cultures that do not create quality cultural objects, such as books, can one day vanish without a trace.
Lefa and Kathy's book is such a high quality cultural object. It is a valuable thing that reinforces our identity and culture, and can make up proud to be Macedonian, proud of our history and who we are.
We should also thank Lefa for her bravery in telling her story. Because life in the village was not easy. The war period was hard on every one including the children. There were many child refugees from Neret, and what Lefa experienced and how she overcame those difficulties are well told in this book.
So thank you Lefa for telling us your story and a little bit about the people and history of our village. And congratulations to Lefa and Kathy for writing this excellent book. I am confident it will do very well and make us all proud.
Best Wishes
Victor Bivell
Sydney
New Book
A Girl From Neret by Lefa Ognenova-Michova and Kathleen Mitsou-Lazaridis. Childhood in an old Macedonian village, and a child’s view of war... more »
Macedonian Spark
Reprints of Makedonska Iskra (Macedonian Spark), the first Macedonian newspaper in Australia - 1946 to 1957... »
New Article
A Life in Macedonian Affairs - Interview with Mick Veloskey ... more »
Life in Aegean Macedonia
Original articles and essays on Aegean Macedonia, its politics, culture, history and diaspora... more »
Macedonian Communities
Profiles and information on Macedonian communities around the world... more »
Reprints
Articles and reports on Macedonian human rights reprinted from other sources... more »
Macedonian Essays
Articles and essays on Macedonian themes by the publisher of Pollitecon Publications... more »
Order Form
Order any of our books here ... more »
Submit an Article
How to submit an article or manuscript... more »
Leave a comment:
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A Life in Macedonian Affairs – Interview with Mick Veloskey
Michael Veloskey was one of the first leaders of the Macedonian community in Australia . He has been active for over 60 years, and in that time has helped establish newspapers, churches, human rights groups and other community organizations. Now 82 years old, Mick Veloskey was interviewed by Pollitecon Publications editor, Victor Bivell.
printable version
Mick, when and where were you born and can you tell us about your parents and their life under the Ottoman Empire ?
I was born in 1924 in the village Gradche, Aegean Macedonia. My father, my mother, my grandparents from both sides and the rest of the families were born under the Ottoman occupation and they were badly suppressed and when the Ottoman Empire collapsed we thought that the people would have a bit more freedom and a bit more choice for a better life but unfortunately this did not happen.
My father left for Australia when I was about a year old. My grandparents, I remember, they used to put me on the knee and they used to say to me “Sinko” in Macedonian of course, “Nikogash nema da zaboravish sho nie sne Makedontsi. Nito Grtsi, nito Bulgari, nito Serbi, nito Albantsi.” [Little son, never forget that we are Macedonians. Not Greeks, not Bulgarians, not Serbians, not Albanians.] They were the words of my grandparents from both sides.
My mother, my grandparents from both sides, could not speak a word of Greek. The only language they spoke was Macedonian, and also Turkish during the Ottoman occupation.
During my youth... I can close my eyes now and picture the village the way it was, a small river dividing the upper and the lower village, and a hill to the west which is called Sveti Ilia and a little church up the top there and also a spring which was flowing out from the mountains. The water from that spring, summer and winter, was absolutely wonderful to drink and very very cool.
How strong was your parent's sense of their Macedonian identity?
My father, my mother and also the other relatives, every one of them, my uncle, everyone of them, felt that they were Macedonian but nothing else. Irrespective of what was taking place in the Balkans.
Can you tell us about your childhood in the village?
My childhood in the village was a very happy one because I had a lot of relatives and also young relatives who were my age and some a bit older. We had a wonderful time. At the age of six or going towards six and a half/ seven, we were forced to go to Greek school. We were not allowed to speak anything but Greek. If you were heard speaking Macedonian by the police or Korofilatsi as they called them in Macedonian, you were taken and punished. Even at the age of seven. As I grew older and older, I felt that our people were severely suppressed. They were not allowed to speak in Macedonian, sing in Macedonian or dance. The church services which were previously in Macedonian were forbidden. They were only allowed to have the sermons in Greek, in no other language. Even if people spoke to the animals in Macedonian they were taken to court and they were fined heavily and in some cases they were even gaoled.
Things got worse and worse. My father was in Australia and we were in Macedonia. Life was beginning to get worse and worse because of the suppression that was carried out. At that particular time the prime minister of Greece was Venizelos. He put through legislation, draconian measures, which were anti-Macedonian. We thought he was bad but eventually he was replaced by Metaxas - who was a straight out fascist, he idolized Hitler, and he put through even worse legislation for the suppression of Macedonians.
How did your family make a living?
In those days, as I mentioned before, my father had come to Australia and my father used to send us some money so we were reasonably well off in comparison to the other villagers. We also had our plots of land which we could not work on but my uncles from both sides, they used to till the land and we used to get some of the products from it. So we lived reasonably well in comparison to the rest of the villagers.
Was Gradche a Macedonian village and what were the other villages nearby?
The villages nearby were Drenichevo which the Greeks changed the name to Kranohori; Chuka, they couldn't change it to anything else but to call it Chuka. Stensko, they couldn't name it, and they couldn't call it in Macedonian, so they changed the name from Stensko to Stena; and Tikveni, Tiolista, Papresko, Dumbeni, Kosenets, they are in the area of our village. During the Ottoman occupation our village was virtually a centre. 99.99 per cent of the people in the village were pro Macedonians and there's proof of that. During the years that went by, there were virtually no traitors in the village, so the villagers have lived a happy life.
How did the Ottomans treat your family?
Well, my grandparents and my mother and father, they said that during the Ottoman occupation they were actually better off than when Macedonia was divided into four parts. The Greek suppression was by far, by far, worse than the Ottoman suppression.
As far as you are aware was there ever a Macedonian school in the village?
As far as I am aware I believe that there was a Macedonian school in the village during the Ottoman occupation but after that this was forbidden by the Greeks.
But was it a school, or were there just teachers?
More or less teaching, yes, Macedonian teachings there.
But not a school building?
Not a school building as such. The Macedonian language was not prohibited by the Ottoman occupiers.
Was there a Macedonian church in the village?
Yes, there was a Macedonian church. As a matter of fact there were four – one main church, Sveti Naoum, was in the village, and there were about three smaller ones in the hills: Sveti Bogorodica, Sveti Ilia, and Sveti Nikola, they were the other three.
And what happened to those churches?
Unfortunately the icons were taken away by the Greeks. My father and my grandparents used to tell me that there were a lot of icons with Macedonian writing on them. I don't know exactly what happened to them, but apparently the Greeks took them away and they replaced them with icons with Greek writing.
Were there Macedonian grave sites in the village?
Yes, there were quite a number of them as a matter of fact. Not in one spot but there was about two or three spots and the scriptures on most of them were in Macedonian writing but unfortunately they were destroyed or replaced forcefully by the Greek regimes.
You said that speaking Macedonian was prohibited under the Greek rule. What was your experience?
During 1935 just before coming to Australia I spoke to my mother in Macedonian because my mother could only speak Macedonian and Turkish. A Greek policeman heard me and he reported me. What actually happened I was reported by the policeman to the teacher, and the teacher to make an example of me in front of the whole school, in front of all the pupils, said to me “You spoke that forbidden Bulgaromanski ezik” and I said “No, that's not Bulgaromanski, this is Macedonian”, “Makedonski ezik”. And in that case she said “Put your hands out” and she gave me ten strokes on each hand very very forcefully, and I couldn't close my hands for at least two or three weeks, they were swollen from the caning. I refused to cry and that was the reason I believe why I got the ten canes in each hand instead of the normal three.
I was not the only one who was caned in the school, there were several others as well for the same reason. As you can see, there is no way that you could call this democracy or freedom and most of the people were unhappy of the situation that was taking place in the villages, not only in their village but in the villages around us as well.
Why did you leave the village?
My father was in Australia so he applied for us to come to Australia , and my mother, my sister and I came to Australia to join him. He was living in Perth .
As I said before, my father left for Australia in late 1924-25. He came to Australia to earn money so he was sending it back to the village. He came back in 1931 and with the savings from Australia he built a two-storey home which was for us and his brother, that's my uncle. The house is still standing in the village. My father came back to Australia after a year and soon after that we came to Australia . That was in 1935 with an Italian ship which was called Asqualino. At that particular time there was a bit of a revolt in Greece between the Veninzelos group and the Metaxas group and we are caught in the cross-fire when we were at Port Piraeus, that's not far from Athens . That was the time when I met Ilia Malko, with his family; not his father though, because his father was in Australia like my father.
Where did you live when you came to Australia and what was life like for the early Macedonian immigrants here?
We arrived in Perth and my father was living in Perth . He had a very small business and there were not many Macedonians at that particular time. Things were very tough because the depression was on and a small number of Macedonians were in a very difficult situation because unemployment was very high and money was very tight. But also there was quite a lot of racism at that particular time in Australia . Even when I went to school there was racism amongst the children and some of the teachers, unfortunately. I was very fortunate to have a teacher called Mr De Garras and also a lady teacher. I'll never forget her. She was a tall lady, Crawford was her name, her brother was a tennis player. She had pitch black hair, blue eyes and was a wonderful person. They had a special class at the school called “Highgate Hill” mainly for new arrivals like Macedonians, Italians, Serbs, Croatians, Greeks etc.
I went to school for three years and unfortunately my father passed away. So the burden was on my shoulders to look after my mother, who could not speak English and could not get a job anywhere, and my sister who is younger than me, to go to school. Things were very very tough.
Some of us, the younger Macedonians who felt like Macedonians decided that we should form an organization or an association. We started to do that in late 1939. In Perth there were Bugaro-Makedontsi Organizatsi, Serbo-Makedontsi Organizatsi, Grko-Makedontsi Organizatsi but there was no clear Macedonian organization. So when we formed the organization we called it “Edinstvo”. “Makedonsko Edinstvo”. So the organization, the first one in Australia of true Macedonian background, was Edinstvo, Perth 1939-40. The main participants in the group were: Ilia Malko, John Pizarcoff, Naum Sharin; Vasil Boscov; Todor Petrov, who is my wife's father; Boris Mano, Naum Mano, Lazo Mano. Kiro Angelkov came into the organization later on, Stoian Sarbinov, he used to be at Manjimup, he came into the organization later on. Naum Kalchunov, a staunch Macedonian supporter. Stoiche Stoichev, who eventually went to Melbourne. There are many others, but I cannot remember all the names, who contributed towards the Macedonian cause in Perth. The organization took root and started to organize the Macedonian community. We had several picnics and we had virtually every Macedonian at the picnics. We also organized social evenings where we had Macedonian oro [dance], or Kolo if you like, and also Australian dancing.
When and why did you become involved in Macedonian politics and community affairs?
Well, as I mentioned, right from my early childhood my parents and my grandparents from both sides said we are Macedonians and nothing else, we can't be anything else. When we were in Perth, as I said, they had all these other organizations and we were the only ones who were not grouped together. So we believed, and we did, form the Macedonian organization in Perth, which was the first in Australia. And the main reason was to get our people together, to cement the roots; although we became Australian citizens, that we were of Macedonian descent, and we would never forget that.
Can you tell us about the first meeting in Perth for the Makedonska Edinstvo?
A group of us in 1939, most of us under the age of 20, decided to form the Macedonian organization in Perth which we called Edinstvo. Edinstvo was formed by about eight of us. Eventually we decided to call a meeting and the meeting was held at Ilia Malko's father's coffee shop or boarding house at 242 William Street, Perth. We decided to call the meeting there and we expected probably about 30 people to turn up. And much to our surprise and pleasure there was only standing room at the meeting. That was the beginning. The atmosphere was electric, great enthusiasm and great expectations were expected. The committee was elected, four members were selected to work on the constitution. The next committee meeting was held within a week. A mass meeting was called and the name Edinstvo was unanimously adopted. Edinstvo was inseparable with Iskra, that's the Macedonian paper, which ignited the Macedonians to unite throughout Australia.
The slogan was Slobodna, Nezavisna , Ednokupna Makedonia [Free, Independent, United Macedonia]. Makedonia za Makedontsite [Macedonia for the Macedonians] as phrased by the late 19 th Century British prime minister Gladstone.
What do you think Edinstvo achieved?
Edinstvo was, I would say without hesitation, cemented the spreading of Macedonian organizations throughout Australia. So in my opinion it was the beginning of a true Macedonian movement in Australia, politically and also socially.
What other organizations were there?
Well as Edinstvo progressed and we got more and more of our people to join us, and virtually I would say that 99 per cent joined us. We formed a dancing group which was in Macedonian, and also in English; we also formed a Macedonian musical group which helped a lot with the Macedonian traditions regarding songs and dances; and a soccer team. And I believe that was one of the main reasons that the organization went ahead, although there were not many Macedonians in Perth at that particular time. But we were united.
Other groups formed in Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, Crabbs Creek and Queanbeyan in NSW, and others
During the Second World War you served in the Australian Air Force. Tell us your experiences?
During the Second World War many of the Macedonian younger people in Perth joined the services, Ilia Malko and I were I believe the first two to join the Australian Air Force. There were others who followed and quite a number of the Macedonians were also in the Army and also some were in the Working Force. Every Macedonian contributed towards the war effort to defeat Fascism and Nazism that was spreading its wings and causing a lot of problems. Of course later on, as you know, Japan joined the Axis forces and bombed Pearl Harbour etc and we were in a very serious situation.
I joined the Air Force in mid 1942 in Perth. I did three months basic training which was a toughening up course at Busselton. When that was over I did a short course in Perth then I was sent to Sydney to do a course on electronics. I was quartered at Bondi and did the course at the Ultimo Technical College which lasted several months. Having reasonably good results on the exams I was directed to do a higher course on high frequency radio in Melbourne. We were stationed at the Melbourne Exhibition Buildings at Fitzroy. The technical college was due west from there. I was there for several months also.
But let's have a look just what happened before I got to Sydney. When I reached Melbourne I asked to have leave for about ten days, it was during Macedonian Easter. I was looking for a Macedonian who used to live in Perth, his name was Stoiche Stoichev , and his family. Stoiche Stoichev was one of the most staunchest Macedonian supporters and a very close friend from Perth. I dropped off at the railway station in Melbourne and being a stranger to Melbourne I went straight to the police station. I walked in, and as soon as I walked in the sergeant at the reception there said “What can I do for you, blue orchid”, because normally they used to call the servicemen in the Air Force blue orchids because of the uniform. I said “I've come here looking for a friend of mine. He used to live in Perth.” And I gave him the name, Stoiche Stoichev. I said “A Macedonian.” He said “As you know, Melbourne is a city of over 2.5 million people. It's not an easy place to know who and where they are.” I said “Do you know of any Macedonians at all?” He said “Yes, we know of a Macedonian who's got a hamburger bar in Queen Street”. And that was the first time that I met Risto Altin. I said to the policeman “Well, look I'm a stranger, I don't know where this place is, how will I get there?” He looked at me, and he said “Being in the Air Force, we'll do something for you”. I said “What can you do for me?” he said “We'll take you there”. So they put me in a police car, myself and two policemen, and we went straight to Risto Altin's hamburger bar. When the police car stopped there and I got out and the police stood by. It must have been a shock to Risto Altin and his partner. When I walked in and I said to him “Dali ste vie Makedontsi?. Are you Macedonian?” he said “Yes”. And I said “Do you know a man called Stoiche Stoichev?” Risto Altin's eyes lit up and he said “Of course I know him,” he said. “He's a good Macedonian.” So I said to Risto “I'll thank the policemen who brought me here and I'll come back”. I thanked the two policemen who brought me there and I stayed with Risto Altin and I said to him “I want you to take me to Stoiche Stoichev”.
Eventually we went to Stoiche Stoichev. We hadn't seen each other for about four or five years. So I went back to the railway station with the intention of leaving but on second thoughts I thought we are close to the Macedonian Easter, maybe I should stay there. Risto Altin and Stoiche Stoichev came with me to the station and they implored me to stay there for the Macedonian Easter. So I decided to stay. I was invited to the Easter Vecherinka or gathering they had. It was in Fitzroy in Gertrude Street, first floor up, Only a very small hall, it was packed with Macedonians, young and old. Risto Altin and Stoiche Stoichev made a few short speeches and they insisted that I say something to the young people there and the old people. Being in uniform, it was more or less unbelievable that a Macedonian was in the Air Force. I got up and said a few words in Macedonian and also a few words in English and I asked the Macedonian people to stay united and we would achieve something. I stayed in Melbourne for about eight days. My leave time expired. I had to depart for Sydney but I enjoyed the evening and I will never forget the way I was received by the Macedonian people in Melbourne.
What happened then?
Actually, as I said, I was going all the way to Sydney. On completion of the course in Sydney I was transferred to Melbourne. On completing the course on high frequency radio, from Melbourne I was sent back to Perth on pre embarcation leave. I was home for only a week and from there went to Darwin, then a place called Batchelor , approximately 30 kilometres south of Darwin. Darwin had been bombed by the Japanese. Australia suffered a number of casualties but also quite a number of ships were sunk in the harbour. Batchelor was a very large base and the Japanese had tried to bomb Batchelor on a number of occasions but they couldn't locate it because of the low cloud or actually you could say perpetual fog. Once you got to about 10,000 feet up you cannot see the ground. Soon after that I was posted to Dutch Timor. The Japanese had surrendered and I was at Dutch Timor at the Panfooi Air Strip working on radio transmitters.
As the war had finished and virtually all servicemen were on their way home, I was put on a plane from Timor back to Darwin. I was in Darwin for about eight or nine days and from Darwin I came to Sydney with a ship called Menora, which was a cargo ship but it had been converted to a troop carrier with a couple of guns in front. I arrived in Sydney in April 1946. It was very cold. I felt very cold because of the tropical conditions we were at before. I stayed in Sydney for approximately a week. There were some Macedonians in Katoomba so I decided to see them. One of them became my future brother-in-law, by the name of Jim Bonakey. I came back to Sydney and then from Sydney went to Melbourne. I met Macedonians again in Melbourne. We had a few discussions regarding the organizations. Risto Altin was very enthusiastic about spreading the organizations throughout Australia. Stoiche Stoichev, Todor Petrov and many others. From there I went to Adelaide and I met former friends who used to live in Perth, Vasil Boscov and his brother. I asked them how would they feel to form a Macedonian organization in Adelaide and they said they were willing to do it and soon after they formed the branch in Adelaide.
So, back to Perth. As soon as I got back to Perth I participated in the activities of the Macedonian group Edinstvo. Soon we decided to have a radio session and after some discussion etc I was elected to be the speaker on the radio. It was a Labor station. The first session was on a Wednesday from quarter past seven till half past seven. I spoke in English on the Macedonian question - about the Macedonians in the Balkans and about the Macedonians in Australia. This caused havoc amongst the Greeks - they got a shock. And in Perth most of the Greeks came from one particular area, an Island called Castelorizo. They protested to the radio station and they even threatened us for putting on these radio sessions. These radio speeches continued for several weeks and eventually we decided that we'd have a paper as well. So Makedonska Iskra was born.
Why was Makedonska Iskra launched and what did it achieve?
Well, in those days the only paper that the Macedonians received was an American paper and I think it was Tribuna. And it was a pro Bulgarian paper. The Greeks had their own paper there, the Serbs had their own paper there, the Croats had their own paper there, the Italians had their own paper there, and we were the only ones without a paper or a journal of any kind to inform our people of what was going on. When Makedonska Iskra was published the first time, the people received it with great enthusiasm. Although it was not professionally done because we had never published a paper before, the people were thrilled. We posted a number of copies to Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, Canberra and, as a matter of fact, we posted some copies overseas as well. To places like Skopje and other countries: Canada, United States of America. It was the beginning of the expansion of the Macedonians in Australia and Makedonska Iskra played a vital part to awaken the people of Macedonian origin in Australia.
Who was behind the publication of the newspaper?
Behind the publication was Ilia Malko, Stoian Sarbinov, Kiro Angelkov, Naum Sharin and myself. The first issue was published in Macedonian and also in English. And as I said it was very successful and the people accepted it enthusiastically.
Also with the Macedonian Spark or Makedonska Iskra as we called it, it was very important to have it published in Australia, because as events took place there was no other way to inform the Macedonians in say Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, wherever they were. By publishing the paper, which was eagerly received and was passed from person to person so they could read and see what was happening. So it played a vital role to get our community together. Soon after that we launched a special campaign to get money to build a hospital in the Republic of Macedonia. In a very short time we managed to open branches throughout Australia. As a matter of fact within nine months we had 53 branches in Australia.
Were they Edinstvo branches?
No. Edinstvo was the original one and we gradually spread out.
But what sort of branches were they?
Actually we also formed an organization called Macedonian Australian People's League. And that was the main body or central body. Edinstvo was the body in Perth. When we formed this other organization, it spread throughout Australia and the branches were actually members of this organization, Makedono Avstraliski Naroden Sojuz.
So when we decided to collect this money for the hospital, a committee was formed in Perth and also committees were formed in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney etc. In a very very short time we managed to collect £ 11,500. In those days, I'm talking about 1947, in Perth with eleven and a half thousand pounds you could have bought at least 20 three bedroom homes. So you can see, it's not the amount of money but the value. Our people were so enthusiastic. Although they were not financially well off, but they gave whatever they could. The money was collected and eventually sent to Skopje. We had receipts from the Red Cross. The way it was sent, also from the banks, and also acknowledged by the government of Skopje. So this is documented and I believe that the money was used together with the money that was sent from Canada and the United States of America and other places to build a wing at the Skopje Hospital.
Makedonska Iskra was published just after the start of the Greek Civil War and the simultaneous Macedonian War of Independence in Aegean Macedonia. How strong was the Macedonian desire for freedom?
The Macedonian desire for freedom was terrific, not only in one part of Macedonia but the total part of Macedonia - because as you know Macedonia was divided into four parts under Greeks, Bulgarians, Serbs and part of it under Albania - so we were thrilled that we thought that this war could be won, with the communists and the other groups that were fighting in the civil war, and we were promised complete freedom. But unfortunately, in my opinion, I believe that some of the communists in Greece, in Bulgaria and even the Serbs were not honest enough and did not carry out the promises that they promised the Macedonian people. But the spirit of the Macedonian people in Australia was extremely high and I believe that the spirit in Macedonia itself was very high - hoping that at last we'll have a free Macedonia to be friends with all our neighbours. None of the Macedonian people wanted to be enemies with either Bulgarians, or the Greeks or the Serbs or the Albanians.
How did the Macedonians in Greece divide in terms of those who fought for an independent Macedonia, those who fought for communism, and those who did not fight?
I would say that the majority of the Macedonians, in Aegean Macedonia especially, all believed and fought for an independent Macedonia. I would say that at least 80-90 per cent of the people thought that way and believed that way and fought for this particular reason. The people who didn't fight probably were too old or didn't understand what was going on and they took no action. Unfortunately the greatest losses during that particular time were in Aegean Macedonia and the areas which suffered the most would be Kostursko okolia and Lerinska okolia. Many of the villages especially in the Kosturska okolia were devastated. Whole villages were either burnt by incendiary bombs, napalm bombs, that the children and the inhabitants had to flee the villages to save their lives. To me it's a tragedy that the world does not recognize or want to recognize; it's very sad.
Were the Greek communists sincere in their promise of an autonomous Macedonia within Greece or did they trick and betray the Macedonians?
I believe that's a very tricky question to answer accurately, but I do honestly believe that some of the true communists in Greece were sincere when they said they would give the Macedonians autonomy under Greece, but there were the others who were traitors, they used the Macedonians to do their hard battles and that's where the losses were very great and our people suffered heavily and paid the penalty for trusting people who they shouldn't have trusted. As you know, the war carried on and as I said before many many Macedonian villages were completely obliterated by Napalm bombs and also other bombings as well. The villagers had to flee, even today if you go to these areas of Kosturska okolia and Lerinska okolia, many of the villages are completely deserted.
You were also one of the founders of the Macedonian Australian Ex-Servicemen's League. When did this form and what did it achieve?
The Macedonian Australian Ex-Servicemen's League was formed in late 1947 and the founders were Ilia Malko, myself, and several others. It was a membership throughout Australia of Macedonians who were in the services. The main aim of that was to keep in touch and to help with any other work that was necessary. It was a voice that could be heard and it was a voice that did carry some weight when speaking to government officials. The Macedonian Australian Ex-Servicemen's League is still active. It was active been 1999 and 2003 when we took action against a Greek paper in Sydney which printed some nasty material which was provocative, which was not true and we took them to the Anti-Discrimination Board and Administrative Decisions Tribunal. We had reasonable success there, although we did not win the case, but this showed that we were prepared to fight for the rights of the Macedonians.
In December 1947 you and your family left for an 11 month visit to the Republic of Macedonia. What was your purpose and what were your experiences there?
As I mentioned before, the Macedonian nationalistic spirit was afire and I was one of them as well and also many other Macedonians. So in 1947, in December, my family and I returned to Macedonia on the ship Partizanka. There were 57 Macedonians aboard. 50 were Macedonians from Egejska (Aegean) Macedonia, Kosturska okolia and Lerinska okolia.
The purpose was to help with the reconstruction of Macedonia, being trained technically in a position to help with radio, and it was one of the main reasons why I and the family went to Macedonia, in Skopje. We arrived there January 1948. It was winter time. We landed in Dubrovnik which is a tourist resort as most people know in the Adriatic Sea, Croatian territory. Dubrovnik had been devastated during the war but the people received us enthusiastically. We spent several days there. A delegation from Skopje came and met us and soon we boarded a train and we arrived in Skopje. I'll never forget it. It was winter, cold, but no snow. As we got off the train we had Macedonian flags. It was pouring rain and we marched from the railway station through the heart of Skopje to the Roman bridge, on the river Vardar. The streets were absolutely choc-a-bloc with people from Skopje receiving us. The rain didn't seem to worry them and it didn't seem to worry us; the spirit was so high, I'll never forget it. As I said, we marched with the Macedonian flag all the way from the railway station in pouring rain to the Roman bridge across the Vardar.
How was the formation of the Republic of Macedonia seen by the Macedonians in Australia?
Most Macedonians including myself, thought now this is the beginning, once we have a republic, which should be autonomous or free, then the push should come from there for the rest of Macedonia to be united. But unfortunately that did not eventuate and we feel betrayed, we feel let down by all the Balkan countries that promised us so much and gave the Macedonian people very little.
What were your experiences in Skopje?
After about two or three weeks being in Skopje I was allocated a job with a radio station in Skopje. The radio studio was in the heart of Skopje and the transmission station was about 10 kilometres outside Skopje. This transmitter was the most powerful and the best in the Balkans including Belgrade, Athens and Sofia and any other. It was used to transmit news throughout the Balkan areas. I enjoyed working in the radio station and also the radio studio. The group working there were terrific. One of the young boys, Blagoi Pekevski, was only about 20. His brother was a Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture in Skopje. He was a very proud young boy and a very good Macedonian. We met quite a number of people. There was one particular person I've got to mention who was from Canada. Her name was Mary Vasilova. She was a union delegate in Canada to the restaurant industry. She was a very bright young girl. We had quite a number of sessions talking about the Macedonian question. Also what we thought should happen to the Macedonians in Aegean Macedonia. She departed for Canada about six months later. I did not keep in touch with her and I don't know to this day whether this young lady is still alive or not.
During my work in Skopje, when I was at the transmitting station, if I worked for three consecutive days it was classed as nine days, because you worked from eight o'clock in the morning till eight o'clock the next day – it was classed as three shifts although we did not work all the time, we had to have some sleep. That gave me the opportunity to travel throughout Macedonia and also through part of Serbia and Croatia. I went to Bitola and I had a look at the city or town of Bitola and also met some of the people there. In those days it was virtually impossible to travel freely because of the civil war. You had to have a special pass. I traveled with a British passport because in those days we had no Australian passports. I also went to a place called Bulkez, which is virtually on the border of Romania, Hungary and Serbia. At this particular place there were Greek and Macedonian partisans recovering from their wounds. It was virtually like a country within a country. They had their own money, they had their own hospitals, they had their own little factories and they also had schools there. There were quite a large number of young children, Macedonians and some Greeks as well. I met the committee there who welcomed me warmly. I stayed there for four days and then I came back to Skopje.
For several weeks you visited Aegean Macedonia, what were your experiences?
The experiences were devastating. I went down and the civil war was still in progress. I wanted to see my birthplace again, and I went down accompanied by experienced partisans who were Vera Baleva and Mihail Kermejidata , also Pascal Mitrovski from Chuka. They took me across the border. I accompanied them and eventually we reached our village but I was not able to get into the village. But I got as far as Sveti Ilia – which I mentioned in the earlier discussion, our little church was still there. From there I could virtually see with binoculars the village, people etc and also there were quite a few troops, Greek troops there, and they also had cannons there. It was very dangerous for me to venture into the village. Then we went to several other villages like Chuka and a few others as well and to my dismay I could see that the devastation amongst the Macedonian villages was very great. People had left the villages, children, elderly people, and they were crossing the border towards Albania, towards the Republic of Macedonia, and very few apparently, into Bulgaria.
Now I only stayed in Aegean Macedonia for several days, not weeks, and eventually we got back. When I got back to Skopje I was able to get back to the job that I had. I met many of the young boys and girls who were going through Macedonia to the other republics like Czechoslovakia, Romania, even as far as Russia. They were the young children that were forced to flee their villages in the towns because of the terror and bombings etc.
That's the detsa begaltsi [child refugees]?
Yes, as we call it in Macedonian, detsa begaltsi, because I don't call it detsa begalstsi, I call it Detsa- forced -to-flee-their-homes-because-of-the-terrible-devastation. This was a tragedy to see hundreds and hundreds of young people, virtually barefooted young children, elderly people, virtually in rags and tatters fleeing their homeland. It was a devastating experience for me, I cried.
Many of these people, youngsters and elderly people, you could call them refugees if you like, initially they were put into the Skopje stadium, the sports ground you could say. They were housed there for two or three nights. I visited them regularly. Then from there they were taken to a place called Matka. Matka is an area about 30 or 40 kilometres away from Skopje. It's a hydro centre, they have hydro electricity produced there, but there's also a number of monasteries there. So these people, these children and these elderly people in rags and tatters that needed clothing, also fumigating because they were full of lice, they were taken to these monasteries usually for about eight or ten days. They were fumigated, they were fed well, they were clothed and eventually they were put on their way to go to these other republics, which accepted them as refugees. It was heartbreaking to see all these young people go that way, without parents some of them, without a mother or a father. That's shocking.
Soon after you decided to return to Australia. What did you do when you returned to Perth?
We came back with the same ship that we came to Macedonia, with the Partizanka, but this time it was not a happy trip like the one when we were going there. There was a small number of people that were on the Partizanka and I was one of them with my family. From there we went to Malta and from Malta to Cyprus and from Cyprus to Australia. We stopped in Perth. My mother and my sister came to Sydney but I stopped in Perth because the people wanted me to tell them all about the situation in Macedonia. So a meeting was arranged in Perth for me. There were a large number of Macedonian people came to hear and to hear the truth about the situation in Macedonia. I also went to Manjimup. Another meeting was held there, the people were very enthusiastic to hear what was going on. Back to Perth for another meeting and from there to Kalgoorlie where a meeting was held and I also gave them the information of what was transpiring in the Republic of Macedonia and also of the tragedy of the civil war. From there I went to Adelaide, also a meeting in Adelaide. From there to Melbourne and eventually I came to Sydney where I have settled since then, since 1949. I've been active since returning from Macedonia in the Macedonian community and I am still active at my old age.
You helped build the first Macedonian church in Sydney at Rosebery and later also at Cabramatta. What was your role and how did the project develop?
Actually in Sydney we didn't have a Macedonian church and most of our people were going to weddings or christenings in Serbian, Russian or Greek churches because they were Orthodox. So we thought it was about time that the Macedonians in Sydney had their own church. In Melbourne a Macedonian church was already established. So we decided to build a church where it would be very central for the Macedonian community. We had a couple of meetings and in one of those meetings I was elected to be the president of the group with the plan to find a place and build a church for the Macedonians in Sydney. Before we built the church, there was a priest whose name was Mihail Gogov , he was also very active and participated with us. As a matter of fact he officiated in several sermons in Macedonian in the Catholic church and also a Church of England church in George Street. The people flocked to these sermons and we were thrilled with the response, so we decided it was definitely time to build a church in Sydney and we found a suitable place, which was at Rosebery. It was a Church of England church. The church was neglected because the parishioners from there had departed. So we got in touch with the Archbishop of the Church of England, his name was Gough. He was a fantastic person. Normally when you made an appointment to see the Bishop it was 10 to 15 minutes but our delegation, which included one of our bishops and Mihail Gogov and myself. We spent over one and a half hours with the Archbishop. He was exceptionally versed with the Macedonian history. As a matter of fact he knew more about the Macedonian uprising of Ilinden than I did; that was a surprise for me. He was a fantastic bloke, I'll never forget him. He helped us to negotiate to buy the church at Rosebery. As I said, it was only a very small church but in a very nice position with a park in front and a park behind with a reasonable amount of parking which helped us a lot.
When we called a meeting to ask the people whether they agreed to buy the church property there or not, the response was terrific. The people unanimously decided that we should buy it and we called another meeting later on to collect the money. But in the meantime a group of two of us was elected to go and see the property managers of the Church of England in Sydney. We did that, it was only a verbal agreement or a contract you could say, the amount was just over $30,000, which was a very very good price for the property that we intended to build a new Macedonian church.
There were no papers drawn, no contract drawn, just a verbal [agreement] and handshake to buy the property. The people who were very anti Macedonian - I'm not going to name any groups - we heard that they approached the Church of England property managers and offered them ten times more than the money we paid in order to stop us from having a Macedonian church. And what we did hear was this, that the people who managed the property of Church of England told them no money would change the contract; they would stick by their word because the Macedonians needed their church in Sydney.
So, I was the first president elected by the people and we managed to get a certain amount of money and we borrowed a small amount of money from the bank. We bought the church and the people flocked to the church. There'd be big crowds of Macedonians going every Sunday. Weddings and christenings were performed. In a very short time we saved enough money to plan for the new church which is in the Rosebery property now. The cost was quite substantial. We tried to get different people such as architects to help us with the project and eventually, I must say this, it was a Serbian architect who gave us the best price to supervise the building of the church. Most of the other people including some Macedonians, what they asked was far too high. He supervised, planned and also attended every week, at least once, to supervise with the building. He only asked for $4,000, that was virtually a gift. So the church was built and within a short time we also had enough money to put a deposit and buy the property at Cabramatta. And eventually the property at Cabramatta was built and we had another church at Cabramatta.
When the foundation stone was laid for Rosebery we had invited quite a number of prominent people in Sydney including government people, Premier of NSW, Neville Wran; Willis, the opposition leader of the Liberal Party; former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, and we also invited other members from the federal parliament and they attended. But also we invited other religious bodies. A Catholic priest was there, and a Syrian priest was there, Antioch priest was there, but unfortunately the Serbians refused to participate and so did the Greeks. We invited them as a religious body, so we didn't worry too much about that. Eventually when the actual church was opened it was opened by the then Premier of NSW, Neville Wran. Federal members who attended were Mr Whitlam, and Mrs McKellar representing her husband who was a Minister. There were a lot of other dignitaries from the state and federal sphere. It was a great day for the Macedonian people of Sydney to have their own church which eventually proclaimed a cathedral.
I would also like to mention some of the Macedonian activists who helped build the Rosebery and Cabramatta churches: Dragan Razmovski, the second elected president; Kire Razmovski, a very staunch supporter; Todor Vlashis and his wife Elena, who both ceaselessly helped in the church for many years; Elena Kochofska, Mito Marinovski; Peter Marinovski, son of Mito; Slave Ristevski; Bill Velevski; and many others who contributed financially and physically. Thank you all.
You knew many of the first Macedonian activists in Australia. Who do you think were the key activists and can you tell us a little bit about each one?
First and foremost let us talk about Ilia Malko. Ilia Malko was my very closest friend. We came to Australia together on the same ship and we remained friends till his passing away. I would say that he contributed more than any other Macedonian in Australia to the Macedonian movement. He gave everything towards the Macedonian cause. He believed that Macedonians should live free, as many of us did as well. Unfortunately we lost Ilia Malko roughly about eight years ago.
Risto Altin: he'd be another one who has contributed vastly to the Macedonian cause, he was in Melbourne; and Kiro Angelkov and several others.
Now Ilia Malko was involved right from the very beginning in Perth in the organization Edinstvo, also the Macedonian Spark, Makedonska Iskra, and also in the formation of the Ex-Services League, Macedonian Australia Ex Servicemen's League. Also the Macedonian Australian People's League, which functioned and also helped a lot towards the unity of the Macedonians.
Risto Altin was in Melbourne and as mentioned before I met Risto Altin in late 1942. He was involved in all the Macedonian activities in Melbourne. He was also involved in the Macedonian Spark, as the Macedonian Spark eventually was transferred from Perth to Melbourne. He was also involved with the Macedonian church in Melbourne, in Gertrude Street. He was a staunch Macedonian and still is.
Kiro Angelkov joined the association or Macedonian organizations in late '45, '46. He spoke better Macedonian than I or Ilia Malko. He was a very staunch Macedonian and he also helped with the Macedonian Spark and also with the organization, and also helped with the Macedonian hospital campaign.
Stoian Sarbinov. Stoian Sarbinov was a man from a village called Buf, Egejska Makedonija. He was at Manjimup. Originally he opposed us in Perth because he didn't think that we would be sincere but eventually he came around and he was very very helpful and he also helped a lot in the Macedonian Spark, he helped with the printing, he helped put the paper together. He also took a very active part in human rights in Macedonian affairs throughout Australia. Unfortunately Stoian Sarbinov passed away about fifteen years ago. We lost another good supporter.
Vasil Boscov, he was an elderly man, he passed away about 20 years ago. He was involved right from the beginning. I knew Vasil Boscov from Perth. I also knew Vasil Boscov when he went to Adelaide and also helped to form the Adelaide branch of the Macedonian Australian People's League. He participated in helping with the printing of the paper, he also helped with the other social activities and he also was a secretary for some time.
Stoiche Stoichev. He was a very ardent, staunch supporter of the Macedonian cause throughout his life. He used to be in Perth at the beginning. He brought his wife and family from Macedonia, eventually transferred from Perth to Melbourne where he participated in all the activities of the Macedonian life. He passed away unfortunately several years back.
Todor Todorov and his father, they were both from Pirinska Macedonia, from Macedonia under Bulgarian occupation and rule. Right from the beginning Todor Todorov and his father helped with the formation of Edinstvo, helped with the formation of the Macedonian Dancing Group and also helped with the social activities.
John Pizarkov was one of the first that helped with the Macedonian Edinstvo in Perth. Eventually he joined the army. When he joined the army he was transferred to the eastern states and eventually settled in Sydney where he participated in helping with the Macedonian Spark and also the other social activities of Macedonians throughout Australia.
Naum Sharin, an elderly person, a very nice person who passed away several years ago. He was one of the first to join the Macedonian Edinstvo in Perth. He helped when most of us were in the services - he was an elderly bloke - to keep the organization alive. We've got to say thank you to him for doing that.
Boris Mano, he was a younger person from Macedonian Prespa under Albanian rule. He was one of the first members. He helped with the social life and social activities in Perth.
Naum Mano, related to Boris Mano, he was also from Prespa, Albania. He was one of the first members to join the Edinstvo organization.
Lazo, the brother of Naum, he was also a member right from the beginning, who helped the social life and also in helping with the paper.
Naum Kalchunov, he used to be in a city or town called York, about 100 odd kilometres away from Perth. He was a staunch Macedonian supporter. He helped by donating quite a bit of money towards the Macedonian hospital and also towards the Macedonian Spark or Makedonska Iskra.
There's also many others who at present have slipped my memory, so I must say without hesitation - without the mentioned people our organization would have been much poorer, so vechno da bidi pametot na ovie lugje koi se pochinati [long may we remember these people who have passed away].
You went back to your village in 1983. How long were you there for and what did you see?
Let me give you a brief outline before I went to the village. On a number of occasions I tried to go to my village, my birthplace, but unfortunately I couldn't get a visa. You're aware, the Greek government refuses a visa to anybody with a Macedonian name. As my name was changed from the Greek name, which they called Eliopoulos , back to the original and present name, Veloskey, I was refused entry.
When Greece joined the European Community, like many other European community countries no visa was required. So the wife and I, without telling anyone except our family, decided to board the plane and we landed in Athens. It was five o'clock in the morning. I showed my passport to the person in charge of the entry into the airport, and he looked at it and on my passport it says my name, Michael Veloskey, “Born Macedonia”, nothing else. He was rather stunned. He looked at it and he kept on looking at it. And I said “What's the trouble? It's an Australian passport,” in English. He said in Greek “No understand English.” I said “Can you speak Greek?” He said “Yeah”. So I said “Yes,” I spoke to him in Greek, I said “this is an Australian passport. That's [refering to Macedonia] where I was born.” It was early in the morning. I think they hadn't checked up the blacklist of my name, because it was a different name altogether, and he let us through.
We stayed in Athens for several days. We saw the ruins, the congestion and the smog. 1983 was a warmest summer in Europe for 300 years. Many people in Athens suffered badly from the pollution and also from the heat. After leaving Athens we decided to go to the village that I was born. To go there, I went to a small office asking them for two air fares to go to my village. The nearest airport was Rupishta, which is adjacent to Kostur. The person there stared at me in amazement. I said “Rupishta, don't you know where it is?” He said “No.” He said “Never heard of it”. I said “Well, unfortunately” I said, “the Greek governments have changed the names of virtually all Macedonian towns and villages” and I said “If you give me a map I'll show you”. So he gave me the map and I showed him where it was. It was under a different name. So Rupishta is not called Rupishta any more.
Eventually he gave us two tickets, our tickets. We boarded the plane and we landed at Rupishta. It was a boiling hot day, the temperature was well over 45 °. We called a taxi. We got in the taxi and we asked him to get us into Kostur, as the Greeks call it Kastoria, to a nice hotel. He took us to a reasonably nice hotel with views of the lake. Kostur is a very very picturesque town with a population of approximately 20,000. Many of the people in the Kostur area were engaged in the fur industry, which was thriving but gradually diminishing.
Anyway we settled in the hotel and eventually we called for a taxi to show us around. He was a Macedonian who spoke both Greek and Macedonian but he insisted to speak more Greek than Macedonian because he was one of the unfortunate boys. He lost his parents and the Greeks took him and they made him like a Yanitsar, Yanitsar means extremely pro Greek, they instilled… they brainwashed him. So we said to him “Would you like to drive us around for the next fortnight, around the villages?”. He agreed. We said “We'll pay you for the whole day, you take us there and back, and any spare time you can utilize it”. So we engaged him for a fortnight.
We went to quite a number of villages, to the village that I was born, and as we drove through there, Dolna Mala, as we call it, I saw a man with a stick in his hand and he was walking slowly and he was cursing in Macedonian and Greek. I remembered the name, his name was Lazo. I was rather surprised to see him still alive because he would be in his 85s or 90s. So I said to the taxi driver “Pull up here”. He pulled up, the wife and I were both together in the taxi. I got out of the taxi and I said “Lazo, me poznavash mene?” [Lazo, do you remember me?] He looked at me. “Koi vrak si?” [in Macedonian “Which devil are you?”]. “Diavolos” [in Greek ‘Devil”]. I said “Eh, jus sum Makedonets. (Eh, I am a Macedonian]. And he looked at me and he looked at me and he couldn't make me out. I said “You don't remember.” I said “I left in 1935” and I told him who I was. He put his arms around me and he started to cry.
And this particular man Lazo said “I'm going to stay with you all day today.” So we took him with us in the taxi and he took us to my home that my father had built there and it was occupied by my uncle and his family. Unfortunately my uncle was not there but only his wife was there and she welcomed us and she said that her husband, Risto, Chris, was going to be there late this afternoon or the next day. So I asked the taxi driver to drive us to Gorna Mala and that's where my aunty lived from my mother's side, Teta Zoia. She welcomed us there and she insisted that we stay there for the night. My uncle, her husband, was tilling the land. Her son was in Kostur and he was involved in the fur industry as well but he spent most of his time in Germany trading between Germany and Greece. So we stayed there for the night and her son came home and also the husband came home. We were welcome there, they made us stay there for the night, they gave us a very nice meal.
So, the next morning the son was driving us down to Dolna Mala, to the house my uncle occupied, and as we were going down the hill on the road there was an elderly person with a walking stick coming up. That was my uncle Chris. So the driver said “Do you know who that man is?” I said “No.” He said “We'll stop here”. So we stopped, he got out, and he went to my uncle Chris, that's my father's brother, and he said to him “Imam eden chovek tuka koj te poznava tebe.” [“I have a man here who knows you.”] He said to my uncle “There's somebody with me in the car who recognizes you and knows you and is also your relative”. I got out of the car and I went to meet him there. He looked at me. To me he seemed to have shrunken a lot, because as we get older we always lose a bit of weight, but the thing that I'll never forget is his sparkling blue eyes. I've never seen eyes like that. Anyhow I explained to him who I was. He wrapped his arms around me and we both cried.
Anyhow we had a bit of a talk and I asked him where he was going. He said he was going to do a bit of shopping in Gorna Mala, that's where the stores were. So we drove him there. We had a bit of a talk and we drove him back and when we got back to the house he said “The house is still half yours.” I said “Uncle, you can have the lot.” I said “I don't think I'll be ever coming back to live here,” and he started to cry again. His wife was there. She welcomed us and saying that the house was still half ours. So we stayed there for quite a while and then we decided to go back to my aunty's place in Gorna Mala . Her son drove us up there. So we stayed there for the next day and the night.
Eventually we decided to go to some of the other villages. Drenichevo. Drenichevo is the nearest village to Gradche. The Greeks had called it “Kranohori”. Unfortunately this particular village, before the war or actually before 1921 or '22, about 99 per cent of the people were Macedonians. But during the Greek-Turkish conflict when they exchanged nationals, quite a number of the Pontian Greeks were planted in the village Drenichevo . And I would say probably about 30 per cent of the village people of Drenichevo, of Kranohori , are Pontian Greeks and they were the eyes and the ears and they were the spies, not all of them, for the fascist Greek government during the civil war and before the civil war etc.
We went there and we met some people there, also met some of my relatives there. Unfortunately my uncle from my mother's side had lost his life. His two sons, one of them got killed during the civil war, and the other was in Skopje. So we took the liberty of asking if they knew what part of Skopje. They didn't know. But eventually when we got to Skopje we met with my cousin there. Drenichevo is a fairly large village, and the population has actually increased to what it was pre war or pre civil war as well. But the village Gradche has diminished to a very very small number. I think the number at present or at the time when we were there in '83 it was about 48 only.
So eventually we went to some other villages as well, but we went back again to my village after Drenichevo and I met with my uncle again, uncle Chris. And he told me a terrible terrible story. He told me how he called his donkey in Macedonian Choonksh [Stop!] and a Greek policeman or korofilakas heard him. So he took his name and they summonsed him to go to court in Kostur. Eventually the court case proceeded. My uncle could speak very little Greek because, he was my father's brother as I said, and he was born under the Ottoman occupation. He could speak very few words in Greek so they had to have an interpreter for him at the court. When the prosecutor asked the interpreter to ask my uncle why did he speak this forbidden language, and my uncle said “Well, it's like this, my animals can only understand Macedonian, therefore if I spoke another language they wouldn't know what I was saying to them.” Anyhow the prosecution pressed the case and eventually the judge said “Have you anything else to say?” and my uncle said “Yes,” he said “You should open schools for the old people to learn Greek and you should also open schools for the animals to learn Greek”. The judge was furious with his answer and sentenced him to five years in gaol. For a very elderly person to be in gaol for five years, you can imagine how terrible it must have been. But they never broke his spirit. That's very important. They never broke his spirit. And he said “They can do whatever they like. I was born a Macedonian and I'll die a Macedonian”. So as you can see, they'll never ever break the Macedonian spirit entirely, it doesn't matter what they do.
After visiting several other villages in our area we decided to go to my wife's village, which is called Konomladi (Makrohori in Greek). In Konomladi Helen's uncle was still alive, that is Helen's father's brother. And he also told us what happened to him. The Greeks hung him upside down by the legs and they beat him and they beat him and they left him for dead. The family cut him down. He was all black and blue from the severe beating that he had. They took him home and they wrapped him in sheep wool and also sheep skin and he was in that state for several weeks, hovering between death and life. His will must have been tremendous. He eventually got better but he never recovered from the terrible beating that he had. He is a man of great spirit, he is a man of understanding. He'll do anything to help people. We stayed there for two nights, we enjoyed our visit to his place and also meeting his family. It's very sad to see the terrible things that have taken place during the last 40 or 50 years in Aegean Macedonia.
When did the Greeks beat him, and why?
Well, I was informed by my wife, Helen, because she was still there before she came to Australia, they beat him because he was in a group which was organizing the Macedonians and apparently that was the reason why they beat him like that.
This happened at the beginning of the Greek Civil War and what were the circumstances that led to him being caught?
Well apparently what happened was that an informer that heard and knew that my wife's uncle was in a committee that was organizing the Macedonians for the Macedonian movement, Autonomous Macedonia, and also Macedonia for the Macedonians, and that was the main reason why they beat him and they left him for dead.
Can you tell us a little about your wife's family?
My mother-in-law, that is Helen's mother, during the civil war she was one of the persons who helped to carry the wounded partisans and when they found out about that my mother-in-law was gaoled for five years in an underground prison in Athens. It was a terrible hardship and something that virtually destroyed her life. Eventually, my father-in-law managed to bring his wife to Australia but she did not live much longer after arriving in Australia. It was part and parcel of the terrible tragedy of being in gaol for five years under tremendous, horrific pressures and degradation.
Also my wife's brother, he was a partisan. He got wounded severely and the Greeks captured him and they threw him in the gutter for dead. In actual fact a Greek priest went by him, he saw him there, he spat on him, he kicked him, time and time again, tried to extinguish his life. Eventually a Greek soldier who was a bit more humane got hold of my brother-in-law and took him to hospital where they amputated his leg. When he got better they transferred him from the hospital to one of the islands and he was imprisoned for seven years for being a partisan. He was only doing his duty as a Macedonian and also as a duty for freedom and democracy - seven years in gaol. Eventually he was released and came to Australia. His experience and tortures and trauma ended his life at a premature age, that's all I've got to say.
After visiting my wife's village, we came back to Kostur or Kastoria as the Greek call it and enjoyed the area and also I met some people that we knew from Sydney, and they took us to their home, we had a couple of meetings with them.
Eventually we decided that we would go to Salonika but not by plane but by vehicle, by car or a taxi so we could see the countryside. So we engaged the taxi driver who we had with us for some considerable time by now. We got to know him and his name was Vane, John. He was driving a French car as a taxi and he kept on playing Greek music mainly, but every now and then he played a Macedonian cassette. I kept on talking to him about Macedonia and all that, both in Greek and Macedonian. What actually happened, he had been told by the Greeks that his father and mother had been killed by the partisans. He was only a very young boy at the age of about three or thereabouts, so the Greeks had taken this young boy and they made him a Yanitsar in other words, to be hateful of anything else but Greek. I kept on talking to him about Macedonia and Macedonians and all that and I was so interested that I decided to go back to the village and check up why his parents were killed and by whom. I was told that his parents were not killed by anyone because they stepped on a land mine and that killed them. So I kept on talking to this young taxi driver regarding Macedonia and all that and eventually he started to think. I didn't say anymore. I said “Now I want you to drive us from here to Salonika”, as I mentioned before.
The first stop was at Voden. The Greeks had renamed the town Edessa. It's a beautiful town, 90 per cent Macedonians but afraid to speak Macedonian. When we got there, there was sort of like a coffee shop and also a little store selling a few groceries and also selling films. So I said to my wife “I'll go and buy another film because the one I have is used up”. As I went there I saw the person behind the counter. I spoke to him in English. He shook his head, naturally because he couldn't speak English, and I spoke to him in Greek. When he answered me in Greek I could see his Greek was only broken Greek and I said to him in a very low tone and very low voice so I wouldn't be heard “Dali si Makedonets?” [Are you a Macedonian?] He said “ Da, Makedonets sum, pa da ne zborvash, ke ne shtyue. ” Don't talk aloud because they might hear ustalking Macedonian and I'll get into trouble. He said “Come around the back”. So we went around the back and he opened up. It was absolutely disastrous what had happened to the Macedonians under Greek control. They've been devastated, they've been traumatized, they've been brutalized. And as far as the Greeks keep on saying that democracy was born in Greece, I wish they'd kept some of the democracy for themselves. Eventually I parted with him and I thanked him, and I said “Don't forget you're a Macedonian, it doesn't matter what happens.” He said “ Do koga disham, jas ke bidam Makedonets ”. “As long as I'm breathing,” he said “I'll never change from being a Macedonian”.
So we left Voden, it's a beautiful place, as I mentioned before, and all the way from there to Salonika or Thessaloniki as the Greeks call it, the plain of Solun as I call it is very fertile. They can grow virtually anything – fruit, vegetables, wheat, corn, you name it. And we bought quite a bit of fruit because it was the right season and we kept on driving and got as far as Pella,. When we got to Pella, I said to the taxi driver, “I want to stop here.” He said “Why?” I said “Don't you know?' He said “Oh, I heard about it.” I said “These are areas which are of historical value regarding Macedonian history.” He said “What do you mean, Macedonian history?” I said “Well, this is Macedonia, this is not Greece”. So we stopped. We spent about four hours at Pella and looked at some of the ruins there and I said to him “These are ruins from Philip, Alexander's father, Alexander the Great.” “Oh yes,” he said. “Alexander the Great, Megas Alexandros . ” “No, no” I said “Not Megas Alexandros, Veliki Alexandar ,” I said to him.
Anyhow we continued to Salonika. We got there. As we were driving I said to him “Now John or Vane, I want you to take us to the best hotel they've got in Salonika, Solun.” He said “Yes, the name is Makedoniko Palati.” Macedonian Palace. I said “John, you just kept on telling me there's no Macedonia and yet right inside the middle of Solun you tell me the best hotel is called Macedonian Palace. There you are,” I said. Anyhow, we reached the hotel, we booked in, so I called him up to our room, we got something to eat and I said “How much do we owe you?” So he made the calculations and I gave him a tip and I said “I'll walk you down to the reception”. As we went down in the lift I said “John, I have to give you some news which… you will probably be surprised and shocked”. He said to me in Greek “Le ye . ” In other words “Kazi” [Tell]. I said “When we get down, we'll sit down and I'll explain to you”. So we went down to the reception, there was a couch on the side. I said “Let's sit on the side so nobody can hear us.” And I explained to him what happened about his parents. I told him that his father and mother were not executed by the partisans or not murdered by the partisans but they died by stepping on a land mine. He got a shock. He got up, he wrapped his arms around me, and he started to cry. He said “I was never informed, but inside me I felt there was something wrong.” “So John, that is the reason,” I said. “You can't be anything else but what you are. You're a Macedonian”. He wrapped his arms around me, he started to cry.
He had to leave to return to Kostur. We went out of the hotel and I wished him a safe journey back to Kostur, and we parted.
Why was Vane unable to find out why his parents had died?
Actually when I think back and consider the whole situation in regards to this taxi driver Vane, it comes to my mind that the Greeks had Graecized him to such an extent that the people around him were probably afraid to tell him the truth. And I feel that people of the village where John the taxi driver was born were scared to approach him and tell him the facts, what had happened to him, just in case he was still pro-Grkoman [pro- Greek] and informed on them and they could be actually brought to the courts and gaoled. So that is a sad sad situation that has taken place not only with this case but I assume with hundreds of other cases in the Macedonian area under Greek control.
We stayed several days in Salonika. We visited the eastern part of Salonika along the seaside. It's a beautiful area. Salonika itself is by far, far superior as far as quality of life is concerned to Athens. Athens is a much larger city, very congested, very polluted, at the same time, being built virtually in a gully, it's a horrible atmosphere to live in. We stayed in Salonika for as I said for several days and then we decided from Salonika to go to Bulgaria, where my wife and I have relatives. So we decided to get on a bus. We got on a bus and as we reached the Greek-Bulgarian border the passports are collected and they are given to the Bulgarian officer who boards the bus. The Bulgarian officer checked the passports of all the passengers and they were all Greeks going to Sofia. Only the wife and I were Macedonians and I have a habit if I travel in a bus, on a tourist bus, I like to be right at the back of the bus so I can see what goes on in front of me. He checked all the passports from the Greeks and not a word was said, nothing was uttered. When he came to us the Bulgarian officer, he was a captain in a blue uniform, a man of about 40 or thereabouts or maybe a bit less. When he saw my passport, which said “Michael Veloskey born Macedonia” he started to yell, “Kakva ta Makedonia”. “There's no such thing as Macedonia, there's no Macedonians.” And I was rather surprised and shocked in a way. And I said to him, in simple words “Look here officer, your job is to see if our visas are valid or not. If there is no Macedonia for you, there is Macedonia for me. If you know you're Bulgarian, I know I'm a Macedonian. So I don't want to discuss this with you any further. You do your job - to check the visas, that's all that's required.” He didn't say much more after that. He took our passports. When we disembarked from the bus, there was a check on our luggage and they also kept our passports. So we lined up to wait for our passports and also our luggage. So we exchanged money from traveller's cheques into Bulgarian leva. This particular officer that checked us on the bus came to me and he said “What do you know about politics?” I said “Look here, we came here on a tourist visa, we are here as tourists,” and I said “I don't want to discuss politics with you but if you insist” I said “ask me”. He said “You don't know anything about politics.” I said “Well, maybe I don't know but I'll ask you a couple of questions, and if I'm wrong I'll seek your pardon and I'll bend down on my knees and seek your pardon, but if you are wrong what would you do?” And he said to me in Bulgarian “Kazee, kazee” [Tell me, tell me]. That's how the Bulgarians talk. And I said in Bulgarian “Ke kazeem, ke kazeem”. And then in Macedonian “Kogato Dimitrov ga pozna Makedonia i Makedontsite, sho stoj pred tebe?” He understood me. I said “If Dimitrov recognized and acknowledged that there's Macedonians and Macedonia, what stands between you and him. He was a world figure in politics, so what are you going to say?” He had nothing to say. His face went red and he turned around to my wife and he said “You've got an angel husband” and I said to him in Macedonian “Tia bugarashki tatarashki, druk da mu kazish.“ “These Bulgarian words that you're saying, tell them to your villagers, not to me”. And I asked him not to interfere anymore.
In 1993 you were the founding president of the Aegean Macedonian Association of Australia. What were the Association's objectives and what do you see as its main achievements?
Well as the name implies, Aegean Macedonian Association of Australia, Aegean Macedonians of Australia, a group of Macedonians from Aegean Macedonia plus a couple of others from the Republic of Macedonia, we decided to form the Association with our aim to pursue human rights for the Macedonians not only in Macedonia but also in Australia. We lobbied the parliamentarians of federal parliament and even some of the state parliamentarians and our main aim was to help achieve human rights for the Macadonians in Greece, and that we should be recognized as Macedonians, not as Serbo-Macedonians, not as Fyrom, not as Greek Macedonians. We are what we are, we are Macedonians, proud citizens of Australia, and we should be known and accepted as being Australian citizens of Macedonian background.
Let me mention some of the people who contributed to the Macedonian cause via the Aegean Macedonian Associatoin of Australia. Apart form myself as president, Paul Stephen, founder and vice president; Bill Vlassis, secretary; Victor Bivell and Mile Donevski, great contributors as “think tank” resources; Bill Manos, financial contributor; Steve Malco; Boris Minovski; Atanas Strezovski and many others. Let me convey my sincere thanks to the Kotori Cultural Club of Richmond for the great financial support and also to many individuals from there.
Much of the Association's work was towards promoting human righs in Greece. What is your view of the Greek government's policy towards the ethnic Macedonians in Aegean Macedonian both in the past and at present?
Unfortunately the past and the present Greek governments, whether socialist or capitalists or whatever they call themselves, have been hypocritical. In my opinion, going back say 70 years the Greek parliaments continuously have frustrated the Macedonian desire to be free, to live in a democratic country in a democratic environment. When you are restricted from speaking your own language, when you are restricted from singing your own songs, when you are restricted from having your own church and sermons in the Macedonian language, how could you call that freedom, how would you call Greek democracy, how could you call the Greek governments democratic governments? To me they are the complete opposite. They always have been, they continue to be hypocritical. They have closed the borders to Macedonians who left during the civil war. If you go back and try to cross the borders even up to today you are refused entry if you have a Macedonian name. If you change your name to a Greek name they'll let you through. I think it's a very sad stage in our era to have this type of government anywhere, let alone in the Balkans. I feel very sad to see what's happening in the Balkans. Not only in Greece but unfortunately similar things are happening in Bulgaria.
What would you like to see happen in Aegean Macedonia?
What I would like to see is that the borders should be completely pulled down, throughout the Balkans, throughout Macedonia, throughout Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Croatia and all the other countries - to be joined in a European community where freedom of travel, freedom of speech, freedom of religious services, freedom of worship, whatever you have, should be for all the people in all of Europe. That is my wish, that is my thought, and I hope that it will come to fruition before I pass away.
How do you see the future of the Macedonian minorities in Greece, Bulgaria and Albania?
Unfortunately, and I'll say it again, unfortunately, as far as I can understand it they have not achieved the freedom they deserve; because Macedonia and Macedonian history dates back longer than any of the other countries that are surrounding them and it's a very sad thing that the world has closed its eyes and does not see what is actually happening to the Macedonian minorities in those countries. It's about time the European Council and the European Union start to shift the pages back and allow the Macedonians to enjoy true freedom with free movement throughout Europe.
What would you like to see happen in the Republic of Macedonia?
In the Republic of Macedonia what I would like to see is this: that the government which is supposed to be for the people, by the people, to stand firm, to stand firm on the constitution which they originally had which gives freedom to all the peoples in the Republic of Macedonia, even the Albanians. But not to the terrorists; I cannot understand how the Republic of Macedonia has elected members into parliament who were the leaders of the terrorist group of Albanians which caused all these troubles in the Republic of Macedonia. I feel disillusioned, disheartened at what they've done: how can a country declare itself a republic by denying its own flag, by denying its own constitution, or altering its constitution to please some of the neighbours which are undemocratic? In my way of thinking it's this: it's free when you decide to declare yourself independent, you choose a name which you stick to, you choose a flag and if it's a new flag you stick by it. But we have our flag, which dates back over 2,000 years, that's the sun, a rising sun which the Macedonians used to worship in those days. And that is a proper Macedonian flag, not the “ventilator”, which they've adopted as our national flag. I'll never accept that and any Macedonian who is a true Macedonian will never accept that. Nor will they accept a constitution where they watered it down saying that the Republic of Macedonia has no right to ask what's taking place in Aegean Macedonia where Macedonians are treated as third or fourth class citizens, denied their rights of religion, of culture, and everything else that goes with freedom. That is my opinion.
What sort of future would you like to see for the Macedonian people?
I would like to see a happy, prosperous future for the Macedonians in the years to come. I would like to see the Macedonians, Serbs, Croatians, Bulgarians, Greeks, even Albanian terrorists realize that they live in that part of the world, that it's better to be friends than to be enemies. You have nothing to gain by being enemies and fighting each other, you have everything to gain by resolving your problems peacefully and in an equal basis, in an equal basis. Respect each other, respect each other's views, respect for what you are. If you're a Macedonian the others should respect you as being a Macedonian. If you are a Serb you should be respected to be a Serb and vice versa. The same with the Greeks. If the Greeks want the Macedonians to respect them as Greeks they should respect the Macedonians and Macedonia. And the Bulgarians and the other ethnic groups around the area, they should have the choice of what they are and nobody should deny them that right.
What are your current involvements in Macedonian affairs?
I am politically active by attending meetings, and also trying to put some input, whatever I can, but at my age, I'm well over 80, I think it's about time that I stepped aside and I think the younger people should take the reigns and I'm quite sure that we have quite a lot of young people in Australia, in Sydney and elsewhere, who are very capable and they're going to do a good job. So I am prepared to help wherever I can from the knowledge that I have gained from the years that have gone by. Therefore I earned and deserve to have some rest.
© Copyright Michael Veloskey and Pollitecon Publications 2005
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Makedonska Iskra Project Well Advanced
By Victor Bivell
July, 2006
The project to reprint the Makedonska Iskra newspapers from the 1940s and 1950s is well advanced with two thirds of the editions now available for free on the internet.
Sixty six of the 104 editions of Makedonska Iskra have now been scanned and uploaded to the 'Reprints' section of Pollitecon.com web site. All editions from October 1946 to December 1952 have been uploaded, leaving only the newspapers from 1953 through to January 1957 to be completed.
Pollitecon Publications hopes to complete these in the next few months.
Makedonska Iskra was the first Macedonian newspaper in Australia and is an invaluable record of early Macedonian immigration to Australia. It also gives extensive insights into the key political events of the times, particularly the newly established Republic of Macedonia, then part of Yugoslavia, and the War of Independence in Aegean Macedonia which was part of the Greek Civil War.
A key feature are the several thousand Macedonian immigrants whose names are published in numerous and extensive lists of people who donated to Macedonian causes, including a hospital in Skopje and local causes such the newspaper itself.
The newspaper reported not only on community events in the capital cities of Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide but on a surprising number of much smaller centres such as Manjimup, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie and Bridgetown in Western Australia, Shepparton, Werribee and Sale in Victoria, and Richmond, Crabbes Creek, Queanbeyan, Broken Hill, Newcastle, Forbes and Port Kembla in New South Wales. Even tiny Captains Flat near Canberra had some Macedonian settlers.
The newspaper shows that the Macedonians of the times were surprisingly well organized politically, with national bodies and regular national conferences - a level of organization and unity not evident today. There is also early discussion about establishing the first Macedonian church in Melbourne.
Many of the Macedonian community's early leaders - well known names such as Kiro Angelkov, Stoyan Sarbinov, RistoAltin, Michael Veloskey, Ilio Malco, Vasil Boshkov, and many others - feature regularly in the newspaper.
Makedonska Iskra also contains numerous reports about the newly independent Republic of Macedonia within Yugoslavia and its political and economic development. There are also updates on developments in Pirin Macedonia and Albania, and even a letter from the Macedonian community in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Perhaps most moving is the regular news from Aegean Macedonia, where the Greek Civil War was raging and many Macedonians were fighting for independence or autonomy. The many news stories cover the Truman Doctrine in Greece, napalm bombing by the British, key battles around Mt Vicho, Mt Gramos and Lerin, the repulsion of the British soldiers who witnessed atrocities against the Macedonian population, and the evacuation of the "detsa begaltsi" (child refugees) which interestingly is called the Markos plan after the Greek leader of the Democratic Army.
The newspapers also give some insight into the use of the "slav" terminology. The emigrant Macedonians always refer to themselves as Macedonians but there is widespread use of the term "slav" to refer to eastern Europeans. During this period in history the Macedonians were grouped under the "slav" umbrella by those whose political interests it suited, particularly the communists in Yugoslavia, Stalin and the Soviet Empire, and the communist led Greek Democratic Army. The term is clearly used by all these forces to create a sense of unity between the eastern European peoples, to give the Macedonians a sense of identification with these peoples, and as a differentiator from the Western capitalist powers.
Most interestingly, the term "Slav Macedonians" emanates from Greece and is almost exclusively used in reports from and about the Greek Democratic Army where the leadership was Greek. The Greek influence is clear, highlighting both the long term nature of Greek attempts to denationalize the Macedonian people and also the two faced support of the Greek communists who were happy to use the discontent of the Macedonians to further political revolution but many of whom, despite promising autonomy to the Macedonians, did not respect them enough to call them by their name.
So Makedonska Iskra makes interesting reading both at a personal level where people wish to look into their family history, and at a community level with a Macedonian perspective on key events in twentieth century Macedonian history.
The newspapers can be accessed for free at www.pollitecon.com and then under Reprints.
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About the Hellenization of Southern (Aegean) Macedonia - A Review of 'Fields of Wheat, Hills of Blood'
By Antonio Milososki
Ph.D. Candidate
University of Duisburg
Germany
printable version
"Elsewhere in Greek Macedonia, the term [en-] dopyi ("local") is used to refer to Slavic-speakers who had inhabited the region prior its incorporation into Greece in 1913; in the Edessa and Florina prefectures, for example, the phrase dopyos Makedhonas ("local Macedonian") is used by many to signify a Slavic-speaker, and his descendants." Perhaps this quotation from the book of Dr Anastasia Karakasidou was the reason why the same passed through various troubles before it was published. Or, maybe this was the main motivation for certain Greek extremists to accuse Dr Karakasidou of "high treason". When in 1993 she published one part of her research in the periodical "Journal of Modern Greek Studies (vol.11, 1993)", she received several death threats from US-based Greek right-wing organizations, even before her colleagues had a chance to congratulate her. At the same time, the Greek newspaper "Stohos", describing her as a state-enemy, published both her address in Salonika and her car registration number.
But she didn't give up, she continued with her research, and when the book was finished she made a publishing contract with Cambridge University Press. The surprise came when at the last moment Cambridge Press decided not to publish the book - allegedly because of the intelligence coming from the UK Embassy in Athens saying that such a step might endanger the security of British citizens who resided in Greece. The case has now gathered a great deal of world-academic attention. There were stories in the Washington Post and The New York Times. Three academic editorial board members resigned from the publishing house in protest at the decision. The "Karakasidou case" became known worldwide. Generating interest even before its publishing, the book was finally printed in 1997 by Chicago University Press. Today Dr Karakasidou is Professor at Wellesley College in the US, and her book "Fields of Wheat, Hills of Blood" is one of the most circulated among the students of anthropology and Balkan history.
This book, which is very readable and comprehensive, is an outcome of her fact-finding mission in the region of Assiros (originally Guvezna), a small town located twenty miles northwest from Salonika. In the research that covers the time period from 1870-1990, Dr Karakasidou describes the life of the region's inhabitants, their migration, their customs, professions, languages, as well as the impact of the numerous wars on the population. Particularly emphasized is the role of the local notables in the processes of shaping or rather reshaping the national identities of the inhabitants. The local notables, known as tsorbadjihi (local Christian elite), merchants, priests, teachers and state administrators, consisted of the lowest but obviously the most effective tool in the process of national assimilation. According to Dr Karakasidou, the key factor in this process, until 1913, were the local tsorbadjihi and the Greek Church - Patriarchate. The Patriarchate had cleverly used its privileged position in the Ottoman Empire in opposition to the recently re-established (1870) Bulgarian Church (Exarchate), even though the later had noticeably enjoyed stronger support among the "Slav-speaking" population all over Macedonia. After the partition of Macedonia, beside the Patriarchate, state-sponsored schools and the Army (through the army-obligation for adult males) undertook the leading role in the process of nation-building of the Greek national consciousness among the non-Greek inhabitants, which at that time consisted of the majority of the population in Southern (Aegean) Macedonia. Those were the main assimilation-levers for the realisation of the state-sponsored project for the Hellenization of that part of Greece. In that respect, speaking about the situation in Assiros in the war-periods (Balkan Wars, Word Wars, and the Civil War), the author, using both oral memory and written history, brings the destiny of the "ordinary people" closer to the eyes of the reader.
Where in the region trade, agriculture, religion, common customs and mixed marriages had connected its inhabitants, it is easy to notice how, under the pressure of the neighbouring propagandas, year by year the differences (particularly in the language) became far more important than the similarities. For example, many "Slavic-speaking" women from the surrounding villages who had married into the Greek-speaking families in Assiros found themselves forbidden by their husbands or in-laws to speak their "native Bulgarian dialect" in their new households. At the same time, the author underlines that the labels "Macedonian" and "Bulgarian" represent synonyms, which, particularly today, are used in Greece interchangeably in reference to "Slavic-speakers", in respect both of their language and ethnicity.
Further on, one can understand the significance of the refugees (prosfighas) and their immense importance in the process of "national homogenisation" of the young Greek state. Actually, Anastasia's father was a Turkish-speaking prosfighas himself, compulsory evacuated to Greece in the wake of the Asia Minor War in 1922. His life had been deeply affected by the Greek nation-building process. And, although after his settling in the region of Macedonia he had acquired some sense of belonging to the Greek collectivity, yet every evening he would tune his short-wave radio to an Istanbul station and sing along with the slow Turkish songs, explaining to his little daughter their verses. From the comprehensive analysis about the colonisation of this part of the country it becomes clear that the Greek nation, particularly in the regions of Southern Macedonia and Thrace, has derived from profoundly diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The next method that had accelerated this process of state sponsored assimilation was the so called "voluntary resettlement" of the native population, mainly to Turkey and Bulgaria, but also to the East-European countries during and after the Greek Civil War.
All in all, the book represents a well-founded publication about the Hellenization of one small part of Southern (Aegean) Macedonia. Nonetheless, it gives us more than enough evidence to draw the conclusion that Macedonia has never been exclusively Greek. Moreover, at the beginning of the twenty-century, Southern Macedonia was a multiethnic region with an overwhelmingly non-Greek majority. As the Bishop of Florina (Lerin) Augostinos Kandiotis once said "If the hundreds of thousands of refugees had not come to Greece, Greek Macedonia would not exist today". The book is well worth reading. Unravelling the complex social, political and economic processes through which these desperate people become amalgamated within the expansionistic Greek identity, this book provides an important corrective to the developments of the "Macedonian Question".
New Book
A Girl From Neret by Lefa Ognenova-Michova and Kathleen Mitsou-Lazaridis. Childhood in an old Macedonian village, and a child’s view of war... more »
Macedonian Spark
Reprints of Makedonska Iskra (Macedonian Spark), the first Macedonian newspaper in Australia - 1946 to 1957... »
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A Life in Macedonian Affairs - Interview with Mick Veloskey ... more »
Life in Aegean Macedonia
Original articles and essays on Aegean Macedonia, its politics, culture, history and diaspora... more »
Macedonian Communities
Profiles and information on Macedonian communities around the world... more »
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Articles and reports on Macedonian human rights reprinted from other sources... more »
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The Migrant Experience: From Village to Suburb
By Alexander Glafchev
printable version
“You may not think much of this old cottage with the allotment by the hedge and the muddy path to the spring, but I have seen this daily for fifty years. I do not know how I shall be when I leave it.”1
Introduction
By examining the sociocultural patterns which exist in our society, we are able to better understand how we can best address the needs of our urban environment. The patterns of life which exist form an intricate and complex web, encompassing all aspects of human existence. These patterns are dependent upon the forces and factors which mould our lives and shape our physical environment.
Comparisons will be drawn between the sociocultural patterns of a Macedonian village and the urban pattern of life in Adelaide. Much of the information presented is based on the life experiences of one Macedonian2 in the village and in South Australia, and I thank him sincerely for sharing his experiences with me. This paper will also overview the changes and challenges faced by the Macedonian community in adapting to the wider Australian community and their relationship with the urban landscape. Particular emphasis will be placed on the built form in the village of Visheni, which is situated in the Southern Balkan region of Europe.
It is hoped that this overview will allow a closer self-examination by architects, planners and designers of the need to carefully consider the sociocultural factors which influence the Australian cultural fabric and the need to seek community involvement and participation in the design process.
Background
The village of Visheni3 (Visinca in Greek) is located within the borders of Northern Greece, and lies within the geographical territory of Macedonia. This territory was under the control of the Ottoman Turkish Empire for approximately five hundred years until 1912, when the Turkish armies were defeated by an alliance of Balkan countries. The resultant victory saw the partition of the territory amongst Greece (which acquired 51%), the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (acquired 38%), Bulgaria (10%) and Albania (1%). The Macedonian people who inhabited the region were given no role, nor representation in determining their fate with the disembowelment of their land, under the Treaty of Bucharest (ratified in 1919 by the Treaty of Versailles). These treaties in effect paid little heed to the ethnic composition of the Macedonians within the region and only acted as a catalyst quickening the process of denationalisation, proselytization, forced assimilation and persecution of Macedonians by successive Greek, Yugoslav, Bulgarian and Albanian governments. Today, Macedonians have been left a legacy where their basic and fundamental human rights have been seriously denied and their very existence threatened.
The Macedonian situation is not an isolated occurrence in the annals of twentieth century history. Parallels can also be made with other countries and peoples who have suffered similar fates, such as Kurdistan, Palestine, and more recently East Timor, and not forgetting the disenfranchisement of Australia's own Aboriginal population
The Village
The form of the village was shaped by the rural pattern of life and the immediate physical environment. The village was located in a valley through which a mountain stream ran, and was predominantly surrounded by tree covered hills. Thus it was ideally situated to make full use of the catchment area provided by the hilly terrain and the availability of water from the stream.
At its peak in the 1920s, the village of Visheni had a population of around 800 people. It had no electricity, no mains sewer or water and was totally dependent upon the physical environment for its survival. The main activity in the village centred around maintaining a rural life, the farming of crops, tending to livestock, orchards, and vineyards. People were up at sunrise making preparations for the day’s work ahead and normally worked until sunset. There was a clear social delineation of the work that men and women were expected to do. The men primarily worked in the fields and open spaces, which were located on the outskirts of the village perimeter, irrigating their crops with water diverted from the stream or tending to the animals (sheep, goats and cattle) which were left to graze. Men were also able to freely roam the hills, to other close lying villages and to the nearest local town of Kostur (Kastoria in Greek). The men's physical environment extended far beyond the confines of the village, to other villages, other towns and other regions. The women also worked the fields, and had the added responsibility to ensure their houses and small farm lots were well maintained, that food was prepared and children cared for, but essentially they were expected to remain within the limits of the village.
The villagers had a close affinity with their surroundings, the hills, the forest, the animals and especially the stream. Distances were measured in terms of time, by walking or travelling by drawn cart or pack animal such as donkeys. The stream was the source of the village life. Their crops drew sustenance from its waters, their children played on its banks and swam in its waters during the summer, the village women washed their clothes on its rocks and talked about all manner of things. Water was in abundance; in addition to the stream, most of the houses had their own wells from which they drew drinking water from underground springs. This was supplemented by seven continuously running village taps, where the women often gathered to collect the icy cold mountain water. The taps also served as meeting places for the women affording them the opportunity to exchange news and gossip and provide them with a break from their monotonous daily household chores. The men had their own meeting place in the cafe which was adjacent to the modern equivalent of the village square known as the Ano, offering them a more convivial and relaxed atmosphere for social discourse. The Ano was also the cultural centre of the village, and was used as a gathering place to celebrate various religious feast days.
Village Social Structures
The village was socially based on a patriarchal system. An administrative structure was in place to look after the welfare of the village and to make decisions which affected the livelihood of the villagers. The positions of Village President and Village Secretary were elected from amongst the men in the village, while the Village Treasurer (who normally kept and maintained records and accounts) was usually someone with some degree of bookkeeping knowledge from the nearby town of Kostur, selected by the Greek authorities.
The older men of the village were held in high regard, and often were sought to provide advice and direction. Whenever disputes arose, redress was sought from the elected officials and on occasions arbitration was sought from the local parish priest who was deemed to be independent. Once a year, the village would appoint amongst themselves various overseers to look after the cooperative interests of the village. These men would have responsibilities as the village shepherd, swineherd, goatherd, orchard and vineyard overseer and the village forest keeper. The forest keeper had an important role in ensuring that the villagers only cut certain trees in the forest for their needs. Trees not earmarked for felling were strictly protected and anyone caught trying to cut these trees was severely reprimanded and in some cases fined.
The women’s role on the other hand was seen as subservient to the men. Even though they ran every aspect of the households, they needed to exercise servility to the male members of their households. The church also reflected the delineation of male and female. Men were allowed into the inner sanctum and aisles, whilst the women were confined to the rear of the church and its upper mezzanine level. Family ties and kinship bonds were exceptionally strong, and help explain why many of the houses were occupied by more than one family, often incorporating up to three generations under the one roof.
The main social occasions of the village centred around religious days which were eagerly awaited. Namedays (Imenden in Macedonian) or Saints days were a continuous occurrence and took the place of birthdays. Families would attend a church service on such days, returning home afterwards to prepare food and drink and to greet the guests who would arrive unannounced.
The Village House Form
The form of the village house had changed very little for centuries. They were built without reference to plans or drawings and relied on the accumulative knowledge of the villagers, which was passed on from one generation to the next. House building was a cooperative effort, involving many of the villagers, especially those with specific skills such as stonemasonry and carpentry. The villagers had a close affinity with the building materials they used, which were extracted from the earth, stone and forest around the village. Stone and mud mixed with what chaff created walls 600mm thick. Local clay was shaped and left to dry and used as roof tiles. Timber was cut and used for the main roof structure and as lintels, load bearing posts, doors and window frames. Their homes sprang from the very earth they walked upon.
Houses were either single storey or two storey and orientated on the north-south axis, with the main rooms orientated south to make full use of solar orientation. The floor plans for all the village homes were essentially the same with slight variations. Most homes had two main rooms (Odaja in Macedonian) serving as both bedrooms and meal areas. One of the Odaja known as the Novata Odaja (new Room) also served as a visiting room for the guests. In fact the term Novata Odaja is still used to this day even in Australian homes when referring to the formal living room.
There was little privacy, as many as six people would share one room, which included in many cases three generations. This physical closeness also meant that family bonds had to be strong to endure such overcrowding, and indeed they were. The Keral was a room used to store various barrels of foodstuffs and wine. The main entry served as a transitory space and was also used to store grain in sluice-gated cupboards called Umba.
Handwoven Kilim rugs and carpets were placed on the earthen floors upon which mattresses and cushions were placed serving as both beds and eating spaces. In the warmer months, food was prepared outside the home in a detached area known as the Ushchalak, which incorporated a large mud and stone domed baking oven, Umba, timber troughs, various earthenware storage vessels (Stomni, Brdache), and an open fireplace where meals were cooked. The livestock consisting of sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, cow and calf, oxen and horses, mules or donkeys were housed in various sheltered pens adjoining the Ushchalak.
The house was used primarily as a space for rest and a sanctuary from the elements for both people and animals. “The house was sanctioned as a place of refuge – from weather, flies, work, even people. Mostly it seemed to be a refuge for both men and women, except that it was still the women’s responsibility to maintain and care for the house.”4
Migration to Australia
Though the villagers were able to sustain themselves, they could not improve their lifestyle. Stories were told of others who had left to go overseas to the USA and South America in search of wealth and fortune. In the 1920s, 1.3 million Greeks from Asia minor were resettled principally in the northern part of Greece, which included Macedonia. This created enormous social and economic pressures in the region. In 1926, the Greek government introduced laws whereby all Macedonians had their names changed into Greek and all the topography (mountains, rivers, lakes etc) of the region likewise had the names changed from the Macedonian into Greek, the village of Visheni had its named changed to Visinea.
With this backdrop of social and political upheaval, many men set out to travel to foreign lands to seek a better life. They were known as Pechalbari, (meaning those seeking fortune) and they journeyed by ship for one and a half months to reach South Australia. They arrived in Australia without any knowledge nor understanding of the land, its language, culture, traditions or customs. As one would expect, they stuck together in groups, which in many cases included Macedonians from other villages, and wherever possible pooled their resources to overcome the obstacles of just surviving. “In 1921, there were estimated to be around fifty Macedonians in Australia”.5
Work in Adelaide, especially during the Depression, was scarce and so they became “…itinerant workers who travelled the countryside in small groups, taking whatever work they could get, and they were often the victims of discrimination. In most urban centres, union opposition prevented their being employed in factories.”6 Many found work clearing scrub on the West Coast, in places like Ceduna and Cungena and in building the East-West Railway, or fruit picking in Barmera or in the rest of the Riverland. They lived in tents, some for as long as eight years, their only belongings were those they carried with them.
The Pre-War Period
Money saved was sent back to their families in the village. Their isolation from their families placed enormous pressures both on them and their families, some were unable to withstand such pressures and returned home after several months, whilst others remained. Those that did knew that their sacrifices had to be worthwhile for them to stay. The wives and particularly the children left behind in the village had to take on the extra work of their husbands and fathers and in many cases children were raised by their grandparents, not even knowing their fathers. During the mid 1930s, the Greek government, under the military dictator Metaxas, passed laws which prohibited the use of the Macedonian language within Greece. The families of the Pechalbari were forbidden to speak their own language in the village and lived in constant fear of arrest, beatings, imprisonment and in extreme cases exile to one of the Greek islands. They communicated these developments to their menfolk in Adelaide by the only means available to them, by mail. This more than ever gave the Pechalbari the added incentive to work even harder, and to secure for themselves a stable economic base.
When the South Australian economy began to recover, they gravitated back towards the city in search of stable work. Some found work in factories doing manual labour, while others worked in the shops, cafes and businesses of other immigrants. They rented accommodation in lodgings within the inner city of Adelaide, and in most instances were sleeping six to eight people to a room. These lodgings were chosen as they were in close proximity to their workplaces, which were within walking or bicycling distance, thereby enabling them to save money on transport. They worked long hours for very little monetary reward, sharing whatever they had amongst themselves.
In 1939, the first Macedonian café called “Makedonija” opened for business in Hindley Street amongst other émigré cafes. These cafes provided an important cultural and social focus for the Pechalbari who regularly stayed there to exchange news, reminisce on old times and to seek help in finding gainful employment. These places played a vital role in drawing together the Macedonians and helped to facilitate the establishment of invaluable social networks. Where financial support was sought by those worse off, they would pool their resources to assist them and rarely would ask for repayment. The café area of Hindley Street took on the ambience and cultural atmosphere of a small European village, with various nationalities readily mixing and interacting with one another. This was a far cry from the mainstream Australian society of the time.
The War and Post-War Period
With the outbreak of war in Europe, the South Australian economy geared itself to produce weapons and equipment for the war effort. Masses of Australians enlisted for armed service, resulting in critical labour shortages in the factories. Those Macedonians who did not or could not enlist found work alongside other immigrants in the factories. Surprisingly they found that the war had swept away some of the racial bias which for years had plagued them, as they were now seen to be contributing to the Allied effort. Though their economic fortunes were improving during this period, they were effectively cut off from any contact with their families in the village.
Even though peace was declared in 1945, the end of the war in Europe had reignited political divisions within Greece, resulting in the Greek Civil War of 1946-49. As a consequence, many of the Pechalbari had not had contact with their families for more than ten long years. The Civil War in Greece resulted in the massive displacement of tens of thousands of Macedonians. In one case alone, around 8,000 Macedonian children aged fifteen and under were evacuated from their homes by the Red Cross. These child refugees (Detsa Begaltsi) sought sanctuary in the Eastern Bloc countries willing to take them (primarily in Poland, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Romania, Czechoslovakia and the USSR). Some of the villagers managed to flee the country by different routes, making their way to Australia to be reunited with their husbands and fathers. For the first time in more than twenty years the first Macedonian families began to arrive in Australia. The Post-War period saw a massive influx of migrants to Australia, many of whom were displaced persons. In 1947 1.5 per cent of the Australian population were registered as having been born in Europe (excluding the UK and Ireland) increasing to 5.5 per cent by 1954.7
The resettlement of families meant that men who had lived in Adelaide had to change their lifestyle to one which was conducive to stabilising the family both economically and socially. Initially families lived and shared lodgings with others until such time as they could find more suitable accommodation. The Macedonians tended to settle collectively in the same areas, establishing their own social networks. When new Macedonian migrants arrived they would gravitate towards these areas, reinforcing the social pattern. They rented houses and land towards and on the outskirts of the Adelaide urban fringe, in Kilkenny, Challa Gardens and Croydon. Others settled in Fulham, Lockleys and Ferryden Park where they found large unused tracts of broad acres, which at that time was used primarily for agistment.
They commenced working the land using the only real skills they knew, those of farming. They created market garden plots and built their own glasshouses, growing primarily tomatoes which at that time were in short supply. They also commenced to build their first homes, which were constructed out of the most readily available and least expensive materials, using timber framework, asbestos cement cladding and galvanised iron. This was a great departure from the solidly constructed stone and mud homes they had left behind in the village. These early Australian houses were built alongside their packing sheds where they graded and packed their produce. As they were not restricted to a small plot of land, as in their village, they soon discovered that they had ample space to extend to accommodate new family members. Due to the materials they used, walls and roofs could be taken down and put up without difficulty, unlike their homes in the village, thereby giving them greater flexibility and choice in satisfying their needs. Though these first homes were not suited to the harsh Australian climate, the Macedonians for the first time began to firmly establish themselves within the urban landscape.
The Community Form in Adelaide
The establishment of families also meant that they could revive some of their village traditions. Religious feast days and traditional celebrations for weddings, christenings and other special occasions were transposed into their Australian lives. Initially, small gatherings were held at individuals homes, making use of the large packing sheds where they danced traditional Macedonian Ora, and played and sang old village songs.
As the families and population increased, they began to hire assembly halls in Hindmarsh and on Henley Beach Road to accommodate the growing throngs of people. There was also a conscious decision to formalise their activities and once again pool their resources. A committee was established ostensibly to undertake the responsibility of coordinating their social activities, such as traditional dances and picnics where up to two hundred people would attend. In the late 1960s, after the influx of more Macedonian migrants from Yugoslavia, they decided the time was right to commence building their own community hall. A campaign of fundraising was commenced, seeking donations from all Macedonians throughout Adelaide. An Italian builder by the name of John Pinta was engaged to design and build the hall and it was officially opened in 1968, on Crittenden Road, Findon, in close proximity to one of the most concentrated areas of Macedonian settlement, that of Fulham and Seaton.
The hall design bore a strong resemblance to the packing sheds and glasshouses which were built at the time. One can only speculate that neither the builder nor the local Macedonians had the necessary expertise in building or designing a structure which would echo the built form of their homeland. Even in the event that they had, the cost of undertaking a more complicated structure may have been cost prohibitive. Another possibility may have been that they did not wish to draw attention to themselves by creating a structure which may not have been in keeping with mainstream Australian society, and in so doing afforded themselves a degree of anonymity within the urban fabric. Whatever the reason, the completion of the hall symbolically represented another step in establishing themselves within Australian society and cemented their ties with their new homeland. The Hall also filled a cultural void, as it symbolised the reaffirmation of the existence and identity of the Macedonian people, an identity which was totally denied them in their own homeland. The act of building a permanent community structure also meant that social foundations had been put into place and the process of redefining their cultural identity within the Australian social fabric had well and truly begun.
During the 1970s and 1980s the community expanded its activities significantly. It had its own soccer club, youth group, school, women’s section, folkloric dancing group, a cultural society and even its own locally produced community radio program. It was also around this time that a move was made to build the first Macedonian Orthodox Church, on a vacant lot adjacent to the hall. In the past an enclosed space directly behind the community hall was utilised as a chapel, but it was unable to accommodate larger gatherings such as at Easter and Christmas, resulting in religious services being carried out in other non-Orthodox Churches. In the 1980s Jim Petrie, a local architectural draftsman of Macedonian descent was engaged by the building committee to undertake the design of the new church. The final design chosen encapsulated their new found confidence in proclaiming their Macedonianism to the wider Australian community.
The design emulated the basic form and appearance of the eighth century Byzantine architecture found in the Balkans, especially in Macedonia. The church was built with the cooperation and financial support of the community members, many of whom freely donated their services and labour. Cost once more played an integral part in the final design, materials such as clay bricks and pre-formed concrete panels, steel framework, a fibreglass dome and compressed sheet roof shingles were used, rather than stone, timber and terracotta.
The floor plan and interior of the church follows the Byzantine Orthodox tradition, with a central nave and two aisles, reflected in the vaulted ceilings. The main central feature of the interior is the iconostasis (wall of icons) upon which is adorned copies of icons dating back centuries and to which all believers in the Orthodox faith pay veneration and alms. The congregation still followed the traditional physical separation of men and women within the church, men sat on the right and women on the left. A carry over of both the village custom and the religious tradition. A cultural centre incorporating a library/ meeting room, radio recording studio and a social welfare office were later added to the existing community hall and church, thereby addressing other cultural and social needs of the community. All of the community buildings created a distinctive imprint on the cultural fabric of South Australian Macedonians, allowing them to reaffirm their identity and culture. It also provided them with a physical reference point which linked their past, present and future.
The Adelaide House Form
The homes of the Macedonians on the other hand, unlike the church, did not attempt to emulate or reinterpret the Macedonian home in the physical sense. There is nothing externally which differentiates their homes from the surrounding homes. There is no sense of uniqueness or of cultural diversity in the streetscapes. This possibly again may mean that they are content to accept the Australian homogenous approach to house form and do not see the exterior of their homes as a form of self-expression or of extrovertness in the same way that other ethnic groups do. The interiors unlike the exteriors are richly decorated with photos, emblems and artefacts which reflect their cultural and historical heritage. The pride of place in many of the homes is taken up by a photo of their village or of their village house. Thus creating in a sense a nexus between their old and new way of life, and emphasising the acceptance of the physical built form as the symbolic embodiment of their culture.
The Social Structure in Australia
The family unit and the patriarchal structure which was embodied in the village pattern of life was transferred into the Australian landscape. In the majority of instances where both the husband and wife worked, sometimes taking on more than one job, the wife was still expected to prepare the food and maintain and care for the house and children. There were however increasing instances where both the husband and wife shared the household duties and parenting, but these more often than not were undertaken by those Macedonians who had come to Australia at a relatively young age and had been influenced by their new Australian lifestyle. Generally even today, if one visits a Macedonian household, the female will serve guests while the male will be waited upon. Strong family links remain, and it is still not uncommon to find three generations living in the same home, with grandparents sharing in the parenting and caring of children while their parents work. This again reflects a similar social pattern found in village life.
The first Australian born children had been brought up in the Macedonian way of life, instilled with many of the old traditional village cultural values and norms. Many of this generation found conflict with such cultural attitudes and rebelled. Females in particular were expected to follow the village traditions and adhere to the social hierarchy, actively being encouraged to be efficient in house keeping and to marry and raise families.
Males on the other hand were still seen as the centre of the social fabric, and as in the village were given freedoms and liberties not afforded to the females, encouragement was given to succeed in all their pursuits. Today, what we see are the last remaining remnants of a culture and a way of life that is slowly disappearing. The other Macedonians in the community who lived in the village are the last custodians of that unique culture and once they are gone, the link between the village and the suburb will be severed forever.
Conclusions
In Australia today, there are approximately 110 different ethnic groups representing a myriad of cultural and social diversity. “One in five Australians are not born in Australia and a further one in five have parents who were born overseas.”8 Add to that the uniqueness of Australia’s own Aboriginal people and one can see that we have a rich and diverse culture which needs to be articulated into the built and urban form. Yet such a cultural diversity is not reflected in the architecture and urban pattern of Australia.
Moreover, the approach adopted by many architects, planners and designers has merely regurgitated the myth of addressing the cultural and social needs of Australians in a way which treats all Australians in a monocultural fashion, without regard for their cultural and social heritage. “There is an assumption that most migrants will eventually have more or less the same housing as Australia-born citizens.”9 It is pertinent to note that one of the most authoritative documents published in regards to the makeup and social composition of the Australian community, The Australian People: An Encyclopaedia of the Nation, Its People and Their Origins, made specific reference to the fact that “Little has been written on migrants and housing from a national perspective, and few writers on housing have said much about migrants. Studies of migrants have rarely focussed on their housing except in the case of settlement difficulties.”10
The overview presented in this paper on one ethnospecific group, on their cultural, social and urban patterns highlights the complex nature and composition of only one of the many groups that make up South Australian society. In order to effectively reflect and interpret the cultural diversity of our society through the built and urban form, we as architects, planners and designers must be able to perceive, understand and respond to such cultural differentiation.
The best way of achieving this is through increasing our perception of the way our society functions. Even if we have achieved a certain degree of perception, we may not be able to understand the social and cultural context of what we have found, as our own cultural reference point could be far removed from that of the other culture. Once we have perceived and understood what we have found we are in a far better position to respond.
Our response will be better complemented by directly involving the communities and encouraging participation in the design process. In this way we can better judge whether or not our response is in keeping with the social and cultural determinants of that particular culture, by the very people who make up that culture.
The idea of openly inviting community involvement and participation is seen by many as an anathema to their select professions. It is incorrectly perceived as a threat and an undermining of their professional training, practise and expertise. The truth however would tend to suggest that the fear lies in the individual’s reluctance of self-examination and a re-evaluation of a system that clearly has painted all people with the same cultural brush. There are however an increasing number of architects and educators who take a different stance and have seen the sociocultural responsibility that architects and other environmental designers must address.
The seminal work, “A Modern Theory of Architecture” by the renowned architectural historian and philosopher, Bruce Allsopp, foresaw such a need and stated that “Architecture requires sympathy with understanding of and satisfaction of the emotional needs of people. All people are different and all communities of people differ. The concept of “one architecture” is a totalitarian monstrosity.”11 Other researchers too have been equally cognisant of this need elaborating that “Rather than thinking in terms of producing finished and complete environments for people of a common culture they (architects and environmental designers) need to establish environmental alternatives among which the public can choose. There need to be alternatives in settings for different lifestyles and preferences for physical settings expressive of different values; there need to be different forms of housing and different urban areas.”12
The realisation of the need to involve people and communities has gained a global dimension, in addition to the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development, the European Communities Commission Green Paper on the Urban Environment stated that, “Planning without broad participation by and concern for the city’s inhabitants will result in a narrow view of its efficiency which ultimately condemns it to sterility”.13
In South Australia, the need for community involvement in the urban environment has also been clearly emphasised. Government social policies have been developed and acknowledged that “…the Planning Review saw community involvement as an essential component of effective planning and decision making as well as providing one mechanism through which the community identity and belonging can be achieved.”14 Specific reference was also made to cultural diversity which further stated that, “…the need to create an urban environment which is responsive to public values and reflects Adelaide’s diverse cultural and community heritage.”15 All of these recommendations and thoughts reinforce the view that we much readdress our way of thinking and our approach if we are truly to reflect and interpret society’s needs in the built and urban environments.
“A major aim should be to challenge the widespread cultural values of an antiurban society – a society that stresses cultural homogeneity, fleeting fashions, consumerism, and degradation of cultural symbols, a society that replaces community interaction with instant communications.”16
This paper was written as part of a Post Graduate Urban Ecology course for a Master of Architecture Degree at the University of South Australia, June 1994
Notes
1. Nottridge, Harold E, 'The Sociology of Urban Living', Routledge & Kegan, London, 1972, p.83.
2. Interviews with Peter Kiosses, a well known and respected member of the local Macedonian Community
3. Visheni is the local Macedonian name given to the village. Names in brackets denote the current Hellenised version changed by Greek law in 1926.
4. Lozanovska, Mirijana, ‘Gender and Architecture in a Macedonian Village’, Exedro, The Journal of the School of Architecture, Deakin University, Vol. 1, No. 2, Summer 1989, pp.26.
5. Jupp, J, (Gen. Ed.), ‘The Australian People: An Encyclopaedia of the Nation. Its People and Their Origins’, The Settlers: Macedonians, Angus and Robertson, NSW, 1988, pp, 685-691.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid pp. 166.
8. Jupp, J, op. cit., p.1.
9. Jupp, J, op. cit.
10. Ibid
11. Allsopp, B, ‘A Modern Theory of Architecture’, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1977, p.27
12. Whitley, G.S., “Immigrants in the Australian Environment’, Hardboard’s Australia Ltd Scholarship, Research Paper, 1972, p.89.
13. Commission of the European Communities, ‘Green Paper on the Urban Environment’, Directorate-General Environment, Nuclear Safety & Civil Protection, Brussels, 1990, p.45.
14. Community Information Services, Department of Housing and Urban Development, ‘Social Policy Aspects of Urban Development’, S.A. Govt, 1993, pp. 5-6.
15. Ibid.
16. Lozano, Eduardo, E, ‘Community Design and the Culture of Cities: The Crossroad and the Wall’, Cambridge University Press, 1993, p.305.
Bibliography
Allsopp, B, ‘A Modern Theory of Architecture’, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1977, p. 27.
Commission of the European Communities, ‘Green Paper on the Urban Environment’, Directorate-General Environment, Nuclear Safety & Civil Protection, Brussels, 1990, p. 45.
Community Information Services, Department of Housing and Urban Development, ‘Social Policy Aspects of the Urban Development’, S.A. Govt., 1993, pp. 5-6.
Jupp, J, (Gen. Ed), ‘The Australian People: An Encyclopaedia of the Nation, Its People and Their Origins’, The Settlers: Macedonians, Angus & Robertson, NSW, 1988, pp. 685-691.
Lozano, Eduardo, E, ‘Community Design and the Culture of Cities: The Crossroad and the Wall’, Cambridge University Press, 1993, p. 305.
Lozanovska, Mirijana, ‘Gender and Architecture in a Macedonian Village’, Exedra, The Journal of the School of Architecture, Deakin University, Vol. 1, No. 2, Summer 1989, pp. 26.
Nottridge, Harold. E, ‘The Sociology of Urban Living’, Routledge & Kegan, London, 1972, p. 83.
Whitley, G.S., ‘Immigrants in the Australian Environment’, Hardboard’s Australia Ltd Scholarship, Research paper, 1972, p. 89.
Recommended Further Reading
Arias, Ernesto. G (Ed.), ‘The Meaning and Use of Housing’, Avebury Ashgate Publishing Ltd., England, 1993.
Kee, Pookong, ‘Home Ownership and Housing Conditions of Immigrants and Australian-Born, Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, Aust. Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1992.
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My First Step Abroad
By Micho Stefanovski
printable version
It was early March in 1948. The ground was still wet after a record snowfall early in February, the sub-zero temperature did not deter the villagers to venture out from their semi-hibernation to begin the cycle over the land as their fathers and grandfathers did for centuries before them.
This coming spring, however, must have been very difficult for the villagers to begin their never ending chores as most of their equipment and grain supplies were lost six months earlier when the army burnt down most of the village.
They were willing to recoup their losses however if only the two warring factious had left them alone. Drenichevo (Kranohori in Greek) a small village situated close to the highway between Kostur (Kastoria) and the small provincial town of Nestram (Nestourion) was the meat in the sandwich between the Greek army and the partisans. The army had kept a garrison in Nestram and that garrison had to be supplied with food and military equipment every second week.
Every time the army had tried to bring in some supplies to Nestram, the partisans would attack the convoy, consisting of trucks, mules, horses and donkeys, to disrupt the supply lines. The partisans would enter my village, taking positions in the church, school and strategically placed houses to fire on the convoy. The army in return would fire back with machine gun fire, mortar and artillery shells into the village.
These never-ending battles had a devastating effect on the villagers, disrupting their daily lives with fields unharvested, fodder and hay uncollected, firewood uncut and so on. Early in March, rumours reached Drenichevo that the army was about to launch an offensive against partisan lines near the village of Gradche (Ftelia) about four kilometres west of Drenichevo. It was crystal clear that the partisans would never allow at any cost the army to reach their front line positions so the battle would be fought between Drenichevo and Gradche. There was another rumour however, even more disturbing for my village than the first one. The army will occupy Drenichevo and send all the population into exile.
My father was very disturbed about these rumours. He actually worried more about our livestock than the safety of my family. After all the land and our animals provided us with food to live on, without them there would be no life. We decided that the only way to beat the army offensive was to get all our animals out of Drenichevo and into partisan controlled territories. By the 10th March, my father and I and with many other villagers set out with our animals to reach safety behind partisan lines which were situated a couple of kilometres west of Gradche. I never said good-bye to my mother, brothers, sister or to my aunty Melyovitsa. We assumed that the trip would last only a week or two as it did during WW2 fleeing the Germans for the same reasons.
The exodus from Drenichevo was slow and painful. People would get out from their charred houses to see where we were going. Some of them wanted to join us, but others just cursed us for creating an unnecessary panic and mayhem. It took us nearly two hours to reach the outskirts of Gradche where two plain clothed partisans with guns were manning a checkpoint. They wanted to know about us and where we were heading. A written pass or some kind of permission was issued to us on a scrap of paper to enter the partisan controlled zone. We went through Gradche very quickly and headed for the hills of Sveti Ilija and Popov Vr. Actually, Gradche means 'a little town' in Macedonian. I wonder what history and ancient past glories lies buried under the ruins of this little village.
About one kilometre west of Gradche, we came to another checkpoint manned by several uniformed partisans. They took away our passes and let us continue our journey. The narrow path was taking us higher and higher into the hills. We could see bunkers nearby and partisans sitting or lying around. They were dirty, badly clothed and possessing a variety of weapons, such as English made 303 rifles and Bren guns, Italian made sub machine guns and machine guns, German made ERMA MP40 or Stager and Smazer submachine guns and of course the famous German made fast firing M634 machine guns. They were just as deadly as any modern weapon in the Greek army armour. Half way up the hill, we could see more bunkers and more partisans sitting or lying around. One young partisan no more than 18 or 19 years old came to my father asking for food. He said it was a hard and difficult winter and he said that they were practically starving. My father reached for the bag he was carrying, gave him one large loaf of bread and kept one for ourselves.
The young partisan got down on his knees, grabbed my father's hand and kissed him. "Thank you chichko" (uncle), he said several times and went back to share the meal with his comrades. It was obvious that these boys were starving. How they fought the enemy on a empty stomach was anybody's guess. When we reached the top of the hills, a place called the Cradle of Garleni (Hionatou), we could see many women and older men constructing or repairing a series of bunkers. They would drag timber logs from great distances to reinforce these bunkers damaged during recent fighting. Heaps of spent machine-gun and rifle cartridges were lying around. Hundreds of artillery made craters were scattered near the bunkers. The land was practically covered with small and large pieces of rusting shrapnel. It looked like a moonscape.
From there on it was all the way down to the Turkish built little village of Garleni (Hionatou). The present inhabitants were refugees from Turkey brought in by the Greek government in 1923 after the Greco-Turkish war in 1922. Most of these people were monarchists siding with the army. During the early days of the Greek Civil War, they fled their homes for the safety in army controlled territories.
The task of finding accommodation for us and the animals was left to the partisan officials. There were many empty houses but the influx of people from other villages fleeing the army had made the matter a lot more difficult. We were given a half burnt house near the centre of the village. The large earth floored room with a large fireplace must have been a kitchen and a storeroom combined. Another room on the other side of the house was occupied by the partisans using it as a telephone or telegraph room relaying messages to other units in the area. My father and I together with at least ten other people had to share the room for the duration of our stay in that village.
We slept on the cold and hard floor with one blanket as a mattress and another to cover ourselves. To keep us warm, we kept the fireplace going 24 hours a day. Next to our room there were some barns for our animals. From the first day of our arrival, my job was to take our sheep and lambs for grazing in the countryside. Father would look after the bulls and other animals at home. Soon after the second day we completely ran out of food. We drank some milk from our sheep but milk after all is only water and not very filling. This problem was widespread throughout the village. People complained of hunger and partisan authorities were powerless to rectify the problem. After all they needed more food themselves to fight the enemy than us. Some shipment of cornbread was organized to be shipped from Albania with mules during the night. It was equally distributed throughout the village. Our ration was one slice of cornbread a day. I would take my slice with me out to work, cut it in half with my penknife. I would eat half of the slice for lunch and bring the other half home to be eaten for dinner before going to sleep. At night before going to sleep the older people would tell stories about their terrible experiences since the days of the 1903 uprising. Their fight for freedom against the Turks. Stories about the war in 1912-13 when our neighbours divided our land. Stories about the Greek army arriving in Macedonia from the south and how badly they treated our people. Many more stories about how some of them emigrated to America, their stay there and why they returned back home again. I would listen to all these stories with great interest and I would compare them with our problems we were facing now. During the early hours in the morning, we would be awaken by noise made by horses or mules on a cobblestone road just next to our wall. The partisans were ferrying supplies to the front. These supplies were apparently coming from Albania across the border with great secrecy. Every morning, I would take my sheep and lambs to the pastures around the village exploring the countryside for unusual and interesting spots.
Sometimes, another child would accompany me to the pastures making my life more bearable. I would take my sheep miles away without any fear from anyone. Partisans in groups would walk to their destinations. Some of them would search my pockets and take away my slice of bread. I would go back home at night very hungry and ask my father if he had some of his slice for a rainy day like that. Sometimes I would follow a group of partisans for miles with my sheep to find out what they were up to. They would set up some rough made targets and use them as practice shooting. I would go behind them and beg them so I could have a go. Many times I was chased away but sometimes they would give me a rifle, teach me how to aim and squeeze the trigger. I would miss the target by a mile. They would wet themselves laughing, telling me that I would make a bad partisan. By the second week, I began to feel a bit homesick. I was missing my mother, younger brothers and sister.
I would take my sheep to the highest spot in the district where the panoramic views were spectacular. I could see all the plains below as far away as Kostur. I could see my village below, the hills where I used to play and take my animals to graze. It looked so peaceful from afar. Then I could see some smoke mushrooming into balls. I knew exactly by experience what they were. Mortar bombs were falling around the village. The rumours we heard earlier about the army offensive were not rumours after all. I used to take my sheep to a plateau, a few kilometres east of the village. It was not very far from the bunkers the women and men were earlier constructing and repairing. The ground was littered with war junk. I was desperately searching to find something to eat. I was so hungry. One slice of cornbread a day was not enough for a growing 12 year old boy like me.
There were several graves of soldiers hastily buried by their comrades. Some of their boots were clearly visible above the wet soil. While removing a pair of boots from one of the semi decomposed soldier, I unearthed an army pack (sack) buried close to the corpse half full of sultanas. I was so happy. I took the boots and the army pack back to my father. He washed the sultanas and shared it with the other people in the room. It smelled like earth, but god it tasted so good. The next day I would go back to the same spot searching for more food, maybe a can or two left behind by the army. I became a scavenger actually competing with the vultures flying round in circles searching for food too. An army plane would fly around in circles perhaps on a reconnaissance mission photographing partisan targets. At times it would sweep so close to the ground for a second look that the pilots face was clearly visible. It would spook my sheep in all directions. I would curse him for his action for hours, praying to God that the bastard was dead. I never tried to hide, I felt that my life was so cheap and was not worth living. By now some of the first casualties from the battle below had started to arrive. Young women with stretchers bringing in a lot of badly wounded partisans. Some of them were without an arm or a leg or their stomachs were ripped apart by a bomb that their intestines were clearly visible. They would cry with pain and ask for water. There was very little the women could do for them. With no doctors or medical supplies, the badly wounded ones would die. The legendary Macedonian partisan officer P. Shiperko was killed by a mortar bomb in the same battle. His body was brought in on a white horse for burial. He was mourned by thousand of partisans and civilians alike who knew him. About 1,500 metres east of Garleni close to a small creek, I found hundreds of partisan graves marked by a simple wooden cross and without any name.
One evening a high ranking partisan officer visited Garleni to address the people about something of great importance. He said that the army offensive below us was gaining momentum. It is very important he said that every child between the age of two and 14 be evacuated to a safer place. The only safe place around was the territory of Albania some 10 kilometres away.
The preparation for the removal of the children from Garleni to Albania had to be carried out within two days. About 4 o'clock in the morning on the 25th of March 1948, we set out from Garleni for the Turkish built border village of Shak. We had to move in the dark because of fear of being bombed by Greek military planes. A lot of mothers and fathers came with us to see us off across the border. My father came with me carrying my blanket and the army sack I found filled with sultanas. This time, however, the sack was full of cooked meat. He slaughtered a lamb especially for the occasion to make sure that I had something to eat for at least several days.
When we arrived in Shak, the sun was already up. We sat with my father under a huge willow tree close to a small river running through the village. We ate some of the meat we had in the army pack. Later on, we visited a church and went inside to pray. My father was a very religious person, he believed that god would never abandon us. He would be with us no matter where we went. Outside the church about two metres from the bell tower were two graves side by side close together. The locals claimed that during the early days of the civil war a vicious battle took place in the village. Several people were killed. Among them were young brothers. One was a partisan and the other one a soldier. They buried them close together near the church. Later on we went to the centre of the village to hear what the partisan authorities had to say about our departure. The partisans were celebrating the Greek National Day. We stood there for a while. It was time for the mothers and fathers to say good bye to their children. I could hear cries that the children did not want to be separated from their loved ones. I stood there with my father. We did not say much. He had his arm around my shoulder and he was looking at me. Through his tired and sad eyes I could sense what he was thinking. That this probably will be the last time he sees me. I tried to be cheerful convincing him and myself that his is not the end of the world. That one day, god willing, we will see each other again. He said good bye, he turned around and left.
I stood there in silence watching him slowly disappearing on the horizon. He did not turn around for the second time to say good bye. I believed that he was devastated and heartbroken as I was and he did not want me to see his face with tears running down his cheeks. I knew he loved me a lot and I loved him too. That was the last time I saw my father alive.
I stood there for a few minutes though it looked like eternity. For the first time in my life I had found myself alone, abandoned by the last member of my family.
Cries were still coming from the crowd. Children as young as three had to be separated from their mothers and left alone. It was a heartbreaking moment. One by one all the mothers and fathers had left. Only two elderly mothers, one from our village and the other one from Gradche or Chuka remained with us. They became our foster mothers and supervisors for the journey into Albania and beyond.
That afternoon the partisan authorities collected all our blankets promising us that later on they will be loaded on a truck and sent to our destination. We never saw our blankets again. Late that afternoon an order was given for us to cross the border. They told us to follow one of the goat made tracks to reach Albania but no partisan or partisan official came to lead us for the final journey.
We took the narrow path up the hill, one mother in front of us and the other behind. Over one hundred children one by one slowly but surely moved closer and closer to the border. A large white stone about one and a half metres high and 60 centimetres wide was marking the Greco-Albanian border. We continued with our slow pace until we reached a barrier consisting of a thick horizontally stretched copper wire with other smaller vertical wires every few metres connecting the main wire to the ground.
The leading mother had gently lifted the wire about one metre high to let the children through. When half of the children managed to cross that part of the section to the other side of the wire two Albanian soldiers with their guns ready were seen running down the hill towards us. They were screaming at us and telling to stop immediately. We did not understand a word of what they were saying but we knew whatever it was it must be very serious. When they realized that we could not speak Albanian they asked us to sit down and wait. One of them went back to wherever they came from and minutes later returned with another soldier. The other soldier was a Greek-Albanian speaking Greek perfectly. Gently he explained to us that the wire we were lifting was indeed a booby-trap connected to mines on the ground. It was a miracle he said that the mines did not go off. He also said that the border guards have no knowledge from their higher authorities for children like us to cross the border. The soldiers asked us to go back to the village that was only one kilometre away. By the time we returned back to Shak it was already dark. The locals come to our assistance taking us in small groups to their homes.
Next morning the red faced officials were lost for words about what went wrong. Apparently while they were busy telling us what to do, they forgot to notify the Albanian authorities about our trip. A typical Greek bureaucratic bungle. Somehow the word that the children had returned to Shak reached Garleni like grass fire. Scores of mothers and fathers came to greet their children back. The trauma of separation was repeated again for the second day. My father unfortunately was not one of them. I understood perfectly that he had no time for a second farewell. He had plenty of work to do. He had to look after the animals himself now.
The partisans sent a representative to meet the Albanian border guards to discuss the matter. Permission was given for us to cross the border on the same day.
When we reached the border two Albanian soldiers escorted us to their barracks some two kilometres away from the border. They gave us some cornbread and water and put us on four military trucks for the long trip to the city of Korcha. About two and a half months later and thousands of kilometres behind us we reached Brno (Czechoslovakia), our final destination.
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My First Visit To My Birthplace, The Village Neret Near Lerin in Aegean Macedonia
By Atanas Strezovski
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I am Atanas Strezovski, an Australian citizen and passport holder. In July 2003, while on holiday in Europe, I decided to visit my birthplace to see my relatives and friends and to be present at the wedding of the daughter of aunty, Georgiou Elefterija.
While in Bitola, the Republic of Macedonia, I had received an invitation, written using the Greek alphabet to make Macedonian words. The letter said that I would be welcome “dear nephew” to attend the wedding of Hrisula and Atanasios and that they would wait “with warm heart” for me to arrive.
On my first attempt to return to Greece for a visit in August 1994 I had been denied entry - the border official told me this was because my passport had my birthplace as “Neret” and the country as “MKD”. Neret is the original Macedonian name for my village, and MKD is the international abbreviation for Macedonia. However, after the Balkan Wars the region became part of Greece and the village was renamed into the Greek “Polipotamos”. The border official said that there was “no way” I could enter Greece while the terminology “Neret” and “MKD” were in my passport.
On this occasion, because I had the invitation, I had a small hope that the Greek authorities would permit me to enter Greece when I arrived at the border checkpoint at Medzitlija. To encourage me, my mother, Paraskeva, who was also born in Neret but now lives in Bitola, had said to me that many people had been let into Greece because they had such an invitation. But I later realized that the invitation was irrelevant to the Greek authorities.
I made a deal with a Macedonian taxi driver that he would take me to the village Neret for 25 euros.
We set out at 8.30 am. The whole time I was afraid that they would not let me into Greece, as I know that many Macedonians born in Aegean Macedonia (now called northern Greece) have been wiped out from the records forever by the Greek authorities.
Despite the history and my own experience in 1994, I kept my small hope that they would let me enter. On the way, the owner of the taxi said that many hundreds of Macedonians with Australian and Canadian passports had been denied entry at the border simply because their birthplace was written under the original Macedonian name, for example “Buf, Makedonia”. According to the taxi driver, the Greek Government does not want to see Macedonian names and that is why they turn people back. The Government wants to see these toponyms written only under the new Greek names with which they had Christened them.
He said that when the Macedonians were denied entry they became very unhappy and that as a taxi driver he was also unhappy as the passengers paid for their journey but had not reached their destinations. What the Greeks are doing is very unfair, he said, but they are very powerful internationally and what can the Macedonians do? He then added that he has two Greek border officers who are good friends of his and that if one of them is on duty there is a small possibility that I could pass through. Otherwise there would be no chance at all, he said.
About 9 am we reached the check point, Medzitlija. He told me to wait in the taxi and he would test the ground for me. A few minutes later he returned and said it was successful.
When I saw the stamp in my passport, I was surprised that I would be allowed to pass the border, as I could clearly remember not being allowed to pass through in 1994. I could not believe the situation. I was overjoyed.
As soon as we started the car, I said to the taxi driver “The ice is broken, the times are softer, and even the Greeks can see that the Macedonians are people too. This is probably because of criticism and pressure from human rights organizations and the European politicians and community.” The young taxi driver said “Do not be so happy until the job is done and we reach your village.” The driver said that although he had been to many villages, this was the first time he was going to Neret. We would need to ask directions from somebody and, as there were a lot of Greek agents in plain clothes, to be on the safe side we would need to ask in the Greek language and to ask for the village using its Greek name. “Pujse to Polipotamos” he said to me in Greek to show me how, as I was on the footpath side of the car.
And that is what happened. When we met a women, I said the above words and she answered something in Greek which I did not understand. But the taxi driver told me even if I do not understand what she is saying, she was showing with her hand that we need to turn right at the T junction.
We continued on for another 10 minutes. But to ensure we were going in the right direction, we stopped again and asked a man who was plastering a house - using the same Greek words above. His short answer - in perfect Macedonian - was that we were on the road to the village Neret (“pa Vie patuvate za selo Neret”). With a similar short reply - also in Macedonian - I said to him with a smile “Yes, we are going there.” ("Da, tamu odime.”) He gave us precise directions. “Turn left at the third bridge. It is the last village. You cannot miss it.”
In 15 minutes we arrived at the village Neret. At once I was greeted by my relatives, my aunty Elefterija and my cousins Dimitrios and Vasili Tolis.
The wedding was underway when we arrived. The band played Macedonian and Greek music. But there was only music - no singing. Even well known Macedonian national songs, such as “Mariche Le Lichno Devojche” (Maria You Pretty Girl) were only played by the band but no one sang to the music.
Until 4 pm the ceremonies were only in the centre of the village. Around 3 pm I went to the church to speak with the priest. There was no sign of the name of the church - not in Macedonian nor in Greek. I asked the priest but he refused to answer. He seemed frightened. I asked one of the guests near me “What is the name of this church?” The lady replied “Sv Bogorodica” (St Mary). I asked why there is no name on the church? Why it is blank? She said “We know the name”. When I asked the priest if the church is called Sv Bogorodica he said “Yes” in Macedonian, but made no further comment. But the service in the church was entirely in the Greek language.
Outside the church and in the village, when there were no Greeks present, the people generally spoke Macedonian, so my impression was that the Macedonian language at least is no longer forbidden. However, it is a shame that there is no Macedonian school and that the Macedonian language is not used or taught at school.
That evening in the nearby town of Lerin, in the hall where the wedding celebrations continued, the band played Macedonian music but the words were sung in the Greek language.
After the wedding we returned to Neret and I stayed with my cousin Dimitrios.
The next day I awoke about 10 am. I was alone in the house. I looked at the photograph albums, which my cousin had already pointed out to me.
Most of the photographs were of my relatives, and I saw photographs of my dead grandfather, Hristos Strezos. I also saw photos of his son, my uncle, Kosta Strezov, who now lives in the town of Burgas in Bulgaria. It was Kosta who had originally told me about this wedding and suggested I try to enter Greece to attend. Kosta had previously not been allowed to enter Greece and so on this occasion had not tried to enter to attend the wedding.
I also saw a photograph of my grandfather’s other son, my father, Giorgi Strezovski. I was in the photograph, a child of about four sitting on his knee. The photo was taken in Bitola in about 1948. I was born in 1944 and my family had left Neret and gone to Bitola while I was a baby. My father was a patriot. He had told my mother that if we stayed in the village we would become Greeks but if we left we would have a chance to remain Macedonians. Many other Macedonians in Greece had felt the same.
I believe that as a Macedonian intellectual my father was persecuted by Serbian nationalists. My father was a professional musician, a clarinet player and composer, but in the photograph he was wearing a Yugoslav army uniform. Because of the split between Tito and Stalin, he was imprisoned for about three years in Serbia during the time of the “Informbiro”. His health deteriorated through maltreatment, and the prison doctor diagnosed that he would soon die. They let him free so that he would not die in the prison hospital. From Serbia he moved to Bitola and then Skopje but no doctor could help him and he passed away.
I also saw my mother, Paraskeva Strezovska, with her sons Lenin and myself, Atanas, photographed in Ohrid, although I do not know in what year. I was about 10 years old.
I also saw a photograph of myself as a Serbian soldier in the Yugoslav National Army. The photo was dated 25.10.1964.
I also saw a photograph of my cousin, Toli Dimitrios, dressed as a Greek ‘Evzon” guard.
At my request, my cousin, Vasili Tolis, took me to the monastery Sv Naum, where there are the graves of my relatives, including that of my grandfather Hristos Strezos, who died in 1975. The family believes this was from beatings by Greek agents whom the Macedonians call “andarti”. We believe the reason is that he received a letter from Australia which was addressed to Risto Strezovski and not Hristos Strezos, the Greek version of his name.
I also saw the graves of my cousin Hristos Tolis and his wife Fane Filippoi, for whom I lit candles.
Again, in this monastery also, I could see no writing to indicate its name.
In the village cafe, I met with a group of Macedonians who spoke in Macedonian. I joined the group and they accepted me. I told them I was born in the village but had left as a baby and this was the first time I had come back in 59 years.
They asked to see my passport and when they saw written the word “Neret” they were surprised and said how good it was that I could successfully enter Greece. I told them the story of the taxi driver.
They mentioned that even a letter which has Macedonian script or names and surnames is not delivered. They believed such letters are returned to sender but I believe they could be kept by the Greek authorities or even destroyed.
After three days the time came for me to leave for Bitola. Around 5 pm I said my goodbyes to my relatives, and my cousin Vasili took me to the border at Medzitlija.
On the way my cousin said he would bring me to Lerin to see my grandfather’s old shop where he practised as a tailor. My father also worked there as a boy before he became a musician. The shop has been closed since the late 1920s or early 1930s when my grandfather travelled to Australia to look for work. The shop looks as it was then and I took several photographs.
We started again for Bitola and my cousin said to me “Oh cousin, Tanase, if you had stayed here instead of emigrating you would have a house in Neret, a farm in Neret, and a shop in Lerin. Because your family was not here your grandfather Hristos gave everything to us and made us promise we would not sell the shop to anyone.” I did not have a comment to this, except to say “Good luck to you for your inheritance and may you have a happy life. If I have another chance in my life time I will come back again. All I want is for us to be healthy and happy.”
At the border, I wanted to make my farewells and to continue alone, in case there was some problem at the check point which I did not want my cousin to suffer. But my cousin said he would take me to the Macedonian border.
At that moment I had a feeling that something unexpected could happen.
But my cousin insisted with the words “Don’t worry. I was an evzon guard here and everyone knows me.”
When I gave my passport to the Greek official, he opened it and carefully read every part. He looked aghast and said “Selo Neret”.
As he said the Macedonian word “Selo”, which is nowhere in the passport, I immediately realized that he may be of Macedonian background. The possibility that he could be reminded me of a “Janichar”, a Turkish word from the Ottoman period that meant a Macedonian child who had been confiscated from their parents and raised as a soldier to kill Macedonians.
I got a feeling that I would have a problem. I was mostly worried about my cousin Vasili as I would be returning to Australia but he would remain there.
The official asked me in Greek “What is Neret?” and what is “MKD?”. I shrugged my shoulders and as I do not speak Greek I answered to my cousin in Macedonian so that he could translate “I do not know”, even if I did know.
He rolled the passport nervously in his hands. He made a phone call and looked up some books, ostensibly to find out what “Neret” and “MKD” mean, although I believe he already knew what they meant. I waited for about an hour at the counter. Meanwhile a number of people with Greek passports passed through trouble-free at the same window. As I waited on my feet I began to feel I was being punished. The officer held his head with both hands and looked as if he could not believe what he was reading. I wondered how a person including myself could have passed the check point and not have been checked properly. Clearly there had been some sort of “error” by the officer who had allowed me to enter Greece. I felt that the officer could get into serious trouble for allowing me in, and I felt sorry for him as what he had done was right from a humanitarian point of view. Meanwhile the officer I stood before still could not believe what he saw and continued to fidget with the passport. Finally he asked me when and how I entered Greece and who had let me in? My answer through my cousin who translated was that I did not know which officer it was but that I passed through the same road on which I now wished to leave. I told him the date and the time and that now two days later I am waiting patiently to leave as relatives of mine were on the Macedonian side of the border with a car.
The officer seemed exhausted from asking me the same questions over and over and did not know what else to ask me. Finally he gave back the passport. I thanked him and quickly left the building.
As I opened the car door and was about to sit, I saw an officer, a large man with a uniform, coming towards me. Unlike the other officer, he had a pistol on his hip. He spoke in rapid Greek, of which I could only understand the word “passport”. Immediately I understood the problem and gave him the passport. He entered the checkpoint office from which I had just left.
I waited on the footpath for about seven minutes. The large officer then returned and gave me the passport. I thanked him in English.
We entered the car and left immediately for the Macedonian border.
I wondered why the large officer had taken my passport when the first officer has already cleared me to leave. As we were driving I opened the passport to see if there had been any changes. I saw that the stamp for my entry into Greece had been badly smudged with blue ink so that the Greek words were no longer identifiable. There was also some new handwriting - the word “AKYION”, presumably a Greek word.
I also noticed that there was no stamp for my exit.
In those moments I asked myself what all this meant? Whether that by destroying my entry stamp it made it look as if I had entered Greece illegally, perhaps by jumping the fence or crossing some farmland or bush etc, rather than having passed through the checkpoint? Was that the reason for defacing the passport - to destroy the evidence that I entered Greece legally? However I did not believe that they could fully destroy the evidence of my legal entry as surely the information would have been entered in their computer system?
I decided I would take action to make these events known to various Macedonian human rights organizations in Bitola and Sydney and to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs in Canberra.
A year later I am still asking myself - what is the real problem? Is it that I entered Greece under my original Macedonian name and surname; is it that I entered Greece under the original Macedonian name of my village - Neret, instead of the Greek Polipotamos as they have renamed it; or is it that I entered Greece with the international abbreviation for Macedonia - MKD. I think it is that any or all three of the above would signify official recognition for the Macedonian people and country.
Sydney, June 30, 2004
The author can be contacted at PO Box 179, Ramsgate NSW 2217 Australia, or [email protected]
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A Girl From Neret by Lefa Ognenova-Michova and Kathleen Mitsou-Lazaridis. Childhood in an old Macedonian village, and a child’s view of war... more »
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Reprints of Makedonska Iskra (Macedonian Spark), the first Macedonian newspaper in Australia - 1946 to 1957... »
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A Life in Macedonian Affairs - Interview with Mick Veloskey ... more »
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Original articles and essays on Aegean Macedonia, its politics, culture, history and diaspora... more »
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Profiles and information on Macedonian communities around the world... more »
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Restoring Peace and Prosperity to Macedonia
-- The Rule of Numbers
By Victor Bivell
July, 2002
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The 2001 Albanian insurgency and terrorism in Macedonia - together with its appeasement by the international community, the one sided concessions by the Macedonian side in the Ohrid Agreement, and other national problems such as the slow pace of economic development, have left many Macedonians around the world pondering the future of Macedonia, and what they can do to help their homeland.
One of the hardest things for Macedonians to accept is that under the Ohrid Agreement the long-sought-after ideal of Macedonia as a homeland for the Macedonians has suffered a setback. Under the new Constitution, Macedonia is no longer a homeland for the Macedonians in the same way that Albania is the homeland for the Albanians and Greece the homeland for Greeks. Commentators have said the Constitutional changes mean that Macedonian society is no longer based on an “ethnic” model like its neighbours. Although the international community calls it a “civic” model, in reality it is a bi-ethnic model: before the Ohrid Agreement Macedonia was a country of one nation, the Macedonians, now it is a country of two nations: the Macedonians and the Albanians.
How did the ideal of a homeland for the Macedonians come to suffer this set back, and what can people of Macedonian background, including those who live outside of Macedonia, do to help build Macedonia into a secure, peaceful and prosperous country?
The Answer Is In The Numbers
In the absence of a military victory by the Macedonian military and a resolute response to the Albanian terrorism by the international community, the Albanian terrorists were successful in winning political concessions for the simple reason that the Albanians form a large minority within Macedonia.
In international minority politics, numbers count. Whether it is right or wrong, small minorities have small rights and large minorities have larger rights. Minorities of one to two per cent are everywhere and are unexceptional. Minorities comprising say around 10 per cent of the population, such as the Turks in Bulgaria, are large enough to cause severe international stress. The Albanians in Macedonia, at 22.7 per cent of the population, are by world standards a very large minority and this size brings certain rights and privileges not afforded to smaller minorities.
This does not excuse terrorism nor insurgency, made worse in the case of the Albanians because they were already a privileged minority by every Balkan and world standard.
But it does explain, for example, why large minorities are often allowed official use of their own language while small minorities are not.
This fact of international politics explains why the Albanians in Macedonia continually exaggerate their numbers, bandying about percentages of 30 and 40 per cent, without any regard for the most recent internationally monitored census. It also explains why Greece continues to swear against all the evidence that it is “98 per cent Greek”, and why it recognizes only a “Muslim” minority, even though the world knows there are Macedonians, Turks, Albanians, Bulgarians, Vlachs, Roma and others. It explains why the Greek Government does nothing to clarify the situation and why it does not have a question on ethnicity in its census.
As a rule, large minorities are very unpopular with governments and with majority populations, both of whom see them as representing large political and social trouble. Worse still is a situation such as that in Macedonia where there is a large minority yet the majority ethnic Macedonians, at only 66.7 per cent of the total population, are well below the level for most ethnic majority populations around the world. This is an inherently unstable situation. The point can be illustrated if we look at four multicultural countries: Australia, USA, Canada, and Fiji.
Australia has become a world leader in multiculturalism for at least two reasons: because the dominant ethnic group, in this case those of British descent, comprise about 75 per cent of the population, and secondly, while there are over 200 minority groups, the largest is only 4.3 per cent of the total population. In this model, no minority is large enough to constitute a threat to the dominant culture. This is a formula for long term peace.
In the US, white Americans form the majority at 75.1 per cent of the population, but among the minorities are two very large ones: the Hispanics and Latinos who are 12.5 per cent of the people and the African Americans who are 12.3 per cent.
These are large percentages. However, their respective political force is diminished because the populations are dispersed throughout the country. If each group were to compact itself into certain States, their right to further rights would improve. For example, if enough Hispanics were to move to say New Mexico, California or Texas where they are already strong and enough African-Americans move to say Louisiana, Mississippi or Georgia, so that each group became the majority in its chosen State or States, then they would gain new rights. Among them, if they chose to exercise it, would be the right to a referendum on independence and secession from the US.
This is in fact the situation in Canada, also a multicultural country with many ethnic groups. Those of French origin comprise about 23 per cent of the people, but they are a compact group, particularly in Quebec where 81 per cent of the population have French as their mother tongue. Already Quebec has had two referendums on independence, both failing by only a small percentage of votes.
If we take this process one step further and look at Fiji, we see a country that historically had one dominant group, the Fijians, but where under British colonialism Indian workers were brought in whose descendants since the second world war outnumbered the indigenous Fijians. In 1988 the Indians won the majority of parliamentary seats, a situation untenable for the indigenous Fijians. In the 14 years since, there have been three coups d’etat to maintain Fijian rule. After some population displacement, the current ethnic mix is 50.8 per cent Fijians and 43.7 per cent Indians.
The Macedonian Model
How does Macedonia fit into this model? The majority Macedonians comprise 66.7 per cent of the population, the Albanians 22.7 per cent, and the other minorities are less than 4 per cent each. Furthermore, the Albanians are compacted into the north west of the country and form the majority in Tetovo and Gostivar and some smaller localities. This is a situation conducive to long term political instability, particularly as current demographics indicate an increase in the proportion of Albanians and because the Albanians have shown a willingness to use ethnic cleansing of Macedonians to further compact their community.
The roots of Macedonia’s demographic dilemma lie in the influx into Macedonia of 150,000 Albanians from Kosovo in the 1970s and 80s. Had this not happened, Albanians would comprise around the 12.5 per cent of the population as they did in 1961, a large minority but not sufficient to threaten political stability or Macedonia as the Macedonian homeland.
The converse is that the percentage of ethnic Macedonians has fallen from 71.2 per cent in 1961 to the current 66.7 per cent. Compare this with say Slovenia where the Slovenians are 88 per cent of the population. The Slovenian homeland is secure, and free of ethnic divisions they have been able to get on with the serious business of economic development.
Clearly, the Macedonian politicians have been negligent in allowing the proportion of ethnic Macedonians to fall to such a dangerously low level and the proportion of ethnic Albanians to rise to such a high level. The following chart places into an international context just how diluted has become the ethnic Macedonian population in Macedonia.
Perhaps we should not be surprised that the stability of the country has now been shaken by terrorism, insurgency and near civil war between the two groups.
Comparing Ethnic Majorities in Their Homelands
Country
Ethnic
Majority
% of Total
Population
Largest
Minority
% of Total
Population
Japan
Japanese
99.4
Koreans
<0.6
Albania
Albanians
95.0
Greeks
3.0
Armenia
Armenians
95.0
Kurds
2.0
Germany
Germans
91.5
Turks
2.4
Romania
Romanians
89.0
Hungarians
7.1
Croatia
Croats
89.6
Serbians
4.5
Slovenia
Slovenes
87.8
Croats
2.7
Slovakia
Slovaks
85.7
Hungarians
10.7
Taiwan
Taiwanese
84.0
Mainland Chinese
14.0
Bulgaria
Bulgarian
83.0
Turks
8.5
United Kingdom
English
81.5
Scots
9.6
Singapore
Chinese
77.0
Malays
14.0
USA
White Americans
75.1
Hispanics & Latinos
12.5
Australia
British descent
75.0
Italians
4.3
Thailand
Thais
75.0
Chinese
14.0
Sri Lanka
Sinhalese
74.0
Tamils
18.0
Macedonia (1961)
Macedonians
71.2
Albanians
12.5
Macedonia (1994)
Macedonians
66.7
Albanians
22.7
Malaysia
Malays
58.0
Chinese
26.0
Belgium
Flemings
58.0
Walloons
32.0
Fiji
Fijians
50.8
Indians
43.7
Sources:
• Australian Bureau of Statistics
• NSW Government
• US State Department
• and various national census agencies
While the majority numbers for Albania and Bulgaria are likely overstated, they indicate the relative ethnic strength of two of Macedonia’ neighbouring countries.
The international comparison shows that, like Macedonia, many small countries are homeland states for their ethnic majorities, but unlike Macedonia they are not threatened by a diminishing majority or rising minority. The size of the majority is sufficient to secure its homeland.
Countries where this is not so are Fiji, which has suffered extreme political and social instability, and Malaysia which has had to resort to numerous affirmative action programs to preserve the majority’s position within its homeland.
Sri Lanka, where the Tamils are 18 per cent of the population, has suffered many years of civil war between the two ethnic groups.
Also interesting is the situation in Croatia where the Serbians where a 12.5 per cent minority until the recent civil war which saw their numbers fall to 4.5 per cent.
Belgium is an interesting case where peace between the Dutch speaking Flemings and French speaking Walloons is maintained by a Federal system and ethnically based autonomous economic regions.
A country’s political and social stability are also affected by how ethnically assertive or even aggressive is the minority, and by the attitudes of the majority.
However, as the chart shows, it is a general rule that the presence of a dominant ethnic majority is a factor for social stability.
The Way Forward
There is a clear need for Macedonia to achieve long term political and ethnic stability, and the international comparison shows that achieving these can be assisted by increasing the proportion of the majority Macedonian population to a level in line with other successful multicultural societies.
What that level should be is a decision for the Macedonian leadership and the Macedonian people. It would be interesting indeed to see the Macedonian people have such a public discussion.
For my own part, I believe a safe level would be a minimum of 75 per cent of the total population, as this would bring Macedonia in line with the Australian model, which I believe is world’s best practice.
Such a level would deliver many significant benefits. It would:
* Clearly secure Macedonia as the Macedonian homeland
* Help to avoid civil war with the Albanians
* Restore harmony between the ethnic groups
* End forever Macedonian concerns over the Albanians becoming the majority
* Make it easier for Macedonians to make available high level rights to the minorities, including the Albanians.
* Provide a dramatic boost to the economy and economic development.
How To Achieve It?
How such an increase is achieved should also be part of the discussion. For example, it need not be achieved through a reduction in Albanian numbers, although there exist internationally acceptable options if this is desired. Rather, it could be achieved relatively quickly through an influx of ethnic Macedonians from the diaspora.
No precise numbers exist for the size of the Macedonian diaspora, but it is credibility estimated on the conservative side at between 1.5 to 2 million and on the generous side at 3 to 4 million including those who have given up or lost their Macedonian consciousness. Certainly there are sufficient to achieve almost any target. The real problem is motiving a significant number of them to return to Macedonia.
So far the Macedonian Government has shown no inclination to use population policy to achieve political stability. Should this attitude continue, the policy can still be implemented by the Macedonian people, although it will take longer to achieve.
There are many expatriate Macedonians who are very willing to return, and many ethnic Macedonians from outside the Republic who would like to move to Macedonia. It happens continually. Many others would do so with only the slightest encouragement. Many feel a strong desire to help their homeland, and some of these may respond to the idea that they can help Macedonia by simply returning home, by having their feet on the ground and being a Macedonian in Macedonia.
But there are many others who would like to return but see no future for themselves in Macedonia, due mainly to the limited employment opportunities. Ironically, Macedonia’s level of economic development makes it a land of opportunity, and the growth of existing businesses and the formation of new businesses are areas where returning Macedonians would have both the ideas and the capital to make a big impact. There are many successful business people and professionals in the diaspora who could provide a real economic impetus if they could be enticed into establishing a business in Macedonia.
In addition, the large influx of Macedonians would immediately boost demand and therefore employment, enhance the country’s pool of capital and skills, and increase the formation of new businesses.
In this way, if it chooses, the Macedonian diaspora can play a substantial and even a decisive role in resolving the ongoing political tension between the Macedonian majority and the Albanian minority, and also speed up the pace of economic development and reduce the related social problems of high unemployment and poverty.
This is one way to help bring peace and prosperity to Macedonia and secure its long term future.
The above article was published in Australian Macedonian Weekly, July 2, 2002
Victor Bivell is of Aegean Macedonian background. He is a journalist, editor, and founder of Pollitecon Publications which has published numerous books on the need for human rights for ethnic Macedonians in northern Greece
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Time to Reclaim Macedonia
By Victor Bivell
August, 2001
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The outbreak of military hostilities in northern Macedonia this year is the first "hot war" episode in a longer "demographic war" between Macedonians and Albanians that has been brewing in Macedonia since the 1960s. History and current models of multiculturalism both show that when two large ethnic groups occupy the same space, conflict and or separation are inevitable.
Opinions are mixed among Macedonians as to how the Macedonian Government has handled the crisis so far. For my own part, I have three concerns:
1. The Macedonian Army failed the win a short and decisive military victory against the insurgents.
2. The Macedonian Government has not sought help from the large and very interested diaspora at a time crucial for the existence of Macedonia.
3. Both the present and previous Government have failed to develop a policy to reverse the rapid increase in the Albanian proportion of the Macedonian population, a trend which lies at the heart of this undeclared war.
When the insurgents entered Macedonia from Kosovo and were joined by some local Albanians, the international community gave the Macedonian Government a clear signal of support for a short, sharp, decisive military victory. Had the Army delivered such a victory, the insurgency would now be history.
Most unfortunately, the Government and the Army failed to deliver. Then, in a suspiciously short period of time, Macedonia lost the backing of the EU and NATO for a military solution. We can speculate as to why, and I think there are at least two relevant factors.
Instead of seeing a quick and clean end to the terrorists, the world saw many thousands of civilians leaving for Kosovo to avoid the line of fire, and at a time when NATO and the EU in particular have no more stomach for refugees from former Yugoslavia.
As it became clear that the Macedonian Army lacked the strategy and wherewithal for guerilla warfare and could not prevail easily with its artillery strategy, the attitude of NATO and the EU changed to one of taking the path of least resistance. As always in politics, any power will respect strength and the side that can deliver. NATO and the EU have found it easier to bully the Macedonian Government than to bully the terrorists. NATO and the EU seek only a solution and seem not to particularly care at what cost to Macedonia. Thus we have the national humiliation of Macedonia having to negotiate away parts of its sovereignty and even its "Macedonian-ness" with, indirectly but in fact, Albanian invaders and murderers.
The lesson is that strength works. On the two occasions when the Macedonian people have made their feelings plain, they were quickly given something for their effort. In less than two days after the people demonstrated en masse in front of parliament, US president George Bush issued his list of banned Albanians and promised to halt the flow of Albanian-American money to the terrorists. (Although we should not dismiss the possibility that this was a quid pro quo for the capitulation at Arachinovo.) On the second occasion, after the Macedonian Government threatened an all-out assault and the people demonstrated outside Western embassies against the ethnic cleansing by the terrorists, NATO quickly brokered an agreement for the terrorists to withdraw to the positions they held at the start of the present cease-fire.
This is how "real politik" seems to work.
It is not too late to show strength. But the Macedonian people, both inside and outside of Macedonia, must ask the hard questions:
1. Why was the Army not fully prepared for the insurgency?
2. Why does the Army not have specially trained and equipped units that can fully secure Macedonia's borders?
3. Why does the Army not have specially trained and equipped anti-guerrilla warfare
units that can stop the terrorists and end the insurgency? 4. Why are the Macedonian police not able to capture the "Albanian mafia" and stop their criminal activities that are reported to be behind the terrorists' activities?
If it is to survive in a form that Macedonians can recognize, Macedonia must obtain these competencies as soon as possible, and, in the case of anti-guerrilla warfare, be prepared to act decisively at the first opportunity.
"Demographic War" It is also imperative that Macedonians tackle the real issue: the longer term "demographic war" between Macedonians and Albanians that will decide who will form the majority group and eventually control Macedonia.
The Macedonian Government must formulate a policy that addresses this issue in a way that both preserves Macedonia as a homeland for the Macedonians and is acceptable internationally.
As no policy on this has ever been forthcoming by any Macedonian Government, I have taken the liberty of writing such as policy myself, titled Discussion Paper: Stabilizing Relations Between Ethnic Macedonians and Ethnic Albanians in Macedonia. The Discussion Paper was recently published in Nova Makedonija and can be downloaded from the MakNews Web site at http://www.maknews.com/html/articles/bivell.html.
The paper presents a range of internationally acceptable policy options for reversing the trend that has seen the Albanian proportion of the population rise from 13 per cent in 1961 to 22.7 per cent in 1994, while at the same time the proportion of Macedonians fell from 71.2 per cent in 1961 to 66.6 per cent in 1994.
While Macedonians were busy leaving Macedonia during the 1970s and 80s, Albanians from Kosovo were busy coming in. It is this dramatic change in demographics that has made possible the current insurgency and uprising.
Here is a clear example of the expression "politics is a numbers game". If Macedonians wish to keep "Macedonia for the Macedonians", we need to play this numbers game and win.
There are more than enough Macedonians around the world to re-assert the Macedonian right to control Macedonia. The problem is that more than half, on a conservative basis at least 1.5 million, live outside of Macedonia compared to 1.3 million inside Macedonia. It would go a long way towards solving the demographic problem if it were possible to some how pick up the Thomastown-Lalor-Epping region of Melbourne and place it between Tetovo and Gostivar. Likewise with the Macedonian part of Toronto, and for a number of other parts of the world.
Of course, this is not possible physically, and would be difficult socially, but it illustrates that Macedonia has more than adequate resources in terms of people, capital and talent.
There are many ways to tap these resources. One key strategy is the need to reverse the century old trend of Macedonians leaving Macedonia in search of a "better life": be it leaving ethnographic Macedonia for political freedom and economic opportunity, or, as in the 1970s to 1990s, leaving the Republic of Macedonia for economic reasons. Once these people leave and settle elsewhere, Macedonia loses not just them, their skills and capital, but also their children and grandchildren.
If the Macedonian Government or the Macedonian people so desire, it is possible to reverse this historic flow so that ethnic Macedonians including those born outside of Macedonia start to return to Macedonia in significant numbers.
While some Macedonians in the diaspora in a position to do so can simply vote with their feet and return to Macedonia at any time, for many others there is a need for Government encouragement and incentives and the creation of a Macedonia favourable to economic growth and political accountability.
Thus it is a matter of concern for many that when the Republic gained its independence the Government did not appeal to or encourage the diaspora to participate in the development of Macedonia, as did for example Croatia with its diaspora. This mistake has been repeated in the current crises. To date, there has been no request or initiative to encourage the diaspora to assist Macedonia in its time of need. By excluding the diaspora, Macedonia has been fighting with only one arm and, dare it be said, half of its brain.
One reason the diaspora is ignored is because it lacks formal economic clout. Informally Macedonians send many millions of dollars back to their families in Macedonia, and while this helps the families and the economy, it does not bring commensurate political voice.
So far, no one has harnessed in a formal way the economic resources of the diaspora as a means of economic development for Macedonia. It is a fact that well-to-do and well meaning Macedonians in the diaspora can invest almost anywhere in the world except in the development of Macedonia.
This because there are no professional, investment-grade funds and companies in which expatriate and other ethnic Macedonians outside Macedonia can invest and which use that capital for real business and development projects in Macedonia with measurable outcomes for the economy and real dividends for investors.
One example. Over the past nine years I have had the privilege of being the only full time venture capital journalist in Australia. Venture capital is new equity capital for start-up and fast growing businesses. Private equity, as it is also called, is itself a new financial service industry and a major world wide trend bringing huge economic development including employment and exports to those countries that are catching the wave.
Macedonia is not among them. The European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association lists Greece, Finland, Israel, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ireland and even Iceland among its 28 member countries - but it does not list Macedonia.
We need to change the view of Macedonia as a poor nation always with its hand out to other countries, and the attitude that the Macedonian people need to go somewhere else to seek work and fortune. Let's take back the responsibility for the economic development of Macedonia. Let's take back responsibility for the ethnic composition of Macedonia. Let's make Macedonia a place where Macedonians want to go back to, not run away from. In short, let's reclaim Macedonia.
The above article was published in Australian Macedonian Weekly
Victor Bivell is of Aegean Macedonian background. He is a journalist, editor, and founder of Pollitecon Publications which has published numerous books on the need for human rights for ethnic Macedonians in northern Greece.
Victor can be contacted via Pollitecon Publications at:: http://www.pollitecon.com
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Stabilizing Relations Between Ethnic Macedonians and Ethnic Albanians in Macedonia
By Victor Bivell
printable version
Macedonian version
The relationship between ethnic Macedonians and ethnic Albanians in the Republic of Macedonia has been a source of concern for many years, but it is unlikely to be resolved by ad hoc or piecemeal concessions by either side. What is required is a Government policy that will ease the tensions permanently.
While similar minority problems exist in many countries, the source of ongoing tension in Macedonia is twofold: the large size of the ethnic Albanian minority, and the rising proportion of ethnic Albanians to ethnic Macedonians in the general population. Both these factors contribute to unstable power relations between the two groups. Thus any solution to the problem must address the issue of population balance.
However, the policy positions on minorities adopted by other Balkan countries: denial of the existence of minorities, understating minority population numbers, overt and covert ethnic cleansing strategies, are not appropriate and are rightly condemned.
There are many other policy options that can achieve stability and that are based on acceptable international human rights norms and concessions from both ethnic groups.
What is at stake
For ethnic Macedonians, Macedonia is their long sought after and only homeland - the one place on Earth where they can fully enjoy their culture and develop it freely. This feeling is shared by ethnic Macedonians in Macedonia and by the relatively large Macedonian diaspora. Thus the preservation of Macedonia as the Macedonian homeland, as stated in the Constitution, is paramount.
For ethnic Albanians, the issue has at least three perspectives: one group of Albanians is content to the extent that they choose to live in Macedonia rather than in Albania and Kosovo, for a second group the issue is about greater human rights in Macedonia, and for a third group it is about the expansion of Albanian controlled territory.
From the Macedonian perspective, the Albanian desire for more rights must be seen in the wider Balkan context. Macedonia argues that the Albanian minority in Macedonia enjoys far greater rights than other ethnic minorities in the Balkans, and that these rights far exceed the human rights of ethnic Macedonians in Albania, Greece and Bulgaria, and also far exceed the human rights of all ethnic minorities in Albania and Kosovo, for example.
It is also true that Albanians, like Macedonians, are among the more than 200 privileged nations in the world which have their own homeland. Any ethnic Albanian who seriously feels they lack human rights need only travel the very short distance to Albania, a choice which the many hundreds of ethnic groups without a homeland do not have.
Macedonians see that ethnic Albanians have a homeland in Albania - as is clearly stated in the Constitution of Albania - and that no one is asking them to relinquish this. They also see Albanian demands for changes to the Macedonian Constitution as attempts to de-Macedonianize Macedonia - that Albanians are demanding that Macedonians give up their human right to have a homeland, something which Albanians are not being asked to do. In this situation, who is oppressing whom?
Thus ethnic Albanian demands for human rights are weakened by the strong elements of hypocrisy and political opportunism.
The solution to this is the granting of equal rights to the Macedonian minority in Albania, so that the rights of the two minority groups - ethnic Albanians in Macedonia and ethnic Macedonians in Albania - can advance together and equally.
Meanwhile, it is the third group of ethnic Albanians, the territorial expansionists, who are the most serious ongoing threat to stability.
The Albanian minority has claimed that it respects the territorial integrity of Macedonia, but the recent terrorist offensives in Tetovo and Kumanovo in north west Macedonia by organized ethnic Albanian military groups was widely seen among the international community and within Macedonia as an illegal and undemocratic attempt to gain territory.
The ability to mount a military offensive and the support given to that offensive are also indicative of the increasing power of the Albanian minority.
Even if Macedonia were to concede to Albanian minority demands for greater rights and changes to the Constitution, there is no guarantee that the Albanian minority’s demands would end there. The terrorist offensive shows that these demands are likely to continue at least until territory is conceded to the ethnic Albanians.
It is also certain that these demands will increase, not decrease, as the Albanian minority increases its proportion within the total Macedonian population.
Thus Albanian minority claims that they do not seek to annexe territory are insufficient. A mere verbal or written statement by ethnic Albanians that they will preserve Macedonia will never satisfy the Macedonian public and diaspora.
Policy of National Stability
This has placed the Macedonian Government under pressure to find a solution that preserves both Macedonia as a homeland for the Macedonian people and ethnic stability within the country.
To achieve these, the Government needs to make it clear that the Albanian minority has to be prepared to offer more than verbal comfort. They also need to make real concessions that will prove their bona fides and achieve national stability.
These concessions should be based on the core issue for ethnic Macedonians - stabilizing the intercommunity relations by stabilizing the ethnic Macedonian and ethnic Albanian populations in Macedonia.
The Macedonian State Statistical Office shows the following dramatic rise in the ethnic Albanian population, from 12.5 per cent in 1953 to 22.7 per cent 1994. Much of this was due to immigrants from Kosovo during the 1960s and 70s when Macedonia and Kosovo were both part of Yugoslavia.
POPULATION STRUCTURE ACCORDING TO DECLARED ETHNIC AFFILIATION, BY CENSUSES
year
1953
1961
1971
1981
1991 1)
1994 2)
TOTAL
100
100
100
100
100
100
Macedonian
66
71.2
69.3
67
65.3
66.6
Albanian
12.5
13
17
19.8
21.7
22.7
Turkish
15.6
9.4
6.6
4.5
3.8
4
Roma
1.6
1.5
1.5
2.3
2.6
2.2
Vlach
0.7
0.6
0.4
0.3
0.4
0.4
Serb
2.7
3
2.8
2.3
2.1
2.1
Others
1
1.4
2.3
3.8
4.1
2
Stabilizing the population proportions would provide comfort to the ethnic Macedonians in Macedonia and in the diaspora that their homeland is not being gradually lost from within, and in doing so provide a more conducive environment for the favourable consideration of advances in human rights and economic circumstances for all minorities in Macedonia, including the ethnic Albanian minority.
As part of developing a long term solution, the Macedonian Government should formulate and articulate a clear Policy of National Stability that addresses this issue. It should then implement a set of policies to achieve this based on a two fold strategy of increasing ethnic Macedonian numbers, principally through encouraging ethnic Macedonians to return to or migrate to Macedonia, and secondly stabilizing or reducing ethnic Albanian numbers, utilizing a selection of internationally accepted means including where appropriate the finding of desirable emigration opportunities.
The policy should guarantee political and ethnic stability within the country while also preserving the human rights of the ethnic Albanians.
The policy should be based entirely on voluntary and individual choice and positive incentives and should scrupulously avoid any suggestion of coercion or untoward forcefulness.
The method of implementation is crucial. The so called "voluntary" population exchanges between Greece and Turkey and Greece and Bulgaria in the 1920s - which involved hundreds of thousands of ethnic Macedonians as well as Greeks, Turks and Bulgarians - were humanitarian catastrophes that have forever given such government controlled population measures a bad name. But the agreement between Macedonia and Turkey in the 1960s for the return of muslim Turks to Turkey appears to have been a much more successful exercise proving that such a policy can work if it is the right policy and implemented well.
One option that does not appear to be workable in the current situation is that of separating the predominanlty Albanian region of Macedonia from the predominantly Macedonian region including as part of a land swap between Albania and Macedonia. Such a separation worked well for Czechoslovakia when it became the Czech Republic and Slovakia, but two factors make it difficult in Macedonia: it would clearly reward the aggression of the Albanian separatists, sending the wrong signal to the many other Balkan minorities, and the Macedonians in the Albanian majority region are clearly against it.
Implementation
What is the optimum balance between the ethnic groups that will ease tensions and generate stability? Many countries struggle with this issue, and perhaps there is no definitive answer to such a difficult, value-based question.
One option is to nominate a target: for example a long term target of returning the ethnic Macedonian proportion of the total population to its 1961 level of 71.2 per cent.
A second option is simply to increase the proportion of ethnic Macedonians incrementally until stability is achieved.
Either way, the desired level of stability would need to be achieved by policy measures that encourage an increase in ethnic Macedonian numbers along with if needed a stabilization or perhaps also a reduction in ethnic Albanian numbers.
There are numerous acceptable policy options available for further consideration that can achieve this.
Policy Options to Increase the Ethnic Macedonian Population:
1. Incentives to encourage ethnic Macedonians to form families and to have larger families. These could also be offered to other, non ethnic Albanian, minorities.
2. Measures to discourage migration by ethnic Macedonians, such as:
A. Government request under a Temporary Declaration of National Need.
B. Limitations on the movement of private capital out of the country by intending ethnic Macedonian migrants.
3. Incentives to encourage the return of expatriate ethnic Macedonians, including those from Tetovo, Kumanovo and north west Macedonia.
4. Incentives to encourage the migration to Macedonia of ethnic Macedonians from the diaspora who were born outside of Macedonia.
The diaspora is a massive resource that can assist Macedonia in the same way that the large scale immigration of Russian Jews in the 1990s assisted Israel, and the Pontian Greeks in the 1920s assisted Greece. Strategies could include:
A. Government appeal
B. Financial incentives (perhaps travel assistance, interest free housing loans, State flats or land grants) for such Macedonians who settle in approved regions such as Tetovo and Kumanovo and surrounds, and stay for a predetermined period, say 5 or 10 years.
5. A longer term program to encourage young ethnic Macedonians in the diaspora to consider living in Macedonia. For example, one target group could be single people who have at least one parent who is ethnic Macedonian. The program could provide free or subsidized housing for a set period, for example up to one year, and a refund on travel expenses to Macedonia, while they either study, work, seek work, set up a business or other approved activity. The young people could be housed in the same complex to encourage friendships and integration.
Policy Options to Stabilize the Albanian Minority’s Population:
1. Firm Government statement and policy that ethnic Albanians who desire to live peacefully in Macedonia are welcome but ethnic Albanians who desire the annexation of territory are unwelcome.
2. Repatriation of illegal immigrants.
3. More efficient border controls.
4. Return to Kosovo of all remaining refugees from the Kosovo War and Milosevic period.
5. Moratorium on granting of further citizenships for resident ethnic Albanians until the desired level of stability is achieved.
6. Increased higher education opportunities for ethnic Albanian women.
7. If stability is achieved, more dramatic policy options such as encouraging voluntary migration would not be required.
Conclusion
The lists are not exhaustive and there are numerous other policy options that can be explored in regard to both strategies.
Such a program, if implemented within all the accepted international human rights norms, should satisfy ethnic Albanians by providing desirable economic and other opportunities, and a better climate for improved human rights.
For ethnic Macedonians, it will guarantee that they will preserve their only homeland, demonstrate the bona fides of the ethnic Albanians in Macedonia, and create a safe climate in which human rights can advance for all citizens.
17 June, 2001
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Prof. Dr. Kosta Peev
Macedonian Language from Greece
‘ Speaks’ of the Macedonians living there.
by Odisej Belchevsky
January, 2006
Dr. Prof. Kosta Peev a Macedonian scholar and a Linguist-Dialectologist. Currently one of the most advanced and known linguists in Macedonia.
Professor –Doctor Kosta Peev dedicated a large portion of his life in exploring documenting and recording the language of the Macedonian people from the Aegean Macedonia. After a great effort and two decades of work his books
"a Dictionary of the Macedonian Dialects from the South east part of Aegean Macedonia" in three volumes and 1500 pages was published as the first Dialectical Monograph based directly on materials collected analysed and recorded by the author.
Dr. Kosta Peev was born in Strumica Macedonia, where he completed his Public School and gymnasium-High School. He continued his higher education in Skopje Macedonia. Here he graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy and after the Masters on the ‘Dojranski Govor’ he obtained his Doctorate with the Book –Study of the Kukushki Govor.He was a professor in Strumica Macedonia and later became Assistant Professor at the Institute for Macedonian Language, and Professor at the Faculty of Philology.
His Life Work has epic significance as it is an official and documentary work and proof of the existence of Macedonian people in what for long time was called Northern Greece. His work includes numerous live encounters with the people from this region and recording their tragic stories from the periods of 1913- 1918 and 1948-1949.
What motivated this great scholar to spend over two decades of his life working on the subject of Aegean Macedonian language?
‘During the first world war in this part of the world, the Greek regime leashed their armies in Macedonia and literarily slaughtered the Macedonian population in the fields and their homes. The farmers were working in their fields, and as they were shot they ran not knowing what happened to their wives and children The families separated as they ran in all directions and many of them never saw each other again. Mothers with young babies and children ran for their lives, in many instances forced to leave their children on the roads and fields as they could not carry all of them. The elderly men and women and the sick were left behind.
It was one of the most brutal and uncalled for extermination of human life in this region of the world. The city of Kukush and the surrounding 36 villages were completely burned and destroyed. This region was the most industrious and established of Macedonia and the nucleus of Macedonians.
Many eye witnesses that escaped and survived told the tragic stories of the genocide to the Macedonian population. These stories are very tragic and are living proof of the atrocities inflicted on the innocent population.
This tragic event greatly touched the heart of the author .His desire to record these events reflected in his work in recording and documenting the language of these Macedonians.
This was not an easy task as the Greek regime of the 1960’s in Macedonia did not allow anyone to conduct official work related to language and history of this region of Macedonia from the older generation of Macedonians that remained there.
It was necessary to locate the now aged refugees from the First World War that had crossed the border between Greece and Yugoslavia .Therefore most of the work was carried out in Yugoslavia. The author had to travel to the various villages to meet with the Macedonian refugees and conduct the interviews and recordings.
The author has also used various related literature and information that was available in other European Centers such as Belgrade, Prague, Warszawa, Krakow, Paris and others.
What is the situation with the Macedonian spoken Language in Aegean Macedonia (Greece)?
According to Dr. Kosta Peev although minimal, the Macedonian Language is still spoken. However due to the current situation in Greece, where the Macedonian Language is not allowed and is under powerful influence of a ‘foreign language system’ this language is in the process of quick decline as less and less people of the younger generation have a chance to hear it or speak it.
Acceding to Dr. Kosta Peev and his work the Macedonian Language Spoken in the vicinity of Solun was the Language of the well known Macedonian brothers Kiril and Metodij who lived in the 9th Century in Macedonia and were the initiators, promoters
And educators of all the Slavic Nations. There are archaic forms that have been preserved in the Solun (Salonica) Macedonian Dialect that are only present in the Macedonian Language.Originaly similar type of work was carried in the late 1800’by some Slovenian Educators . These are Vatroslav Oblak in 1896, and his Professor at the University of Vienna Vatroslav Jagic .These Vienna Scholars traveled to Macedonia in 1890’near Solun (Salonica) recorded and confirmed the Macedonian Language spoken in this part of Macedonia.
The Importance of the Life Work of Dr. Kosta Peev is increasing everyday. His book is currently on the desks of the Russian University Scholars who are using his work to create the Russian Etymological Dictionaries. Kosta Peev’s has received a very high recognition by scholars, educators and professors, throughout the world.
Odyssey Belchevsky
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A Study of the Origins, Connections and Meanings
of The Indo-European words: Reeka, Ree, Rea and River
in Language and Mythology
By Odyssey Belchevsky
Abstract: “The Miracles of the River”
The rivers are one of the most wonderful creations of nature. They have existed long before the existence of men.
They are often things of great beauty. Some are colossal. They have flowed for ever and have accompanied men since time immemorial. They can be raging or calm. They are always exciting and inspiring. They run on the surface of the Earth as the veins run along the human body carrying life giving blood. People make and dedicate songs to the rivers. Every spring they swell and gush with ‘new life’as they bring water into the fields to sustain a host of living things. They “give” to all living creatures and plants for ever without discrimination.
Could it be possible that the river influenced men in creation of their early Mythology as well as helped in their language creation, building and organizing their existence and way of life? This should not be a surprise. .The rivers create natural lines on the surface of the Earth.These natural lines helped early men to create the concepts of division of land,create ownership,rule,order,and other concepts in their early existence.The study penetrates to a deeper level of actually understanding primary Language creation,from nature.
Logical explanations of how the very existence of the river created primary language religious and social concepts are given. These are as follows:
1. The part of the Classical Mythology associated with and created by the river. This study gives clear explanation of the classical relation of the Goddess Rea and supreme God Zeus. This part of the study, confirms the statement of the Ancient philosophers Plato and Herodotus in Classical Greece, that many of classical gods and their traditions were received from the’ barbarians’ The barbarians were the Ancient Europeans-non Greeks, whose speech was not understood by the Greeks according to the leading expert the German Linguist and Etymologist Georg Curtius from the Universiry of Leipzig in his grand study on the Principles of Greek Etymology in the late 19 th Century.
2.The Concept associated with the Latin words’ regio’ ’ rex’, which today are present as universal words in all European Languges.In English these are region, regal, rule, king, regulate- control. This is the most primary concept for establishing land division borders, control, ownership and social structure. Over time the concept of land division and ownership, evolved into the concept of kingdom and separate countries as they are known today.
3 The Devine existence of’ continual indiscriminant ‘loving and ‘giving’ of the River to all living creatures on earth, which explains one of the most fundamental Christian believes today.
Mother river, (Ma rika, Ma Rea,Maria ) in Classical times Rea, is the continual giver of life sustaining water that gives birth to all Life on Earth.
In Classical times Rea gives birth to Zeus, in Christianity Maria ( Ma Ria ) gives birth to Christ –Jihova that is Life itself on Earth.
4. The concept that is associated with the words recital, recite, and their related families, which in this study is named ‘the mode of speaking concept’.
Introduction
The rivers are the main ‘suppliers’ of water. They always move. The continuous flow of water in the river created the basic concept of movement[1].But the ‘primary function’ of water, is that it creates the basic requirement for life. It is one of the four basic elements that the world is made of according to the ancient and most learned man, scientist and philosopher Aristotle.
The river created a significant number of important language concepts at the earliest time of the Primary Language creation. The Macedonian and Slavic Languages offer the strongest support and the living proofs to the idea that ‘the creation of the Primary Languages was Conceptual and not random. This was the long process of language creation directly connected to the Laws of Nature.
Upon completion of this study and analysis of the concepts associated with a river, it become rather easy to see the existence of a remarkable symphony of Language Concepts and the associated meanings of the Mythological deity Rea- Rea revealed in all her glory.
This was accomplished with the use of the Macedonian and Slavic Languages. The vocabulary associated with this magnificent concept of nature is deeply and permanently imbedded in the Languages of all Slavic Nations and to a lesser degree as a ripple effect in the other European Languages.
This study provides the actual ’ ingredients’ that make up what can be considered as one of the most significant ‘ time layers’ of Primary Language Creation in Europe and possibly abroad. The information is given in a logical manner and is explained as long term permanent influence from Nature to human. The very fact that the given explanations provide simple and universal understanding on a number of Universal concepts confirms the validity of the study as a whole.
Study
1 .Explaining the Mythology associated with Rea the mother of Zeus-Zevs
Archeology and history teach us that most of the very early human settlements and villages were build along or close to steady flowing rivers. This was of course very practical and logical because in order to ensure existence, the agriculture work had to be successful and a river had to be nearby. A simple observation of the large deserts on earth shows that life in these parts of the planet is very limited and marginal for humans. So in fact the river /water always was the basic necessity and a requirement for living-existing. In order to provide convincing and reliable data, this study goes back to the language of the Homeric period
The Homeric word forms for river and associated with river ,river flow, flow, run etc. and the Macedonian/Slavic equivalent are as follows:
Homeric (approx.1500 BC) Macedonian/Slavic English Ref
riako - riako - rieka mountain river Henry George
ree - ree - reeka river, flow Liddell G/E.Lex
reei - reei rici, teci, reci flow, a flow of words 1940 Oxford
Vudati reei -( F)udati reei - vodata rici(teci) running water
errieka - errihka
rie - ruh - rie
Now, how and why are Rea and Zeus related? Was this relationship just the ‘imagination’ of the Ancient Europeans ?Or was it based on the logical evolution of human mind based on the continual observation of their surroundings and need to understand and record its importance in their language and daily lives.? All the Mythology books today tell us that Rea gives birth to Zeus. The true meaning and understanding as well as the importance of this birth of new life or mother-son relationship is easily explained with an in-depth study of the Slavic languages.
There is significant and indestructible information retained in these languages that indicates that the form/name Zeus – Zevs is phonetically and functionally connected with the massive root of everything associated with life, living, existence, propagating, creating new life /offspring with the ritual of marriage
We also know that Zeus is the Supreme God and’ rules’ the other gods on the tallest mountain Holimbo (Xolimbos) > Olympus ² We all know that life and joy of living is the greatest, most valuable, important, significant ,precious ,beautiful ,most dear irreplaceable joy of existence. It is what the whole world and existence on Earth and possibly everywhere in the Universe is all about. It is, therefore not unreasonable to propose that God=life
Let us propose that: Supreme God Zeus = life on Earth, or simply Zeus = life
It is significant that the presence of the root-word associated with life in the Macedonian and Slavic Languages is massive. Some of the forms associated with this root follow:
zi > ziv > zivi > ziti >ziviti > zivota >zitie > zivo > zivos > zivio> zivec
zivee > ,zivil³> ziveel = to live,lived, have lived ( to exist, existed )
What is very important however, is the existence of a defined conceptual relation of this massive number of words in these languages today. It indicates a long term of language development since primary language creation. This relation is unparalleled in any other language group in Europe.
Once this concept is understood, the true meaning of many other concepts, natural laws as well as the development of fundamental Christian beliefs and rituals and other world religions can easily be understood.
In Macedonian today, and to a lesser extent in the other Slavic Languages, there is an expression of the most solemn swear of trust and pleading that goes as follows:
Zi ti Bog, Ziv ti Boga, Ziti majka; ziti deca; = for the life of God, for the life of your mother; for the life of your children) etc.This carries with it a very familiar reflection of the expression “ by Zeus”. The human life, the family- children are the most valuable entities in our existence.
Also it is important to indicate that the relationship of and concept of the woman as directly connected to procreation –offspring –existence and life propagation is most profoundly expressed and connected in Macedonian and other Slavic Languages as follows:
zena ,zene,zeni, zeneti >gene> genesis>genetics
Only in these Languages there is the functional and phonetic/etymological root and word connection and relation between the following fundamental words:
woman >wife >marriage >creation and propagation of new life > living>existing.
The woman is the divine and only entity that bears new life. This relationship brings new fresh light and reconfirms the meaning of life itself. Now there is a very large group of related words in most of the Slavonic languages that are associated with this concept:
Macedonian….. Divos, divina, divno , deva , devica, devojka , devojce, Divovi
English………All nature divine young virgin girl-female Gods of Nature
Divos, divina, has the meaning of all living’ God created Natural world’ untouched by humans from which originated the word divine. An unmarried virgin woman in Slavic is deva, devica, devojka.She is the divine creation that propagates human life[2].
Zivos evolves into divos and has retained the meaning of’ all natural creation’. This is directly related to God and includes everything existing. Today God is equaled to life and all living. The forms divo>diva> divi>dii have very close affinity to and provide alternative meaning to the Latin’dii>die deus’.
What is very significant is that the form Divos has been found on inscription in the Balkans on Ancient coins [4] This is inscribed as “qibos [5] = Dibos = divos” This has very close affinity to the Greek word qeios=qeos which today makes a very significant part of our Society.
It is important to note here that in the other European languages the words associated with Theos> Deos> God, have very shallow etymological and functional root relationship. The German etymologist Georg Curtius, indicated a possibility that it could have evolved from the root/ concept related to divos,but he did not provide a complete and convincing study mainly due to not considering the Slavic Languages.
He quotes the Italian etymologist Ascoli who identified’ theos’ with the Sanskrit root div and divja-s [6] ‘heavenly’ and from div-eo-s arrives at dveos and theos.
divos > dibos > qibos > qeios > qeos
The Slavic group of words is firmly supported by the Sanskrit words Jiv =Ziv = living = life
Also according to the bible , Eve> Ive is the first woman/ life creator and propagator on earth. ( zive > ive > eve).
All the personal names with the base of Iva , Eva ,Ivan, have the fundamental base of the Macedonian personal names Ziva,Zive, Zivan, Zivko ,Zivka.
Furthermore the biblical form’ Evangelie’ or’ Evangelist’ can be clearly explained with the combination of
eva< z’eva =living ,life) +zelanie = (z)evanzelanie>zevanzelie >evangelie
zelanie is the old Slavic word for desire long for, or simply Zeva(n)zjelie= desire for eternal life.
(Also the older form of God in the bible was given as Jihova (The letter J can be pronounced as Zj>Ž ) this will yield a very close affinity to the Slavic words Zjiva> Zjivota)
In the Homeric writings we have the word/forms Zi,Ze, Ziti (Zi Zh,Ziti ) ,with the meaning to live, to breathe.
These are the characteristcs of Zeus and are virtually indentical to the Macedonian/Slavic Zi, Ze, Ziti and all its relations.
This connects this study to the study of the early European staple food Zito.
Žito (zeeto)
This is the fundamental staple food that sustains life and feeds the multitudes.
Zito is the general term for all grains obtained from agriculture in all Slavic Languages.This word has the base root ‘ži’and the particle to or ta( as in zita), which is a modified form of da and do ,that brings us to the fundamental meaning of dai doi, doe ,nado(e), = feeding nurishing ( Do mater> Demeter)
The grains are the most magnificent form of staple food that are functionally related to life –existence, because they were and still are the fundamental and lasting entity for feeding the multitudes and sustaining life in general. They are easily preserved in containers and can last for many years. They can be planted directly into the soil and will give new crops >new life.
The agriculture that is associated with the grains was the main trust of the early human society and development of all aspects of Civilization that we know today. This is again confirmed with the fact that the deity Demeter in Central Italy was called Zito [7]
In the Macedonian modern language there is the dialectical form/verb ,noun and adjective for’ feeding’ ‘ siti ‘’site ‘ sitost, nasite’ ‘sit’.All these forms belong to the the same concept. Food or feeding is what sustains life.
3. Concept associated with Fundamental Christian beliefs
Now to this point, this study has shown how and why the most important God – Deity of the Ancient Europeans Zeus is clearly related to life itself as the humans know it on Earth. This life is only possible with the existence and continual supply of water. Now it is very simple to see that this has been done most efficiently with the magnificent River Ree>Rea >Reeka
The word reka in Slavic has feminine significance, which again confirms a woman/mother and therefore
Rea- river> woman> mother of life itself>zeevos >zevs>zeus
She is the mother that’ bears’- creates life on Earth. This life is conected in all aspects with the Christian God .Water sustains life [8]
Today this concept is reflected in the Christian rituals of the Baptisam throughout the world . There is the unmistakable parallel of the ancient model to the Bathing –Baptism of the lord Jesus Christ in the River,recorded in the Bible. The Christening ritual is very much universal today as most of Christian Babies are baptized in the church.
This is the ritual of water bathing that signifies the birth of new life and the rebirth and renewal of men. Long before the emergence of Modern Christianity,this ritual was reflected in the ancient ritual of the Macedonian priests [9] ( 700-800 BC)
This is very significant as this study also provides alternative and understandable meaning of the name of Maria the Devine mother of Jihova –Christ which again connects the reader with the river concept.It is a recorded fact for thousands of years and an exact parallel to the Ancient European’ Mythological” concept as follows:
Mythology…………. Rea ,ree,riako,rieka-river > gives birth to Zeus-life
Christianity…………Ma-ria ,(Ma-rika) > gives birth to Jihova-Christ –life
In Macedonian today there is a very old and specific feminine name related to Maria and that is Marika-Mareeka [10]
In the central region of Macedonia the dialectical form of this name is pronounced MÀ-reeka.This name is recorded in numerous songs in many regions over centuries.
It is a basic combination of the root Ma (mother, Homeric Maia), combined with Reeka and has the inescapable meaning of Mother River. This name can be the remnant of an older name –form of a ‘divine river- mother’ that brings, always gives and maintains the life sustaining water to every living entity in the world.In Macedonia and the Balkans there are many rivers which names bear very close affinity to this concept.These are:Marica in southern Macedonia flowing in the Aegian Sea,Maris(a) a tribituary to the Ister( Danube)in Scythia as per Herodotus 4.48, Margos a river in Illiria, Marisos a river in Dacia flowing in the Danube, Mareia the name of a fountain in Alexandria.There is also a Roman female name Markia which can be obtained from Marika.
There are numerous additional Christian rituals that relate to the significance of water One important one is the Macedonian ritual” Vodici” ‘the day of the water’ that takes place in the early part of the year (close to the birth of Christ).During this ceremony the cross (symbol of Modern Christianity) is ‘thrown’ in the river and the young men dive into the water in order to retrieve it. People believe that whoever retrieves the cross from the water, will be blessed with health, long life and good fortune.
Another ritual that is related to the significance of water and dates back to Ancient times of European history, is the ritual of
Khladona >Khladones>Kladenci.This was specific to the Ancient Macedonians as per J.Kalleris [11].He struggled to provide logical meaning to this ancient tradition, and in his book “Les Ancient Macedonien”Athens 1968, could only provide scanty and general information.He did not consult with the Slavic and Macedonian Languages.
Other Miracles of Reka- Rea
2.Concept associated with the Latin words Regio ,Rex
A steady supply of water was essential to these early people as it allowed easy watering of their crops.
This was done and is still carried out today by digging channels from a flowing river and allowing the water to invade the field through gravity.
Later in human development the rivers became channels for traveling and trade. In many instances these settlements were positioned where two rivers joined into one. A good example is the Sumerian Civilization – Messo potamia (Land between rivers) as well as many cities in Europe today.
This was done with the use of good logic based on continuous observation of the surroundings as this location provided a degree of security and safety. One can easily cross a little brook that dries up in the summer, but a large steady flowing river is difficult to cross. Also if one river was affected in some way or dried up, there was the second river still available.
Now, according to Cassel’s D.P.Simpson MA an authority on the Latin Language, the Latin base word/root regio is connected with the words for line “in a straight/continuous line”, a space enclosed by lines, and from here an administrative division.
At this point of the study in an attempt to connect this important term with some reference or source from nature a more in depth etymology of this very important Latin word and concept was required.However it was nowhere to be found in the Latin or Greek Languages.For this reason a venture for the search of the actual etymology in the Slavic Language was considered.
This led to a very promising, challenging but functional affinity with the Macedonian words Riga =line; recka= a little line; and reka = river.
Now in nature, a continuously flowing river is a permanent, well defined, hard to cross, and reliable means for division of territory. The river cuts the land and creates a line. Therefore it was very simple that the easiest and most logical location to establish a boundary between two territories or groups of people was the river.
Now the rivers were there since time immemorial as constant companion and supplier of life giving water. In continuance with the functional analysis today we can observe that:
Land was the source of food and as families grew, there was a real necessity for establishing order and control. Division of property, and ownership became a basic requirement.
As territories got actually divided with the use of these” river lines” the concept of boundary and territorial claim developed. From the Concept of order and control emerged the concept of ruler and King.
The Slavic words reka , rieka,rika = river and the Macedonoan word’ riga’= line, developed into the Early Latin word regi and regio and from this it developed into region that later required one leader who was given the power to dominate and control the region , who logically attained the name of Regis , Rex - a King.
As additional support to this study all one has to do is observe that many countries today have their borders as rivers.All major cities in the world have rivers flowing through them. Today the countries of the world are still divided by borders mainly for the same reason as early humans divided their means of existence- the workable fields, control ,order and ownership.
A further study at this point indicates that a massive number of words associated with this Slavic concept developed in the English and other European Languages.
Regulate - to control
Irrigate, irrigation - watering the fields by controlling and channeling the water flow.
Rein (L. regnare) - Rule as a King or Queen
Regent, regatta, and many others
Now it is very important to indicate here that the Italian and Latin word for River is flumen bearing no resemblance to Regi, Reka, Reki.
But also in Latin Rigo, riguus = conduct water, flow. The word flow/riga/ rigo is functionally related to reka- river and rigo- flow..The rivers always flow.In the modern Greek Language ,the words vor river is potamos-potamos, which has very close affinity with the Slavic and Macedonian word potok.The word ‘potok’ in Slavic belonges to a large family of words such as potoce ,potece ,potok poture.etc.( little creek, a small flow of water , to pour water at one time), which is different than the continuous flow of a river.This is in agreement with the fact that most of the little rivers in ancient Greece dried up during the hot season.In fact there was no conceptual development associated with the word/concept of river.
A review of the Slavic words associated with the river follows ,and gives further support to this functional concept.
Rejati to push ( gurati) - the river breaks its own path and way.
Krece, Kreti, = to move, start moving
Riakos - Riakos - Homeric a mountain river
Reka, rieka,; Recica, Rekicka; River, little river; river as place name
Rika ( Ukrainian. )= River
Riciti , rici, teci = to flow
Riga = a line
Rie, riti = to dig up soil.In the spring the rivers are more powerful and displace soil.
According to P.Skok P.141 Book III, except for the Basque language where we have erreka [12]= river = reka , there are no other parallels in the other European Language with the word reka,rieka [13].
Also P. Skok indicates: “ ( Baski) ereka , is cega izlazi da bi praslavenska reč reka mogla pripadati pred-ie. substratu “
(translation: from which comes that the pre slav word’river’could belong to the pre indo-european substrate.) He had no idea how close he came to the real possibility of this having a very strong merit.
The Slavic Language Concepts associated and created with the word Reka- river have made an enormous influence on the languages of Europe and beyond. This kind of Language creation and development happens over a long period of time .This clearly indicates that the Slavic Languages are very ancient.
At this time further analysis of additional aspects of the River,has taken this study to a much higher level of appreciating and becoming part of the Natural phenomena associated with this magnificent natural wonder.
4.Concept associated with’the way of speaking- recital In Slavic, Reci recenica ’
When sitting by a river in a non populated area over a long period of time it is the most beautiful experience to hear the continuous pleasant and soothing to the ear sounds. This happens night or day” The river never ceases to flow and make natural sounds, it never” sleeps”. At times it seems that the river is” talking” in a continuous flowing voice. One can almost picture the ancient workers and planters of the soil as they walked along the river nearby all day long and many times at night since we know that most of the plowing was done on clear moon lit nights. They continually listened to the song of the River. No power could stop the river, even if one builds a dam, it will over flow and continue to flow.
From time to time these sounds appear to transform in melodies and words as if the river is repeating or reciting a beautiful natural recital or message. These” Recitals” of the naturally flowing water do change with the seasons as the volume and therefore the force of this flow changes. In the distant past stories were told that people believed in the songs of the River.Therefore it is logical that the natural sounds of the flowing water have influenced the creation of the Human speech.
In the Homeric Poems we have some very archaic forms and meanings associated with this Concept, and although these have been most likely altered over the years by many writers or story tellers, they still have some excellent clues and valuable indications.
Remanants of vocabulary related to the concept of river in the Homeric Language [14]
rhsos - resos a river in the Troade also called Roiths - Roites
Rhsso , rhxhnwr - Resso,.reksinor- “one or somethig that breaks the way”
Rhsos - A River and River God - Father of the Trachian King Resos (Reses)
- and son of the River Strumon ( Struma) …. ( Hesoid .Th.339 – Hdt. )
As per Homer- In Bithinia known as Ribas- Rivas, Ribas [15]
Also we have the following words and forms in the HP with the associated meanings:
rhsis, rhsios , (resis, resios,recis, recios) = to talk, a saying!
This brings us to the Slavic and Macedonian forms:
Recis , reci , rec , recnik, recenica = to talk, to say, a word,dictionary,sentence
Recitira , recitacija, rekao, ja reko, = to recite,recitation,he said(told),I said(told)
It is important to the study of this Concept, to indicate that in the Macedonian and Slavic Languages the word ‘reci’and its related forms are generally used when saying a sentence or reciting words without having a conversation.
A recital is always an uninterrupted’ flowing’ form of talk, given to others that listen and it is most of the time in a poetic “” singing style” or form of speech There is no” response expected from the listeners” after a recital. Many times, even if one listens to a recital or song in a language not understood ,it is still adored and appreciated A good example of this is when listening to an Opera.
This is supported in the following observation: If one sees and hears one person just taking (zbora), he may wonder what is going on and might ask the person: Are you talking to yourself?
But if we hear a person reciting or singing a song, we usually stop and listen.
Also in Macedonian, the form “Recenica “indicates a “flow of words “Reci” expressed in one continuous sequence. This can be compared to’ zbora’ which is related to zbir, zbira, sobor, etc. when more than one person is gathered, indicating an interactive conversation.
In conclusion
The concepts associated with the river are many. These are true miracles of the river, Mother-river.The Slavic Languages have ‘recorded’in them an amaizing number of language concepts directly from nature, many of which are yet to be discovered.These languages have in them the most valuable and important linguistic information that will help all future linguists and etymologists achieve a better understanding of the European Languages, and in general provide simple and logical meaning to many Natural laws.
‘Language is the most remarkable and the most characteristic of all human creations’
‘Jazikot e mediumot kade prirodata se odrazila i zabeležala.Toj ja prestavuva najčudotvornata i najgenialna kreacija na čovekot’
Translation: (‘Language is the media where nature is reflected and recorded. It represents the most miraculous and most genius creation of man’)
Author: Odyssey Belchevsky
© All rights reserved by the author
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References
1. The concept of movement / travel, was created from the basic property of water –liquid.This is a massive conceptual development of language in the Slavic group of languages. It is analyzed and recorded as a separate study by the author.
2 In modern Macedonian there are the related forms, Gholimbo’< Gholimboz <Gholim bog= Great god
3.The form’ zivil’has very close affinity and relation to the German word’ zivil’= civil = regular or civilian life ,compared to millitary life and brings us to the modern words civilian , civilisation etc. A civilization is related to living /existing of the Human race over a period of time. ( ż>z>s(c))
5 Georg Curtius,Principles of Greek Etymology, Lon .Vol II p.131,134 connects’ theos’ to’ theo’ =run “thought of even in antiquity by Plato”Crat. P.397, stating with his own words that ‘though a single god may have been called a ‘runner’this would be strange if applied to the race of the gods in general.’
6 Ascoli in the Vol.II of Georg Curtius, London p. 135( Rendiconti del Reale Instituto Lombardo Classe de letter e sc.moral.e polit.iv.fasc.6,)
7 As part of the marriage ceremony the Macedonians as well as other European cultures throw the grains( zito) on the bride and groom. This again symbolizes new life, procreation as the seeds are the procreators of new life begining,Also the word sitno is related to something small like the grain. In the bible, God gave men seeds to plant and procreate. Also the Macedonian peasants today when starting new trees or plants from the cuttings of the old existing trees, embed a grain /seed (wheat) at the bottom of the cutting .This procedure facilitates the development of new roots from the cutting,
Demeter was called Zito -Studies in Ancient Greek Society-George Thompson, Lawrence & Wishhart
8 Water, watta , voda , is also an inseparable and virtualy ‘fused’ part of the dialectical form –word for life ’ zivota ‘ ( t > d > t , w > v )
9 John Jamieson D.D The Radical affinities of the Greek and Latin Languages to the Gothic, Edinburgh 1814 , Page 66.
10 In the Ukranian Language the word for river is ‘rika’(reeka)
11 The Macedonian ritual of ‘khladone’- ‘kadones’-‘kladenci’ is recorded in Macedonia over a long period of time. The meaning of this term in Macedonian is connected to the water wells –springs, that come from the depts of the Earth.Originaly the young brides visited these wells with the notion to ‘bath –wash themselves with the water of these springs with the belief that the water that comes from the ‘depth of the Earth’ will ensure fertility and long life.The details of this ritual are connected to the concept of Pluto-Hades –Presefatta .They are postulated in a separate study of the author
12 This form has a very close affinity with the Ancient Macedonian river in Pelagonija-Errigon
13 A small correction is in order here. There is the English word’ creek’ ( ‘kreek) meaning small river that has the same base as reeka=river.Also the Slavic word /verb kreta, krece=move, flow.
14 Ludwig Franc Passow, Greek English Lexicon by George Liddell .1846 Oxford
15 The ancient Homeric form ‘riva-riba’ is not an error. It is a form given in the Homeric Poems. This may give light to the long sought explanation and relation of the words river > rive >ribe> riba -fish.It is natural and logical that at the time of primary Language creation ,that the word for fish-riba was associated with the word for river.This is currently under review in a separate study by the author.
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assical Mythology Explained
With The Use of Macedonian Vocabulary
A Series of Studies in European Mythology
Part 1 - Is There a Practical Meaning to Mythology?
by Odisej Belchevsky
November, 2003
The information contained in this article is not of mythical or imagined content but is very real, which the reader should find exciting and interesting.
In this article I will take the reader through a fresh new look at classical mythology and bring out alternative meanings of the identities of Demeter, Saturn, Pluto/Hades and Zemele.
An inquiring mind may ask the following questions:
How is it that for the last 200 years European scholars have been able to attribute mathematics, physics, astronomy, government, military strategies, natural principles and even the understanding of human behavior to the ancient people of southern Europe and the Mediterranean yet when it comes to interpreting mythological figures they could only manage to provide imaginary, unrealistic, impractical, hard to understand and confusing explanations?
Is it possible that modern scholars and scholars of the “Romantic Era” in particular, did not have a clear understanding of the true meaning of the names of deities in relation to the deities’ roles and functions in nature?
I will begin my interpretation by providing the reader with a foundation for understanding the process by which the ancient Europeans created what we today call Classical Mythology. I will then show how the ancient Europeans used practical methods for naming their deities and each name such as Demeter, Pluto, Hades, Zemele, etc., had a special meaning for them which, when interpreted properly, makes sense even today.
To conduct our interpretations properly we must seek the oldest name of each deity and have a good knowledge of the deity’s attributes and characteristics. It is also essential that we have a good knowledge of the old Macedonian languages, Koine and Slavonic.
It is particularly important to know the oldest name of the gods and goddesses because many deities have been borrowed by various cultures and over time their names have been changed.
Over the years I have studied many details of these deities both from linguistic and historical sources and, although many books have been written on this subject, none can provide a simple and logical explanation. Most often the average person searching for meaning is left with a confusing, complicated, long, stretched out and generally difficult explanation.
By applying my knowledge of the Macedonian language, some of its older dialects and Old Slavonic I have been able to find simpler and more practical meanings for the names of the deities which not only identify the deities with nature but also put them in harmony with their characteristics and attributes.
In this article I would like to offer a practical meaning for the four deities: Demeter, Pluto, Hades and Zemele.
After establishing the meaning of the names of these four we can use the same method to explain the meaning and role of almost all known classical deities. We must also keep in mind that some names and their meanings have evolved over the years.
If we were to study the ancient societies from about 1500 to 500 B.C. we would find that their world was a world of agriculture. Most people in this period made their living from farming, so it is reasonable to assume that their survival depended on their ability to successfully work the land. More specifically, farmers had to have extensive knowledge of soil and weather conditions. They had to know the seasons, when to plant and when to harvest. They also had to know the importance of rain and its unpredictability. In the old days, as it is today, after planting farmers had to literally “pray” for the rain to fall. In all practicality, if the rain did not fall when it was needed, crops would suffer and yield poorly. The quality of soil was also an important factor in farming. If the soil was infertile the crop yield would be poor. The ancient farmers had to know that.
When comparing today’s societies with those of 3000 years ago we find that ancient people did not have the technology or the means to transport food over great distances so a failed crop meant suffering and starvation. In ancient times all the necessary work was done manually by humans and animals (in some regions of the world farming is still done this way). Today we have technology to till the land, plant seeds and harvest crops. We have fertilizing to enrich the soil and water delivery systems to water it. We also have better methods (although sometimes questionable) of predicting the weather.
Now that we have established that the ancient societies of 3000 years ago heavily depended on farming the land for their survival, we need to establish a rationale for their gods. First we need to establish the origin of these deities.
It was Plato (500-600 BC) that said “most gods and their traditions we have received from the Barbarians.” A few hundred years later Herodotus confirms Plato’s statement.
If these Barbarians, who according to Homer, were “as numerous as the leaves in the forest” had the capacity to create these gods and pass them on to the ancient Europeans, is it not possible that their other characteristics have also descended and remain with us today?
It is important to note here that the original meaning of the word barbarian was “misunderstood”. Today we know that barbarian does not mean ignorant but rather a non-speaker of the languages of the ancient Greek city states.
Many authors, I believe, have tried to interpret the rationale behind the ancient deities but did not go deep enough. In my opinion, their scope was too narrow and they could not find a rational and logical explanation. One of those authors was Edith Hamilton, a great scholar and world-renowned classicist who wrote a book about Greek and Norse Mythology. In her book, published in 1940, she talks about mythological fairy tales and stories of the imagination, pure fiction with little meaning or practicality that would connect the deities to every day life. Others too have hinged on the imagination of the ancients as the source for the creation of mythology.
I do have to admit that over time mythological stories most probably have been embellished by the storytellers and as a result have somewhat changed. But still we must not underestimate the ability of the ancient Europeans to apply reason and logic. We also have to maintain the notion that at the time of the “mythological creation,” which most likely was over a long period of time, all the gods were created by necessity and were an integral part of peoples’ lives. I have been carrying this notion for many years and as a result have searched for more rational and practical meanings in mythology.
Influenced by numerous literary sources connecting classical mythology to the ancient Greeks and Romans, most writers over the last hundred years or so have failed to widen their search and consider one of the largest linguistic groups, the Slavonic languages. Myself, I have discovered that the Slavonic languages offer an immense source of knowledge in many fields including mythology.
For example, consider the following excerpt;
... The daughter of Doimater (Demeter), Prosorpina – (Persephone) is “snatched” by Hades the god of the underworld and is taken underneath the earth for four months of the year. In the beginning, Demeter is furious as she frantically looks for her daughter. Her absence causes the earth to freeze and become barren of all fruits and gifts to the mortals. After some time Demeter accepts Persephone’s fate and allows her to become Hades’ bride and spend the winters beneath the surface of the earth…
In the spring, when Hades changes to Pluto (his brother), Persephone comes back to the surface bringing with her Pluto’s wealth of the agriculture and all Demeter’s gifts of nature back to the mortals …
Looking at the excerpt from a farmer’s point of view we find that the changing of the seasons is perpetual and universal. As daylight increases and the sun warms the earth, the earth comes back to life. The soil is plowed, seeded and bears the fruits that sustain life. This is an annual transformation that goes beyond the control of mere mortals (humans). As farmers, the ancient people paid careful attention to the seasons.
It is important at this point to note that the ancient creators of the gods modeled their deities after their own images and their relationships to one another. For example there were mother and father gods, children and sibling gods. These gods were part of their lives and daily existence.
It is also important to note that the various “myths” come to us from the well known “Homeric Hymns”.
For many thousands of years the ancient Europeans observed natural phenomena around them, phenomena such as the movement of the sun, lightning and thunder descending from the sky, the birth of new life, death, the falling of rain, the perpetual changing of day and night, the changing of the moon, the stars, the changing of the seasons, the enormous power of the uncontrollable seas, the phenomenon of fire, the fruitfulness of mother earth and many more.
People could not explain or control these powerful natural phenomena but accepted them as forces of nature. In their minds these powerful forces were responsible for the existence of all life on earth so naturally the early Europeans greatly respected, feared, honoured and accepted them as gods.
Today we are not much different. Even though our religions have greatly evolved, we still attribute things we don’t understand or wish for to our God. All religions basically teach us to be good, to love and respect one another, to be generous and to be honest and humble.
Unlike our ancestors, today we understand most of the natural phenomena like how clouds and rain are formed, what causes the changing of the seasons, etc. and no longer have the need to attribute them to the gods.
Also, in spite of what some modern scholars tell us, Ancient Europeans did not imagine or create their gods purely for fictional purposes but rather they modeled them after the powerful “natural phenomena” which they observed over long periods of time. The gods were created from the basic need to explain the natural forces that controlled their lives.
This becomes apparent when we use the Macedonian language to explain the role of the gods from the meaning of their names.
Most of the original names and characteristics of these deities clearly coincide with basic fundamental words found in the modern Macedonian and Slavonic languages. These words are part of language concepts that have created very large families of words with very deep etymological root connections pointing to a long and continual development. The Slavonic languages provide the most logical explanation and are unparalleled compared to other European and non-European languages. Evidence of this is very strong and is extremely hard to ignore.
The following table provides examples of the relationship between the meaning of the name of the deities and their role in nature:
Deity Name
Greek or Roman Attributes Macedonian
or Slavonic English Greek
Semele Thraco- Macedonian
Earth Goddess Zemja
Zemje Earth Homa
Saturn
Sadir-Sadene Agricultural God Sadi
Sadenje Planting Fiton
Doimater (Demeter)
Doi, Dos
Dos, Doi Doi Dos Nourishing
Feeding
Rain Theripticos
Pluto Riches of agriculture
later- wealth Plodo
Plod
(Plot) Fruitful Karpoforos
Hades Underworld
Snake Ghades Snake Ofis
The names of these Deities are interconnected in a most amazing functional conception. In fact they exist together in harmony in the Macedonian language today just as they always existed in nature. They are inseparable. If we separate them their meaning will be lost.
Zemele - Zemle - Semelhs
Zemele is an ancient root word that exists only in the Slavonic languages.
The following are Macedonian etymological words associated with the root word Zemele:
Zemja, Zemla the Earth
Zemjodelie agriculture
Zemjodelec crop farmer
Zemjak fellow countryman
Zemski earthly
Zemjotres earthquake
Prizemje partly underground
Temeli (Zemeli) foundations (the foundations are always dug into the Earth)
Temni to darken
Temno dark (it darkens as one descends deep into earth)
Temnica darkness
Podzemle underground
Nadzemle aboveground
Zemjani inhabitants of the earth
Zemun, Zemunik place names originally built with earth/ soil around them
Also, the above have close family ties with the following pre-Into-European words:
Zemle, Semle, Sem(l)e, Seme seed that is planted in the earth
Semeto se see the seed is planted in the earth
By losing the letter ’m’ above, we obtain;
Zemele, Semele, Seele, sele inhabiting the earth “living on the Earth”
Sele, na sele to inhabit, dwell
Selo, sela, nasele village (pre Slav– house, habitat)
and so on.
The word Zemele also has a number of “sister words” such as Zmija and zmej a snake or snake like monster, cold-blooded creatures that live below ground or in the underworld.
Now let’s review the characteristics and basic concepts associated with the earth.
The Earth has two main attributes:
1. It is able to bear fruit => Fruitfulness
2. Richness of the Soil => Plod => Pluto
Only a fruitful earth will bear “agricultural riches” associated with the god Pluto.
The word Pluto is closely related to the Macedonian word Plod or Plodo. In older versions of the Slavonic languages the letters and sounds of o and u were interchangeable. This is significant because if we replace the current letter ‘o’ with ‘u‘, we obtain Pludo. By the way, it is important to mention here that Pluto’s original name, or more precisely, one of Pluto’s older names is “Ploto”.
The word Plodo is part of a very large family of words many of which are functionally related in a language concept.
The earth contains all the ingredients and ability to nourish life which is planted into it. This is reflected and expressed in the words “Plodna Zemja” or “fruitful earth” .This only happens when the earth’s two attributes “fruitfulness and richness of soil” come together.
We know that everything that is alive bears fruit. Females (woman, Zhena) must be “fruitful” as well as be impregnated with a seed at the proper time or lunar cycle, in order to bear offspring and perpetuate life.
The seeds of every plant, when planted at the proper time (the spring), will be nourished by the falling rain or Dos / Dosdoi, as we call it in Macedonian. Coincidentally, the original name of Demeter was Doi (Doi) and Dos (Dos)
Also from the Homeric poems we know that Doine (Doine - qoine) means “feeding, nourishing”.
Again according to Homer, when the goddess Demeter came to earth to search for her daughter she used the name Doi.
There is also one important fact that I would like to mention at this point. According to one Macedonian tradition, which by the way is still practiced to this day in remote parts of Macedonia, there is a chant attributed to Doi that goes something like this;
“Doi - dole - Doidule
Dozhdo da zavrne
Da na doi zemlata”
These are actual words chanted to the rain goddess asking her to make it rain (Dos and Dozd) so that the earth can be nourished and the crops will grow and bear fruit.
It is important at this point to mention that Persephone, Demeter’s daughter was also known by an older name as “Preseffeta” which in Macedonian means “to bloom”. As we know all living plants bloom in the spring when Persephone is released by Hades and returns to the surface.
And now let’s look at Hades, the god of the underworld and his relationship to the natural world.
Ghades - Hades
We all know that during the winter months in the world where the climate is moderate the earth freezes and loses its ability to bear fruit. In other words, Doimater or Demeter “cuts off the fruitfulness, richness and gift of the soil” as Pluto (Plodo), the richness of the soil escapes into the underworld and becomes his brother Hades (Ghades).
Hades renews himself as he again snatches Demeter’s daughter who symbolizes spring and summer, the warm seasons, and takes her below the earth for another cycle. Hades’ renewal brings the end of the warm season and the beginning of the cold one. For the farmers of old, Hades was the “bad attribute” of the earth or the time when the soil lost its Plod or ability to bear fruit. Hades is also associated with decomposition, darkness and fear of the unknown.
Again, Ghades is a unique Slavonic word that does not exist in any other European language. In most Slavonic cultures, the word Ghades is associated with the snake but in Macedonian it could also mean something bad, unpleasant, terrible, undesirable, or slimy.
Ghad
Ghadeno
Ghadesh
Se ghadi
To be continued...
Odisej Belchevsky,
Macedonian Language Researcher
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You can contact the author at: [email protected] or Risto Stefov at [email protected]
All rights in using or propagating this material are strictly reserved by the author, Odyssey Belchevsky.
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