Risto Stefov - Articles, Translations & Collaborations

[cultea]

Here is a funny story that had me in stitch's (since we are on a topic Once a Greek Always a Greek)

This Greek and i were having a discusion. At one point he commented,
"let me tell you a famouse Grik saying. keep your friends close and your enemies closer"

bahahahahahahahahahahhahaha

why do they want to own everything?

Actually it's (Italian) American.

"Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer".
This has often been attributed to Sun Tzu and sometimes to Niccolò Machiavelli or Petrarch, but there are no published sources yet found which predate its use by "Michael Corleone" in The Godfather Part II (1974), written by Mario Puzo & Francis Ford Coppola: My father taught me many things here — he taught me in this room. He taught me — keep your friends close but your enemies closer.

[George S.]

Happy Birthday Alexander

Happy Birthday Alexander

By Risto Stefov

[email protected]

July 24, 2011

By the wish of a young boy, to hear the greatest adventure story ever told, an ancient story teller was summoned from the burning fires of the everlasting sun.

“Ah, so you want me to tell you a story, an adventure story at that?” said the old man as he approached from behind the shadow of the great rock. “And why should I do that?” he said as he sat on the iron bench before the boy”. The boy stood motionless wandering “is this for real or is it a figment of my imagination?”

“You didn’t even say please?” said the old man as the boy stood frozen before him.

“Children now-days! They have no attention span and no manners. How can an old story teller like me keep up with the garbage on television and the mind rot of video games? I don’t know! But this kid wants me to tell him a story, an adventure story at that.”

After mumbling to himself for a while, the old man turned to the boy and said “what’s your name kid?”

Out of the kids lips came the word “Alexander”. “Did I say that?” the boy thought as he stood still and motionless like a tree with roots affixed deep into the ground.

“Ah, your name is Alexander, I see” said the old man. “Oh, mine is A-risto-tell… nice to meet you …Alexander!”

Not knowing what to say or do and still in a daze wondering if this is a trick of his imagination, Alexander was a bit mystified by Aristotell’s presence. He imagined he wanted to be told an adventure story and poof, here is this old man. “How is that even possible?” Alexander thought to himself.

“A long time ago, I used to know a kid named Alexander who was also impolite and impetuous, much like you, so maybe I will tell you a story…his story” said Aristotell, witnessing a tiny smile on the boy’s face.

“Ah, you would like that, wouldn’t you?” said Aristotell “but now I am growing weary and I want to rest, so please go away and come back tomorrow, I will tell you the story tomorrow”.

“Please Mr. Aristotell!” Words came out of Alexander’s mouth which he neither could remember thinking or saying.

“Are you still here? Did I just hear you say ‘please’? You really want me to start the story right now? But I told you I am tired” said the old man as the kid stood there motionless and expressionless.

“Okay kid, I will tell you a story, a real adventure story tomorrow. Now you must promise me you will go away and come back tomorrow.”
The old man slowly stood up off the iron bench and walked away, back to where he came from “…Tomorrow morning…” he yelled out as he became one with the shadow of the great rock. He then disappeared into the twilight.
Alexander was overwhelmed by the sight. Did he see the old man? Or did he imagine the whole thing?
“Was it real or did I imagine it” was a thought that preoccupied Alexander as he again found his feet and felt himself running home through the murky streets at dusk, fast like his life depended on it.
Alexander couldn’t sleep all night, questions kept popping up in his mind, questions which could only be answered with more questions, questions of the imagination. “Did it really happen or did I imagine it? How could a person just appear and disappear like a shadow? How did he know what I wanted to ask before I could ask?” The more he thought, the more Alexander was convinced he imagined the whole thing. But how could he be sure?
Alexander was on his feet, awakened by the ring of the telephone. “Hello” he said but all he could hear was dial tone and a buzzing noise. “Silly me” he said to himself as he realize it was his alarm clock and not the telephone that awakened him. It was early morning the next day and it was still dark as Alexander left home to meet his imaginary friend. “I must be a total idiot” he said to himself as he hurried to get to the top of the hill by the great rock “I know I must have imagined the whole thing! What am I doing here?”

As he stood by the bench like he did the day before, Alexander felt the warmth of the first rays of the rising sun on his face. “Ah that’s nice” he thought to himself. “It’s awesome; I can only imagine how welcome it must have been to the naked caveman in the cold morning a long, long time ago.”

The sun was now fully out looking like a ball of fire rising from its cave behind the horizon. Alexander could feel its fire burning his eyes but just couldn’t help himself but gaze at its glory. “My eyes, my eyes, I can’t see” he thought to himself. “The light is burning my eyes.” All he could see was a black spot coming out of the sun and getting bigger and bigger. “I have damaged my eyes” Alexander thought to himself.

“I see, you have summoned me again…young Alexander” said a voice coming out of the dark spot in his eyes, as Alexander frantically tried to wipe it off.

“Yes…yes, Mr. Aristotell. It is really me again,…Alexander”.

“I guess you are not afraid of me any more?” said the old man.

“Afraid of you? No sir, I was never afraid of you” said Alexander.
“Ha, ha, ha, ha”, the old man laughed. “Am I real or am I a figment of your imagination boy?” said the old man in an authoritative voice.

“Hm, hm oh, yeah, I think you are real” answered Alexander.

“So then let’s begin, let’s take a journey, shall we?” said the old man as they departed into the rising sun.

In the Beginning

“The story I am about to tell you is a true story, embellished a little, like a good story should be, but none the less true. You will have to use your imagination to visualize and turn my words into pictures of men, beautiful maidens, armies, formations, battles, weapons and sights and sounds.

This is a story about Aleksandar from the day he was born to the day he died.”

“Why do you call him ‘Aleksandar’?” piped up Alexander, interrupting the old man.

“Aleksandar was his name, that’s what his father named him. He was Macedonian you know, and Aleksandar was his name in Macedonian” replied the old man.

“But I thought he was ‘Greek’? Piped up Alexander.

“Oh boy! Is this what they teach you in school nowadays? Aleksandar a Greek? Ha, ha, ha, ha. Let me tell you boy, Aleksandar was no Greek, there was no such thing as Greece and Greeks in those days. The world was a different place then, it was more colourful than a rainbow with its many city states, cultures and languages. Macedonia was different from the rest, the people were different, their language, culture and customs were different. Macedonians were nothing like the other tribes that lived in the region and in the city states. And no! Macedonia was not a city state, it was a great nation state, more like modern multicultural, multiethnic nations. In fact, Macedonia was the first nation, in the modern sense of the word, in Europe.”

“Do you want to hear the story? Then please don’t interrupt.”

“Aleksandar’s story begins a long, long time ago when a young King named Philip took a vacation in the gardens of Samothrace. There he met a young and beautiful priestess who also just happened to be a princes, a Molossian princes. Her name was Polyxena.

They were in love you know? King Philip and Polyxena.
You look puzzled Alexander, you have no idea what I am talking about, do you? Ah well didn’t you study Alexander the Great in school? How about his father Philip II of Macedon? Well, this story is about that Alexander, Alexander the Great as you know him today! How do I know Alexander you ask? Well, I told you before, I was his teacher. How can that be? That was over two-thousand three-hundred years ago? Well I told you I am old. No more questions please, let’s get on with the story!

Aleksandar was born in turbulent times when his father was trying to save Macedonia from the many tribes that surrounded it.

Anyway, as I was saying, Aleksandar was born in 356 BC some say July 22nd but I believe it was July 24th, during a time of war. His father was tired of seeing his country plundered again and again by his many neighbours so he did what he could to defend it.

To be continued…



Happy birthday Aleksandar.



From Risto Stefov’s unpublished novel “Alexander’s Adventures”

[George S.]

From the Once Classified Files - Part 24

The New Macedonian State is a link in Balkan Unity



M. Harizanov returns from Skopje



M.Ivan Harizanov, member of the National Committee of the Patriotic Front, has returned from Skopje, where he went to bring the greetings of the Patriotic Front Bulgaria to the new Macedonian State.



On this occasion H. Harizanov made the following statements:



“My impressions are excellent. What was a dream is now a reality. The Macedonia of the Vardar is free. She has her own Government, her own language and her own Constituent Assembly. She has her own face in every respect. The visitor immediately feels that. Everything is in effervescence and in creation. Everyone is conscious that a great historical deed is being done, which had been the dream of many generations.



Q. What are the feelings towards us, M. Harizanov?



A. It must be confessed that they have been very hostile until now. This is due to the occupation, to ill-treatment by our officials, and especially to the wrong and fatal policy of our Dynasty and its governments.



Q. What are the faults of the former Bulgarian policy, in your opinion?



A. The former rulers could not grasp what Macedonia really was. In this respect, we Bulgarians are very guilty in regard to the Macedonian people. When the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization of Gotse Delchev and Sandanski was struggling heroically for the freedom of Macedonia, the Great-Bulgarian chauvinists of the Bulgarian dynasty and its governments did all in their power to destroy and to suppress it.



The leaders of the revolution opposed this, and therefore the most eminent members of the organization were eliminated by the agents of the dynasty.



These leaders were the first to proclaim before the world the great covenant: “Macedonia must be autonomous and instead of being an apple of discord must become a link for the unity of the Balkan peoples.”



And this is exactly what is going on now.





Macedonians going to Yugoslavia



Ottawa, July 28, 1947



(Front page missing)



There are no indications that Macedonians were among the expatriates who sailed on the S.S. RADNIK for Yugoslavia in May, 1947. The Bulgarian-language weekly NOVO VREME, which reported the news of the repatriation, made no mention of even one of Macedonians returning to Yugoslavia on that boat.



2. With reference to paragraph 3 of the Canadian Ambassador’s letter No.289 - More detailed information on the financial transactions of the Macedonian War Relief Committee in Canada can be obtained from Lt.-Col. P.L. Browne, Director of Voluntary War Relief Division, Department of National Health and Welfare, Old Supreme Court Building, Ottawa. According to information available to this Branch, the campaign for a "relief for suffering Macedonians" was conducted in Canada in the Summer of 1949. It was closed on October 11, 1946. The collected money reached the sum of $15,295.87. We understand that the Macedonian committee was refused permission to transfer the collected funds abroad. There are indications that part of the collected funds were used for other purposes than relief, i.e., financing the trip of Yugoslav and Bulgaro-Macedonian delegates to the All Slav Congress held in Belgrade in December, 1946.



3. With reference to paragraphs 4 and 5 of Letter No. 289 -Letter of Col. Petse Traikoff, Commandant of Skopje (published in NOVO VREME of April 26, 1946) was written to Nicola Goushev of Kitchener, Ontario. NOVO VREME adds that the Macedonian Government intended to send Col. Traikoff to Canada to assist in the collection of Macedonian relief funds. In his letter Col. Traikoff relates also his life's story: On January 21, 1935 he was put into a concentration camp, presumable after the German break with the U.S.S.R. In 1941 he was again arrested and put into a concentration camp, "with many other Bulgarian progressive leaders". He did not stay long in the camp but in 1943 he was re-arrested and sentenced to lifelong imprisonment. He was liberated on the 8th September, 1944, made a Colonel and appointed the organizer of the GOTSE DELTCHEV BRIGADE of the "people's liberation army", numbering, according to his statements, 12,000 men. In his letter he praises the "people's hero-leader of Yugoslavia, Comrade Marshal Tito", and expresses the hope that Macedonia will become a "free federal member of Tito's democratic Yugoslavia", the beloved leader Marshal Tito" and the "Great Soviet Union". The contents of the letter and its publication in NOVO VREME on the eve of a fund collection campaign indicate that it was written with the purpose of assisting in the money collection.



4. Reference paragraph 7 of Letter No. 289 -The number of Macedonian associations in Canada is reasonable within proportion to the number of persons of Macedonian descent. It has to be borne in mind that many individuals are members of several societies and that the membership of associations is comparatively small. Macedonian Canadian People's League and other associations affiliated with the League are closely linked up with the Canadian Council of South Slavs and when celebrations or mass meetings are arranged, they are attended by all Slavs of Communistic affiliations, to give the impression of numerical strength. Memoranda to the Paris Conference or United Nations can be sent by private persons or a parish association; there are no restrictions in this respect in Canada, and apparently the small Macedonian associations in Canada achieved their aim -not to be ignored but to be given attention.



5. Re paragraph 8 of Letter 289 - There were only two delegates of the Macedonian Communist group from Canada who attended the All-Slav Congress in Belgrade in December, 1945. They were Andrew Palmeroff, Secretary of the Macedonian People’s Council, and Nicola Kyriakopoulos, former Deputy of the Greek (Revolutionary?) Parliament, and member of the Macedonian- Canadian People's Council. Andrew Christoff, the Editor of NOVO VREME (New Times) represented the Bulgarian Canadian Communist group.



6. Re paragraph 10 of Letter 289 – Mr. Grouios of Leamington is not known to us. His statement that “this spring thousands of persons in Canada and the United States are preparing to come to fight as guerillas for the independence of Macedonia against the Greek Government can be taken as pure boasting. The number of all persons of Macedonian descent in Canada does nor exceed a few thousands, children, women and old people included. If a person applies for a passport to go to Bulgaria or Yugoslavia, he would be known to Canadian authorities. American authorities discontinued issuing visa to Yugoslavia for the present, according to the American press.



7. Re paragraph 11 of Letter 289 – It is possible, but not likely, that among the 500 repatriates who left for Yugoslavia on the S.S. RADNIK in May, 1947, there were a few who intended to join the partisan forces to fight against Greece.



8. Re paragraph 13 of Letter 289 -Postal censorship does not exist in Canada and, therefore, it may occur that persons writing to Europe have included small amounts of money in letters to their friends or relatives. But these sums are insignificant and could hardly be classed as financial support of insurgents. Any amount of money sent through the medium of a Canadian bank requires a clearing from the Canadian Foreign Exchange Control Board, and until recently all collections of relief funds required a permit from the Voluntary War Relief Division.



Macedonians in Canada: Their Estimated Numbers and Division





Macedonia is a country divided between three states: (a) Bulgaria; (b) Yugoslavia; and (c) Greece. Macedonian Canadians originate from these states. There is no separate classification in the Canadian census for Macedonians. Their figure has to be worked out through deduction. According to the Census of 1941 there were in Canada:



3,260 persons of Bulgarian origin

11,692 persons of Greek origin

21,214 persons of Yugoslav origin



Of these 36,166 persons, about 6,000 originated from Macedonia and belong to the Macedonian ethnic group. Politically they are divided into federalists and autonomists. Federalists show Communistic leanings and are pro-Tito, and seem to work in close co- operation with and under the guidance of the Council of South Slavs who determine their policy. This policy is directed from Belgrade, as can be traced from its actions, and this group can be estimated to be 3,000 strong, men, women and children. The autonomists are striving for complete, independent united Macedonia. The headquarters of this group is in the United States where they publish their newspapers. A small number of Canadians of Macedonian descent do not take an active interest in European-Macedonian affairs.



There are very few intellectuals among this ethnic group. Most of them are in the restaurant business in Eastern Canadian cities, in the trades, as labourers in various industries and as truck farmers.

From email r stefov

[George S.]

Not another BIG Greek Lie?

Not another BIG Greek Lie?



The Financial Page

Dodger Mania

By James Surowiecki July 11, 2011

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2011/07/11/110711ta_talk_surowiecki

Greece is a fairly small country, but for the past year it has been causing an awfully big uproar. Burdened by a pile of government debt that could force it into default (and the European banking system into a meltdown), Greece has had to adopt ever more stringent austerity plans in order to secure a bailout from the European Union. Explanations of how Greece got in this mess typically focus on profligate public spending. But its fiscal woes are also due to a simple fact: tax evasion is the national pastime.

According to a remarkable presentation that a member of Greece’s central bank gave last fall, the gap between what Greek taxpayers owed last year and what they paid was about a third of total tax revenue, roughly the size of the country’s budget deficit. The “shadow economy”—business that’s legal but off the books—is larger in Greece than in almost any other European country, accounting for an estimated 27.5 per cent of its G.D.P. (In the United States, by contrast, that number is closer to nine per cent.) And the culture of evasion has negative consequences beyond the current crisis. It means that the revenue burden falls too heavily on honest taxpayers. It makes the system unduly regressive, since the rich cheat more. And it’s wasteful: it forces the government to spend extra money on collection (relative to G.D.P., Greece spends four times as much collecting income taxes as the U.S. does), even as evaders are devoting plenty of time and energy to hiding their income.

Greece, it seems, has struggled with the first rule of a healthy tax system: enforce the law. People are more likely to be honest if they feel there’s a reasonable chance that dishonesty will be detected and punished. But Greek tax officials were notoriously easy to bribe with a fakelaki (small envelope) of cash. There was little political pressure for tougher enforcement. On the contrary: a recent study showed that enforcement of the tax laws loosened in the months leading up to elections, because incumbents didn’t want to annoy voters and contributors. Even when the system did track down evaders, it was next to impossible to get them to pay up, because the tax courts typically took seven to ten years to resolve a case. As of last February, they had a backlog of three hundred thousand cases.



It isn’t just a matter of lax enforcement, though. Greek citizens also have what social scientists call very low “tax morale.” In most developed countries, tax-compliance rates are much higher than a calculation of risks would imply. We don’t pay our taxes just because we’re afraid of getting caught; we also feel a responsibility to contribute to the common good. But that sense of responsibility comes with conditions. We’re generally what the Swiss behavioral economist Benno Torgler calls “social taxpayers”: we’ll chip in as long as we have faith that our fellow-citizens are doing the same, and that our government is basically legitimate. Countries where people feel that they have some say in how the state acts, and where there are high levels of trust, tend to have high rates of tax compliance. That may be why Americans, despite being virulently anti-tax in their rhetoric, are notably compliant taxpayers.



Greeks, by contrast, see fraud and corruption as ubiquitous in business, in the tax system, and even in sports. And they’re right to: Transparency International recently put Greece in a three-way tie, with Bulgaria and Romania, as the most corrupt country in Europe. Greece’s parliamentary democracy was established fairly recently, and is of shaky legitimacy: it’s seen as a vehicle for special interests, and dedicated mainly to its own preservation. The tax system had long confirmed this view, since it was riddled with loopholes and exemptions: not only doctors but also singers and athletes were given favorable rates, while shipping tycoons paid no income tax at all, and members of other professions were legally allowed to underreport their income. Inevitably, if a hefty chunk of the population is cheating on its taxes, people who don’t (or can’t, because of the way their income is reported) feel that they’re being abused.



The result has been a vicious circle: because tax evasion is so common, people trust the system less, which makes them less willing to pay taxes. And, because so many don’t chip in, the government has had to raise taxes on those who do. That only increases the incentive to cheat, since there tends to be a correlation between higher tax rates and higher rates of tax evasion.

Even while dealing with protests and open riots, the new Greek government is trying to change things. It is rationalizing its tax-collection system. It has simplified taxes and done away with some of the loopholes. And it has stepped up its enforcement efforts in ways large and small—tax officials have, for instance, been sending helicopters over affluent neighborhoods looking for swimming pools, as evidence of underreported wealth. These efforts have made some difference: the self-employed seem to be reporting more of their income, and the evaders have had to step up their game. (There’s now a burgeoning market in camouflage swimming-pool covers.)

But a social inclination toward tax evasion, once established, is hard to eradicate. One fascinating study, by the economist Martin Halla, showed that tax morale among second-generation American immigrants reflected their country of origin. And getting tough can backfire. Research suggests that overemphasizing enforcement can actually weaken tax morale, by making taxpaying seem less like a freely chosen part of the social contract.

The reason tax reform will be such a tall order for Greece, in sum, is that it requires more than a policy shift; it requires a cultural shift. Pulling that off would be quite a feat. But the future of the European Union may depend on it.

[George S.]

Macedonia’s Partition – 98th Anniversary

Macedonia’s Partition – 98th Anniversary

By Risto Stefov

[email protected]

August 10th, 1911

By the signing of the Treaty of Bucharest, August 10th, 1913 became the darkest day in the history of the Macedonian people. August 10th, 1913 was the day when the Great Powers of Europe approved Macedonia’s permanent partition, done against the will of the Macedonian people. This was the day our Macedonia was handed over to Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria; a gift from the Great Powers, hand delivered by their delegates in Bucharest.

Not since Roman times has Macedonia been partitioned so brutally where three brothers were forced to assume three different and imposed identities, speak three different foreign languages in their own homes and treated as strangers in their own homeland.



The last 98 years have shown that 500 years of Ottoman occupation and brutal suppression have done less damage to the Macedonian people than the last 98 years of forced Hellenization and Bulgarization. Twenty five generations of Ottoman exploitation and neglect couldn’t erode the Macedonian consciousness as much as Greek, Serbian and Bulgarian chauvinism and aggression did in less than two generations after 1913.



The once proud Macedonian nation, that long ago conquered the known world, bridged the gap between east and west, introduced Christianity to Europe, gave Europe its civilization, safeguarded all ancient knowledge and protected the west from eastern invaders, had now been beaten and reduced to a shadow of its former self.



The force of this latest intrusion transformed the Macedonian nation into a shy creature, seeking a home in foreign lands and hiding in the twilight while its enemies danced on the heads of the graves of its dead and, to the world, proclaimed the dead Macedonians too were Greeks, Serbians and Bulgarians.

It was not enough that they consumed all the Macedonian lands. These new depraved creatures, spawned by Western greed, consumed all Macedonian treasures such as history, culture, religion, literature, folklore, ancient knowledge stolen from Holy Mountain (Athos), etc. and regurgitated them all as their own. Everything Macedonian was now Greek or Bulgarian; even Macedonia’s greatest sons like Alexander the Great and King Samoil were now claimed to be Greek and Bulgarian respectively.

Without hesitation these new masters lied and continued to lie to the world, even to their own people, about the Macedonian identity, even about “their own true identities”, and blamed their ills on the innocent. Their propaganda turned “lies to truths” and “truths to lies” poisoning people with hatred, an artificially created hatred, which haunts the Macedonian people to this day.



Silence filled the air and children dared not cry, for if they uttered anything about being Macedonian they would be terribly punished, humiliated in public and their existence would be denied. This is the will of their current masters; the Greeks and Bulgarians who to this day occupy their lands and homes and treat them like second class citizens.
The proud name “Macedonia” which echoed for centuries and outlasted time itself, until recently, was a “dirty word” never to be spoken. Now everyone except the real Macedonians can call themselves “Macedonian” even the Turkish Christian colonists settled in Macedonia in the 1920’s.
The Macedonian language, the mother of all Slavic languages, the “Voice of Eastern Christianity” became “muted”, to be spoken only in the shadows, for fear that “enemy ears” might be lurking and harm would be done to those speaking it. Now, those same depraved people who only yesterday tried to squash this sacred language, today say it does not exist.

In the past 98 years this mighty and powerful language, spoken in the past by Kings and saints alike, was reduced to be known as “our language”, spoken by “our people”, a mute language spoken by a nameless nation. Today, in some European circles outside and sometimes inside the Republic of Macedonia, a sovereign and dependent state, it is known as the language of the “State” spoken by its “citizens”.
The name Macedonia, the Macedonian language and the Macedonian identity to some have now become “a commodity” to be negotiated, bargained with and traded for incentives and memberships into the clubs of chauvinists, scoundrels and swindlers.
This is the fate that has befallen the proud Macedonian people in the 21st century, all with the blessings of the Great European Powers who some to this day refuse to acknowledge the existence of a Macedonian nation, a nation that once gave them their civilization.

I ask you, is it a crime to want to live as free men and women? Is it a crime to want to be Macedonian? Is it a crime to want to exercise free will? No it is not! It is not a crime but a human right for all Macedonians to also enjoy these universal rights as Macedonians.

History has recorded August 10th, 1913 as the darkest day in Macedonian history; the day our future as a people died. This is what our enemies would like us to think!
But ask yourself this; Am I dead? Are you dead? No we are not dead! Far from it! We are alive, living Macedonians and together, joined by our common cause, have the power to change things. The last 98 years are but a small bump, a stumble if you like in a long history of struggling. A runner does not quit the race because he stumbles or falls; he gets back on his feet and finishes it. His own desire, determination and will, will determine whether he wins the race or not; not the comments of the audience or the criticisms of his competitors.

Do we want a united, free and independent Macedonia to call our own? Yes we do! We came close to getting it several times in our recent history! If we all want a united, free and independent Macedonia then we all need to continue our struggle more vigorously than ever before and as the old saying goes; “Where there is a will there is a way”!

I call on every Macedonian organization and individual in the world to “do something” to shed light on the travesty the Macedonian people find themselves in today, 98 years after our country was invaded, occupied and brutally partitioned by Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria against the will of the Macedonian people.
From email r stefov

[Sekirani]

If East and West Germany can unite, and Sudan can have the ability to become 2 diiferent countries, why can't we have a voice on uniting Macedonia ? I would like to see more from the Aegean Macedonians, if it's what they truly want, celebrating Ilinden once a year, singing and dancing is all well and good but there need to be peaceful demonstrations too, thats a start, make real headlines, make the world see we are serious and not some sort of joke to be laughed at !

[lerin]

I agree those in Aegean need 2 stand up imagine the headlines if people in when hit the streets calling for human rights until this happens nothing wil change u need 2 be seem and heard end of story

[Onur]

If East and West Germany can unite, and Sudan can have the ability to become 2 diiferent countries, why can't we have a voice on uniting Macedonia ?

If some kind of anarchist revolution happens in Greece, then yes, maybe Macedonia can be united but otherwise it`s not that possible.

Before their division, Sudan was one of the fastest growing economies in the world due to their rich oil resources. According to great powers, it`s preferable to divide a country with rich natural resources. No one can leech the natural resources of a powerful country, so Sudan had to be divided.

East and west Germany has been allowed to be united cuz Germans was already "tamed" after WW-2. For example, if Germany would be under some kind of Hitler like regime who opposes great powers and USA, do you think Germany would be allowed to be united again??? I don't think so.

They preferred for Macedonia to be divided as they wanted Serbia to be divided too. But for similar reasons, they prefer for Cyprus to not remain divided but to be united under Greek regime.

I would like to see more from the Aegean Macedonians, if it's what they truly want, celebrating Ilinden once a year, singing and dancing is all well and good but there need to be peaceful demonstrations too, thats a start, make real headlines, make the world see we are serious and not some sort of joke to be laughed at !

Greek authorities allows that it`s probably because their Ilinden celebration is about bashing Turks. Thats something encouraged by the Greek authorities.

But if Aegean Macedonians starts to think about commemorating for the Macedonians who died in the hands of Greek bandits at that time, like the cretan, athenian monsters of Pavlos Melas OR commemorating for the Macedonians who died in so called civil war in Greece, ONLY THEN you can talk about some change in their attitude, otherwise NO.

[cultea]

If some kind of anarchist revolution happens in Greece, then yes, maybe Macedonia can be united but otherwise it`s not that possible.

Are you suggesting something about the Greek anarchists? What is an “anarchist revolution”? Do you have any historical precedent?

They preferred for Macedonia to be divided as they wanted Serbia to be divided too. But for similar reasons, they prefer for Cyprus to not remain divided but to be united under Greek regime.

The idea of an independent and multinational Macedonia (and a similar Thrace) were always on the table, but were not exactly good ideas. They were compromising, opportunistic, short-term, Bosnia-like ideas. Who would be the kings of these countries? How would their protecting powers act towards them? What would be the foreign policy of these countries (a little prior World War I)? How many languages and how many Christian Churches would these countries have? And what were the demographics? Weren’t they favourable for Bulgaria and Turkey that just lost the wars?

I don’t believe the Great Powers have any special preferences about Cyprus. They want peace, stability and compromise.

Greek authorities allows that it`s probably because their Ilinden celebration is about bashing Turks. Thats something encouraged by the Greek authorities.

Actually, these celebrations are not about Ilinden.

[Onur]

Are you suggesting something about the Greek anarchists? What is an “anarchist revolution”? Do you have any historical precedent?

I meant some kind of people`s revolution with leftist tendance. Thats happened b4 in southern America and it might happen in Greece too if your economical situation goes worse. This is something "very undesirable" for great powers as they prefer some kind of colonel fascist regime instead of that.

The idea of an independent and multinational Macedonia (and a similar Thrace) were always on the table, but were not exactly good ideas. They were compromising, opportunistic, short-term, Bosnia-like ideas.

Yes, these weren't "good" ideas for great powers cuz an independent state in Thrace would join Turkey in few years of time. As you know, 90% population of Thrace (incl. western side) was Turks in 1913. Currently, western Thrace is half Greek, half Turkish cuz Greek authorities imported some Greeks of Morea to there few decades ago to depopulate Turkish population.

For similar reasons, independent Macedonia was not "good" idea again cuz they weren't sure about the intentions of Macedonian people at that time. They would had pro-Russian tendance, so why risk it with them while they can award it to Greece and have a relax time laters?

I don’t believe the Great Powers have any special preferences about Cyprus. They want peace, stability and compromise.

Ohhh c`mon Cultea. Then why Great Britain still have their military bases in Greek side of Cyprus today??? They have it for ~100 years and not even Greek Cypriot PM can enter inside of it without British permission. They also primarily used that base to bomb Libya, without even asking Greek Cyprus authority.

You are either blind or playing the naive to us.

[Soldier of Macedon]

The idea of an independent and multinational Macedonia (and a similar Thrace) were always on the table, but were not exactly good ideas.

Don't insult the memory of my ancestors. The idea of an independent Macedonia was the only option that could have ensured that the Macedonian people and territory remain as one, and that there would be a minimal amount of bloodshed among the local inhabitants, be they Macedonian or otherwise.

Who would be the kings of these countries? How would their protecting powers act towards them?

They could have tried as a republic, appointed one of their own as a king like in Serbia, or become lackeys to a foreign German ruler like Greece or Bulgaria. Either way, it is irrelevent speculation. The point is there were options. Few Macedonians wanted to see their homeland partitioned, despite the propaganda emanating from the Balkan states that surrounded her.

They were compromising, opportunistic, short-term, Bosnia-like ideas.

I could use some of those adjectives for all the Balkan states at the time of their creation. But the idea of a united Macedonia was never short-term, or opportunistic. It was an idea that was shared by most Macedonians.

How many languages and how many Christian Churches would these countries have?

There would be one main official language and church, at least that way, all the persons who spoke the same Macedonian language would belong to the same Macedonian church. Other religions would be allowed too, the Macedonian revolutionaries never had a racist agenda and often called upon the minorities of Macedonia to assist in their struggle for liberation. That is better than having Macedonians who speak Macedonian being members of different churches and by extension different 'nations', and is also a more natural development that teaching the majority of the population a foreign tongue, like what happened with the Albanians from the Morea.

And what were the demographics? Weren’t they favourable for Bulgaria and Turkey that just lost the wars?

The demographics were favourable to Macedonians. The demographics have often been manipulated by Greece and Bulgaria to suit their own agendas. Greece had to import over 600,000 Anatolians in the part of Macedonia they occupied and convert them into neo-Hellenes, before demographics would be favourable to them.

[cultea]

I meant some kind of people`s revolution with leftist tendance. Thats happened b4 in southern America and it might happen in Greece too if your economical situation goes worse. This is something "very undesirable" for great powers as they prefer some kind of colonel fascist regime instead of that.

Nope. I still don’t get it. Do we have leftist revolutionaries in Greece? Yep. Are you suggesting they are somehow related to Skopje? Is this your estimation, that we’ll become a European Cuba or Nicaragua?

Yes, these weren't "good" ideas for great powers cuz an independent state in Thrace would join Turkey in few years of time. As you know, 90% population of Thrace (incl. western side) was Turks in 1913. Currently, western Thrace is half Greek, half Turkish cuz Greek authorities imported some Greeks of Morea to there few decades ago to depopulate Turkish population.

For similar reasons, independent Macedonia was not "good" idea again cuz they weren't sure about the intentions of Macedonian people at that time. They would had pro-Russian tendance, so why risk it with them while they can award it to Greece and have a relax time laters?

They mostly weren’t good ideas because four nations just gave two wars, NOT in order to live together. National liberation or integration was the trend at the time.
Any Treaty would have some respect to the results of the Wars, or it would lead to new wars.
In 1920 (according to a census by French Army) in Western Thrace it was 44%-27%-28% Turkish/Muslim-Bulgarian-Greek. Yet, most Greeks were in Eastern Thrace.
Currently Western Thrace is NOT half Greek, half Turkish. The Muslims of Thrace (including Pomaks and gypsies) were 86,000 (in 1922) and 98,000 (in 1991) or 29% of the total population. Usually they elect 2 (rarely 3) among the 10 MPs of Thrace and 3 Mayors (in Arriani, Iasmos and Myce).
"Imports from Morea"? What?

Ohhh c`mon Cultea. Then why Great Britain still have their military bases in Greek side of Cyprus today??? They have it for ~100 years and not even Greek Cypriot PM can enter inside of it without British permission. They also primarily used that base to bomb Libya, without even asking Greek Cyprus authority.

You are either blind or playing the naive to us.

According to Zurich-London Treaties the British bases is protected British soil. Remember? They’re not in the Greek side. You just didn’t invade them in 1974 since that would bring you to war with Great Britain. They are exclaves.
I agree that we’ll spit blood until Brits go home, but… one thing at a time.

[George S.]

From the Once Classified Files - Part 26

Memorandum on the present situation in Macedonia
ly 24, 1945

The task of harnessing the Macedonian resistance movement to the general Partisan movement throughout the rest of Yugoslavia was one in which the Partisan leaders only achieved a moderate measure of Success. Due to this the task of bringing the new regime in Macedonia into line with the regime elsewhere has proved, and is proving, one of the main difficulties of the new Government. This task has not been made easier by the fact that the Partisan movement in Macedonia, until the period immediately before the liberation, was comparatively weak.

2. To put the present position in its proper light it may help to recapitulate two main causes for this. In the first place, nearly all Macedonians had welcomed the arrival or the Bulgarian army of occupation as a means or achieving their independence after more than 20 years or Serb domination, and though most Macedonians quickly became disillusioned by the oppressive measures taken by the Bulgarians, conditions did not become bad enough to drive them to open opposition. Moreover, to most Macedonians the domination of Sofia appeared, if anything, slightly preferable to that of Belgrade. The Partisan movement, drawing its inspiration from Serbia, did not therefore find much support in Macedonia until its programme promised Macedonian autonomy. Many of those who joined the movement on the announcement of this programme, and among them a large number of the present leaders, gave a far wider interpretation to the promised autonomy than appears to have been intended by the Partisans. In this belief they may well have been encouraged by General Vukmanovic-Tempo, who for two years was Tito's personal delegate in Macedonia and who was completely out of touch with Partisan General Headquarters. He expressed himself in the summer of 1944 as seriously worried as to whether he was interpreting Partisan policy in Macedonia correctly, end on his return from a visit to General Headquarters, gave the impression that he had been brought into line. Some units formed near the Greek frontier which appear to have had shadowy allegiance both to the Partisans and E.A.M./E.L.A.S., certainly fought until the end largely for the creation of a fully or virtually great Macedonia. The Partisans appear to have seen the danger and made some attempts to co-ordinate the Macedonian Partisan movement with the development elsewhere and to overcome the traditional antagonism between Serbs and Macedonians by making Serb and Macedonian units fight along side and on each others territory, and putting Serbs from the Kosovo in Macedonian units. This, however, was not on a large enough scale for any widespread results and was partly offset by other units which co-operated more closely with Greek, Bulgarian end Albanian Partisans, and whose leaders tended to conduct their own peculiarly Macedonian foreign policy with them. Secondly, Bulgarian military control of Macedonia was strong and in those areas near the Albanian frontier most suitable for Partisan warfare the Partisans encountered a hostile population. The Macedonian Partisans could, therefore, only operate on North-Eastern, Eastern, and Southern fringes of Macedonia. This hampered the spread of Partisan ideas through Macedonia and the distance of the main Macedonian centers of resistance from the centers of population made it difficult for recruits to join the Partisans.

3. When with the collapse or Bulgaria it was clear that the Partisans would inevitab1y came into power, there was a large influx of recruits, including many officials who had worked whole-heartedly with the Bulgarians. These could not be absorbed into the Partisan movement or indoctrinated with Partisan ideas before final liberation took place when many of them, coming from the small educated class, were immediately given jobs of responsibility in the new Macedonian administration.

There were, therefore, left within the Partisan movement when it took over the government, large undigested masses who looked on the liberation merely as an opportunity to establish an independent greater Macedonia and most of whom still preferred Bulgarian to Serbian dominion. In many parts of Macedonia, the liberation celebrations made little mention of Macedonia’s place in federal Yugoslavia, speeches merely stressing the achievement of autonomy by Macedonia, paying no more than lip service to Tito’s leadership and dwelling on aspirations for greater Macedonia. Macedonian nationalism for a time ran riot and relief at release from the Bulgars was least equaled by satisfaction at the end of Serb dominion. The Macedonian boundary with Serbia was set up further to the north than was warranted either historically or ethnically and was closely controlled. This was accompanied by a feverish attempt to show the ability of Macedonia to stand by herself without aid from the central Yugoslav Government. Railways and roads were repaired with money raised in Macedonia and a grant from the central Government was left untouched in Belgrade. Schools were quickly re-opened with compulsory teaching of the Macedonian language and with Macedonian teachers, the top three classes of the gymnasia being released and enrolled for this purpose. Government offices were set up with Macedonian officials and many of the old Bulgarian officials stayed at their posts. Serbs trying to return to Macedonia were thrown into prison, and in order to avert the necessity of calling on Serbia for further technicians and officials, an appeal was launched for all Macedonians to return from Bulgaria.

4. Though some of the extravagances soon ceased and Tito’s leadership of the movement was recognized, these separatist tendencies, together with a dangerous propaganda campaign against Greece gave rise to serious disquiet in Belgrade and, as previously reported in Belgrade dispatch No. 74, Dr. Kardelj was sent late in December to the second extraordinary session of A.S.N.O.M. to deliver a warning against the prevailing mood of chauvinism and Macedonian nationalism. No immediate results were apparent from this visit though there was some slackening of the campaign against Greece. Probably, however, the visit achieved its object, which was presumably to prevent either an open breach between Macedonians and Serbs or any precipitate action by the Macedonians against the Greeks. Henceforth, greater stress was laid by Macedonian leaders on the role of Macedonia in federal Yugoslavia and on the central control of Belgrade. The Macedonian authorities continued, however, to make it impossible for Serbs who had been expelled by the Bulgarians from Macedonia to return. Matters came to a head once more with a meeting in a artillery brigade of 15 Corps which was ordered to the Srem front, but demanded instead to be allowed to march to Salonika and with a visit to Bulgaria of Pavel Shatev, an old member of the United I.M.R.O. and a member at the time of the Presidium of A.S.N.O.M., who speaks only Bulgarian and has lived nearly all his life in Bulgaria. His object in going there was to negotiate direct with the Bulgarian Government on the question of the re-establishment of the frontiers between Macedonia and Bulgaria which had hitherto been non-existent on the Yugoslav side. These Macedonian activities called forth energetic action from Belgrade and General Vukmanovic-Tempo visited Skopje and roundly trounced the Macedonians for ignoring Belgrade.

5. The results of this warning were more immediately obvious, the Macedonian campaign against Greece stopped abruptly in early February, and it was clear from the instance of Macedonian officials that they could not express any opinion on foreign policy that they had been seriously frightened off their excursions into foreign affairs. It was rumoured that they had at one time considered setting up a department of the Macedonian Government responsible for Macedonian foreign policy. The Serbo-macedonian boundary was moved south to exclude the towns of Kacanik and Presevo which had previously been arbitrari1y incorporated by the Macedonians in Macedonia. Meanwhile, Belgrade began to set about the task of organizing a more effective control.

6. The Communist party, whose obedience to Tito is presumably beyond doubt, was put increasingly in control of the Macedonian Government. In the first Macedonian Federal Government set up in April the Prime Minister, Lazar Kulisevski, was the Secretary of the Macedonian Communist Party; both Vice-Presidents were Communists and all but two of the remaining Ministers. In the local National Liberation Committee, the Secretary, who is normally the most powerful member, is almost invariably a Communist. More and more of the key services were directly controlled by the central Government. O.Z.N.A., who appear to have the power to veto many decisions of the Federal Government, and the Corps of National Defense, who act as frontier guards, were moved in strength to Macedonia and are responsible direct to the Ministry of National Defense. The frontier with Bulgaria was re-established and control over passage between Bulgaria and Macedonia became strict, permission to cross it being granted only by Belgrade or Sofia. Mines and railways were placed directly under the Ministry of Mines and Communications in Belgrade and in these two services the Macedonians were obliged to accept Serbian technicians. Taxation, with the exception of small local taxes for local services, and the provisions to money to the Federal Government, is shortly to be co-ordinate under the central Government. Civil Courts have been established and the Public Prosecutor's service for Macedonia will be responsible directly to the Minister of Justice in Belgrade for the administration of justice in the federal unit. Any important legislation envisaged by the Federal Government must be referred in detail to Belgrade before being put into effect. Skopje radio, hitherto independent, has been placed under the control of Belgrade. At the beginning of June the Macedonian military command was dissolved, and 5th Yugoslav Army was moved to Macedonia with headquarters in Skopje. Though this army consists mainly of Macedonian units, it is believed to contain at least one Serb division, and one Croat division is thought to be about to join it. It is under the command of Major-General Rodic who, with his Chief of staff, Political Commissar and the majority of his staff officers, is Serbian. It seems also that Belgrade is keeping Macedonia very short of essential supplies and though U.N.D.R.A. supplies are expected, they have not yet begun to arrive. This again may be a move on the part of the central Government to make the Macedonians realize how dependent they are on Belgrade. Finally, during the summer holidays the Youth organizations are being kept mobilized to undergo courses of political education from prominent Partisans.

7. From conversations with numbers of Macedonian officials it is clear that within the limits dictated to them by the central Government, the Macedonian Government intends to take all the autonomy it can. On the other hand, while maintaining effective control of Macedonia the central Government appears to have deemed it wise to make some concessions to re-awakened Macedonian nationalism. In Macedonian Government departments nearly all officials remain Macedonian, with a sprinkling of Bulgars. In a recent conversation, the Macedonian Prime Minister stated that the Government had no need for Serbian officials since there were sufficient Macedonian officials; the Serbian officials were corrupt and would in any case be unable to carry out their duties as all official business was transacted in the Macedonian language. As regards former Serbian colonists, the Prime Minister said that while many Serbian small holders who had helped the Partisan movement would be allowed to retain their land and some Serbian colonists had come back, he did not expect the return of the majority of the colonists who had left during the Bulgarian occupation. Most of those had in any case acquired their property illegally and this had been taken from them by the Bulgars. When the Bulgars had left, it had been confiscated by the State as enemy property. He gave the impression that the question of whether those who had acquired their property legally would have it confiscated or returned to them, still remained to be settled, but said the uncertainty of their position would deter them from returning. There is, in any case, a serious shortage of land in Macedonia and it is clear from what has happened so far that the land of Serbian colonists is confiscated on the flimsiest pretext to satisfy landless Macedonians. The position appears to be that Serbs who return to Macedonia as technicians and officials in those organizations under the direct control of the central Government but will be excluded from the local services controlled by the Macedonian Government, and are unlikely to be attracted to return as private settlers. In this it seems that there is some conflict between Skopje and Belgrade, since the central Government has on several occasions categorically stated that former settlers should be allowed to return to their pre-war domiciles, end that the Macedonian Government is doing its best to steer a middle coarse between the Scylla of the centralism of Belgrade and the Charybdis of the separatist Macedonian aspirations. The conflict between the Central Government and the Macedonian Government may, however, be more apparent than real, though there is always the possibility that such prominent Macedonians as Dimitar Vlahov, who is President of the all-powerful National Liberation Front which controls all political activity and the press is Macedonian and can hardly be considered as a Yugoslav, may be playing their own, Macedonian game. The Central Government is forced to pander to strong Serbian opinion which is thoroughly anti-Macedonian and resents Macedonian autonomy and exclusion of Serbs, while the Macedonian Government relies largely for support on Macedonian nationalist feeling. A different stress is therefore laid on Macedonia's position by the central and Macedonian Governments, the Central Government emphasizing Macedonia's place in Federal Yugoslavia and the Macedonian Government stressing the autonomous aspect of Macedonia's position. In order to make this possible, concessions have had to be made on both sides.

8. The Macedonian Government is taking what advantage it can of the main visible concession to Macedonian autonomist feeling, namely the grant of full cultural autonomy. Though some schools for the Turkish, Albanian and, according to the Minister of Education, Serb minorities, have been provided by the Government, in all other schools all instruction is in Macedonian. In some entirely Serb-speaking districts only Macedonian is taught and the Cincar-V1ach minority are alleged to have petitioned to be taught in Macedonian because they have no written language of their own. Macedonian school books and dictionaries are to be provided by the beginning of the next school year, teaching having so far been carried out under great difficulties with no books and few trained teachers. A great drive is being made to rediscover and establish a separate Macedonian literature and folk lore. Further, the Orthodox Church in Macedonia which late in April voiced a desire for 1ndependence from the Serbian Patriarchate, is at present administered by a Macedonian Church Counci1 and appears to be already enjoying a certain amount of independence. Its aims are described as a semi-autonomous status in the Yugoslav Federal Orthodox Church. This development is the direction of independent status appears to have been regarded with dismay in Belgrade.

9. Opposition

There is little prospect of organized opposition to the regime in Skopje from outside the Partisan movement. The Cetnik organization in Macedonia, always Great-Serb and a weak offshoot of organization in Serbia, has shown no signs of activity (see enclosure in Belgrade dispatch No.74). Arnaut villages contain certain irreconcilable elements, and mention has been made of sporadic unrest by armed bands. But attempts have now been undertaken to conciliate both Albanians and Turks by giving them their representatives in the Government, their own newspapers and committees. Never the less the Muslims, with alone in Macedonia England is popular, are believed to constitute an element fundamentally hostile to the new regime. They are, however, leaderless and are only likely to constitute real danger if other opposition elements come out actively against the Government.

10. Throughout the whole of Macedonia there is however widespread grumbling, discontent and disillusionment with the new regime, and this has even spread to some elements of the old Partisan movement. The reasons for this are not far to seek. Macedonia suffered little in the war and with the liberation expected benefits of all kinds. Instead they found themselves for the first time conscripted into the Army or into labour squads. There were arbitrary arrests, though these were few compared to other parts of the country, wholesale requisitioning by the Army and economic and financial instability. The leva was changed at what was considered an unfair rate and there was a heavy levy on money changed. Trials by military and “honour” courts were thought, and are now admitted by the Government, to be most unfair. There is a lack of consumers' goods; the prospect of bad crops due to lack of rain; high wages and prices; premature attempts by the Government to brine business under government control without having the organization to direct it, a process which has gone further down the social scale in Macedonia than Serbia owing to the lack of big business and heavy industry; and there have been many mistakes by an inexperienced administration and the ham- handed O.Z.N.A. Some of these abuses the Government is trying to remedy. Requisitioning and forced labour, except in the Bitolj area, have ceased; civil courts are to be established, and an attempt is being made to control wages and prices though these still remain very high.

11. That the general discontent has not crystallized into active opposition is due to the firm hand of the police and the complete lack of leadership. Political parties, apart from the communist party are non-existent and opposition on pre-war party lines is inconceivable. Before the war the political parties in Macedonia were merely extensions of Serb political parties with Serbian leaders and as such have no support in present-day Macedonia. Metodije Andonov the president of the Macedonian Assembly and a pre-war Agrarian, who claims that the party had in Macedonia before the war, a special Macedonian character in so far as it was used by Macedonians to oppose the Government and keep alive Macedonian national feeling, stated categorically in conversation that the re-emergence of the old political parties in Macedonia was impossible. As elsewhere in Yugoslavia, the discontented elements expect the regime to change but do not contemplate playing an active part in bringing it down. They hope, therefore, for collapse from within or for outside intervention, and only in the event of the elections leaving the Government still firmly in the saddle, are they at all likely to become active.

12. Nevertheless, discontent is certain to increase while the majority of the youth idles in the Army instead of being harnessed to restoring the country, while priority is being given to Army over civilian needs as in the case of railways, which during the month of June were allotted exclusively to the Army, from whom the civilian authorities had to get permission to move goods for civilian consumption, and while the central Government cannot or will not give Macedonia what she needs to put her house in order. Unless also the food situation is remedied by winter the position may become most serious. The Ministry of Agriculture admitted in conversation that Macedonia, in view of the very poor harvests, could need large quantities of wheat and that he did not know where the necessary supplies would come from since before the war they had come from Kosovo Polje, whose wheat was now being sent to Albania.

13. .Amongst the intellectuals, traders and even some peasants, the hardships caused by the attempt of Macedonia to stand on her own feet has given rise to a wish to end at any price the experiment in Macedonian autonomy and return to some sort of security and stability. Since it appears only immediately possible to do this by going back under the control of Belgrade, they would welcome the return of Macedonian pre-war status.

14. Amongst the broad masses, however, hatred of Serbia still remains strong and has bean increased by the recent attempt to re-impose the domination of Belgrade on Macedonia. With this, pro-Bulgarian sentiment which has always been strong among certain members of the Macedonian National Assembly, has shown some increase though there is no widespread wish to try again the experiment of Bulgarian rule so shortly after its failure. Nevertheless, there are areas, particularly along the Bulgarian frontier, where a village in the Novo Selo area is reported to have petitioned recently to be reincorporated into Bulgaria, and in the Bitolj-Ohrid region, where pro-Bulgarian sentiment remains very strong. In Bitolj this has been accentuated by the overbearing behaviour of Serbian troops recently billeted in the town who have, treated the Macedonians with ill-concealed contempt. Nevertheless, the Government evidently do not consider the danger from pro-Bulgarian elements to be really serious as they are allowing ex-Bulgarian officials to remain and encouraging more to return.

15. The Partisans on first achieving power exploited the strong separatist sentiment in Macedonia with their promises of autonomy and thus stole the thunder of the old extremists I.M.R.O. of Vanco Mihailov who was produced by the Germans at the time of the Bulgarian collapse to foster the movement for independent greater Macedonia. Mihailov had in any case forfeited his popularity in Macedonia as a whole, first by the active part he played in bringing about the fall of Stambuliski, who enjoyed much sympathy in Macedonia, and latterly by his wholehearted collaboration with the enemy during the war. Having won most of his potential supporters to their cause, the Partisans smashed the surviving elements of his party and arrested and sentenced to death all the leaders remaining in Macedonia. The party, as such, is therefore virtually leaderless. The Macedonian Government has not yet lost the support of the very strong separatist elements and their tight-rope walk between centralism and separatism, trying to preserve an outward semblance of autonomy while deferring to Belgrade in all essential matters, is at least in part occasioned by the desire to keep the separatists with them. The present press campaign against Greece fostered by the Central Government finds the separatists strongly behind it and the Macedonian Government are taking advantage of this to divert to some extent at my rate the attention of the separatists from Belgrade's increasing encroachments. That some separatist elements are dissatisfied and wish to have more drastic action is witnessed, however, by the fact that some 300-350 boys and girls were recently arrested in Skopje on charges of separatist activities on behalf of I.M.R.O. and are awaiting trial. Should the regime fail even to achieve for the separatists any concrete results in the satisfaction of their expansionist aims, the separatists will probably become a very dangerous element of opposition under the possible leadership of the Federalist I.M.R.O. which is at present strongly entrenched in Macedonian Government circles.

16. Relations with Bulgaria
There is at present little concrete evidence as to relations between Bulgaria and Yugoslavia over the Macedonian question. At the time of Bulgaria’s occupation and rapid change of sides it was generally assumed in Yugoslavia that she was ready to cede the Pirin province of Macedonia to Yugoslavia and unguarded statements to this effect came from both Dr. Smodlaka and Dimitar Vlahov. It was expected at the same time that Bulgaria would get some return for this and for supporting Macedonian claims to Greece, and it is suggested this return may have been Yugoslav support for Bulgarian claims to Eastern Thrace and certain frontier readjustments in the Caribrod and Bosiljgrad areas. In Macedonia the cession of the Pirin was thought to be virtually a fait accompli, and relations between Macedonians and Bulgars became very close. Macedonian officials traveled back and forth to Bulgaria and movement over the old Bulgarian-Yugoslav frontier appears to have been in no way restricted. There were reports that an attempt was made by Bulgarian Macedonians from Federalist IMRO to set up an administration in the Pirin, independent of the Bulgarian Government, and that delegates were sent to Skopje to discuss the future frontiers of Macedonia. An appeal was launched for Bulgarian Macedonian to return to their liberated homeland. These appeals remained largely unanswered though a number of Bulgarian officials remained at their posts or returned from Bulgaria. These and other indications seem to show that Bulgaria may have begun to use this detente in her relations with Yugoslavia to play her own game in Macedonia and is working through elements friendly to her in the Macedonian government to try to increase her influence in Macedonia at the expense of Yugoslavia and to encourage separatist or pro- Bulgarian tendencies. The Macedonian government seem to have cooperated willingly in these plans and on at least one occasion the Macedonian government ordered and accepted supplies direct from the Bulgarian government while the Bulgars sent supplies to their former sympathizers in the Bitolj-Ohrid area. It seems possible that these tactics of the Bulgarian government may have been occasioned by the situation in Greece. Bulgaria's acceptance of the loss of Pirin was, it is suggested, based on the assumption that E.L.A.S. would gain power in Greece and that this would result in the establishment of a Balkan federation including an independent greater Macedonian state which would absorb Greek Macedonia. With the defeat of E.L.A.S., Bulgaria saw these hopes receding and began to draw back their earlier promises, not wishing to hand over the Pirin to a purely Yugoa1av Macedonia. At the same time Bulgaria by sending back some Bulgarian officials, tried to safeguard her position in Macedonia. Metodije Andonov in conversation stated that the he thought Bulgaria was less ready than she had been to cede the Pirin, and that this area had been brought again under the strict control of the Bulgarian Government. The leaders of the separate administration of Bulgarian Macedonia are also reported to have been arrested by the Bulgarian government. However this may be, it seems clear that the Yugoslav government soon began to see through the Bulgarian game and to take counter measures. As mentioned above, the Yugoslav government ordered the Macedonian government to accept Serbian officials and close the frontier between Bulgaria and Macedonia, manning it with troops under the direct control of Belgrade. The Macedonian government were called to task for accepting supplies from Bulgaria and the Bulgarian dispatch of supplies to pro-Bulgarian elements was publicly denounced. Nevertheless, at the end of May, Dimitar Vlahov again launched an appeal for the return of Bulgarian Macedonians and even of pure Bulgarians with relations in Macedonia. This appeal appears to have been met again by refusal by the Bulgarian Government to disgorge any Macedonians living in Bulgaria and by a further influx of pure Bulgarian officials, some of these coming to Belgrade and on to Skopje under cover of the recent Youth Congress.

At the same time Slav refugees from Greece coming into the Pirin were sent by the Bulgarian Government to Yugoslav Macedonia.

17. It seems possible that the Russians who, presumably, have firm control over the actions of the Bulgarian Government, may be favouring the idea of an independent Macedonia in a Balkan or South Slav federation and with this end in view ere trying to hold the balance between Bulgarian and Serbian domination of the projected state. In this connexion the recent Russian support for the formation of an autonomous Macedonian church is perhaps significant. Yugoslav intentions would appear to be to retain even a greater Macedonia inside Yugoslavia unless a Balkan or South Slav federation becomes a fact. It seems clear that the task of pressing Macedonian demands on Greece falls to Yugoslavia and it is to assist her in this task that Bulgaria has returned Macedonian refugees from Greece to Yugoslav Macedonia. Whatever Bulgaria's aims may be, she may, however, feel forced by her present weak international position, to make some concessions to Yugoslavia, to preserve her friendship and support.

18. Relations with Greece

Te renewed press campaign against Greece (see Appendix "A") which started at the beginning or June has raised acutely the question of Yugoslav intentions in Greece. It is clear that this press campaign has been carefully coordinated in Belgrade and is not, as in the case of the earlier campaign, largely purely Macedonian ebullience. It did not start in Macedonian press until the lead was given by the Belgrade press and recently all important Macedonian leaders have been in turn to Belgrade, presumably to ensure that the agitation in Macedonia is on lines laid down by the central government, and does not get out of hand as it did at the beginning of this year. This is borne out by the fact that on the return of the Macedonian leaders from Belgrade a plenary session of the Macedonian National Liberation Front was held in Skopje when the main subject for discussion was the situation in Greece.

19. As previously suggested, one of the main reasons for the campaign is to harness the separatist element to the Macedonian government. Another reason is probably that the Yugoslavs are now in a very difficult position with the Slav Macedonians on the Greek side of the frontier. They say that they recruited some 15,000 Slavs from Greece into the Partisan army, and when doing so presumably made them g1owing promises have not been fulfilled though probably there was some vague undertaking between E.L.A.S. and the Partisans that they should be, at least in part, if E.L.A.S. gained power in Greece. The Yugoslavs cannot now afford, without forfeiting the sympathy of the Slavs in Greece, and thus giving up their hopes of expansion there to appear to retract their promises and abandon to the Greek government all those who have thrown in their lot with them and many of whom have sons in the Partisan army. They must, therefore, if only vocally, keep up some sort of campaign on their behalf. That some terrorization is taking place on the Greek side of the frontier is undoubted. Two responsible American journalists recently interviewed a large number or refugees from Greece in Bitolj and the stories told by these refugees were too circumstantial to be entirely false. All the refugees agreed that the most common atrocities were for Slav villages to be surrounded by E.D.E.S. and Greek gendarmerie working together and for Greek villagers then to be assisted in rustling livestock from the Slav villages. This was usually followed by the arrest and disappearance of a number of men from the Slav villages. Whether the Greeks have justification for the arrest of Slavs is another matter. Some of the refugees when asked for the reason of their persecution said that it was because they were pro-Tito and pro-Stalin instead of giving the prescribed answer, which was that it was because they were Macedonians. From the standpoint of the Greek government they undoubtedly form a dangerous fifth column which engages in active pan-Slav and anti-Greek propaganda. Moreover, the Slavs of Greek Macedonia must at least to some extent appear in Greek eyes to be war criminals, since like all Macedonian Slavs they certainly welcomed the Bulgarian occupation troops as liberators and at least at the beginning of the occupation probably worked closely with them and against the Greeks. The final reason for the renewed press campaign is, it is suggested, a desire on the part of the Macedonian and Yugoslav governments to ensure that the persecution of Slavs in Greece ceases though it is doubtful if in return they would be prepared to refrain from making pan- Slav propaganda amongst these people. The refugees, to whom, if they wish to retain their sympathy and support, the Yugoslavs cannot refuse sanctuary, are creating a serious economic problem. The Prime Minister of Macedonia, in conversation, said that there were some 7,000 civilian refugees chiefly in the Strumica and Bitolj areas and approximately the same number of troops, many of then pure Greeks from E.L.A.S. These have to be fed and sheltered and this aggravates the present food shortage in Macedonia and though the central government has just allotted 1,000,000 dinars for the care or refugees and has sent some of them (about 1,500) to the Vojvodina, this is not sufficient to solve the problem, particularly as more and more refugees are said to be coming over the frontier every day. The Prime Minister said that this must be stopped and that the minimum requirements must be granted by the Greek Government, namely that the Slavs should be allowed to use their own language and should have some cultural freedom.

20. This press campaign has had a deplorable effect both on the army and on the population of Macedonia. They have been led by chauvinistic propaganda, particularly in the army, to expect an attempt to seize Salonika and parts of Greek Macedonia at any moment and feeling is tense on this account. Troops passing recently through Skopje and Stip are said to have stated that they are on their way to Salonika. An eventual conflict with Greece on this point is accepted as more or less inevitable since Yugoslav demands have been presented to them as irrevocable and no mention whatever has been made of trying to find a peaceful solution which might be acceptable to both Greece and Yugoslavia and would enable the two countries to 1ive on friendly terms.


21. Despite this, responsible members of the Macedonian government have stated in private conversation that there is no intention or trying to settle the question by force prior to the peace conference. Among them was the Prime Minister who was, nevertheless, extremely bitter about British intervention in Greece against E.L.A.S. whom he considered would lave been sympathetic to Yugoslavia's claims. He alleged the that owing to this at Trieste, England was very unpopular in Macedonia. The claims against Greece are fantastic and extend as far south as Mount Olympus, but nevertheless both Metod1ja Andonov and Pavel Shatev claim that these areas should be included in Macedonia, both on ethnical and economic grounds. The population figures on which they base these claims are those of 1912, before the First Balkan War, before which date they claim to have irrefutable proof that the population was 60% Slav, 20% Greek and 20% Turk. Their claim is that the changes in the balance of population after the Balkan wars are artificially induced by colonization and therefore cannot be accepted as valid. Colonization was tried in Yugoslavian and Bulgarian Macedonia but was not successful and the Macedonians succeeded in maintaining their national conciseness. In Greece, however, the influx of refugees from Asia Minor and the persecution of Slavs entirely changed the picture. Kulisevski stated that in the ten years after the Greco-Turkish war 700,000 Slavs from Greece emigrated to Bulgaria and Andonov gave the figures of 350-400,000. It is claimed that at present there are still some 250- 300,000 Slavs in Greek Macedonia and that there is still a Slav majority in the Kastoria and Florina areas and in the mountain area on the Greek side of the frontier stretching through Gumendja as far east as Djevdjelja. When discussing this matter they all gave the impression that the claims of Bulgarian Macedonia would automatically fan into line if a satisfactory solution were found for the claim of Greek Macedonia. As for their claims against Albania, these could easily be settled, and the Prime Minister indicates that they would not be pressed. The presence of the Sixth Albanian Division on the Greek border in the Ohrid area of Macedonia seems to indicate that Albanian and Yugoslav action with regard to their respective claims on Greece is closely coordinated. Andonov admitted freely that Macedonia had no valid ethnical claim to Salo1ika which had never had a Slav majority, but added that Macedonia must have an outlet to the sea and suggested that for Salonika the best solution would be to put it under international control. He added that he was fully aware of the necessity of trying to live on terms of friendship with Greece and that with this in view Yugoslavia would be prepared to compromise on their extreme claims. He suggested as a possible frontier a line running from the north of the Grammos mountains to Kozani and running north-east to leave Greece a strip of land north of the Gulf of Salonika with Salonika as a free port contiguous to Macedonian territory in the north. The frontier would then run north of the Chalcidice and rejoin the coast to the east of it. There could then be transfer of Greek and Slav population north and south of the frontier.

22. The economic argument advanced for frontier revision other than necessity of Macedonian outlet to the sea, is that before the erections of the frontiers after the Balkan Wars, the winter pastures of large numbers of flocks in what is now Bulgarian and Yugoslav Macedonia were in the plains of northern Greece. The flocks in the summer pasture in the mountains of Yugoslav and Bulgarian Macedonia and in winter went down to Greece. With the erection of artificial frontiers this has ceased and the effects on the sheep rearing industry in Bulgarian and Yugoslavian Macedonia had been serious and great hardship and impoverishment had been caused to the peasants there. This had hit Bulgarian Macedonia particularly hard since there was no winter pasturage there at all and the sheep had to be maintained throughout the year on the poor summer pasturages. In addition to this, in the mountain areas of northern Greece, the valleys and natural trade routes led only towards the north and many of the villages and towns are completely inaccessible from the South. The establishment of the frontiers had forced the population to send their produce south and had imposed very hardships on them. Some Macedonian towns, particularly Bitolj, had lost their former prosperity on this account. Further, on the Aegean seaboard the inclusion of such previously prosperous ports as Kavalla in Greece had rendered them virtually useless. Where before 1912 they had taken much of the import trade into Bulgaria this import trade was now sent through the Black Sea.

23. Andonov said that the tactics which the Yugoslav Movement proposed to adopt were to press their claims at the peace conference on the basis of the 1912 population figures. He and Shatev strongly disclaimed my intention to try to use force prior to this and expressed the certainty that a just solution would be found by the great powers at the peace conference. Presumably in this they base their hopes on Russian support for their claims. In the meantime they hoped that action would be taken to see that Greek injustices towards the Slav population of Greek Macedonia ceased. All indications are that the Yugoslavs are at present in no position to use force against Greece, and the control of the frontier by picked troops under the direct command of Belgrade, ensures that no incident can be provoked by irresponsible elements in Macedonia. The Yugoslav Fifth Army though large – possibly about 30,000 men and largely concentrated near the frontier - is not composed of the most experienced Yugoslav troops and is not well equipped. There are no signs of unusual military activity, though as air force of about 40 planes recently arrived in Skopje. Means of supplying the army on a war footing for operations against Greece are lacking. There is little motor transport and a great lack of rolling stock. The railway from Veles to Djevdjelja is completely out of action and is unlikely to be repaired even by the end of the summer since the track is to be re-laid on the other side of the Vardar. The narrow-gauge railway to Ohrid is incapable of taking much traffic and the railway from Skopje to Bitolj is broken by a destroyed tunnel south of Veles and on the line from Bitolj to Veles and to the Greek frontier there are only two engines in a poor state of repair.

24. Nevertheless, should British troops be withdrawn from Greece, there would be a strong likelihood that the Yugoslavs would be tempted to take the law into their own hands. If, further, Yugoslav claims remain unsatisfied at the Peace Conference, the Yugoslav government may well find that they have no inflamed public opinion that unless they attempt to use force to satisfy their claims, or can play up some other success elsewhere, they will be left with a very dangerous internal situation.
from email r stefov

[George S.]

From the Once Classified Files - Part 27

Office of the High Commissioner for Canada

Canada House, London, S.W.I.

May 17, 1941

??? A. 257


Sir,

I have the honour to enclose herewith copy of a memorandum which has been presented to me by the Greek Minister in London, Monsieur Charalambos Simopoulos, and which deals with the activities of The Revolutionary Macedonian Organization.

2. Monsieur Simopoulos called me the other day to explain that this organization has active supporters among the Bulgarian emigrants in Canada and the United States. He added that it was particularly active in Toronto where the largest majority of Bulgarian inhabitants are to be found, and he suggested that some steps might be taken by the Canadian Government in order to discredit the organization. The Greek Minister has been asked by his Government to bring the facts to the notice of the Canadian Government and to request their earnest consideration.
3. I should be glad to receive in due course instructions as to the reply which should be made to Monsieur Simopoulos.
I have the honour to be, Sir, Your obedient servant, (can’t tell signature)

The Right Honourable, The Secretary of State for External Affairs, Ottawa, Canada.

The Revolutionary Macedonian Organization ever since the first war has had a purely ant-Yugoslav and anti-Greek character. Its objective is the revision of the treaties, which after the last European War defined the frontiers of the Balkan States.

The organization has not confined itself to terrorization only in the Balkans, but has extended its activities under the cloak of propaganda to countries outside of Bulgaria itself. These activities assumed greater impetus especially after the settlement in Greece of refugees from Asia Minor (1922). The majority of the population of Macedonia had from time immemorial been racially Greek. The establishment in Macedonia of the Greek refugees, coinciding with the voluntary emigration to Bulgaria of the elements of Bulgarian origin, caused the population as to become homogenously Greek and Macedonia thus became as Greek as any other province of the Kingdom.

The Macedonian Organization has always enjoyed the support of every Bulgarian Government, with the exception of those in power from 1934-1936. Financially it was subsidized by the Italian Legation in Sofia. Of recent years it has also received financial support from the German Government, in order to aggravate dissention between the other Balkan States to the benefit of the Axis; this has been amply proved by recent events in the Balkans.

The Bulgarian Organization has also made use of certain Bulgarian immigrants to Canada and the U.S.A. In these countries their principle objective has been, and still is, to collect funds for subversive action in Macedonia and at the same time to extend their sphere of influence by the organization of meeting in the chief cities and the publication and distribution of pamphlets advocating the idea of an administratively autonomous Macedonia or even the creation of an independent State, which would naturally be under the direct influence, if not control, of Bulgaria and her allies.

It would, therefore, be to common interest if the Canadian authorities would assist in purring an end to these activities and cause this propaganda to cease, as it creates a most painful impression both upon the Greek and Yugoslav peoples, who so recently have been subjected to such severe tests.

NOTES BY MR. RITCHIE ON VISIT TO ATHENS

The impression which Greece leaves in one’s mind is a most unhappy one – politically. The brilliant sunlight of this halcyon season of the year, the beauty of the surroundings, the vitality of the people -all contrast with the darkness of the political outlook.

2. For Greece feels itself to be an outpost of civilization threatened by inundation from the neighbouring Slav- Communist countries. Insecurity is the predominating feeling among all the people with whom I talked. Their eyes are turned towards the frontiers and beyond these frontiers they see their ancient enemies the Albanians and Bulgars supported by Yugoslavia and by the might of the Soviet Union waiting their opportunity to extinguish the national independence of Greece and to install a puppet Communist regime in Athens similar to those in power in Sofia and Belgrade. Nor, it must be admitted, is this picture a fanciful one. The Greek-Albanian and Greek Bulgar frontiers are kept in ferment by incidents engineered as part of a war of nerves designed to intensify the very feeling of insecurity which dominates Greece. I talked to an American officer who has just returned from the Albanian frontier – a careful and objective witness who told me at first hand off the organization of these raids and left me in no doubt that they were part of a deliberate policy organized by Moscow. The frontier raids were stepped down during the Paris Conference but were now beginning again to take place at intervals of a few days apart. They are on a small scale but they keep the frontier in a state of insecurity. This United States officer had personally interrogated prisoners captured by the Greeks from raiding parties. One was a former officer of the Greek army turned Communist who described the organization of these raiding groups in Yugoslavia. First, indoctrination of Greek Communists by Russian agents, and then the specific orders to infiltrate into Greece and to establish contact with Greek communists within the country. The Greeks fear and have reason to fear an efficient Communist conspiracy on their frontiers which makes use of the ancient hatred of the Bulgars and Albanians for the Greek people.

3. It is against this background one has to consider the vehement of Greek feeling with regard to their frontier claims against Bulgaria and Albania, and their bitter disappointment at the result of the Paris Conference as it affected the frontier question. This disappointment results in part from a genuine misunderstanding as to the scope and purpose of the Conference. Most Greeks seem to have thought that the Conference could and perhaps would give them the frontiers which they regard as essential to their national safety. The Government seem to have encouraged them in this illusion. In any case the Greeks are for the most part a somewhat primitive people – they cannot understand the procedures or the limitations of the powers of the Conference. They see the issue in similar terms. And so far as I could judge there is on this point an approach to unanimity among them.

4. The Greeks see the position in the following terms: After their magnificent resistance, which was so much praised by their war-time allies at the time, they have been let -down or discarded by their friends. The ex-enemy countries like Bulgaria and Romania have, been, treated as well if not better than themselves. They have not got anything like the reparations which they feel they deserve. On top of this they have not been given minimum national security. For this they blame the Anglo-Saxon powers and especially the United Kingdom.

Among the Greek Roya1ists (and it is an important reservation that most if not all the Greeks whom we met were Royalists), the feeling about the British is extremely bitter. They think that the United Kingdom is trying to appease the Russians at the expense of Greek national interests. They cannot forgive the British for not voting in favour of their frontier claims against Bulgaria and not backing up their claims to Northern Epirus.

The Royal family appear fully to share these feelings. In the time I was in Greece I heard no word of appreciation for the backing Greece has received from the United Kingdom. The British were accused of breaking their promises to Greece, although no specific promises were mentioned. They probably had in mind the excessive assurances of general aid made during the war by the B.B.C. rather than any formal assurances from the United Kingdom Government. This bitterness does not appear to extend to the same extent to the United States although the United States has been less sympathetic to Greek claims than the United Kingdom. But they never expected as much from them.

When it became known that the United Kingdom delegation had abstained from supporting Greek frontier claims in Paris there was a hostile demonstration outside the British Embassy in Athens. So far as the Greek Communists are concerned, they take the line that they are as interested as any other Greek political group in obtaining frontier rectifications, but that this will never be possible as long as a Right Wing Government is in power. If, they say, the Communists were in power, Greece would have the support of the Soviet Union which, unlike the United Kingdom, does not betray its friends but looks after their interests. Thus the failure of the Conference to endorse Greek claims has undoubtedly given the Communists a useful propaganda weapon. So far as the Right Wing in Greece is concerned, disillusioned as they are about British Policy, they know that they have no other friend abroad so that they must continue to depend on British support. But the honeymoon period in British-Greek relations is certainly over.

5. If insecurity is the prevailing note in foreign affairs, it also dominates the internal scene. One point in the international situation which must be appreciated is that the plebiscite for the King’s return – roughly a 4-1 vote – was essentially an anti-Communist vote. The monarchy is thought of primarily as a stabilizing institution which will, it is hoped, save the country from Communism. As was explained to us by almost everyone we met, there is no equivalent in Greece of a British Labour Party, no strong moderate group which now commands sufficient support to form a Government. The United Kingdom Government, has, sought in vain to conjure out of the air such a government which could be more easily supported in the United Kingdom and abroad than the present Government, but despite the efforts of the former British Ambassador, Sir Rex Leeper, they have failed. There is no such in the middle-of-the road opinion. The situation is one of fears and hatreds on either, side which may at any time break out in a civil war. So that British policy is now getting the worst of both worlds. It supports its friends grudgingly, and yet is attacked by the Communists as the protector of reaction.

6. The immediate task of the Government and of the monarchy is the restoration of internal security. The difficulties in the way are enormous. Communications are in a chaotic condition, many of the roads are impassable, parts of the country are infested with Communist bandits who terrorize the peasantry. The Greek army is totally inadequate in size to deal with internal security, and at the same time to guard the frontiers. The Gendarmerie have put up a good show, but again they are not strong enough for the responsibilities imposed on them. Arms are the first need and the 'Greek Government is now in negotiation with the United Kingdom authorities to obtain then. As they are received it may be possible to enforce order. On the other hand, there is the danger that the Right Wing may well take advantage of this strength to carry out a wholesale liquidation of their opponents. Memories of the casualties and outrages practiced in the civil war are fresh in people's minds. There are deadly grudges to be paid off. Many people we met including members of the Royal family described the atrocities of which the Communists were guilty. Atrocities, however, may not have all been on one side.

7. The outlook for the people of Greece is certainly not bright and their difficulties are intensified both by economic and psychological factors. They are a miserably poor people (the working classes live at the bare subsistence level at the best of times) and at the moment they live mainly on UNDRA. What happens when UNRRA ceases no one dares to foresee. The country is over-populated and the soil barren. Moreover, the very virtues of the Greeks seem to turn against them. This gallant and high- spirited race will fight for a principle to the end - even if it means fighting their own brothers. Their love of liberty runs to an extreme individualism which will brook no control or authority (for example, it has been totally impossible to introduce a rationing system in Greece, as the people cannot be made to abide by it). Their very loyal ties involve them in bitter vendettas. Then, too, they suffer from a very widespread corruption. Everywhere in Athens we heard of one “racket” or another, a condition which is encouraged by the wretched rates of pay of the public servants.

8. But despite the gloomy prospects ahead, the Greeks have a genius for survival. They are a virile and hardy race. Their history has long been one of difficulty and danger and it may be that once again they will triumph over their difficulties, but only, it is to be feared, at the expense of further bloodshed and suffering.
from email from r stefov

[cultea]

Both documents are not from 1941, but probably 1945 or early 1946 before the break of the (main) Civil War.
When the authors refer to the atrocities of the Civil War they mean the first clashes with communists before the Treaty of Varkiza.