Risto Stefov - Articles, Translations & Collaborations

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • George S.
    Senior Member
    • Aug 2009
    • 10116

    Noose – Preface



    By Stoian Kochov

    Translated and edited by Risto Stefov

    [email protected]

    January 2, 2013



    I dedicate this book to the memory of my family which, after the Greek Civil War (1946-1949) was scattered; with my father Tanas going to Australia, my mother Jovanka going to Poland, my brother Giorgi going to jail in Greece and me, along with the Units of DAG (Democratic Army of Greece), going to the Soviet Union.



    My endeavour in writing this novel (Noose) was to describe actual events that belonged to our past which nobody could alter: Pure facts and dirty deeds.



    The stories in this novel are told authentically with a sense of resentment towards the ideological powers which politicized the innocence of our generations of that time. We now have to ask the question and seek answers to: “How and who directed our destiny towards the genocide of the Macedonian people in Greece? For whom did we sacrifice ourselves, lose our centuries-old fatherland in which our souls and the souls of our ancestors were planted and for whom did we become wanderers of the world?”



    My introduction of living and dead characters and events into our national tragedy is not coincidental. It is deliberate and has been taken from our hardened narrative. Who were these “foreign gods” who gave orders and designed our extinction from our own country of birth?


    -From October 1944 to October 14, 1946 in the grip of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY)/Communist Party of Macedonia (CPM).
    -From October 1946 to August 27, 1949 (when the Greek Civil War ended) in the grip of the Communist Party of Greece (CPG).
    -From 1950 until today - Wanderers around the world.

    The author


    During the Second World War people from different cultures happened to pass through the village Rudino where even the poorest man in the area had the fortune of having met with them in his own lodgings. Many passed by, some invited others uninvited, some curious and others murderers, some persecuted and others with hidden intentions. During the war the people survived very cold winters and very hot summers, so hot that on occasion hot air rose from the stones looking as if they were baking in an oven. Villagers, with sunburned chests and backs, hurriedly walked barefoot to the fields to collect the crops.



    Unfortunately with the war’s end things did not change much. The people of Rudino remained restless and worried and it wasn’t any better in any of the other villages in Lerin, Kostur and Voden Regions. Fear was always present, reminding people of the terrible riots and violence that had passed. The war had taken its toll and left the people weakened, hungry, tired, cold and tortured. After the German armies withdrew, Partisans, along the entire length of the Greek front and wherever they were found, began to establish their own authority. The villagers rejoiced in their victory over fascism.



    Unfortunately there were too many deep wounds left after the war ended. Thousands of mothers wore black head kerchiefs, thousands of young women and sisters were dressed in black and thousands of children were orphaned. Fathers and mothers painfully mourned their departed sons who had died in a senseless war before their time.



    Now for the first time in a long time, people, without fear of losing their livestock and valuables to the various gangs that roamed the villages and committed atrocities and robberies, began to take their possessions out of their basements and barns. The German and Italian occupiers had confiscated all vehicles and large quantities of food and many people living in large centres remained without food even after the war had ended. People died of starvation by the thousands. Hunger drove many to flood the villages and sell their valuables, sometimes even the clothes off their backs for a handful of corn or beans.



    The occupiers and their collaborators had barbarically put Goebbels’s words into practice: “Europe will die so that Germany can live!” The Nazi regime in Germany created death camps to eliminate its political opposition and its prisoners. That’s what the communists were saying and writing. They were also saying that the new generation wanted to erase centuries of German tradition and to return to barbaric times. It was at that time too that strangers belonging to a terrorist group known to the Macedonians as the “Paudzhidi” invaded the homes of Macedonians and beat everyone to a bloody pulp. They beat hundreds of people and these people, gripped by mortal fear, fled their homes seeking refuge in the mountains. Much of the possessions that they had left behind were stolen and their properties were then burned to the ground.


    (The word “Paudzhidi” comes from the acronym “PAO”, a Pan-Hellenic Liberation Organization whose members were comprised of former police chiefs, former Greek Army officers and other miscellaneous anti-peoples nationalist elements that had always desired the destruction of the Macedonian nation. The organization PAO cooperated with a faction of the colonists settled in the Macedonian villages after 1924. The colonists were living among the Macedonians and some were responsible for causing a great deal of damage.)



    The “Paudzhidi” endeavoured to continue the forced Hellenization of the Macedonian people living in Greek occupied Macedonia and seized the opportunity offered to them by the war period, to force the Macedonians to maintain the continuity of a sense of common belonging to the Greek national collective, to its historical traditions and to the Greek heroic sacrifices. In other words, to become Greeks by force! The EAM (National Liberation Front) coalition consisting of leftists, with the CPG (Communist Party of Greece) at the helm, managed to achieve broad unity among the Greek people. The bourgeois parties and politicians at the time were cooperating with the Germans and later with the English and worked against the EAM. (On April 6, 1941 Germany attacked Yugoslavia and Greece and became Greece’s new master, expanding and imposing its new fascist views upon the Greek people. On September 27, 1941 the Organization EAM was established and called for the entire Greek population to join the resistance against fascism.)

    With the Lebanon agreement of May 1944, the CPG, EAM and ELAS (National Liberation Army of Greece) voluntarily and officially gave up any pretense of taking political power. The agreement recognized the government in exile, headed by Georgios Papandreou, as the “legitimate government of Greece” and as the government of “national unity”.



    (The ELAS or “ELASITI” were members of the military also called “andartes”. Andartes was a term used by the Greeks to refer to the armed Greek bands operating illegally in Macedonia before, during and after the 1903 Ilinden Uprising. The “andartes” were organized and armed in Greece and then sent to Macedonia to spread Greek influence through acts of terror. Thus in Macedonia the term “andartes” was associated with the infamous crimes committed against the Macedonian people. The Organization ELAS was jointly formed by the EAM, the CPG and the CPG Central Committee. The first ELAS military units or “Elasiti” appeared on February 15th, 1942. The first detachment of ELAS was formed in Kostur Region on December 7th, 1942 and included 10 Macedonians, 7 Greeks and 2 Vlachs. The total number of ELAS fighters throughout Greece numbered about 70,000. On July 16th, 1943 the leadership of ELAS and Colonel Eddie Myers, head of the British military mission, signed an agreement bringing ELAS under the British Command of the Middle East. On February 12th, 1945 the “Varkiza” agreement was signed with which the left (EAM and CPG) practically handed power to the right.)



    With the Kazerta agreement in September 1944, British General Skobi was accepted and proclaimed supreme commander of the armed forces and ELAS Units in Greece. All arms were surrendered and free Partisan movement was no longer possible unless authorized by Sir Ronald Skobi.



    ***



    During the spring and summer of 1945 and 1946, the Plastiras government was quick to exchange Constitutional Act 1, “The imposition of punitive measures for those who collaborated with the enemy”, a law which was passed by the government of Georgios Papandreou, with Act 6 “The imposition of sanctions for those who collaborated with the enemy.” It was on the basis of this Constitutional Act, that in 1945 the Special Court for the collaborators was established in Solun with minor courts established in Seres, Drama, Lerin and Kostur.



    The new Greek government, it seems, had forgotten the words and commitments expressed by the former Greek Prime Minister Venizelos when he said, “The Slavo-Macedonians don’t feel like they are Greeks or Bulgarians.” Then when he allowed the Abecedar, a Macedonian primer for children, to be published he again reiterated: “If the Slavo-Macedonians require schools in their own language, then I will be the first in Greece to guarantee that their requirements are achieved.”


    But now, it seems, the Greeks in Greek occupied Macedonia had forgotten all that and created these courts with the sole purpose of further tormenting the Macedonians who they called Slavo-phones, especially those whose national consciousness was non-Greek. The Macedonians were put in a difficult position because they freely spoke their Macedonian language during the German occupation. The accused were prosecuted in these so-called “people’s courts” and, if found guilty, were sent back to prison.



    Some of the accused were sentenced to death and immediately executed, triggering strong protests from the commander of British forces in Athens, General Ronald Skobi and from Evripidis Bakerdzhis, commander of General Headquarters of the Group divisions in Northern Greece. Many of the accused had already escaped but were tried in absentia anyway. Many of those tried were the so-called autonomists, members of NOF (National Liberation Front), who desired an autonomous Macedonia and had fled Greece in 1944, after which they joined Tito’s army as the “Aegean Brigade.”



    Most of the cases were judgments against Macedonian villagers from the various villages from which many activists had joined the NOF and AFZH (Women’s Anti-Fascist Front) Organizations in 1945 and formed the foundations that led to our national tragedy. The list of charges was generally very long and covered many Acts of the Greek Constitution.





    About the Author



    Stoian Kochov was born in 1930 in the village Turie, Lerin Region. During the Greek Civil War (1946-1949) he was an active participant in the DAG (Democratic Army of Greece) units. From 1950 to 1957 he lived and studied in the USSR until his return to the Republic of Macedonia in 1957. Stoian graduated from Belgrade University and after that moved to Skopje.

    Stoian authored the following works (all in Macedonian): Meeting (stories, 1989), A dead army (poetry, 1992) (Only) the sacrifice of the Macedonian people under Greece (critical essays, 1994), Dead face of war (poetry, 1996), Giorgi Pejkov - Macedonian warrior throughout the history of DAG (1945-1949) (monograph, 1996), Wanderer (novel, 1997), New Year in the underground barracks in Gramos (novel, 1998), Punishment without guilt (novel, 2001), Eve of destiny (short stories, 1998), Ideological activism over the Macedonians under Greece (critical essays, 2000), Sin of the offspring (novel), Essays and literary interpretation (critical essays, 2002), Presentiment (story), The gravedigger from Lerin (novel, 2001), Balkan Saga (novel, 2004), One way ticket (historical critical essays, 2004), The great return of the wanderers (novel, 2006), Macedonians lost in red hell (historical critical essays, 2007), The warrior and Margarita (novel, 2008).





    Epilogue



    All the generals and politicians who led the Greek Civil War, and even some historians who were attached to the government, knew what had happened to the Macedonians in that war, everything else was politics. Exactly for that reason the novel “Noose”, six decades later, has treated the Greek Civil War (1945 to 1949) as a subject of literary analysis and of military-political and historical importance. These are events of our past, which could re-occur in our present and which have multi-layered deposits of dramatic consequences of our uprooting from our homes in Greek occupied Macedonia and of turning us into “WANDERERS”, as individuals, groups, or entire communities. And regardless of the topic and the sources that this novel relies on, events are described as they developed from day to day, especially in times of war, until the later years in the camps and prisons.



    The people who experienced the war are able to only occasionally forget their discomfort and anxiety but such moments are rare and are not a measure of their lives. What is described here touches on the moral significance of events formed on the awareness at an individual level. Described here is also the psychological turmoil that is part of our historical destiny, bestowed upon us and on the entire Balkans by the Great Powers. This novel also covers the history of “the political visions”, or at least the topology of it, including an overview of the human situation and destiny in which the heroes, no matter what the initial motivation, regardless of actions and ultimate goals, are always searching for the meaning of life in order to confirm the subjective qualities of their own being.



    The heroes confess their beliefs and attitudes in an environment (military or alien) in which psychology and spiritual climate are living and growing entities of ideological activism, which test personal worth, personal risk and details of a person’s moral commitment. This novel describes the suffering of these “condemned” people and their journey in that struggle, unbeknownst to them, working for foreign interests. From another perspective, the novel examines the fate of the displaced – the torn people who wander through the world of human existence in exile, who have been taken and turned into victims. It also examines the political cynicisms, the triumphs, the pragmatism and the hypocrisy of diplomatic agreements.



    Many of the “heroes” who participated in these dreadful wars have paid for their loyalties and beliefs in “nationalism” – by death during combat in the units of DAG and by suffering and dying in camps and prisons during and after the wars. But some remained alive to testify and let us know what it was like to have failed in their conscious effort to assert their own identity. What happened to these people, to this generation, was a complete tragedy mainly because they were left with no exit out of their situation; they had no chance to succeed by resisting. These people were pressured to enter into conflict with a historically murderous force and to experience the trauma that carried them through a time of lawlessness and complete lack of human dignity. These people were faced with a broken system with no reasonable human relations. A false consciousness was instilled into them which eventually pushed them into the hands of the executioner and turned them all into victims. This was done to them by the cruelty of people, some of whom belonged to the same group as themselves. There was no natural human consciousness in that. Groundless and historical misconceptions, such as human origin, have also played their part. In other words, we will meet people in the pages of this book that have personal and official arbitrariness, discreet authority, human life and those unprotected and constantly exposed to the impact of legislative power.



    According to statements made by UDBA General Jovo Kapichikj regarding the Greek Civil War: Yugoslavia won the battle, the Greek government won the war and the Communist Party of Greece lost both the war and its freedom. But after the war was over Greeks returned to their homes and the Macedonians, who through the organizations NOF and AFZH sacrificed themselves together with some communists, suffered horrendous casualties, estimated at 20,000 killed and more than 60,000 exiled, destined to become WANDERERS of the world with no right to return to their homes because they were not Greeks by birth. The novel “Noose” has been written with special care and love and with a sense of respect for the fighters, of whom many gave their young lives on the battlefields of Gramos, Konitsa, Klefti, Hashiata, Epirus, Pieriata, Vicho, Lerin, Voden, Negush, Mali-Madi, Burno, Siniachko and in many other battles. The author has reconstructed the entire truth about the genocide perpetrated against the Macedonians and about the loss of the Macedonian people’s right to return to their ancestral homes.



    “Facts” play an integral and dominant part in this political novel. Facts play a dominant role in the literary analysis of the cruelty of war. Facts play a role in the most frightening, worst moments for those young individuals, with sad destinies, mobilized in the military and who spoke of elementary moral values, humanity and compassion when referring to the Macedonian family. The tragedy of the thousands of mobilized young people is touching, which led the author to ask the question: “Who put the NOOSE around the neck of the Macedonians?” Destiny was a paradigm for those boys and girls (children without childhood) who were forcibly mobilized, forced to fight and do what was required of them in a guerrilla war. The novel has done an extensive analysis of the iniquity perpetrated against the Macedonian people. This is a story about the loss of a birthplace, of bitter love, of the eternal search for roots and of the deep and sincere sorrow experienced by the author himself.



    ЈАМКА



    Стојан Кочов



    Роман



    Кој и како ја режирал судбината за геноцидот над Македонците во Грција? Како и за кого се (само)жртвувавме, па го изгубивме вековниот татков дом во кој беа всадани прадедовските и нашите души, па сега станавме талкачи по светот.



    Македонците под Грција низ туѓите балкански јамки во Граѓанската воина (1946 – 1949)



    ПАНИЛИ



    Ја посветувам за спомен на нашето семејство, кое по Граѓанската војна (1946-1949) се најде распарчено:

    татко ми Танас во Австралија, мајка ми Јованка во Полска, брат ми Ѓорги в затвор во Грција, а јас со единиците на ДАГ во Советскиот Сојуз.



    Во романот “Јамка” се опишани случувањата што му припаѓаат на минатото и кои веќе никој не може да ги измени:

    Чистите факти и валканите цели.

    Раскажани се со автентичност и со чувство за гневност спрема идеолошката моќ што не политизираше нас невините генерации. Сега го бараме одговорот:

    “Кој и како ја режирал судбината за геноцидот над Македонците во Грција? Како и за кого се (само)жртвувавме, па го изгубивме вековниот татков дом во кој беа всадани прадедовските и нашите души, па сега станавме талкачи по светот.”

    Реалните настани се вовед во националната трагедија, со личности живи или мртви, не е случајно, намерно е, и земено се што е во Скаменета хроника:

    За наредбите на туѓите богови и проектираното наше исчезнување од родината:

    -Од октомври 1944 до 14 октомври 1946 година, во прегратките на КПЈ/КПМ.

    -Од октомври 1946 до 27 август 1949 година (кога заврши војната), во прегратките на КПГ.

    -Од 1950 година па се до денес – Талкачи по светот.



    Авторот



    I



    Во периодот на Втората светска војна, низ Рудино имаа поминато луѓе од разни култури, дури имаше среќа со нив да се сретне и најсиромашниот човек во својата колиба. Поминаа канети и неканети, убијци и љубопитни, прогонети и луѓе со скриени намери.

    Преживеаните зими низ војната беа студени, а летата беа толку жешки што воздухот трепереше и камењата се вжештуваа како вршник. Босоногите селани итаа низ полето со подзгорени гради и грбови да го соберат родот.

    Но иако војната заврши, неспокојни и загрижени беа луѓето од Рудино, но не беше подобро ни во другите лерински, Костурски и Воденски села. Стравот остана меѓу селаните – потсетувајќи ги на ужасните безредија и насилства.

    Луѓето беа ослабени, исушени од препечувањето на сонцето, студот и гладот, измачени.

    По повлекувањето на германските армии, по целата должина на фронтот во Грција, партизаните, насекаде, каде што беше можно поставуваа своја власт. Селаните ѝ се радуваа на победата над фашизмот.

    Војната тукушто заврши, но остави длабоки рани. Илјадници мајки забрадија црни шамии, илјадници млади жени и сестри се облекоа во црно, илјадници деца останаа сирачиња. Старите татковци, болно ги оплакуваа своите синови.

    Сега без голем страв ги раскопуваа од визбите спастрениот чеиз и вредните работи, што ги имаа скриено од разни банди што шетаа по селата и вршеа злодела и грабеж на добиток и вреди предмети.

    Германските и италијанските окупатори ги имаа конфискувано речси сите превозни средства и големи количества храна. Големите центри останаа без храна. Стотици илјади луѓе умираа од глад. Селата ги преплавија од гладни луѓе кои ја продаваа дури и сопствената облека за малку пченка или грав.

    Окупаторите и нивните соработници варварски ги применуваа зборовите на Гебелс: “Европа ќе умре за да живее Германија!”

    Нацистичкиот режим во Германија создал логори на смртта за политичките затвореници. Тоа го пишуваат и кажуваат комунистите, и дека новата епоха сака да избрише векови германска традиција и да се врати во времето на варварството.

    Непознати луѓе од терористите – пауџиди (1) упаѓаа во домовите на Македонците и крвнички тепаа се пред себе, стотици луѓе тие денови, гонети од смртен страв, бегаа од своите домови барајќи спас во планините. Имотите им беа насилно крадени и горени.

    Пауџидите настојуваа да продолжи елинизацијата над Македонците во Северна Грција и грижата им беше во овој меѓувоен период да ги натераат Македонците да го задржат континуитетот на чувството за заедничка припадност кон грчкиот национален колектив, кон неговите историски традиции и кон низа грчки херојски жртви.

    Коалицијата ЕАМ(2), односно левицата на чело со КПГ (буржоаските партии и политичари, едни беа со Германците други со Англичаните, против ЕАМ) успеа да



    остварат најшироко национално единство на грчкиот народ.

    Со Либанскиот договор од мај 1944 година, КПГ, ЕАМ, ЕЛАС(3), доброволно и официјално се откажуваат од секаква претензија за заземање на власта, признавајќи ја бегалската влада на чело со Георгиос Папандреу како “легитимна влада на Грција”, како влада на “националното единство”.

    Со договорот од Казерта во септември 1944 година, британскиот генерал Скоби беше прифатен и прогласен како врховен командант на вооружените сили во Грција и единиците на ЕЛАС го предаваа оружјето и веќе не можеа да се движат и да дејствуваат инаку освен по наредба од сер Роналд Скоби.



    * * *



    Во текот на пролетта и летото 1945 и 1946 година, владата на Пластирас набргу со Уставниот акт 1, “За наметнувањето на казнени мерки за оние што соработуваа со непријателот”, закон што беше донесен од владата на Георгиос Папандреу, го замени со Актот 6. “За наметнување на санкции за оние што соработуваа со непријателот”.

    Токму врз основа на Уставниот акт, во 1945 година во Солун беше формиан Специјалниот суд за колаборациолистите, на такви помали судови беа



    оформени во Серез, Драма, Лерин и Костур.

    Новата власт ги заборави зборовите и обврските што ги искажа Венизелос: “Словеномакедонците не се чувствуваат ни како Грци ни како Бугари” и дозволи да се направи Абецедарот и пак потврди: “Ако Словеномакедонците бараат училиште на својот јазик, јас ќе бидам првиот во Грција што ќе се заложам остварување на тоа барање”.

    Но сега судовите во Македонија под Грција ги донесоа законите, во прв план, за Македонците (именувани како Славофони). Целта на судовите беа Македонците (Славофоните), особено оние чија национална свест беше негрчка. Тие беа доведени во тешка положба поради јазикот на кој зборуваа слободно за време на германската окупација. Обвинетите беа изведувани пред “народните судови” и, доколку беа прогласени за виновни, беа враќани назад во затворите.

    Некои луѓе беа осудувани на смрт по итна постанка и погубувани, што предизвика силни протести дури и од командантот на британските сили во Атина, генерал Роналд Скоби и Еврипидис Бакерџис, командантот на генералниот штаб на група дивизии во Северна Грција.

    Многу од обвинетите беа избегани и им се судеше во отсуство. Тоа обично беа автономисти (членови на НОФ), кои беа за автономна Македонија и беа пребегани во 1944 година во Титовата армија, и менувани како “Егејска бригада”.

    Во повеќе случаи им се судеше на македонските селани одеднаш на повеќемина токму од селата во кои во текот на 1945 година се спроведуваа активистите на НОФ и АФЖ и се поставуваа темелите на овие организаци – вовед во националната трагедија.

    Списокот на обвиненијата обично беше многу долг и се однесуваше на повеќе членови од Уставот на грчката држава.



    ________

    1 ПАО – пауџидес (Сегрчка ослободителна организација) што ја сочинуваа поранешни полициски началници и офицери на поранешната грчка армија (ЕС) и други разни националистички антинародни елементи кои секогаш беа за уништување на Македонците. Организацијата ПАО, посебно во Македонија, во соработка со еден дел од колонистите доселени по1924 година, кои живееја низ македонските села, им нанесоа големи неволи на Македонците.



    2 На 6 април 1941 година Германија изврши напад против Југославија и Грција и сега во Грција се јави нов господар, со нови фашистички погледи, а на 27 септември истата година е формирана организацијата ЕАМ (народноослободителен фронт) која го повикува целокупното население на Грција на отпор против фашизмот.



    3 ЕЛАС – ЕЛАСИТИ (припадници на оваа војска се викаа “андартес”) што кај Македонците асоцираше на злогласните дела против македонскиот народ од постилинденскиот период на грчките андарти организирани и вооружени во Грција и испраќани во Македонија со нож да го шират грчкото влијание. ЕАМ и КПГ на заедничкиот состанок на ЦК на КПГ, бараат да се организира ЕЛАС (Грчка народноослободителна војска) и дури на 15 февруари 1942 година се појавуват воените единици на ЕЛАС – Еласити. Во Костурско беше формиран првиот одред на ЕЛАС на 7. 12. 1942 година и сочинаваа 10 Македонци, 7 Грци и двајца власи.

    ЕЛАС во цела Грција броеше околу 70. 000 борци, но на 16 јули 1943 година, раководството на ЕЛАС и шефот на англиската воена мисија, полковникот Еди Маерс потпишаа спогодба со која се потчинува грчката команда на ЕЛАС под англиската команда за Блискиот Исток, а на 12 февруари 1945 година, во Варкиза е потпишан договор со кој пректично левицата (КПГ и ЕАМ) и ја предадоа власта на десницата во Грција.





    ПОГОВОР



    Сите генерали и политичари што ја водеа Граѓанската војна, па дури и некои историчари што биле приврзани кон власта, знаат што се случи со Македонците во Граѓанската војна во Грција, се друго е политика. Токму затоа во романот “Јамка” се предмет на литературна анализа воено-политичките и историски движења и пресврти што се случуваа во Граѓанската војна од 1945 до 1949 година, се до овие минати дни на шестдецениски живот по војната. Станува збор за настаните од минатото или од сегашноста чии резултати се многуслојно наталожени како драматични за откорнатите; поединци, група или заедница од Македонија под Грција – викани Егејци, односно ТАЛКАЧИ. И без оглед на тематиката и на изворите на кои се потпира романот, настаните се опишани како што се развивале од ден на ден, посебно во времето на војната, се до подоцнежните години низ логорите и профатилиштата.

    Овие луѓе немирот и тегобноста само привидно и повремено ги напуштаат, а таквите моменти се ретки и не се мерило за нивниот живот. Во описите се пофатени оние области и функции каде што кај нив се формирала индувидуалната свест за моралното значење на настаните, за психолошките ломови во кои се реализира историската судбина на големите сили на Балканот. Во овој роман историјата на политичките визии, или барем на нивните топологии, опфаќа преглед на човечките ситуации и судбини во кои јунаците, без оглед на тоа какви им биле почетните мотиви, без оглед на нивното дејствување и на крајната цел на нивните постапки, секогаш трагаат по смислата на животниот чин за потврда на субјективните одлики на своето лично битие.

    Јунакот ги исповеда своите уверувања и сфаќања на една (воена или туѓа) средина во чија психологија или духовна клима е во таков животен пораст идеолошкиот активизам, кој внесува максимум лични процени, личен ризик и подробности од својот морален ангажман.

    Опишани се и прикажани оклетените луѓе, нивните страдални патешествија, следејќи ги туѓите волји и борејќи се за туѓи интереси. Од друга гледна точка, судбината на раселените – откорнати лица, кои талкаат низ просторот на човековото егзистенцијално заточение во кое се полага и плаќа сметката како жртва, а политичкиот цинизам во основата триумфира и си тече како прагматизам и лицемерие на дипломатските спогодби.

    Многу од овие јунаци ја плаќаат националната цена – во борба и смрт во единиците на ДАГ, повеќето остануваат да сведочат во својот континуитет, како свесни за припадноста и идентитетот.

    Кај овие луѓе трагедијата е целосна, зашто не наоѓаат излез од својата ситуација, ниту имаат шанса за каков и да било отпор. Човекот е притиснат пред убиствените сили на историјата и пред траумите што ги носи со себе низ времето на беззаконието и оттуѓеното човеково право. Пред овие луѓе е разбиен системот на разумните човечки односи. Но во оваа група луѓе има и такви со лажна свест во кои се здружени поимите џелат и жртва. И тука нема природна човечка свест. Произволностите и историските заблуди, како што имаат човечко потекло, имаат и свои човечки жртви. Значи, на страниците на ова потресно дело се среќаваме со луѓе со лично самоволие и официјално дискретно овластување, човечки живот, незаштитен и постојано изложен на ударот на законската сила.

    Според исказите на генералот на УДБА Јово Капичиќ, во текот на Граѓанската војна излегува дека:

    Југославија ја доби битката, грчката влада војната, а комунистите на Грција ја изгубија и војната и слободата. Но по војната тие се вратија во своите домови, а Макидонците, кои преку организациите НОФ и АФЖ се саможртвуваа заедно со комунистите, претрпеа ужасни жртви; некои проценки се движат до 20.000 илјади убиени и повеќе од 60.000 прогонети, и на крајот Макидонците станаа како вечни ТАЛКАЧИ и без право да се вратат во своите домови, затоа што не се Грци по род.

    Романот ”Јамка” е работен со посебна љубов и чувство за почит спрема борците кои многу млади го дадоа животот на боиштата на Грамос, Коница, Клефти, Хашијата, Епир, Пиеријата, Вичо, Лерин, Воден, Негуш, Мали-мади, Бурно, Сињачко и во многу други битки. Авторот ја рекоструирал целата вистина за извршениот геноцид и за губењето на правото за враќање на прадедовски огништа.

    Всушност, во овој политички роман доминантно место зазема фактографијата, а литературно се анализираат суровоста на војната, најстрашните мигови за некои општи и индувидуални судбини во таа повеќеилјадна армија несреќни млади мобилизирани луѓе кои говорат за најелементарните морални вредности, човечноста, сочувството и хуманоста кон македонското семејство.

    Трагедијата на илјадници мобилизирани млади луѓе е потресна, а авторот на ова дело го поставува прашањето. Кој им ја стави јамката на Македонците?

    Судбината е парадигма за овие насилно мобилизирани момчиња и девојчиња (деца без детство), принудени да се борат и да прават се што се бара од нив во една герилска војна.

    Во романот е направена опширна анализа на злото. Приказните за изгубеното родно место, за горчливата љубов и за вечната потрага по сопствените корени се предадени сликовито, со длабока и искрена авторова тага.



    За Авторот



    Стојан Кочов е роден 1930 година во селото Турје, Леринско. Во годините на Граѓанската војна (1946-1949) е активен учесник во единиците на ДАГ. Од 1950 до 1957 го-дина живее и се школува во СССР, се до своето враќање во Република Македонија во1957 година. Дипломирал на Бел-градскиот универзитет. Живее во Скопје.



    Автор е на делата: Средба (раскази, 1989), Една мртва војска (поезија, 1992), (Само)жртвувањето на македонскиот народ под Грција (критички огледи, 1994), Мртвото лице на војната (поезија, 1996), Ѓорѓи Пејков – македонски воин низ историјата на ДАГ (1945-1949) (монографија, 1996), Талкачи (роман, 1997), Нова година во земјанките на Грамос (роман, 1998), Казна без вина (роман, 2001), Во пресрет на судбината (раскази, 1998), Идеолошкиот активизам над Македонците под Грција (критички огледи, 2000), Гревот на потомците (роман), Есеи и литературни толкувања (критички огледи, 2002), Коба (Раскази), Гробарот од Лерин (роман, 2001), Балканска сага (роман, 2004), Билет во еден правец (историски критички огледи, 2004), Големото враќање на талкачите (роман, 2006), Македонците низ пеколот на црвеното губилиште (историски критички огледи, 2007), Воинот и Маргарита (роман, 2008).



    Other articles by Risto Stefov:







    Free electronic books by Risto Stefov available at:



    "Ido not want an uprising of people that would leave me at the first failure, I want revolution with citizens able to bear all the temptations to a prolonged struggle, what, because of the fierce political conditions, will be our guide or cattle to the slaughterhouse"
    GOTSE DELCEV

    Comment

    • George S.
      Senior Member
      • Aug 2009
      • 10116

      Lambrinidis: human rights will not be 'footnote' in EU diplomacy


      By Francesco Guarascio

      06 December 2012



      The newly appointed EU Special Representative for Human Rights Stavros Lambrinidis talks exclusively to PublicServiceEurope.com about addressing the "elephant in the room" when dealing with autocratic nations like China and Cuba - and promoting the vital work of NGOS





      In a multilateral world where the notion of human rights is increasingly associated to western values rather than universal principles, the European Union felt a need to create the new position of special representative for human rights. The post was assigned for a two year mandate to the Greek politician and diplomat Stavros Lambrinidis, who took office last September.

      A former vice-president of the European Parliament and also briefly a Greek foreign minister, Lambrinidis is a straightforward person – so much so that at this stage he prefers not to give away many details about his work since "I have much more to do than to announce after just 90 days in office," as he puts it.

      He has, however, already established an initial list of priorities during his tenure as the EU's human rights tsar. Firstly, he intends to involve non-governmental organisations in his day-to-day work. "NGOs are a top priority," he says. "There is no tour I have done so far without talking to NGOs. This is a major focus of mine. Our emphasis to promote NGOs will always be there."

      Involving NGOs can mean many things. Sometimes it will imply going into direct conflict with regimes, which are reluctant to allow foreign organisations to operate within their territories even when they only provide development or healthcare support. Examples of such behavior are numerous and span the globe, from Cuba to China. Many observers have long argued that the EU should help NGOs and dissidents in secrecy, if local governments oppose it.

      "It's not really about secrecy," reacts Lambrinidis. "In some cases you give money but it gets stuck in bureaucratic processes before it is actually given to NGOs. The question is - how we can develop the understanding of the importance of civil society and open up space for them to function? We do not want to tell anyone what to do. We ideally want to say 'look at the way we work and how beneficial it can be'. Europe is not perfect but we have a system where we can discuss our imperfections and hopefully improve."

      His second priority is to promote human rights as universal values, countering the growing tide that opposes this stance - in China and the Arab world, for example. "This is what I call the big elephant in the room," explains the Greek politician. "I notice increasing attacks on the universal nature of human rights whenever I discuss human rights in international fora. It is very dangerous to use traditional values or relativism to undermine human rights. The EU should be much more persuasive and vocal in countering these attempts and to ensure that the universality of human rights is defended."

      Third on the to-do list is making sure that the EU commits itself to protecting human rights "in all of its policies", from foreign affairs to trade. This is already a European commitment but sadly it is one that is not always applied. "Human rights will not be a footnote in the agreements the EU will negotiate with third countries around the world," Lambrinidis warns. This is an ambitious commitment, as European governments have frequently been ready to overlook human rights when economic and political interests have taken priority.

      Lambrinidis is also engaged in increasing the role of multilateral fora to promote human rights around the world. "I have already met with the Arab League, the African Union, the Council of Europe and several EU commissioners," he says. "International players can make a huge difference."

      He has also had audiences with representatives of the International Labour Organisation. This is because "economic and social rights are as important as the civil and political rights around the world," he insists. "The EU social protection system is admired around the world, while development aid is alleviating a lot of economic hardship. This helps spread political and civil rights."

      His job will have a demanding travel schedule. He has already visited Egypt, Russia and Mexico. Many other destinations will follow but "only when there are concrete chances of making progress". A trip next year to China is, for example, awaiting confirmation, until Beijing shows clear commitments. It is hoped, however, that China's new leadership represents an opportunity to make real progress.

      The performance of Lambrinidis is likely to be under the international media spotlight but for the moment, this is exactly what he is trying to avoid. "I'm committed to look not simply at big issues, but also to try to do things that ensure that the real work is done," he says, adding: "We will have to do many things that will not need press releases."


      Read more: http://www.publicserviceeurope.com/a...#ixzz2EIZh1qQ1
      "Ido not want an uprising of people that would leave me at the first failure, I want revolution with citizens able to bear all the temptations to a prolonged struggle, what, because of the fierce political conditions, will be our guide or cattle to the slaughterhouse"
      GOTSE DELCEV

      Comment

      • George S.
        Senior Member
        • Aug 2009
        • 10116

        MoFA condemns setting of Macedonia's flag on fire in Tirana



        Skopje, 24 November 2012 (MIA) - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) strongly condemns yesterday's act of vandalism in Tirana, namely setting of Macedonia's flag on fire in the city center, and calls the authorities to find and bring the perpetrators to justice.



        "We consider that this uncivilized act is not in favor of the Macedonian-Albanian friendly relations, especially considering the fact that this event took place after the official visit of Macedonia's Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski to Albania, during which the two countries reaffirmed the good-neighborly relations, mutual trust and friendship. Hence, it is very important to not allow for the relations, which we wish to be developed in European spirit, to be harmed," MoFA said Saturday in a press release.



        Macedonia's Embassy in Tirana asked an official explanation from Albania's Ministry of Interior. The Ministry of Interior also summoned Albania's Ambassador to Macedonia Arben Cejku for talks on the matter.



        MoFA expects for Albania's relevant institutions to take most urgent measures for disclosing and bringing the perpetrators to justice. It also expects for Albania's authorities to strongly condemn this act of vandalism, which provokes intolerance and deeply hurts the feelings of the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia, the press release reads.
        "Ido not want an uprising of people that would leave me at the first failure, I want revolution with citizens able to bear all the temptations to a prolonged struggle, what, because of the fierce political conditions, will be our guide or cattle to the slaughterhouse"
        GOTSE DELCEV

        Comment

        • George S.
          Senior Member
          • Aug 2009
          • 10116

          Diseased Greek economy buckling under highest prices in Europe



          Analysis: One of the mysteries of Greece's depression is that prices of some things are among the highest in Europe. The reason goes to the heart of the…




          Alan Wheatley and Karolina Tagaris, Reuters | Nov 22, 2012



          Greece is on the edge right now. That’s why 2013 will be a crunch year for the economy and society



          ATHENS – Signs across Athens advertise property for rent or sale. One in three shops has closed. At those still open for business, turnover has slumped.



          So it is one of the mysteries of Greece’s economic depression that prices of some things — milk and the new iPhone, for example — are among the highest in Europe.



          The riddle matters hugely. If costs and prices were lower, exporters would be more competitive and people’s shrinking pay packets and pensions would stretch farther, cushioning a sharp drop in consumption.



          Increases in value added tax and other indirect levies are part of the answer. Greece is also hostage to the cost of imported oil and food.



          But another set of reasons goes to the heart of Greece’s political and economic malaise: collusion among producers, the state’s complicity in shielding protected professions and businesses, and a thorough lack of competition that allows a favoured few to extract economically unjustified profits from a long-suffering populace.



          Much of the economy, in a word, is diseased. And until the disease is cured, sustainable growth cannot resume even if Euro zone finance ministers finally agree — after two failed meetings in successive weeks — how to lighten Greece’s unsustainable debt burden.



          The good news is that Athens is implementing some deep-seated administrative reforms and its trade deficit is receding.



          But the clock is ticking: the burden of austerity and reform has fallen disproportionately on the man in the street, and his patience is all but exhausted. Protests over inequality and austerity are proliferating, fomenting political radicalism.



          “Greece is on the edge right now. That’s why 2013 will be a crunch year for the economy and society,” said Dimitris Asimakopoulos, who owns one of the oldest pastry shops in Athens.



          Asimakopoulos, who also heads the GSEVEE small business confederation, said his turnover had fallen 35 percent since the crisis struck. Profits were one-fifth of what they were then.



          “The economy here is not an advanced capitalist economy,” he said. “But you can’t change an economy by pressing a button. You need time, and right now we don’t have time.”



          LOW WAGES, HIGH PRICES



          One button that a country living beyond its means has to press is marked ‘cost cutting,’ Greece has done that. Wages are plunging at the behest of international creditors who are keeping the country alive on a drip-feed of aid.



          By the end of this year, the entire surge in the average cost of labour per unit of output from 2001 to 2009 will have been unwound, according to a draft European Commission paper.



          The drop in nominal unit labour costs this year alone is projected to be 8.7% — not surprising given that the unemployment rate is 25%.



          The issue of prices concerns us. There’s a problem, and we’re aware of it.

          But wages are only one input among many that determine prices. The most comprehensive gauge of a country’s cost competitiveness is its real, or inflation-adjusted, effective exchange rate (REER) relative to its main trading partners.



          And in 2011, Greece’s REER was still 18-20% above its 2000 level, according to Eurostat, the EU statistics agency.



          “Of course the issue of prices concerns us. There’s a problem, and we’re aware of it,” Athanasios Skordas, deputy minister for economic development and competitiveness, told Reuters.



          Inflation is falling — it was 0.9% in the year to September — and economists expect it to come down further.



          But to thoroughly convert wage to price competitiveness will entail a daunting array of reforms, such as making it easier to start a business and removing barriers to competition in key markets such as energy.



          Platon Monokroussos, head of financial markets research at Eurobank in Athens, said these market rigidities were one reason why falling wages had not translated into a quicker drop in inflation.



          FAT PROFITS



          Another reason, Monokroussos said, is rent-seeking — making excessive profits.

          Eurostat figures show average food prices in Greece are higher than in the rest of the EU except for meat, fruit and vegetables. Milk, cheese and eggs are 31% more expensive than the EU average; cereals and oils cost 16% more.



          The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says profit margins exceed the EU average in many key sectors, especially retailing, due to a lack of competition.



          “This is a structure as old as the Greek state,” said George Zombanakis, an economist with the Bank of Greece, the central bank. He stressed that he was speaking in a personal capacity.



          “This is something that can only be tackled by structural reforms, and everybody tries to do anything and everything except structural reform because then it becomes a political matter,” said Zombanakis.
          "Ido not want an uprising of people that would leave me at the first failure, I want revolution with citizens able to bear all the temptations to a prolonged struggle, what, because of the fierce political conditions, will be our guide or cattle to the slaughterhouse"
          GOTSE DELCEV

          Comment

          • George S.
            Senior Member
            • Aug 2009
            • 10116

            M’s Rant about: Response to article: “Macedonia has officially become a Pawn in European nation-Fascism!”





            This is true Risto, from my observations in Macedonia early this year.



            History dims in the minds of many. The Greeks go at it kamikaze and I wonder why the United Nations supports them when they are the aggressive attackers. Macedonian people really do want peace and don’t want to fight. The fact that Albanians commit atrocities inside Macedonia and are not brought to justice is just one example of the attitudes to a nation of people who simply want peace after a lifetime of warring and occupation by one country or another.



            From what I saw, the poverty factor means that Macedonians are succumbing to other nations’ financial influence i.e. the Turks own the Macedonian airport. Macedonians do not have a problem with the Turks being there. It’s a positive not that it’s ideal, but better that than no airport.



            We need to keep prodding the conscience of the United Nations, which is supposed to be a positive expression of uniting many countries. They cannot keep indulging the spoilt brat child that is Greece, to sacrifice and punish innocent people. Some want peace, some want to fight. As a Macedonian, I would be torn between desiring peace but wanting to fight for justice and halting the extinction of our nation, which Europe wants.



            I am thinking that the United Nations is deluding itself from seeing the truth. Why though Mr. Z? What has changed regarding Bulgaria in 100 years? They are barbarians. They promised to help them in the Uprising against the Turks in the Ottoman Empire. What did they do? They sat back and watched the annihilation. Weren’t they responsible for telling the Turks that this was what the Macedonians were planning? Why do you expect the dog to behave differently? The dog is a dog, it bites. It’s what it does. What reason did you have for believing that they would help you now? Again, why would Macedonia want to enter into any arrangement with any of the disgusting vultures surrounding it?

            Does it really have any interest in indulging the spoilt brat that wants to expand its borders beyond the rock that is Athens?



            They have been fixing that monolith since I was a child. They should look after their people as well as they look after that pile of stone that is the acropolis.

            Macedonians need to quash the question of changing its name ONCE AND FOR ALL. It’s not in question. They won’t entertain it being in question. Even though it was part of Yugoslavia since the Second World War, it was still originally Macedonian lands. And No One, and I mean No One has the right to tell you that you can’t call yourself a Macedonian.



            What do I see as the problem? That everyone is consumed with issues of the name. This is like the stone thrown in the opposite direction when an assassin waits around the corner just in front of you. Stop focusing on the idiots in other European countries questioning whether you retain your name. Tell them to go question their own cultural heritage. Ours is not in question whether we come from the 3 partitions of Macedonian lands in 1913, via the Bucharest Treaty. So many stupidities. Focus on what is the priority of Macedonians; to determine your own direction and let the rest of Europe and the world know that you won’t be screwed with and that your fate and destiny is not in the hands of anyone but yourselves.



            Tell Greece that karma will prevail and they will pay for their atrocities, inflicted on the Macedonians, by God’s hand. Not anyone else’s. Tell the United Nations that they should be ashamed of trying to uphold and support the genocide of a culture they don’t remember or understand. And ask them why they entertain the spoilt brat tactics of Greece?



            Why do we have to accept that bad behaviour gets more attention (like children) than good? The United Nations needs to respect that this is where this nation of Macedonia is at and stop trying to annihilate it due to stupidity and ignorance. Even when it was part of Yugoslavia, it was still the state of Macedonia. This hasn’t changed. The name hasn’t changed no matter what else has.



            Macedonians have rights. They have to stay strong in this belief. Do not allow the outside world to interfere with or dictate your internal policies. The government needs to stay strong and focus on implementing ideas to stimulate awareness of the country, place it in high profile so that people understand the history, the passions, hopes and fears of the Macedonian’s rights to self-determination.



            People need to keep faith in themselves and their culture and nation and how it has evolved. If that means going it alone, then so be it. They can’t allow other people to tell them who they are. Remember this Macedonians, you are who you are and no one has the right to tell you otherwise.



            If they see the United Nations as ignorance epitomised by action of the greed of the vultures around Macedonia then the United Nations should be condemned for indulging the greedy, fearful, negative behaviour of those countries surrounding you.



            It is nearly 2013, 100 years since the separation of Macedonian lands. Make this year count for something more than disintegration. Make this year count as a way to consolidate your rights to be a nation.



            Macedonians withstood 500 years of Turkish domination and survived. They can withstand the ignorance and stupidity that incredibly still exists around them today. How the United Nations hasn’t seen fit to recognise and respect that Macedonians have rights to self-determination, is somehow inconceivable to perceive. It means that they are incredibly ignorant. How can you deny a culture and nations’ identity if you know the truth? Perhaps people need to pray to God for their salvation from the idiots that surround them because that’s what they need to get their heads around. No one is going to save them. They have to save themselves and not succumb to the atrocious behaviour of Europe and the United Nations, which is fast losing any credibility as an objective concern but only a self-serving dictatorial waste of time that indulges its own interests and those of countries that scream the loudest. Do not allow passivity and apathy to lose your country. Remember your rights and how to best promote your country. I certainly saw that Greek Macedonians have no rights, but you can be different. You have only yourselves dictating your direction, not another nation. Remember this. No one else can tell you what to do.



            As for the Albanian situation, no matter from which nation criminals come, they need to face the consequences of their actions. Yes? You need to let the Albanians know that they are welcome in your country in peace but that cowboy Albanians, who cause trouble or kill others, should know that they cannot cause chaos and anarchy in your country without consequences. No matter who they think they are there should be policing justice and fairness to all citizens in a civilised society.



            Europe is a melting pot.



            Remind Europe that there is no better example than Macedonia to prove this fact.



            Demand respect for who you are and remember that it is sheer intelligence on your part to avoid conflict and war.



            Tell them that you won’t enter into their misguided and wrong discussion of the Macedonian name issue



            It’s not their place. It’s not their rights.



            I would ask every Macedonian on the planet to write and enlighten the ignorant representatives in the United Nations about who they are. Their own stories demonstrate that Macedonians are real people and not disposable as the Greeks wish. (As we see, God and karma reward the Greeks as we speak. Too bad they drag Greek Macedonian innocents along with them.)



            Ask the President of the United Nations why he is hell bent on being a part of a questionable organisation whose aim it is to destroy a nation, a culture and its people and their identity when all you have done is seek peace for many years now. It’s a pity that in this day and age, war is still rewarded and peace seeking countries like Macedonia are condemned. It’s unthinkable. Ask the United Nations why this is. I for one want to hear what the President of the United Nations would answer to this question. Won’t you people ask him or send a copy of this response to all Macedonians who have computers and ask them to send it forward to the United Nations?



            Cheers, M



            What is the email address of the President of the United Nations.? You should send it to all Macedonians to write to or simply forward my response that I just sent to you if they don’t want to write their own. Apathy will not serve them



            As my daughter said, Risto, to the woman who got what she wanted by speaking to the manager, we need to speak to the ears that might actually have some influence. Everyone should write to the President so that he knows there is a real nation with real living people with a language. And no one is going to change that, so why not help them instead of thwarting them for the greed of the surrounding countries and the vultures that flourish within.



            Remind him that on the anniversary of 100 years since the 1913 partition, it’s time that the United Nations recognises Macedonians, since they are still here!

            And help and assist them in their own progress, not like Greece and Bulgaria greedily waiting in the wings to pick the bones of others they have brought down.

            They will reap what they sow. Whatever goes around comes around. Karma - action - the cause and effect of actions. Greece is a dog that will eat itself and it doesn’t know how to stop this now. Look to change and progress even ignorant, racist, tyrannical, dictatorial, chauvinistic, sexist and bigoted Greek governments will die and eventually change. And you wonder why the United Nations listen to them with a repertoire of negative traits like that?



            P.S. if you have his email address I will send the email every day till I get a reply. Perhaps you can send one also? And encourage all Macedonians on your list and beyond to write and ask the President of the United Nations why he wants to help destroy the Macedonian nation as it is, right now. That’s all they need to do. Ask him why he wants to help self-serving surrounding countries in causing and bringing about the destruction of Macedonia and its peaceful people.



            M



            Merry Christmas to you
            "Ido not want an uprising of people that would leave me at the first failure, I want revolution with citizens able to bear all the temptations to a prolonged struggle, what, because of the fierce political conditions, will be our guide or cattle to the slaughterhouse"
            GOTSE DELCEV

            Comment

            • George S.
              Senior Member
              • Aug 2009
              • 10116

              From: Mr Samson Stanislavsky, PhD of Philosophy

              6-November-2012



              To: Mr. Zecharia Sitchin, Author of the book “Genesis Revisited”



              Dear Sir,



              At present I am reading your book “Genesis Revisited” and I would like to express my great satisfaction and delight about the problems of Genesis or the beginning of our world. There are so many questions to our knowledge unanswered or confusing.



              Besides all these euphoric data, I am flabbergasted about another civilisation brought in to the equation, the “GREEK” or Hellenistic” as mentioned in your present book on page 67:



              “The 164 BC tablet (fig.25), numbered WA-41462 in the British Museum, is clearly dated to the relevant year in the reign of the Seleucid (Greek-Syrian) king Antiochus Epiphanies, the very evil king Antiochus of the books of Maccabees.”



              Sir, it is a disgrace and criminal to rename the Macedonian king Antiochus with a vulgar new name “Greek”. The French falsifiers and fabricators of the new modern history of the “Illuminati” committed the greatest crime in history, to pronounce death to the Macedonian nation and substitute our nation with terms Greeks and Hellenes, that never existed in the past.



              Hellenism, a fantasy of the French dreamers is an abstract idea that never took roots. That modern state Greece, a dictatorship, is portrayed as a model of “Democracy”.



              As you are a multi-linguist person, I give you one more etymology that the actual meaning of “Democracy” is literally dictatorship.



              Demos+cratos. Demos is a parcel kept tight deno, denis, I tie you tie, dema is a parcel that you send to your friend well packed well bound.



              So, with false ideas they fooled the modern world with 200 years of fabricated modern Greece 1785-1885, in the book: “Black Athena” by Martin Bernal.



              I send you a booklet put together by modern Macedonian scholars in the West, that shows clearly the ancient scholars had never heard of a name Hellas, or Greece.



              Yours truly,

              Samson Stanislavsky
              "Ido not want an uprising of people that would leave me at the first failure, I want revolution with citizens able to bear all the temptations to a prolonged struggle, what, because of the fierce political conditions, will be our guide or cattle to the slaughterhouse"
              GOTSE DELCEV

              Comment

              • George S.
                Senior Member
                • Aug 2009
                • 10116

                Lucky Macedonia avoids Train wreck called EU

                Wednesday, 12 December 2012



                Yesterday was a busy day, a day which showed Macedonia's true friends during a lively EU debate. These are not "EU friends", rather just friends



                Austria? Somewhat unexpected to us, however Austria was a major player lobbying for Macedonia during the EU debate. Austria was joined by Slovakia, Hungary, UK, Sweden, Czech, Latvia, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania and Slovenia. Germany and France according to a reporter from MIA preferred to be silent and did not support Macedonia or Bulgaria and Greece. France appeared ready to support Greece due to continued influence and remaining representatives from the old Sarkozy administration.



                Macedonia did not get a date for EU accession talks, which in the opinion of this author is a blessing in more ways than we can count.



                Congratulations to Bulgaria for standing up against Macedonia and taking over the baton from Greece. Sofia's blocking of Macedonia marked the first time Bulgaria has been in the news for something other than corruption and assassinations.



                The phrase 'good neighborly relations' has become the most abused phrase with no defined meaning. This phrase was officialized by Athens and Sofia and accepted by Eurocrats who bowed to the hysteria from Bulgarian and Greek politicians. Last night the debate got loud and in few moments crazy, respect for Theodoros Sotiropoulos who can never control himself.



                Macedonian media was somewhat indifferent to what was happening at the EU. Satire appeared on online Macedonian magazines with one depicting Alexander's horse Buchephalus issuing a statement regarding the "no date" - This is for the things me and my boss did in the past.



                Macedonian journalist Jorgos Papadakis chose his words carefully in his op-ed piece: "Just when you think the Europeans would kick the Bulgars and Greeks in the a** they bowed to some ridiculous demands against a small sovereign nation. Hypocrites! Not a single European needs this farce called EU. Macedonia, Scotland, South Tyrol, Catalonia, Flanders, Basque... don't need membership in this pathetic corrupt organization" says Papadakis who in the future should really tell us how he feels.



                University Professor Biljana Venkovska in an interview for Skopje based media appeared certain EU officials are confused and use language they don't seem to understand. Venkovski attempted to make sense of a statement from Stefan Fule where he commented on the 'no-date' as great news for the country.



                "This is the first time we have a non-static language which creates conditions for non-static solutions to this problem. What does this mean? The way I understand is we need to come up with unprincipled solution which satisfies Brussels, under condition it first satisfies Athens and Sofia." This will simply never happen.



                Jan Oberg from the Peace and Collaborative Development Network had this to say: "Dear Macedonia, just like Serbia you will be mistreated by the EU for the next 20 years due to the balkanization of politics across Europe." // Gorazd Velkovski
                "Ido not want an uprising of people that would leave me at the first failure, I want revolution with citizens able to bear all the temptations to a prolonged struggle, what, because of the fierce political conditions, will be our guide or cattle to the slaughterhouse"
                GOTSE DELCEV

                Comment

                • George S.
                  Senior Member
                  • Aug 2009
                  • 10116

                  Bulgaria to block Macedonia from accession talks

                  Tuesday, 11 December 2012



                  Bulgaria will not be among the countries to set a date for the launching of EU accession negotiations with Macedonia, President Rosen Plevneliev and Prime Minister Boyko Borissov agreed at their meeting on Tuesday.



                  The issue will be on top of the agenda of the upcoming European Council in Brussels on Thursday. Plevneliev and Borissov were categorical that Bulgaria supports Macedonia's European perspective but the Bulgarian support is not unconditional and depends on the fulfillment of the membership criteria with good neighbourly relations having priority, news agency BTA quotes the President's Press Secretariat.



                  According to the two, the EU membership perspective will be promoted not through propaganda and "marketing campaign" but through real actions for strengthening of good neighbourly ties between Bulgaria and Macedonia.



                  In view to achieving progress in this respect, Bulgaria proposed to Macedonia to sign a Treaty of Good Neighbourly Relations, Friendship and Cooperation based on the principles of the 1999 Declaration, reaching an agreement on joint observances of outstanding personalities and events of the two countries' common history and terminating of the anti-Bulgarian campaign and the replacement of historical facts.
                  "Ido not want an uprising of people that would leave me at the first failure, I want revolution with citizens able to bear all the temptations to a prolonged struggle, what, because of the fierce political conditions, will be our guide or cattle to the slaughterhouse"
                  GOTSE DELCEV

                  Comment

                  • George S.
                    Senior Member
                    • Aug 2009
                    • 10116

                    Greece migrants face rising racist violence

                    By Tim Hancock

                    20 December 2012



                    If the EU is to truly deserve the Nobel Peace Prize, it must act to stamp out racist violence in Greece – and the Greek authorities should stop the anti-immigrant rhetoric that is fuelling the problem, says Amnesty International






                    They say the benchmark of a civilized society is how it treats its most vulnerable. If that is the case, the Greek authorities must take a serious look at the country's treatment of migrants – many of them asylum seekers fleeing conflict in the Middle East –as the impact of austerity cuts deepens.

                    It is estimated that 80 per cent of migrants enter the European Union through Greece. Amnesty has carried out research on their plight and found that they are facing a dramatic rise in levels of racist violence. In a new briefing published today called The end of the road for refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants, Amnesty also exposes how asylum seekers, including unaccompanied children, are forced to live in increasingly overcrowded and unhygienic conditions. They have to deal with a chaotic asylum system that leaves many without papers and at risk of criminalization.

                    Asylum seekers and other migrants are some of society's most vulnerable people. Often fleeing wars or persecution, or simply looking for a better life for their families, they are often cut off from wider family and social networks and lack access to basic health services, education and housing. Now, with no let-up in immigration, a profound economic crisis and rising xenophobic sentiment, Greece is proving itself incapable of providing even the most basic requirements of safety and shelter to the thousands of asylum seekers and migrants arriving each year. The current situation is totally unworthy of the Nobel Peace Prize winning EU and so far below international human rights standards as to make a mockery of them.

                    Most worrying is the rise in racist violence fuelled by anti-immigration rhetoric of politicians and carried out by supporters of far-right groups like Golden Dawn. Throughout 2012 asylum-seekers and migrants have been beaten up and community centre, shops and mosques vandalized. These assaults have been reported on an almost daily basis since the summer.

                    In one case in September, two men dressed in black entered a barbershop run by a Pakistani man. Two Pakistani men who were present, one of them staff, told Amnesty how the men verbally abused a Greek customer for having his hair cut in a Pakistani-owned barbers. When the customer responded, one of the men dressed in black stabbed him. Then they started attacking the shop and throwing Molotov cocktails. The police came to investigate and arrested the two Pakistani nationals because they had no documents. They both ended up in detention, pending deportation.

                    Migrants also face significant obstacles from border police. In June, a group of Syrian refugees were on a boat in the river Evros, where the Greece/Turkey border lies, trying to get to Greece. The Greek police arrived in a patrol boat and reportedly started pushing the migrants' inflatable dinghy back towards Turkey. Then a police officer used a knife to stab the boat, which deflated and sank, leaving the refugees to swim to the Turkish shore.

                    When migrants do make it to Greece, they face an uphill battle to register with the authorities. In Athens, asylum seekers have to queue for days to register at an office only open one day a week because of staff shortages. Those who do not manage to register, or give up trying, risk arrest in police sweep operations. They are then systematically detained in overcrowded, unhygienic detention facilities, in many cases for a year or more.

                    The detention of unaccompanied children is particularly worrying and in breach of international human rights standards. On a recent research visit to the detention centre in the city of Corinth, Amnesty found several children detained in very poor conditions. If a place is not found at a reception centre, children are released with nowhere to go.

                    If the EU is to truly deserve the Nobel Peace Prize awarded in October it must take urgent action to stamp out racist violence in Greece as well as in other countries like Spain. It must put pressure on member states to ensure that the most vulnerable within its borders do not face prejudice, discrimination and violence. As for the Greek authorities, they must stop the anti-immigration rhetoric fuelling this violence. They must also ensure they act within international human rights standards on immigration. People should not be locked up just because they are migrants and the detention of children must end now.

                    Tim Hancock is campaigns director at Amnesty International


                    Read more: http://www.publicserviceeurope.com/a...#ixzz2FdJu3Js5







                    Golden Dawn: In Greece, hunger feeds hate

                    Published on Saturday December 15, 2012







                    ATHENS—On a grey, drizzly Saturday morning, the farmer’s market downtown is bustling with hundreds of customers. There is a fresh citrus tang in the air as farmers unload the first of the season’s oranges. The produce is sold directly to the public, which keeps prices down: a kilogram of oranges costs 35 cents, eggplants are one euro per kilo.



                    But even these prices are too high for some Greeks, which is why there are nearly as many people at Golden Dawn’s food handout outside the party’s newly opened office in Alimos, a middle-class neighbourhood. An hour before the food distribution starts, a line of about 500 people snakes down the sidewalk.



                    The young and old, the unemployed, men and women too poor to buy food have come to collect free groceries from Greece’s ultra-nationalist party.

                    Constantinos Chartsias, 36, made a 20-kilometre round-trip journey just to collect a plastic bag of carrots and potatoes.



                    “I haven’t worked in two years and this is the only help I get,” he says, stamping out a cigarette and zipping up his black leather jacket.



                    “Things are going from bad to worse,” adds the former salesman. “We should start caring about the country. We need to start changing our mentality, like evading tickets on public transport, or not jumping the queue, or a plumber not giving a receipt for his work to evade taxes. If we start changing these things the political elite will, too.”



                    Greece is suffering more than any other country from the global economic crisis, now in its fourth year. In a country of 10.7 million people, 4.5 million are either unemployed or have stopped looking for work, according to Elstat, the Greek statistics agency.



                    Fear and despair are driving Greece: fear of being thrown out of the 17-nation Eurozone, whose leaders are dictating the terms of Greece’s bailout, despair of ceaseless austerity, fear of immigrants overrunning the country. A terrible brew simmers — xenophobia, rage and the desire for revenge.



                    There are stories of parents abandoning their children because they are too poor to look after them. In the first five months of 2011, the suicide rate rose by 40 per cent. Most of the deaths were blamed on the financial crisis. It is a shocking statistic in a nation blessed with an easy-going Mediterranean culture where suicide rates have always been the lowest in Europe.



                    Enter Golden Dawn.


                    The party won 18 seats in parliament in May’s election and it is opening offices nearly every week — 49 at last count, up from eight during the elections. It is broadening its support from the usual anti-social neo-Nazis to the moderate middle ground: the young and old, professionals and blue collar workers, housewives and grandmothers.



                    If an election were held today, Golden Dawn would surge to third place in parliament with 12 per cent of the vote, according to a September survey of 1,000 Greeks by the polling firm VPRC.

                    “I voted for Golden Dawn because I am a nationalist, because I believe we are a superior race,” Chartsias says. He nods in approval at the sight of two Golden Dawn volunteers sweeping the grimy sidewalk. “Herodotus said, ‘same religion, same blood, same language.’”



                    The famous words of the ancient historian who helped define ethnic nationalism ring true for those who believe Greece’s salvation is blood kinship — in other words, Greece can only be saved if it belongs to the Greeks.



                    Chartsias supports Golden Dawn because it promises what other politicians do not: to cleanse the country of corruption and foreign influence, whether it is Eurocrats in Brussels or Afghan migrants looking for asylum.



                    Party leader Nikolaos Michaloliakos has denied the Holocaust, while party members give the Nazi salute and, according to human rights organizations, have been linked to attacks on immigrants.



                    Foreigners are barred from Golden Dawn’s food handouts. Heavily muscled volunteers form a human chain, standing shoulder to shoulder to keep them out.



                    The event is run with military precision. Most volunteers are men in their 20s and 30s, dressed in fatigues; a few wear stab-resistant vests. Anyone who wants food must show police-issued identification that states the cardholder’s nationality, religion and father’s name. Identification is double-checked and personal details are collected to enter in a database. One by one, people are escorted to large piles of plastic bags filled with food. They are allowed one bag per person, a maximum of five per family.



                    Volunteers telephoned local families with three or more children and invited them to pick up food, says Panayodis Constantinou, 51, who joined the party a year ago. He says he owned a business selling uniforms to the army but it went bankrupt when the army didn’t pay.

                    “They owe me 367,000 euros ($469,000),” he says. A young man approaches him and hands over 15 euros for a pair of combat fatigues.



                    A few metres away, Golden Dawn MP Ilias Panayiotaros is being interviewed for local television. “Greece belongs to the Greeks,” he says, as a dozen people crowd around him, applauding. He wears a black shirt emblazoned with the party’s insignia, the Greek meander, which was a common decorative motif in classical architecture but bears a likeness to the Nazi swastika.



                    “Very soon, we will take power. We have to take care of our economy, illegal immigration and politicians who stole the money. Everything will start from zero.”



                    Panayiotaros is furious that the U.S. Embassy has warned American citizens of Middle Eastern, Hispanic and African descent that they could be victims of unprovoked violence because of their colour.



                    “We have had 10 Greeks murdered by illegals, what about them?” he says. “They want to make a white country black.”



                    Greece does not keep race-based crime statistics but Panayiotaros, like other Golden Dawn members, are convinced minorities commit more crimes than white Greeks. The murder rate is increasing, from 1.2 for every 100,000 people in 2008 to 1.5 per 100,000 in 2010. But that is still low and comparable to Canada’s 2010 murder rate of 1.6 per 100,000 people.



                    The perception, however, is that deadly crime is out of control. Several people at the food handout mentions the case of Manolis Kantaris who was robbed of his video camera and killed as he got ready to take his pregnant wife to hospital in Athens in May 2011. Two Afghans were later jailed.



                    Chartsias agrees with Panayiotaros, and adds that immigrants are taking over the country. “Did you know the Albanians are being handed out citizenship and it’s part of the political establishment’s plot to buy votes?”



                    There is no evidence of this. Less than 1 per cent of migrants who apply for asylum in Greece are accepted as legal refugees at first instance — never mind citizens — according to Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics agency.



                    But people feel under siege. A recent cartoon in the Kathimerini newspaper showed a dying man crawling through a desert. Ahead was an umbrella labeled “eurogroup,” sheltering a man standing next to a water cooler. “You are heading in the right direction,” he tells the thirsty traveller. “Another 10 kilometres.”



                    The bailout loans — $195 billion so far — are supposed to help rescue the economy. But no one believes Greece is going in the right direction.



                    When the crisis began in 2008, sparked by bad loans, widespread tax evasion and a bloated public sector, Greek debt stood at $400 billion. Next year, that figure is expected to rise to $440 billion. The bailout from the so-called troika of the European Commission, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank are only paying interest on earlier loans and recapitalizing the banks.



                    In return, the Greek government has to push through unpopular austerity measures. The common perception is that politicians caved to the demands of foreign creditors rather than look after Greeks when they increased the retirement age from 65 to 67 and decided to fire 150,000 public sector workers by 2015.



                    In an interview with the German newspaper Handelsblatt, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras likened Greece’s social upheaval to Germany in the 1930s when the Nazis rose to power.

                    The Nazi comparison is frightening for a nation that suffered a brutal Nazi occupation and has been firmly on the left of the political spectrum since the seven-year military junta ended in 1974. The book Golden Dawn’s Black Bible, which charts the party’s emergence, is a bestseller. Its author is Greece’s premier investigative journalist, Dmitras Psaras.



                    “The worst part of the crisis is not that people have lost jobs or income but they lost hope,” Psaras says while sipping an espresso in a downtown café. “There is no way out. The only thing they have to look forward to is revenge and voting for Golden Dawn is revenge against the system.”



                    When Golden Dawn MP and spokesman Ilias Kasidiaras slapped a communist colleague during a live television debate in June it boosted the party in public opinion polls. So did Kasidiaris reading out loud in parliament from the Protocols of Elders of Zion, the anti-Semitic hoax outlining a supposed plan for Jewish global domination.



                    “Quite a few people thought when the violent side of Golden Dawn came to the surface their support would fall, but the opposite has happened,” Psaras says.

                    .

                    On Athens’ northern edge is the impoverished neighbourhood of Agios Panteliemonos, where Golden Dawn won 20 per cent of the vote. It is a no-go zone at night. There are running street fights between Golden Dawn supporters and migrants. Groups of black-clad men and women armed with metal bars, knives and wooden bats patrol areas like this, attacking dark-skinned migrants, according to a recent report by Human Rights Watch.



                    Greece is home to as many as 1 million undocumented refugees fleeing the miseries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Syria. For most, Greece is not a final destination, but they arrive here because the country’s porous borders offer easy access from North Africa and the Middle East. The migrants circle Greek ports looking for a chance to sneak aboard boats and trucks heading to richer European shores.



                    But under the European Union’s Dublin II regulation, the country in which a refugee first sets foot is responsible for handling his or her asylum case. As a result, migrants who are smuggled from Greece to Germany, for example, are sent back here. But there is only one office in all of Greece processing asylum cases and it is only open for a few hours a day.



                    The would-be refugees end up staying in a country that neither wants them nor can afford them. In places like Agios Panteliemonos, they live 10 to 20 people in a room in dilapidated buildings and are targets of attacks. A café in the neighbourhood owned by an Afghan has blue graffiti written across the shutters: “Foreigners out.”



                    In the shadow of a church is Zax’s 1979 café, where retired residents are discussing the recovery of the Greek hairdresser who was stabbed several days ago and the migrant who allegedly attacked him.



                    “He was dark-skinned,” says Georgia Papamikrouli, who is in her mid-60s. “The same night, 100 people came out and broke all the immigrants’ shops in the area, five to 10 shops. They don’t come out at night any more because Golden Dawn is coming after them,” she says, and laughs. “Local residents chase them out, too.”



                    Papamikrouli has lived here since 1963 and says it has become poorer and more dangerous. Although she has never been attacked, Papamikrouli is afraid to go outside at night.

                    “It’s not enough that we are host to them but they commit crimes against us as well? What does it matter if they don’t have enough food or water?” she asks. “Many Greeks don’t have it either.”

                    Petty crime in Athens is increasing. In 2007, pre-crisis, there were 26,872 armed robberies, a figure that jumped to 47,607 in 2009, according to Greek police.



                    The response by police — 40 per cent of whom support Golden Dawn, estimates Psaras — also appears to have changed.



                    “There is a local police station here,” says Papamikrouli. “We call them and they call Golden Dawn.”



                    During the summer and fall’s austerity debates, up to 100,000 Greeks marched to Syntagma Square in central Athens, throwing Molotov cocktails and dodging tear gas. The Nov. 7 budget calls for $17.3 billion in government cuts over four years. Police, firefighters and judges will see their salaries slashed.



                    The New Democracy party of Prime Minister Samaras voted for it in coalition with the leftist Pasok and Dimar parties. It passed, but just barely: 153 voted for it in the 300-member parliament. The budget had to be approved for Greece to qualify for the next tranche of bailout money, worth $51 billion, but many Greeks didn’t like the prescribed medicine.



                    “There is revenge and anger and people have put Golden Dawn in parliament to take revenge on both MPs and immigrants who they think have f---ed up the country,” says Vasiliki Katrivanou, an MP with the main opposition, Syriza.



                    Syriza voted against the austerity budget. “There is no future in austerity,” she says. “People have to choose between paying taxes or paying electricity.”



                    With such a narrow mandate, Katrivanou says the government is shoring up its popularity by pandering to populist fears of foreigners. Recently, a Golden Dawn MP asked the education minister for the names of all immigrant children attending kindergarten and pre-school.

                    “Instead of saying, ‘No, this is not your business,’ the minister asked the municipalities for numbers, percentages of immigrant children in their schools, and gave it to Golden Dawn,” she says. “These are children, babies.”



                    Golden Dawn also voted against the austerity budget because, as spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris said, it was part of the “deconstruction of Greece” so foreigners could seize its “national assets.”

                    Another morning in Athens, this time Attiki Square, and another food handout.



                    Bags of spaghetti, tomatoes and milk are heaped in piles. Kasidiaris is here, trim and muscled, wearing reflective, aviator-style shades and a tight grey T-shirt. He is among three MPs who had their parliamentary immunity stripped in October by MPs. They could face trial for alleged involvement in violent attacks and robbery.



                    The 31-year-old denies his party is full of Nazis, then changes the subject under questioning.

                    “These hands have never stolen from the Greeks,” he says, raising his palms. He is referring to the rampant corruption among the political establishment. “We are not doing politics the usual way. We are giving back to the people.”



                    With the Greek state slowly retreating — hospitals are closing, schools are running out of money — Golden Dawn uses free food to peddle simple political messages. It pays for the food in part from the 3 million euros a year in state funding it now receives as an elected political party, says Kasidiaris.



                    An aide hovers nearby. “You are from Canada?” he asks. “We get many phone calls of support from Greeks in Canada.”



                    The party opened a Montreal branch earlier this year and is organizing a Christmas food drive.

                    Kathy Milianidou, 61, an unemployed secretary, lives with her 38-year-old son, who drives a taxi. They barely make ends meet. Her hair is scraped back into a ponytail and her pink jogging pants are dirty.



                    “We’ll soon be so poor that we’ll be cheap labour for Europe.”



                    There is a theory doing the rounds this morning that the rest of Europe wants to turn Greece into a manufacturing ghetto, like China, which is why the standard monthly minimum wage of 751 euros ($972) is being cut by 22 per cent.



                    “This is a country that gave the world civilization,” she says blaming the crisis on the “mentality” of the “Ottoman empire” which ruled Greece until 1832. “Hopefully, the younger generation will change that. We should be like real Europeans.”



                    At the food handout is Matthaiopoulos Artemios, a music teacher and Golden Dawn MP who lives in Greece’s second city, Thessaloniki. Artemios, 28, has the air of a young fogey with his beard and shaggy overcoat. He once played in a band called Pogrom which wrote songs such as “Auschwitz.”



                    He claims Athens is overrun with Africans, Arabs and Asians.



                    “Not all, but the majority are criminals and rapists, and they are people who have repeatedly committed crimes. We have to expel those who are illegally here, which is the majority of them. It can be achieved easily if there is political will. And the only party that speaks the same language as ordinary people is Golden Dawn.”



                    Niki Damaskopoulou, 70, and a grandmother of six, came today for her first food handout. She is angry with politicians for cutting her pension from 727 euros per month to 500. “All the other parties are thieves and liars.”



                    She hobbles across the square, pulling a trolley. Golden Dawn’s message that it will kick out foreigners makes sense because there will be more money to spend on Greeks, she says.

                    “We didn’t use to be like this. Our kids have no future. I believe Golden Dawn has the solution.”

                    She walks away, having handed over her political support for a bag of spaghetti.
                    "Ido not want an uprising of people that would leave me at the first failure, I want revolution with citizens able to bear all the temptations to a prolonged struggle, what, because of the fierce political conditions, will be our guide or cattle to the slaughterhouse"
                    GOTSE DELCEV

                    Comment

                    • George S.
                      Senior Member
                      • Aug 2009
                      • 10116

                      Bulgaria asks for permanent US troops presence

                      Tuesday, December 18, 2012


                      Bulgaria asks for permanent US troops presence – report Bulgaria has asked the United States to place a permanent military force in the c...



                      Bulgaria has asked the United States to place a permanent military force in the country aimed at strengthening security in the region and increasing their military cooperation, local media reports.

                      Bulgarian Defense Minister Anu Anguelov has discussed the opening of a US military base in Novo Selo, near Sliven, with officials of the Pentagon in early December, reports Dneven Trud daily newspaper citing sources in the Bulgarian military.


                      Nothing has yet been set in ink, but if the deal is to go through, it could double the American troop numbers in the country, according to the report.


                      If an agreement is reached, anti-war activist Brian Becker, argues it would surrender Sofia’s power to the US government, as troops pose “a threat to the national sovereignty of the people of Bulgaria because they have foreign military bases, and it incorporates Bulgaria, makes it more secure as part of an American political, economic as well as military formation. You really can't be a free country and free people and have foreign troops on your soil,” he told RT.


                      US troops have been present in Bulgaria for over six years under a Defense Cooperation Agreement signed by the both states in April 2006. Under the arrangement, Americans are allowed to train their troops at four Bulgarian bases, which remain under Sofia’s command and under the Bulgarian flag.
                      "Ido not want an uprising of people that would leave me at the first failure, I want revolution with citizens able to bear all the temptations to a prolonged struggle, what, because of the fierce political conditions, will be our guide or cattle to the slaughterhouse"
                      GOTSE DELCEV

                      Comment

                      • George S.
                        Senior Member
                        • Aug 2009
                        • 10116

                        Albania: letting its EU prospects slip?

                        By Marije Cornelissen

                        21 December 2012







                        The EU gave Albania a dozen items of homework to achieve before granting candidate status – but with just three piece of legislation to pass the mood of cooperation between political players is unravelling, writes MEP

                        Albania was on the way up in the past year. For a long time, the country has been striving for European Union candidate status and the opening of membership negotiations. It almost seemed within reach, if not this December, then in the coming spring. The European Commission gave Albania a list of 12 items of homework to complete before it would recommend candidate status. Government and parliament energetically started working on these, and had only three more pieces of legislation to pass.

                        The best thing about it was that coalition politicians, led by Prime Minister Sali Berisha, and opposition politicians, led by Socialist leader Edi Rama, seemed to have started cooperating. For years, the greatest worry of EU officials and politicians had been the political climate in Albania, with both sides taking turns accusing each other of election fraud and corruption, boycotting parliament, going on hunger strike, leading demonstrations, voting against everything the other proposed, slinging mud in the press and other strategies not quite helpful to responsible cooperation in a mature parliamentary democracy. After years of political stalemate caused by this, the leading parties came to an agreement in November 2011. Political life and parliamentary work resumed more or less normally; debates were held, decisions were passed, steps were taken.

                        Things seem to be unravelling now, just a year after the agreement. There are a couple of signs, and they are not good. Albania had three items of homework left, three laws to pass, but parliament failed to pass them. They required a three-fifths majority, for which both coalition and opposition were needed. Opposition forces refused to vote in favour because of a power struggle about an entirely unrelated issue. The power struggle was obviously considered more important than the European agenda. The Albanian parliament thus gave EU member states, some of whom were reluctant to grant candidate status to begin with, a perfectly legitimate reason to postpone the decision.

                        In the press, Berisha announced that all ethnic Albanians would have a right to an Albanian passport, to show himself a great patriot. Outcry in the region, especially from countries with large Albanian populations, followed predictably and immediately. Berisha later claimed his remarks were made "in a historical context" and were wrongly interpreted. Not a very credible excuse. Berisha has been a politician for far too long not to have known exactly what the effect of his remarks would be. So: no brownie points for regional cooperation.

                        On December 20, I was supposed to be in Albania with our inter-parliamentary delegation. In this format, a delegation from the European Parliament has two days of debate with a delegation from the Albanian parliament about the situation in the country and the state of play of the accession process. This was not always easy. We have had delegation meetings where all of us from the EU parliament lost our tempers in turn out of sheer frustration with the lack of even the willingness to cooperate on the minutest things between opposition and coalition.

                        Most delegation meetings ended without a common statement, because the Albanian delegation could not agree on anything. This seemed to have changed for the better in the last year too. An agreement was reached on a statement, an actual debate was held on important topics like the economy, unemployment, combating organised crime and corruption. Now, the delegation meeting in Tirana was cancelled at the very last moment. The Albanian chair of their delegation had to cancel because none of the members of parliament were interested to be there. It could just be that they were looking forward to holidays. But if I was an Albanian MP and I wanted to take a next step in accession, I would make sure I was there.

                        Perhaps I am wrong. Perhaps coalition and opposition politicians will come back from their holidays well-rested, eager and ready to resume cooperation to bring Albania further in its reform and accession process. But somehow, I doubt it. What I fear is that the election campaign for the general elections in June 2013 has already started in earnest, and that there will be not much sensible thought in Albanian politics until long after the elections have happened.

                        Marije Cornelissen MEP is a member of the Greens/European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament



                        Read more: http://www.publicserviceeurope.com/a...#ixzz2Fi9tdC93
                        "Ido not want an uprising of people that would leave me at the first failure, I want revolution with citizens able to bear all the temptations to a prolonged struggle, what, because of the fierce political conditions, will be our guide or cattle to the slaughterhouse"
                        GOTSE DELCEV

                        Comment

                        • George S.
                          Senior Member
                          • Aug 2009
                          • 10116

                          “P’pli throughout the past”

                          07.12.2012







                          A new book written by Janche Andonovski, entitled “P'pli throughout the past”, published by the Association of Refugee Children from the Aegean part of Macedonia under its own Library “Nezaborav”, was recently promoted in Skopje.



                          Janche Andonovski, known for the various dramas, several screenplays and a collection of poetry he has written, has now authored a book about the history of the village P’pli. P’pli is located in Prespa Region near Mala Prespa Lake, in Aegean Macedonia now under Greece. The life of P’pli, one of 14 villages located in Mala Prespa, has been well captured and portrayed in a brilliant manner by the author with not only its historic narrative that spans from ancient times to today but also with many illustrations and beautiful photographs. Janche Andonovski has also managed to preserve some of the village’s heritage including some of its folklore and folk music. It’s a must read and own book. (KB)





                          “П’пли низ минатото”

                          07.12.2012







                          „П’пли низ минатото“ е насловот на книгата на Јанче Андоновски која неодамна беше промовирана во Скопје, а ја издаде Здружението на децата-бегалци од Егејскиот дел на Македонија, во рамките на својата библиотека „Незаборав“.



                          Во неа авторот, кој досега има издадено повеќе драми, неколку сценарија за играни серии и збирки поезија, ја презентира историјата на селото П‘пли, кое се наоѓа во реонот на Преспа во Егејскиот дел на Македонија, во непосредна близина на Мало Преспанско Езеро. П’пли е едно од 14 села во Мала Преспа, чиј живот авторот го отсликува на мошне умешен начин, презентирајќи во книгата податоци за неговата историја и за историјата на некогашните и денешните малобројни жители, дел од зачуваното народно и фолклорно творештво, како и впечатливи фотографии во прилог на посакуваниот незаборав. (К.Б.)



                          _________________________________________________
                          "Ido not want an uprising of people that would leave me at the first failure, I want revolution with citizens able to bear all the temptations to a prolonged struggle, what, because of the fierce political conditions, will be our guide or cattle to the slaughterhouse"
                          GOTSE DELCEV

                          Comment

                          • George S.
                            Senior Member
                            • Aug 2009
                            • 10116

                            Update From Pollitecon Publications

                            December 2012
                            _________________________________________________


                            New material including several new books, reports and links have been added to the Pollitecon web site. See below for details.

                            Books

                            Macedonian Translation of The Contest for Macedonian Identity
                            Pollitecon’s book The Contest for Macedonia Identity 1870-1912 by Nick Anastasovski has been translated into Macedonian.

                            The translation and publication was by the Foundation Open Society - Macedonia (FOSM). The book was launched earlier this month by two Macedonian historians. A YouTube video of the launch is Here.

                            The book is available for free by sending an email, including your postal address, to Vladimir Milcin by clicking Here.

                            This is the second Pollitecon book to be translated into Macedonian. Several years ago FOSM also translated Children of the Bird Goddess by Kita Sapurma and Pandora Petrovska.

                            Macedonian Communities

                            Communities in Greece, Australia, USA, and Canada
                            The Macedonian Communities section of the Pollitecon web site has been updated with the community links for Greece, Australia, USA, and Canada consolidated onto a single page for each country. Go to http://www.pollitecon.com/html/communities/index.htm then click on any live link for each country. Alternatively, click on Greece, Australia, USA and Canada.

                            The Macedonian Diaspora in Australia
                            There is also a new ink to the report: The Macedonian Diaspora in Australia: Current and Potential Links with the Homeland, by the United Macedonian Diaspora in Australia. There is also a summary report is ‘Diasporas and Links with their Homelands: Italian, Macedonian, Tongan and Vietnamese communities'. Click Here

                            The Macedonian Orthodox Church in Perth
                            The page on Australia also has a new link to an ABC TV 7.30 Report on The Macedonian Orthodox Church in Perth. Click Here

                            Macedonian Speakers in Australia
                            SBS has published interactive data from the 2011 Census on the Macedonians and other communities in Australia. The data also allows you to compare ethnic groups. Click Here

                            Links

                            When a Name Becomes a Game
                            The Links section has been updated with a link to the free book: When a Name Becomes a Game, by Dusan Sinadinoski. The book takes a detailed look at the name dispute started by Greece.
                            Click Here then look under Books And Sites By Other Publishers and then When a Name Becomes a Game, by Dusan Sinadinoski (Free Book)

                            New Books

                            The Deposit
                            Catherine Monti, a Greek citizen of Macedonian origin who lives in Thessaloniki, has written a political novel called The Deposit about an Aegean Macedonian and their adventures in the Greek state.

                            The book is in Greek. Further information is at
                            Αγόρασε και πούλησε τα πάντα στη Νο 1 πλατφόρμα διαφημίσεων στην Ελλάδα, την Κύπρο και τη Βουλγαρία. Ψάξε ανάμεσα σε χιλιάδες αγγελίες για μεταχειρισμένα και καινούργια αντικείμενα και συνδέσου με αγοραστές και πωλητές στις τρεις χώρες!


                            www.alterthess.gr/content/bibliokritiki katerina monti i katathesi

                            aesopus38.blogspot.gr/2012/03/blog post.html

                            literarybistro.blogspot.gr/2012/06/blog post_3528.html

                            Bulgaria and the Holocaust
                            The book Shameful Behavior: Bulgaria and the Holocaust by Shelomo Alfassa looks at the complicity of Bulgaria in the dispossession, torture and murder of thousands of Jews, something which the author says the Bulgarian government continues to whitewash.

                            “While it is known that the Bulgarian government elected not to deport some 50,000 Jews from 'Old' Bulgaria to German death camps in Poland what is not known is that Bulgaria was directly complicit in the murder of some 13,000 Jews from 'New' Bulgaria (Thrace and Macedonia),” says the publisher.

                            More information is Here.

                            Come and Take a Ride in Tito’s Time Machine
                            Macedonian author Risto Stefov has published Come and Take a Ride in Tito’s Time Machine, a satirical look at the Greek propaganda that Macedonians were created by Tito.

                            “The only thing that explained how Tito could have created the Modern Macedonians as per Greek testimonies and how Macedonians existed before his time, as documented by newspapers, was that “Tito must have had a time machine and went back in time to create the Macedonians,” says the author.

                            The book is a free PDF and can be requested from the author by clicking Here.

                            Macedonian Herald
                            The United Macedonians of Canada publish a bi-annual Macedonian Herald magazine with both English and Macedonian stories. The latest edition, July 2012, plus back copies are Here.

                            Essays

                            Greek Crisis Shows Weak International Ethics
                            The article Greek Crisis Shows Weak International Ethics by Victor Bivell can be found Here. The articles look at Greece’s poor record of compliance with the requirements of major international organizations and treaties, particularly in regard to human rights and its minorities. Click Here.

                            Pollitecon Books

                            Discount for Complete Set of Books
                            A reminder that a complete set of Macedonian books published by Pollitecon can be purchased at a discount of free postage in Australia and reduced airmail postage overseas. See Here.

                            Thank you

                            Victor Bivell
                            Pollitecon Publications
                            PO Box 3102
                            Wareemba NSW 2046 Australia
                            Ph 02 9705 0578
                            Fx 02 9705 0685
                            Email vbivell @ pollitecon.com
                            Web http://www.pollitecon.com
                            "Ido not want an uprising of people that would leave me at the first failure, I want revolution with citizens able to bear all the temptations to a prolonged struggle, what, because of the fierce political conditions, will be our guide or cattle to the slaughterhouse"
                            GOTSE DELCEV

                            Comment

                            • George S.
                              Senior Member
                              • Aug 2009
                              • 10116

                              FEEDBACK





                              Hi Risto,



                              Let me say a few words to calm down our friend that paints a mixed picture. According to the American definition of "A Nation" is a group of people that can fight and conduct a war to defend themselves or expend.



                              According to Stalin's definition of a nation, definition in the 4th congress of the Mans: Macedonian American National Society,; "Zahto nia Makedontsite sme Posebna Natsia", it says we have our language, we have our history we have a common tradition , we live on this land for 100 years etc, etc.



                              Macedonians :"Postoeme, Dostoeme i Otstoeme." "We exist, persist and resist."



                              Life is a struggle, therefore struggle. When Mr. Z complains about many economical and ethnic problems, compare yourself with your neighbours or other countries of the world.

                              No 1 Greece, 200 years of its artificial creation, where does it stand now?

                              From what we hear people have a better standard of living in Macedonia and unemployment in Greece reaches the same as in Macedonia. The strife and self-destruction in Greece is worse than in Macedonia.



                              No 2 Albania, 100 years of artificial existence, Macedonia is much better off economically than Albania and Kosovo.



                              Emigration is the same problem all over the world.



                              Makedontsi, Gore Glavata. Macedonians keep up your heads.



                              The conspiracy against Macedonia is a long story: it is against Russia, against the Pope and Catholicism, against Judaism.



                              Macedonia will triumph, but unity and wisdom are necessary, reliance on our friends is necessary, patience, trpenie is necessary.



                              To be continued.

                              Dedo Manu





                              Hi, Risto,



                              Xmas Greetings.



                              Now about this Xmas Manifesto by the world Macedonian Congress, I suggest a word of caution.



                              Although every word in this manifesto is right, we, Macedonians should not confront the EU with such abruptness. Remember what happened in 2001, when the Talibans, not the Albanians invaded Macedonia?! It was part of the Taliban force used in Kosovo.



                              The CIA did not even tell NATO what they really were doing. So if you tell them you do not want to join the EU and NATO, they will encourage the Albanians to take the initiative. So, please be careful and don’t infuriate them. Keep our dear Republic prospering and go along and say to them, yes, we can hardly wait to join you, but be glad you are not a member because they are going to charge fees and taxes to support the Greko-Italian drones, parasites.



                              They are afraid that if you are not with us, you are with somebody else. That means we can not wait long enough for Maika Russia to come to our help. Caution, politeness, intelligence is the game. 90% of the world is with us. Expose their "Democratic" flaws, but don’t be rude.



                              Let Greeks prance the way they are doing but the world hates them and we are winning more friends and supporters. The Present leadership in Macedonia is going the right way.

                              Don’t rock the boat.



                              Napred Makedontsy

                              Sreken Bozhik, Krachun po Kostursky.



                              Dedo Manu.





                              Risto,



                              In this Digest the comparison of Greece with Ireland is simply abhorrent. Nothing is similar. Irish are real people, Greeks are artificially created, no history, no common tradition. They were invented by France, Franko-Bavarian Illuminati, to create a new society, new world order, based on the Arian model, to destroy Macedonians, Catholics and Jews and to elevate France to the top of the world pedestal, the heir of the ancient Hellada which never existed. Greece does not deserve to be a state, let alone the hub of the world civilization. Greece is a dead horse which France is trying to resuscitate.



                              Shame to the Franko liars.

                              Dedo Manu



                              Hi, Risto



                              Good declaration but?!



                              The present push, thrust of Albanians, Arnauts, Arvanites is an expansion and colonization. This is stimulation by USA and NATO. There is a base called Still bond which Americans protect and encourage Albanians to ask for more.



                              Now one question: how come Albanians celebrated 100 years of the Albanian flag in Skopje?

                              Is not Tirana or Prishtina big enough? Ne gi sozeva tamo?



                              That also proves that Macedonia is the only Democratic country in the Balkans. Now on the positive side, those aspirations of expansion have not given good results in Greece, 200 years going backwards in reverse to Hell and Albania 100 of statehood has not improved one iota, because these people are scavengers by nature, nomads and thieves.



                              And at present they are aiming the same. On the contrary Macedonia is a legitimate nation, with history, economy, and tradition. At present if Albania, Greece and Bulgaria do not join Macedonia in a common economic project they will finish in the historical rubbish basket.



                              Dedo Manu


                              Risto,



                              Talking about Kukush dialect I would like to make few comments. The Kukush area was the centre of the Macedonian renaissance since about 1830. Kukushani taught Macedonian, local speech at school and through the Western missionaries, they translated the Bible in the local Macedonian speech and taught it at school. Somebody Kuzman Shapkarev was boasting: “in Kukush there is not one Fanariot (grkoman) family”. Only a few Moslem families other than Macedonians. There started the movement for Macedonia's liberation.



                              But disaster struck. Fanariots agitated Bulgarians and Serbian Orthodox, spurred by the Istanbul Ortho. Patriarch agitated to smother the Macedonian movement and went to Moscow to convince them that the Pope wants to take over the Balkans and convert them to Catholicism.



                              Russians sent Ignatiev to Istanbul to handle the issue. The result was no Macedonian church, the Bulgarian Exarchy given authority over Macedonia.



                              About 1871 the Balkan Macedonian church issue was settled: Northern part of Macedonia, Bulgarian Language, central part mixed Patriarch and Exarch, to fight it over. Let the people make a choice: Bulgarian or Greek language church and schools. Then came the armed bands slaughtering innocent Macedonians. The rest is history.



                              Manoly



                              Risto,



                              Now here is my second comment; As I explained the patriotism and the uniqueness of Kukush in the Macedonian renaissance, the Greek Fanariots decided to wipe out any trace of the nativity of the first Macedonian fighters and their leader Gotse Delchev.



                              They burnt to the ground the beautiful, prosperous Macedonian town of Kukush, burnt, raped scorched pillaged slaughtered. The survivors fled to Bulgaria. Now Bulgaria deemed them as pure true Bulgarians and settled them in Melnik, "Melinikon", by expelling over the border the natives vlasi etc. to the new Kilkis as pure Greeks.



                              That was not the end. The Stanishev family from Kukush was a great patriarchal family related to Delchev: Three brothers: Hristo, engineer, Konstantin doctor to the court, Alexander architect, editor of the magazine: "Makedonsky Pregled", in Bulgarian and French.



                              Hristo and Konstantin presided over the Macedonian Associations in Bulgaria till 1940.

                              The communist regime destroyed this family, one member fled to Russia, Father of Igor Stanishev. These people were neither communists nor fascists.



                              Why today our fellow Macedonians do not mention their names and contribution to the Macedonian cause! Very regretful and pathetic!



                              Manuel Stanisheff.



                              Re: The Enemy from within



                              This was a good article. In my opinion one of the best that you have posted recently, and that is another awakening after the “Aleksandar/Solun/FB/Mina” case, yes, we should focus from inside on how to prevent it from further escalation? Should we become like Israel or Greece or any other fascist state based on myths, or any other Balkan barbaric nation. All that is happening right now with us the Macedonians (and any other aboriginal people around the world) has been already instructed/engineered decades, and centuries ago by the west powers.



                              What is happening to the Macedonians is a human tragedy, I wonder what the purpose of it is, and I can only take guesses. It is obvious that there are many of us who are still around with true Macedonians patriot feelings, and especially the ones that are abroad, the ones that are in Macedonia do not really care about it, they live it, it is different there, and they are not afraid and do not worry about it.



                              That is my impression. However, many of us just don’t have time to help anyhow for the Macedonian cause, but what to do first, the job/career, the family, the children, the house, the studies etc, etc.



                              What is happening to us perhaps is what we deserved for all the bad things our forefathers have done, and the crimes that they have committed to the other nations/tribes. Or it could be for instance Seleucids, who dared to put an idol in the temple of Solomon (the one who governed over the region BC, area that is today Syria and Armenia, and after the collapse of the Macedonian Empire). I assume they were corrupted, as many people are. So we are paying. Besides that, many Macedonians that I know have abandoned the Church. Perhaps we should be praying more often. Perhaps all these fake Balkan (and European) states are constructed in order to make the Christianity disappear, as we can chronologically see they are against the sign of the cross. And off the record, they have invented Islam, and they broke away from the Apostils and broke away from the Church of God, since then they work against us, even though the Romans also did worked against us, so it is a continuation, now with the Albanians is the final in the pains it is like a lid on top of all, now they are claiming rights of history that belongs to Macedonians they are there brought by the Ottomans from Albania (see old map) Azerbaijan. I got confused about who the real Albanians are, they are not the same as the ones that live in Albania, they are different people. I am still researching about them, the language, origins...Vlachs are Romanized Thracians and Macedonians during the Roman occupation BC.



                              I suppose there should be an organization, group or team with mature Albanians, Vlachs, Roma, Macedonians, and perhaps other foreigners, or waken-up Greeks or Bulgarian citizens who know about the injustice in Macedonia. I tried to seek for such people while I was there with my family there this summer. They can have meetings in order to act as an example for all Balkan stereotypes. (The meetings can be either on-line or there in Macedonia).



                              An organization created in order to educate the young ones in Macedonia, with meetings around Macedonia, to show them the tolerance he have, and the tolerance we had back one hundred years ago, when the very same people (Vlachs, Albanians, Turks loyal to the Macedonians, and other minorities) helped us, not much in percent proportions but a number of these minorities that helped for the uprisings and rebellions in historical Macedonia against the colonizers.



                              The organization can have their projects thru magazines distributed to the high schools, coffee shops, etc. A magazine that can have information and use it to educate the youth in Macedonia to love each other.



                              We can prevent it from happening, see this intolerance, and injustice (and what have started it and/or who have started it. etc) and joined in a team to discuss these topics for preventing the young generation from further slaughter that can bring us again backwards for 50 years, (history is repeating it itself all over since Alexander of Macedon).



                              I agree with all you have said, Mr. Stefov, and I am thinking the same way too, but you have written it, as you have written it in many of your articles. I consider you Mr. Risto Stefov as one of the modern komita and I have read you for many years. I lived abroad for many years too, and I researched for Macedonia, and since Chris Stefou was there, explanation came quick, the puzzle was solved (we could not know anything about it back in the schools in RM or SFRJ, but after the Internet beast was realized) and that information was quite enough for a beginner like me, all “dogma” was there.



                              I must tell you that I love the first 24 editions of the Macedonian digest, and many others articles we have at maknews. That information is quite enough to convince anyone that can see, no need of further proves, we don’t have to prove anything, it is more than obvious who we are. It is curved in us, and it is knitted in us, it is like magnetism, it just can’t hide.



                              A couple of friends of mine whose origins are mostly from Taiwan or from the new world, let’s say US and Australia, have checked that website and now they can see clearly what is going on there, what in detail happened in the last 100 years, 200 years, 1000 years, 5000 years, and 8000 years. Very educational website.



                              Besides that this year with my friend from travelkitchen.com I have organized many Macedonian nights. First my mother cooked, then the idea was born. We organized things, I suppose I should have contacted you, there were people from the Taiwanese national TV TVBS, who covered the documentary about Macedonia with their host and my friend, and a Macedonian ambassador Mrs. Amy Tsai from Taipei, Taiwan, we managed to get Adriana Alachki with her crew here in Taiwan to make a presentation of the Macedonian cuisine, tradition, dance, and music. All that is going to be shown on Taiwanese TV for the next 6 months.



                              Thank you for your effort, and may our Lord Jesus Christ bless you and have mercy on us all.



                              Yours , Serjoza N.





                              Hi, Risto



                              After I read this 18th chapter, I feel obliged to clarify few points about the "Emphilios".

                              It was all a deceit and betrayal by none other than Nikos Zahariadis the biggest idiot in the world, double agent, Stalin and Churchill, the traitor of the civil war in Greece 1945-1949.



                              I read many books written by Greek DAG leaders who condemn Zahariadis for everything he did. The last author I read was a Macedonian from Gramos: Argiris Novatsis, who fought in the Albanian war, fought with ELLAS, started with Gianulis and saw his leader killed, fought in the last battles of Prespa and saw the betrayal.



                              Three of the top commanders entered Yugoslavia in the last days and the Yugoslav commander asked them to cross the border quickly because the bourandary had superior power and will annihilate them. One of the Partisans asked if they could keep the weapons. The Yugoslav said no. They returned back and decided: One group to flee to Albania, one to fight off the Burandary and A. Novatsis to return to Siniachko and gather the scattered partisans. They had to fight across the border quickly and left the ones in the lakes in disaster. Now the preamble as told by other commanders.



                              Zahariadis had no plans to fight at any time. He refused to vote in the 6th of March 1946. Big Blunder or deliberate betrayal. Told the Elasites not to go to the mountain. In 1946 at the communist Congress in Prague he gave orders for a unit to strike at the police station at Litohoro.



                              Told the Congress: "our uprising has begun"



                              He goes and asks Stalin for help. Stalin’s advice: "afti i ypothesy prepy na teliosy".



                              The Americans will invade Albania and Bulgaria and we can't defend them Tito is an obstacle.



                              Zahariadis returns with the intent to abort the movement and finds all sorts of excuses. The Lerin attack was a planned failure. He goes to Stalin and Stalin asks: "Ti egine"



                              Zahariadis: "Etsi kai etsi"



                              Stalin Bravo, tora rixta alla ston Titi. This is the testimony by senior Partisan. He killed Yanuly and other Macedonians. All the ponti were sent to Romania to recover.



                              So, the poor people suffered because of the idiot Zahariadis. He was brought up in Skopje where his father was a Greek teacher. He was a cunning bastard.



                              Mano.





                              Reply to some Greeks who claim Philip II and the Ancient Macedonians were Hellenes:



                              Macedonians never considered themselves “Hellenes”, because “Hellenes” did not exist those days.



                              Hellenism was invented by Johan Gustav Droysen, in 1834 a Bavarian member of the Franko-German Illuminati, who conspired to bring a new order and to destroy all the world royal families and to install themselves as new kings.



                              Neither Greece nor Hellas existed before modern Greece 1828, after the battle of Navarino, between the Turkish imperial fleet and the Anglo-Franko- Russian fleet and installed a new independent principality called Morea, Administered by Yoanis Kapo-de Istrias former Russian diplomat, foreign minister.



                              He was later assassinated by the local militaries for not doing the will of the people.

                              Little prince Otto of Bavaria of the house of “Gliksburg was appointed king as a minor and his mother AMALIA was appointed as regent. Gustav Droysen was his Tutor and he was playing with kingdoms and he offered them some ancient roots. King Otto was also assassinated. Modern Greece is a collection of former Ottoman Fanariots, who are ruling by dictatorship and now are back in the Hell.



                              Europe is trying to revive a dead horse because Greeks are a mob of liars and brigands.

                              Europe, the fabricators of modern Greece, keep Macedonia out of European forums with the intent to destroy its existence in order to support modern Greece, a Dead Horse!



                              Bistritsky
                              "Ido not want an uprising of people that would leave me at the first failure, I want revolution with citizens able to bear all the temptations to a prolonged struggle, what, because of the fierce political conditions, will be our guide or cattle to the slaughterhouse"
                              GOTSE DELCEV

                              Comment

                              • George S.
                                Senior Member
                                • Aug 2009
                                • 10116

                                THE MACEDONIANS IN USA AND CANADA



                                (HISTORICAL VIEW)



                                By Slave Nikolovski - Katin

                                [email protected]



                                8. MACEDONIAN CHURCHES AND NATIONAL

                                CENTERS, NEWSPAPERS, AND ASSOCIATIONS IN USA



                                I. INDIANA



                                Indiana is a federal state of USA. Its capital city is Indianapolis, one of the famous world centers. The city of Gary is the biggest metallurgical center. It is located in the North-Western part of this state and is directly linked to Chicago in Illinois. Rectangular shaped Indiana stretches north to Lake Michigan and south to the Ohio River. The first immigrants here were the French, who arrived in 1735. It has been a federal state of USA since 1816. A large number of Macedonian emigrants who arrived at the beginning of the last century now live in Indiana.



                                SV. PETAR I PAVLE, (Sts. Petar and Pavle) IN CROWN POINT



                                The first Macedonian Orthodox Church, which was named Sts. Petar and Pavle, was built in Gary, Indiana. It has a population of over one hundred thousand people. Emigrants from various parts of Macedonia began migrating to Gary at the beginning of the previous century. Since then their number has increased constantly. According to some estimates about seven thousand Macedonians live there at present, the majority of which is employed in the heavy industry. They come mostly from the areas of Bitola; Ohrid, particularly the villages of Velgoshti, Draslajca; Struga; D’mbeni; Kostur (Castoria); Demir Hisar; Prespa; Prilep; Struga; Kichevo; Skopje; and other areas in Macedonia.

                                The restoration of the Ohrid Archiepiscopate and the foundation of thee Macedonian Orthodox Church in 1958 strongly encouraged the emigrants in Gary and its surrounding area to undertake actions toward construction of their own Macedonian Orthodox Church. Soon afterwards, in September 1960, several Macedonian patriots from Gary, who had come to USA before the Second World War, were initiators of the action. Namely, about a hundred families requested permission from the American authorities for construction of their own Christian, Macedonian church. The initiative for construction of a church was greeted and accepted by a large number of Macedonian emigrants. In 1961 the church parish was registered and a request was made to the Macedonian metropolitan in Skopje for a priest to be sent. In the meantime, for the very first time this priest held a service for the Orthodox emigrants in the Macedonian mother tongue at a Syrian Orthodox church.

                                The Sts. Petar and Pavle Church was built with relatively modest funds and voluntary work of church members. The foundation stone of the church was placed on 14 October 1962. The church, which is the first Macedonian building on the North American Continent, was devoted on 14 July 1963 by Archbishop Dositej.

                                At the end of 1971 the Synod of the Macedonian Orthodox Church appointed a new priest in the place of the previous priest who had broken away with several members of the church committee and acknowledged the jurisdiction of the Eastern Orthodox Church in USA. The situation with the Macedonian colony changed in a positive sense with the arrival of the new priest. Numerous religious, cultural, church, educational, and other activities began, and many clubs such as the folk dance, theatre, choir, youth, and other clubs were activated. In 1972 a church choir was formed, which began performing compositions in the church-Slavic and Macedonian tongue.

                                With the arrival of the new emigrants from Macedonia, especially in the 1970’s and 1980’s, the number of believers rose significantly, which contributed positively toward the church being financially well provided. However, it was relatively too small to fit the activities of the Macedonian emigrants. For this reason in 1986 they decided to purchase land on which on 16 October 1988 they placed and blessed the foundation stone of the present church of Sts. Petar and Pavle in Crown Point.

                                At the decision of the Holy Archbishop Synod of the MOC the new church and additional buildings were blessed on 21 July 1991. Metropolitans Timotej and Stefan conducted the dedication ceremony. The Sts. Petar and Pavle Church has the capacity to hold 400 believers. It satisfies all of the church needs of the Orthodox Macedonians, and includes a hall that can fit about a thousand people. There are also other smaller rooms where everyday activities are conducted. The whole picture of the complex of church buildings is enriched by a sports building and the large car park.

                                The folk dance group “Kitka,” made up of young Macedonians born in USA, has functioned within the church since 1979. Clubs such as the women’s, youth and sports club, theatre group, church choir, Macedonian Sunday school, “Vardar” football club, library, and humanitarian organization, all show a wide variety of activities.



                                MACEDONIAN NEWSPAPERS AND RADIO PROGRAMS



                                After the Second World War the Macedonian newspapers played a huge role for the Macedonians throughout the world. They were an expression of the long and enduring struggle of the Macedonian immigrants, regardless of which part of Macedonia they came from, for affirmation of their national identity, religion, language, folklore, and traditions of their fatherland Macedonia in their new environments.

                                The proven presentation of all the accomplishments of the Macedonian emigrants was fully expressed particularly after the restoration of the Ohrid Archiepiscopate within the Macedonian Orthodox Church. St. Clement’s mother church enabled a wide process of creating Macedonian Orthodox churches in which, in addition to God’s word, the Macedonian truth is also expressed. Hence, authentic Macedonian organizations, cultural and artistic societies, supplementary Macedonian schools, literary, entertainment, sports, village, and other associations were founded. In most cases they bear the name “Macedonia” or the adjective “Macedonian” which clearly shows the deep connections of the emigrants of every part of Macedonia with their motherland the Republic of Macedonia. Emigrant newspapers are mainly preoccupied with the cultural and historical events, and the church-national life. Through their contents they try to awaken the reader’s patriotic feeling, and most important of all, to experience it as a kind of support of their land Macedonia and all that is related to its name.

                                Therefore, we can rightfully conclude that the newspapers, magazines, bulletins, radio shows, and other means of information have special significance for the emigrants. They play a huge role in the maintenance of the Macedonian language, and especially in deepening the cultural and other national and spiritual traditions of the Macedonians in the new environments. Most important of all they strengthen the unity among those that have been torn away from their native land.

                                To a large extent they try to familiarize the reader, the listener, and viewer with the Macedonian language, culture, religion, history, folklore, customs, and so on. Macedonian newspapers also express the cultural activities and life of the Macedonian ethnic communities. They affirm the overall scientific, social and political activities and progress of the Macedonian state, the Republic of Macedonia. To a certain extent they serve as a barrier to the foreign propaganda among the Macedonian emigrants. At the same time in there new environments the emigrants enrich their national values an in so doing they enrich the mosaic of multinational cultures.

                                The following newspapers have been published as part of the activities of the Macedonian Orthodox Church of Sts. Petar and Pavle in Crown Point:



                                “CRKOVEN BILTEN 1974” (Church Bulletin)



                                First edition of this church bulletin was published in February 1974 as a newspaper of the Macedonian Orthodox Church of Sts. Petar and Pavle in Gary Indiana. It was printed on 26 pages, with a format of 21.5 x 28 cm, in Macedonian using Latin alphabet, and had some articles written in English. The bulletin was of internal character. It was published from time to time. On the occasion of the Petrovden holiday in 1986, and the 23rd Anniversary of the MOC Sts. Petar and Pavle, the last edition of the bulletin was printed on 68 pages and was identical in form and content with the previous issues.



                                “BILTEN 1978” (Bulletin)



                                It was published on the occasion of the Fourth Church-People’s Assembly held on 2 and 3 September 1978 in Gary, Indiana. It had 36 pages and a format of 21 x 29.5 cm. It was printed in Macedonian using the Cyrillic Alphabet but also has articles in English. On the front page there is a photograph of the icon of Sts. Petar and Pavle, followed by photographs of g.g. Dositej and g. Kiril, and articles about the church.



                                “BILTEN 1987” (Bulletin)



                                The thirteenth in order bulletin was published on the occasion of the Thirteenth Church-People’s Assembly held on 5 and 6 September 1987. It was a very significant publication. It consisted of 82 pages, it had the same format as the previous editions, and was printed in Macedonian using Cyrillic alphabet. The bulletin was prepared in collaboration with all of the parish priests in the Eparchy.



                                “MESECEN BILTEN (1988)” (Monthly Bulletin, 1988 )



                                The arrival of the new priest in 1988 also meant the beginning of a bulletin which continues to be published today and to present and affirm the activities of the Sts. Petar and Pavle church and of the Macedonian commune in Gary.





                                “BILTEN 1999” (Bulletin)



                                This bulletin was published on the occasion of the Jubilee Church-People's Assembly held in Crown Point during 3-6 September 1999. This special edition is of great importance for increasing the publishing activities of the Macedonian emigrants in USA and Canada.

                                On the other hand, the radio and TV shows for the Macedonians in USA, with few exceptions, are mostly amateur, with commercial aims, and insufficient organization. However, they are conducted with strong enthusiasm precisely because of the need of the Macedonians and other immigrants from the Balkans to hear and understand about the situation in those colonies and further, about the “stari kraj” and their native hearths in Macedonia. The carry a deep message: they strengthen the patriotic spirit; they manage to maintain the national identity, language, culture, and the rich musical and folklore achievements of the Macedonian people. From a musical aspect, unlike the other radio and TV shows in USA and Canada, with only a few exceptions they carry a Macedonian character above all.

                                The first attempts to begin a radio program among the Macedonian emigrants in USA appeared in the 1950’s. Thus, in October 1954 a Macedonian radio program began in Gary, titled “Amerikansko-makedonski radio-cas” (American-Macedonian radio-hour). This was the first radio hour among the Macedonian emigrants in the USA.

                                On the occasion of the two-year Jubilee on 21 October 1956 during this radio-hour a celebration was conducted and a brochure was printed. Among other things its preface also states: “Two years have passed since our Macedonian radio-hour began its program. Together we proved to everyone that we, the Macedonians, can also have our own radio-hour through which we advertise our businesses, congratulate our celebrations, and announce news of family and other character. We hold this Macedonian radio festival evening in honor of that day when the Macedonian radio program first began.”

                                The 3 March 1972, when the Macedonian radio program began and continued till 1980, was of special significance for the information of the Macedonians in Gary. This program broadcast news, advertisements, messages, folk songs, pop music and other numerous supplements. This radio-hour began broadcasting programs again on 6 August 1980 and has continued doing so till the present day. This Macedonian radio-hour celebrated its thirteenth anniversary on 11 May 2002. This marked an important period in the information activities of the Macedonian emigrants in Gary.

                                In 1977 a radio hour began in Gary which broadcast numerous shows that affirmed the Macedonian truth. The owners paid for the time of the radio hour, but due to financial reasons it stopped broadcasting towards the end of 1983.

                                In Gary, the iron city, there is an Association of Macedonian drivers as there are about one hundred and fifty Macedonian truck drivers living there. Every year they organize a driver’s evening and they donate the funds to the Sts. Petar and Pavle Church.
                                "Ido not want an uprising of people that would leave me at the first failure, I want revolution with citizens able to bear all the temptations to a prolonged struggle, what, because of the fierce political conditions, will be our guide or cattle to the slaughterhouse"
                                GOTSE DELCEV

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X