You consider me 'a good Bulgarian and a man of strong character and will'. You also point out that I bear the name of a fighter for Macedonian national liberation who died the death of a hero. Allow me then to be honest with you and with the general, whom I thank very much for the greetings he sent.

 I came to you at a time when the movement you head is facing a historic stage in its further development: the time when Macedonia, torn apart and cut up into pieces, is more than ever surrounded by a world of enemies; when the glorious heroic liberation movement of the Macedonians, which has manifested so much 'strength and tenacity, firm will and unbreakable revolutionary energy', despite its mistakes, is isolated and lonely, and for this reason (surely you can see it!) - is exposed to the hourly danger of being destroyed by the un­ited international and Balkan imperialist reaction; a time, finally, when the organization and its members are encircled by a dense network of malicious in­trigues and blackmail with the help of which united reaction is trying to divert the organization from its only possible road of further action for liberation -the joint struggle of all oppressed peoples under imperialist domination.

I came and made you a concrete and clear proposition: to  start negotiations here on the spot, with the full knowledge of the current situation and the concrete needs and balance of forces, on the basis of supporting the real struggle for national liberation of Macedonia further, of eliminating the dangerous isolation of the Organization and establishing contacts between it and the Soviet Union and all other inter-Balkan and international forces, which are the sole stronghold and guarantee of the people fighting for free Macedonia in the present age of hard struggles against imperialist Balkan and international . reaction. That is what I myself proposed to you. I also proposed the mediation of some of my comrades in settling the temporary misunderstandings between us. I considered and continue to consider this as an honest 'extending of a fraternal hand'.

What was said in Vienna and elsewhere, what negotiations took place, what manifestoes were written, signed, published, etc., I did not and do not know. For the present time, we can leave this sadly ridiculous story aside because imperialist reaction is on the alert: it will not forgive anybody who dares disturb its order and peace. It is working hard and may soon attack where its strike is least expected and from the direction from which it is least expected - an attack on the IMRO by united Bulgarian, Serbian and Romanian imperialism under the supreme auspices of Entente capital. Danger is im­minent! Look out, leaders of the Macedonians fighting for freedom and prosperity! You are facing a historic responsibility!

None of those who address you through me wants to undermine the foun­dations of your noble cause. On the contrary. International and Balkan reac­tion is placing a mine under your revolutionary cause; if you waste only a little more time, it will be detonated, and you will face the tragic dilemma of either 'diverting the Macedonian national movement from its natural course which has been marked by the blood of the best sons of the Macedonian people' and turning it into an obedient tool of imperialist strife and competition, or of taking the path which I have outlined above, but under much more difficult conditions. and with much more bloodshed and sacrifices. Nobody speaks of or expects adventures, 'youthful fancies' or 'extremely dangerous leaps'. On the contrary, being fully aware of the great responsibility which they bear to the masses and history, the comrades want the negotiations, the adopted decisions and the future joint struggle in conformity with the concrete conditions and possibilities to be prepared in such a way as to ensure a 90-95 per cent chance of final and decisive success. However, this preparation and these percentages will be the result of the unification of all the people's forces against international and Balkan imperialist reaction which is already uniting.

This is what I think and suggest, which allows me to repeat once again that I am fulfilling the behest of my dead father.

August 7, 1925                                                                  With best wishes,

P.S. My comrades are looking forward to a definite answer to these con­crete propositions. Please send the answer through the same channel, and if you accept the proposition, fix the place and time of the first meeting. If you need further explanations and preliminary talks, I am ready to meet you in person. I am sending a clipping with a report about the solidarity established between the Croatian Agrarian Party and Radich on the question of Moscow.

 

ЦПА, ф. Ал, Протогеров;  the original is in Bulgarian.


 

The Macedonian Revolutionary Organization was founded in 1893 by Gotse Delchev, Pere Toshev, Damyan Grouev, Dr Hristo Tatarchev, Peter Poparsov and Gyorche Petrov.

The aims which the founders of the Revolutionary Organization set themselves were the conquest of political freedom and autonomous rule of Macedonia under the protection of the Great Powers.

They started their work by endeavouring to draw into the ranks of the Organization, above all, the intelligentsia, the teachers, the priests and the ar­tisans in the towns. Since the latter were more alert than the rest of the popula­tion, it was easier to win them over to the cause of the Organization. They formed local groups and organizations. The people enthusiastically welcomed their initiative.

Initially the Revolutionary Organization began to work among the Bulgarian population in Macedonia - not among the entire Bulgaria popula­tion, but only among that part of it which belonged to the Bulgarian Exarchate; it did not trust the Bulgarian non-Exarchists, i.e. Patriarchists, the Catholics and the Protestants. As far as revolutionary activity among the other Macedo­nian nationalities went - Turks, Albanians, Wallachians, Greeks - this problem did not arise for the founders of the Organization. The leaders of the Organiza­tion were afraid lest the Organization fail at the very beginning and thus com­promise for a long time the idea of the revolutionary struggle, if they started working among all nationalities in Macedonia. And this fear was well founded, because there existed great distrust among the different nationalities which live in Macedonia, and this distrust was energetically whipped up by the Turkish authorities.

   
D. Vlahov, The Struggles of the Macedonian People for Liberation, Vienna, 1925, pp. 10-11; the original is in Bulgarian.
 
 
 
 

Art. 1. The Macedonian Bulgarian women, irrespective of where they live shall organize in societies with the following aim:

a) to protect their own nationality and that of their children from Serbian, Greek and any other assimilation;

b) always to keep intact their own love and that of their relatives for the dismembered and enslaved homeland.

Art. 2. Any literate Bulgarian Macedonian woman of age - a girl or a mother, who holds her nationality dear, and is able to keep a secret, can become a member of the Secret Cultural Educational Organization.

Art. 3. When joining the Organization each member shall take the following vow:

I swear in the name of God and the Homeland, in my honesty and con­science, to work for the preservation of our Bulgarian nationality in Macedonia under Greek and Serbian rule.

I swear to accept each member as my own sister and help her to the best of my ability whenever necessary.

I swear to fulfill the provisions of this Statute, and also the orders of the leading bodies of our Cultural Educational Organization.

I swear to keep secret everything connected with this organization.

If I violate this vow, let me be punished by God, despised by my sister members and expelled from their society.

Art. 4. In every inhabited place the Macedonian Bulgarian women shall organize in societies consisting of seven members. The members of these societies shall call each other sisters.

The organizer of each society shall be its teacher and leader.

Art. 5. Three members in an inhabited place can found a society.

The society is complete with the admission of new members, each can­didate being recommended by one sister and supported by another two sisters.

Art. 6. When a society is completed, each of its members may form another incomplete or complete society according to Art. 5.

Art. 7. The first society founded in a given town shall be the main one in this town and all other societies in the town and the district shall be subor­dinated to it.

Art. 8. The main societies in the towns of a district shall be subordinated to the main society in the district town.

Art. 9. The main societies in Bitolya, Skopje and Soloun shall be the cen­tral ones. All district societies in the former Bitolya sanjak, including those which, at present, are under Greek domination, shall be subordinated to the Bitolya Main Society; all district societies in the former Skopje sanjak shall be subordinated to the Skopje Main Society, and all societies in the former Soloun, Syar, and Drama sanjaks - to the Soloun Main Society.

Art. 10. Each member should be an exemplary daughter, wife and mother. She should serve as an example of patriotism, modesty, honesty, industriousness.

Art. 11. Each member should promote all other Macedonian Bulgarian women's consciousness and sense of belonging to the Bulgarian people.

Art. 12. Each member should do her best to educate her own and the other Bulgarian children in a national spirit, insisting on Bulgarian being spoken at home - the local dialect or the literary language.

Art. 13. Each member should by all possible means resist the attempts at Serbian and Greek assimilation of children and of the younger generations in general. For this purpose, the members should teach the children to read and write Bulgarian and shall disseminate primers, readers and appropriate children's books. They should tell the children folk tales and teach them to sing Bulgarian folk and other songs, as well as to recite poems by Bulgarian poets.

Art. 14. The members should tell children about events of the Bulgarian Church and revolutionary struggles, and also about the deeds, merits and suf­fering of the outstanding local Church and revolutionary workers.

Art. 15. The girl members should not marry Greeks or Serbians, and in the event of a their marrying a man of any nationality other than Bulgarian, they should bring up their children as Bulgarians.

All members should exert their influence on Macedonian women not to marry foreigners.

Art. 16. Each member should preserve the national customs and rituals,

such as those for Christmas and New Year, Epiphany, Shrovetide,  Easter, St George's Day, Midsummer Day, engagement and wedding ceremonies, birthday and christening rituals, funeral ceremonies, etc.

By preserving the national way of life the Bulgarian nationality has managed to survive five centuries of political and spiritual domination.

Art. 17. Each member should campaign in the villages for the preserva­tion of the national costumes and for the rejection of any foreign influence, especially Greek and Serbian.

Art. 18. Each member should fulfill any order of her sister teacher relating to the preservation of our Bulgarian nationality.

Art. 19. The sister teacher and leader shall have the following obligations in addition to those valid for all members:

a) to call together the sisters subordinated to her at least twice a month and always when it is necessary so that the latter can inform her about the work they have done, and decide how to eliminate the obstacles they have met in their work;

b) to lecture on Bulgarian history, especially from the National Revival onwards;

c) to familiarize her sister members with the work and merits of outstan­ding Macedonian women in the struggle for Bulgarian churches and schools and in the struggles for liberation;

d) to settle any disagreement between members, and to maintain an at­mosphere of comradeship and sisterly love;

e) in general, to help her sister members with advice and action, and to make them better serve the Bulgarian nationality;

f) with her behaviour and devoted work for the Bulgarian cause, the teacher and leader should try to arouse the pride of her fellow townswomen, and to instill in each of them the feeling of pride of their being good Bulgarians.

The Bulgarian mothers, wives and daughters deserve a place of honour in our history. Let us be worthy of the Macedonian Bulgarian women of the past!

 
ЦПА, ф. Ал, Протогеров; the original is in Bulgarian.
 
 
 

The Regular Annual Congress of the united Macedonian emigrant organizations in Bulgaria at its meeting on February 16, 1925, examined the situation of the Macedonian population under Greek rule.

The Congress noted the following:

1. The Athens government not only tolerates, but implicitly encourages the terror exercised by small and big rulers over the Bulgarian, Wallachian and Albanian populations with the purpose of forcing them to emigrate. The fact that Lieutenant Doxakis, who killed 19 Bulgarians near the village of Turlis, Drama district, in July last year, has been sentenced to 15 days detention for not fulfilling the order of his superiors to take the arrested men to Syar - with no charge brought against him for the massacre — this fact speaks of the men­tality not only of the military and administrative authorities but also of the judiciary in Greece.

2. Mr. Politis, representative of the Greek Government at the fifth session of the League of Nations, signed the protocol on the protection of the Bulgarian minority in Macedonia only in order to avoid the public discussion of the Turlis massacre and other acts of violence. This is proved by the fact that the Greek government did nothing for the application of this protocol, and even rejected it 4 months later, on the basis of a vote in Parliament.

3. The motive with which the government of the Greek Republic justified its renunciation of the Protocol, i.e. that the protection of national minorities is envisaged by the Lausanne Peace Treaty and that this is quite sufficient, does not sustain criticism.

After the conclusion of the Lausanne Peace Treaty tens of thousands of Bulgarians were driven by force out of Macedonia, many innocent people were maltreated, arrested without any grounds and killed after this treaty was signed.

The Congress decided:

It asks the League of Nations to assume the role assigned to it by the treaties on the basis of which it was founded, and take the national minorities in Macedonia under Greek rule under its strong protection, to put a stop to the process of driving the local population out of their homes and estates only because they are not Greeks and allow the Macedonian intelligentsia in exile — priests, school teachers, lawyers, physicians and all other people, who were forced to emigrate, to return to their homeland; to return to the Bulgarian and other non-Greek communities their churches, schools and charitable es­tablishments, and in general, to ensure the application of all clauses for protec­tion of national minorities by an International Commission as envisaged by the Geneva protocol, which was signed by the Greek Commissioner for the Bulgarians in Greece, and by the Bulgarian Commissioner for the Greeks in Bulgaria.

Nobody can envisage what the consequences would be if the Bulgarian families in Macedonia, who have been inhabiting that land for 14 centuries, continue to be driven daily out of Greek territory, because there is no worse ad­viser than despair. By informing the Secretariat of the League of Nations, the Congress of the Macedonian Emigrants in Bulgaria divests itself of all respon­sibility for the future.

   

The Regular Annual Congress of the united Macedonian emigrant organizations in Bulgaria, at its meeting on February 16, 1925, examined the situation of the population in Macedonia under Serbian rule, and established the following:

1. The Belgrade government continues to pursue an oppressive policy towards the local Bulgarian, Turkish, Albanian and Wallachian populations in Macedonia, and the greatest terror is exercised against the Bulgarians, because they are the main target of the Serbian denationalization policy.

2. In order to stifle all free manifestation of the national consciousness and feelings of the Macedonian Bulgarians, the Serbian government exercises terror not only through the organs of military and administrative power, but also through the violence practiced with impunity by various bandits, robbers and degraded individuals holding state jobs.

3. With the same aim of denationalizing the local Macedonian population, the Belgrade government uses the above-mentioned organs to terrorize, arrest, rob, beat up and kill innocent people, and also to ruin them economically by seizing parts of their estates and handing them over to immigrants from Serbia proper or other regions of Yugoslavia. The various kind of outrage which oc­cur every day, such as abuse, illegal fines and all kinds of obstacles put in trade, crafts and agriculture have become a most common phenomenon.

The Congress decided:

1. It appeals to the League of Nations to send an impartial international commission to hold an inquiry in Macedonia and establish how the Serbian government treats national minorities in general, and the Macedonian Bulgarians in particular.

2. It asks the League of Nations, by virtue of the treaties by which it was founded and by virtue of the rights embodied in those treaties, to compel the Belgrade government to apply the clauses on protection of national minorities on the territory of Yugoslavia, signed by its own representatives in Saint-Germain. The objection of the Belgrade Government that there are no Bulgarians in Macedonia, that the Macedonian Slavs are Serbs or without a definite nationality is ridiculous: this is contrary to scholarship and reality. The Bulgarians in Macedonia have been living there for 14 centuries. When the Serbs conquered the northern part of Macedonia there they found a Bulgarian culture which was better developed than the Serbian in Serbia proper. We demand that the schools and churches be returned to the Bulgarian population in Macedonia, that the exiled priests, teachers, physicians, lawyers and others be Remitted to go back to their homeland; that the forbidden Bulgarian script and culture be restored - in short, we demand the application of the clauses en­visaged in the treaties for protection of national minorities.

3. The Congress requests that the League of Nations send its organs to Macedonia under Serbian rule, and supervise the application of the above-mentioned clauses on national minorities.

The present situation in Macedonia is fraught with danger and the Annual Regular Congress of the Macedonian emigrants in Bulgaria, reporting this to the Secretariat of the League of Nations, which is called upon to safeguard peace in the world on the basis of the treaties, divests itself of any further responsibility.

The Regular Annual Congress of the united Macedonian emigrant organizations, which was held from February 14 to 17, 1925, representing the opinions and wishes of over 300,000 Macedonian refugees in Bulgaria, asks the governments of the victorious Great Powers:

1. To exert their strong influence on Serbia and Greece so that the latter would sincerely and faithfully apply the treaties on the protection of national minorities with regard to the Bulgarians in Macedonia under Greek and Ser­bian rule.

2. Considering that today more than in the past the Balkan Peninsula is a powder keg which has, on many occasions, started fires spreading far beyond their boundaries and even in the whole of Europe, the Congress asks the governments of the victorious Great Powers to prepare and impose through diplomatic channels the unification of Macedonia, now arbitrarily divided between Serbia, Greece and Bulgaria, and to make it a self-governing political entity, because only such a solution of the Macedonian question would result in a lasting peace in the Balkan Peninsula and in the rest of Europe.

 

working for justice in international relations and peace on earth. The Regular Annual Congress of the united Macedonian emigrant organizations in Bulgaria, which took place from February 14 to 17, 1925, representing over 300,000 exiles from their native land, having established that the terror of the aggressor countries - Serbia and Greece, is being intensified in Macedonia, calls on you, our fellow champions of national self-determination, of political freedom for the oppressed and a lasting peace on earth, to raise your noble voice in support of unfortunate Macedonia, which has on many oc­casions given proof of its staunch national consciousness and unbreakable will for independent political and cultural life. In reply to those who are oppressing and slandering us, who question or deny our national consciousness and our political aspirations, you may confidently demand the carrying out of a plebiscite among the native inhabitants of Macedonia, provided the freedom of the people's vote is guaranteed. We are ready to defer to its results.

Such a plebiscite, to the results of which both the oppressed and the op­pressors would submit, will put an end to the friction which endangers peace in the Balkans, and will spare much precious human blood.

The Regular Annual Congress of the united Macedonian emigrant organizations in Bulgaria, which was held from February 14 to 17, 1925, taking into account the present situation in the Balkan Peninsula, six years after the second division of Macedonia between Serbia, Greece and Bulgaria, noted the following:

1. Although victors, the Serbian and Greek peoples are today far worse off than before the wars.

2. The violence perpetrated by one people upon another has always been the source of revolutions and wars, and consequently of bloodshed, poverty and suffering.

1. Appeals to the Greek and Serbian peoples to call on their governments to be just in their treatment of foreign elements,, because power is something relative, and if it is allowed to dominate over law, the fate of all small peoples will be unenviable.

2. Appeals to the Greek and Serbian non-chauvinist intelligentsia to dis­seminate the idea of a Balkan Federation among their peoples, with united Macedonia as a member enjoying equal rights in it, so that all Balkan peoples may have equal rights and freedoms and be able to develop their material and spiritual culture to the utmost.

The Regular Annual Congress of the united Macedonian emigrant organizations in Bulgaria, which took place from February 14 to 17, 1925, taking into account the fact that the Greek and Serbian oppressors in Macedonia every day resort to still more terrible and inhuman methods of government in order to wipe out or drive the Bulgarian population out of the country, while outside the country they bribe special people as tools to falsify scholarship on Macedonia, and to justify the domination of Greeks and Serbs over this land which is foreign to them, decided:

Thanking the friends of Macedonia for everything which they have done up till now, to defend its just cause, it asks them to continue to raise their voice as authoritative scholars and public figures in order to expose the slander and fabrications and to highlight the truth about the national character and political aspirations of our land, at the same time condemning the bloody regime of op­pression and extermination which reigns in Macedonia today before the Euro­pean factors of peace and humanity.

The Regular Annual Congress of the united Macedonian emigrant organizations in Bulgaria, which took place from February 14 to 17, 1925, was pleased to note that:

1. The Macedonian exiles in America are increasingly strengthening and rallying the ranks of their organization, in order to make it able to express the material and moral aspirations of the Macedonian slaves.

2. Rallied in a strong union they have been upholding the cause of their ill-fated homeland   ever more energetically and more worthily before the American public.

3. Being aware of the need of unification of the efforts and harmonization of the activities of all Macedonians, they have made commendable efforts, most auspicious for the outcome of our struggle, to strengthen their contacts with us, who are more numerous and nearer the homeland, and to support our under­takings both with fraternal sympathy and financial help.

The Congress decided:

It calls passionately upon its Macedonian brothers in America to hold high the banner of unity and cohesion in the name of the freedom of our homeland; to keep intact and further promote their contacts with us, and to coordinate their activities with ours because it is only the concerted efforts of all Macedonian patriots that can guarantee the freedom of their homeland.

The Regular Annual Congress of the united Macedonian emigrant organizations in Bulgaria, which took place from February 14 to 17, 1925, noted with regret that the Bulgarian government, represented by the respective ministers, has not accorded an appropriate reception to the representatives of the emigration, and has neither heard them with due attention, nor has it devoted sufficient care to the question of the satisfactory settlement of the refugees.

In all fairness, the Congress deems it its duty to thank the government for the temporary settlement of the wretched Bulgarian refugees from Macedonia in the severe winter, though these arrangements could have been made earlier.

However, the question of the refugees is far from being solved by this tem­porary settlement.

Both state and national interests, not to mention the duty of humanity oblige the Bulgarian government to spare no efforts in providing housing, land and agricultural implements for the peasant refugees, and houses and credits for the craftsmen, because only in this way can they and their children be saved for the nation and be useful citizens of the state. The law passed about refugees would remain only on paper if credits for its implementation are not ensured and the appropriate organs are not entrusted with its strict fulfillment.

The Congress asks the Bulgarian government to heed the voice of the emigrants, whose will is expressed by the National Committee.

The Regular Annual Congress of the united Macedonian emigrant organizations in Bulgaria, which took place from February 14 to 17, 1925, learnt with regret from N. K's report that a large number of the Macedonian emigrants have not joined the ranks of the united societies and brotherhoods and that another part of them, though a small one, have devoted themselves exclusively to the service of various political parties. The cause of the liberation of Macedonia is so great and noble that it demands the concerted efforts of all people for its realization - rich and poor, old and young, illiterate and intellec­tuals, men and women.

It should be placed above all parties in Bulgaria; it would gratefully accept the support of any social grouping, but if any grouping were to use it as an in­strument for achieving its party political aims, that grouping would be commit­ting a heinous crime.

The Congress considers that as a citizen of this country each Macedonian refugee may have his own political convictions and belong to one or another party, but as a member of our organization he is only a Macedonian, and should serve only Macedonia.

The Congress established that in their activity some emigrant organizations go beyond the provisions of their statutes and trespass on spheres of work that are not properly theirs. In order to achieve unity and harmony of action it is desirable for each organization to keep within the limits of the special tasks which it has set itself. The united Macedonian emigrant organization which consists of the societies and brotherhoods in Bulgaria, is common for all and open to all Macedonians. According to its composition and its statutes, it should remain the only emigrant organization which expresses the political aspirations of the emigrants.

In the name of the martyrdom of our dismembered and enslaved homeland, the Congress appeals to all Macedonian emigrants in Bulgaria to join their local societies and brotherhoods and to rally round under the banner of our organization, which is also the banner of Macedonia.

The Regular Congress of the Macedonian emigrant organizations in Bulgaria, which took place from February 14 to 17, 1925, noting with genuine joy and pride the growth of the Macedonian Youth Union in the country and the cultural and patriotic activity of the young people organized in it, who are making their worthy contribution to the liberation cause of their fathers and elder brothers, unanimously decided:

1. It warmly greets the organized Macedonian youth and its cultural and educational cause.

2. It wishes the Union still more successful development and wise activity for the welfare of the homeland.

3. It calls upon the unorganized Macedonian youth to join the firm ranks of the Macedonian Youth Cultural and Educational Organizations, as well as on all Macedonian fathers and mothers to encourage the participation of their children in the above-mentioned organizations, which preserve and promote the Macedonian youthful spirit.

4. To oblige all brotherhoods to protect the development of the Macedo­nian Youth Organizations with all possible means and to preserve inviolable the unity within the ranks of these organizations, being invariably guided, in their relations with these organizations, by the latter's   statutes and Congress decisions.

Long live the militant Macedonian youth - our mainstay and hope for the bright future of our people!

Long live free Macedonia!

The Regular Congress of the Macedonian emigrant organizations in Bulgaria, which took place from February 14 to 17, 1925, noting with great pleasure that at the beginning of this year the Macedonian students abroad organized a Macedonian Students' Union to protect the land's cultural heritage from foreign encroachment and to be its loyal guard in defending its noble, freedom-loving aspirations, unanimously decided:

1. Enthusiastically to greet the cultural and patriotic cause of the organized Macedonian students.

2. To wish the Union strength and rapid progress of the cause of our cruelly wronged homeland.

3. To appeal to all Macedonian students abroad to organize and rally un­der the banner of the Macedonian Students' Union, because only in this way can they fulfill their duty to the ravished and humiliated Macedonian homeland 4. The organized Macedonian emigrants in Bulgaria will by all possible means support the enthusiastic honest and wise service of Macedonian students abroad, at the altar of the enslaved homeland.

Long live the Macedonian Students' Union for the cause and future of militant and free Macedonia!

 
ЦПА, бр.. 226, оп. 1, а.е. 311, а. 1 -4;  the original is in Bulgarian.
 
 

 

In conclusion I should like to ask you about your opinion of the Greek 'ABC', i.e. of the new attempt of the Greek pedagogues to create a Macedonian-Bulgarian primer. No matter how poor and unpractical this primer is, is not this a confession, a proof of the Greeks' admission of the wrong, done to our country after 1913?

Isn't this ABC a proof that it is not possible to stifle the Macedonian con­sciousness and to change the way of life, the language and culture of the Macedonian Bulgarian? We, Macedonians in the New World, shall not be sur­prised if one day we hear the news that you, Serbs, have also started to work out something like the Greek ABC. Sooner or later, this will be your first step to the confession that a Macedonian cannot become a Serb. I say, that this will happen, because time and the Macedonian resistance and struggle will compel you to do it.

 
Newspaper Nezavisima Makedonia (Independent Macedonia), Sofia, No. 139, December 11, 1925; the original is in Bulgarian

Two facts should be considered if the truth about Serbian educational policy in Macedonia is to be understood: 1. that the Serbian schools and all other cultural and educational establishments have as their primary aim the denationalization and Serbianization of the Macedonian population, which is admitted also by Prof. D. Stanoevic in his article 'Radic and Our Universities', published in the newspaper Politika of December 19, 1925, and 2. that honest and good teachers are not sent to Macedonia and do not go there despite the great extra pay which they are offered.

The vast majority of teachers appointed at our schools are lechers, drunkards, good-for-nothings and Russian counter-revolutionaries. The latter, who can also be assigned to the first three categories, are the most dangerous for the pupils because of their servile behaviour to the headmasters and because of their weak character. The few honest and able teachers who come by chance to Macedonia, are either moved immediately to another job, or fall in with the low standards of their colleagues. A large number of teachers are sent here as punishment for dissolute habits and immoral actions. And here they give rein to their unbridled conduct and dissipation. We had such a typical case in Veles, where the headmaster of the high school, S. Simic, tried to rape a school girl who had gone to his office on business. A great noise was made in the press about this shameful act, and that made the Belgrade authorities send an inspec­tor to look into the case. The inspector from the Ministry arrived in Veles, spent a few days there, and then he departed. Some time later a royal decree was issued, according to which S. Simic, until then deputy headmaster, was promoted to first-class headmaster!

Everybody knows that the teachers drink heavily, and very often they go to school drunk or with a hangover. This is what a pupil told us:

'It is a common occurrence to have a teacher drunk in class. The moment he enters the classroom he begins to swear, then he sits down at his desk and falls asleep. The period ends, the bell rings for a break, but there is nobody to dismiss us as the teacher sleeps like a log. At last the pupil on duty decides to wake him, and he swears at us and drives us out of the room.'

The headmasters and the other spineless teachers consistently try to cor­rupt the pupils and recruit informers and spies from among them, who are to keep watch on their comrades and report to the headmaster. These un­scrupulous 'enlighteners' even use the pupils to fight their political enemies, as was the case with the notorious Simic, who made the pupils testify against a young man from Veles whom he detested, and the latter was brought to court and charged under the law for the protection of the state. Naturally, this blackmail was brought to light also thanks to the pupils who refused to commit perjury before the court, and revealed the whole baseness of this framed-up charge. It also came to light in court how they had been forced to give false evidence. Some of the pupils were made to repeat the class for their daring, others passed with a supplementary examination and all were given poor conduct marks.

The Serbian conquerors use a variety of methods to achieve their aim - the Serbianization of the Macedonian population, and its young people in par­ticular. I shall mention those that are practised most widely. Above all, a revolting Serbian chauvinistic atmosphere is being created and maintained at the schools. The pupils are forbidden to think and speak in their mother tongue, to receive letters in it (let alone write in it), to read books other than Serbian; every opportunity is used to extol the Serbian spirit and to abuse and humiliate everything Bulgarian; Serbian culture, military strength and courage are being constantly praised; the study of scientific subjects and modern languages is neglected, and at their expense, the heads of the pupils are filled for hours with the Serbian language, Serbian literature, history and geography. The natural sciences are not studied at all. The same applies to general history and foreign literature, with the exception of the brief study of Croatian literature. And whatever has to do with anything national Serbian is studied in the greatest detail, for four years in the senior classes. Long incomprehensible epics and poems are learned by heart, the heads of the young people are filled with in­numerable facts and names which they will never need, while the most impor­tant events of world history and the most significant natural phenomena remain unknown and incomprehensible to them. The subjects given the pupils for home and class work are disgusting in their unscrupulous tendentiousness.

The Macedonian pupil has to think and write about Kaimakchalan, the role of Southern Serbia in the unification of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenians, facts about Serbian culture in Macedonia, Slivnitsa, etc., and that is done in such a way as to please the teacher. In his school activities the pupil is denied all independence, initiative or means of self-expression;   he becomes an apathetic creature who would enter life as a good-for-nothing, or at best, a ser­vile job hunter if he does not learn something outside school and if he does not develop.

Excursions are usually organized for the pupils to various parts of Yugoslavia where the young Macedonians are lavishly treated. Two years ago a group of pupils from Shtip were entertained by the King himself in Belgrade, though afterwards some Serbians of pure blood expressed their indignation in the press that the children spoke 'pure Bulgarian', which was an expression of awful ingratitude.

The Serbian chauvinists set up various sports clubs, football and other sports clubs, make the pupils give concerts, shows, etc., and the disgusting demoralizing tendency of Serbianization is manifest everywhere.

Naturally, the Serbian teachers do not always choose the means which would achieve their aims. Instead of achieving something, they very often make fools of themselves, and put off even the most manageable pupils with their methods. A characteristic example is the speech of the high school teacher A. Lazarevic, which he often repeated to his students: 'You are Macedonians and want to have an independent Macedonia, don't you? What you deserve is machine guns and bullets rather than laws and constitutions. Casting pearls before swine is the same as giving you cultural life. We will not give up Macedonia. We will never leave this place, even though we feel as if we were at the front during the war.' Such talk always produces the opposite result to what is desired...

Newspaper Makedonsko Delo, Vienna, No. 9 of January 10, 1926; the original is in Bulgarian.


 

RADOVISH. From No. 11 of Feb. 10, 1926. Towards one o'clock on the same day we reached the Skopje railway station where the train stops for about half an hour. During that time several sweepers and a Serbian attendant came into our carriage and the attendant ordered them to sweep the carriage. As I had run out of cigarettes, I asked in Bulgarian one of the sweepers whether I could buy some at the station. One of the sweepers offered to buy me cigarettes as soon as he heard me speak in Bulgarian, paying no attention to the threats of the attendant who was in charge. From this I gathered that this sweeper was a pure Bulgarian whose heart started beating faster when he heard Bulgarian speech and he eagerly began to speak in Bulgarian...

The news of my arrival in Radovish from Shtip by car spread immediately and people thronged into the house to bid me welcome. Only a detached observer can describe the enthusiasm with which the townfolk greeted my arrival there. This joy of the citizens gave me even greater courage to start my work. My first concern was to introduce myself to Milan Nikolov, Chief Constable of the district. His wife was from Radovish and was an acquaintance of my wife's. This made it easier for me to be received by the district constable and stay longer in Radovish. On the same day I paid a visit to the military com­mander who was a lieutenant, and the local chief of the gendarmerie, who was a captain. The district constable received me on the third day after Christmas.

During the three Christmas holidays I paid visits to many of my fellow-citizens and was greatly moved to see them. When I heard their speech, when I saw their children and heard that they too spoke the same language as their parents, when I saw their enthusiasm and their hopes for an early liberation, I often couldn't help weeping for joy.

Immediately upon my arrival three despicable creatures - all of them local people - were assigned to spy on me. They were Yosif Kolev, son of the Turkish bailiff, Pepo and SLAVE TOUSHANOV. The townspeople, however, warned me from the start about their mission.

At the market-place, in the shops and everywhere else the people here talk in Bulgarian to one another. When they visit government offices they try to speak broken Serbian. The lower classes speak Bulgarian in the offices as well, because the authorities pay no attention to them. As to the peasants, they have not learned a single word in Serbian. As the office workers are the only Serbs in the town, they have even picked up some Bulgarian: when I talked to them they often used local phrases.
Some 35 Montenegrin families have settled in the town, but they do not mix with the townsmen. The only man to blame for this settlement of Montenegrins is the former presednik (chairman) PAROUSHAN GAZEPOV.


Morale has not sunk. All are rattled because of the Smilyan affair but this does not prevent them from expressing their sympathy for Bulgaria. Everywhere I was asked 'Won't you come?' which meant whether Bulgaria was not coming. Morale is stronger in the craftsmen's guilds than among the young between 18 and 22. In order to corrupt the young, the authorities are giving license to debauchery, drunkenness and gambling. On holidays they shout and sing in the streets all night long without anybody stopping them. Through debauchery, drunkenness and gambling the authorities are trying to smother any awareness of a loftier ideal. It is a consolation that when they marry, these young men mend their ways under the influence of the family, and I was told several facts to prove it. I was favourably impressed, however, to see these young men sing Bulgarian songs in the streets. I found yet another consolation in the fact that in my conversations with them I never heard anybody say he was satisfied with the existing situation. To my questions: 'How are you?', 'How are things going?' everybody, young and old alike, heaved a deep sigh the meaning of which I understood.

The village population has kept up its morale better than the townspeople, although at first glance it seems more servile than the citizens.

The more prominent citizens and some old militants were frightened because the SMILYAN affair was at its height. No chetas should be sent now either to them or to Shtip either, until the storm is over, because the appearance of every cheta gives rise to new 'affairs' which dispirit the population. People said to me: 'Tell our men in Bulgaria that if the chetas are sent to help us, to up­hold our morale, to keep our national consciousness awake, to help us preserve our mother tongue, we are aware of all that, we have cherished and will cherish it as the apple of our eye.' These were the words of some of the townspeople with whom I had more intimate conversations and who said: 'You are now amongst us, you have seen the situation and have convinced yourself that so far we have remained the same Bulgarians as before; this is how we are going to educate our children as well; tell this to our brothers and tell them also that they, too, should think of us and have our interests at heart.'

From all my conversations, observations and investigations I conclude the following:

I. The primary objective of the Serbian authorities is the denationalization of the population. They employ the following means to achieve this end:

a) they lavish enormous funds on spying, bribery and enlisting the support of influential Bulgarians;

b) they woo the more influential Bulgarians who are not keen on organizational work;

c) they woo the local intelligentsia and endeavour to gain control over the émigré intelligentsia;

d) they show off. Everything of better quality has been sent to Macedonia: well-dressed officers and soldiers, well groomed horses, well-paid and rabidly chauvinistic officials, exclusively Serbs or Montenegrins, etc., etc.;

e) they crack down on any manifestation of Bulgarian spirit without being too nice about the means: arrests, convictions, beatings, fines, etc.;

f) they strengthen the 'Oudrouzhenie’ (Societies) Against the Bulgarian Rebels;

g) they strengthen the anti-cheta units;

h) they open cultural establishments.

II. Firmness and national awareness of the local population who believe in a brighter future.

III. Preserved language, customs and manners.

IV. A certain decline among the adolescents who are susceptible to the negative influence of the authorities through debauchery, spying, gambling,

and

V. The need to keep in mind the state of consciousness from an organizational point of view.

Allow me to recommend the following two measures:

1. To ensure that in each town there be an experienced person entrusted with the task of maintaining the national awareness of the population and of constantly recruiting fellow-workers to keep up the national spirit in the coun­tryside.

2. To spare no efforts in our work among the youth, using young people as channels of influence.

 

On my way back I stayed for three days in Shtip, where I found a higher level of national awareness than in Radovish. Everywhere the population speaks Bulgarian. Serbian is spoken only at the cafes, visited by Serbian of­ficers and officials. In spite of the fact that there are quite a few officers and of­ficials in Shtip the population has remained impervious to their influence. I found an opportunity to meet patriotic Bulgarians whose names I will not mention and from whom I learned that the village population, too (with the exception of the peasants of Burlev Chiflik), has the same patriotic spirit and national awareness as the townsfolk. 'Open our breasts and you will see "Bulgaria" written inside' - such were the eloquent words of these patriotic citizens. I was asked: 'What are the prospects for an early liberation?' I told them that Bulgaria and our men who are at the head of the Organization have not forgotten them, but that they should have patience because, as they knew, the Great War had ended in a disaster for Bulgaria, many territories had been detached from her - Tsaribrod, Bossilegrad, Dobroudja, etc., and at first Bulgaria was unable to raise her voice, whereas the clouds were beginning to clear now and Bulgaria's voice was now being heeded in the League of Nations, etc. At that point one of the townsmen took off his hat and said: 'Even if Bulgaria were to become as small as my hat, we would find comfort in the fact that her name would still be glorified. Danger would threaten when her name would no longer be glorified and then we, Macedonians, would be doomed to extinction.' These words spoken by the man I had been talking to were very strong and I realized how great was his love for Bulgaria.

Here, as in Radovish, all their cultural establishments are stagnating. Most active in the Oudrouzhenie (Society) Against the Bulgarian Bandits are Mihalche Kalamatiev and Tsiklev. The former is considered to be the chairman of this Oudrouzhenie (Society) for the entire region of Bregalnitsa. The people of the town believe Kalamatiev to be more dangerous than S. Mishev.

Kalamatiev has been touring the villages and in a speech at a meeting of peasants has urged them to renounce any national consciousness. His speeches at Sveti Nikole have been particularly remarkable.

While I was still there I learned that Kalamatiev and Tsiklev had been dis­missed from the leadership of the Oudrouzhenie (Society); an official an­nouncement about this was expected from Belgrade. Their dismissal was received with great relief on the part of the townspeople. I shall give a report personally about the reasons for the dismissals. I met Kalamatiev and talked with him just at the time of his dismissal which accounted for the look of anxie­ty on his face. He avoided discussing political questions. I met the Zupan (governor) of the district of Bregalnitsa who is an educated, clever and cunning policeman. To his question about life in Bulgaria, I told him that it was all right. He wanted to find out whether there were again assassinations as before. I told him that everything was normal. I asked him about his opinion of a rapproche­ment between Bulgaria and Serbia. He answered outright that this would be hard to achieve, mainly because of Macedonia. The Bulgarians say,' he went on, 'that even if Macedonia does not become ours, then at least - here he paused and I continued: - 'it should have autonomy.' At this he sighed and went on: 'Yes, yes, Mr. ..., autonomous Macedonia; but we see everywhere your 30-year-long influence and we not only see it but we feel it as well. Let us, too, remain in Macedonia for 30 years, if we could hold out all that time, and then we may talk about plebiscites and autonomy for Macedonia.' In this respect he cited as an example France's refusal to hold a plebiscite in Alsace and Lorraine, as suggested by Germany, because the population of these provinces, although French, had been Germanized under Germany's influence.

VELES. When I entered the town the shops were closed because the St Sava Day was being celebrated. The people of the town were strolling along the streets in large groups. I remained with the impression that the population here was more freedom-loving than that of Shtip. In the evening the men, women and children of the town were strolling along the right bank of the Vardar and they spoke only in Bulgarian. I spoke to many friends and acquaintances in Veles who quite imprudently talked to me in Bulgarian. They took me to the 'Zagreb' cafe, a large modern establishment. There they told me: 'Look around yourself. We are all Bulgarians here. There is not a single Serb. The Serbs have been ordered to keep away from us like goats from sheep and have been compelled to go to the "Belgrade" cafe only.' In fact, to my great surprise, I did not see a single Serb and I felt as though I was in Bulgaria. I questioned them about their conditions, about the way they felt under the new government, etc., and received the same answer from everybody: 'The Serbs fear us and we have im­posed our will on them in all respects, but there is one thing to be regretted: the young have got into bad ways - debauchery, drunkenness and gambling.' I asked them not to neglect these young people and to advise them to give up these vices. I recommended the setting up of temperance societies and in general, to keep in touch with the young and to exert beneficial influence upon them.

From what I saw in Veles I can say that the population there is on a much higher level than even the Shtip population.

GEVGELI. From No. 44 of June 30, 1927. After an exchange of greetings my uncle, father of Hristo, a Serbianized young man, said: 'Whatever happened, happened at our expense; they come wearing sandals and they leave with top hats.' His son Hristo, the Serbianized, came, too, and very politely in­vited me. He helped me through the registration formalities and in the legaliza­tion of my stay in Gevgeli. The only thing I was not allowed to do was to wear the cockade of my railwayman's cap. I met the people who had been recommended to me, I gave the password the Old Man told me and they received me very kindly. They told me that the population was behaving very well but there was a great deal of terror, especially in the villages. Formerly, before the old anti-rebel unit which consisted entirely of Serbs, was disbanded, life in the town had also been full of danger.

On June 10 Tosho Mitov took me to Palyosha at the butcher's. Tosho told me that three or four days before Easter a congress had been held in the village of Palyurtsi, chaired by the governor of Bitolya and attended by all the more prominent farmers. The aim of the congress was to discuss ways of fighting the Bulgarian 'bandits'. Various opinions had been put forward, none of which had been endorsed by the governor. The opinion of one Turk was adopted: 'We can fight them as soon as arms are issued to us.' At the end they posed for a photo but many tried to conceal their identity and did not want to have their picture taken.

On St Saviour's Day there was a fair in town, so I had the opportunity to meet many peasants from the countryside. Among the other acquaintances I saw Georgi Ikonomov, aged 24, from the village of Kovanets, who had been sentenced to death for giving shelter to rebels and had been later pardoned. He is now chief of the militia in his village and remains a good Bulgarian. I saw again Palyosha and he showed me where he had been wounded. The King had given him a cigarette case as a present and had told him that he could kill all those, whom he suspected, but he did not harm anyone, although he knew the people who had given shelter to Ivan Markov: the brothers of Georgi Hadjimitrov, Hristo I. Angov, Letter Komitkin, Tosho Mitov and Lazar Kostov.

I also met Lazar Kostov and Lefter Komitkin, both good Bulgarians. Lefter advised me that when chetas are sent, they should ask for the coopera­tion of the more prominent people such as Mitov, Nakov, etc., and, as for himself, he said he was ready at any moment. I also visited the village of Bogoroditsa where I met acquaintances of mine. Kolyo Doichinov, a Hellenized man, used to get Dnevnik newspaper from Soloun every week.

In the village of Stoyakovo I met a priest who had once been Hellenized and who had told me: 'Good evening! Why, you, lost chickens, you've scattered'! I answered him: 'Well, Father, God willing, we might gather again as soon as you come to your senses.'

The National Representative for the Gevgeli district is Anton Beshirov, a Serbianized man from Gevgeli. All people in the town are praising him and Palyosha. The town had been preserved thanks to these two men. Pure Macedonian is spoken everywhere. Old Bulgarian revolutionary songs are sung in the town.

BITOLYA. From No. 3 of December 20, 1926. There are four national societies: SRNAO, ORUNA, HANAO and MANAO, which were set up first in Serbia and thereafter in Macedonia.

1. SRNAO stands for the initials of the Serbian National Organization. It does not admit members from any other nationality or race. It is a strictly con­fidential national society, or party. Its main goal is to preserve morale and educate people in the nationalistic spirit of great Serbia.

2. - ORUNA stands for the initials of Organization of Yugoslav Nationalists. This organization is set up on a federative basis and endeavours to bring writings closer together and to win equal rights by legal, constitutional means. Since the membership of this society was drawn from all nationalities -Croats, Slovenes, Dalmatians, Bosnians, Herzegovinians and Macedonians -the Serbs began to grow apprehensive of this union of nationalities and that is why they disbanded it and set up another, purely Serbian one, under the same name. Offended by that, the Croats set up their own Croat National Society - HANAO - in opposition to ORUNA; The membership of HANAO is exclusively Croatian and the organization itself exists only within Croatia. I hear that the two organizations - SRNAO and HANAO - are in sharp con­flict.

MANAO is the Moslem National Organization, founded in Bosnia by soma Moslems in order to uphold the national Moslem spirit among the Bosnians.

PRILEP. From No. 91 of January 27, 1927. The Chema Ruka (Black Hand) organization does not exist in the town, nor does any other Serbian nationalistic organization; it is rumoured, however, that there is a secret branch of the Natsionalna Otbrana (National Defence) organization.

 

The national spirit has been preserved both among the urban and the rural population. Young and old alike consider themselves Bulgarian, speak Bulgarian and sing only Bulgarian folk and patriotic songs. There is absolutely nothing Serbian with the exception of some Serbian words which have been diligently avoided recently. All folk customs have been preserved. The memories of the past are alive, the names of the fighters who fell in the struggle are mentioned with tenderness. Nothing has been forgotten; on the contrary, the' stupendous struggles for Macedonia's liberation seem to be standing out in bolder relief in their consciousness. Out of the holidays only the day of the Saints Cyril and Methodius is solemnly celebrated, but not in the same way as formerly. The Serbians are trying to impose the most ceremonious celebration of St Sava's Day as a national holiday, but people take no part in the festivities and the Bulgarians deride this holiday. There are no educational organizations. There are only nationalistic Sokol (Falcon) sports and football organizations. The membership of the Sokol organization consists of both Bulgarians and Serbians, while there are two football organizations - 'Macedonia' - consisting only of Bulgarians, and 'Yugoslavia' - consisting only of Serbian officials and officers.

There is no Omladina (Youth) society.

The IMRO has a great fascination for the population. All are living with the memories of the past and strongly believe that the IMRO will continue the struggle and will be ultimately successful.

The members of the IMRO, i.e. its former functionaries, keep up their spirit. Some rural leaders cannot reconcile themselves with the present situation and conversations on such topics bring tears of sadness... Former leaders have seldom yielded to the Serbs, but the rest of them have grown old.

Neither the school, nor the army are in a position to ensure the Serbian assimilation. As soon as the child gets out of school and enters the market­place, the Serbian language is already forgotten; the same is true of the soldier when he leaves the barracks. At the beginning he may gabble some Serbian, but afterwards, because of the derision on the part of the other young people, he leaves off Serbian and resumes speaking Bulgarian. At night the urban popula­tion turns in very early; the pubs are not frequented by Bulgarians. Only those trusted by the police - the drunkards and merry-makers - are free at night. There is also a variety bar where Serbian singers perform, but it is frequented only by Serbs and some degraded Bulgarians. Generally speaking, high morali­ty has been preserved.

The population hates the Serbs; it lives with the hope of better days. Ser­bian newspapers are only read when they carry something about Bulgaria or about the Macedonian question. The population is greatly depressed when Bulgaria is mentioned in unfavourable terms. All good news from Bulgaria gladden and all bad news hurt them. At present people are particularly well aware of the bad situation in Serbia and this brings them great joy. Their hope rests with the IMRO. Families have Bulgarian books and read them, while Bulgarian newspapers seldom arrive. The newspaper of the IMRO is dis­tributed among them from time to time.

OHRID. From No. 5, January 27, 1927. The clerks are usually Serbs and when Serbs are lacking, Bulgarians are also appointed. They endeavour to es­tablish close contacts with the population, but the overwhelming majority are alien in their sentiments and keep apart; however, some have already been in­fluenced. The population is perfectly aware that it is treated as a conquered people and for the officials Macedonia is California, as people put it. Corrup­tion among the officials is widespread, but there are also people who serve the pan-Serbian idea and thus cannot be corrupted. All the important and responsi­ble administrative posts are held by Serbs who are also propagandizers of the pan-Serbian idea. Particularly useful are the Bulgarian officials, in whom the population sees its defenders.

MAKEDONETS. Outside the school all factors operate along three lines.

1. To compel the population to say that it is Serbian by forcing all official­ly to call themselves Serbs. However, those who have been influenced are few -the majority remain good Bulgarians and Ohrid can be justly said to have remained a bastion of the Bulgarian spirit. If anyone dares ask to be registered in the proper official documents as a Bulgarian, he is persecuted.

2. To convince the intelligent and more alert Bulgarians that they belong to a special Macedonian nationality, without being either Serbs or Bulgarians, but they are not influenced even by that. In actual fact, many Bulgarians for­mally say: we are 'Macedonians', but this statement is meant for the Serbs and the Macedonians who are not trusted. Many of those who are not familiar with history, innocently believe in this and agree to say that they are Macedonians -neither Bulgarians, nor Serbs, without realizing that the Wallachians and Greeks, the Jews and the Albanians are also Macedonians, but all of them are not Macedonians by nationality and remain Greeks, Wallachians, Turks, Jews, Albanians, etc.

3. Those who cannot be forced to renounce the fact that they are Bulgarians are required at least not to demonstrate their Bulgarian nationality, because officially they have been registered as Serbs and the Serbs have tried to influence in a better way such stubborn intelligent Bulgarians, telling them that no one forbids them to call themselves Bulgarians, but that they should not set a bad example in this way to those, at least, who do not feel themselves Bulgarians and encourage them to call themselves Bulgarians, too. They have been told that they cannot allow the question of the minorities to be raised from within.

All have been forced to add the ending 'ich' after their Bulgarian surname because the characteristic 'ov' of the Bulgarians remains; but from a psychological viewpoint this is dangerous because the population gets used to being called 'ich', the national awareness is gradually dwindling, and people begin to grow indifferent to their nationality. It is sufficient for the Serbs first to blunt the Bulgarian national awareness and to make Bulgarians indifferent to this feeling and then to work for the cultivation in their souls of a Serbian national awareness, too. No matter how little success has been achieved along this line as well, this is still a success for the Serbs.

Before the Macedonian population the Serbs claim that the Macedonian dialect is a Serbian and not a Bulgarian dialect, but the population mocks this, particularly the older people who say that if our dialect was Serbian and not Bulgarian, why then don't we understand the Serbs but understand very well when a Bulgarian of Old Bulgaria talks to us?

The Serbian officials deliberately allow their children to speak the local dialect because in this process the Bulgarian children, too, learn some Serbian words and thus start speaking in a Serbo-Bulgarian language. The Serbs con­sider this, too, a success, while the population is pleased that the Serbian children speak Bulgarian, without perceiving in this the danger that their children have also learnt without noticing it some Serbian words and use them even in their conversations with their parents.

Even the teachers do not forbid the pupils to speak the local dialect during breaks; initially they are even satisfied when the children begin to use only a few Serbian words to enrich their vocabulary and to show off before their parents that they know more. Children gradually find it easier to explain some purely scientific school subject in Serbian. And the Serbian words, used by children, gradually infiltrate the speech of their parents as well. Precisely here the greatest enemy of the Bulgarian spirit is time.

In their desire to present the Macedonian dialect as a Serbian dialect, the Serbs take as an example individual Serbian words, which are also used by the Macedonian population and are not current in Bulgaria, e.g. koukya (house), etc. with other examples confusing the minds of many people.

The Serbians do not allow the use of the literary Bulgarian language and the population, even the intelligentsia, is afraid to speak in it; when someone speaks it people gladly listen, but there will always be someone reminding you: adapt your language lest you are punished by the Serbs. Under such an oppres­sion literary Bulgarian is rarely heard. Even good Bulgarians will remind you that you should say 'God help you', instead of 'Good morning'. Serbian, however, is patiently listened to.

The Serbs try to introduce Serbian customs but the population resists them and keeps its own customs. Failing in this undertaking, whenever there is a similarity between the local Bulgarian customs and the Serbian ones, the Serbs proclaim these customs to be Serbian rather than Bulgarian, just as the Macedonians were Serbs. Thus, for instance, the population had a service for 'Slava' (an ethnographic custom) in the same way as the Serbs, therefore it is allegedly Serbian. However, there is a difference between the Serbian 'Slava' and the 'Slava' festivity in Macedonia; but precisely here things are becoming mixed up and under the influence of the Serbian 'Slava' people begin to treat for 'Slava' and to say: we have SLAVA. However insignificant that success may be, the Serbs nevertheless avail themselves of such little successes. The Serbs are also beginning to mark some local saints of the people, e.g. the Saints Cyril and Methodius, whose Day has only recently started to be celebrated, but the population notices that change and gives it its own interpretation.

The Serbs tolerate the singing of Bulgarian folk and revolutionary songs and the population sings them with pleasure; the Serbs think that in time these songs will be forgotten and replaced by Serbian songs, particularly by the younger generations. Although seldom, young people also sing Serbian songs.

Most of the Serbs are convinced that the Macedonians are Serbs and that the Macedonian population calls itself Bulgarian due to the Bulgarian propaganda, because this has been instilled in them both at school and everywhere else. Therefore they wonder when you talk to them about Tsar Samuil,, about Basil Bulgaroctonus, about Paissi, the Patriarchate of Ohrid, the Miladinov brothers, G. Purlichev, etc. They are most uneasy when Serbian scholars, who have recognized the Macedonian population to be Bulgarian, are mentioned. That is why work should continue along this line even among the Serbs themselves.

The Serbs call even the Mohammedan population Serbs of another religious creed; however, this does not make them less desirous of deporting the Turks.

The TERROR, perpetrated by the Serbs, is very brutal, the population is very frightened and does not dare resort to overt underground struggle, although there are enough people ready to launch it. If, however, the official recognition by the Serbian authorities of some people's right officially) to call themselves Bulgarian could be won, the question of the legal struggle for the recognition of the Bulgarian nationality would be very easy.

In any case, we should overcome the fear from the open struggle (1) for national rights; (2) for the abolition of the ending 'ich'; (3) openly and officially to call themselves Bulgarians, and (4) to have their own schools and churches. These rights have been guaranteed by the Serbian Constitution (Statutes), by the penal law and by the treaty on the minorities.

The authorities and the Serbs show particular patience and tactfulness in Serbianizing the population. In many cases they openly say that they do not expect particular results from the old generation, but the growing generations were theirs. They foretell the Macedonian Bulgarians the fate of the Morava Bulgarians. A Morava Bulgarian has told a citizen of Ohrid that his fellow citizens would grow accustomed to the Serbian name like them. The Serbs' patience, tactfulness and the diverse measures, taken by them to assimilate the population, have made a strong impression. And yet their influence is weak, BUT IT DOES EXIST. The population is looking for a way out of this situation.

Everything is aimed at annihilating the Bulgarian spirit: by the end of 1918, after the demobilization, about 800 people from Ohrid and the district were interned. Despite the severe measures the population's spirit is high and few have yielded to Serbian influence.

The following measures should be taken to increase the national influence: (these measures have been explained by the man, who provided the reporter with information).

The following societies exist in the town of Ohrid: hunters', sports, temperance, schoolchildren's, Adriatic guard, the Mutual aid, St Clement socie­ty to make the town more beautiful, and a women's charity society. These societies have been founded at the instigation of the authorities. There is a local propaganda committee in the town and the district, headed by the district governor, which is in charge of the persecution of the IMRO.

TIKVESH region, from No. 34, February 3, 1927. The songs about the fighters Dobri Daskalov and Pepo Samardjiev who perished are still sung to this day and their names are still revered.

KOSTOUR, from No. 4, February 1, 1927. The people above 25 live with the hope of better days, but this question seems to be non-existent for the youth. The national holidays are not celebrated. The past glorious deeds and heroic exploits are only commented in whisper and in intimate talks and meetings. The Bulgarian language is not persecuted as earlier; Bulgarian speech can be heard as before at the markets in Kostour, Hroupishta and elsewhere. Out of school and at play children freely speak their mother tongue. Two or three years ago the teachers brutally punished every child who would dare speak Bulgarian even in the street. Here and there in the villages, where there are younger teachers, something like teams for sports' exercises have been organized among the pupils. Folk songs are dying out. The old ones have been forgotten and there is no one to compose new ones.

KRATOVO, from No. 110, February 17, 1927. Vanche Venza Alimounov, former organization leader, is Chairman of the Oudrouzhenie (Society) against the Bulgarian Rebels; Mite Vakov, who boasted that last summer he had been to Bulgaria with a passport, is vice-chairman and secret agent; Vanche Gligorov, a merchant, is the Society's treasurer; he is well dis­posed towards the IMRO; Dimiter Andon Popov, a grocer, is its secretary, also well disposed towards the IMRO.

The peasants are hostile to the IMRO and that is why when a cheta is dis­covered and they are called to join, they run like wild beasts.

RESEN, from No. 1, February 26, 1927. The population has overcome its fear and is speaking everywhere in its mother tongue. Bulgarian songs are sung during visits and at weddings.

LERIN, from No. 10, March 14, 1927. The population has a high spirit and every day awaits the liberation of Macedonia by the movement for autonomy, which is much talked about, even in Greek circles. Bulgarian is in­variably spoken at the market; particularly in the villages, where Bulgarian songs are sung; even the Greek refugees have learnt Bulgarian and speak it with the local Bulgarians.

The population cannot organize festivities as in the good old days when, for instance, horos were danced, songs were sung, etc.; all this is now gone.

On February 22, the Greeks handed out declarations in the villages by which they made everyone declare under oath whether he was Bulgarian or Greek; those, who said they were Bulgarians, were arrested and beaten.

 
ЦПА, Ф. 226, оп. 1, а.е. 84, л. 37-44. the original is in Bulgarian.
 

 
 

Dear Sir,

On May 29, 1927 two Serbian secret police agents followed Dimiter Gyuzelev, born in Doiran, a student of philosophy at the faculty there, from the post office to his home, pointed their revolvers at him, arrested him, and took him to prison. At his lodgings they found a copy of a Macedonian Bulgarian newspaper published abroad, scholarly literature and prose in Bulgarian. That was enough for them to subject the poor student to inhuman torture in order to force from him a confession as to whether he took part in the dissemination of Bulgarian newspapers and other publications. Several times Dimiter Gyuzelev was taken home on a stretcher and in a closed car as he was unable to move as a result of the brutal torture he was subjected to in order to make him say what he had hidden and where. At the beginning of June 1927 all Bulgarian Macedonian students in Zagreb and Ljubljana were arrested and then freed after a prolonged interrogation and a search of their lodgings, because nothing compromising was found there. However, in the middle of June and in August the three police authorities carried out more indiscriminate arrests of Macedonian students in Belgrade, Zagreb, Skopje, Bitolya, Shtip and Veles. According to some sources, 40 students have been detained, and all are imprisoned in Skopje. The police, the prosecution and the press say nothing about what they are charged with. Let us mention several other cases to show the ways in which the Serbian authorities treat the young Macedonian students in the Skopje prison. Boris Andreev, bom in Veles, a student of veterinary medicine in Zagreb, was subjected to these kinds of torture: he was beaten up until he lost consciousness, needles were driven under his nails, etc., which we mentioned in our appeal of June this year. In addition, his chest and arms were burnt with hot iron, and during the night he was taken out of town and threatened with murder in front of an open grave, in order to give the evidence which the police needed. Kiril Vangelov, pharmacist, and Kiril Dimov from Shtip, lost their minds from the beatings. Toma Petrov from Skopje, a law stu­dent in Belgrade, is on his deathbed as a result of the tortures he endured. Being aware of the horrible tortures which awaited him, if he was caught, Todor Popyordanov from Kochani, a student of medicine in Belgrade, threw himself under the fast train at Zemlino station when he learned that he was wanted by the police.

Dear Sir,

You know that after our homeland was conquered, the Serbian authorities expelled all Bulgarian teachers, priests, bishops, physicians, lawyers and jour­nalists who were born and lived in Macedonia, in order to Serbianize the Macedonian Bulgarians more easily. The Serbian authorities believed that by exercising physical terror against the older people, imposing a barrack-room discipline and severity on the younger people, and disseminating deceptions among school children, they would manage, in the course of 10 to 15 years, to make the Macedonian Bulgarians Serbian. They relied to a great extent on the schools in their hopes and were confident that the children would leave school imbued with the Serbian spirit. Serbian chauvinism, which was thwarted in its expectations, is now taking its victims from among those who have preserved their national consciousness despite going through all the assimilation efforts of the Serbian schools and university.

Dear Sir,

Being aware that the right of national self-determination is an intrinsic part of the spiritual life of every individual, and that as early as the 18th century human conscience condemned the inquisition methods of legal prosecution and punishment, we ask you to defend our fellow students, who were arrested and tortured by the Serbian authorities, in the way you think most appropriate, and to raise your voice in protest against this encroachment on the most essential and inalienable rights and freedoms of the individual and citizen.

 
 
 
ЦПА, ф. 226, оп. 2, а.е. 30, л. 1-3;  the original is in Bulgarian.
 
 
 
 

Things in Macedonia cannot be measured by European standards, because they cannot be applied there. I personally have always considered that a great mistake is made by those people, who after a few weeks of stay in a country, and especially if they do not know the local language well, think that they know everything that they need to know in order to have an idea of the country, and especially of the nature of the political situation there, and even immediately to express their firm and fixed opinions. This great error is very often committed by people from Central Europe in connection with the beautiful land of Macedonia. Different people who have traveled throughout Macedonia write books in which there are no descriptions of their impressions and experiences, but already a fixed and complete conception according to their investigations. A conception, which, of course, due to lack of knowledge of the local language, is based only on superficial phenomena, or on chance exchanges of opinion with chance interpreters, and not on a full knowledge of what is really the case.

I hoped to avoid this mistake, and I declared in advance in Berlin to my Bulgarian-Macedonian friends that I would make a trip through Macedonia only when I had an interpreter with whom I could make myself understood with a few words. And so it happened that I had the opportunity to travel throughout Macedonia quite well and without any drawbacks.

Macedonia is a country populated by pure Bulgarians; the Serbs there now are only settlers and colonists. The Macedonian Bulgarians are by no means an amorphous half-savage mass living there by chance but are pure Bulgarians, with a national consciousness created long ago, who, for almost a century, have been fighting - cut off from Bulgaria - for their political and spiritual freedom. And during the years after the War it is possible to see in Macedonia how valorously the Macedonian Bulgarians there are fighting for their sacred rights. The Macedonian Bulgarians are fighting with an idealism without parallel, and whoever calls these militants 'brigands' and 'gangsters', is a deliberate liar and a schemer.

Fate has ordained that Macedonia should be the arena and spectator of constant struggle, whipped up by national religious and political passions. Before the war, every year, the European press frequently reported these struggles and even now, from time to time, news appears in the European press which does not always correspond with the truth. There are constant reports that the Bulgarians are 'breaking' the peace in Macedonia and they were a 'misfortune' for it. In the country I was able to find out that all this biased in­formation was not true and that just the opposite was true. If today someone goes to Skopje, he will not be able to hear that the majority of the population speaks Bulgarian. It stands to reason that the people do not dare speak Bulgarian publicly, because otherwise the citizens will either be shot en masse or will be thrown into prison. It is forbidden to teach in Bulgarian in the schools, as well as in the churches and monasteries, and there the services are held in Serbian.

The centre of Macedonia are the districts of Ohrid, Prilep, Prespa, Moglena, Ostrovo, Kostour, Veles, Skopje, Voden, Melnik. There the popula­tion is pure Bulgarian - not only the language, but the entire spiritual life is Bulgarian. In these places I spoke with hundreds of peasants, workers and in­telligentsia and all immediately assured me that they were Bulgarians and that they wished to be Bulgarians in their own land. All over Macedonia I was able to see that the population is peaceloving and very weary from the recent wars; but they told me - we shall have to take to arms again because we are being tortured and are not left in peace. The Macedonians are Bulgarians and their duty is to work for the liberation of this land, it is their duty to their children.

These thoughts here are expressed in a short article, but once again I should like to point out that whatever I have seen and heard in Macedonia I would like to make public without any political combinations before European public opinion.

The impressions recorded above are the first I had there. War, unrest, bloody uprisings, dark slavery, murder, violence, persecution fill the pages of this Macedonian book. When is it that the word 'peace' will finally be inscribed on the last page of this terrible struggle? 'Peace', 'free Macedonia', 'Macedonia for the Macedonians'? When these words are printed then we shall have a hap­py and free Macedonia and the population of the land will look forward to a happy and peaceful future.

   
Veritas, Macedonia under oppression 1919-1929, Sofia, 1931, pp. 511-512; the original copy is in Bulgarian
 
 
 
 

Under this title, the Belgrade newspaper Politika, on the 14th of this month, gives 'horrifying and shameful statistics' about the Slovene schools closed, or turned into Italian ones, in the lands occupied by the Italians. Thus from 1918 up till now, the Italian i authorities have gradually closed all schools, and now out of 222 primary schools only a few have remained and out of the high schools not one has remained.

And the newspaper Politika is angry at the fact that the League of Nations tolerates such a scandal and does not plead the case of the Yugoslav minorities in Italy, the more so, as it is well known that Yugoslavia had given to the minorities 'the greatest rights in every respect'. Indeed, we too are ready to remonstrate with the League of Nations, but before doing so, we shall give the following statistics: after taking over Macedonia, the Serbian authorities at one blow closed 641 Bulgarian schools with 1,013 teachers and 37,000 students, 761 Bulgarian churches with 6 bishops and 833 priests, tens of library clubs and other cultural institutes. As can be seen, those horrifying and shameful statistics refer to the Serbian state, which, according to Politika, has given rights to the minorities. It is shameful cynicism to cry over your own minorities, when you yourself are trampling on and stifling other nations.

As for the misfortune of our brothers in fate, the Slovenians under the bar­barous regime of Mussolini, we express our heartfelt sympathy with them, because we well know what it means to live under the pressure of the chauvinistic and assimilationist madness of an oppressor.

And there is only one way to liberation: the common mass revolutionary struggle and the union with all oppressed peoples.

 
Newspaper Makedonsko Delo. Vienna, No. 34, 1927; the original is in Bulgarian.

 
 

Many German newspapers have published an article from the agency Telegraphen Union which, among other things, states the following:

'However, the biggest worry for the economy of Macedonia is the lack of an outlet to the sea. In Macedonia a person is convinced of the obvious fact that in 1913 it was very unreasonable to divide this country among Serbia, Greece and Bulgaria, and that the after-effects of this division were exacerbated as a result of the peace treaties of 1919. For centuries, Soloun was the natural port of Macedonia. Today it is severed both from Macedonia and from Albania.

Moreover, from the political and national point of view, this 'change of regime' has done practically nothing to bring the population and the govern­ment closer together, nor have tolerable conditions been created for cultural and political development. The turning of Bulgarians into Serbs has not succeeded, and it is especially typical that young Macedonians finishing their education in Serbian higher schools preserve their Bulgarian Macedonian feeling and remain irreconcilable to the Serbs. And, taking into consideration the fact that the population there is, in general, conservative, it is easy to un­derstand the disillusionment of the Serbs. Village schools have a rather super­ficial influence on the youth, and, in the course of three or four years, they forget almost everything they study in school with the exception of reading and writing. But since both Serbs and Bulgarians have one and the same alphabet -the Cyrillic one - there is nothing to prevent former Serbian students from writing Bulgarian words with the same alphabet.

After seven years of rule by terror, there has been created a situation which is best summed up in the answers given to my question by a Serbian gen­darme in Shtip, and a rich peasant from the same locality. To my question as to the nationality of the population from the district of Shtip, the former answered:

'They now call themselves Serbians. But this is not true. They are all Bulgarians.'

The latter had answered:

'For six years now they have been impressing upon us that we are Serbians. All right, we agree to be Serbians, but if some change occurs, then in 24 hours we shall become Bulgarians.'

I repeat. The national consciousness of the population is very strong, in­delible and it is cultivated by the intelligentsia.

In terms of cultivating national feelings, a very important role was played by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization — the 'Committee' as they call it in Macedonia - whose influence is even now very strong. This, I would call it, mystic faith in the power of the mysterious all-knowing and ubiquitous Committee working for the fulfillment of the Macedonian national idea and fighting for autonomy of the country, is as indelible and sacred as the national feeling itself. I am not sure whether every Macedonian knows who King Dusan was, and what he did, but I can guarantee that they all know who Dame Grouev, Gotse Delchev and Todor Alexandrov (the hero of the Macedo­nian movement) were and they honour their names.

Finally the Serbs had to retreat on one point: they found themselves forced to allow the use of the Bulgarian Macedonian dialect not only in private communication and in the streets (before this was punished) but in spoken con­tact with the authorities. The authorities say that the language of the Macedonians is not Bulgarian but a Serbian dialect. This, however, is a kind of self-deception. There is no need for a person to be a philologist; it is sufficient to know the Yugoslav languages in order to realize right away that the Macedo­nian language is a Bulgarian dialect. If it were to be considered a Serbian dialect, it could be said equally correctly that the Czech language was a Serbian dialect. The Serbs have not gone further. But this concession is enough to prove that the Bulgarian Macedonian consciousness is invincible.

 
Veritas, Macedonia under oppression 1919-1929, Sofia, 1931, PP. 509-510; the original copy is in Bulgarian