The Historical Truth by Pero Korobar and Orde Ivanovski

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.......-..----.................................

THE HISTORICAL TRUTH THE PROGRESSIVE SOCIAL CIRCLES IN BULGARIA AND PIRIN MACEDONIA ON THE MACEDONIAN NATIONAL QUESTION

1896- 1956

Origina l ti tle HCTOPltlCKA BH CTl-1 HA

Selected and edited by PERO KOROBAR ORDE IVAN OSKI, Ph. D.

Translated fro m the Macedonian by FILIP KORZENSKI

THE HISTORICAL TRUTH THE PROGRESSIVE SOCIAL CIRCLES IN BULGARIA AND PIRIN MACEDONIA ON THE MACEDONIAN NATIONAL QUESTION DOCUMENTS, STUDIES, RESOLUTIONS, APPEALS AND PUBLISHED ARTICLES

1896-1956

K ULTURA - SKOPJ E 1 983

C ONTENTS lturoduc1icin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The O pprc,,cd Macedo n ia n People Should I-rec 11,elf" not O nly fn 11n the Sultan a nd his Satellite,. hut al,o from any Prin ce or T,ar.

II

11(96 ......... .. .......................................

15 17

We Want Maci:do nia to he for the Macedo nian,. I K9K . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Gt•or11i IJ11k11/01·. T he Que,ti o n of whethe r Macedo nia i, Serhiun or Hulgarian does no t Ex i, t for u,. the Soc ia l Democrat,. Macedo nia Belongs 10 the Macedonian,. I K9K . . . . . . . . . . . . .

V:isil G luvinov. T he Macedonians do no t Wa nt to he i\nexed tn Anybody: Macedo nia Should Remain fo r the Ma cedo nia n,.

:?0

1895 ............ ...... .. . .......................... . ..

21

T he Vo ice of the Macedo nian b lleginning to he Rai,cd. I!<95 . . . . . . .

Macedo nia on the T hresho ld of th e Twentieth Century. 189K . . . . . . . .

Maced o nian Revolutionaries. My Comrade,. Let U, Lay the Fo unda tion o f the Socia li~t M ovement which Will he Ahle to R ea l i ✓c the True Liberatio n o f the Ma cedo nian Peo ple. I K9!! . . . . . . . . .

Ma cedo nia and Whe re i, Ho pe. 1900 .... ... .. ..... ... .... ... ....

Dimo Hadt i Dim ov o n the Significan ce o f Th e M0 rLsteg Reform,.

19()4 .. ... .................................... . . .... ... /Jimo H . D imo v. Bulgarian Policy Strain, hy I nt imida tin n 10 P.iraly,c the Instin ct for Self- Prese r vat io n in the Ma cedonian People. 1919 .............. . ........ . ...................

P:,11/ Hri.,1o v. Macedo nia Sho uld be Left to the Ma ced onian,. 1919 . .

The Liberation and Indepe nde nc e of Macedo nia i, 110 1 an Act or Ho,tility to wards the Free Balkan Peop le,. 19 19 ........ . .. ..

The Idea l o f the Na 1io nalist Acqui,it ive Policy wa, a Greater llulga• ria. 19 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Macedonia n Peopl e has Found under the Le,1dcr,hip of 1hc Communist P.1ny o f Yugos lavia (KPJ) the On ly T rue \Va) towa rd s its Liberatio n. Unification a nd Inde pendence. 19:?0 . .

G. Z:rnko 1·. Mr Aleksanclur Stambol iski . Preside nt o f the llulg:11 i,1n Government, If I were Sure that the Pe trit Region Wou ld 1101 he Occupied by its Neighbours. Yo u Could Proclaim a Rcpuhlic there and I Would 110 1 Stund in your Way. 192J . . . . . . . .

Macedo nia Be lo ng~ to the Macedonian~. who have u Right to I ndcrendcnt National a nd Po litic al Exi,tc nce. 1924 . . . . . . . . . . . . .

T he Bulgarian Co mmunist Party is the O nly O ne that O pcnl) i\ckno wleclges and Agitates fo r the Secc,,ion o f .. Bulgarian ..

:?:? :?J :?4 .1., 40

4' 44 47 4X 51

5~ 5.1

5

MJ ced o 111:i :011d f.i r he r U nio n "1th the ( 0111111011 I-rec hnhcrland . 1')24 ................. . .......................... .

1\11 the 1\, 11011, o r Bulgaria n (jo,crnmr nh Direc ted aga in, t the lnd cpc nden,e o r the Macedonian Que, tio n a nd again,1 the I nd epc nde nt M<1, cme nt amo ng f:m igr.inl\ ha ve heen fo r u, . the Ma ced o nian,. Onl y New Of(enec, agairn,l Macedo nia. 1924 ..

V.i,il /.:o/:irm. We. the Bul garian C o mmun i,I\, No w Mo re tha n eve r Rcrngni,c the Right o r' Self- Determi nation o f the Di vided 1\1:i ccd o nian People. 1926 .................. ... .. ...... .. . l) o \\1111ith the l>ual S l,l\ cry in the Pctrit Regio n!. 1930 .. .. ... . ... . \\'e. the M:o ccd o ni.111, . .ire ne ithe r Se rh~. no r G ree k~ nor Bulgarians We a rc an I nd c pe nd c nt Macedonian Nation. 1930 ......... .

The Treat~ Ncuilly Led 10 th e Partit io n of Maced o nia. 10 w hic h Sh e '"" S uhjectcd Early a , 191 2, 1933 .............. . ... .

Amo ng tho,c Politically Aware Ind ividual; who Theo rize th,ll in Ma ,ed o nia . l) o hruja a nd T h race there Live; a Co mpact Bulgari ,1n Po pulatio n We Mu\l Unma,k the Propo nent, of Grea l<.:r-Slate C h,1u, ini, m, 1933 ................. . ........... . /I r. /?11, A,11 . n, e Petric Regio n - a N atio nally Subjugated Ma eedoni,111 Region. an A n nexed Part o f Maced o nia . a Col o ny o f Bu h1.a ria. 19 1-1 ........................................ . (i. /Jimitm, . Onl) the U nited Re , o luti o nary S trugg le of the Ma ced onia n People in the C lo,e;i C ooperati o n with the Wo rk e r, and l',:a,:1111, o r t;ulgaria . Yugoslavia and G reece C a n Lead 10 the Vicwn o f the Macedo nian Re, o lutio n o r Lihc ratio n. 1934 ... . /Ji,tri, Ai. Wh~ a rc We. the Macedo ni a n,. a Se parat e Na ti o n '!. 1934 .. . /Ji,iricAi. T he Petric Region i~ a Natio nally Subjuga ted and Econo mically bplo ited Macedo nia n Region. 1934 ..... .......... .. .

1•1 l-.1 vo ur of the Right 10 Se lf- Determinatio n o f the Macedon ia n People. 1934 .......................................... .

The l'.n, la , crs fro m Sofia ht" e Di, ided the Petric Regio n into Twc l'a rh in Orde r to Era,e the Maced o nian N ame and to C o mpe l the Peo ple 10 Ci i, e ur Unio n with the O ther Two Pa m of Maced o nia in ;111 lndc pc nde m Maced o nian S tate. 1935 ..... .

M,,l·edonian Peopl~ in the Petric Regio n and Re fu gee,. in a Bra ve a nd D eci,i,c Bau le fo r the Self- Dete rmin a tio n o f the Pet ric Regic n - fo r a I-rec M ,,cedoni a !. 1935 ................. ... . l he Bul garian G o, c rnm cnt De nie, the M.iced o nia n, th e Rig ht 10 C.tl l Thc m,ch c, Maced o nia n,. Wo rk ing o n thei r Depersona li1atio n a, a People a nd J Nat io n. 1935 ....... . ....... . .... . ,l \g,1111s1 the Arrc,1, o r the Ho ne,t M,,cedo ni a n Emig rants and the I ighter, fo r the l· reed om of i\ la ced o nia . 1935 ... . .. ...... . . .

I lin den ISL l· lt,ts I>,,~). the G reat D:1y of ,;,e Maced o ni an Re , o lutio n . l9J5 .......................................... .. .. .

T he Vrh1ll i, 1 Natio,w l ( o mm iuee WJn t, to IJ cM roy the lndc pc ndem:e o r the M.1eed o ni,1n !:m igrant Mo , e m e n 1. 1935 .... ... .

I he Uni ted Revolutio nary I ronl or the Natio nJll y a nd Social I~ Opp rc"ed in Bulgltria. 1935 ..................... . .. . .... . l he '.\ l,icedonia n Worl. er, in the St rugg h: i'or the Se lf- D e1er111in;11io n o r 1\1,ll'<~d o nia. 19 1, ..... ... ....... .. ....... .. ......... . .

or

6

a,

54

57 61 67 68 69

70 71

72 7-1 83 86

90 91

9J 9J 95 96 97 99

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Bul garian lmpcriali, m and Vrv ho \i, m - the Main Encm ie, o f the Lihcra tio n and U ni fi ca tio n of Macedo n ia. 19:15.. ... .. .. .. ..

The Mi hajlov isb and Proto gerovi, t> - ln,trumems o f Bulga.-i:rn lmperia li, 111 in it, Anti-Macedonian Policy. 1935 . . . . . . . . . . .

Bu lgarian lmpcria lb m - the Econo mic Ex pl o iter a nd Na tio nal Opprc; ,or o f the Maced o ni.111,. 1935 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Inte rnal Maced o n ian Re vo lut io nary O rganizat io n ( U nited).

C o nte nd e r agai n, l the lmperia lis" and Ens la ver, and for the Self-Determinati o n o f th e Pct rit Regio n a nd the Who le of Macedo nia. 19:15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bro ther Maced o ni an,. the re is no Differe nce h ctwcen the Au1 hori1ie, of , c,tcrday and To day . 1935 .. .... . .... . ..... ...... .. .. .

I linden (St. l::lia,· Day) a nd the Kru ~c vo Repuht ic. a Wreath o f the Maced o nian Re volutio nary Pa, t. 1935.. .. . . ...... . ... .....

Su p p re,,io n or the Maced o nia n Name and of th e Macedo nia n Stru gg le for an Independent Macedonia. 1935....... . ...........

Th e Macedon: ,111 Peo ple d o no t Want to he S la ve,. to ha ve Tuto r,: They Wa nt l<l he Free and 10 Fo rge the ir Freedo m The m,elve,.

193(, ........... . . ...... . . ... ... ..... . .... . ... .........

The Bulga ria n G o ve rnme nt i, Pulling o n Tria l t he Figh ters fo r Ma cedo n ian Freedo m. 1936 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A rr.:, 1, of the Ma cedo nian A cti vists because T hey Fig ht fo r the 1-recd o m of Ma ced o nia and C ull Them, cl ve, Macedo nians. 1936 ..

Appea l for the Rclca , c o f the Arrested Ma cedo nian, from the Pi rin Pan o r Maced o nia and the Emig rant Fighte r~ aga in, t Nati onal Oprre,s io n . 10 All Wo rking Men and Wom en and the Natio na lly O ppre,,ed. 1936. . ........................ . ...

I or the Se lf- De te rminatio n of the Pe tric Regio n and the Who le of Macedo nia. 1936 ..... ...... ... ...... . ....... .. ........ .

We Demand tha t the Populati o n of the Petric Regio n he Rccogn i1cd a, a Maced o nia n Nation.ti Mino rity and ha ve it, Own Schoo ls :111d Ch urc hc, with l.:qua l Rig ht , with th,: Bulgarian One, and 1-inanced hy the State. l9J6 .................. ....... . . : . .

The Auto no my o r Yugo,la v Maced o nia Will Se rve a, the C e nt re for the U nificati o n of th e D ivi ded Part, o f Maced o nia in an Integral Who le. 1940 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The 1: nt ire M acedo nia n Hi, to ry. C ulture and S truggle are heing l)i, lo rt ed hy the Bulgarian Fa,ci, " and C hauvini, h aga in,l the Will and Prote"" o f the Bu lgarian Wo rking Peo ple. 194 1 . . . . .

We Rccogni,e the R igh t. A,piratio m and the Strugg le o f the Maced onia n i'>,: o plc fnr !:quali ty and l· recd o m. 1941 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The (;orna l)fomaja Reg io n. whic h Co n, i, 1, o r the Ciorna D 2umaja.

Ra,log. Ncvroko p. Sveti VraC and Petri c Di>tri cb . i, Geogr-iphirn lly. l·.rnnomic,tlly a nd l:thnographic:tlly an I nsepa rahl e Pa rt o f Maccdo .iia. 1944 .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . f ad m· l':11 lc11. The True Son, o f the l:xceptio nally Pcr,ecuted a nd Hc ru ic Maced o ni a n People Luid th e Granite l·ound atio n, o f the I-rec Macedonian S tate o n the H i, to ri c llinde n (St. l:l ia,· Day). 1944 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (i,:or11-i /Jimit rov. Withou t the Mcn.:ile" Liquidat io n o f Greater- Bul garian C hau vini, m. that C a ncer0u, Wo und o n the Liv in):

100 IO I 102

103 104 IOfi 107 109 113 114

115 117

118 1 19 12 1

122

126

129

7

Bod y o r o u r Country. the Co11, 1ruc1io n of u Re ho rn u nd New Bulga ria i, 1101 Po,-ih lc. 1944 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Macedoniun Erni granb Sho uld Joi n the Natio nal Lihc rat ion Struggle o r the Maced o n ia n People fo r the Final Libe rat;o n o r the Co untry. 1944 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Th e llu lgarian Comrnuni, 1 Party und the ll•1lgaria n People have M ost Warmly We lco med the Macedonia n S ta te. 1944 ..... . . . . . . . .

The Idea of a G rc:u e r llulguriu wa , the ldeoll>g)' t>f Young Bulga rian Imperial ism . 1944 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . /\ 111:;t'I l)i11t·1 . The 1-:i be S ll>gan o r .. ~l accd .,111:111 llulg.m.111, .. i, .1 11 I mperia lb t One. 1944 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Gt·orgi l)imitr m. Nill a 1-ig ht for Do mina tion of Macedo nia . hut Re, pect of the Will l>rth<· Marcd o nian,. 1945 ... . .... . ......

U nt il the 9 th o f Septe mher. 1944. tlw Lcad cr,hip ,,r the ln, titutc 11a, Pc rvud cd with G reater- Bulga rian Int rigue, and ,o wa, Little lntcre, ted in the lmmedia tc St ruggle of the Maced o nian People for I ndepe ndcnce. 1946 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Tod or Pn ilcll . It Mu, 1 Nc1 e r he 1-orgou cn tha t the Ne 11 Maced o n ia n Con, cinu, ne, , ha, no t l-:1llen Ready from He:l\en. hut that it i, the Rc,ult of a who le Serie, l>f Circum stan t·c,. Struggle, :111d Effort, . Certai n o f w hich D a te e\'cn from the Timc of heforc thc Lihcrati o n ,, f llulga ria. 1945 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Jord:111 /\11:,-1:,-111. Ma cedon ia wa, /\ lwa ), at the Centre l>f the G rca tc r- llulg:,rian /\cqui,iti vc Po licy. 1945 .. . .... . .... . ... . ... .

Yugo, la 1 ia ha, Rc , o lved the Macedo n ia n Q uc,tio n in a Purc Po pu la r Democ rati c Way and ha, Set an F.~ ample in the lla lkun, . 1945 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I.' I I.l .l IJ X 141 142 14:l

149

15.l 155

Col:1 O r:1J_!OJi.'<·1:1. Tito \

Maced o nian Won1 e n in llulg uria W<• have the 1- rcedom o r D eclaring O ur,clvc, wha t We h cl O ur, cl vc, tl> hc. or Sen ing Maccdon ia . a nd not Buli:ari :111 /\cqui, iti vc Pol icy. 1945 . . . . . . . . . . . . .

H r. /.::,l:1itl) il'I . II ,l~ an Reactionanc, ha1 c do nc the G rca tc,t b ii wli<·n T he) h:l\c /\rt ilic ially Di1 ided Ma cedoni a aga in, 1 the Will and I ntcrc,1~ o r th~ Maced o nian People. 1946 . . . . . . . . . .

G,·o rt i O imitr111 . I here arc no t TI1ree Macedonia, : the re i, O nl~ One Maced o nia and it, Mujor !>:,rt i, Re prc,ented hy the b tahli, hed Maced o nia n People\ Rq, uhl ic wi1h111 the f rnnt icr, 1>f' t he 1-edcral People\ Repu hli c of Yugo,la , ia. 1946 ... . ... . . .... .

T h<· Re,olu1i1H1 n r the I 0th Exte nded Plenum o f th<' Cent ra l <·o on111 i1 1cc o r the Bulgaria n Worker,· Pa rt) (Co m m uni, 1- 1 o n the Maced1•11ia ,1 ()uc,1i,111 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

T he Maw d o n ian People ha, Made the (irca t<', t S:u:rifice, in the St ruggle uga in, 1 llul ga r i:111 lmpcri a li, m. 1946 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Ma cedon ian, o f the Ciorna l>iu maja Reg io n ha, e the /\h, o lutc l-rccdo111 o f D ecla ri ng their Nationa lity a nd Origi n. 1946 ... . .

A t the ('cn, u, ,,r the Po pu latio n of Bulga ria the Macedonia n, h:11 e hecn Gi1 c n for the 1-i r,1 Ti mc the Right to Dec lare TI1cm,ch c, Macedonians. 1946 ............ . ... .. ... . .... . .. . . . . . .

Rc, ult , or th<' <·e n, u, o f the 1', ,pula ti,,n o r Piri n \<l accdonia in 19 46 . .

Re,o lutio n o r 1he Rci:io n:,I ( 'on fercncc o r th e Bulgarian W1,r~ er, ·

8

I 5X

159

162

171 17.l 17~ I 7X IN

IXI

Party (Commun ists ) o n Taking Conc rete Measures for the Pro visio n of C ultural Au tono my for the Po pulat ion o f Pirin M aced o nia. 1947 .. . . . . .. . . .. .. . . . .. . .. ...... . .. ... .... .

18 1 Jo rdun Petro ,·. The Fo rmatio n of 1he G o rnu Dtu maja M acedo ni a n Na tio nal Theatre is O ne of the G reat C ultu ra l Ac hieve me nts of the Macedo nia n Peop le of the Pirin Region . 19 47 . . .. .... . rs:i Samo il's State wa s not a Weste rn Bulgaria n Sta te but i1 ,va s a State o f the Maced o n ian S la vs. 1947 .. . . . .. . .... . ..._. ... .. ..... . . .

185 Goce Day - Day o f Struggle o f Progrcssil'c M acedonians fo r the Libera tio n of Macedo nia. 19 47 .... . .. .. ... .. .. .... . .. . .. .

187 Survey o f the Schoo ls. Pupils and Tca c hc r, in Pirin Macedo nia .

189 1946 / 47 . . . .. ..... .... .. . . . . ..... . .... .. . ... . ..... .. .. .

T. Vl:1h1H . The Grea ter- Bulga rian Chau, ini, b h;11 c Mo hilized the Press. the U niversity A cade mic~. tht' Wri ter, and the Inte llectuals in Order 10 Pro,c to the World tha t l\1acedo nia i, a Bul190 garia n Country. 1947 .. . . .. .. .. ... . .. . . .. . .. ... . .. ... .. . . !linden - TI1e llrig ht a nd G reatest Maced o nia n Nati o na l Ho lid ay.

109 1947 ... .. .. . ... .. .. .. ...... .. . .. . ... . ..... . . ... .... .. .

Or. K. f)r;11n:1/i ,·1 . Our Greate r- Bulgaria n H i,t o rians and Siate~men ha ve ~•ud icd and Stated A ll the Po ssihlc .. A rgume nt~" a nd All the O hse rvat ions o f Foreigne rs in S u p po rt o r th e thesis of the 2 12 Hulgu rian C haracter o f Maced o nia. 19 47 . . . . .... .. . ... .. .. .

114 !linden - Great Historical Event fo r the Ma cedo nian Peo ple. 1947 . . .

M i hu ·, Sm:1tr:1ble1. Ma ced o nian Boo ks are C irc ul a ting Freely thro• 1.11 ugho ut the Country ofCl ime nt a nd O h rid . 1948 . . . . . .. . . .. . .

The Macedo nia n People o f Pirin Maced o nia Welco me in 1he Perso n o f Ma rshal Tito the Creator of the People's Republic of Mace2.l4 d o nia wi thin the Framework of F.P. R. Yugosluvia . 1947 .. .. . .

The Bulgarian Ministry of Nat io nal Ed uca tio n In troduces the St ud y o f the Muced o nian Lan guage and Muced o nian Hi sto ry into the Higher Cla sses o f Elcme111:i ry School a nd 1he G rammar2.\ 5 Schools in Pirin Maced on ia. 1947 . .. .. . .. .. . .... . .. . . . . .. .

We. the Pi rin Maced o nian~. h y Studying O ur Na ti ve Macedo n ia n Language. , ha ll T·1~e a n Acti\'e Part in the Buildi ng of Ou r 2-'7 Macedo nian Nutio nal Cu lturc. 194:l .. .. .. . . . . . . . .. ..... .. .

Gt.'nrgi M:11/oh:1 . The H i, toric Deci, io n, o r Bled and the Maced o nia n 2.l9 Ouc, tion . 1947 . . .. ... .. . .... . . . . .... . ... .. . . .. .. . . . ... . c;,..,,rti Al:u /, ,/,.., . The Population 111' the Pi rin Region i, Macedo n ian hy a Huge Majo rit~. 1948 ... . .... . .. . . .. . ... ... .. .. . ... . .

24 1 With U n relenting Energy 10 Cl>nt inue thc C ultu ral Auto nomy o f the M :1<·cdonia n Popul:11 io11 in thc Pi rin Regio n thro ug h Study in Schools 1,f 1hc Hi~torv o r the M:11.:cd o nian Lihe rn tio n M o ve247 me nt. 194:l ..... . .. ." . . . . . . . . ... . .. .. .. . . . . .. .. .. . . . .. . . \\ ril ing, ahout the Bulgarian Character o f Macedo n ia Turn th<: \\lho lc o r Ma rx"' Ideology up, idc d o w n II ith their Cul mination in G rca1er- llul1:ariani, 111. 194!< .... . .... .... . . . .. . . .. .

2·111 Tu.~,.. Vl:,ho , . rt,c G rea tc r- llul ga rian llu urgcoi, C:o untc rfeiters h uve 1-:ibch Prc, e ntcd the Hi,lllrv of the M acedonia n Natio na l 269 Liher:i1i,m M in ement in th,· F:11 o ur or the ir As pi rn tio n~. 195 1 In 1956 I 7X. !<C,2 Per"H1' in Pirin Macedo nia Declared Thc mselve, 10 he Maccd ,,nia n,. 1% 0 . ... . . . .. . . . . ... .. . . . ... . . . .. . .. . . .

270 Nn1,·, . .. . ..... . . . . ...... . ... . .. . . . .. . .. . . . . . ... .. . . ..... .. .

27.l

9

â&#x20AC;˘

I NTRODU C TION THIS SELECTION o f authentic documents which is now being presented to the general public represents part of the wealth or historical evidence, the contents or which clarify the developing processes or the Macedonian national question in the Macedonian and Bulgarian progressi ve circles in Bulgaria in the period from 1896 to 1956. M ore p recisely, these documents begin at the time when the progressive circles in Bulgaria were coming face to face with the problems of Macedonia, with the Macedonian national question and with the struggle of the Macedonian people for national liberation and constitution.

In the following pages there are texts by the ideologists and organizers of the national liberation movem ent that existed and was active in Bulga ria and Pirin Macedonia.

They represent historical documentation of their time of inestimable value, since they clearly and categorically state the .::haracter and aims of the liberation struggle of the Macedonian people. Also included are tex ts based on sound research, which deal with the key questions of the historical processes through which the Macedonian nationality was built up.

There are documents in the book about the long-fought, constant and intensive struggle of the Ma cedonian people o f Pirin Macedonia, of the Macedonian emigres and the Bulgarian progressive circles, not only fo r an identity of their own, but also against the encroachments of the Balkan bourgeoisies into Macedonia, and especially against Greater-Bulgarian nationalism and chauvinism, the greatest enemy o f the independence of Macedonia and the Ma cedonian people.

The documents confirm the truth that Greater-Bulgarian 11

nationalism and chauvinism involved the Bulgarian people in national catastrophes and were called ,.a cancerous gro wth in the living body of Bulgaria".

Here testimony is to be found to the outrageous terror used against the Macedonian people in Pirin Macedonia and against the progressive Macedonian emigres by the Bulgarian bourgeoisie and Bulgarian Court, and their resistance at the cost of their lives. In those conditions the patriotic forces at the grass roots raised high the banner of self-determination for the Macedonian people and their unification.

The numerous documents after the victory o f the Fatherland Front under the leadership of the Bulgarian Work ers ' Party (Communists) bear witness to the revolutionary, militant disposition of the Macedonians in Bulgaria for the attainment o f their national rights. Dimitrov's Fatherland Front Bulgaria gave wide rein to the expression of Macedonian national feeling and consciousness, and defended the national rights of the Macedonian people fo r the achievement o f their aspirations and struggles over centuries for national identity and statehood. Uniting with the progressive forces in Bulgaria and with contemporary trends and proceses, the Macedonian people of Pirin Mar,edonia acquired cultural autonomy.

The documents presented about this long and significant period for the relations between the two countries, the time when progressive Bulgaria assisted the expression of the national independence of the Macedonian people, including the national rights of the Macedonian people in Pirin Macedonia, represented then and still represent today a real bridge, a bond in the development o f the general relations bet ween the two countries for peace in the Balkans and the world, and for the auainment of the aims of the Charter of the United Nations for human rights and the rights of nations.

This collection has been classified according to subject matler and represents a selection of documents, studies, resolutions, appeals and articles published by various political organizations, institutions, leading revolutionaries of the Bulgarian workers' and Macedonian workers' and national liberation movements, social activists, historians and others, whn, by their ideological determination and political orients12

tion, as proponents of progress, felt obliged to speak about som e of the contemporary problems and tasks concerning the situation o f Macedonia and the Macedonians, as well as the character of Greater-Bulgarian chauvinism and nationalism.

By virtue of their documentary value, since they come from the progressive circles and especially from the Macedonian grass roots, they are <>f maj or historical importance.

Considering the contents of the documents and materials included, it can be assumed that they are of an exceptionally significant historical and documentary value, by means o f which the public /,ere and throughout the world can realize the historical truth, which is one for the national identity and individuality of the Macedonian people through their struggle in Pirin Macedonia, of the Macedonian emigres in Bulgaria and the Bulgarian progressive circles over a longer historical period for their historical rights to national freedom, social justice and statehood.

13

THE OPPRESSED MACEDON IAN PEOPLE SHOULD FREE ITSELF NOT ONLY FROM THE SULTAN ANO HIS SATELLITES, BUT ALSO FROM ANY PRINCE OR TSAR "A C111/ to the Muccdoniun working people"""

1896 The Macedo nia n revolutionary socia list g roup', which has not missed any convenient opportuni ty to manifest its existence, has made two appeals to the readers of this pamph let, published on the occasion o f May Day, the holiday of the workers, in 1896 and 1897. Both appeals were confiscated by the Bulgarian poli ce, which, instead of acting within the limits of its authority, committed this sha meful act which is to be strongly condemned. So a great number of the people were not able to read them and see what we are striving for, what we are seeking and what a re the means we are using in this decisive and tireless struggle against Turkish ru le. This pamphlet will constitute the first o f a series of others in which we will e laborate o ur revolutionar~ ideas.

A few words more: as th e readers will see, we have nothing to do with any kinds o f bribed patriots, Macedonian societies or committees, led by individuals whose sincerity and dign ity are very much in doubt; these gentlemen use most dishonourable and base means, ask for aid from the Bulgarian government and her p o lice, make a ppeals to this or that state, ignoring that elemental truth that a people who ,, /Ji, J IJilll/lC

Kl,\/

MilKC.:10/ICKIIH

pi160Tt?II

Pa(io 11111â&#x20AC;˘1ecKa 6116.~1,orcKa H. I ), So fia. 1908.

1111po.:i.

(MaKe.lO IICKa

pp. 1-2.

15

wants to be freed from its heavy bondage has no means of doing so other than by rising up with knives in its hands, to demand its legal rights and freedom. Fools! It is as if they do not see that all the European powers today agree to support the integrity of the Turkish Empire, sneering maliciously at the enslaved and constantly pillaged Macedonians, Armenians, C retans and others. As far as the Bulgarian government is concerned, its attitude is very offensive and inconsistent, and we are convinced that the Bulga rian people will not be slow in exposing it at the pillory!

We, the others, as revolutionaries and republicans, brave and uncompromising protectors of the oppressed Macedonian people, shall use all our possible power to instil into the consciousness of the Macedo nian people the idea that it should free itself not only from the Sultan and his satellites, but also from any prince or tsar, from any other government, so that we can prepare it in this way to adopt the new ideas and principles in which the civilized world is interested. In other words, we shall fight for the triumph of a republican regime, where the people will be real masters of themselves. We shall not miss any convenient opportunity to become active on a widespread and feverish scale, both spoken and written, hoping that we are fulfilling our human and patriotic obligation. We are convinced that all those friends who care about the freedom and progress of the enslaved peoples will rush to help us ; we dedicate ourselves wholly to that militant struggle, filled with enthusiasm by that supreme ideal of freeing our people, believing that we shall bring closer the moment when the fiery calls will spread everywhere: Long live the revolution!

Long live free and independent Macedonia!

16

The Macedonian revolutionary socialists WE WANT MACEDONIA TO BE FOR THE M ACEDONIANS ··Programme of the Macedonian revolutionary socialists"•

1898 The political struggle of a people is the first conditio n for its further development. Without political freedom, put into the chains of slavery, the people is a lifeless mass, a corpse, unable to follow the steps of civilization and progress.

The fate of an enslaved people which has not fallen under the reign of a more or less civilized nation, but groans under the horrible burden of a despotic sultanic rule is so much the worse.

There are several unfortunate peo ples in the Balkan Peninsula a nd Asia Mino r suffering under the yoke of the Turkish caliphs, and among them is the Macedonian people.

The unbearable conditions in Macedonia have reached their utmost limits. Deprived of the possibility of living more or less human lives, the inhabitants of Macedonia have been forced to suppress from the very beginning any desire in themselves for progress and prosperity, to restrain themselves from any response to the cultured life of Europe.

Guided by most humane and progressive ideas, the Macedonian revolutionary socialists have set a goal for themselves: full political and economic liberation of the

peoples that inhabit Macedonia and the Adrianople (Edirne) region. For this purpose, we, the Macedo nian revolutionary socialists, d o not recognize any other more radical and dignified means than revolution. The scope of ou r activities is set in accordance with this main means by which we intend to liberate Macedonia and the Adriano ple region. We shall not beg anybody to give freedom to these peoples as a gift; fo r this reason we are guided by the thought that only a people

which has consciously and single-handedly achieved its free• nporpa.11;, till .11/JKe,!JONCK/fTe peBOJIJOUI/Ollep11-COUIIR.1IICTII. See : • n om1T11•1ecKa C oo60L1a' . OpraH Ha ~ICKCJIOIICKIITC COUIIRJIIICTl1 peeOJII0UII O· uep11 , Sofia, 1898, N°. I, February 6, 1898, pp. 2-3.

2 The Historical Truth

17

dom knows ho w to preserve and appreciate it. Consequ e ntly, w ithin the scope o f o ur acti vity fa lls the mo ra l a nd inte llectua l e nlig htm ent o f the who le wo rkin g class, a nd its edu cati o n in the s p irit of independ e nce a nd civil izati o n . We d o no t wa nt to re move o ne tyra nt ,,tsar" o nl y to re pl ace h im with a no th e r. We s ha ll fi g ht fo r the estab lis hm e nt o f a n inde pend ent po li tical au to no m y which is as free a s possible. For th e rea liza tio n of o ur m a in goal - th e li bera tio n of th e peo p les o f Maced o nia a nd t he Adria no p le regio n - we a re read y to m ake agreem ents a nd all ia nces with a ll the peop les o f the Turkis h state that s tri ve for freed o m a nd with a ll o the r na ti ona l acti vists tha t sympa thize with o u r ideas.

If we, the Maced o nia ns, wa nt to be saved fro m the lawlessness a nd ba rba rism that T urkis h ru le imposes o n us, fo r th e time b eing we sho u ld de ma nd po litical a uto no my; o nl y thi s will sto p the conflict that exists a mo ng th e sm a ll Ba lka n sta tes. In o rde r to s uppo rt th e struggle, M aced o nia s ho uld be freed fro m the cha u vin ist pro paga nda that now s uffocates the impo rta nt questi o n o f po li tical liberatio n . W e wo uld receive a nd support who leheartedl y th e d ecisio n a nd agreem ent o f the progressive political pa rties in the inte rested states to give M acedo nia a uto no m o us ri g hts a nd to give u p their prete nsio ns to o ur co untry, whi ch is un der s uch extre m e pressure. Rig hts must be give n to a ll the na ti o n a li ties in M acedo nia, s ma ll canto ns must be o rga nized in whic h a ll socia l ussues wi ll be a rra nged acco rdin g to the wis hes o f the m ajority o f the citizens; the o ffi cia l la nguage must be chosen independe ntly a nd schools o pened which teach in the local la ng uage, etc. In a wo rd, we must have su ch a system as to day ex ists in Switzerla nd.

W e d o no t sta rt fro m a p ositio n o f natio na l ha tred ; the work e rs o n a ll sides a re fo r us b ro thers togetJi er ; th ey ha ve no thin g to s ha re except the misera b le p ositio n in whi ch t hey fi nd th emselves. W e a re a lso a lways read y to o ffe r them assista nce when hum a nita ri a nis m a nd hum a n progress d ema nd it. W e d o no t sympa thize with the chauvinist mov-:ments in Bulga ria, Serb ia, G reece a nd in o the r places, b ecause th ey a re n o t ab le to do a nythin g fo r the im provem e nt of th e enslaved , except to s pread hatred a m o ng the na tio n a liti es in Macedoni a a nd to m a ke the unbearabl e conditio n unde r the Turkish yo ke even m o re complicated .

18

We be lieve that peop les s ho uld be left to th emselves a nd to thei r own good will to d ecide their natio nality, and that it s ho ul d not be built uptm the basis of some h is to ri c ..d tradi tions or ult ra patriotic motives. As con vi need autonomists, we wa nt Macedonia to be for the Macedonians. Starting from ou r own Macedo nia n interests, at the sa me time we will not remai n d eaf to the progressive social m ovements in o the r cou nt ries . We s ha ll res po nd to the worke rs' movements in Western Eu rope a nd in Bu lgaria, Serbia, Greece a nd in o ther sta tes.

Fina ll y, as convinced socia lists, we sha ll not neglect the socia l revolution of tomo rrow, together wi th the po liti ca l li beratio n of the enslaved peoples in Macedonia and the Adria nople regio n . O u r pu rpose will be to prepare a basis for the u nderstanding of the real co nditions of life today a nd fo r the accepta nce of socia list ideas. From thi s it can be seen th a t we want po litica l a utonomy as one cond it io n for further development, b oth economic a nd political.

We wi ll s p read socia list ideas among the Macedonian worke rs - th e li be ratin g cause of the worke rs in all count ries.

Suc h is o ur p rogra mme.

It can brie fl y be expressed as follows: To spread conscio us ness a mong the M acedo n ia n popula tion, overthrow Turkish s lavery and be granted a utonom o us governm en t, acco mpan ied by t he broadest ki nd o f j usti ce.

~

2â&#x20AC;˘

19

Georgi Bakalov 1 TH E QUESTIO N OF WH ETH E R M ACEDO NIA IS SERBIAN O R BULGA RIAN DOES NOT EX IST FO R US, SOCIAL D E MOCRATS, MACEDO NI A THE BE LONGS TO T H E M ACEDONIANS ··Greeting from Bulgaria .. ,.

1898 Brothe rs a nd comrades, whil e greeting o n the occasio n o f Wo rkers' D ay, I would like to present the attitude of the Bulgaria n social d em ocrats to wards the questio n which is undoubtedly of great interest to you.

To who m should Maced on ia belo ng?

T he question o f whether Macedo nia is Serbia n or Bulgaria n does no t exist fo r us, the social democrats. M acedo nia belo ngs to the Maced o nians ! Let Maced o nia be liberated a nd let it acquire independe nce. And then not we, b ut let the M aced o nia ns the mselves d ecide whethe r or not they want to be united to this o r that neighbo uring state. Some will say that we will have to wait a lo ng time for Macedo nia to achieve complete a uto no my. But, who can p rove that she would be freed from the T urkish yo ke sooner if she were weake ned by inte rna l national quarrels? No body! T hose who sin cerely struggle fo r Macedonia must free themselves from a ny chauvinist narrow-m indedness.

An independen t, federa l republic, achieved by a general Macedonia n revolutio n ! T hat ideal could unite aware Macedo nians of all natio na lities. We, the Bulgaria n and Serbian social democrats, sho uld fight even mo re against damaging chau vi nism, because it th reatens to cause a barba ric split between two neighbouring brotherly peoples.

May Day, 1898, Be lgrade

~ ~- -

• 6aKano o, reoprn . n o:1JJ.pao 11:1 5yrapcKe. (npoH Maj y C p6uj11 1893- 1914), Belgrade, 1954, p. 73 .

20

Vasil Glavinov4 T H E MACEDO NI ANS DO NOT WANT TO BE ANNEXED TO AN YBODY; M ACEDON IA SHOULD R E MA IN FOR TH E MACEDON IA NS*

1895 Dear Com rade Baka lov,** Two m onths have already elapsed since I left enslaved Maced o nia . What can I tell you ? It is horrible there, b ut I shall write yo u in detail a nother time. For the time being I am at Rusev's***, who has gone to Varna for the city electio ns a nd is going to visit a few places from th ere; so I am temporaril y ta king his p lace in the bookshop. Since my arrival in Sofia I have begun to d eli ver yo u r newspapers, Pa6oTHH'reCKH ,apyrap (Wo rkers' Com rade) a nd CouHam,cr (Socialist), which are read thoroughout Maced o nia, because we deliver no other newspapers. Rusev has also begun to wri te socialist articles in the llpaso (J ustice) newspaper, so you might like to know that the newspaper is d istri buted and read in Macedo nia. So please consider wri ting somethi ng with wh ich we can influence the people of Macedonia. Social ism is already making headway in M acedonia. T hat's my work there. We send newspapers and various kinds of social ist boo klets, and please have this in mind. Some of o u r comrades thin k that we sho uld pu blish a newspaper in the social ist revolutionary spirit, which will preach and prove that M acedonia is for th.:: Macedo nians, to prove that the Macedonians do not want to be a nnexed to a nybody, that she should stand up for herself, Macedo nia fo r the Maced 0 ni ans, to grant political freedo m rega rd less of faith a nd nationality, to convince the Serbs, G reeks, Rom anians and the others that there is no chauvinism in us, and that we wish the whole populatio n o f Macedonia well, whoever they are. When the question is posed on such a basis, every state will believe that those people want to â&#x20AC;˘ Letter from Vasil Glavinov 10 Georgi Bakalov.

Georgi Bak a lov ( 1873- 1939), o ne of 1he pi o neers of ~ocialism in Bu lgaria. A great journalist. li1erary cr1itic a nd histo rian. ... Stojan Rusev, editor of the Peoomou11~ ( Revolu11on) newspaper and a n anarc hist and socia lis t.

0

21

free themselves fro m th a t tyra nt o f fi ve centuries. who has n o t a dro p o f huma nity left. Th ere s 11ould b e rumblin gs from everyw here; we must prove tha t th e peo ple wa nt the ir life a nd ho no ur g u<1ra nteed .

With fricndl) greetings, V. Gl ,l\irll)\. fo rmer treawrer of ""The Brotherhood ..

20th May. 1895

The Archive of Ma cedonia

T H E VO IC'

OF TH E MAC EDON IAN IS BEG INN I NG TO BE RA ISED

1-rom the pI <lgr,Immt' of" the /\/R SC - Th t' l\ l .tcedoni1111 Workers· Socia l ist C roup. 1895 '

1895 Republic! Republ ic' - was th e call of F rei lig ra th , w he n in 1848 th e Paris ian wo rke rs rose with o n e accord to pro tect themselves fro m th e w hims o f their fa t a nd a rroga nt masters.

Revoluti o n! Revo luti o n! - we ca ll now w hen th e w ho le o f Macedon ia is overru n wit h Arnau ts, C ircassians, Kurds, soldiers and a ll kinds o f bloodsuc kers. T he unfortuna te p eople o f M aced o n ia have a lrea d y s uffered unbearable to rture a nd pain fo r fi ve centuries from th e Asiatic regim e, s uppo rted by th e c rowned executi o ner an d blockhea d, Hamid, wi th his w ho le rabb le of so ftas and mulla hs. These in veterate a nd unscrupu lo us idiots for whom human itaria nis m a nd humaness a re fictitious a nd unintell igible things, rob and s uppress th e impoveris hed people. Years ha ve passed , centu ries have passed, and Macedo nia is sti ll sad a nd unh a ppy, com p letely sunk in so rrow a nd misfortu ne. On ly primi tive ig no ra nce, pri miti ve ro utine, vvh ich mo ti vate the hangmen from Con,tantin o p le, ca n crea te th ose scenes o f blood w hi ch th e s lave ha~ begun to loo k o n as somethin g normal, as someth i ng that d ocs 1!ot reall y happen. Fero cio usn ess and cynical crudeness,

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ra pe a nd pillage - these constitute the whole syste m o r the ro tte n Turkish E mpire! T hese primitive people and barbaria ns, m o nsters from He ll, with b ru te force conquered a n e n lig htened country, the ens laved a nd unfortun a te M acedonia, wh ich was at th e s ame time o n e of the c ra dl es o f E uropean civilizati o n. This co untry, which is p ro ud o f its glorious tra diti o n and glorio us memories, tod ay bears th e heavy yoke o f Turkish s lave•; . The voice of th e M a cedoni a n, which has systemati call y been s ilenced for fi ve centu ri es, is beginning to be ra ised . Its wh is per fro m und e rgro und wlll e rup t with th e fo rce of a mag nificent a nd fie ry vo lca no to cover with its la va a ll th e oppressors a nd bloodsuckers that rape his wife o r daughter, that p lunde1 his property a nd tha t put his little c hild o n a stake. Th is voice ha s lo ng wai ted to b e h eard so tha t now it is lo uder a nd m o re thundero us. M aced o nian valleys a nd mo untains, the mo untain rocks and caves, a re a lready s pl attered wi th th e red blood of the pi llaged s lave, th e Maced o nian. With a g un o n his s ho ulder, with a sword in h is han d, he has a lready risen to defend himself"' , to pro tect himself from th e yataghan of th e filth y A rn a ut, from the s pear o f the wild C ircassian .

MACE DON IA ON T H E THRES H O LD OF T H E TW E N T I ET H CE NTU RY "Poli1ic11/ Freedom ··u

, 1898 The twe ntieth century should solve g reat task o f o ur century, w hi ch faces th e civil ized Euro pean states, o f the liberatio n of labour fro m capital, but this sam e twentieth centu ry will find Macedon ia a lm ost unto uched by the infl uen ce of Western E urope. T he Euro pea n proleta riat has wo n one victory a fter an othe r in the s truggle with its blood y enemi es.

T he last victo ry it s ho uld win is coming closer ; the liberation • This relates to Vrhovist actio n in the Melnik regio n.

•• n o. 111T11•1ecK11 Cno60:i11, Opn 111 11a \la Keno11c K11Te cou1ia. 111c1 11peoo1110 1111011ep r1, So fia , 1898, N° 3, p. 5.

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of huma nity from a ll kinds of slavery is approaching. But the Macedonian working p eople remains passive b efore the great movements of its brothers in Europe, before that solemn day when huma nity w ill finally b reak the c hains of slavery a nd tyranny, a nd will begin to breathe more lightl y as if awakened from a heavy a nd deep sleep; the Macedonia n working people stands passively a nd with bound hands bears the stamp of the most base slavery which the European working people has thrown off.

T he working people in many European states will reassess their forces with the outset of the 20th century, in o rder to win the final victo ry . Will the Macedonian people e ncounter the outset of the 20th century with the stamp o f slavery on its body, will its history take note of the change of the years and centuries?

MACEDO NIAN REVOLUTIONARIES, MY COMRADES, LET US LAY THE FOUNDATION OF THE SOCIALIST MOVEMENT WHIC H WILL BE ABLE TO R EALIZE THE TRUE LIBERATION OF THE MACEDONIAN PEOPLE "A call to the Macedonian working people""

1898 Macedonian revo lutionaries, m y comrades!

Today is 19th April - May Day, the universal holiday of labo ur and freedom, of that sacred freedom, the saving rays of which we desire and strive for that they may shi ne o n the Macedonian soil, so tormented for centuries; where the people moan day a nd night under the abominable Asiatic regime, stained with blood and murdered every day and hour, p illaged godlessly, raped, their spirit destroyed ... l T his poor enslaved people helplessly stretches its hands upwards, to where the history of Man has yet not learnt that â&#x20AC;˘ Bb3Ba111,e

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24

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the tortured and suffering voice of a people is to be heard.

That is why we appeal o n this great day of struggle to you, comrades, who are faithful to the slogan, "Freedom does no t need the Exarch, it wants the Karaja"; let us line up under the liberating flag of th e Macedonian slave!

Comrades, let us Jay the foundation of a moveme nt that will be able to achieve true liberation fo r the Macedonian people, tortured for centuries!

Macedonian revolutio naries!

We are resol ute in celebrating May Day alongside t hose of o ur comrades who are closest to us in their ideas - the Bulgarian workers, who offer their hands as bro thers to the workers from the whole country and, as real representatives of the universal liberation movement of peoples, where the Macedonian people should also find its place, they, the workers, provide invaluable support ; May Day is the great precursor of the near, bright future, when humanity, to which such injustice has been done, will begin to live an ho nourable life, free from any earthly exploiters and tyrants.

Macedonian brothers!

When you leave Macedonia, you are forced to seek food in foreign countries for you, for your wives, children, fathers, mothers a nd sisters, that suffer the harsh violence, tyranny and rape of the Asiatic barbarians, be t hey pashas, vice viziers or ordinary guards, by all those that run t his regime which disgraces the 19th century and is headed by a despot...

Impoveris hed workers, tortured by hard physical labour, having worked for miserable wages, you return in winter to your homes - to the enslaved Macedonian country, in order to pay taxes to the Sultan for your mo ney earned with blood, while with the rest of it you can hardly meet the small but indispensable needs of you r families.

Every day you witness there most h o rrible violence and rape perpetrated agai nst your brothers and sisters who, powerless before the crude Asiatic, without protest endure the violence and rape.

But if you there, in Turkey, canno t express you r protest and contempt to the tyrant of centuries, because of the harsh conditions in wh ich you live, because of your medieval wilful masters, it would be shameful and unforgivab le for us to do 25

t hat here, in Bu lgaria, where the basic law - the Constitution - guarantees pol itical freedom to a ll Bulgarian citizens; it would be an indeli ble shame just to wa it a nd not to show you r deep disapprova l of this da rk despotism ...

Macedo nian workers!

Make use of the Workers¡ Ho li da y, May Day ( 19th Apri l), a nd powerfull y raise your voices of protest against the T urki sh tyra nn y; let us set the fo undations of the struggle fo r the total liberation of Macedonia from all christened arid un christened bandits.

We a re obliged to do that in the na me of hum ani ty and justice, so fi ercely subjected to the primiti ve T urk ish ru le.

Macedo nia n workers!

May Day is the day on which millions of work ers from all the ends of the Earth stop work in order to celebrate und er the red n ag of freedo m, declari ng before the whole wo rld that thei r huma n rights have been violated! But what are your rights, you un happy creat ures?!

Look at yo ur lives!

You are bo rn poor, with out a ny support when yo u are yo ung. You work from dark da wn ti ll late in th e eveni ng.

And what rewa rd do yo u get for you r tireless labour? Nothi ng, except illness, hunger an d being rob bed of yo ur few penn ies, ea rned with the bloody sweat or yo ur foreheads!

The hard a nd contin uo us labour in exceptiona lly harsh conditi ons exhausts a nd kills yo ur blo,;so ming yo uth. The humid a nd filth y holes in whi ch yo u work, the so-ca lled "workshops", or the scaffoldings exposed to rain a nd snow on whi ch yo u climb, do not give yo u an y ot her rewa rd but that o f becom ing exhausted a nd ineffici ent old men at an earl y age .

And look at yo ur masters for whom yo u wo rk and toil to produce such weal th yo ur whole lives - fo r those who do nothing a nd have everythi ng! How great is their rewa rd for the idleness in which they spend their whole li ves! See, workers, black slaves o f labour, how these masters are contented with a life that brings them over yo ur backs all the ea rt hl :â&#x20AC;˘ joys, how they bathe in luxury and debauchery and shameless ly feast. while yo u, yo ur wives and children are tormented by ill:iess and hunger.

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Macedonian brother wo rkers!

The remedy for yo ur sufferings is in you rselves. The liberatio n of the workers shall be th e deed of the workers themselves.

The end of th e plu nder of the workers' labour by the masters wil l come when all the workers in the whole world wi ll join ha nds as brothers a nd become united in the general struggle against the present unjust order, agai nst the lega lized lawlessness through which th e rich, be they Bulgarians, Turks, Jews, Germa ns, French, English or whoever, steal the fruits of the workers' labo ur and fatten themselves with their bloody sweat.

Cha mpions of Macedon ia!

When you could no longer end ure th e savage, perennial Turkish wilfulness, man ifested thro ugh loathsome and criminal acts against the unprotected slaves of Macedonia, with yo ur dign ified and noble decision - to rise up with arms against the Tu rkish tyra nny - you proved to the tyra nts of Consta ntin ople yo ur read iness to die for the freedom of the slave in Macedo nia, and yo u earn ed the most heartful sy mpathies of all honest men.

And t rul y, in 1895 you fi ll ed the world with adm iration with yo ur self-sacri fic ing and heroic struggle aga inst the Turkish bu llies! The voll eys of yo ur ri n es spread throughout the Ma cedonian mountains and va lleys, splattered with the blood of slaves.

Many of your friend s heroically lost their li ves in the desperate, unequa l struggle, a nd died with the call , "Freedom or death !" un their lips; a nd yo u who remained living witnesses and self-sacrifi cing fighters in the bloody struggle for Macedonia n liberati on, now wander un welco me and un loved th rough " free" Bu lgaria ...

But, most regrettably, you were necessa ry to tr e Bul gari an masters, who exp loited yo u and supported you temporarily un til they had ach ieved their aim.

... And today, owing to a few decora tions heartlessly hung on their brea5ts, they impo<;c ¡¡1aws" an d t reat yo u as handit'-.

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C hampions of Macedonia!

That expl oitation of the Macedo nian liberati on cause is very obvi ous to yo u. In the interest of the cause a nd its sacredness, Macedonia n revolutionari es, you shou ld no t allow or suffer any filthy hand to soil the nati onal ideal further.

Acknowled ging the sublime and noble self-sacrifice of your murdered fri ends, we, the Maced o nia n socia list revolutio na ries, appeal to all the surviving champio ns of the freedom of the Macedo nia n slave a nd in vite you to celebrate the 19th of April with us under the red n ag of the Macedonian liberation movement.

May Day should be the most solemn mo ment in the lives of committed revolutio na ries.

When the stro ng voice of protest is heard at a great distance, when the spirit of freedom fill s with enthusiasm the breasts of all to whom injustice is being done, when it warms the hearts that beat for resistance, then the champio ns of Macedonia should not remain passive eith er, but once and for all sho uld understand that the liberation of the slave is for

slave himself to achieve.

So let us gather, comrades, o n the 19th of April and together celebrate May Day, the great ho liday of those to who m injustice is done!

*

'

BROT H ER MACEDON IANS!

T he ho ur has come, the solem n moment has come! W e can a ll already hear the terrible, thund ering voice o f justice and reason, a sweet, appealing voice: All you oppressed peoples, Rise and fi ght manfully for o ur freedom!

Offer yo ur hands to each other as brothers, make a sacred unio n for the justice a nd freedom and begin an irreconcilable struggle agai nst the enemies of t he people!

All tsars, popes, patriarchs, oppressors and tyrants now tremble before the victo rious, solemn march of revoli;tionary socialism, before the approaching trium ph that gives courage, faith a nd maturity to the proleta riat, which is indeed the advocate of justice, truth, peace a nd progress !

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Today is M ay Oay - the ho liday of a ll peoples that bear the heavy yoke of capita list slavery, the filthy and loathsome regime of monarchist Europe!

Today is the holiday of all tyran nized a nd oppressed slaves that fall under the sharp yataghan, that cower under the whip of the police! ...

From one side of the world to the other, a ll peoples are exposed to pillage, violence and fi lthy acts of barbarism by crowned and non-crowned tsars and ministers !

All the pain a nd suffering, all the weepings and waitings today merge in one uni versal voice:

Long live May Day! Long live the social revolution! that sacred revolution which will lead to the triumph of a universal social republic, of freedom, equality and fraternity!

Today from a ll the regions of Bulgaria and Macedonia, C rete, Greece and Albania, from the Danube to the Aegean Sea, from the Maritsa to the Drim a nd the Yardar, one common voice is heard:

Each should fight however he can Against the people's enemy And'you, too, unhappy people of Macedonia !

Don't you hear this sacred call, a call for justice a nd freedom, for peace a nd tra nqu illity, for joy and celebration, bequeathed to you by the fearless revolutionary, Hristo Botev?5 That Botev, who with his whole soul and heart embraced the sacred cause of the revolution, of the liberating :;ocial revolution ? That great and fearless Balkan hero, who sacrificed a ll that was dear to him in order to spill his blood for your glory and honour? Don't you hear his sweetly intoned song, his fearless voice that still echoes over the mountains, that calls you to take up your rine and knife and be revenged o n the Turkish ba ndits and all your masters? Will you still allow yourselves to be downtrodden and raped by barbarians - the Turks, both christened and unchristened will you still watch them butchering and robbing your brothers a nd sisters? - Awake, realize what is happenning a nd free yourselves o nce and for all from the iron chains that hold yo u in ignorance and slavery, that kill your sacred feelings of freedo m and progress; exert all your strength a nd remove that sha meful stain for ma nkind.

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A h ! Wh at disgrace, what d eg ra d a ti o n fo r peop le to be unde r th e yo ke of a foo l a nd a ha ng m a n li ke Ha mid 6 , th e Consta ntino pl e murdere r ! - T ha t sa me b lood sucke r w ho ha s taken t he lives o f m o re tha n two hundred th o usa nd A rm eni a ns, of ma ny thousa nds of C reta ns, a nd o f still ho w ma ny m o re M aced o nia ns !

Do n' t you see, you un fo rtun a te people, a ll th is disgrace a nd d is ho no ur, this ba rbar ism a nd bruta lity? W ill you a llow the w ild T urkis h ho rdes to p lund er a nd stab an y lo nger while you sta nd with fo ld ed arm s ? Does hatred a nd reven ge not boil up in yo u, d o yo u not have a manl y heart b eating to take th e ya tagha n in yo ur ha nd a nd to a nswer b low with b low, kn ife with knife?

Do n 't yo u hear th e libe ratin g call of th e o ppressed workers fro m th e who le world that rise u p agai nst thei r ty ra nnic rul es and urge you warml y to fight he ro ically aga inst the red Sulta n s unk in b lood to his ea rs?

T he m ost precio us, the d earest a nd the b ri ghtest goal of m a nkind is perso na l freedom . T hat freedo m is necessary, because o nly by this m ea ns ca n he ac hieve th e m ost s u bl ime huma n dignity. A p eop le tha t d oes no t li ve in freed o m shou ld no t bear th e na m e o f peo ple. It s ho uld e ithe r perish or li ve, b ut li ve in fu ll freedom!

The sacred duty of every m a n is to fi g ht a nd , if necessary, die fo r his freedom I How ca n you ho pe to achieve tha t freedom, o ur dea r a nd o ppressed people, if no t thro ug h yo ur ow n po wer, with yo u r own strength 1 W ill you have ho pe in a ll th ose turncoat patri o ts w ho now turn to Russia a nd the n to E ng la nd, Austria a nd F rance? Will yo u a llow them to ex p lo it yo ur n ame?

Don' t you und ersta nd the vo ice o f th ose stu pid patri o ts th a t are pre pa ring fo r you a new slavery, a new yo ke, n ew pa ins a nd suffe rin gs?

Will you have a ny hope in th ose dis ho nest great powers that m ad e a b lockade o f the is la nd o f C rete a nd are now o pen ly participating in th e ex te rminatio n of th e unpro tected people? Th ose g reat powers whose cann o ns ha ve exte rmina ted so m a n y w retched s laves? T hose m ean, cunnin g powers, which were fina ll y exposed by his to ry a t the pi ll o ry fo r th ese ba rbarian acts?

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ls it not th e m ean monarc hist Russia that wa nts to swallo w ur the w ho le wo rld with its insatiable m outh and that now supports the integ rity o f the Turk ish Empire? ls it not the sam e "per fid io us" Russia n d ip lomacy w hic h wants to drown in one drop of water a ll the peo p les that ha ve lo ng s ince spat a t the disgusting moP':lrchis t regime? Will Russia give freedom to o th e rs when her great na tion groans under th e naghayka a nd the kn ut a nd la ng uis hes confined in th e farawa y Siberian mines? - Shamefu l ! S hameful! ...

Or th e bankers, th e ca pitalists of England, o f France that sa me France th a t has fo rgotte n he r glo rious pas t and s pat o n her g reat t radi tions of freedom a nd progress. Ita ly, Germany a nd Austria, will they th in k at all abou t the liberation of th e e ns laved peoples, w hen t heir ca pita l has been in vested in T urk is h ba n ka ?

No, a nd a th ousa nd tim es, no!

All crown ed oppresso rs, des!')ots a nd tyrants ha ve organized societies, societies o f c rim inal s and executio ners in o rd er to kee p th e worki ng peo pl e in s lavery a nd s ubjection .

The priests also, th e churc h a nd the faith , a re all in t heir se rvice. And ca n a commi tted people co nfid e 10 the pries ts, to those revolting blackhats a nd sa tans, w ho preach with crosses in thei r ha nds: "Fea r God a nd respect the Tsar" ?

No, reject these d egene rates that are in all iance with a ll the op presso rs a nd explo ite rs.

Ni Dieu, ni Maftre!

Hatred towards a ll tsars a nd p rin ces, aga inst a ll priests a nd bis ho ps who wil full y v io late the ri g hts of the people !

T he time has come w he n th e real right is the obliga tio n to defeat trad itio n , troJth is to overcome m istake n attitudes, know led ge is to banish ign o rance, eq uity to rep lace privilege!

A n d to day are n o t a ll crowned paras ites tre mbli ng befo re th e powerfu l a nd victorious force o f the proletariat, that prepa res the rapprochem ent a nd fra tern ity of the nations? T he wo rkin g people are tod ay fes ti vely celebrating M ay D ay with fiery calls in thei r mo uths :

War to all wars! Peace and brotherhood between peoples! Freedom for the enslaved peoples! Down with the crowned murderers or peoples! Long five the social republic!

And you, un fortunate M acedo nian people! J o in this call o f j oy a nd hope a nd sta rt an un equal and b loody strug-

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gle, and die crying: Freedom or death ! Fight, beca use you have the right both to wage war and to win!

And don 't you see that the eyes of all are turned toward you as toward a rich booty and that everybody wants to carve you up like mea t ? The Bulga rian, Serbian a nd Montenegrin governments have signed a shameful a llia nce in order to divide you up at the appropriate moment. Spit on tha t shameful act and join hands as brothers with the working people tha t today celebrate, that have nothing in common with their governments and have sublime ly stated their solidarity with the pro letariat - the poor - o f the whole world.

All governments today enter into alliance with the Sulta n to support the tyranny and pillage, to support the savage Turkish yoke whose victims have become thousands of sufferers daily ...

Today a ll workers, in a nswer to the international conspiracy of kings and princes, offer the ir ha nds to each other a nd unanimously rise up against these crown ed criminals whose d ays a re numbered. They join the socialist army o f the world , firmly beli eving in the triumph of the socia l republic.

Welcome this fi ery and brotherly a ppeal, dear peo ple!

Exert all yo ur ma nly strength, reinforce your passionate dedication and energy toward the great natio nal cause - a nd you shall be free!

Long live free M acedonia!

Long live international socialism!

Long live the fraternity and libe ratio n of peop les!

Long live May Day! FROM T H E MACEDONIAN REVOLUTIONARY SOCIALI ST G ROU P

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Macedonian Workers' library -Sofia MACE DONIA AND WH ER E IS HOPE* 1900

"Black slaves, endure!

Young forces, prepare For the great struggle f'" MACEDON IA

FOR YOU, oh, lo ng-suffering country, today the call reverberates on a ll sides! For you the plund ering voice is hea rd from North, West a nd South : ··w e sha ll not give he r away, the country of o ur grandfathers, we sha ll not g ive he r away''. - "Macedonia is ours!" call the Bulgarian pdtriots fro m the depths of their hearts in a nswer to the o the r as pirants, a nd a ll of them sing songs o f plunde r a nd sing abo ut the slavery they wi ll impose o n Macedo ni a after he r liberatio n from the Turkish oppression, shaking tightl y closed fi sts at a ll who dare to express the same desire to conqu er Maced onia ! Was so much blood no t eno ugh, we re so many tea rs not e no ugh to redeem your "great" sin, oh, unfortunate country, so that now others come a nd p lay wi th yo ur evi l fate - Bulgaria ns, Serbs, Greeks a nd ot hers - who have aspiratio ns to your brothers a nd, like beasts o f prey, wan t to throw themselves o n your tortured bod y so that they can suck out the vita l juices you have in the strong muscles of yo ur sons a nd in th e bosoms o f your fertil e fields !

Were so many temptations not eno ugh , which you suffered because o f the caprices of your to rturers; were they not en ough a ll those previous attempts to ma ke of you a ta rget for filthy aspirations a nd designs?

Yes, your sufferings, you, great marty r, a l the begin ning of the 20th century, the centu ry of c iviliza ti o n and peace, have not yet come to an end a nd d o no t th ink that with the rejection of the Sulta n 's rule you will be free from every kind .. Ma Kt:.JOIII/R II l ,1fJ t' llll. /t:)l(. t :11.1.

.1,,0 , eKa). Sofia. 1900.

3 T he H isto rical Truth

(M J xe.101tCK:J pa6onttt•teCKa 6 116-

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o f oppression! No, you r broth ers a re prepa rin g for yo u a wreath of thorns with whi ch th ey wi ll cover yo u r bloody head a nd will start a n ew epoch in yo ur life of suffering.

T he m ajorit} of M acedo nian s wait fo r their freedom to be gra nted th em . They have not yet und erstood the e lemental problem s w hich they must o bserve in their struggle for political liberati o n . It is as if they had no t unde rstood that th ose w ho grant later ask fo r som ethn in g in return . T hey wait to be liberated by the Bulgarian p rin ce, a nd most of a ll by the Russia n m o n arch.

To as k to be libe rated by a man w ho represst!s under his boot the freedom of 250 million p eo ple, means that you know not w hat yo u d o. Russia n m o na rchism is the greatest enemy o f a ll kinds of freedom a nd yet, s urpr is ingly, the re are sti ll people that bow befo re it a nd ask fo r its help. One wou ld think those people do not know abou t the prisons o n Sakhalin a nd in Siberi a, w hae th o usands o f victim ~ o f the Russian Tsar are la ngu is hin g.

What a disgrace, wh at bitter mockery of the freedom of the to rtured M acedo nian people! In o rder to avoid a ll de fl ecti o ns fro m the ri g ht way, di ctated by revo luti o nary ideas, everyo ne who s incere ly wishes Mace donia to be free must c lear his accou nts fo r t he last time with a ll princes, kings and ty ra nts, that would like to present themselves as li bera to rs, that can bring o nl y disgrace with their participation.

H umilia ting pleas to a ll masters are contrad ictory to the revoluti o nary cause. They are no thing before the experi ence o f the m asses. T h e revolutio n is not a task of the masters, but it is the work of the poor, who directly feel the o ppression of the Sultan. Let th e real fighters fo r the freedom of M acedonia wage a fierce battle th rough the b readth of the masses, whic h are the o nl y force ab le to reject th e iron cha in s of their slavery . Only through incessant and planned activity

can the p eople be prepared to stand up on its feet and to demand its freedom .

And we a re convinced we sha ll have the s upport o f a ll the revolutio n a ri es o n the Peninsu la and in th e wor ld o nl y if we preserve the purity o f o ur cause. Every freed o m -loving m a n is interested in the overthrow of the T urk is h E mpire, whi ch is th e greatest obstacle fo r th e ach ievem e nt of freedom a nd progress o n the Balkan Peninsul a. Let a ll fighters rea lize 34

these sim ple p rin cip les an d the n in th e ve ry nea r futu re we s ha ll witness a natio na l st ruggle o rgani zed in th e way whi ch will inevitably lead to the trium ph of Macedonian a sp iratio ns a nd ideals. Let eve ryo ne understand that th e con nicts between the Serbs, Bu lgarians, G reeks a nd the others a re the o utcome of desires to co nquer Macedonia and no t to li berate her.

Spitti ng o n all these as pirations and schemes, we call o ut : Long live Macedonia for tf:e Ma cedonians!

W H ERL I S HOPI-.'!

I F THE TEARS s hed by pe rsecuted human beings we re pou red on the Ea rth, it would be completely cove red with water ! If the sighs s natched from th e d epths o f th e hearts o f th e etern a lly persecuted and eternally pillaged, merged in to o ne ca ll , they would s hatter the wh o le uni ve rse an d make even the g reatest earthly tyrant freeLe o n th e s pot! Since mankind has existed th e wa ves of th e a ir have bo rne witness to the s ighs a nd c urses from the mouths o f the o ppressed and the rul ed , intended fo r thei r oppressors. Since th e ap pearance o f hu manity up to the present d ay there has been a struggle of li fe and death amo ng m en. Every page o f histo ry has been soaked in blood . Every place has borne w itn ess to ho rrible s ights that have take n p lace between the rulers and the ruled.

If th e hum an mind co u ld imagine in one mo ment the horrifyi n g struggles that have occurred in a ll countries, with a ll ther d isastrous res ults for both s ides, if it co uld imagine th ose equall y fie rce and g reat st ru ggles, it would freeze and lllrn to stone¡ before the greatness of the sufferin gs .nd sacrifices of the o ppressed in the name o f freedom and justice. If we imag ined th e cha ins that have been bro ken by op pressed humanity, we sho uld no t come to a n y conclusio n, except that there a re no c hai ns that can e nc ha in the s pirit o f justice a nd freedom, and that oppressed humanity has in itself an inexhaustib le force wh ich has destroyed and shall destroy any obstacle that comes in its path . Like th e waves of water stop ped in thei r straight fl ow by a rock, finally destroy the rock with furious ardour and continue with an o minous murmur to destr oy everything they find on their way and do not becom e calm until th ey achieve their no rm al flow, in the 3â&#x20AC;˘

35

<,c1 me way o ppressed huma nity fina lly exerts pressure on its feelings, destroying its oppresso rs 1n its fu ri ous anger and contin uing its journey a nd prepa ri ng its powers fo r new a nd even Areater batt les.

The histo ry of every peopl e is a stu ggle o f light wi th darkness, a struggle of justice with fo rce. Observe any progressive movem ent from an y period of history, either a ncient, med ieva l o r recent histo ry, and you will be asto unded by two th ings: first, by the uniform way o f waging the struggle by both sides, and second, by th e sa me atti tude or the d iffere nt classes in a ny time towards the new. You will see that the peo ple who have power in thei r hands a re all a li ke, be they the inha bita nts or Ancient Rome, of revolu tionary Paris, or fi na lly of Asiatic Constantino ple. You will see that they have always and everywhere been aga inst anything whi ch is in th e least new ; th ey ha ve been the greatest enemies of those that want to achi eve what t:,eir grea t-gra ndfathers swore to achi eve. Their means in the struggle a re again the sa me: crude force, lies, treachery. The only difference is that these methods were previo usly used in th eir crudest forms, while in recent times, in accord<!nce with the sharpening of the mind, they have been used in apparently more m-: rciful a nd innocent fo rms, but on acco unt of that they have become sha rper and more effecti ve in their co nte nts. If yo u looked at the other sid e o f the struggle, yo u wo uld see that it has always and everywhere used the power of the word, dedicati on and self sacrifi ce fo r the ca use. Let us turn to Ancient Rome. There we see the lite a nd death struggle, waged by th e poor, the plebeians, against the rich, the patri cian s. When th e po litica l and economi c conditio ns o f the plebeia ns beca me unbea rable, they rose up a nd demanded a cha nge in thei r unendurable condition. And fin c1l ly, tha nks lo the righteo usne~s of their cause, they succcded 111 improving their pli ght.

In Ro me, in the faces o f the oppre~sed, we observe the peo ple that turned the wheel of progress, we observe the slave fighters for justi ce and freedo m, a nd in their masters we observe oppressors of the sa me j usti ce and freedo m.

We see th at the negati ve elements - the plebeia ns - led the struggle 10 positi ve results, lo tra nsfo rmations.

Let us pass to the Middle Ages.

36

Wha t happened there ? The basis of thin gs is the sa me. a nd the d ifference is on ly in the persons a nd the form of the struggle.

Wh o led the battl es o n the barricades in 1789, 1830 a nd 1848 in Fra nce ?

Who sto rmed tha t gloomy, that ter rifying fortress th e Bastille - whi ch ~: ill creates horror an d a shudder in sen siti ve hea rts? Who represented it and who fough t aga in st it ? Yes, it represented a fo rtress of the rulers, it represented the safest place where owls obstructed the spirit of justice and freedom, and th ose who sto rmed it represented the ad vocates o f the most vita l ray:; of freedom, fraterni ty a nd equali ty. Th ere was a lso a struggle between th e rulers - the rich - and the o ppressed - the poo r. There a lso, as was the case in Ro me, the fo rmer did not wa nt to retreat fro m th e o ld prati ce, did not want to give up the privil eges it had given them; a nd the fighters t here a lso succeeded a nd proved that they kn ew how to die honoura bly for their right eous cause.

Let us turn to Bulgaria. Whose blood was spill ed abu ndan tly o n the slopes of the Stara Pla nina fo r the freedo m of th is neighbouring count ry?

Wh o was th e man who travelled like a magic spirit fro m town to tow n, from vill age to vill age, to arouse understa nd ing in his brother slaves? Was he a grea t mercha nt ? No, he was the self-sacrificing Levski 1 , the son of the poor widow fro m Ka rlovo, G ina Kunceva . Who was th e man who wrote so ngs with th e bl ood of his hea rt, in which he sa ng abo ut the death-sentence of the Sultanic bondage, and who sealed them at the end with his blood and proved his end less ded icatio n lo the struggle for the liberatio n o f his peo ple? He was the hero, Hristo Botev.

Were they not lu natics, imposto rs, humbugs - as tn e 13u lgaria n masters ca ll ed them ? Out who leads the stru ggk toda y in Macedo ni a? T he masters or th e officials? No, and a thousand tim es, no! Macedonia n r,l a in11 and mountains are soa ked wi th the blood of the poor work ing peo ple, soak ed with t he olood o f th ose who everywhere fi ght fo r freed om and justice. Was it not the 0 ulgarian working people th at most o f a ll helped its present swindlers in the princedo m to free themselves from th e previous o pr,resson, '.' And that wo r-

37

kin g mass, is it n ot o ppressed n o w by its own brothe rs? Poor people, they believed tha t with the rej ecti o n of Turkis h bon dage th ey would be freed fro m a ny kind o f bondage! Was it n ot the sa me with the Frenc h wo rk ers who stru ggled aga inst the a ristocrats, hand in ha nd with the bourgeoisie, for gene ra l li beratio n fro m o ppressio n ? And what ha ppen ed a fterward s?

T he bo urgeoisie, pretending it had ri sen up against tyra nny in the na me o f na tio nal freedom a nd gene ra l well-b eing, afte r th e victo ry over th e commo n e ne my agai n turned again ~l those o n whom it de pe nded - the wo rking people. All fri ends a nd supporters o f the libe ratio n of Macedonia must understa nd this simple his to rica l truth : th at the ma in a nd most o utsta nding part in the stru ggle fo r a tta ining politica l freed o m of every peo p le has been played by the workin g masses.

T hose who wa nt the freed o m o r Maced onia must not bring s ha me o n tha t freedom wi th thei r pleas to he r greatest e ne mies; they mus t stop de ma nding it to be g ra nted them.

They mus t understa nd that neith e r kin gs, no r priests, no r masters wi ll lead to the liberatio n o f Macedo nia, but this wi ll be d one by the poor pe rsecuted slave. T his truth must be unde rstood a nd the ca ll fo r the struggle aga inst th e ty ra nt s ho uld be a ddressed to the slave.

Everybod y must unde rsta nd that everywhe re a nd a lways whe n th e b ourgeoisie in its thirst fo r wealth, power and glo ry has risen agai nst tyra nn y, a llegedl y o n beha lf o f the genera l well -b eing, everyw he re when it has d ecla red wa r o n the o ld , a llegedl y o n beha lf o f the progress and h ap piness o f huma nity, it has relied o n the wor kin g popul a tio n, it has relied o n th e grea t self-sacrifice o f the poor. Faithful to its sole prin ciple to which it cl in gs most consistentl y - misery 10 the lot o f o thers ! - the ric h class in a ll revolutio n ary epoc hs has known o nl y how to use the peo ple's victo r ies fo r the strengthening o f its " b loody t.1 nd s inful " kin gdo m.

The ro le of 1he ric h has a lways been a ro le o f pa rasites.

And we tell to a ll those that d irectl y o r indirectl y hinder the li be ra ti o n cause of Maced o nia that the persecuto rs of ideas could no t an nihilate those ideas neithe r thro ugh c ru cifi xio n o r ha nging, no r thro ugh s hooting by fi ri ng squa d . The c ross, the scaffo ld and th e bullet a re po werless agai nst the , pirit o f freedo m a nd justice.

38

" Ty rants! Your efforts are in vain!

You cannot quench the unquenchable!

The spark you quench today Shall grow into a volcano".

THE IDEA LS OF THE OLD BU LGA RIAN REVOLUTIONAR I ES

'' WH O WILL BE OU R TSA R a fte r we' ll have c ha sed o ut the Turkish ?", a few work e rs o nce asked Levski, a fter the Bulga ria n liberatio n , wa nting to hear the name of their futurr C hristi a n maste r. " Tsar, prince! Whe re d o you think you a re?", a nswered he. " We a re stru ggling to free ourselves from o ne mo narch, and you wa nt lo put a n othe r in his place! It is a ll the same: the o nl y difference will be that the first o ne has a fez o n h is head a nd the other o ne a golden crown adorn ed with crosses !. .. If I had kn own that Bulga ria would b e rul ed by a roya l sceptre, I wo uld have lo ng ago go ne to serve some bis ho p ; we sha ll have jo int gove rnme nt, a repub lican o ne ... " A nd you , unc le Vasil , what a re yo u going to be afte r we' ll have been freed ?", Boiil Geo rgiev as ked him o nce in the presence of three othe r disciples, Angel K' nt ev, Oimitar Op~ti a nd Sava Mla d e nov. " When Bulgaria will have been freed there is no wo rk fo r me left he re a mo ng you", a nswe red Levs ki. 'Then I'll go to Russia to constitute committees, since a ltho ugh the re are no t a ny turba ns the re, the people are nevertheless more o ppressed tha n he re".

This was the idea l of the Bulgarian revolutio naries: "a governme nt acco rding to the mo de l o f the Swiss fede ra ti ve republic". T hey did not wa nt to li bera te Bulgaria so that n ow a prince can reign a nd c rus h the people with high taxes.

Their s truggle was sacred and they wa nted the people to govern a nd ru le a lo ne. He who fi ghts fo r the freedo m of a peo ple s hould prepare the masses o f the people a nd instil into them hatred for a ny kind o f world government. Our idea ls a nd as pira tions s ho uld includ1.: the most freedom-loving a nd broad-based d ema nds, which wi ll open up wide spaces fo r the people's self-govern ment.

May we use the libera ting stru ggle o f o ther peoples in the past as a n exa mple o f how we cann ot expect to atta in o ur

39

freed om by its being gra nted to us by somebody. Everybod y should nurture the enlightment o f the people in o rder to speed up the moment when a ll of us will call o ut :

Death to the ty rants!

DIMO HA D.LI DIMOV 8 ON TH E S IGN I FICANC E OF THE M O RZSTEG R EFORMS 9 "'The M .1cedon i11n Questi on ··~

1904

The proposed reforms in the a utumn o f last year in MU rzsteg are a lread y a fact - a fact created a nd imposed o n us b y European diplomacy, a fact of such significan ce tha t we cannot have a ny control ove r it. For the time being we shall say a few words about the significance of tha t vact for the Organization, inviting others to express their o pinio ns on this question, so that it can be mo re broadly expounded.

The essence of last year's, so-called Mi.lrzsteg Reforms, as we a lready know, is that the three Macedo nia n vilayets of Sa lo nika, Skopje a nd Bito la be di vided up a nd put under the r'.l le o f one C hief Inspector and two Deputies, civil agents, one fro m the Russian side and the other from Austro-Hungaria n side, a nd tha t the genda rmerie a nd po lice in these vilayets be put under the contro l of a general of a foreign n atio nality with addi ti o nal military offi cials by the G reat Powers, which a re o bliged to reorganize as well as to contro l the m, and in o rder to achieve this aim better the three vi layets a re to be di vided up into fiv e sectors, each o f them contro lled by fc ur or fi ve European o ffi cers.

What is the significance of these Reforms for the O rganizatio n ?

The exte rna l, internatio n al positio n of the Macedonia n Questio n has a lways been o ne of the most painful points for the Organizatio n. The interests of ma n y big and sma ll states • Xa: tll(II 1l1l\10e. L11l\10. M:1~·e:1011n·1111 ob11poc. ( .. PeeoJ11-01u1011epc11 .1 11CT"').

40

Augusl JO. 1904.

coincide in M acedonia, so th at the Orga nization, which has always realized that, could never free itself from the fear that its ideal could be sha tte red o n e day and that the Mafedo nian Questio n would be solved by d isme mbering the living bo dy o f the unfortuna te country o r by lasting occupation by o n e of -the most interested Great Powers, such as Austria. And that question, which has to rme nted a nd deprived Maced o nia of power a nd ene rgy, has been especia lly inte nsified during the last few years, when va rio us d irty hands have tried to make use of these condi tio ns ... With the MUrzsteg Reforms a n e nd has been put to such a positi on. T he three Macedonian vilayets, as we have seen above, are separate within on e who le a nd are put und t:r the control of o ne Chief Inspector a nd two civil agen ts - a nd with this the fo undations of ii future integra l Macedo nia are clearly set. And not o nly here, but also in a ll the other items of the Reform Progra mme - the budget, gendarmerie, etc. - the same tendency is present...

The danger o f the dism e mbering o r occu patio n of Macedonia by some of the Po wers can be consid ered excl uded with the Mi.lrzsteg Reforms, p rima rily because, alth ough they were proposed by Russia a nd Austria- Hungary, they have been accepted a nd set under the federal surveillance of all the Europea n powers. T his is the first point. T he second o ne is that with the MU rzsteg Reforms the federal Euro pean Powers, thro ugh their immedi a te agen ts (civil age nts, attaches, etc.), come closer to the persecuted Maced o nian po pulati on itself. Paragraph I of the Reform Programme strictl y obliges the civil agents to d raw their attention to the n eeds of the C hristian popula tion, to no tify all acts of caprice by the local authorities a nd to repo rt to their respective governments everything that happens in the country. Wi th these reforms, we repeat, Eu rope comes closer to the to rtu red masses themselves and is given the possibility of hearing their pulse itself. Thirdly : prior to the MUrzsteg Reforms the o nl y sovereign a uthority in whose hands was the fate of the e nslaved M acedonia n po pulatio:1 was the Turkish autho rities; it dea lt with the populatio n in its own way - it sla ughtered , it hanged. The European Powers looked on with fol d ed arms.

The Congress of Berlin , that gave these Powers the right to intercede in favour of the e nslaved Macedonian C h ristian, rema ined dead wo rds on paper; it was respected neithe r by 41

Turkey, nor by the mselves. With these Re form s a n e nd has a lso been put to this sta te of affair; Europe takes the res ponsibility for the questio n of the Macedo nia n C hristia ns into i ,; o wn hands, and the destiny o f the la tter now depends primaril y on it. Fourthly: it is n ot lo ng time since a representati ve of o ne of the Great Powers in Constantinople sa id to a Russian correspondent tha t there were no revo lutionaries in Macedon ia, that there were o n ly bandits who robbed and butchered the popula tio n, and tha t the teachers a nd priests there were nothing but suppo rters a nd fri e nds of these bandits. And when later, with the organizational development, military detachment were crested rapidly thro ughout the country, the diplomats began to cry that these were detachments sent from Bulga ria, with who m the po pu la tio n had n othing in common. They were not considered a people who lo nged fo r justice, but a humble, ignorant mass tha t could be easily exploited by o ne rul e r o r another... The Mi.irzsteg Reforms have put a n e nd to thi s, too. According to them , the populatio n is to be considered an element that struggles for justice, tha t struggles under the same 17ag a lo ngside the oth er, previously liberated peo ples.

In a few words, the significance o f the Mi.irzsteg Reforms is in the fo llowing: ins ura nce of the integrity of Macedonia, the rapprochement of E uro pe to the enslaved masses through d irect bodies, the taking on of responsibility fo r the Macedonian Q uestio n by Eu rope and the acknowledgement of the population as a n ele me nt that fights for j ustice.

The points mention ed above certainly cannot satisfy the population in the slightest a nd a re even fart her away from the idea l that the Organiza tion has set itself; but, in s pite of a ll th at, they a re of gre,H impo rtan ce for us.

With the insura nce of the integrity of Macedonia a nd with the acquisitio n of international s tatus fo r our questio n, on the on e ha nd the re is n o possibility fo r the great number of big a nd sma ll diplomats to dip the ir filthy hands into our problems, a nd o n the other, the gro unds for the c ha uvin ist struggled, that the governm ent s upported in an drti ficia l way a nd that exha usted the poor a nd persecuted population, a re removed. With the Reforms favo urable conditions have now been created for uniting a ll the ele ments dissatisfi ed wi th the

42

present regim e and for their united struggle agains t the common en emy - the Turkis h Tyra nn y. And since the popula tion is acknowledged as an ele ment tha t s truggled for justice a nd s ince the European Powers are becoming c loser to that eleme nt, the Organization must s pread greater awareness a mo ng the popula tion a nd o rganize it better. The committed, well-organized slave is in a position to impress Euro p e; onl y whe n it sees him in such a role wi ll it force itself to gra nt him wha t he has so lo ng struggled for and what he has given such innumerable dear victims fo r - freedo m .

Briefl y in other words, there is now a clear field for the activities of the O rganization, the re are possibilities and s timuli for a mo re regular development, a nd a grea t a nd s ure s tep forward has been made towards the ach ievement o f its final a im - freedom . T his is, according to us, the significance of the Mi.i rzsteg Reforms for the Organization .

Dimo H. Dimov BULGAR IAN POLI C Y STRA INS BY INT IMIDAT ION TO PARALYS E TH E IN STIN CT FO R SELF- PR ESE RVATION IN T H E MACEDONIAN PEOPLE " Buck to Autonomy "â&#x20AC;˘

1919

It is practically fo rb idden for them (the Macedoni a n people in Bulgaria) to think about their own d estiny and to seek a way out of the present situa ti o n . By intimidatio n, Bul ga rian policy strains to pa ralyse in these peo ple the instinct fo r self-preserva tion, to s uffo r:ate and deaden the birth o f those ideas tha t would save the m from the ir be ing div ided up by the ir enemies, to kill tha t powerful a nd li ving for mul a that has been b o rn of itself in the ir minds - the formula for the preservation o f their integrity and inC:epende nâ&#x20AC;˘ X.

Ll1l\10ob. Ll1l\10. H 1JJ11:J.b Kb\/ aoro1101111R1a.

Sofia, 19 19, pp.

45- 46.

43

ce. That feeling, that conscio us nes::., that solution, common 10 the e ntire Maced o ni a n peo ple, is in complete contradicito n to the aims of Bulgarian po licy. And if it succeed s in kee ping the Bulga ri a n publi c in erro r, it will commit a seri o us c rim e to wards the Macedonian peo p le, who have n ever had a nything to s hare a m o ng the mselves but who could be m aste rs of their destinies, if o nly they would break with th e past and s peak direct ly in the ir own language.

Such is the situatio n to day. For th e Maced o ni a n p eople to credit conte mpo rary Bulga ri a n po licy means tha t it has surre ndered to comp lete self-negation . But this cann o t happen, this cann o t be. It is a questio n o f a w ho le na tion , who cannot be sacrificed in favour o f a po licy".

MACE DONIA SHOULD BE L EFT TO THE MACE DON IANS "A Bulleti n ot' 1hc Provis,01111/ Hc:presenfiltive Omce"'" ~

1919 To the Editor Sir, Whi le the Peace Conference is busy altering the map of Euro pe, many small peoples, forgotten by now, aspire with greater o r lesser prospects o f success towards a uto no m y. But there is a peo ple nobo d y has s poke n abo ut a nd who is d e nied by many the right to speak and to be listened to, a ltho ugh its name has filled the columns o f the E uropean press during the last half century.

This people was even an a pple of discord a t the beginning of the present connict. Austria aspired to swallow it up whole; Serbia, Greece and Bulga ri a first m a de an alliance in o rder to conquer it ; th en they fought amo ng th em selves to di vide it up into three p a rts; fina lly, a fter th e ho rribl e confu-

#

1919.

44

pp.

6to,1 Cl 11 111,

2-3.

tta ope\lCIIIIOTO llpe.JCT:1811 I C. ICTBO, N°. 3. May 2}.

sio n in which o ther acto rs a nd o th e r inte rests took part, the) now want, so it seems, to s plit it up into two parts.

The organic apple is M acedon ia .

M acedonia seems to exist o nl y to be divided up: in the same way a s a water-m e lo n - w hen it is ripe it is p redete rmi ned to be eaten up by the fam il y.

Is it no t p ossible, d ea r Sir, to say that th e best m eans o f putting a n end to the c0nnict is, as has hap pened in o ther cases, no t to a llow it to beco m e a subject of a rg um en t fo r anybody ?

Neither th e Serbs, no r the Greeks o r th e Bulgarian -.. sh o uld have M acedon ia for themselves. Let them leave it s impl y to the M aced o nia ns. T h e Macedonia ns th e mselves ask no thin g m o re tha n th at. They are even asto nis hed w h 1, a fte r there we re found en c :.igh reasons to gra nt a ut o no m y and freedom to a ll the peopl es freed fro m Turkis h sla ve ry during th e 19th century, the re is now no willingness to continue th is practice with the m , too. Out the ir his torica l ri ghts are as o ld as th ose o f th e Greeks a nd m uc h o lde r th an the ri g hts o f the Serbs, Bulgarians o r Romanians. T he unit y of la ng uage, even th o ugh it is no t in fact so necessa ry (as witn essed by Switze rl a nd, Be lgium an d man y o ther countries), is s uffi cie nt, beca use th e M aced o nians ha ve li ved togethe r a nd unde rstood each other continu a lly during th e rul e o f th e O tto man Empire o f fi ve centu ries. The geogra phica l a nd eco no mic unity o f M acedonia is much better provided within her n at ura l borders than that of her n eig hbouring co untries: th e ri ver basins of th e three ri vers th a t n ow towards their mouths (S tru ma, Va rd ar, Bistrica), encircled o n her s ides by hi gh moun ta ins a nd o pen toward s th e sea o n th e two sides of Sa lo nika, th e port a nd ca pita l o f th e w ho le a rea.

As fa r as racia l aod religio us un ity is concerned. in wha t country d oes tt exist ! So, w hy di smember Macedo nia ... ?

In fact, these poor Macedon ia ns have fo ught in a ll ca m ps; therefo re, they ca nn ot accuse th e m of o ne crim e m o re, as they do no t accuse either th e Alsatians, o r th e Poles.

Eq ua lly sus pected by all three s ides, th e M acedo nia n peas an ts have foug ht bravely a nd with love for " th ei r own co untry", ,i nd have tho ug ht o f it nei the r as Bul garia . no r a s 45

Serbia o r G reece (although it is a scribed to them ), but of their d ear Macedo nia.

If o ne finds this attitude sensible, here is the practical side of the questio n: Maced o ni a, ra ised to the sta tus o f a n a uton o mous a nd ne utra l stale, with Salo nika as a free port, would have the fo llowing adva ntages: I. T o serve as a commo n gateway towa rds the sea for the sm all neighbourin g Ba lka n states; 2. To play the ro le of a buffe r sta te betwee n G reece a nd Bu lga ria , irrecon c ila ble e ne mies o f centuries; 3. To set a border o n the way to Consta ntino ple a no to prevent a ny restora tion of the Byza ntine Empi re; 4. To en sure intern ationa lizatio n of Mount Athos, at present accessible o nly to the O rth od ox; 5. To protect the interests o f the num ero us a nd lo ng-estab lis hed J ewish popula tio n in Salo nika (abo ut 80,000); 6. T o ensure the signifi cant passage of Fre nch and Catho lic innuence that ex ist in M aced o nia a nd wh ich, in case of her partitio n , would have to be exti nguished a nd disappear; For the sceptics with reserves o ne can a lso pro pose the following : 7. To serve a lso as a bait for a future confedera ti on o f the Ba lka n states.

Here is materi a l for lo ng and d ifficu lt writing; b ut I do no t wish , Mr Ed itor, to try your pa tien ce nor tha t o f yo ur readers.

W o uld you at least care to present in the columns o f yo ur esteemed newspaper th is new a ttitude of think ing about a nd app roaching the pro ble m : c reating a new Switze rl and in the Ba lka ns, o r a n ew Maced o nian republic, indepe ndent a nd neutral ?

It seems lo me that ma ny cultured mi nds will no t consider this questi o n insignificant. The s park tha t ignited the war leapt fro m those places there a nd it will lea p up aga in if the Bulgari a n nint a nd the Greek steel are left in cont,ict o nce again . A n eutra l body s hould be pul betwee n the m - a n a utonomous Macedonia.

Pa u l Hristov

46

The Macedonian Serres R evolutionary Group T H E LIB E RATION AND I ND E PENDEN CE OF MACEDON IA IS NOT AN AC T OF HOSTILITY TOWARDS T H E FREE BALKAN P EO PLES

19 19 Faith ful to our previous struggle in the Macedon ia n li beration movement for the achieveme nt of a nationa l ideal whi ch d id not co incide with the aspiratio ns of Ba lkan nation a lism and imperiafis m, the ad herents of the revolutionary orga n izati on th at worked in the fo r mer Serres rev o lutionary di strict, hav ing in mind a ll the past a nd future events, make the following declaratio n : I. Instead o f the nag of Balkan nationalism, which h as broken the whole of the Balkan Peninsula into pieces with its aspira tio ns to conqu e r a nd govern the other countries a nd peoples, we raise the o ld n ag o f Macedoni an autonomy, the n ag of Ba lka n concord and future Ba lka n brotherhoo d.

2. Macedo n ia should be constituted within he r app ropri ate geographical borders and he r basis of Salo nika and th e vall ey of the R iver Vardar; Skopje and Bitola should have th eir ow n natura l geographical and economi c hi nterla nd .

3. T he te rrito ri a l liberation of Maced onia is not a n act of hostility towards the free Balka n peoples, nor is it a forceful a nd separatist mu tila tion o f their territo ries. It s ho u ld be con stit uted fo r the sake of all a s a wel l-rounded geographical unit and rep resen t u nited capita l in vested for the commo n e nterp rise of those p eo ples, which s hall j oi n them in livi ng in peace, sincere cooperation and a n honourable future.

4. Macedonia s ho uld have for herself, fo r the n atio nalities who live there and for her Ba lkan brothers the most suitable fo rm of government, created acco rdin g to the example o f the Swiss Federal Republic, with fu ll and equa l freedom for a ll the nationaliti es in an edu cational, religio us, political, cultura l a nd econo mic sense under the protecto rate o f the league o f the free de mocra ti c na ti o ns.

T he An: hi vc

or Maced onia

47

TH E I D EAL OF T H E NATIONA LI ST AC Q U IS ITIV E POLI C Y W AS A G R EATER BU LG AR IA ··(,rc,11a 811/~11ri11 or rhe /)<1//.. ,m Sociuli.,1 Repuhlic?··•

19 19 "-J1rn \\ h1.:n the day is a pproaching. on which the Bu lgaria n hnurg-.:ot~ie will be ca lled upo n pe rsonall y to sign the death sentence o f its na tiona list acquisiti ve po licy, the Macedon ia n Q ues tio n a ga in a ppears o n th e scene. T he question of wha t the Bulga rian governme nt s ho uld d e ma nd is exa mined in the rress a nd in the circles o f Maced o ni'a n emigra nts the a n nexatio n o f M aced o nia to Bul garia o r the a uto no m y of Maced o nia? In othe r wo rds, a n o ld questio n is being revived, but it is n either being resolved correctl y n o r posed correctl y.

T o day, the rea l essence o f the q uestio n is: "Greater" Ru lga r ia o r a Balka n repub lic'! For, o n the o ne ha nd, the a nnexatio n of Macedo nia, tha t o ur na tio na lists wa nt, is inserarably connected wi th the achi evem ent o f the Greater Bulgaria n11tiom1/ist .. idea ls .. o f the Bulga ri a n bo urgeo isie, i.e. wit h th e estab lish me nt of " Grea ter" Bul ga ria: for, o n the othe r hand, a uto no mo us Macedo nia could be neither crea ted nor coul d its exis ten ce be imagined o utside o ne Ba lkan republ ic, and it co uld not be achi eved except as o ne o f the a uto no mous regio ns constituting a fut ure Balkan Socia list RLpubl ic o f Counci ls (Sov iets).

First o f a ll , let us consider o ne o f the a lte rn a ti ves - the " G reater" Bulga r ia. Is it possibl e ? Regretta bl y, it has irretrievably sai led o ff into the unreacha b le c lo ud y he ights o f the na ti on a list imaginatio n. "Grea te r" Bulga ria - it was Bulgaria " united .. with Macedo n ia, T hrace, the Do bruja a nd Mo rava regio ns: Bu lgaria whic h wo u ld have twice as much territo ry a nd tw ice as la rge a po pul a tio n as previo usiy, a nd whose .. newly li berated .. countri es. accord ing to th e offi c ia l sta tistica l d ata (mai nly in " T he Monthl y News .. of the Department o f Statistics, December, 19 I 7), wo uld ha ve an a rea of over 200 tho usand squ a re k ilo metres a nd a popula tio n of over 8

• lj h. lla!K,.I ,U\l~IIIICl l l'ICCIW 11a p lllij (1.C. ). /Je . 1//A", I D/,.f/;1p11H II. Il l

1;.,

4~

,..,11,cK,I , •p1111.I.111c, 11•1cn-.·1f1t'll_ni. 111A·:I :'. Solia.

19 19.

millio n ; Bulgaria whose s ho res woul d be washed by all the seas of the Balkan Penins ula - the Black, White and the Blue seas•• (the Bulga rian a utho rized m in iste r in Berli n, the la te D. Rizov, in his re po rt to the Brest-Lito vs k Confe rence 12, demanded an ex it for Bulgaria th rough A lbania to the Adriatic Sea, i.e. the Blue Sea) ; Bulga ria which was to have the valleys of a ll the big rivers o n the Ba lkans: the Ya rda r, Morava a nd Maritsa, a nd which was to ho ld a ll the great ports o n the Peni nsula: Kjustendza 13 a nd Salo nica (not renoun cing C onstantinople e ither - in 19 12 Ferdi na nd pre[)ared his imperial coach fo r a festi ve entry into " the C ity o f Empero rs•·, and A. Ma li nov decla red fro m the p la tfo rm o f the N a tio na l Counc il : " We s ho uld put the ho nourable C ross o n St. So phia 's instead of the c rescen t"; Bulgaria which was to become the greatest a nd the most po werful state in the middle of the Ba lkans a nd acquire hegemo ny over a ll Ba lkan p eoples.

R ados lavov excla imed in the N a tio nal Counc il fo r that " G reater" Bulgaria which was a lmost wholl y con q uered in the recent war : " Where the Bul garia n foot has tro d, the ground wi ll be Bulgaria n I", a nd a ll the bourgeois and petty-bourgeois, rightist a nd le ftist parties re p lied : " It w ill re main Bulga ri a n !"

Well, today it is clear to everybody that the nationalist acquisiti ve po licy a nd its " idea l" of the .. G reater" Bulgaria have irreversibly fa iled. H isto ry has never pro no unced a mo re ruinous verdict on a po licy a nd the plans o f the ru ling class ha ve never failed more drastica ll y.

But the fai lure of the na tionalis t policy destroys the last hopes fo r the " li beratio n" of Maced o n ia by h er a nne xation to Bulgaria.

H avin g seen its ho pes fo r the a nnexatio n of Macedonia fai l, a sectio n of the Bu lgarian bou rgeo isie has again raised the n ag of a uto no mo us M aced on ia. The auton o my of Maced o nia is an o ld n ag. Before it s poke o f the a n nexation o f Maced oni a openly, the Bulga ria n bo urgeoisie covered up its n ation a list acq uisitive policy with the slogan o f an a utonomo us Maced onia . lt j ustified its na ti o na list propaganda in Macedonia with t he password o f "au to no m y". But a lwa ys when actio n was needed fo r the " libera tio n " of Macedon ia , the Bulga rian bou rgeoisie left auto nomy aside. With the Bui4 The

H i st o ri cal

Trut h

49

garo -Serbia n T reaty of 19 12 it agreed the pa rtitio n o f Maced o nia a nd the a nn exatio n o f the " indisputa ble zone" to Bulgaria; it even did something mo re - in pa ragra ph 4 o f the "secret supple ment" to the Trea ty it reserved the right to all th e countries on the cast of the Ri ver Strum a a nd the Rhod o pe Mo unta ins, acknowled ging the right o f Serbia to all the countri es o n the no rth a nd west o f M o unt Sara. In o the r words, the Bul garia n bo urgeoisie were not aspiring towards a utono my but to wa rds the disme mbering o f Maced onia. M o reover, it agreed with the Serbi a n bo urgeoisie the di vision o f the who le of European Turkey, keeping Thrace fo r itself a nd leaving Alba nia to Serbia. These we re the " ideals" for whic h the bourgeoisie a nd the mo na rchists led the Bulgarian people into wa r fo r six yea rs a nd pushed it into two horrible n ation al catastrophes.

T od ay the Bulgaria n people is left disunited and enslaved as it was before the wars. But those who raise anew the n ag of a uto no my for Maced onia a re ma king vai n effo rts to resurrect a policy which is already buried in the eyes o f histo ry. Neithe r the Bulgarian, no r the Serbia n o r Greek bo urgeoisie wa nt a uto no my, since it was the wa rs that increased a nd mad e irreconcila ble the a ntago nisms between the m ; a n a utono mo us Maced o nia wo uld become the stage for new wars on the ve ry foll owing d a y afte r the procla m a tion o f a uto no my.

Alo ngside the fa ilure of the na tio na list acquisitive policy o f "Greater" Bulgaria, (the " libe rating" missio n of the bourgeoisie towa rds their "enslaved b rothers") a lso fin a lly fa iled . Tod ay, the libera tion of the subjugated peoples could be achieved o nly by the peoples the mselves, i.e. by the workin g class a nd the poor classes, who re present the great majority o f the masses. But the working class will no longe r sacrifi ce fo r the acquisitive a ppeti tes of the b ourgeoisie a nd mo na rchists; they fi ght n ot for "Greater" Bulgaria, but fo r a Balka n federal republic. A republic in the Balka ns - this is the slogan tha t the wo rking masses accept today in a ll the Balka n sta tes. A re public in the Ba lka ns, achieved by the peopl es themselves, would not be a bo urgeois republic. No, it will be a nd can only be a socia list republic. T he achievement of tha t republic will be the wo rk of the rising revolutio n, whic h will break n ot onl y the chains o f mo na rchi sm, but will also establish the power of the wo rking class a nd the poor

50

classes, o f th e councils o f th e workers' a nd peasan ts' dep uties. No t a n a uto n o mo us Maced o n ia, b ut a Balka n socia list fed e ral re pub li c o f co un cils, in whi ch Macedo nia would be a n a uto no mo us regio n with equa l rights with th e o the r Ba lka n sta tes - this is the o nly safe way for the li beration of Maced o nia a nd fo r the na ti o nal un ificati o n o f the Bu lga ria n peo ple.

T he wo rk ing people in Macedo ni a, as well as the ex iled wo rking a nd poor Maced on ia ns, ca nno t ex pect a nything eithe r from the Euro pean imperialist sta tes, or fro m the Pa ris Conference, o r the o ld methods of "kom itadj i" struggle.

T h eir !ibera tio n a nd sa lva tio n lie in their struggle under the n ag o f the Co mmunist Pa rty, und er the n ag o f the Socia list revolutio n, that brings freed o m a lso to the subj ugated peoples.

A pamphlet of June 29, 19 19. T he fo llowing advice is written in the margin : Read 1hi5 and hand it o n to the Macedo nian workers and the poor.

The Bulgarian Work ers' Party (Communists) 14 TH E MACE D ON IAN PEO PLE HAS FO UND U ND E R T H E L EAD ERS HIP OF TH E CO MM U NIST PARTY OF Y UGOS LA VIA ( KPJ) TH E ONLY TR UE WAY TO WARDS ITS LIB ERAT IO N, UNIFI C ATI O N A N O I NDEP EN D E NCE ··wor~cr.~· Nt'w.\ ••,..

1920 The victo ry in the electio ns" wo n by o ur fra terna l pan y in Yugoslavia is o f great sign ificance for Maced on ia ... T he Bul garian a nd Serbia n bourgeoisie for ma ny years a nd especially during th e war ha ve fo ught a duel in thi s coun try fo r supermacy, pillage a nd plund er betwee n the m . Now over • Pu(io I llll'ICCK/1 llt'CIIIIK. Opra11 11a 6 bJJI ape Ka I u nap111H , Sofia. 1920, N°. 65, September 2J, 1920.

4•

KO\IY II II CTll'ICCKa

51

some of her town<; and villages the red internationa l nag of revolutio na ry Communi sm is ra ised . T his eve nt is a t rue defeat, not only for the Yugo~lc1v bu t c1 lso fo r the Bulga ri c1n bourgeoisie, which has as pira tion s towards Ma ced onia. It is in fa ct a ba nk ruptcy o f the nati onalist poli cy of both the hostile bourgeoisies. The Macedo nian poeple has fo und the o nly true way towards it~ lihcra tio n, unificati on and independence - it is the wa y of Comm unism, a lo ng which the Yugoslav Commun ist Party leadr, it in associati on with the who le of the co mm itted a nd milita nt Ba lk a n proletariat.

·anko1·'" MR. AL EKSAN DAR STAM 130 LJ S K I 17 , PR ES ID ENT OF T H E BU LGJ\R IJ\N GOVE R NM ENT, I F I WE RE SU RE T HAT T H r. PETRI ( REG ION WO UI.D NOT BE OCC U PIED BY ITS NE 1G HBO U RS, YOU COULD PROC LAIM A Rt PUIJLI C T H ERE A ND I WOULD NOT STAND IN YOU R WAY ··,\/.1 Word .. •

1923 ... In another meeting Sta mboliski told me : " Why don't yo u assess t he actua l si tuati on o f affairs which neither we nor yo u a re guilty of? It was Ferdina ndism whose po licy disun ited the two fraterna l peopl es (This relates to the Bulgari an peop le and th e Macedo ni a n popu lation - editor's note). You a re too weak to fight with modern Yugoslavia , possesses its wa r gains in accordance with the pea ce treaties, however severe they may be, and which has th en guaranteed by the sma ll and great trea ties, and even before the League o f Nati ons. If this is not gra nted to you, the n support the Republican Party there. Fo r!] parliamenta ry groups in Belgrade.

• ]am,O0 h.

r ..

/110Hl,I . I) 1/.J.•• M a KC. IOll l" hO

19'.'7, N". 40, pp. 9- 11.

52

IC IO ... ) L·,ir

II . Apri l :i5.

Athens. even in So fi;.i _ if yo u wan t! I wo ul d say a few words more. If I were sure that the Petri c region would not be occupied by its neighbou rs, proclaim a republi c there and I wo uld not stand in your way."

A Group o f Macedonian Revolutionaries

MACEDON IA BELONGS TO T H E MAC EDONIANS, WH O HAVE A R IG HT TO INDEP EN DENT NATI ONAL AND PO LITI C AL EXISTEN CE ..l)imo fl:,d)i IJ1mo1. the Pi/11-rim ··

1924

He survived the wave of the ripening a nd defeat o f the Il inden Upris in g. He carried in himself a ll the bilterness, a ll the suffering, all the misery o f his peo ple. And alo ngside the tho usa nds like him , whose teacher a nd leader he was, the Pilgrim nou rished the idea of the li beration of his own peo ple through a rmed independent s•ruggle, through the revolu tionary struggle of the who le peo ple, alongsid l! a ll the revo lutionary fo rces aga inst a ll the o ppresso rs o f peo ple, aga inst th e national ists on a ll sides. Macedo nia belongs to the Macedonians, who have a right Lo an independent natio na l and po liti cal existence. Macedonia can not belong either to the Bulgari an na tiona lists, or lo t he Serbia n or Greek ones ; Maced oni a sho uld belong to th e Macedonian people, who, a longsid e a ll the revolutiona ry force~ on t he Balkans, will a chieve her freedom with arms in their ha nds. T his wa~ the great idea that th e Pi lgrim ca rried in his heart, <1nd tho,;e who ended hi'i li fe were afraid of it a nd not or the power o f its r ro pon t'nt : they were estra nged servants and tool,; of Bul ga ri an natio nalism, which wanted Macedo nia not fo r the Macedonia n peo ple, but for the acq uisiti ve Bu lgaria n bou rgeo isie. They tho ught that with th e murder of th e pro pon ent of that idea • rpy11a \ ',1.1:-i.·11 , 1111 1011.

\IU KC, IO II CJ; ll f)C HO-IIOltl lO IICf) I I -

(

<lrl1llll, \ ,/

/!I.I/HI, / , { 111/(1

(A necrology of 19~4).

53

they wou ld a lso dest roy t~ e idea itself. The candlestick has fa llen but the can dle has remained to give light a nd it will cont inu e to give lig ht in sp ite of everythin g. Its lig ht orig inates from the idea of the revolutionary li berati o n of Maced oni a a s a country no t o f Bulgaria, Serbia o r Greece, but a s a coun try o f the Macedonia n people . And it is impla nted in th o usands o f hearts, in the w ho le o f the Macedonian people w ho has been persec uted fo r centruries and who has neverth e less li ved o n a nd s ha ll continu e to live.

T he murders a r e ex plain ed as internal affa irs of th e Orga nization infected by Bo ls hevis m . Bolshevis m today represents an indulgence wi th whi ch th e most disgustin g cri t.ti na l acts towa rd the work ing people are fo rgiven.

Th e fascist governm ent has liquidated a ll the revolutiona ri es tha t have stood in its way in the an nexati on o f M acedo n ia to Bu lga ri a. W ith thi e ir liquidation it ho p es to destroy the idea they have fo ug ht for. Ca nkov wants to use the M acedo ni a n Orga nizatio n as a weapon of Bulgaria n nationa lis m .

T he Macedo ni an peop le kn ow ve ry well w hat they have lost with th e m urder o f the Pilgrim . History wi ll des ignate the murde rers a s executi oners of their own peo pl e, as the m ost da nge ro us enemi es of Macedonian freedom , and wi ll raise a m o n ument to Dimo, indestru cti ble by time a nd eternity, as its m ost ded icated and grea test so n.

TH E BULGAR IAN CO MMUN IST PARTY IS THE ONLY ONE THAT OPENLY AC KNOWLEDGES AND AGITATES FOR THE SECESS ION OF " BULGAR IAN" MACE DON IA' 8 AND FOR H ER UN I ON W ITH THE C OMMON FREE FATHERLAND ·ThL' fJulg.uri,111 Communist Purt)' :rnd the M.1cedc>11i11n N11tional Question .. ,.

1924 Up to now a ll o u r bou rgeois g1,vernments without exceptio n have looked o n M acedo ni a with acq uis itive eyef; and have tried a ll possible m eans (Pa60T11 11•1eCKH 0eCTH ~1 K) ' /i h II apc1i.·;, Iii It() ,,y ,11,c I II ,c ...·Ku IIUJ) I IIJI II \lil A·r:. /(JIICKIIJI "'"· 11,11poc. .. Pa Go 1111P1~cK11 occ 11111K" (Or i a11 11a b 1,; 11 ape Ka I a 1

' 11•1cn, 1 11.1p 11ml. Snli, 1.

54

1924. N". , ·,

lltl/(110 1/ll· iro\ly 1111c -

(Wo r ker's News), N°. 32. Sofi a, 1924) to make use o f the struggl e of the Intern a l M acedo nia n Revolutionary O rga n ia tio n ( I.M .R.O.). Nobody can state a ny fac t w here this has not been t he case. Because of the weakness and the to ta l fai lure of the acquisitive policy that has e nded in two catastrophes, it is sufficient to the present White! Gua rdist government, a premature baby of the Bulgarian bourgeoisie, to ru le over o nly o ne pa rt of Macedon ia, and to use the o th e r part as a fill-in. Is it not a lso th e case with the government o f Prof.

Sta nkov and the " Macedo nophi les"? Stojancev is holding talks wi th Pasic o n the followi ng basis: Macedonia and Salonika, Serbia, dissol_uti o n o f the Macedonian o rganizations and ban is hmen t o f the M acedonian revol utionaries from Bul ga ri a, in o rd er to get a n outlet to th e Aegean Sea, a regula r army a nd a loan. This same govern m ent pro hibits a nd co nfiscates the news papers of the Macedonian o rganizations, a nd a rrests the M acedon ian activists on Serbia's requ est.

Now, o n th e occasio n of th e Manifesto a nd Decla ration of th e I. M.R.O., th e governmen t newspapers, )leM . .norooop (Dem ocratic Con tra ct), CJtooo (Word), n panopeu ( Bell) and M1¡1p ( Peace), have m a liciously condemned a real ly indep ende nt policy of the I.M . R.O., w hi ch, if cons istentl y implemented, wou ld un avoidab ly lead to cooperation with the revo lutionary forces in the Ba lkans. Mo reover, the MHp newspap er pu b lis hed a n article where it dem a nds a revision of the r evolu ti ona ry methods o f the I. M.R.O. and reco mmends " d em ocratic metho d s" - ap peals a nd pleas to the Leagu e of Natio ns. Not o ne o f those o ffi cial government bodies has open ly come out a nd declared: " Yes, Macedonia should be g ra nted complete independence within he r indepen dent borders. The Bulgarian 6 overnm ent is willing to r enounce a part o f its co untry a nd to ackn owledge the right of secess ion o f that part fro m Bulga ri a, wh ich sho u ld be attac hed to the un ited a nd independent Macedo nia." T h is is wha t the Bulgarian bourgeoisie, both its righ tist a nd leftist parties, have never admi tted and wi ll never admit When a party th a t calls itself a social d em ocratic party, like the Broad Party (Soci a lists), is aga inst a n independ e nt M acedo nia but ackonowledges some ,~-, li tical ri ghts fo r the mino ri ty, will it at least admit the g reed a nd desire o f th e bourgeoisie to conquer and plunder o ther co untries? In the Hapo.n ( Peo ple) newspaper it has cle-

55

a rly condemned the revolution ary method of the I. M .R.0. a nd suggested wooing and bowing before England a nd France, which will any way ta ke care of Macedonia. This is exactl y what the Rroads (the Socialists) do, carrying o ut the decisio ns o f this year's (Socia list) Confe rence in Buc ha rest, 19 which has ackn owledged the right of the Ba lkan bourgeoisies to ho ld foreign peo p les in slave ry.

Whil e a ll the bo urgeois pa rties, both rightist a nd le ftist, :., :¡e decisively opposed to a f1 e-e a nd indep endent Macedonia, co ndemn i11g wha t is most positive in the I. M.R.O. - its independent policy a nd revolutiona ry metho d - the Bu lgari a n Communist Party is the o nly o ne, a nd the workers a nd the peasa nts a lone in d eclaring the msel ves not o n ly for a n independent Maced o nia, approving not o nly o f the revolutionary methods and the independent policy of the I.M .R.0 ., but a lso openly acknowledging a nd agita ting for the secession of " Bulgaria n" Maceconia a nd fo r her union wit h the commo n free fa therla nd, unmasking at every step the filth y attempts o f the Bu lga ria n bourgio isie to interfere in the activities a nd struggle o f the I.M.R.O. a nd givi ng unreserved a nd very great suppo rt to the revolutio nary effo rts a nd the struggle of the Maced o n ia n revolutio n a ry movemen t.

~6

ALL TH E ACTIONS OF BULGARIAN GOVERNM ENTS D I RECTED AGA I NST THE I NDE PENDENCE OF TH E MACE DONIAN QUESTION AND AGAINST THE INDEPENDENT MOVEM E NT AMONG E M IGRANTS HAVE BEEN FO R US, THE MACEDONIANS, ONLY NEW OFFENCES AGAINST MACE DONIA ..A Memorandum of the M anaging Body of the /linden Organization ..,• •

1924

TO THE PRES IDENT OF TH E MINISTERIAL C OUNC IL There have b een a series of insta nces whe n th e Bulgarian state has a ttemped to set the development of the Maced o nian Question within its o wn scope of interest. While it was thought that a powerful Bulga ri a befo re 1912 cou ld have settled the Maced o nian Questio n, while it was usual to witness ho w the sta te a ttempted to direct the acti vities o f the Macedonia n emig rants, afte r the last catastrophes that estranged Bu lgaria n diplo macy from its ways o f liberation , it became obvious to everybody tha t the Maced o ni a n Q uestion could be directed o n the ri ght way o n ly in the true directio ns which the Macedonia n Inte rna l O rga n izat ion gave long ago - the directions toward an inde pendent Macedo ni a; it became clear that the Bulgarian sta te, wh ic h acted in exactly the o pposite directio n - the directi o n of sp heres a nd di visio ns - cou ld not pass in o ur eyes fo r an a dvocate in th is question . It is clear, in other wo rd s, thet the MAC EDON IAN QUESTION IS AN I NTE R NATIO NA L QUESTI ON. It would be a questio n fo r Bulgaria, Serbia a nd Greece o nly if its developm ent co ncern ed th e interna l positio n of these states 1nd if the ~ocicties a nd natio na lities, like the Bulgarians in Bulga ria, the C roats, Mo ntenegrins and Slovenes in Yugoslavia, a nd the progressive c urrents in G reece helped a nd pressed it o nto the interna tio na l scene.

• Me11opa11:iy111, 11a P bKOfJO;JIIOTO 111m1R. N°. 432. April 17, 1924, Sofia.

T-b.70

/1[1 U.11111.1e11n,1111 op, /JIii /·

57

O n the b asis of this prin ciple the emigrants from Macedo nia, scattered thro ughout Bulgaria. Romania, Turkey a1.d America, could n ot po litically follow the directio ns of the corresponding states, but a dvocate a po liti ca l ideal of the ir o wn, s upported by a ll their legal ri ghts.

And when the s ituatio n is such, it must be unde1 stood o nce a nd fo r a ll that the emigra nts in Bulga ria, who act within the limitatio ns o f the laws of the country that has given them hospital ity, ca n ne ither fo llow the po litical tasks of the Bulga ria n state, n o r sacrifi ce the mselves for the sake o f ¡'sta te interests", when these sacrifices are a t the expense of the development of the Ma cedonia n Questi on.

It must be unde rs tood o n ce a nd for a ll tha t Bu lga rian natio nal patriotism, with which Bulgarian statesmen since 1890 up to n ow have o ft en a do rn ed themselves, a nd M aced onia n patriotis m a re two dis tinct things that not o nl y have nothing in commo n but are also in d irect o ppositio n ; a nd that is why a ll the acti viti es o f Bulgaria n gove rnm ents directed against the independence o f th e Maced o ni an Questio n and against the independent emi gra nt moveme nt, a lthough covered up behind the screen of Bulga ria n sta te interests", have been for us, the Maced on ians, only new sins agai nst unfortunate Maced o nia.

So, after Bulga ri a ha d been humilia ted , o ne o f he r first concerns was ra pproc hement with Serbia and, because o ne o f her vita l need s has been the acquis itia n of access to th e White Sea (Aegean Sea), it is obvious to everybody that this rapprochement w ith Serbia - w hich has herself the same a ims con cernin g Saloni ka - is not o nl y im perative but a lso desirable. But, a t the sa me time, it has beco me clea r to us, the Macedonians, that in the name of those "supreme interests" Bulga r ian governm ents have again a ttempted new divisions o f the Ba lka ns a n d acco rdingly a ttempted a solu tion diametrical ly o pposed to the Macedo nia n principle o f a n indepe nd ent Macedonia. But o nl y thro ugh s uch an inde pende nt Macedonia could Bulgaria a nd Serbia both a~q uire their desired access to the White Sea wi thout damaging their na tio na l interests.

This s hort historical review has been necessary, Si r, in o rde r fo r us to call by thei r proper na mes a ll the measures 58

tha t ha ve been used agains t us since 19 18 up to the present day, measures that take new fo rms every day : internments, a rrests, imprisonments, film bans, bans o n assemblies, commemorations a nd congresses - measu res whic h in th e n a me o f " n at io na l in terests" wi ll certa inly lead one day to the s uspension o f the M acedo n ian organizations, a nd in the fi rs t place of o ur organizatio n, as a lready happened o nce when Sta mbo liski was at the head.

And if we look into the basis of the problem, it is obvio us tha t no t o nl y these measu res a re seri o us for us, but that they a lso fo ll ow a precon ceived path: I N ORDER TO R E MO VE I N TH E FACE OF MA CE DON IAN ACTIVITIES a ll tha t b locks the road to rapp rochement of the Bulgari a n s tate with Serbia, these measures will be used until the Maced o n ian orga ni zations become opposed to their own ideals, a n avant-ga rde of the Bulgarian state policy, or unti l they disband. The difference in the application of these trends with different governmen ts can be reduced on ly how they are put into practice: whi le the Cabinet of Stamboliski acted b rutally, Your Cabinet acts either through under mining the a utho rity of the o rganiza tion s, often a scribing its own sins to the Macedo nia ns, o r th rough a system of gradual measures. It is of little importance tha t we a re a legal organization, of little sign ifica nce that with the s us pension o f the news pape rs the very laws are s uspended, of little sign ificance that with the repressive measures and the s us pension o f the newspapers the enemy receives the impression that the re is reall y something secretive in o ur legal o rganiza ti on, of little significance the fact tha t o ne newspap er, o ne assembly o r one film can be no reason fo r fo re ign hosti le actions if t he internat io na l situation did not cause them and vice ve rsa : if it caused them, reasons can be so easil y fo un d , no t in the Macedonian editoria l staffs but within the Macedonian borders. Yes, of little sig ni ficance are all the contradictions, because only the aim is impo rta nt. T H E SU BJ ECT ION OF T H E MACEDON IAN QUESTION AND MACE DONIAN EM IGRANT ACTIVITIES TO BULGAR IAN NATIONA L I NTERESTS IS TH E HI STO RI C AL ROA D OF THE BULGARIA N STATE.

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Altho ug h tod ay, o n the ocassio n o f the s uspens io n of o ur m o uthpiece, th e nHpHH news pa per, we state thi s publicly, we a re doin g so because we think that the presentation o f th e truth is th e most powe rfu l protest.

We sta te this truth before yo u a nd before o ur friends, the llinde n fighters, so that th ey can draw a conclus ion the m selves a bout th e constan t meas ures by the governm ent against us; we state it so that a n end can be put to the legen d that th ere have ever been Bulgarian natio nals who a re M acedono philes.

S imulta n eously with this we would like to sta te to yo u th a t o n account o f o ur indepe ndent ideal, which we canno t sacr ifi ce to your na ti o n a l tendenc ies, we must be trea ted once a nd fo r a ll n ot as part of th e Bul ga ri a n sta te, but a s an independent po litical e le me nt. In the na m e of this independ ence we have sovereig n rig hts like a ll the guests o f th e Bu lgarian sta te: the Turks, Armenians, Russians, G reeks etc. Owi ng to th e sam e reason , we m a n aged to preserve th e M acedo nian o rthogra ph y from th e en croachm ents of the previo us Cabinet, a nd fo r th e sam" reasons we wou ld no t like to be confro nted with yo ur e ncroachments on the Macedo nia n press a nd the activiti es of the M acedo nia n o rga nizatio ns, b ecause if th e Treaty of Neuill y cla ims 2 1 these rig hts for o ur bro th ers in Serbi a a nd G reece, wha t a n iro ny of d estin y it is th at they a re de ni ed to us here!

In the name o f these sovereig n rig hts, in the n a m e of the inte rnationa l agree m ents that a ll ow us lega l act ivity in organi za tio ns, in the n a m e of a bri g hter idea we wa nt to realize - the id ea of a Balkan Federatio n - as a n end to a ll as pira ti o ns fo r conquest a nd d ivisio n, th at have bro ug ht o nly catastro phes a nd d isaste rs, a n idea that resolves both the n atio na l pro ble ms a nd the questio n of access to the sea, we stro ngly pro test, Si r, aga inst a ll yo u r encroachem e nts upon the completely legal cha racte r o f o ur o rgani zatio n a nd dema nd full restoratio n o f a ll o ur vio lated rights! For, if the in clinations o f n ati o na l po licy do no t a llow it, the laws o f the country a llo w it to us enti re ly.

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Pl ease accept, S ir. the express io n o f o ur ou t~tanding res pect for you.

"201h Ju ly". N". ::? /\pril 20. 19::?4

1: 1) 1'1O RI \L ST/\1-1-

THF:. M/\ N/\(, I NU HOUY :

VI. Georgie,

( i o rgi Z,111!-o , Marko l v.1nm Ana )la~ Da pcc, St. /\ha,o, Al. K i1,1110 , Iv. Mo,ko,

/\r,cn1 Jov kov

l he /\ rc hi, c o f Macedo nia.

Scc1io11 : Va ria

SU Pl:R V l Sl NCi ( OM MI SS ION

S I. Pi rce, SI. Ko, ,1tc, 1\1 ih ail (oko,

Vasil K olarov11

WE, T H E BULG AR IAN CO MMUNISTS, NOW MOR E THA N EVER R ECOGNIZf T H E RI G HT OF SELF-DETER Ml NATION OF TH E DIVID ED MACE DONIAN PEO PLE "A 8 11/~:,11 l-nle1,11io11 ..,.

1926 We, the Bu lga r ian Com m un ists, have a lways recogni.ed the dema nd o f the M acedon ia n revo lu tionaries for the freedo m and independence of Maced o nia , a nd have a lways s u pported the stru ggle for its real izatio n as far as we have bee n ab le. Not m o re than ever we recognize the righ t of self-determina tion o f the d ivided a nd s ubju gated M aced onian • Ko. 1.111011, Oac11 1. 611. 1A·1111cK1J <Pe.1ep11111111, Op1 a11 11., 6a.1Ka 11cKa I a ,o,1y1111c 111•1!'C K.1 •l>c.1cpa1u1ii, December 15. 1926, N". 58, pp. I049- 1050.

0

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people a nd we a re read y to help them in a ll the ways possible to b ecome maste rs o f the ir own d estiny.

W e do not do this o nl y b ecause the Communist d octrine places a high value o n the princ iple of self-d ete rmin atio n fo r the s ubjuga ted peo ples, b ut a lso because o f the s pecia l reaso ns tha t co ncern us, the o ther Ba lka n peoples.

The d estinies o f the Balka n peoples a re so c losely conn ,! cted tha t the slavery o f o ne people causes suffe rings in the li ves o f the other Ba lka n peo ples .

The m a in gene rato r o f the unrest a nd insecurity in the Ba lka ns fo r mo re tha n ha lf a centrury has a lways been th : M acedo nia n Questio n - Macedo nia, o ppressed a nd enslaved , has a lways been the ca use o f discord between the Ba lka n sta tes a nd the d esire to possess he r has ma ny times caused the s pa rks o f wa r that ha ve devasta ted the penins ula a nd ruin ed a ll th e Ba lka n p eo ples. And even up to the present d ay, for the same reasons, simila r unrest a nd d estructio n have threaten ed the Ba lka ns.

W e, the Communists, are aware of th is situa tio n a nd have therefore put in our progra mme th e de ma nd for a free and inde pe nde nt Macedo nia.

We consider as unnecessary a ll the effo rts o f the o ppressors o f the Maced o nia n wo rk ers a nd p ea sants to di vide the m a mo ng th emselves, with physical a nd mo ral suppressio n of the will o f the masses.

A ll simila r a tte mpts have fail ed p rim a ril y becau se of the inevitable contradictions tha t ex is t between the classes o f the owners, a nd the n b etween the resista n ce o f the workin g masses o f the Ba lka n sta tes a nd o f fo reign o nes, a nd fina ll y between the unparall eled revolutio na ry stre ngth o f the Macedo ni a n workers a nd peasants, ha rd ened durin g the bitter s truggle o f centuries against the n a tio na l a nd econo m ic yo ke of a ll possible oppressors a nd plundere rs.

W e d o not close o ur eyes to the difficulties tha t sta nd in the way o f the revolutio na ry struggle of the M aced o nia n p eo ple. T he greatest difficulty is no t t ha t Maced o nia is a s ma ll country a nd that he r peo pl e are too few in numbe r to ach ieve th eir freed om by the ir own strength. Other sma ll peo ples have a lso waited a nd seen their struggle fo r freed o m crown ed with fi nal s uccess. T he M aced o nia n people certainly n eed a llies, but the mo re of them o ffer their help, the

62

mo re the real difficul ty li es precisely in the fact that the true a llies - those that a re sincere a nd have a n interest in fi ghting sho ulder to sho ulder with the Macedonia n people against the commo n enem y - are d ifferent fro m the fa lse a ll ies - those tha t a re o ppressors a nd conquero rs themselves, tha t want to use the stru ggle o f the o ppressed M aced o nians fo r their own acquisitive a ims. Besides th'.l.t, there are also ,,kind frien ds" tha t offe r the ir he lp in a n unus ua ll y consp icuous way, a nd th at in fact wa nt o nl y to become ma sters a nd leaders. T he g reatest difficulty li es precisely in the fact tha t the Macedo-

nian revolutionary movement must be freed - morally and materially - from all allies and protectors, from the p ublic oppressors of the Macedonian people and those who are disguised.

It is no secret tha t the M aced o nian revolutio nary moveme nt has been con tinuo usly u ndermined internall y and paralysed extern a lly by su ch "allies".

All the mo na rchist, fascist, bou rgeois governments have t ried to subject at least a sectio n o f this p eople, to tie the Macedonia ns to the ca rt of the ir natio nalist policy of conquest. And they have a ll succeed ed to a greater or lesser extent. It hap pened that at the most decisive moment fo r the M acedo nia n people - a t the ti me o f the Balkan W a rs23 there was no n atio na l revolution a ry M acedo nian organizatio n, stro ng a nd united , that could have opposed the d esires fo r conquest a nd d ivisio n shown by the Ba lka n states. So the d estin y o f Macedo nia was decided without the participation of the M aced o nia n people a nd th is yo ke has vexed the m up to the present d ay.

But, in s pite o f its bitte r experie nces in the wa rs, the weakn ess w ithin the M aced o nia n revo lutio na ry movement has not disappeared ; the influences of the interested Ba lka n governments have continued to fu rthe r weaken a nd divide it.

And wha t is worse, these same influences have caused withi n the moveme nt itself a terrible civil war, that threate ns to weake n the moveme nt even mo re a nd fo r m a ny yea rs. The internal wa r o f blood - that h as ta ken many lives a mo ng the ra nks of the M acedo nia n revolution a ries during the last few years - is unpa ra lleled in the history o f revolutio na ry m ovem ents. T he Po lish people, in their revolutionary struggle fo r freed o m a nd independe nce, have kn own many revol uti o na ry 63

o rga nizati on s, a ll of which have acted independently to gain the confidence of the masses, but their interna l conflicts have n ot led to their reciprocal eradicati o n. A number of p a rties a nd revolutio na ry groups in the Russian revolutio na ry movement have had inte rnal conni cts, but a t the same time waged a united struggle a gainst Tsa ris m. The revolutionary mo vement tha t comes to the po int of gna wing itself interna lly , is no lo nger da n ge ro us fo r the o ppressors; it loses ground a mo ng the masses a nd loses its revo lutiona ry cha racte r.

The g reat be ll o f the lesson o f his tory has called for many yea rs a ll sincere Macedo nia n revo lutio n a ries and has s howed them th e abyss tha t threatens to d estroy the ca use for the libera tio n o f a persecuted people who ha ve yet been harde ned in bitte r struggle.

All the co ntacts o f the Maced o nia n revolutionary movement with a ny Ba lka n government have been s hown to be extre me ly d a maging, n ot o n ly because these contacts have weake ned , ha lted a nd pa ra lysed it as a Maced onian revo luti o na ry movement, but a lso because they have threatened to d eprive this moveme nt o f the s uppo rt o f the Balkan masses, that is to say, to d epri ve it of a ll its true a nd sincere a llies.

Con cernin g this issue , it is suffic ient to p o int to the exa mple o f Bu lga ri a.

The pa rticipatio n o f the Inte rnal Macedoni a n Revolutic, na ry O rga nizatio n ( I.M .R.O.)24 in the bloody suppression of the Bulga ria n wor ke rs a nd peasants during the b ourgeois mon a rchist resto ra tio n , was a mo rtal blow not o nly for the s truggle of the Bulga ri a n wo rking masses, but also for the Macedoni a n revolutio na ry movement. For th e Bulga rian peop le can have no confide nce in a movement whose leadership finds it a ppro pri a te to agree with th e intentio ns a nd a ims o f the Maced onia n Revoluti on a ry O rga nizatio n if they suppo rt mo na rc t.is m, ca pita lis m a nd Bulga ria n impe ria lism , in o rde r to destroy the revo lutio na ry movem en t of the p eo ple a nd to prevent the acti vity of the revolutio na ry o rga niza tio n .

To fa vo ur fri ends hip with the milita ry a nd ba n k-owning cliqu e in stead o f the great majo rity of the Bul ga ria n people, to favo ur the ga ng th at tempora ril y sta nds o n the backs of th e Ru lga ri a n peo ple, is a n unheard-of c rime towa rds the Maced o nia n revolutio na ry movement itself. a crim e tha t will be stigma tized by histo ry.

64

But let us conside r the fi eld of rea l po licy: is it a real po licy to connect the fate o f the Maced o ni an revolution a ry movement with the fate o f the m ilita ry monarchist c liques that rule in Sofi a, Belgrad e a nd Athe ns? Is it a real policy to re pel the fa vo urable attitude of the revolutionary o rgan izatio ns of the peasants a nd wo rkers in these count ries ? Po li ticall y, realis m will require learnin g fro m histo ry and p aying heed to the c ha nges th at have occur red in relatio n to social fo rces. And it is this sad histo ry tha t in the past fi ft y yea rs has ta ught the leaders of the Maced on ian revolutionary moveme nt tha t in the capitals o f the Ba lkan states it is not freed o m t hat is being pre pa red, but on ly n ew c ha ins o f slave ry fo r the Ba lkan peop les. The leade rs could no t have missed the grea t change o f the real fo rces a fter the Wo rld War e ithe r, no r could they have m issed the great increase in th e rea l politi ca l values of the na tio na l moveme nts a nd th e n ati o nal m ovement a mo ng the ma sses. T he n ow a nd eb b with in the movements o f the mases a re characteristic fea tu res o f the revolu t io na ry moveme nts; the d efeat a nd tempo rary fa ilu res o f the persecuted a nd subjugated masses cannot sadd en the reso lute eyes o f con vinced a nd pro phetic revolutionaries. Because o f this, the M aced o ni a n revolutio na ries th at have left a w hole seri es of fai lures a nd severe defeats behi nd a nd prese rved their fa ith in the fin a l victory must no t lose hope in the tr iumph o f the na tional movemen ts, in s p ite of the defea ts s uffe red, in s pite of the tempora ry ebb wh ich is fe lt within them .

In acco rd a n ce with the struggle, fu ll of sacrifices, o f the ma sses in the Balkan c0un tries aga inst the m ilitary, mon a rc hist a nd ban k-o wn ing cliques tha t s up p ress them, in accordan ce with the invi n cible en th usia s m o f the Eu ropean proleta ria n moveme nt which threaten s the rule of cap ital a nd fi n a nce, in accorda n ce with the dignified struggle o f the oppressed peoples fro m the East against wo rl d imperialism , the M acedonia n libe ratio n moveme nt has objectively entered

an entirely new stage.

Th e hour w hen the assessement o f moral values shoul d be su bjected to re-exam ination has arrived , whe n n ew road s s hou ld be so ught, when new conta cts sho ul d be established{ whe n new meth ods s ho u ld be a pi:; lied a nd new for ms o o rga n izatio n worked out. The Macedonian revolut ionaries m ust a lso subj ect (th eir relations to revisio n, first of all wi th ~

T he His1orica l T ru1h

65

th e Ba lkan govern me nts a nd the Ba lka n masses, and then their re latio ns with the imperia list gro ups also inc ludi ng the League of Natio ns) a nd the s ubjuga ted proleta ri a n classc .

T he thorou6 h a nd com prehensive assessment of the situatio n, however, can o nly fo rce the m to seek direct contacts with the oppressed a nd exploated , wi th the proletaria n a nd p easa nt o rganiza ti o ns of the o ppressed peo pl es, that fig ht fo r their freedo m , and fin a ll y contacts wi th the powerfu l and n atural a ll y o f a ll fi ghters aga inst the slavery o f peoples - with the great Soviet Socia list Repub lic. The Macedoni a n revolutio na ries, who have e nric hed the ir internatio nal revol utio n a ry movement with new lessons, can not refu se to ackn owledge the ri ch revo lutio n a ry ex pe rie nces in other countri es. T he new epoch, the new intern atio na l situatio n a nd the new revolutio na ry forces requ ire a new strategy, new tactics a nd n ew revolu tio n a ry techn iques.

We, the Bulga ria n Communis ts, who have stood and watched wi th great sadness how the mi litary, cap ita list reactio n has put a wed ge between the libera ti on mo ve ment of the oppressed Macedonia n workers a nd peasa nts a n d the revolutio nary struggle o f their Bulga ria n counterparts, and made simulta neous demon ic attempts to estrange a nd d ivide them in o rder to s ubject them mo re easil y a nd to fo rm its new gove rnme nt upo n the ir ruins, have accepted with indescribable pleasu re the new orientati,m of the Macedon ia n revolutio na ry movement25, tha t bega n in 1924. W e a re deeply co nvinced that the M ay Manifesto, whose great paragraphs have united the most inte lligent a nd most prophetic representati ves of the Macedonian revo lutionary moveme nt, who in su ch grea t numbers have paid with the ir own lives fo r the pol iti ca l daring a nd the courage to express their ideals, d efinite ly takes care o f the lessons o f his tory a nd the new conditio ns for natio na l and revolutionary stru ggle. T he b est evide nce for the justification of the new o rienta tion a nd the n ew conditio ns is that the Ma nifesto has frighten ed a ll the enemies o f the true natio na l revo lutio nary Macedo nia n cause a nd forced them to use the guns a nd kni ves of mercen ar ies in o rde r to suppress this da ngero us beginning fo r them in the bud.

But n othing can hinde r the ne w a rmament of the Macedo ni a n revolutio n. This new a rmame nt will lead it closer and

66

mo re stro ngly to the oppressed in Macedonia, will earn it an inc reased favourable a ttitude among the Balka n masses and will ensure precio us s uppo rt fro m the working masses o f th e who le wo rld .

DOWN W ITH T H E DUAL SLAVERY I N THE PETR I C R EG ION! 26 The l111cm11/ M.icedonian Revolu1 ionary Orga11i/111ion

1930 CALL*

To the Maced o ni a n subjugated po pu lation in the Petric regio n and the emigra nts in Bulgaria. co ncerni ng the immi nent e lectio ns, who are ca ll ed to vote for the workers' parties ...

For the liquidati on of the fascist d ictato rs hip and th e tri umph of ou r fi nal a im - the self-de termination of Macedo nia till r.er se paration in an inde pendent poli tical state entity.

Down with the dua l sla ve ry in the Petr ic regi o n! Down with the fascist terror! Lo ng li ve the struggle o f the Ma ced onian p eo ple for self-d etermi natio n . ·1he /\rchi, c o f Macedonia . Scc1 io n : Vari ,1

• 11 1,, p,·11111a , 1a,c:1011cKa peuo. 1101111011cp11a opt a11111,11 11m. I le> 11111. ~

67

WE, T H E MACE DON IA NS, ARE N E ITHER SERBS, NO R GREEKS NOR BULGAR IAN S - W E ARE AN I NDEPENDENT MACEDON I AN NATION l?eg i on,J/ Comm itr,:,: of"the I .M . R.O. /Unit ,:d) i o Mucedo nia under Bulg:.irii/11 ru/e 1 â&#x20AC;˘

1930 C /\L L*

Brothe r Macedo nia ns, The Gree k cha u vinis ts ca ll us "Slavonic-speaking Hel le ne~--. whi le the Serb ia n ones call us " real Serbs".

Wh y? - It is obvious: in ord e r to jus tify the ir rule a nd a cqui ~it i ve a~ pirations towa rds Macedo nia.

The Bu lga ria n chauvini sts act in the same way. They use th e Slav c loseness between the Maced o nia ns a nd Bulga rians, and d eclare tha t we, the Macedonians, a re "a n inseparable pa rt o f the Bulgaria n na tio n".

The Bulga ria n impe rialis ts have a lways a ttempted to co nquer a nd e nslave Maced o nia , a nd n ot to liberate h er. T he evide nce for thi s is o ur enslaved region . Is it fo r suc h " freedo m" as n ow ex ists in the Petric regio n that we have fo ught?

Workin g Macedo n ia ns, We must d eclare so that everybody ca n hear us that we

are neither Serbs, nor C reeks nor Bulgarians. We are Macedonians, an independent Ma cedonian nation. This is the best way to defend the independence o f o ur moveme nt a nd o f ou r right to a n indepe ndent Macedo nian state.

The enslavers from Be lgrade, Athens a nd So fi a hide and befog this tr uth in o rd er to assimila te us a nd per petuate the ir ru le in Macedonia. T he Macedo nia n masters a lso supp ort th em . They have become Serbophiles, Bulga ro phi les a nd Greeko philes, because they, together with the im peria lists, also rob a nd o ppress the wo rki ng Maced 0nian popul ation.

O6. rnc1 eII Ko ,111Te 1 IH1 B.M .P.O. (O6e.'.l.1ttte11a) ll l,. 11 apcKa B. IJ CI. n oJIIB,

68

B

MaKe.ao 1111R no; l

Wo rking Macedon ia ns, a nd you , in tellectua ls of the Maced onian peo ple; who a re fighting fo r n atio nal a nd econ o mic liberatio n ! Fight against the assimi lato rs fro m Belgrad e , Sofi a a nd Athens! Let us call o ut stro ngly tha t we do not want to beco me Serbs, Greeks o r Bulga ria ns. Let us g row like tho rns into the eyes of the e nslavers, for we are Macedo n ians a nd as Macedonians we wa nt to ha ve a M aced o ni a n state of o ur own.

The Arch i ve o f M acedoni a. Scc1ion : Vari a

TH E TR EATY OF NEU ILLY LED TO THE PARTIT ION OF MACE DON IA, TO W HI C H S H E WAS SU BJ ECT ED AS EA RLY AS 19 1228

1933 C ALL TO T H E PO PU LATIO N O F THE PETRI (' R EG ION AND TO TH E MAC EDON IAN R EFUG EES•

The Treaty of Neuill y led to the partitio n of Macedo nia, to whic h s he was s ubjected as early a s 19 12.

The Treaty o f Neuill y, con cerning the Petrit Regio n , resulted in it remai ning under the oppressio n o f Bulgarian imperia lism. The po pulatio n o f Petric is forced to pay taxes, n ot o nly to the state, b ut a lso to the gangs of I va n M ihajlov.

Let us fight against the dua l economic an d political o ppression of the p o pul atio n under Bulgaria n ru le! For the liquida tio n of the sta te o f emergen cy in the Petric regio n !

For the right to se lf-dete rm inatio n o f the three parts of Macedonia!

Regional Commi11ee of 1he l.M .R.O. (U) in M acedonia under Bulgarian ru le The Archi ve o f M acedoni a. Sec1io n : Varia

• •

n o1110 .ao HllCeJ1e1111ero or ner p11'IKO 11 .:io 1111Ke:.10 11cK111e 6 e11a111•

LI/I.

69

AMONG T HOSE PO LITI C ALLY AWAR E IN DIVIDUALS WHO T H EOR IZE T HAT IN MACEDON IA, DOBRUJA A N D T HRACE TH E RE LIV ES A CO MPACT BULGAR IAN POPULATION WE M UST UNMASK T HE PROPO NENTS O F G REATE R-STAT E C HA UVI NIS M "On the N:11ionul Que.-tion ··•

1933 ...T he asse rti on that the Trea ty of Neuilly has torn off Thrace, Macedo ni a a nd Dobruja like living pa rts of the body of Bu lga ria is a natio nalist thought ; in other wards, it is sti ll not clear to the ed itoria l staff of the Pa6oTHH'l Ka (Working Wo ma n) newspa per that these are not Bulgaria n territories cut off from Bu lga ria , but fo reign countries whi ch imperia list Bul ga ri a wa nts to conquer a nd subject to colonial ex ploatation. Bu lgari a has gain ed new pa rts of M acedo nia a nd T hrace, that a re subjected to du al co lonia l exploitation a nd o ppression.

There a re not so few politica lly awa re indi vidua ls who thi nk that M acedo nia , Thrace a nd Dobruja are Bulgarian countries. They cannot see further tha n t heir noses; they have not broken off with na tionalist a nd chauvinist prejudice, which is sti ll a live in them. Amo ng those po litically awa re indi vid uals who theorize tha t in Macedoni a, Dobruja a nd Thrace there lives a compact Bulgarian popu lati on, we must unmask the propo nents of G reater-Sta te chauvinism.

Our tas k is to claim unrelentlessly that Macedonia, Th race a nd Dobruja should belo ng to the Maced onia ns, T hracia ns a nd Dobruj ans. The co ntempora ry press should mobilize the masses under the banner o f the rights o f M acedo nia, Dobruja a nd Thrace to full nati onal self-determin ati on ti ll sepa ra tion into independent state entiti es under the watchword o f a united front.

• Ju 111111110111/J/111111 11bnpoc, •. PaCio111w1ecKo . 1e110", Sofia, l)erembcr

4, 1933. N". 78.

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Hr. Rusk ov TH E PETR IC' REG ION -A NATIO NALLY SU BJ UGATE D MACE DO N I.\. N REG ION , AN AN N EX ED PART OF MACE DON IA, A COLO NY O F BU LGARIA "On Duty in M 11cedoni11. 1934 ..,.

1934 Pa60TH~1'leCKO .ner10 (The Wo rkers' Cause), Number 38 of 19th Ju ly, th e current yea r ( 1934), has printed an extre me ly impo rta nt arti cle. It is "From Free Macedo nia", written by a group of Maced oni a ns, persecuted p roletarians. This a rticle represents a n impo rtant docum ent, because it pays attentio n to a whole seri es o f characteristics on the life and positio n o f Bulgaria n Macedo nia, a bout the choi ce of adequate meth ods a nd means for the penetrati on a nd inculcation of revol utionary a nd proleta ri a n class ideology a nd orga nization in this region. The neglect of these characteristics in the life a nd position of this region as a nationa lly subjugated region, as a n a nnexed pa rt of Macedonia, as a colony of Bulgari a, has been the maih source of the failu re to clea r the way fo r activiti es of a n educatio na l, proleta ria n a nd revolutionary nature a mo ng the mass of the workers a nd peasa nts in these soca ll ed new countries. This a rticle should be ta ken as a signal fo rthe beginning o f a basic re-orientation in our wo rk am ong the proleta ri at and the natio na lly subjugated masses of peasants by Bulgaria n im'.)er ia lism a nd fascism in this region.

The establishmen t of a united fro nt depends upo n our work, as our main tactica l and organizati onal tas k at the present stage concern ing the mass movement in this colony o f Bu lgaria.

Th e Arc hive o f Macedonia. Section: Varia

â&#x20AC;˘ PyCKOD, Xp., H u p116ou1 o M :i~¡c.10111111. 1934.

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O NLY T H E UN ITED R EVO LUTIONARY STRUGG LE O F TH E MACEDON IAN PEOPLE IN THE CLOSEST COOPERATIO N WITH T H E WORKE RS AND PEASANTS OF BU LG ARI A, Y UGOSLAVI A A N D GREECE C A N LEAD TO TH E VI CTO RY OF TH E M ACEDO NI AN R EVO LUTIO N OF LIBE RATI ON 1934 A LETTER OF G REETI NGS FROM COMRADE G. DIM ITROV 2• TO T H E C ENTRAL COMM ITTEE OF T H E MACEDON I AN NATIONAL LEAGUE, DETRO IT, THE UN ITED STATES OF AMER ICAJ0 •

Bro therl y greetings to the d elegates o f the Fou rth Congress o f the M aced o nia n Na tio nal League ! I feel insepa ra bly linked with the destiny of the Maced onia n people both as a Bulgarian pro letaria n revolutio nary a nd a son of a fa mily that comes fro m the Razlog regio n - the valley of the histo ric llinden Uprising.

T he Bulgaria n pro letariat is vi tally in terested in the na tio na l liberatio n of Macedo ni a. The n atio nal bondage of the M acedonia n people has been a source of the intensification of o p p ressio n over the workers a nd peasan ts in Bulgaria, Yugoslav ia a nd Greece. Disunited a nd pillaged , Macedo nia is a n a pple o f discord between the Balka n imperialists a n d a sou rce c,f ever-present d a nger of milita ry conflicts a nd disturba nces in the Balkans.

T he Macedonia n people in its struggle fo r libe ra tio n does not have and cannot have a ny true fri ends a nd a llies oth er tha n the revolutio na ry wo rke rs a nd peasan ts of Bulgaria a nd the Balka ns. T he Bulgaria n proletariat in its struggle fo r social liberatio n sees in the Maced o ni a n revolutio n a ry movement o ne o f its best alli es. Fighting against fascism a nd for a governme nt of workers a nd peasants, for a soviet Bulgaria, the Bulgari a n workers a nd peasants, under the leadership of the Commu nist Party, at the sam e time fig ht fo r the

r.

• n o1npae1-10 1rnc~1O on .!Ip. Jl11\111Tpoo .:io ue1npam11111T KO \1 11 1eT 11a ~iaKe.llOH CKIIR r 11apo.ae11 Cb lO3 - )leTpllOT, A ~1ep11 Ka. 4eTobpT 11 K o 111 pee Ila MaKe.llOl·ICKIIR H apO.lCH Cb lO3 O A~1ep11Ka. (l-13.J3HIIC Ha MaKc:JOIICKII H apo.:ie11 c1,101). De1ro i 1. M i ch , pp. 1- 4.

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liquidation o f every case of natio nal bo ndage, incl uding the bo ndage of the Macedoni an people.

The M acedo n ian movement has many e nemies. But the worst of its internal enem ies a re the agents o f Bulgarian im peri alism, of Bu lgaria n monarchism , o f Bu lga ria n fa scism , a nd p rincipally, the gang of Mihajlo v.31 The Bul garia n b o urgeoisie uses the Macedon ian movem ent thro ugh its agents fo r its own egoistic inte rests a nd fo r the stre ngthe ning o f its blood thirsty dictatorshi p over the working people of Bulga ria themselves. With the help of that gang, which calls itself " The Inte rna l Revolu tio nary M acedonian Organ izatio n", a nd disho no urs the id eals o f the Macedonian people, the ad herents o f Can kov managed to overt hrow the govern ment of the Agra ria ns o n 9th June, 1923,3 2 and to o rgan ize bloody persecutio n against the masses of workers and peasants. The n atio nal u p rising in September, 1923, was suppressed with the participa tion o f tha t organization of assassins and thousands of Bulgaria n workers, peasa nts and intellectuals we re murdered . T he gang exterm in ated the old independe nt Macedon ian revolutionaries in Gorna Di.umaja 33 in 1924. Its assassins we re used in the mu rde r of more than 2,000 worke rs, peasants a nd intellectuals in connection wi th the provocational assassi na tio n in Sv. Nedela in April, 1925. On the orders o f Bulgaria n fascism they basely mu rd e red the great man of the M acedo n ian revolution a ry movement, Dimo Hadii D imov ,34 the brave Macedo nian delegate, H risto Trajkov35 and ma ny Maced onia ns who tho ught d ifferently, as well as such glorio us activists o f the Workers' Movement in Bulgaria as was the wo rkers' d elegate, Napetov.

There can be no successfu l struggle agains t national oppression a nd fo r the liberation of t he Macedonian people witho ut the definiti ve isola tion from the Macedonian massses of that da ngerous gang a nd without the total disclosure o f its treache ro us ro le in the Macedonian movement and the internal political life o f Bu lgaria.

T he M aced o nian emigrants in the U ni ted States, as well as the M acedon ian emigra nts in Bulgaria itself, shou ld act with all their might for the fast realization of th is task, supporting the efforts of the I. M.R.O. (U nited) fo r the unificatio n o f all true revolutiona ry Macedon ian forces.

73

Only the united revo lutio na ry st, uggle of the Macedonian people in the closest cooperatio n wi th the wor ke rs a nd peasa nts o f Bu lgaria, Yugoslavia and G reece ca n lead tc the victo ry o f the Macedonian revolutio n of liberation.

On ly the system of soviets, as th e experie nce of the great Soviet Union has brill ia ntly shown, can p rovide fin a l nationa l liberation and complete natio na l unification .

1 wholeheartedly wish yo ur Congress the best of success in this spirit.

M o,cow, 13 rh May, 1934

G. Dimitrov

Bistriski WHY ARE WE, T H E MA CE DON IANS, SEPARATE NATION?* 1934 In the last editio n (No. 3 1) of MaKeno11cKo 3MaMe (The Macedonian Flag), the o rga n o f the progressive Macedonian emigra nts banned by the Sofi a milita ry fascist dictatorship, there was an article enti tled, " What is natio n ?" Owing to the Draconia n censorship, the quest ion and the basic characteristics o f the C roatian natio n are treated in the a rticle witho ut a ny direct reference to the Macedonian natio n. He re we furthe r d evelop this article, paying special attentio n to Macedonia and giving a n a nswer to the questio n, " Wh y are we, the Macedonians, a sepa rate natio n ?"

T he answer to t his question is p rimarily of great politica l significa nce. It is well -kn own tha t Bulgarian, as well as Serbia n and Greek imperia lism, deny the existe nce o f the Macedonia n natio n. According to the first, the Macedoni ans a re " the fin est part o f the Buis a ri a n natio n". According to the third, the Macedonians a re "Slavo ni c-speak ing Helle nes".

So, a ll of our enslavers "justify" the ma intenance of their â&#x20AC;˘ 611CTpllUIKII , Jawo c,,e I/Ill: M:iKe_70/ILl/11"e 01:1e. 11t:1 1/UU/tR '.'( MaK. Hap. Cb10J e A\le p11Ka), 1934, pp. 42-55.

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respective enslaved part of o ur fath erlan d under thei r yoke and justify their as pi rations for the conquest of the whole of Macedonia .

In ord e r to unmask these manoeuvres of the enslavers a nd to show tha t they have no right to claim Macedonia, in o rder to prevent their poli cies of assimil ation a nd to wage a consistent struggle for the realizatio n of the right o f th e M aced o nian people to self-determinatio n till its secessio n fro m the Bulgaria n, Serb ian a nd Greek imperialist states an d unificatio n into an independent republic of the Macedonian working people themselves, we, the Macedonians, m ust declare alo ud that we are nei ther Serbs, nor Greeks or Bu lga ria ns, but that we are a sepa rate nation which is fighting for its nati o na l liberation and separati on into a Macedonian state o f its own. But we shou ld not d o this o nl y for poli tical reasons. If the Maced o nian nati o n d id not ex ist, we could not have spoken of such a nation. But it exists a nd its existence sho uld be shown to all, beca use it will alleviate our national li beration struggle to a great degree.

All the eleme nts of a n independent M acedonia n nation wi th its own te rrito ry and econo mic entirety, with its own language, com mo n nationa l characteristi c features and a Macedon ian history ex ist in Macedonia.

I. T he territory of the Macedonians is separate from the terri tories of the Greek , Serbia n a nd Bulgarian nations. It has its own established geographical and ethnographic borrlers between th e Ri ver Mesta, the Rho d ope, Rit a a nd Sara Mo untains, the Ri ver Drim , Mo unt Gramos, the Ri ve r Bistrica a nd the Aegean Sea, with a territory o f 65,000 square ki lo metres. The fact that Macedo nia is now partitioned is the result o f imperia list "peace" treaties. The dismemberi ng of the integra l whole of Macedonian territo ry a nd the a nnexatio n of the respecti ve parts to the territo ri es of the Bulgarian, Serbian and Greek states was carried o ut by force 2. Economically, Macedonia represents an entity separate from the states that govern her. As early as during the rule of the Turkish Empi re, Macedonia started o n its way to indepe ndent development, later than Serbia, Bulga ria and Greece, but inde pende ntl y o f them. N one of these regio ns had stro ng economi c links or com mon commerical relations

75

with Macedonia, a ltho ugh they were a ll wi thin the fro ntiers o f the same sta te - Turkey. And since the ca pital ist econo my has a lso ta ken root in Macedo ni a, interna l comm ercial lines a nd ma rkets have bee n established indep endently, w ith Salonika as the principle commo n centre, a nd no t Belgrade, Sofi a o r Athens.

The forced disintegration of the econo mic who le o f Macedo ni a into three parts a nd their a nn exatio n to the three fo reign econo mi c en tities of Serbia, Bulga ria a nd G reece was reflected catastrophi cally in the M acedonia n economy. A typical example of this is the present state o f Sa lo nika, which , sin ce it has been d eprived o f its na tura l econo mi c background o f Easte rn a nd Centra l Macedo nia, has decli n ed entirely a nd turned from a principa l port on the Aegean Sea into a sad memory of the fo rmer wea lthy commercia l centre; Salonika has now a lready fallen into third p lace, after Athens a nd Piraeus. This ~ame fate has a lso befallen Bitola, Ohrid a nd a ll the o the r towns in Centra l a nd South West Macedoni a, wh ich, iso lated from the ir n atura l access to the sea via Salonika, ha ve been forced to use the comme rcia l line to Be lgrade unna tural for the m. The same applies to Maced o nia under the Bulgarian yo ke, the econo mi c p rogress of which is closely linked to th e commercia l routes with Seres, Drama, Kavalla, Salonika and Strumica, a nd not with Sofia - Vidin, o r Plovdiv - Burgas.

3. The la nguage of the peo pl e tha t constitute the M acedonian natio n is Slavon ic, with a special Macedonian dialect. This language is commo n to a ll of them. The various provincia l nua nces of the Macedo nia n la nguage a re unavo idab le consequences o f the former c la n a nd feuda l subdivisio n of Macedonia. But the provi ncial fo rms of that la nguage are contai n ed within a commo n Macedonian Sla vo nic dialect, according to whic h everybod y can di stinguish a Macedonian from a Serb, Bulga ria n, Russia n , o r a ny member of any other Slav n atio n. The provi nc ia l nua nces of language have still n ot been elimina ted even in the most develo ped nations, a nd let a lo ne in the Macedo nia n nation, which is na tion a lly subjugated, not organized into a n independe nt natio na l state a nd which has still no t worked out a lite rary la nguage of its own .

76

Apart fro m in its dialect, the Macedonian language is furth er differentiated from the Serbia n and Bulgarian la nguages by the fact that the Old Slavonic element is much mo re preserved in it and there are many words of this origin that the la nguages of its neighbours a nd o f the other Slav n ations lack.

The Bulgarian and Serbian G reater-State chauvinists use the closeness of tr .--: Macedonian la n guage to the languages of their n ations in o rder to claim tha t the Macedonians a re "a part o f the Bulga ria n natio n" o r " pure Serbs". But we, the Macedo nian s, a re neither. We a re not "dough t hat can be sha ped into a n y", as was declared by Cvijic, o ne of the agent historians of the Serbi a n acq uisiti ve po licy. W e a re a separate natio n. T he simil ariti es between o ur la nguage a nd the Bulgaria n a nd Serbian languages a re commo n similarities b etween the la n guages of close but independentl y developed na tions.

W e find such simi lari ties between th e lang uages o f the Russians, Ukrainians and Byelor:.issians, as well as between the roats, Montenegrin s a nd Serbs, but, in s pite of a ll that, they represent separate nations.

The G reater- Bul ga rian c ha uvin ists especially specula te wi th the fact th at the Macedo n ian language is closer to the Bulga ri a n tha n to the Serbian la nguage, a nd it serves t hem as a n argument in thei r assertio ns tha t the Macedonians are p a rt o f the Bulgarian nation. The a rgument is entire ly unfounded, because t he Croats, fo r example, a re a lso much closer to the Serbian nation than the Czechs with respect to their language.

Moreover, it is well known tha t la nguage a lone is not the o nly element that dete rm ines a natio n. Even if the language of the Macedon ians had been identical to th at of the Bulga ria ns, it would no t have meant that we, the Macedonians, are "part o f the Bulgaria n nation", after we have lived for man y gen erations in a separate terri to ry and represented a sep arate economic entity, a nd have o ur own history and speci fi c character, custo ms a nd so o n. T he En glish, Irish and the Americans of the United States spea k o ne a nd the same language, but they are all separate nations.

4. Na tio n a l cha racteristic fea tures are the fourt h common t ra it that distinguishes a separate n atio n, including the

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Macedonian nation. Its natu re, custo ms, da nces, so ngs, and other prod ucts of the national genius are equa l to a nd different 10 va rying degrees from th ose of the Serbian , Bulga ria n a nd other Slav natio ns. The elements of the independen t national characte r of th e Macedo nians a re so stron g th at, in spite o f the national o ppression in Macedo nia, they have never ceased to be man ifested: at parties, weddings, C hristi an famil y fea sts, etc. They have also been continua lly manifested amo ng the masses of emigra nts a nd refugees in Bulgaria, the United States a nd other places.

All these elements, considered together, constitute the Macedonian nation. Th ey a re indisputable evidence th at we, the Macedo nia ns, do not belong either to the Serbia n, Bu lgarian, or Greek natio n, but that we a re a separa te nation.

5. Nations are not tri bes. Like th e other nati ons, neither th e Macedon ian natio n has not come into ex istence fro m o ne tribe, but from seve ral different tribes, or in fa ct, fro m certain parts o f d ifferen t tribes - Illyrians, Slavs, Oulgars, Serbs and oth ers. The basic element is the Slav o ne. The ancient Illyri ans were assimi lated by the Slavs who subsequ en tly ca me to Macedon ia . The Bulgarian and Serbian elements in the Macedonia n nation originate fro m the fa ct that, even befo re Turkish rul e, Macedonia belonged by turns to the tribal states of Bu lga ria a nd Serbi a. T he insignifica nt Bu lgaria n element in the Macedon ia n nation a nd the even less significa nt Serbian one are remna nts of th e fo rmer military conquerors, mainly from the tribal states, who were assimi lated during the course of tim e a mong the Macedo nia n Slavs.

According to th e Bulgarian bourgeois historians, the Bulga ri an nati on traces its origin even from the time of As paru h, after the Bulgarian Tarta r tribe subj ugated the Slavs that had settled the North -Eastern part of the Balkan Penin sula : later this tribe was assimilated amo ng those Slavs. bu t imposed the name Bu lga rs on them, thus creating the tirsl Bulgarian empire. According to the sa me histori ans, in the same way th e Macedo nian Slavs a lso merged into the "so le Bulgari a n natio nal en tity" subject to the Bulgaria n tribe.

This is certainly not true histo rica lly. There we re no condi tions fo r the forma ti on of a Bu lgarian na ti o n al that ti me, and co nsequently there was no such natio n. He nce, it i~

78

unacceptable tha t since then the Macedon ian Slavs ha ve been part of a "sole Bulgarian nationa l entity" .

The t hen Bulgaria n state was d iv' ded into separate counties, sma ll sub-kingdom s strictly closed in e n themselves, with their own frontiers and cust0ms, wi tho ut economic o r cultura l lin ks o r any thing else in com mon. The po pulation s of those counties met only on the battlefi elds, in the wars between the va rious counties or in the wars against Byza ntiu m and against other states, when certai n feudal lo rds in Bul garia (not a ll of them a nd not a lways) united around the most powerful of them - the Tsar. The forma ti on of the Bulga ria n nation in those conditi ons was im possible and it was even less pb~sible th at the Macedonian Slavs were incl uded in it. For the populations of the various counties of feudal Bulgaria were not uni ted in a ny com mon territory or economic whole, th us hinde ring the furma tion of a com mo n language a nd a comm on national cha racter.

Moreover, it is a histo ri cal fact that th e Macedonian Slavs were not always subject to the Bul ga ria and Serbia o f that tim e. The state of the Bogomi l Tsar SamoiPâ&#x20AC;˘ was not the second Bulgaria n state, as the Bu lgarian bourgeois historians wa nt to present it, but it was a state of the Macedonia n Slavs, existing side by side with th e Bul ga rian empire a nd Serbi an kingdo m. That Macedo nia n Slav state later even subjugated Bulgaria <1nd Serbia.

The G reater- Bu lga rian chauvinists very much like to spea k of a " sole Bulga ria n tribe", identifyi ng it with the Bu lga rian nati on. They hide the histori ca l fact that it was formed witho ut th e small number 0f Bu lga rs who rema ined in MacPd onia and without the Macedo ni a n Slavs. The Bul garia n nation was fo rm ed in the regio ns o f contemporary central and no rthern Bulgaria, eastern Rumelia and Dobruja. The main reaso n for this lay in the economy. As we have already mentioned , capitalism in Macedoni a ap peared and deve loped later, independen tl y o f ca pita lism in Bulgaria, witho ut an y strong economic relat io ns betwee:1 these two countries.

The Bulgarian natio na l revolutionary movement, which fo ught for the liberation of the Bulgarian people fro m the yoke of absoluti st Turkey, did 11 0 1 include Macedonia as a n object of its revolutionary activity. Th is is sufficie nt evidence th at the fo rmatio n of the Bu lga rian nation a nd the birth of 79

the struggle fo r a n indep endent life a s a state was do ne witho ut the Maced o nia n Slavs.

Such is the situati o n a lso wi th the Se rbian n atio n , which was a lso fo rmed witho ut the Macedo nia n Slavs a nd w ithout the insignifi ca nt numbe r o f Serbs who rem a ined in M aced onia before she fell unde r the Turkis h yo ke.

And the G reek s ta te cha uvinists, in o rd er to j ustify the rul e o f Greek im peria lism in the corres poncji ng su bj ected pa rt of Ma cedn oia , a lso seek triba l links betwee n the Greek na ti o n a n d th e Ma cedo ni a ns. T hese refined c ha u vinists fal sify h isto ry, co nside rin g the tribe o f the a n cie nt Ma cedono1llyria ns a nd the leaders o f th at tribe , Ph ilip o f Ma cedo n a nd A lexa nd er the G rea tr, as An cient G reeks. In a dd itio n, they d o no t mentio n a n event o f suc h signi fi ca nce as the settling o f Macedo ni a b y la rge m asses of S la vs, whom they fin d it utterly inco n ve ni ent to claim a s G ree ks.

6. T he Macedo nia n natio n has a his tory wi th its own cultura l a nd po litica l ex pressio n . T he Mil a d inov b ro the rs 18 were the fi rst Maced o ni a n ed ucato rs. They were the firs t to dedicate the ir lives to the fee ling o f n a tio na l ind epe nde nce fo r th e Maced o n ia n sla ve. T hey sa ng a bout Oh ri d a nd Macedo ni a a s their fa therla nd in pure Ma cedo n ia n Slav di a lect.

T hey l.;id not tea ch the Maced o n ian p eo ple to s pea k e ithe r Serbian o r Bulga ria n, bu t they ta ught the m to spea k in their o w n, na ti ve, Maced o nia n la nguage.

If, in sp ite o f a ll this these Maced o n ia n ed ucato rs s po ke o f the Bulga ri a n element in Maced o ni a, it was u nd er th e innue nce of the past, whe n Ma cedo n ia was subjected to feud a l Bul ga ria for ma ny centuries. As a re~ ult o f t his, the struggle fo r inde pen de nt schools a nd c hurches, against the assimila to ry monste r of the Greek Pa triarc hate, was waged under the la bel o f Bulga ri a nism . T he Maced o n ian natio n was a t th at time still a t the da wning o f its d evelopme nt, was not mo ulded a nd , what is most significa nt, its econo mic a nd po litica l inte rests we re sti ll not in con nict wit h the a cq uisiti ve a spi rat io ns o f the s ubsequentl y created sta te o f the Bu lga rian na tio n . Today the idea o f Bulgaria nis m in Maced o nia. as well as the ideas of Serbia n is m a nd He ll e ni sm, are syno nyms o f na ti o na l a nd econ omi c o ppressio n, applied to th e Ma ced o nia n ma!-'\es by the ir e nslave rs - the imperia lists.

80

After the Mila d ino v brothers there we re a n~1mber o f other n atio na l teachers a nd leaders of the spiritua l reviva l, like the Bisho p o f Ohrid, Teod os,19 a nd the grou p a ro und the JloJa (Origin) newspaper with its edito r, Peta r Arsov,40 w ho fo ught equ a lly against the Greek Patri a rc ha te, Bulgarian Exa rc hate a nd the Serbia n Patria rc ha te,4 1 fo r indep en dent Maced o nia n schools a nd churches. These so-called Macedonian separatists proved the existence o f a sep a ra te M aced onia n na tio n a nd pleaded for the indep ende nt life of this country as a sta te.

The Inte rnal Maced o nia n Revo luti on a ry Organ izatio n' 2 was c reated in the sa me en vironment. Peta r Arsov becam e a member of the first Centra l C o mm ittee o f this o rgan izatio n , and Go rte Petrov,0 who a lso o riginated fro m this enviro nmen t, became the ideologist of the O rgan izatio n .

He wrote the b ook, " The Geogra phy o f Macedo nia", in the s pirit o f the sep a ratist idea even a t tha t time.

The pressure o f the Greater-Bulgari a n p ro paga nda, the Exarchate and the Vrhovists,4 4 however, p roved to be so stro ng as to suppress the questio n o f a n indepe ndent na tio n , imprinting in the minds of man y Maced o ni a ns the con victio n tha t they were Bulgarians. This was d o ne with the ba n o f the JJo3a 41 news paper, which a ppeared in Sofi a , with the e xpu lsion of the Bishop T eodos a nd the na tio na l teache rs who did not submit to the Exarchate from Maced on ia, and with the prohibition of Gorte Petrov's b ook, whi ch is still in the fo rm of a manuscript in the a rchi ves o f the Bulga rian Minist ry o f War. But, in s pite of a ll this, the Macedo nia n people ha s crea ted a histo ry if its o wn with its lo ng a nd persiste nt struggle for economic li beratio n a nd a n indepe nden t life in a sta te.

This stuggle in the past was extended unde r the leade rshi p of the o ld I.M.R.0 . o f Goce Deltev' 6 against the yo ke of the Turkish Sultans and beys, as we ll as aga inst the e nc ro a chments o f the Ba lka n sta tes.

The Macedo nian peo ple with its own blood has written the first Macedonia n revolutio n in its h isto ry - the !linden Uprising,47 which culmina ted in the first Maced o nia n na tio na l republic in Kru~evo.

6 The Histo rica l Trut h

81

S ince the I.M . R .O. has com e u nder the innue nce o f th e Vrhovists a nd turn ed into a machine o f Bulga ri a n imperi alis m , th e libe rat io n stru ggle o f the Maced o ni a n peo p le h:>s no t been sto pped , b ut has been co ntin ued by the Cen tra list Separa tists, the left wing o f the I.M . R .O., head ed by Go ree Petrov, Peta r Arsov, Sa nda ns ki ,48 Dim o Hadi.id imov a nd C e rn o peev. In th e new cond iti ons, toda y, the stru ggle o f th e M aced o ni a n peo ple aga ins t th e ir new s ubj ugators - Serb ian , Bulga rian a nd G reek impe ria lis m - for na ti o na l, po lit ica l a nd eco no mi c liberati o n , has been waged wit h even g rea ter pers isten ce a nd cons iste ncy und er th e leadershi p of the I. M .R.O. (U nited ). 49 T he w ho le of Ma cedo nia n histo ry has no t o n ly s ho wn the ex istence o f th e Maced o nia n na ti o n a nd its as p ira ti o n to ward a nat io na l state o f its own , but this same M a ced o n ia n histo ry has simulta neous ly a n ele m ent tha t has m o u ld ed a nd determined the inde pe ndent c ha racte r of the M a cedonian na ti o n.

Apart fro m th e M acedo ni a n nat io n in Macedonia th ere a re certa inly o th er fo re ign natio n a lities s uch as Vlachs, J ews, Turks, Gree ks, Albanians, Serbs, Gy ps ies. Altho ugh they find th e mse lves o n th e sa me territo ry with the Maced o nia n natio n a nd a lth o ug h th e ir eco n o mi c li fe is immediately linked with it, these nati o n a liti es do no t fa ll into th e M aced o nian n a tio n , beca use every one o f th e m has its own characteristi c feat ures.

The fo re ig n na ti o na lities in Macedo ni a have ta ke n a n active pa rt in the Maced o nia n li be rat io n movement, beca use they have a lso been interested in the creation of a n inde pe nde nt M aced o nia n rep ubl ic o f worke rs, so that they ca n a c hieve na ti o na l equ a li ty a nd eco no mic libe ra ti o n , live in peace, a nd, a longs ide the Maced o n ia n nation, inc rease th e level o f cultura l a nd econo mic life, both the ir ow n a nd th e life o f th e w ho le o f th e Maced o nia n wo rking people.

82

Bistricki T H E P ETR IC R EG ION IS A NATION AL LY SUBJ UGATED AND ECONO MI CALLY EX PLO ITED MACEDON IAN R EGION ··111c Scptemhcr Upri.1ing ;md the chaructcr o f the Macedonian 11//tionul revo/ution ...,

1934 T he Septe mbe r U prisingso has been a m agn ifice nt batt le o f the wo rkers anrl peasants of Bulgaria fo r the liquidati o n of the ru le o f the bo urgeoi-;ie and for the rule of a soviet** gove rnm e nt of wo rkeis a nd pe,ts ants. It was r. kind o f a soviet revoluti o n in th e w hole country.

The cha ra cte r o f t his revolutio n in the provinces o f Bu lgaria was pro letaria n a nd socia list. In th e Petric regio n, however, the September Uprisi ng p ri ma ril y ha d th e significance o f a second !li nd e n Up ris ing. It was different fro m the Ilind en Upris ing owi ng to a seri es of a d va n tages, th e main of which was its soviet fo rm . But, accordi ng to its cha racter, the September U prising in the Petri c regio n was no t any different fro m the llinden Up ris ing. T he Petri c reg ion is a na tio na lly s ubj uga ted a nd eco no mi ca ll y ex pl o ited M acedon ian region .

The stru ggle fo r the liquidat io n o f that s u bjugati o n an d explo itatio n, th e st ru ggle fo r the natio na l, p o litica l a nd econo m ic liberatio n o f the M acedonia n workers, an d the s truggle fo r their self-determina ti o n a re d e mocratic tasks. As a res ult o f th is, the c ha racter of th e Septem ber Revolu tio n in th e Petric regio n a nd the immine nt victorious revo lutio n in th e sa me reg io n , as well as in th e w ho le of Maced o ni a, has b een bourgeois an d d emoc ra tic .

T he soviet f'1 rm o f th e seco1 d llinde n, i.e. th e September Up ris ing in th e Pet ri l'.' region, did no t exclude th e M aced o nia n revolut=o n ha-. ing a bo urgeois and d em ocratic characte1. In the present revolut iona ry epoch, th e soviets a re th e ; i;,,c, p 1111K11, Cen1e1111p111ic1mro 01,cn11I11c II xupIIKrep1,I 11:1 IiaKe• I011cKarn 1,I11I11011il1111n peIJOJIIOIIIIR. ( 4 e 1 . KO ii! . 118 M aK. I-l ap. Cb lffl B A\IC·

p11Ka), 19H, pp. 56- 60. u A ~ys1em of councils.

6"

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o nl y form of govern m e nt and the m ost democra ti c o ne, where a ll the po wer is in th e ha nds of the broad working m asses, aga inst th e ha ndfu l o f oppressors a nd explo iters.

This relates no t o n ly to th e sta tes whe re there have been revoluti o ns of a socialist cha ra cter, but also to th e states where the re have been re volutions o f a b o urgeois a nd dem ocratic character, because th e soviets are a form both o f socia list pro leta ri an di ctato rship a nd of the d emocratic di ctators hip of workers and peasa nts.

In th e s tates w he re th e bo urgeois a nd dem ocra ti c tra nsformation ha s not been co mpl e1ed, where there is natio na l o ppressio n o r prevalence of feudal or semi-fe uda l fo rms in th e ru ral economy o n a la rge scale - in s uch sta tes th e revoluti o n is of a bo urgeois a nd de m ocra ti c cha racter (independen tl y of its form), s ince it has to give solution s to the problem s o f th e above- me ntioned character. In those s tates th e soviets are forms o f th e na tiona l revolutionary gove rnm ent in the natio na l revo lutio na ry repu b lics, whicti a re different fro m a socia li st rep ub lic both in their econo mic system a nd in the stru cture and characte r of th e soviets th em selves. In na ti o na l revolutio n a ry rep ubli cs, in contrast to socialist rep ublics, there is no so c ia lis t econo m y, a lth o ugh th e prope rty of the b ig landow ners an d capita lists may be confiscated in favo ur of the worke rs a nd peasants. In nat io nal revo1 uti o n a ry republi cs, in contrast to socia list republics, there is a pred o minance in th e soviets o f s uch o f the work ing masses ¡ that sta nd u pon a revo lutionary d emocratic bas is and have no t yet reached th e stage o f accepting socia lis t id eas and tran sfo rm a tion s.

Such is the s ituation today in the Mongo lian People's Republi c a nd with the soviets in C hina. Such wil l be the situa ti o n to m o rrow in the M acedo nia n na ti o na l revo luti o nary republic, until th e Maced o nian wo rking masses express their wish to a pply th e socia list system , until the Macedonian p eas ants, c raftsme n and na tiona l intelli gentsia express the ir wish, a lo ngs ide th e Macedonian prol etariat, to develop the ir na ti o na l struggle furthe r to the d egree of a stru ggle for socialis m . A nd it will depend upo n : I . the complete liberation of th e Macedo ni an worki ng masses fro m ideological a nd o rganized in n uence by the M acedo nian bo urgeoisie, or th e re lati o n b etween the powe r o f the masses a nd of the bo urgeoisie,

84

i.e. u pon the power o f the Maced o n ian re vo lution against the M acedo n ia n coun te rrevo lut ion; 2. upon the power of the u ni ted revolutiona ry front in Bul garia, Se rbia and G reece.

Deep eco no m ic class di vis io ns among th e Macedon ian people are the ex isting o bjecti ve preconditio n fo r political d ifferentiation a m o ng the M acedon ian worke rs o n the o ne hand, a n d t he M acedon ia n bougeo is;e on the o ther. The majority of th e Ma cedonian people are working peasants, crafts m en and worke rs, a nd o nl y a n ins ign ificant number b elo ng to th e mascers. T he la tter, a longsi d e the Serbian, G reek and Bulga ri an bourgeois ie, exploi t the M acedon ian worki ng m asses and actively aid the fo reign s ubj uga to rs to effect th e ir na ti o nal a nd pol itica l oppression over the Maced onia n workin g people.

In this s ituatio n it is q uite natura l that broader and broader masses of people gather under th e banner of the I.M .R .O. (U nited) a nd the united revo luti o nary fro nt aga inst th e fo reign a nd "native" exploiters and oppress ors. This undoubtedl y re vea ls prospects for the Macedonian natio na l revolutio n to grow soon into a socialist revo lution.

T hese p rospects fill th e M acedoni a n mas te rs with terror and they wo ul d a thousa nd times rather see Macedo ni a s ubj uga ted than lose th e ir p r ivileged posit ions as explo iters. As a res ult of this, the Macedonia n masters ha ve introduced in a ll the s ubjugated parts of Macedonia their co unterrevol uti o n ary fo rces in to th e fa scist mach ine ry o f governmen t of Bu lga ri an, Serbian an d Gree k im perial ism respecti vely, e ither di rect ly o r through their Yrhovist organ iza tions.

But the s ituation is different with th e I. M . R .O. (U ni ted).

A lthough it is not a Com munist o rgan ization, it is a real national revo lutionary o rgan ization of the M acedonian wo rking masses a nd their leade r in th e struggle fo r the national liberatio n of Macedonia. Being wha t it is, the I. M.R.O . (United) wi ll not give up its national revo lutio na ry s truggle, bec~use there is th e probabil ity that the masses will de velo p th is s truggle to the degree of a st ru ggle for socialism . The I.M .R.O. (U nited) will p lay out its historical ro le to the end . It will stru ggle for th e co m p lete liqu idati o n of nat io nal bon dage a nd for th e ri ght to " If-de terminatio n and unifi c :t ion o f thc.: M acedo nian people in a n independent na ti o nal revo-

85

lutio na ry republ ic of the workers and peasa nts of Macedonia. Whether it will lead a ny further, to a transformatio n of the Macedonia n na1ional republic into a socialist o ne, or not, d epends on the will of the masses a nd o n the authority and innuence of the Communists among the masses.

IN FAVOUR OF T H E RIG HT TO SL:. LF- D ETERM INATION OF T H E MACEDON IAN PEOPL " A lem:r of' rcph h_i rht· ( c111r.1/ ( om111111cc: o/' rhc I eugm··· •1 •

1934

Dear Comrade Dimitrov, On behalf of the delegates to the Fourth Congress of the Ma cedo ni an National League and on behalf of a ll politica lly awa re Macedoni an emigrants in America, we thank you very much for the brotherly greetings and esteemed instructions you ha ve s..:nt to us in yo ur letter o f greeting to our Co ngress in C hi cago. It was the highest revolutio nary ho nour which co uld be bec;towed on o ur Congress, the clearest and most concrete advi ce for the directi on o f o ur struggle, so that we have unanimo usly decided to make it a programme, a banner, for our future efforts for the unification of the Macedo ni an em igrants under the nag o f the comm on revolutionary fron t o f the nati ona lly and socia lly oppressed of all nation<, .ind races throughout the world .

In the whole of their pol it ica l life, th e a wa re Macedonian emigrant'> in America have ex perienced o nly o n~t: before -,uch pl easure as while reading your letter. It was upon the new~ of the great October Revolution and now upon the new-, of )Our relca..,e ..ind that of comrades Tanev and Popov from the hloodv hands of German fasci sm.

The th ought that, in spite of yo ur bad hea lt h after th e inqui<,ition in the c:atacomhs of Hitler's Germany a nd after the ex tre,nely hard a nd important work with which yo u have

"' "'"OP

v ll 11C\10 ~0111 . 11.i M,1K. 11,1p. , .. , .

86

0 1 l le111p,111111w KO\lt11c1 n A"cr11~.1). pp. 5-1 L

11.1 c1.11• ;.i

t4l· 1 11.

been busy as one of th e bravest a nd most ingenious leaders of the revolution, you have considered it necessa ry a nd found time to greet a nd to give friendly instructions to the d elegates to th e congress, ha" been a source of co nstant delight to a ll of us. Lenin decla red on behalf of the great Russian proletaria ns: " We are filled with a fee ling of nationa l pride, si nce the great Russia n na tion has a lso created a revolutionary c lass and proved that it is capab le of givi ng huma nity great exam rles of a struggle for freedom a nd social ism, and not o nl y great progroms, many scaffolds, big cities and humility before the priests, tsa rs landowners and ca pitalists." Lik e him, we ca n abu say that we a re proud of you, the great son of the 13ulgaria n working class and of the heroi c Macedonian fam ily of the Razlog region - the val ley of the historic lli nden Upri sing.

We highly ap preciate what you have done as a proletarian revolutionary fo r the ri ght orientation of the Macedonian liberation movement with yo ur participation in the formati on of the I.M.R .O. (U nited), in working out correct attitude o n the Macedonian Question with ou r fraternal Commun ist Parties of Bu lga ria, G reece a nd Serbi a and wi th your brave criticism co ncerning the unmasking of th e Macedonian age nts of the Bulgarian bourgeoisie - t he ad herents of Aleksa ndrov and Protogerov.

Yo u have led this criticism against th e Macedon ian mercenary instru ments of the Bu lga ria n bou rgeoisie and for the protection of the rea l Macedoni an li beration movement under threat of death , winking at the threats and the many attempts by the Macedonian bandits a ro und Aleksandrov, Protogcrov a nd Iv. M ihajlov52 to mu rder yo u, as they have murdered comardes Kosta Petrov, Dimo Hadzidimov, Hristo Trajk ov, Petko Napetov a nd other Macedonian and Bulgarian nationa l ~ocia l revolutiona ries.

The Bulgaria n working clas:,, a nd th e subju gated Macedonian peop le have seen in your perso n their greatest fearless protector a nd leader, a nd the Bu lgaria n a nd Macedonia n fa scists their most da ngerous and irreconcil able enemy.

It was not witho ut reason that C'a nkov¡s assassin, M. Stancev, wrote about yo u to the Bulga ri a n authorized min ister in Italy in 1924:

87

"Dimitrov is now in Ro me. As lon g as he is a li ve I wi ll not be a ble to slee p. Whe n he has o nce disa ppeared , I sha ll die peacefull y."

It was no t ,¡,ithout reason a lso tha t the mo rphinist, Gorin g, Hitler's lie utenant, roared in the fascist court in Leipzig when you revealed his real fa ce mercilessly, while the wo rking masses of the whole wo rld were fi lled with indescribable a dmiration.

The bravery a nd the grea t Bo lshevic intellect have made yo u a favourite leader not o nl y o f u$, the Macedonian a nd Bulgaria n working immigra nts in America, but also of the working masses of a ll n atio ns, all races, a ll countries and a ll continents. Manuilski was right whe n, afte r your landing at Moscow a irpo rt, he said tha t owing to you hundreds o f thousands of new workers felt new strength a nd new courage in the ir struggle against fascism, war a nd hunger, unde r the political leadership of the Cominte rn .

All th at you said in Leipzig a nd Be rlin was received wi th inex pressib le ad miratio n by a ll the polit ically aware Macedonian and Bulgarian e migrants in Ame ri ca and by the who le American revolutionary working class. It helped us to tighten o ur ranks even more and to gain new positions in the struggle fo r the unification of the emigrants under the p o litica l a nd organizatio n a l leadership of the League a nd our fraterna l American Communist Party. Now it remains for us o n ly to work with even greater e nthusiasm a nd firmness in order to justify with acti o n you r fraternal greetings a nd you r esteemed fri end ly instructions to us, isolating completely from the Macedonian emigra nts in Ameri ca the delegates of Ivan Mihajlov's ga ng and o f Bulgaria n fascism, a nd unmasking th e social fascist leaders of Eselpi, who ma liciously a ppla ud every te mporary d efeat of the wo rkin g class, as was the suppression of the great September Uprising o f the Bul garia n workers and peasants in 1923 a nd receive every victo ry of theirs wi th ma lice. You r letter o f greeting to the d elegates to o ur Congress fi lled the socia l fascist leaders of Eselpi with rage a nd they have surpassed in their mocke ry of o ur and you r addresses even the ad he re nts of Hitler in Germany. To this sha meful Eselpist identificati o n with the m addest form of fascism we have responded wit h a me rc iless un mask ing criti cism o f the fa scist sectaria n lea d ership a nd

88

with friendly a ppeals to the ho nest membe rs of Eselpi and the Macedo nian political organizations fo r a uni ted stru ggle against Bulgarian, American and world fascism, against hunger a nd the new world war that threatens manking, and in favour of the Soviet Un io n.

We e ntire ly share your words that ''the worst e nemy of the Macedonian movement is the gang of Mihajlov" and that " the re can be no successuful struggle for the liberatio n of the Macedonian people witho ut the defin ite isolation o f that dangerou s gang from the Macedo nian masses, and without the total disclosure of its treacherous role in the Macedonian moveme nt a nd the interna l political life of Bulgaria."

We have a lready wo rked in this direction for five years with signi ficant success. T he present Macedon ian National League a nd its Fourth Congress, whose delegates you greeted, clearly bear witness to that fact.

We sha ll further work in this spirit alongside the Bu lgarian working emigra nts, agreeing entirely with you r right conclusion in you r letter that "on ly the united revolutionary struggle of the Macedonian people in c losest cooperation with the workers and peasants of Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and G reece can lead to the victory of the Macedon ian revol uti o n" a nd that "only the syste m o f soviets, as the experience of the great Soviet Union has brilliantly sho wn, can provide final national libe ration a nd complete natio nal unificatio n ."

Our a llies in this struggle here in America have been the politically aware Balkan emigran ts and the black and white American wo rkers, farmers, small-holders a nd the progressive intelli gentsia. With their fraterna l help we have stead ily moved a head in the struggle against the emissaries of Bulgarian fascism - a ll kinds of aut horized ministers, consuls and chauvinist priests - against the emissa ries of Mihaj lov's gang a n d the social fascist leaders of Eselpi , and generally, against fascism, war a nd hunge r, and in favour of the Soviet Union, the C h inese soviet revo lution and the righ t to self-determ in ation o f the Macedonian people in the three parts of partitioned Macedonia and of their uni fi cation in a free state of the workers and peasants.

Please recieve o ur appreciation o f your encourag ing letter of greeting to the delegates to our Con gress, fi lled with

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revolutio nary conte nts, a nd o ur ass uran ces that we s hall d o everything in o ur po wer to justify the revolutio na ry ho no ur yo u have pa id to us.

Yo urs in th e stru ggle fo r the li beratio n o f th e nationally and socially s ubjugated unde r the yoke o f ca pita lism , T he Cc n1ral Co111111i11ce of 1he Macedonian Na1iona l League in 1he Uni1cd State~ of America De1roi1, Mich.

10 1h Oc1ober. 1934

The Regin1w l CommiClee o f the I.M.R.0. (United) in M acedon ia under Bulgarian rule T H E ENS LAVERS F RO M SOFIA HA VE DIVI O ED T H P ET RI C' R EG ION I NTO TWO PARTS IN ORDER TO E RA SE TH E MACE DON IAN NAM E AND TO C OMPEL T H E P EO PL E TO G IV E U P UN ION W ITH TH E OTH E R TWO PARTS OF MACEDONIA I N AN INDE P ENDENT MACEDONIAN STATE

1935 A LL l:ns laved M aced o nia n bro th e rs,• Th e c rime o f the partitio n of M acedo nia a mo ng Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece was not eno ug h, a nd the Bulga ri a n imperiali!.ts had to commit a no th e r d eadly c~jme. They have di vid ed the Petri t regio n into two pa rts, annex ing them to two Bulga ri an reg io ns - th e Sofia a nd T he Plovd iv regi o ns.

Wh y have th e enslave rs from Sofia to rn apart o ur

M acedonian land ? Beca use they d o no t wan t it m e nt ioned that wi thin the bord er~ o f Bulga ria the re is our own M acedo• 06. rn c re11 K0\1111 e 1 , ia 0.M. P.O. (O6e,11111e11a) e M aKe;101111R 110.1 61, 11 apcKa o 1ac 1. n owo . l1opo6c1111 vp,11 R l\111 Ke_,0111111.

90

nian regio n . Because they ha d to stre ngthe n the imperi a list control over the Petri t regio n in o rder to hinde r its asp irat io ns fo r secessio n from fascist Bul ga ri a a n d unifi catio n with the o the r two parts of Macedo nia in a n independe nt Macedonian state. So th e e nslavers fro m Sofia th ink. tha t they wil l seal th eir govern ment of M acedon ia und er Bulga ri a n ru le.

But they a re mistaken!

T o ba tt le fo r the achievement of se:f-d ete rmina tion for the Petrit regio n till its secessio n fro m fa scist Bulga ri a!

Lo ng li ve the unifi ca ti o n of M a ced o nia in an independ ent republic o f th e wo rk ers a nd peasants! fhe Archive of Macedonia. Section : Vari,1

The R egional Committee o f the I.M. R.O. (United)SJ MACE DON IAN P EO PLE I N THE P ETR IC R EG ION A ND R E FUGEES, I N A BRAV E AND DEC IS IVE BATTLE FO R T H E SELF-DETE R M I N ATI ON OF T H E P ETR IC R EG ION - FOR A F R EE MACE DON IA!

1935 ALL W o rkin g Maced o n ia ns !* It was J yea rs o n the 8th of June since the villainou'> re m oval of Co mrade Sim o Kav rak irov. s4 M acedo nia n Yrhovism, feeling the growing stre ngth o f the rea l Macedonia n revolutio na ry m ovem ent led by th e I.M .R.0. (U nited), tried to liq uidate him .

The Vrho vists lacked ideologica l argum ents a nd they usecl the o nl y a rgum ent<; they have - g uns, mu rd ers, kidn a ppings, beatings a nd so o n One o f th e first a nd m ost costl y sacrifices fo r the Macedo nia n revolutio na ry ra nks was the remova l o f Simo. And â&#x20AC;˘ O.K. B.M.P.O. (O6e,11111c11a),

/10111/J. P116011111 M 11Kc, 10111111.

91

the n fo llo wed the murde rs of o th er acti vists o f th e I.M . R .O. (U n ited).

Bloodthirsty Yrh ovis m , inst iga ted by Bulga ri a n imperi a lis m , a im ed a l destroying th e I.M .R .O. (U nited). Bu t they we re g reatly m ista ke n . Th e I. M . R .O. (U nit ed) is toda y m ore than ever a t its post. The Maced o ni a n peo ple of th e Petric regio n a nd th e refugees have n ocked in g reater a nd greate r n umbers lo its revo lutio n a ry n ag; th e recovered M acedon ia n acti vis ts w ho have evad ed th e c rossfire o f th e Yrh ovis ts a nd Bu lga ri a n impe ri a lists, ins p ired by th e heroic con du ct of S imo a nd his comrades w ho sha red the sa me fa te in th e stru ggle, brave ly ra ise th e nag w hic h th ey have ca rri ed a nd stir up the stru ggle fo r th e compl ete li q ui da ti o n of Yrhovism a nd the overt hro w o f Bulga ri a n impe ria lis m .

Working Maced o nia ns !

Com e in g rea t numbers beneath th e nag of th e I.M .R .O. (U nited ) !

U nm ask and scorn Yrhovis m !

Bu ild up the u nity o f the M aced o nia n peo p le!

To a brave a nd d ecis ive battle for th e self-d etermin a ti o n of the Pet ri c regio n , for a free M aced o nia!

The Archi ve of Macedonia. Section : Varia

92

The Reg.iom1I Commiuee of the l. M.R. O. (United) in Ma cedon ia under Bulgaria n ru/eH T H E BU LGA RI AN GO V E RNM E NT DEN I ES THE MAC E DON IANS T H E RI G HT TO C ALL THEMSELVES MACEDON IA NS, WORKINC O N T H E IR D EPE RSONA LI Z ATI ON AS A P EOPLE AND A NATION

1935 DECLA RA T I ON* The governmen t of Zlatev, in accord a nce with the a nti Macedo nia n measures alread y int roduced, is p repari ng to s uppress the Ma ced o n ia n natio n a l revolutionary movement.

It has eve n de n ied the M aced o ni ans th e right to ca ll thP.mselves M acedo nia ns, a nd in th is way has b road ly wo rk ed o n th e d eperso na liza ti o n o f the M aced o n ia ns as a peo ple a nd a natio n .

The Archive o f Macedonid. Section : V:iria

rom the So fia Regional Committee of the I.M. R.O. (United )

AG A IN ST TH E ARRESTS OF TH E HON EST MACE DONIA N E M IG RANTS AND TH E F IG HTE RS FO R THE F R EEDO M OF MACE DON IA CA LL

1935

TO ALL WO RKIN G MACEDON IANS** Faced with th e pre.;en t military fascist governmen t, s hattered by its in tern al contra d; cti ons a nd afraid of the inc reasing resista nce o f the nationa ll y an d socia ll y persecuObJII

• 0 6J1:1c re11 KO\I II TCT ,ia B.M. P.O. (06c.111 11c11a) o MaKc. 1011,ut 111,.t apc ~a um tCI . /lCA"J//Jp:Jt/llH. •• 0 , Co<Jrn itcKH~ O .K. 11a B.M.P.O. (O(ie.:i1111..:11a). n o111/J. !lo /Jd t·

'IA"/ / p:160 11111 Mi/KC.70111/11.

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ted masses, the Bulga ria n bo urgeo isie is certa inly stru ggling to conti nue its reign . Since its fa ithfu l he nc hme n - the Mihajlovists a nd Protoge rovists - ha vo no t fu lfi lled th eir ho pes o f leadi ng the Maced o nian emigrants acco rdin g to the ir own wis hes, the Bulgarian bourgeoisie ha s taken to the ro ad o f mass arrests o f the honest Maced o ni an em igra nts, d edicated to the ideas of G oce, Jane a nd the pleiad o f fi ghters fo r the freedom of Macedonia.

The re have been a rrests eve ry d ay in th e Petri c a nd Sofia regio ns wi th the common a im of breaking the unity o f the Macedonian emigra nts a nd the ir lead er, the I.M .R .O .

(United), whic h is the o nl y organizatio n tha t s hows the ri ght way fo r the freedom of Macedonia.

WORK I NG MACE DONIA NS, QU IC KLY STAND IN RANKS UNDE R TH E FI GHT! NG F LAG OF TH E I. M. R.0. (UN IT E D) to struggle fo r the re lease of the arrested a nd the li bera ti o n o f Maced o nia I Let us raise high the revolutio na ry n ag o r the I. M .R.O .

(U nited) a n d ca ll o ut: Sto p the a rres ts a nd murde rs o f the bra ve wo rki ng Macedo nians !

R ELEASE T H E ARRESTED! P EOPLE' S TRI AL FOR T H E H EN C HM E N! LONG LIVE TH E I.M .R.O . ( UNITED), T H E LEAD E R O F TH E WORK ING MAC EDON IAN P EO PLE !

LO NG LIVE TH E STRUGGLE FOR TH E SE LF-DET E RM[NATION OF MACE DON I A !

T he A rchive o f Macedonia. Section : Varia

94

The R egional Commillee or the l.M.R.O. (United) in M acedonia under Bulgarian rule !LIND EN (ST. E LIAS' DAY), TH E G R EAT DAY O F TH E MACEDO N IAN R EVO LUTION

1935 C ALL * Macedo n ia ns, T he great d ay of the Macedo nia n Revolutio n , lli nden (S t. Elias' Day), is app roaching. The Macedonia n peopl e, led by the be loved De lcev's I. M .R.O ., rose in a n a rmed uprising aga inst the T urkey o f the sul ta ns a nd beys thirty-two yea rs ago. The a im o f the I linden Upr ising was po litical lib era tio n fro m the yo ke o f the Sulta n a n d the pas ha s a nd fro m serfd o m, a nd d istributi o n o f th e la nd a m on g the peasa nts. The lli nde n Uprising is the most u n forge ttable a nd brightest event in the histo ry o f the Macedo nia n revo lutio na ry movement. The llinden Uprising e nded in defea t, but is a great acco mplishm ent a nd re ma ins the greatest eve nt in recent Macedo ni a n histo ry. It s hows the ro ad fo r Maced o nian freedo m a nd inde pe ndence.

Bro ther Maced o nia ns, O ne o f the rea so ns fo r the defeat o f the Maced o n ia n U prising was the fact tha t it was indu ced p rem aturely by the Vrhovists, the a ge nts o f Bul garia n imperia lis m and o fficia l Bul ga ria, whic h a imed a t interference fro m o uts ide a nd a nnexatio n o f M acedo ni a b y Bulga ri a. These sa me ol d sinn ers, implanted in th e ma nagi ng bo dy o f the lli nde n O rgan i.atio n , in vite the re fugees and e migra nts to come to the ir meetings and to mo rro w will desecrate the great sa cr ifi ces, trade with Macedo nia n sou ls a nd will s how the Vrho vis t fasc is t a nd a cquisitive po licy o f Bu lgari a n impe ria lis m . T he â&#x20AC;˘ O61iaCTe 11 K0\111TeT 11a

8.M .P.O.

(O6e_'111t1e11a ) o MaKe..10 111111 110.l

60;1rapc1rn oJ1 aCT. n o111u.

95

m a naging body o f the !linden O rganizatio n has once aga in s hown its Vrhovist na ture, cancell ing their pa rti cipati o n in th e National Maced o ni a n Committee for the joint celebrati o n of !linden .

Des pise a nd boycott the meetings o rga nized by th e Vrhovist lead e rship of the I linde n Organization! Everybody come to the a nti-Vrhovist M acedo nia n n atio n a l meetings a nd demonstra ti o ns!

Long live !linden!

Long li ve a free a nd independent Macedonia!

Nota rized by: the Vratan Regional Police Ins pecto rate, Sec retary: S ig nature illegible The Archive of Macedonia. Sect io n : Varia

The Regional Committee of the I.M. R.0. (United) in Macedonia under Bulgarian rule THE VRHOVIST NATIONAL COMMITTEE WANTS TO DESTROY THE INDEPE NDE N CE OF THE MACEDON I AN EM IGRANT MOVEMENT 1935 Brother Maced o n ians,* The Vrhovist National Committee appointed by the bloody dictatorship has committed a filth y betrayal of the sacred Ma ced o nian liberatio n cause a nd broken the oaths of Goce Delcev, demanding a nnexatio n of Macedonia to Bulga ria. And something m ore th at that. Self-imposed onto the Macedonian masses, now it wa nts to destroy the independence of the Macedonian emigrant m ovemen t completely, to â&#x20AC;˘ 0611acreM Ko., 111TeT ,rn B. M . P.O . (06e.'.l 1111e11a) Gi.11rap11A, 6pB r R MBKC,.'J.OI-IL/11.

96

o MaKC.'.lOH11u

no.'.l

a ttach it to the fascist Thracian, Dobrujan and o ther organiza tions, so that Bulgarian imperialis m can put into effect its policy m ore easily in t his way.

Down with the treachero us Natio na l Committee a nd its master, the mi litary fascist government!

Long li ve th e unity of the Macedonian masses in the name of the ideas and oaths of Goce Delcev !

Long live the I.M .R.O. (Uni ted), the o nly national revolu tio na ry leader of the Macedonian subjugated people!

Ask for the O6E.[lv1 Hv1CT (U nitarist), the m outhpiece of the Sofia Regiona l Committee of th e I.M .R.O. (United).

Raise funds for the illega l press.

The Archive of Maced o nia. Sectio n : Va ri a

The Regional Committee c,f the I.M.R.O (United) in Macedonia under Bulgarian rule THE UN ITED REVOLUTIONARY FRONT OF THE NATIONALLY AND SOC IALLY OPPRESSED IN BULGARIA 1935 Brother Maced o nians,* Twelve years ago, the Bulgarian bourgeois ie wi th its overthrow o f th e 9th of Jun e deprived the workers a nd th e na tionall y oppressed o f their elemental rights and freedom , whi ch they had with the govern m ent of Stambo liski . As a result o f this overthrow, the September events <1nd the Gorna Dzumaja m assacres followed, crimes against th e worki n g Bulgarian and Macedonian people in which th e Macedonian Vrhovism took an active part led by the Vrhov ist I.M.R.O. of T. Aleksandrov and Pro togerov.

This year's 9th of June will pass un der the spirit s hadow of the terrible econom ic crisis and ha rs h terror of th e present â&#x20AC;˘ Ibid.

7 The Histo rica l Truth

97

fascist government of the Yrhovis t, Tosev, towards the working people, in o rganiz ing la rge-scale cons piracies a nd exter111ina tio n o f a ll revolutionary elements.

The mi lita nt celebratio n is of great signifi cance tod ay. tered, a nd the gro und under lism is c rumbling under the masses.

of the 9th of Ju ne an ni ve rsa ry Macedo nian Yrhovism is s ha tthe feet o f Bu lga ri a n impe riarevolutio nary pressure o f the

MACEDONIAN WORKERS,

We m ust go out into the streets e n masse o n the an niversary of this blood y event in ord er to de monstrate our readiness for struggle against fasci sm, war, imperia lis m and its loyal spy, Yrhovism , in the face o f m ilita ry fascist dictatorship a nd the self-imp0sed Nationa l Committee.

For the free existence o f a ll revo lutio n a ry organiza ti o ns! For freedom, bread and work!

Only unde r the banner o f the I.M.R.O. (U n ited) shall we achieve the realizatio n of our demands!

Join its ranks e n masse!

Down with the 9th of June!

The justi ce of revo lutio n a ry courts fo r the murde re rs of the people!

Long live the united revolution a ry front of the nationally and socially oppressed!

T he Archi ve of Macedonia. Section : Vari a

98

" The Sofia Regional Committee of the I.M.R.O. (United) T H E MACEDON IAN WORKERS I N THE STRUGGLE FOR TH E SELF- DETE RM INATION OF MACEDON IA

• 1935 CAL L TO ALL WORKING MACEDON I ANS•

Faced with the presen t military fascist government, s hattered by its internal contradictions and afraid of the inc reasing resistance of the nationally and sociall y oppressed masses, the Bulga ri an bourgeoisie stri ves to continue its re ign in every possible way.

Si nce its faithful henc hmen, the Mih ajlovists an d Protoge rovs, have not fulfi ll ed their ho pes o f leading the Macedonia n emigrants according to their own wis hes, the Bulgarian bourgeoisie has taken to the roiid of m ass arrests of the honest Maced onian em igra nts, d edicated to the ideas of Goce, Ja ne a nd the pleiad of fi ghters for the freedo m of Macedon ia.

There ha ve been arrests every day in the Petric a nd Sofi a regio ns. The arrested have been su bjected to severe beatings a nd inquisitions, with the sole a im of breaking the unity o f the Macedon ian em igrants a nd thei r leader, the I.M .R.O. (U ni ted), whic h is the o nl y o rganiza tion that s hows the ri ght way towards freedom and independence.

WORK I NG MACEDON I ANS,

Quickly stand in ranks under the banner of the l. M.R.O. (U nited) to stru ggle fo r the re lease of the arrested and the liberatio n of Macedonia ! Let us raist high the revolutiona ry nag of the I.M .R.O. (United) and call out: Stop t he arrests a nd murders of the brave working M acedon ia ns!

R ELEASE THE ARRESTED! PEOPLE'S TR IAL FOR THE H ENC HM EN!

* C 0qJ11i1cK11 O.K. 1-1a B.M .P.O. (06e.:11111e11a), pu6o, 1111 M:1 A·e10111111.

7•

/101110, Jlo o c11 •1rn

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LO NG LIV E T H E I.M .R.O. (UN IT ED), TH E LEAD ER OF TH E WO RK ING MACE DO NI A N PEO PLE! LONG LIV E TH E STRUGG LE FO R T H E SE LF, D ET E RM INATIO N OF MA CE DO NI A! The Archive o r Ma ced o nia . Section : Varia

Th e Regional Commillee o f the I.M.R.O. (United) in M acedonia under Bulga rian rule BULG AR IAN IMP ERI A LI SM AN D VRHOVI SM - TH E MA I N EN EMI ES O F TH E LIB ERATION A ND UN IFIC ATION O F MACE DON IA 1935 CALL \\OR.ZING MA CE DON IANS!â&#x20AC;˘

We, the Macedonia ns under Bulgari an ru le, sha ll best contribute to the li beration and uni ficat ion of enslaved Macedonia if we free ourselves from the ha nds of Bulgarian imperi a lism a nd Vrhovism. For us th ey a rc th e main enemies and our im mediate enslavers.

T hat is why we must for m a fratern al allia nce with the Bulgarian work ers and peasants, led by the Communist Pa rty, who wage a revolutio nary struggle fo r the overth row of Bulgaria n imperia lism a nd fo r the liquidatio n o f a ny kin d of o prressio n c1nd ex ploitation.

Let us build a un ited front with the Bulgarian wo rkers and peasan ts. This is the indispensable pre condition for the success of the struggle against the milita ry fascist dictator5hip, fo r the self-determination of the Petric regio n and the whole of Macedon ia, fo r the fo undati on of an independent re pub lic of the Macedonian workers a nd peasants. â&#x20AC;˘ Oii 1J..:1c:1 Ko,1111 ,: 1 1i:.i B.M. P.O. (Olle.11111e1ia) o MaKe.101rnsi no.1 ,i 1. 11:i r na 111ac1. 1/own. Pm>o 11111 M;,n:. 1<1111111.

100

Long live the united revolutiona ry front wi th the Bulgarian workers a nd peasants !

Lo ng li ve th e I.M .R.O. (U nited), the leader of the nationa l liberation struggle of the Macedo nian enslaved people!

The Archi ve o r Macedonia. Sec11 011 . Varia

The Regional Committee of the I.M.R.O. (United) in Macedonia under Bulgarian rule T H E MIHAJ LOV ISTS AND PROTOGE RO VI STS INSTRUM ENTS O F BULG ARIAN IMPE R IALI SM I N ITS ANTI- MACEDON IAN PO LI CY 1935 Brother Macedonia ns,* Through its loya l agen ts, the Vrhovists, at the head of who m are T. Aleksandro v and A. Protogerov, Bulgarian imperia lism has succeeded in dominating the leadership of th e l.M .R. O. So this nationa l o rganizatio n has turned into a terro rist den of Bulgarian fascism.

The Mihajl ovists and Protogerovists are the two wi ngs ¡ of the sa me gang. Together they cut t he throats of the Macedoni a n and Bulgaria n workers and peasants in 1923, 1924 an d 1925. Both wings a re today instruments of Bulga rian imperialism in its a nti-Macedonia n policy.

But the cause of Goce, Sanda nski and Dimo Hadiidimov has not been forgotten. Their banner is unfurled by the l.M.R.O. (United), which has continued the struggle started

by Delcev's l.M .R.O. It has united al l t he revol utionary forces of o ur enslaved people.

Along the road of national revo lutio n, in a lli ance with the work ers a nd peasants a nd the other enslaved peoples in Bulgaria, G reece a nd Serbia, it is t he only organization that leads us to wards freedom-a nd independence. â&#x20AC;˘ O611aCTCII K0\ IIITCT 11a B.M. P.O. (O6e. u111e11a J II Ma Kc.10111111 11 0;1 61,.,rapCKa OJlaCT.

SpllTR M uKe.10111111.

IOI

Down wi th the Vr hovist ga ngs and their leader, Bulgari a n im peri a lis m!

Lo ng li ve th e I.M .R.O. (U nited), the o nly pro tecto r of th -! M acedo nia n workers and peasants! Joi n its ranks en masse !

The Archive o f Macedonia. Section : V:1ria

The Regional Committee or th'e I.M.R.0. (United) in Macedonia under Bulgarian rule ' I

BU LGAR IAN IMPE RIALS M - THE ECONOM IC EXPLO ITE R AND NATIONAL OP PR ESSO R OF T H E MACEDON I ANS

1935 Bro ther Macedo n ia ns,* I The mil ita ry fascist d ictatorship has put an e nd to th e b lack taxes collected by the ga ng o f Ivan Mihajlov, but has replaced them by increased a nd more violent collectio n of th e sta te taxes, punis hments a nd specia l taxes. From the d irect taxes in the five regio ns collected from us in Ap ril th is yea r o nly, over o ne a nd a ha lf m illio n levs have been made, three times as muc h as the p revious year in th e same period.

Hunge r and pove rty are growing, s pecul ation is soread ing. And in spite of a ll that, Bulgarian im peri al is m is tak ing last to rn s hirts from p ur backs depri ving us of o u r last dry morsels, in order to get its ta xes.

Wo rkers and peasants, hungry and persecuted b ro thers, d o not give a penn y to the mili tary fa scist d icta to rs hip, to the ba nks and us urers !

Do no t let them collect taxes fro m the sa les o f to b acco!

Start in th e villages a nd towns a massive s truggle for the a nnu lling (liqu idation) o f a ll old a nd ne w taxes to the state, ba n ks a nd us urers ! â&#x20AC;˘ OCim,creH K0 \111TeT 11a B.M.P.O. (O6c.11111e11<t) n MaKc:to1t11R 110.1 G~ "a pcKa 11. iacr. 6p11rR M11Ke,.'l.0111111.

102

Join the ranks of the I.M .R.O. (U nited), the o nly Macedonian natio na l revolutionary o rga nization under the banner o f whic h we s hall ach ieve ec0nom ic prosper ity and nationa l liberati on!

The Archi ve o f Macedon ia. Section: Varia

The Regional Committee or the I.M.R.O. (United) in Macedonia under Bulgarian rule T H E INTE RNAL MACEDON IAN REVOLUTIONARY ORGAN IZATION (UN ITED), CONTENDER AGA I NST T H E IM PER IALISTS AND ENSLAVERS AND FOR THE SELF-DETE RM I NAT ION OF THE PETRI C: R EG ION AND THE W HOLE OF MACEDONIA

1935 Brothe r Macedonians,â&#x20AC;˘ T he I.M . R.O. (United) has been the on ly orga nization to continue the cause o f Goce Delcev, Jane Sandanski and D imo Hadzidi mov. It has been the o nl y o ne to defend the independence o f the Macedoni a n liberation movement and wage a n irreconcilab le massive struggle agai nst the imperialists and enslavers, and for the self-d eterminatio n of the Petri c region a nd the whole of Macedonia, fo r an independent re public o f the Macedo nian workers and peasa nts.

T he I.M.R.O. (U nited) is agai nst th e vi ll ai nous terror is m and (i)thy assassinations com mitted by the Yrhovists. It strongly emphasizes the slogan of Goce that the liberation of the Maced o nian people will be ach ieved by an internal arm ed u pr ising, and works in practi ce fo r the victo ry of the Macedonian revolution.

Come in ran ks under th e bright flag o f the 1. M.R.O. (Un ited)! f h~ Archive of Ma.:cdo nia . Section: Va ria â&#x20AC;˘ OCim1c 1e11 K0\1 111 e1 11a B M.P.O. (OCie.11111e1rn) u MaKe;w1111R 110..1 Ci 1,J11a pc1rn onac~,. 6parn MuKc: w111111.

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I.M.R.O. (United) BROTHER MACEDONIANS, THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEE N THE AUTHORITIES OF YESTERDAY AND TODAY 1935 BROTHER MACEDONIANS,• It has been ten mo nths that the new government of generals, established through a n over night coup, has been lying and continuing to deceive us. Supported on ly by their bayonets, witho ut any social support, the fascist authorities have made serio us attempts to create such support, especially he re, in o ur enslaved regio n. Through lies a nd deceit, they have tried to harness us to pull their blood stai ned carriage.

Seeing the militant protests of the working Macedonian population against the gang o f tha t assassi n, Iva n Mihajlov, who posessed th e lives and p roperty of every one of us, the new government presented itself as his opponent and began to p ursue the members of the gang. Many believed this filthy deceit and unwillingl y became tools of the generals, which was exactly what they wanted. Their disappointment was great when they saw that they not only pursued the m but even protected them from the people. Those interned in Sofia, Varna and other towns were released a fter 5 months.

Those who were in service, in a lliance with the new o nes, c.:ontinue to rob yo u. Where are their promises that they will return the money take n from you afte r they will hav~ confiscated the property of those enriched through lawlessn ess and that they wi ll punish the murders ? They move freely, since the ir c rimes have been fo rgiven. Brother Macedonians, there is no difference between the a uthorities of yesterday a nd today. The latte r ha ve continued the acquisitive policy of the former gove rnmen ts. Punishments are becoming more severe every day. The taxes are lowerd on ly o n paper, the taxation of a ll kinds of cattle is increasing. The Turkish property is used on ly by the maste rs a nd townships. This property sho• n.M .P.O. (0). Ep,IIR MaA·r:.1,1111111.

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u ld be sha red among those who have a littl e o r no land . The age nts of .. ,he reconstructio n.. chatter everywhere that we do not kn ow how to use our wealth rational ly. What a mockery o f the wo rkin g Macedonian population! T his is not enough for them: they a lso want everything turn ed into a monopoly so that they can rob more easily. By closing the schoo ls in the Petrit region they want to keep our children in ignora nce in order to oppress them mo re easily .

This is what the 19th of May has brought to us. brother Macedonians ! Our salvation will come on ly when . a longside our e nslaved bro the rs in G reece and Serbia. in a llia n ce with the worke rs and peasants o f these countries, we sha ll start the stru ggle against the subjugators, for the ri ght to self-determination till the secession of Macedon ia as an indepe ndent entity governed b y the worki ng people.

People's trial for the murderers! Down with the gnvernment and its 19th of May which has brought hunger for the wo rking Macedonian population! Down with Yrho vism !

Long li ve the I.M .R .O. (U nited)!

Sig n ed h y

T H E C HI EF OF THE POLITIC AL SECTION (D. l)imitrov) T he Archive o f Macedonia . Section : V.iri.,

105

The Regional Committee or the I.M. R.0. (United) in Macedonit1 under Bulgarian rule I LIND EN (ST. E LIAS' DAY) AND THE KRUSEYO REPUBLI C, A WR EATH OF T H E MAC EDON IAN REVOLUTIONARY PAST

1935 Brother Macedo nians*, Bulgarian imperia lism, through its faithful dog o f Yrhovism, has ca used many bl ows Lo the Macedonia n revoluti on.

O ne of them is the invention that the day of Macedonia should be Pentecost. In the whole of Macedonian history rich in glorio us events, the Vrhovists did not have stopped find it appro priate to select any of them , but have chosen Pentecost.

Brother Macedonians, this is not accidenta l. It is a result of the fact that the whole of the glorious Macedonian history with its ma ny glorious dates is in sharp co ntradicti on with Yrhovism a nd comprises a number of arguments which unmask it. It is unpleasa nt for it to resurrect the revolutionary past, which supports the revolutio nary spirit in us, the Macedonians, and shows us that the only way to freedom is a revolution of the Macedonian masses against the imperialist oppressors. The Yrhovists have chosen Pentecost in order to create respect towards the Tsar and God and to direct our attention to prayer, and not to struggle, in order to seek salvatio n in the wars of tsa rs, a nd not in the revoluti on of the Macedoni an people.

Down with Yrhovism !

Boycott the religious service of the Nationa l Co mmittee on the occasion of Pentecost!

Long live the Macedonia n revolutionary past with its wreath - !linden a nd the Kru~evo Republic !

Long live the I.M .R.O. (U nited)!

T he Archive of Macedonia . Section : Varia

â&#x20AC;˘ O611acTe11 K0\11ner 11a 0.M.P.O. (O6e.11111e11a) e MaKe.10111rn 110:1 6b.1ntpCK3 8, JaCl. 6pDTR MllKe.:JOlll/11.

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The Regional Commiltee or the I. M.R.0. (United) in Macedonia under Bulgarian rule SUPPRESS ION OF THE MAC EDON IAN NAME AND OF THE MACEDON IAN STRUGGLE FOR AN INDEPENDENT MACE DONIA 1935 Brother Maced onians,* The 6th of May is before us ! It is the day which sy mbolizes two supreme moments in Macedonia n history, that are today the banner for the bui ld-up of the Macedonian future a nd independence.

On the 2 1st April (according to the old calenda r), 32 years ago the leader of the Macedonian re volution, Goce Delcev, the symbol of Macedonia n unity, of the Macedonian independent revolutionary struggle a nd of the Macedo nian ideal for freedom a nd independence, was killed by an enemy bullet. The man who had stated the immo rtal thought that the freedom of Macedonia would not be granted by any tsar, but wo uld come as a result of an armed uprising of the united Maced onian masses fell on this d ay. With his statement Goce showed the basic line a long which the Macedonian liberation struggle should move, the line of the struggle aga inst imperialism and its acquisitive policy.

On the 6th of May, 11 years ago another historical event for Macedonia took place, which united the Macedonian masses with indescribable enthusiasm and stirred their revolutionary n ame. The May Manifesto appeared on this da y, which has become a basis for the unification of all revolutio nary forces in Macedonia, a basis for the birth of the United Internal Macedonia n Revolutionary Organizatio n.

The May Manifesto was a systematization and expansion of Goce's ideas. It meant death to the imperialist hidden intents, it meant the formation of Macedonian unity and the unity of all revolutionary forces on the Balkans for the struggl e agaâ&#x20AC;˘ O611ac1c11 KO\I II TCT 11a 13.M.P.O. (O6e.1111te 11a) e MaKe.101111 H no.1 Gb.11 apcKa e iacr, 6pu 1R Mu Ke.:.io111111.

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inst reaction, fa scism and the acq uisitive po licies of the Balka n imperialist states.

Broth er Macedo nia ns, We, the Macedonians who live in Bulgari a, must now more than ever unite under the bann er o f Goce and the May Ma nifesto. T he military fascist di ctato rship is ragi ng in Bul garia today in the spirit of wild chau vin is m and military preparation~. The growth of the revision ic;t wave has mad e unnecessary the covering-up carried out thro ugh Mih ajlov's o rganization, the temporary game of a n " independent Macedonia" has become needless, and the impe ria lists have proclai med the Mal:edonian cause pa rt of th t: Bulga rian sta te policy.

They wa nt to impose the ideology of G reater- Bulgaria nism on us at a ny pri ce. This is why the Nati ona l Committee56 is imposed on us a nd the Macedonia n name, Macedoni an struggle a nd the Macedonia n ideal of independence are suppressed . Those who instigated the Mihajlovists to play with their ' parabellums' now make a cause o f th e struggle agai nst them in o rder to win the masses to their side, using their hatred of the armed methods of action.

Brother Macedonians, Let us unite for the build ing of Macedonian unity under the banner of Goce and the May Manifesto, in the na me of the Macedonian independent revoluti onary struggle and of our ideal for an IN DEPENDENT MAC EDONIA. For the free existence of the brotherhoods, youth and other organizations, for the freedom of speech a nd the press, fo r the free choice of the Nationa l Committee!

Down with the terror against the I.M .R.O. (United) and against the Macedonian masses!

Down with the milita ry fascist dictatorship!

Down with the war prepared for a new division of Macedonia!

Long li ve Macedonia n unity under the banner o f Goce !

Long live the Macedonian independent struggle!

108

Long li ve the unity of all revo lutiona ry forces in Bulgaria and in the Balkans !

Long li ve Goce Delcev!

Long live the May Mani festo !

Long live the I.M .R.0. (United), which continue~ the cause of G oce a nd the May Manifesto !

Long li ve independent Macedonia!

The Archi, c of Macedonia '.-.ccunn : Vana

The Regional Committe~ o f the I.M.R .O. (United) inl Ma cedonia under Bulga rian rule ·• TH E MACE DON IAN PEO PLE DO NOT WANT TO BE SLAVES, TO HAY E TUTO RS : THEY WANT TO BE FR EE AND TO FORGE TH E IR FR EEDOM TH EMSE LV ES

or

.. A Cit/I to the Popuhition the Pt'trh' Rt:f,ion ,111d th,: M11c1:do11 i:111 emigm11t., in IJ11/i;11ri:1 ··,

1936

To the population of the Petric regio n a nd the Macedonian emigrants in Bulgaria, to the members and leaderships of the brotherhoods, the !linden Organization, the Macedonian Youth League, the Macedonian co-operative o rga nizations. M.Z.S., I.M .R.O. (Mihajlov), I.M .R.o .s- (Sandanov), to all dem ocratic circles and organizatio ns in the country.

DEAR MACEDON I AN ( IT I Z l· NS!

The ruthless suppressio n of everything that is Macedoni an by the dictatorial governments has not stopped. In the la st two years hundreds of Macedonians have been arrested ---• U 6 . 1uc r e 11 K0 \11n e 1 11a 13.M .P.O. (O6c. 11111e11a ) 11a M aKe. 10 1111~ 110 . 1 llt.. llllpCKll 8. lilC I . n o11111 .10 ltiJCt: lt'lll/ ~ 10 IJ //,: t ptt•tl/011 . 10 ,w,c•; ,n11c ,;1111 <'\/I l l f' ill /1/H /J

51,. II ilpllH.

109

a nd tortured . Many have been sent to prisons, con centra tio n ca mps o r in te rned. Tria ls fol low hard o n each other. However, most o f the m are held agai nst th e progressive Maced onia n n atio na li sts, accused as me mb ers o f the I. M.R.O . (U ni ted) a nd fraternal a nd yo uth organi zations. Up to no w th ere have been trials in Gorna Diumaja , Sveti Yrac, N evroko p, Raz log, Burgas, including the Youth T rial in Sofi a. Man y dozens o f Macedonia n peasants, teachers a nd wo rkers have bee n given severe sente nces. On the 6th o f Ju ne th ere will be a big Macedo nian tria l in Sofia . Twenty Macedo nia ns fro m a ll pa rts of Macedonia wi ll be put o n tria l. But they, the fearless children of Maced onia, a re not the o nl y o nes who will be bro ught the re; the Macedonia n natio n a l libera tion ca use will be a lso brought to tria l.

D EA R COMPATR IOTS AND C ITI ZENS!

Whdt is the purpose of this wi ld terror, of this cam paign of th e Sofi a dicta torshi p against the Macedo nia n movement?58 T here is o nly o ne co rrect a nswe r : THE MA CE DON IAN P EO PLE STRUGGLE FOR THEIR NAT IONAL FR EEDOM AND I NDEPENDENCE, AND DO NOT WANT TO BE SLAVES, TO HAY E TUTORS ; TH EY WANT TO BE FRE E AND TO FORGE THE IR F R EEDO M T H E MS ELVES. T H EY WA NT A FREE AND I NDEPENDENT MACEDO NIA, WHI C H E MBARRASS ES THE BULGARI AN A CQU IS IT IVE POLI C Y. T his is why the Bulgarian lead ers pe rsecute us.

They ha ve a nnounced that the a rrested are m embers o f " the Ma ced o nia n Communist organiza tio n", I.M .R.O. (United ), whic h strives for " the secession of a p a rt o f Bulgaria" a nd for " the establ ishment of a soviet fo rm o f govern me nt" . T h is sla nder was s hattered even a t the first tr ials. T he Bulgarian imperi a lists could no t deceive Macedo nia n a nd Bulgarian pub li c o pinio n . Everybody unde rstood that it was a tr ial o f Macedonian nation al fighters, that the I. M.R.O. (U nited) is no t a Communist o rga nizati o n, b ut a Macedo n ian na tio na l o rga nizatio n whic h has the purpose o f li berating the Macedo nian regio n under Bu lgaria , a nd uniting the three pa rts of Maced o ni a into o ne free state.

I IO

! LINDEN AND A LL OTH ER MACEDON IAN ACTIV ISTS OF OLD!

Yo u have su rv ived a ll the suffer ings of slavery, you remember the vio len ce o f the Su ltanic tyra nny. Hundred s of fea rless figh ters have o riginated fro m yo ur ranks a nd h ave left their bones for the freedom of their people. Yo u remember the solemn oaths o f Goce, D ame, Goree, Sandans ki and Pe re - to see Macedo nia free and independent, to preserve the purity of o ur move me nt, to reveal the h idden inte nts of those who s peculate with the Macedonian desti ny. These ideas have become a banner, they have united the young an d the o ld , and owing to the m, the Bulga ria n conquerors today put o n tria l yo ur fri ends and son s, in the same way as they were o nce put o n trial by the Turkis h tyrants, in the same way as the Serbs and -Greeks put their prisoners on tri al today. So, you , both o ld and young, your nea rest a re wai ting in the priso ns for yo ur suppo rt, waiting to hear your voices, the voices which have been raised more than once aga inst the subju gato rs o f our count ry.

CO MRADES FRO M TH E BROTH ERHOODS AND T H E OTHER LEGA L M ACEDON I AN ORGAN IZATIONS!

The p risone rs a re waiti ng fo r yo ur help. Intercede in favour of the ir re lease. T he o rganized M aced o ni an m asses s ho uld be in the first ranks of the struggle, tQ unite all the Maced o nians a nd to raise the ir vo ices agai nst infiltration into o ur movement. Condemn open ly the arrests, to rtures a nd tria ls against your very brothers, whose only guilt is that they wor k fo r the unity of the Ma ced o nia n fo rces, fo r the pure Maced o nian struggle, for Macedonia n independence.

SUPPORTERS AN D M EMB ERS OF TH E 1.M.R.O. ( MIHAJLOV) AND 1.M.R.O. (SANDANOV) !

The blows delivered to the who le Macedonia n moveme nt oblige a ll o f us Macedo nians who ho nestl y fight fo r the freed o m o f o ur people to become aware a nd to uni te al l the Maced on ian forces fo r a uni ted sâ&#x20AC;˘; ruggle agai nst the subjugato rs of the three parts of Maced o nia. T oday any of ou r internal conn icts s up p lies new water for the watermill o f o ur ene m y. We have o n ly o ne aim - TO SEETHE MACE DO111

N IAN P EO PL E F R EE AND HAPP Y IN A STATE OF TH E I R OWN . The recen t pas t has s ho wn us that co-o perati o n with th e Bulga ri a n leaders is detrimental to the Maced oni a n ca use, tha t it has dis united o ur fo rces a nd m ade the m asses ind iffere nt 10 the ir destin y. T he idea of Goce has deeply penetra ted the minds of the Macedo nian m asses.

Because o f tha t id ea , many o f ou r brothers a re being put in prison to da y. But 10 pro tect th e m is th e obligat io n o f a ll Macedo nia ns. You r s uppo rt fo r the accused will be a n impetus to ra ise hig h th e fl ag o f Delcev. It will be a ste p furth er towa rds the unifica ti o n of a ll Maced o nian fo rces a nd toward ~ the u nited struggle fo r free Maced o nia .

IIULGJ\ R IAN C I T I ZF.NS!

We a p pea l 10 ) o u. 10 your conscie nce as a free people which has a b 0 1vaged a stru ggle of centuries fo r its n a ti o nal libe ra ti on. to pub li,.:ly e:q1ress your s u ppo rt fo r the j ust s truggle o f our pet,pk.

IIIW I ltl路 RS AND SIST l路 RS!

RJi:-e )Our 1oices in s upport o f o ur im p risoned comrad es. Our u nit ed struggle a nd o ur com m o n interests requ ire it.

Come o ut pub lic ly hy se ndi ng petitio ns with your signatures 10 th e minis ter of inte rn a l affairs and the courts. Send d elegations c hosen lw vo u in the broth erh oods, in a ll towns a nd vi llages. which路 ~ho uld go 10 th e M in is try a nd th e o ffi c ia ls.

A ttend th e tria l e n masse. Send letters to the M aced o nia n prisoners. ins p ire them with faith tha t they are no t alone.

Justice and rel ease for th e accused! Tota l amnesty for a ll th e priso ne rs ! Cl o~ ure of th e concent ration camps ! f reedo m for the Ma cedon ian orga niza tio ns ! Reestab lis hmeht of the Na tiona l Co mmittee a nd th e M acedonian You th League, freedom for th.: Ma..:edo ni a n press ! l"hl路 Archi,..:

11 2

\)r

l\ t:11.:~doni:1. sl'l' li,, n : V:i ri:i

Gorna Diumaja Regional Committee of the I.M. R. 0. (United) T HE BULGAR I AN GOVERNMENT I S PUTTI NG ON T RIAL THE FI GHT ERS FOR MACE DON IAN FREEDOM 1936 Brother M acedo ni a ns,* Since 29th of Ju ly in o ur town there has been a trial against the stude nts a nd citizens arrested a few months ago, accused of being m em bers of the I.M.R.O. (U nited).

The fascis t au thorities are preparing to sentence th em to hundreds of yea rs in prison, because o f the ir struggle a gainst V.rhovism an d for the freedom of independet Macedonia . At the same time, the Mihajlovist assassins of people are free and a re agai n threaten ing.

As in the Sveti Vrat process, the pol ice is trying to accuse the arrested o f Commun ist acti vi ty a nd to present the 1.M . R.O. (Un ited ) as a Communist o rganization. TH E BULGA RIAN GOVE RNM ENT IS AFRA ID TO ADM IT THAT IT IS PUTTI NG THE ID EAS OF GOCE DELCEV AND JAN E SANDANSKI ON T RIAL. AND THAT, LlKE TH E T U RKI S H AUTHORITIES I N THE PAST, IT IS PUTTING ON TRIAL TH E FIGHTERS FOR MACEDON I AN FREEDOM Wo rking Macedonia ns, By its outrageous terror, the military fascist government wa nts to s uppress o ur stru ggle fo r the improvem e nt of o ur harsh econo mic conditions and the achievement of a n independe nt M aced o nia!

We must no t s uffer this condition any more! Let us rise up in massive organized stru ggle aga inst terror, hunger and pillage! For the immediate sto ppage o f the rrial, fo r th e release of the a rrested! â&#x20AC;¢

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B.M.P.O. (06emrneua),

6p11TR MaKe_10uu11.

8 The Historical Truth

11 3

Fo r freed o m o f the press, meetings a nd na tio na l o rga niza tio ns!

Fo r a bo litio n o f the heavy taxes and o b ligati o ns! For improveme nt o f the unbearab le econ o mic conditi o ns o f the workin g po pula tio n !

Join the ra nk o f the l.M .R.O. (U nited)! It is the o nly o rga nizatio n to continue the cause o f the old I.M .R.O. o f Deltev a nd lead the M acedo nia n p eo ple towa rds freedom a nd pros perity!

The Archi ve of Maced onia. Section : Varia

The Third Sofia Regional Committee of the l.M .R.0. (United)

ARRESTS OF TH E MACEDONIAN ACTIVI STS BECAUSE TH EY FIGHT FOR TH E FREEDOM OF MACE DONIA AND CALL TH EMSELV ES MACEDONIAN S 1936 CALL

Bro the r Maced o nia ns !* O n the 15th o f last mo nth at d awn over 150 people, brave Maced o nia n activists, we re a rrested o nly because they had th e courage to fi ght fo r the freed o m o f Maced o nia a nd call the mselves M aced o nia ns.

The a rrested ha ve been ex posed to unheard-o f medieval inquisitio ns in o rder to extract some kind o f evide nce.

The milita ry fascist government, led by the gravedi gge r o f Macedo nia, Bo ris 11159, in o rder to put into effect its b li nding a nd impe ria list po licy mo re easily, has set itself the task o f a nnihila ting the I.M .R.O. (U nited ), whic h is the o nl y o rganizatio n to p rotect the interests o f Macedo nia a nd the Maced onia n people. â&#x20AC;˘ Tpen1 Co(j>11 i1cK1t pai1011eH K0~111TCT 11 a B.M.P.O. (O6e!l 11 He11a), SparR M aKe.10Nu11.

n o3/lo,

114

Worki ng Macedo n ians !

Sha ll we a llow the m urde re rs a n d imperia lists to c rus h the na me o f Maced on ia a nd the Maced o nia n Q uestion? Shall we c rush the fa ithful oaths of Goce a nd Sandanski for a free a nd independe nt Macedonia? N o! We sha ll not a llow tha t!

In spite of the mo nstro us sen tences fo r the fo rty-two fig hters in Go rna Dzumaja a nd the c urrerit a rrests in Nevrokop, Go rna Dfo maja, Sofi a a nd other p laces, the st ruggle fo r th e freed om of Macedonia sha ll continue with even greate r enthusiasm . Long li ve Maced o n ian un ity ! D own with treachero us Vrhovism - the Mihaj lovists a nd Protogerovists !

Down with the impe rialists of Sofia, Belgra d e a nd Athe ns !

The Archive of Macedon ia. Sectio n : Va ri a

The Soffa Regional Com mittee of the l.M.R.O. (United)

APPEAL FO R T H E R E LEASE OF TH E ARREST ED M ACEDO NIAN S FRO M T H E PIRI N PART OF MACEDO NIA AND T H E EMI G RA NT FIG HTERS AG AIN ST NATION A L O PPR ESSIO N. TO A LL WO RKI NG M EN AND WOM E N A ND TH E NAT IO NAL LY O PPRESSE D I

·"A C:i /1 to All Wo rking Men and Wo m en 1111d the Natio rw//y Oppressed"""'

19J6 Everyo ne in pro test and stru ggle fo r the release from th e ha nds of fascism of the brave . fi ghters against nationa l oppressio n ! '

MACEDONIA NS,

DO BR UJANS,

TH RACIAN S

AN D ALL WORKIN G PEO PLE, OU R CO MRADES. It has been 22 d ays since 80 Maced o n ians we re interned in the Po li ce Headqua rters, o f which 60 were b rought fro m the • Co<IHtitcrn O.K. 11a B. M.P.O. (O6e.1n111e11a), puiio 111111111. pa6011111•1K11 11 1111u110 N~J1110 yr11ere1111.

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Ne, rokor regio n (among them three rriest!> a nd a few J octo r-.J a nd 18 from Sofi a. Al l o f them have been subjected 10 bruta l interrogation. T his ruthl ess terror a nd , iolatio n of the freedo m of the nationa l mi noritie!> ha, e been used onl ) hccau~e they fi ght fo r their liberation fro m ca ritali!>t orrres-,ion, for their national inder endence and fo r a federati on of th e Ralk a n reoples.

Thi!> i-, not the o nly case, especia lly in the Petric regio n, where a great number of Macedon ia n revoluti ona rie'> have heen kil led by the fascist assassins. But they are fill ed with heroic r cr!-.e ve ra nce to follow the revolutionary path of libera tion . b pecia ll y hero ic has been t he conduct of their technician, who resisted the attempts of the poli ce to arrest him for ~eve ral hour!,. There are many cases of such heroic con<luct amo ng the , ictims of fascism.

Macedo nia ns, Dobrujan s and Thracians, our co mrades, fa!>c ism ha!, taken away from your ranks many fighters for your liberation and it will continue to take them away. The de!>tin y of the 80 bra ve Macedonians is also your destin y. So ri!,e up in protest a nd struggle fo r their release! Schedu le ma!>!, meetings and conferences in your neighbourhoods, street!., enterprises and so on, and unmask the bloody acts of fascism, send protests and d elegati ons to the prime mini ster of the governm ent. Only in this way - the way of united struggle of a ll v. o rking, nationally subjugated and antifascist forces, under the n ag of the auxiliary organ ization - this is the only guara ntee of full protection for the 80 Macedonians a nd all the victims of fascism.

Down with the murders, a rrests and tortures!

Imm ed iate release of the arrested Macedonians!

The Archive of Macedon1J. Section : VariJ

11 6

The M acedonian Progre.<.:, i1 e /VIOi emcnr in V,1rn,1

FO R T H E SELF-DETE RMI NATION OF T H I:: PETR IC R EG ION A N D T H E WHO LE OF MACEDON IA ·· A Cull - 1,, All None,1 .mJ l'mli,c"" c

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1936 TO All II ON f: ST AND PR O(,RI '-,~ I\ I "\( I

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Brother Macedonians, the mili•ar, 1':l'--1..1-..t !_!O\ ernm cnt o f Kirnon Georgiev, through O\erthrow,n c nrr n,111011 an d co llabo ration with the circles of the Bulg:1ri.111 a nd l\ l,t~edonia n bourgeoisie hostile to us. i:i cl ud ing tf,I.' Sol1.1 "rl.', o lutio naries .. of the wing of ProlOgero,. ha-, come 10 rov. er and fill ed the country wi th b loody mil11ary fa .,ci-,t tenor.

But instead of protecting the Petric porulation from thl gang of Iva n Mihajlov, there has been an ec;ca lation of the mili1;1ry rule and conspiracies like the one in Sveti Vrac a n<.l fhe imprisonment of more tha n 40 fighter<, fo r the self-detern,i nation of the Petric region till its secessio n from Bulgaria .

The mil itary fa scist government has been straining to <.lei.trO) the revolutionary working movement since the 19th of May. T he number of the trial s has increased unrelenting and there have been death sentences.

On the 6th of December six figh ters fo r more bread and freedom were ha nged. Another 37 socialist revolu ti onarie~ sentenced 10 death may be ha nged at a ny moment.

The milita ry fascist terro r has alc;o been ragi ng here. in Va rn a. A short while ago more th an 20 progress ive Dohru ja ns a nd wo rkers were subjected to terribl e in terrogati o n~ in the Varna commune. They are trying hard to a\cribc them to fictit ious conspiracies.

Macedonians, rise up in :.trugglc for the ~alvation an d liberation of the workers sen tenced to death and for the release of those convicted to many yea r!>· impri!,o nment, ou r brothers from the Sveti Vrac region an d others, and fo r th e •

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'I A' // •1ec I 111/ II II

117

li bera ti o n o f the Oo bruja n a nd worke rs' activists fro m Varna !

In s tru ggle fo r wo rk a nd b read!

For the exemptio n o f a ll fro m taxes, for the liquidat io n o r a ll d ebts o f th e .refugees to the state, th e banks, etc. !

Down w ith the mi lita ry fascist governm e nt a nd its instruments .- the Pro togerovists ! · Down with the blood y ga ng o f Iva n Mihajlov, th e reser ve o f frn a n cia l ca pita l !

Dow n with th e m artia l law in th e Pet ric regio n !

Lo ng live the stru ggle for th e self-d ete rmination o f the Petric regio n a nd the who le o f M aced o n ia, till th eir secessio n as a sep a rate sta te!

T he Archive of Ma cedonia. Secti o n : Va ri a

Th e Bulgarian Workers· Party W E D EMAND THAT T H E POPU LATION OF T H E PETR IC R EG IO N B E R ECOG N IZED AS A MACE DON IAN NAT IONAL M INORITY ANO H AY E IT S O WN SC HOO LS ANO C HURC H ES WITH EQU AL R IG HTS W ITH T H E BULG AR IAN O N ES ANO F I NANCED BY TH E STATE 1936 DE C LARAT I ON

..

0 1- T HI:. WORK l: RS" PARTY AND T H E GEN E RA L AN D N ATI ONA L l )F:MANl)S 01- THE BU LGAR I AN PEO PLE•

11 . T he Wo rk ers' Pa rty gives its fu ll s uppo rt to th e fratern a l M acedon ian peo p le a nd th eir s tru ggle fo r self-d ete rmina tio n till th e ir secessio n as an independe nt state. It is fo r the recog nitio n of th e p o p ulatio n of th e Petri c regio n a s A MACij OON IAN NATIONAL MI NOR ITY a nd for its pro visio n \v ith la nd ... The W. P. is st~uggling fo r th e recogn iti o n { • 61,m a pcKa pa60 1111, ,1ecKa napTf.~ .

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11 8

a nd gua ra ntees of the rig ht o f the M acedo nians to the status of a nati o na l mino rity also in Yugoslav ia a nd Greece.

12. We a re against o ppression a nd the policy of assimilatio n b y the reactio n aries in o ur country toward s the national minorities that live in Bulga ria. We d e m a nd tha t they have their own schools a nd churches a nd that they can free ly esta b lis h th eir own cultura l, educa tional a nd natio nal organizatio ns. Their schools s ho uld be treated as hav ing eq ual ri ghts with the Bul ga r ia n o nes a nd be fi na nced by the state.

The Archive of Macedo nia. Section : Va ria

The Central Com mittee or the Bulgarian Comm unist Party T H E A UTONO MY OF YUGOSLAV MACE DON IA W I LL SE RV E AS T H E CE NTR E FOR T H E UN I F IC ATION O F T H E D IV ID E D PA RTS OF MACE DON IA IN AN I NTEG RAL WHO L E60 App,:11/. / 11 [J;i11/e

{o r 1he Prescn m ion o r Pe11ce 0 11 !he 811/k1111.~•

1940

... It wo uld be a c rim e a nd madness if the liberatio n o f Macedonia came as a res ult o f the interference o f imperialis m o n the Ba lka ns. The Maced o ni a n people is the one m ost interes ted in the preservation of peace. Stru ggling for peace, it does no t renou nce its struggle fo r na tiona l li beratio n and se lf-d etermin a ti o n . In the prese nt s ituation this stru ggle should be b ro ug ht in to conformi ty with the basic tas ks o f th e peo ples fo r th e p reservati o n of peace, in orde r to avoid whatever ca n help the g reat im peria list powers in their tra nsfer of the wa r to the Ba lkans .

T he Maced o nia ns o f the Yugosla v part of M acedonia a re qu ite rig ht in directing their effo rts towards th e achievem en t o f autonomy. T he M aced o nia ns of Yugoslav Macedonia , stru ggling a lo ngside th e o ther Yugoslav peoples fo r the • 1l K 6Kn. A11e.·1. IJ 6 op6:, 111 w1ww1111e , 11,p11 u11 611! 1~·:111111e.

119

preser vatio n o f peace a nd n eutra lity in Yugoslavia, for ra p prochement wi th the U.S.S. R. and agreement with Bulga ria, ha ve joined the e ffo rts o f a ll the progressive forces in Yugoslav ia fo r the acco mpl is hme nt o f the process o f democratization a lready sta rted a nd fo r the federal organiza tio n o f Yugoslavia, whic h will a lso provide a uto no my for the other Yugoslav peoples, including the M acedon ia n p¡eople. The a uto no my o f Yugoslav Macedo nia w ill serve as the centre fo r the unificatio n o f th e div ided pa rts of Maced o nia in a n integra l who le, whic h will a lso serve as a unifyi ng ring for the frate rn a l a lliance between Yugoslavia, Bul ga ria a nd Greece.

Unde rstanding their tasks in th is way, the Macedo nians o f Yugosla v Maced o nia have welcomed the comm eric ia l rela tio ns betwee n the U.S.S.R. a nd Yugoslavia a nd stri ve for fu rth er ra pprochement between the two sta tes. The a larms of the adh erents o f Dani! K rapcev61 tha t th is rapprochement means sa nctio ning the status-quo and putting the seal o n Maced o nia n slavery are unfamilia r to the Macedo n ian p eo ple , who understand that this rap prochement will stre ngthen peace a nd consolidate the progressive fo rces, resulti ng in ra pprochement between the Ba lkan peopl es for peaceful solutions to controversia l matters.

The Maced onia ns fro m Bulgaria ca nnot have a ny other pol icy tha n the po licy o f the essentia l core of the M acedon ia n people in Yugoslav Maced onia .

To give ap prova l to ho pes in Ita li a n imperial ism a nd to push the Maced o nia n people into wa r, mea ns to com mit the greatest c rime towards its futu re.

The Archive of M acedonia. Sec1ion : Varia

120

The Centrnl Commiuee of the Bulg1:1ri1:1n Wor kers· Party (Communists)

T H E ENTIR E MACE DO NIAN HI STORY , CULTU R E AND STR UGG LE ARE BE I NG D IST O RTED BY THE BULGARIA N FASC ISTS AND C H AUVIN ISTS AGAI NST T H E WILL AND PROTEST S OF TH E BULGAR IAN WORK I NG PEOPLE A Procl:11n:1tit>n hv the Centru/ Commi11e o r the 8 .C. P.: ·· For the Freedo m. l ·q117dity :ind Self'.govemmel1( o f Man:dnni:, ...,._.

194 1

Macedonia ns!

Today, as in the past, yo u have no political or cu ltura l freedo m .

Whi le the so-called Serbia n leaders did not allow you to call you rse lves M aced o n ians a nd pe rsecuted you if you did, the Bulgaria n cha uvi nists today compel yo u by force to call yourselves Macedon ian Bulga rians a nd they also p ersecute you if yo u say you a re M acedonians. Your leaders and fig hters from the past , li ke Goce Delcev, Pere T osev, Goree Petrov, J a ne Sand a ns ki, D imo Ha dz i Dimov a nd o thers, are p resented to you as l00-percent Bulgari a n c hau vinists and fascists. In a ll the proclamatio ns of the authorities a nd the corrupt Maced o nia ns, the struggle of Goce for freedom, democracy, equa lity a nd the self-determ ina tio n of the Macedo nia n people is compa red with the struggle which the Bulgarian fascists a nd Hitler are waging fo r conq uest a nd pill age. What a disgusting disho no ur to the memory of your grea t apostles a nd wha t a filthy d istortio n a nd falsification of the Maced onian struggle for freed om !

If yo u dare cal l yourselves M acedo nians you are persecuted a nd beaten a nd yo u can not get wo rk or even permi ts.

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Yo u are no t a llo wed to s pea k Macedo nia n in th e institutions a nd a ny con versa tio n in M acedo nia n is des ign ated as Serbo philia. The e ntire Macedoni a n history, culture and struggle a re being disto rted by the Bulga ri a n fascists a nd cha uvinists, aga ins t th e will a nd pro tests o f the Bulga ria n wo rking peop le, in th e same way as until yesterday th e G reate r-Serbian cha uvinis ts we re do ing aga inst the will a nd pro tests o f th e Serbi a n wo rking masses and the c ivilized progressive elem e nts of the fra tern a l Se rbi an p eople.

Decem ber. 194 1 The Archives o f the Comm uni, 1 Puny of Yugo slavia , Vo lume 7. Belgrade. pp. 83-84

Th e C. P. or Yugoslavia and the C. P. or Bulgaria 6J W E R ECO G NIZ E TH E R IG HT, A S PIRAT IO NS A N O TH E STR UGG L E OF TH E MACEDON IAN PEO PL E FO R EQ U ALITY AND F R EE DO M 1941 To the

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At this diffi cult a nd c ritical m o m e nt th a t th e Ba lka n peoples a re ex p erien cing, th e C. P. o f Yugoslav ia a nd the C. P. o f Bu lga ri a have agreed to give th e fo llowing j o int D EC LARATION * The E nglis h imperi a lists o n th e o ne ha nd a nd th e Ge rm a n a nd Ita lia n imperi a lists o n th e o th e r are a tt empting w ith a ll possible m eans to in vo lve the Ba lka n peo ples o n th eir sid e in th e imperi a list wa r. Afte r th ey had in volved G reece in the mil ita ry fire, th e Eng lis h impe ria lists s ucceeded in enta ngling Turkey in th eir webs a nd b ring ing it to th e ve rge o f wa r. With th e help of th e wo rst reacti o na ry Serb ian c ha uvinis t e le m ents

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- pro mis ing th e m rete ntio n a nd increase o f the ir acqu isitio ns in the Fi rst Wo rld Wa r - the E nglis h imperi a lis t at this m o m ent a re making d es pera te a ttempts to win Yugoslavia over to the ir side, to crea te a Ba lka n fro nt aga inst Germ a ny, a nd, using th e bl ood o f th e Ba lka n p eopl es in this way, to rem ove o r a t least redu ce th e assa ult of th e Germ a n milita ry fo rces u pon th e Britis h Is les. At the sa m e ti m e, th e E n glis h imperia lists have continued thei r pressure a nd threats against Bulga ri a, preparin g military in vas io n o f its te rr ito ry.

The Germ a n a nd Ita li a n imperi a lists, und er th e pretex t th at they a re destroying th e system o f Ve rsa illes a nd a re stru ggling fo r a ¡â&#x20AC;˘new o rde r" in Euro p e, where new pers p ectives fo r la sting jus tice a nd comprehe ns ive progress will be o pe ned up fo r th e s ma ll n a ti o ns unde r the leade rs hip of th e A xis, have suceeded in a ttracting Bulga ri a to the ir side. T he Bulga ri a n governme nt has o ffi cia ll y agreed to let the Ge rm a n Arm y go th rough Bul ga ri a n ter rito ry. So the Germ a n a nd Italia n impe ri a lists, a fter Germ a ny has indeed subju gated Ro m a n ia, a re a lso throwing Bulga r ia into th e n ames o f the imperi a list wa r. Simu lta neous ly, the Germ a n a nd Ita lia n imperi a list ha ve a lso m ad e d es perate a ttempts to win Y ugoslav ia over to the ir side a nd against Engla nd. Ge rm a ny has tried to a ttract Yugosla via , too, by pro misi ng her, a m o n g o ther things, even Sa lo nik a ... But, o f course, n o t now, but afte r th e " fina l victo ry", when the questio n o f th e " reo rgani.atio n o f Europe" will be put o n the green ta ble!

Bo th g ro ups o f imperi alists a re continuing to use fo r their o wn a ims th e existing na ti o na l a nd o ther conflicts betwee n th e Ba lka n states, a nd especia ll y th e M aced o nia n Question, in order to weaken the m o r, p ossibly, to push the m into a b lood y struggle a m o ng th em selves, w hic h is in th e inte rest o f th ose same imperi a lists. The wo rkin g peo ples of Yugoslavia a nd Bulga ria, as well as the workin g m asses a nd prog ress ive fo rces in th e o the r Ba lk a n countries, a re r esolute o ppone nts of a ny nati o na l o ppressio n o f the M acedo nia n people a nd the o th er peo ples a nd n ati o na l mino rities in th e Ba lka ns; th ey recogn ize the ri ght, as pira ti o ns a nd the struggle o f the M aced o ni a n people a nd th e o ther o ppressed p eo p les for equ a lity a nd freed o m . These peo ples will a lways find un con dit io na l a nd unreserved s upport in their struggl e from th e wo rking peo pl e o f Bulga ri a a nd Yugosla via. But we wa rn the 123

Ba lkan peoples, including the Maced o ni a n peo pl e, to be very careful, especia ll y in th e present c irc umsta nces, and not to a llo w the ir righteo us struggle to be used as an instrum ent in the ha nds o f the impe ri a lists, for the purposes of the impe ri ali st wa r.

It ha s now been four m o nths since Greece pulled ho t c hestnuts fro m the fire with its own ha nds for the English imperia lists. Now the o ther Balkan states a lso find themselves a t the most c ritical moment, o n the verge o f war. Suc h is the situa ti o n in the Balkans.

But the worki ng peoples of Yugoslavia and Bulga ria see a nd s how the realisti c beneficial way o ut even o f this situa ti o n . This o nl y way o ut in the present circ umstances is qu ic k a nd d ecis ive abando nment o f the po licy of military o bliga tio ns of Bulgaria a nd Yugoslavia towards both the imperi a list blocks a nd firm a lignm ent o f these states o n the positio n of th e U.S.S. R. - now the o nly stro ng neutra l Great Power th a t has o b vio usly sho wn it is the o nl y p o wer which tru ly a nd consistently stri ves fo r peace a nd limitatio n of the imperia list fire of war. T he stength of that Great Po wer would ha ve a n even m o re beneficia l effect on the peo ples if th e peo ples enda ngered with wa r united their forces for struggle a nd to strengthe n th e corresponding country in its stru ggle fo r peace and limitat io n of the wo rld fire. T he sm a ll p eoples, m ost o f a ll , a re inte rested in this, because the U.S.S. R. has suffi c ient po wer a nd m eans to protect her interests s ho uld they be enda ngered by a nyone. R elying on the po litical sup port of this fratern a l G reat Power, the s mal l s ta tes, like Yugoslavia a nd Bulga ria, wou ld very much stre ngthen their international positio ns of peace and neutra lity and could successfull y o ppose th e pressure a nd as pirations o f the imperialists. This is the o nl y way in the present circumstances tha t can sti ll keep Yugoslav ia a nd Bulgaria away fro m the imperia list wa r a nd create preconditio ns fo r the peaceful so lution to the existing na ti o n a l a nd other dis putes in the Balkans.

C ru cial a nd vita l natio na l interests m a ke it imperative fo r Bulga ria and Yugoslav ia to set o ff o n precisely this reason ab le road o f salvation. The peoples of these two contries und ersta nd this very well. That is why they happily and inanimo us ly welcom ed the proposal whic h th e Soviet governm ent o ffued to the Bulgaria n government in November o f 124

la!>t yea r, fo r making a treaty o f reciproca l aid b etween the two countri es. Instead o f accepting this Soviet pro posal c;o ... a 1isfac1ory for Bu lgaria, th e Bu lga ri a n governm e nt rejected it unreasonably and con scio usly chose the dange ro us way of connecting Bulga ri a to the imperi a lists, the way of war. l n:,.1ead o f using the favo ura ble o ppo rtunity and directing Bulga ri a a lo ng th e road so satisfact o ry for her and fo r peace in the Ba lka ns in genera l. the roa d of coope rati o n wit h the Sovie! Unio n , a nd so preparing th e way fo r Yugoslav ia to join that treaty o f reciprocal aid wi th the U.S.S. R .â&#x20AC;˘ wh ic h. from the standpoi nt o f a sober assess m en t of the situation in the Ba lk a ns a nd the cruc ia l na tional interests o f the peo ples ... (m is!,in g mate ri a l) The Bulgarian and Yugoslav peo pl es ha ve wa rn ed their governm ents no t Lo fo llow tha t dangero us way a nd shown th e m the o ther realis tic wa y o f sa lvation. But th ese gove rnme nts have ign o red the wi ll o f thei r peo ples. Therefo re. the governm ents a nd the govering reactionary bou rgeois groups in th e t wo coun1ri e!>, represented by those gove rnments, bear fu ll respo nisibi lit y before hi story and b efore th eir peo ples.

Bui, to these highl y dangero us po licies o f th e governmen ts o f Yugoslavia and Bulga ria, 1he p eo p les o f th ese and the o th er Balk an count ries will re!. po nd with even greate r strengthening o f th e mutua l links fo r fraternal coop erati o n and commo n ~trugglc against imperi alist war and fo r peace in the Bal kans, b uilt o n the basis of the closest coo pera ti o n wi th th e g reat fra te rna l Soviet Unio n .

Pro testing against the imperia list aspiratio ns toward Bulgaria a nd Yugosh1via, a nd agai nst their gove rnments whic h consciously pus h the ir peo ples into impe rialist war, th e C. P. of Yugosla via a nd the W .P. of Bulgaria ca ll o n th e wo rk ers. peasan ts, the wo rki ng men and wome n from th e town:,. a nd th e country. an d a ll progressive fo rces of these countries 10 s uppo rt this d eclarat ion and to organ ize th e msel ves in the strugg le against im peria list wa r. in the struggle fo r peace. for th e preservu tio n o r the freed o m a nd inde pende nce o f th e Ba lk an r eo pks.

Down with the imperi alis t war!

Long li ve fra ternit y a nd concord . etc.

Lo ng li ve the U.S.S. R., etc. f h~ i\n:hi,~, 11f CK S IU . l kll!r:,J~

125

The Workers' Party (Communists) of the Gorna Diumaja region THE GO RNA DZUMAJA R EG ION , WHIC H CONS ISTS OF T H E GORN A DZUMAJA, RAZLOG, NEYROKOP, SYETI VRAC AND PETRrC DISTRI CTS, IS

GEOG RAPH KALLY, ECONOM ICALLY AND ETHNOG RAPHI CALLY AN lN SE PAR ABLE PART OF MACEDONIA 64 ··A Resolution of the First Legal Conference of the Workers · Party (Communists) in the Corna Dzumaja Region·· (22nd-23rd October. 1944)"

1944 I. The Go rna Dfomaja regio n , wh ich consists of the Gorna Dfomaja, R azlog, Nevrokop, Sveti Yrac a nd Petric d istricts is geograp hically, econo mi ca lly a nd ethn ographically a n insep a rable part o f M aced o nia.

2. After the heroic struggle for freedom of ha lf a century, fina lly the foundation of the free Macedonian sta te has been la id. On the 2nd of August, Ilinden (St. Elias' Day), this yea r, the First National Antifascist Liberation Council (ASNOM)6s was held, which procla im ed Macedoni a a fede ral state within the framework o f Federal Yugoslavia.

3. The po pula ti on o f the Go rna Dzumaja region have a lways most actively participated in the liberation struggle of the who le Macedonian people. With their acti ve p a rti cipation under the banner o f the Fathe rla nd Fro nt (OF) in the struggle against Bulgarian fasci sm, the Party a nd the populati o n of the Gorna Dzumaja regio n over the recent yea rs have been awa re that the victo ry over Fascism wi ll clear the way to the resolution of the Macedonian Q uestio n, i.e. the .unification of the three parts o f Macedonia into o ne Maced on ian state.

4. T he conjo ining of the Gorna Dfomaja region to the Macedonian state is a lso in the interest of the fraternal Bui• Pa6o m11~ecKa 11apr1111 (K) 11a rop110..llKy,iai1cKa 061iac1.

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126

garian peo ple. So the way to the South Slav federatio n is being cleared , a fede ratio n which wi ll cement the friendship between the peoples of Yugoslavia and Bulgaria and will gua ra n tee their freedom.

5. After the fascist dictatorship came into power in Bu lgaria in 1923, a n exceptional terrorist regime was established in the Gorna Dfomaja region by the Greater-Bulgarian Yrhovists, the betrayers o f the M ay Manifesto. The regi me had not a llowed the o rga n ization of legal political parties in th e Gorna Dfu maja region until the 19th of May, 1934. At the sa me ti me, as wel l as in the period up to the 9th of September66 this year, there were only orga nizatio ns of the Communist Party, which worked illegally. In the committees of the Fatherland Front created before the 9th of September and in the partisan detac hments of this region, apart from Com munists a nd no n -party membe rs, there were no representa tives of o ther parties.

As we can see from the p revio us conclusions, the Conference has decided that the Party Organization should reorga nize its activity towards full p reparatio n s of the region for its annexation to the Macedonian state. The Conference has d eclared that the practical realization o f the an nexation should be done by way of a friendly agreement between the Maced o nian Fed eral Government, i.e. the Government of Tito's Federal Yugoslavia a nd the Government o f the Fatherland Front of Bulga ria.

For the purposes of the correct rea lization o f the preparations, the Conference has decided: 1. The Party Organization in fut ure wil l be called THE CO MMUNIST PARTY OF MACE DONIA (KPM), i.e. it wi ll have the same name as the Party Organization of free Macedonia.

2. As lo ng as the Gorna Dfomaja regi on ad mi nistratively belongs to Bulgaria, the Regio nal Committee of the Party will mainta in organ izatio nal links a nd will receive d irectives from the Central Committee of the Bulgarian W orke rs' Party (Communists), but will have auto no mous rights to a ll the questio ns tha t concern the Macedonian issues.

3. T he Regiona l Committee will maintain close relations wi th the Communist Party of Macedonia for coordinated 127

activity in connection with a ll questions that concern the unifi catio n and construction of the Macedo nian state and fo r the preparations for the conjoining o f the Regiona l Party O rga ni za tio n to the KPM .

4. The Regio nal Pa rty Committee proposes to the Committees o f the Fa the rla nd Front in the region, considerin g the o rie nta tio n of our socia l and politica l life to that o f Macedon ia , that they s ho uld be name d MACE DONIAN NATIO NA L LIB ERATION C OMM ITTEES o f the Fat he rland Front, and that th•: Regional Committet: -:ho uld establis h rela ti o ns with the Presidium of ASNOM .

5. The Regio nal Committee o f the Party, 1hrough the Central Committee of th e Bulga rian Work ers· Party (Communi sts). wi ll as k the leaders hips of the RZNS. ZVENO a nd SD". parties. since they did not have Party O rgan iza tio ns unti l the 9th of September this yea r in any case, to establish s uc h o rga ,1iza tions and to advise their adh erents in the Go rn a Dzumaja region to orient the mselves to the po litica l life of Macedonia. The Confere nce d eclares, in order to avo id an y mis understandings in connection with this, that it is against a ny revocation o f the democrati c rights a nd freed o m of the Ma cedo nian people. There s hall no t be freedo m in Macedonia o nly for the fascists.

The Archi, c o f Mac~don i,1. Sc·,·1i,, 11 : V;1ri.1

128

Todor Pavlov THE TRUE SONS OF THE EX CE PTIONALLY PERSECUTED AND H E ROIC MACE DONIAN PEO PLE LAID TH E GRANITE FOUNDATIONS OF THE FR EE MACEDONIAN STATE ON THE HISTORI C ILI NDEN (ST. ELI AS' DAY) "Rabotnit esko delo"" 1944

Several members of the M acedo ni a n Army o f Natio nal Liberation a nd activists fro m the circles o f the Macedonian revo lutio n a ry em igra nts in Bulgari a have asked the Regent o f Bulga ri a, Mr Todo r Pavlov, to answer the question of his personal attitude, as well as the a ttitude of the Bulgarian peo ple, towards the liberatio n moveme nt of the Macedonia n peo ple a nd the new M acedonian state. Here is the ans wer of the Regent, Mr Todo r Pavlov, to the qu estio n so fo rmula ted: After a long, p ersistent and bloody struggle, the Macedonian peo ple fin a ll y sho wed to the who le world o n the 2nd of August this year that th e ri ght to self-determination is no t gra nted but must b e wo n by struggle. The true sons of the exceptio nally persecu ted a nd he roic Macedo nia n peop le la id the granite fo undations of the free Macedon ian sta te o n the historic llinden (St. E lias' D ay), havi n g equal ri ghts as a member-state of the new Democratic Federal Yugos lavia.

1 am su re that the Macedo nian peo ple will full y believe me if I tell them that their joy a t the great victory a nd their j ustifiable hopes for the bright future of their new state a re s hared most sincerely b y the fra ternal Bulga ria n people. Th e Bulga ria n p eople, after they had s hattered Hi tler's fascist dictators hip in Bulgaria on the 9th of September achieved a histo ric understa nding with t he glorious Mars ha l of Yugosla via, J osip Broz Tito, have proved a nd will ever prove in action , by thei r b r illi a nt victories o ver Hitler's hordes and by the â&#x20AC;˘ ll aOJlOO, Tonop, pereHT Ma b'bJl nl pHA . MaKeJJOIICKI/R HilpOJl neJ10", Octo ber 2 1, 1944.

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9 The Histo ri ca l Truth

129

liquidation o f Hitler's agents in the country, as well as by their fight without quarter against Greater-Bulgarian cha uvinism, that they wis h most since rely not o nly to correct the previo us mistakes and offences towards the Macedonia n and Serbian peopl es, made primarily owing to their governors, b ut a lso to do everything possible fo r the cementing of the strong fo undations of the frate rnal a ll ia nce with the n ew Democratic Fede ra l Yugoslavia, fo r cooperation with the other Ba lka n peoples, G reat Britain a nd t he United Sta tes, as well as fo r etern a l friend ship with their liberator, the great Russian people.

T here is no and can be n o democratic, patriotic and ho nest Bulgarian today, who does not understand that it is the o n ly way fo r Bu lgaria to join the democracies of the world , fo r the a chie ve ment of j ust a nd lasting peace o n the Ba lkans a nd fo r the creation of a rea lly free, inde pe nde nt, de mocratic a nd strong Bulga ria".

Born in Macedonia, but grown up in Bulgari a, the a uthor of these lines has been brought up in the s pirit of the ideas o f Dimitar Blagoev, Goce Delcev a nd Geo rgi Dimitrov ; so he has a lways fo llowed with the greatest interest the glo ri o us struggle o f the Macedonian people fo r liberati o n, as well a s its o utstanding efforts fo r the creation o f a n ew Macedonian cultu re.

Long live freely self-d etermined a nd democratic Macedonia!

Lo ng live free a nd democrati c fede ra l Yugoslav ia'.

Lo ng live free and democratic Bulgaria of the Fatherla nd Fro nt !

Sofia, 20th Octo b er, 1944

130

Georgi Dimitrov WITHOUT TH E M E RC I LESS LIQ U IDATIO N O F GR EATE R- BULGARIAN C HAUVINISM , THAT C ANC ERO US WOUND ON T H E LIVI NG BODY OF OUR C OUNTRY , TH E C ONSTRUC TION OF A REBORN AND N EW BULGARIA IS NOT POSS IB LE "'/::.l•crything (or i/11.: front .. .,

1944

Dea r Co mrades, Alo ngside yo u, a ll Bu lga rian p a trio ts a nd our g lo ri o us yo u ng peo ple, I fee l d eep joy and pride that o ur lo ng-su ffering mil itant peo pl e has fin a ll y, thro ugh its n atio nal an t ifascist uprising a nd finding fra tern a l su ppo rt in the victorious Red Arm y, s ucceed ed in rejecting the sham eful Germ an fasc ist yo ke and j oining the camp of the Alli ed N atio ns, head ed by the Soviet U ni o n, G reat Brita in a nd the Un ited States.

T he victo ry o f the Fa therland Fro nt is o f imm ense histo rica l significan ce fo r o ur country . The Ninth o f Septem ber has sta rted a new e ra in the histo ry o f o ur peopl e. The dec isive break with Hitl er's Germany, the re mo val fro m power of the da m ned Ge rman fascist agents, traito rs a nd gravedi gge rs o f Bul ga ri a, the establi shment of the Fath erland Fron t governm e nt a nd the resto ratio n o f the suppressed rights a nd freedoms of th e peop le, the pa rticipa tio n o f the reconstituted Bulgaria n Arm y in th e wa r o f liberatio n against the p acks of G erma n ba ndits and o n the side o f the g reat d emocra ti c states - al l o f these have set a heal thy basis fo r the cons tru ction o f a new, free, inde pende nt and stro ng Bulga ria.

But it is o nl y a basis, in the same way as the victory of the Fatherland Fro nt is o n ly a beginning. Befo re us is th e tas k o f the d efini tive strengthe ning o f that victo ry . T he next is to build persiste ntly and w isely upo n that basis. The re a re eno rmo us difficulties of va ri o us kinds o n o ur way a head, w hi ch must be resisted q uickly a nd firml y.

• /Jc11 •1Ko J:t 1/)p o11111. A letter fro m Georgi Dim itrov to the Cen t ·a l Committee of the Bul garia n Wo rkers' Party (Comm un ist,)... Pa6o , 1111 •11:,,0 . 1e. 10". Octo hcr 2, 19 44.

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Hitl er's ho rdes have been s ha ttered , but they are still n ot destroyed completely. T he fascis t beast has been fa tall y wo unded , but it is still not d ead.

After the harm that Bulga ria as a state, incited by the pro-Germa n leaders a nd G reater- Bulgarian c ha uvi nists, has done to o ur neighbouring peo ples, to o ur liberator, Russia, a nd to the liberation s truggle o f the A llied Natio ns, we must be q ui te certa in that the future of o ur cou ntry will depend prima ri ly on the real contri buti on whi ch we can now give a s a people a nd a natio n to the common mi litary efforts fo r the q uickest possible defeat o f fascist Germa ny a nd for the soonest possible end of war a nd the estab lis hm ent o f a new, lasting a nd ju st peace ... ... It can be no lo nger a secret to anyone amo ng us today that o ne o f the most impo rta nt roots of a ll the natio na l misfortu nes a nd catastrophes tha t have befa llen our peo ple ove r the rece nt decades has been Greater-Bulgarian chau vinism, the Greater-Bulgaria n ideology a nd policy o f hegemony in the Balka ns a nd dom ina tio n of the neighbou rin g peopl es. ft was o n these grounds that fa scism committed, year after yea r, many acts of vio le nce in ou r cou ntry. It was o n these grou nds that Germany's agents in the time o f Tsar Ferdina nd a nd T sar Boris sold Bu lgaria to the Germa ns and turned it in to a n instrument o f Ge rman mi litarism against o ur liberato rs and our wes te rn and southern neigh bours. In the name of"Greater Bulgaria " 68 , the Greater-Bulgarian chauvin ists, the traitors of t he na ti o n and p uppets of Ge rma ny, b ro ught our fatherland to the verge o f catas trophe for the third time a nd nearly destroyed it. Without the merciless liquidatio n of Greater-Bulga ria n ch auvinism - that cancerous wound on the living body of our country - the cons tructio n of a new, reborn Bul garia is n ot possible. It is essential, side by side with the liqu ida tion o f those co ntam inated by this mo rta l disease, to accompany it with a n extensive ideologica l activity of explana tion a mong the people a nd the intelligentsia, so that no re mai nder of the G reater-Bulga ria n ideology or a dventurous polic ies can be left. it is essentia l that the stables of Augeias of the da rk, base a nd d isgraceful fascist heritage s ho u ld be s wept with a n iron broom in order to puri fy the socia l and politica l air beneath the Bulgarian sky.

132

It is in this directio n that o ne of the grea t ta sks of o ur party lies.

I have no doubts that the Workers' Party, the party of the Bulgarian Communists, forged in the struggle of years agai nst fascism , fo re ign agents a nd the e nem ies of the peoP.le, which has continua lly drawn valuable iessons from the pas t, both distant and recent, and is aware of its histo rical res po nsibil ity at the present fateful moment, wi ll , in s pite of all d if- 1 fi culties, find with1 11 itse lf enough strength a nd s upport among the masses of the people to fu lfill its debt to the nation and o ur fatherland worthily, introducing a sober and realistic policy advantageo us to the natio n, wh ich will lead o ur people from the edge of catastrophe to which the treachero us Germa n fascist clique was pus hing it, to the wide and o pe n road to freedom, progress, creative work and prosp erity.

Please receive, my dear comrades, my ardent greetings.

Moscow, 28 Sept., 1944

Yours, G. Dimitro v•

The M acedonian Emigrants in Bulgaria T H E MACEDON IAN E MIG RANTS SHOULD JO IN THE NATIONAL LIB E RAT ION STRUGGLE OF THE MACEDONIAN PEOPLE FOR THE FINAL LIBERAT ION OF THE C OUNTRY APPEAL TO TH£ MACEDONIANS IN BULGARIA

1944

Dear compatriots,** The Macedonia n people have waged an epic struggle for their national liberat io n . Their bravest and most fearless sons persistently attacked the Turkish fortification of feuda• Georgi Dimitrov returned 10 Bulgaria on 6th November. 1945. after having been in exile for 22 years.

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133

lism a nd des potis m. The enthusias m a nd self-sacrifice o f the Macedonians created th e heroic epic o f th e revo lutiona ry stru ggle o f the Ma ced o nia n people - the llinde n Uprising of 1903.

Guid ed b ravely by the ideol ogists of th e Maced o nia n s tru ggle for liberation, Goce Delcev, Go ree Petrov, Da me G ru ev, Ja ne Sandans ki, Dimo Hadi:id imov and a pleia d of o ther fi g hte rs, !linde n rebels, they immo rta lized that struggle a nd wrote in th e book o f the na tiona l revol uti o n a ry m ovem en ts the grea test heroic event.

T he situa ti o n in which th e nat io nal revolutionary s tru ggle was prepa red, o rga ni zed a nd put into effect required stro ng con victio n a nd fa na tical cou rage. T he Turkish aut hori ties, a lthough with c lear sig ns o f disintegration, were s till strong e no ug h to o ppose the M aced o nia n fi g hters. The governments of Serb ia, G reece an d Bulgaria that existed at th at time as propon ents o f the hegem o nist policies in the Balkans coll ided in the ir asp irations for the acq uisition of th e Maced o ni a n land a n d subjugation a nd assimila ti o n of th e M acedo nia n people. In o rd er to rem ove that da nger, the Macedonian peo ple had to wage t heir struggle independe ntl y, with thei r own fo rces a nd m eans, against the pack of cha u vinists a nd conque rors, the leaders o f the Ba lka n sta tes.

However, in spite of th e unfav o urable circumsta nces, the revo lutio na ry ene rgy of the subjugated M aced o nia ns was a lways in a s tate of com bat readiness.

Since the Turkis h ru le up to the present d ay the M acedon ia n peo ple have continua lly been s ubjugated a nd have continuall y foug ht fo r their liberation. Conside rin g the cause o f th e M acedo nian stru ggle fo r libe rat ion in the past, which was heroically exem p li fied in the Ilinden Uprising, we, th e Macedonian s, a re now confro nting fatefu l a nd great events.

The Macedonian people su rvi ved the ha rd years of natio na l s uppressio n. After th e beginni ng o f the present war, bloody fascis m, in the s hape of Hitl e r's Ge rm a ny, armed to the teeth , in secret a nd o ffi cia l coo peratio n wi th the Bu lgarian a nd Macedo n ian fasc ists, swift ly made thei r way, to th e Ba lkans a nd conquered o ur fat heiland , Macedonia, imposing thei r m il ita ry and p o liti cal machine ry. T he Macedonian people found the mselves in anot he r, even mo re terrible eco134

nomic a nd natio na l slavery. The Macedonian people were oppressed and subjected to injustice and hars h explo itation.

They were th rown in to horrible dark ness, and terror. T he natio nal ge nius was fettered in the iro n chains of the most ho rrib le gloom, a nd those who nour is hed it we re murdered in m ost inhuman ways, arrested and thrown in prison, or sent to con cen tratio n cam ps. T he estates a nd houses of the people were put o n fire a nd inquisi torial methods were widely used, cru e ller than those in the Midd le Ages.

So the Macedonian Natio nal Liberatio n Arm y was conceived in Macedonia in 1941 as the decisive force of res ista nce, wh ich glori o usly continued the traditional a nd h istoric stru ggle of the Macedonian people against the acquisitive policies in th e Ba lkans, and, in close a lliance with th e movement o f Mars ha l T ito , b uilt the freed o m of Macedo nia and brought about M acedo nia's federa l associatio n wi th all democ ratic forces in the Ba lkans.

In those c ircums ta nces in ou r fat herland the ASNOM ( Natio nal Ant ifascist Liberation Cou nc il o f Macedon ia) was estab lished , as a n ins tituti o n of s uprem e revolutionary and political value, proclaimi ng the Basic law of Macedoni a fu ll self-dete rmi nation for the M acedon ian people.

Now in Macedo nia a revolutionary national revol ut ionary form of gove rnment is estab lis hed, which funct ions through its orga ns - the Committees o f the National Liberation Fro nt.

The Macedonian e migra nts in Bul garia fo ugh t a persistent a nd bloody struggle agai nst the agents of the fascist acq uisiti ve policy. They joi n ed the Bulgarian people in their stuggle against fa scis m a nd the acqu isiti ve policy and indirectly aided th e stru ggle of th e M acedonian people for freedom, which is impossib le wi thout the defeat of the fascist cliques in the Balkans, recently united behind Hitler's Germ a ny .

Dear compatriots, T here have never been more favou rable conditions fo r the freedom of o ur lo ng-su ffe ring fa the rland than now. Hitler's Germany, that horrible menace to the freedom of peoples, faces imm inen t downfall. It is coll apsi ng under the press ure o f th e glo riou s R ed Arm y, the a rmies of her great allies a nd 135

o f a ll subjugated peoples, under the burden o f Germa ny's own crimes. H itler's beast has been m o rta lly wounded. Its bod y will soon be p laced in the ho le it has prepa red for itself.

With the down fa ll o f Hitlerism the saluta ry slogan o f the Allies is ma king way mo re clearly - a right to self-determinatio n a nd freedom fo r the inte rna l social organization of all peoples.

Tod ay the sky a bove the peoples o f E urope is clearing up. T he peoples o f Eu rope a re united in their stuggle for the fin a l b low to Hitler's beast whic h is now in agon y. So the right of peopl es to live freely is in the ha nds o f the peoples themselves. T he Maced o nia ns have wo n one victo ry after a nother in the shape o f their yo ung Natio na l Libera tio n Army. For the first time, the peoples tha t a re liberating the mselves have o ffered helping ha nds for a un ited struggle against the Germa n occupi ers. T he Ba lka n peoples are united in their struggle. With the shattering of the most d a ngerous ene my to the freedom of peoples, Hitle r's Germa ny, its supporters - the Greate r- Bulgaria n fascists, G reate r-Serbia n hegemo nists, G reate r-Greek, G reate r-Albania n a nd M acedonia n fascists a nd a ll new serva nts of Hitle r's fascism - have been d isintegrating.

In the newly-created situa tio n in the who le of Euro pe a n ~ in the Balka ns it is our obligation to support the rt>voluti o na ry governme nt of the Fatherla n d Fro nt in Bulgaria, supporting simultaneo usly the revolutionary struggle within Macedonia herself.

Now whe n the Maced onia n people are fighting wi th a rms in their ha nds fo r their freedom a nd self-d ete rminatio n su p ported by the keen and ingeni ous leade r o f the struggle in the Balka ns a nd the instigato r o f the hastening o f the liberation o f the Balka n peoples, Ma rsha l T ito, we a re confronted by a n iron impera ti ve with a rms in o u r ha nds to jo in a nd sacrifice our lives in the natio na l libe ra tio n struggle fo r M acedonia, a struggle which is now in full eru ptio n.

In additio n, we must p urge o ur e migra nt o rganizatio n of their previo us fascist lead e rships a nd b ring the m into acco rd wi th the policy o f the Fatherla nd Fro nt government in Bulga ria, which is un ited in its su pport o f the Maced onian struggle fo r freedo m .

136

Long live the commo n Balkan natio nal li beration stru ggle head ed by the glorious leader, Marshal T ito!

Long live the in destructible An glo-Soviet-American a llia nce!

Long live the glo rio us a nd invincible Red Army and the Unio n of the Soviet Socialist Repub lics, the liberators of the subjugated peoples!

Long live the government o f the Fatherland Front in Bulgaria!

Down with fascism!

Freedom fo r the people!

Long live free Maced o nia in the new Democratic Fed eral Yugoslavia !

A rdent greetings to the M acedonian Natio nal Liberatio n Army!

So fia, September, 1944 SIGNATOR I ES : D r Pavel P. Satcv Bot in Dimi trov Ivan Popjordanov Lj uben Manoj lov Hri sto Kalajdtiev Georgi Sarakinov Ale ksandar Martulkov Lazar Popovski Dr Hristo Dalkal~v Dr H risto Tentov Petar Sandanov Peco Traj kov Lazar K. Mlakov T uSe Deliivano v Georgi DeniSev

G eo rgi Despotov Angel Dinev Krsto Germov (Saki r) Fi li p Popto do ro v Dim itar Hal vadt iev I va n Palejkov N ikola Konstantinov Dr Laza r Botinov Goce Grkov Dr Vasil Hristov Boris Mihov TuSe Ylahov Stefan Nanov MiSe l Gertikov

137

The Cenrrnl Commirtee of the Bulgarian Workers· Parry (Communist ,) T H E B ULGA RIA N CO MM U N IST PARTY AND T H E BU LG ARIAN P EOPLE HAV E M OST WARMLY W E LCOM E D TH E MACEDONIAN STATE ..A Le11er from the Cenrru/ Comm i11ee o(rhe Bu lg1Jri1111 Workers· P11r1y (Communisrs) to Comrnde Tiro ...

1944 T he Central Co m mi ttee of th e Bulga rian Worke rs · Party (Co mmun ist~). N".

6 1, 2 November, 1944, Sofia.

T o M a rs ha l T ito a nd the C K KPJ Dear Comra d e Tito, W e would li ke to ta ke this o ppo rtunity o f sendin g throug h you to th e Centra l Committee o f th e fratern a l Communist Pa rty o f Y ugos lav ia, to a ll Pa rty m e mbers a nd to th e heroic peop les o f Yugoslav ia o ur co rdial cong ra tula ti o ns o n t he occasio n o f th e brillia nt libe rati o n o f t he Yugoslav capi ta l, Be lg rad e, w hi c h has crowed the un ending seri es of lo ngfoug ht ba ttles a nd hero ic d eed s by th e peo ples o f Yugoslavia du ring the wa r o f three yea rs aga inst Hitler's beasts in th e Ba lka ns .

T he me rits o f the Y ugoslav N a tion a l Libe rati o n Arm y, o rga nized a nd led b y you, have been immense bo th in th e liberati o n of o ur lo ng-suffering fa th erl a nd a nd in d e li verin g a heavy b low to Hitler's ho rdes in t he Ba lka ns, as well as driv ing them o ut o f the Ba lk ans. The peo p les o f Yugoslav ia, a nd in th e first pl ace, o ur he ro ic neighbo ur, th e Serbia n peo p le, first r a ised th e bann e r o f a d ete rmin ed na ti o na l liberatio n s truggle aga inst Hitle r's Ge rmany a nd thus sho w ed the way to freed o m to a ll subjugated and o ppressed peop les. It was by yo ur brigh t example tha t o ur people, ro bbed a nd s urrend ered to Hitle r by o ur fascist rulers, we re ta ught a nd inspired in th eir a rm ed pa rtisan s trugg le aga inst Hitler's a dh e rents a nd th eir Bu lga ria n agents. W e o we you eternal • U K 6P rl (K), n,,c ,,o OT L[e11Tp1JJINIIR KO \/1/Ter 1/IJ 5MntpCKIJT8 pu60 11111•1ecK11 n11pT11R (KO \/)'1111cm) :ro :rpy rapR T11ro.

138

g ra titude for th e lessons a nd fratern a l a id you o ffe red to o ur first pa rtisan d etach ments.

N o w, whe n o ur peo ple, th a nks to th e s uppo rt o f the in vincible Red Arm y a nd your hero ic N atio na l Li beratio n Arm y a nd tha nks to th e a rm ed uprising o f th e wo rke rs and peasants, to th e p artisan detachments a nd the pa tri o ti c p a rt o f th e ar my, have throw n o ff t he disgracefu l fascist bondage a nd a ligned sho uld er to s ho ulder wi th th e Soviet, Yu goslav a nd o th er peo ples in th e commo n stru ggle fo r th e fin al d estru cti o n o f th e fascist bea st a nd its ultimate exp uls ion from th e Ba lka ns, a w ide road of s incere and fra te rn al coop erati o n a nd c lose a llia nce between th e fra te rn a l Sout h Slav p eoples suppo rted b y th e Ru ssian peo p le, th e libe rator, o pe ns befo re o ur peopl es a nd o ur frate rn a l parties. We welcom e t he fi rst significa nt step in tha t d irecti o n, th e agreem e n t o n com mo n acti o n aga inst th e Germ a n occu p iers, signed by you, Com rad e T ito, a nd o ur Com a rad e T erpe~ev.69 O u r people a re a wa re of their g reat g uil t befo re t he Yugoslav, a nd es pecially befo re th e Serbia n a nd Maced o nia n p eoples, in a llowing th eir fascist rul e rs to turn Bl.!lga ri a into a b attlefi eld fo r Hitler's ho rdes a nd th e Bulgaria n Army into a co nstab le o f Hitler 's in th e Ba lka ns, so causing a wh o le seri es o f c rim es a nd acts o f vio lence aga inst the peo ple w ho were fightin g fo r the ir freedo m. Our people, wh o have felt o n the ir o wn backs a ll the ho rro r o f th e vio lence a nd crim es th at th e Bulga ria n rule rs, Hitle r's puppets, have committed aga inst the fighters fo r freed o m , a re read y to d o a ll i11 their power, n o t sparin g the b lood of th eir best sons, in t he common struggle against Hi tle rism , in o rd er to wi pe o ut a s fa r as possible, the m o re qui ckl y and enterely, the s ha meful m e mo ry o f th e recent past a nd to clea r th e road to a n etern a l an d indestructi ble fri endshi p a nd stro ng fratern a l a llia n ce between a ll the South S lav peoples.

Especia ll y in co nnectio n w it h th e est abl ishment of t he free M aced o nia n sta te w ithi n the fra m ewo rk o f Federa l Yugoslav ia, whi ch is t he first d ecisive step towards th e realizatio n of th e M aced o nia n idea l o f a free, un ited M acedo nia , we in fo rm you th at o ur Pa rty a nd o ur p eople have m ost wa rml y welcom ed th e new M aced o nia n state. W e shall work to p o pu la rize it a mo ng a ll th e Bulgaria n people a nd es pecia lly a mo ng th e popul a ti o n o f the Bulgaria n p art o f M aced oni a: we sha ll assist in th e p rocess of a ro using the M aced o 139

nia n nationa l conscio usn ess a mong that populatio n, using the hero ic past a nd present of the Macedonia n people in their struggle fo r libera tio n, calling the schools, o rgan izatio ns, etc., by the n a mes of Macedonian fighters, by the publica tion of a Macedonia n newspaper a nd so on. With the same purpose in view we are re na ming our Gorna Dzumaja party o rganiza tio n a "Maced o nia n" on e, with the rights o f a Regio nal C o mmittee (Obkom) und er the control of the C entral Co mmittee o f o ur Party,setting itthe taskofengagi ng in activities which are Co mmunist in substan ce a nd natio n al (Maced o nia n) in for m . All o ur activities will be d evelo ped under the slogan o f widespread agi tatio n for the creatio n of the clo sest union between the new Federal Yugoslavia a nd new Fathe rla nd Front Bu lgaria, which will, in additio n, clear the way fo r the most painless realization o f the Macedonian ideal of a free a nd united Macedonia within the framework' of the new Yugoslavia. We are deeply co n vinced that the near future with the close cooperatio n of our two fraternal parties will bring about that unio n which will open up new bright perspecti ves fo r all the South Slav peoples and will also prepare the ground for fraternal agreement with the other Balkan peoples.

Wishing to establish permanent close contact between the centra l committees o f our two pa rties, we a re sending you Comrade C rvulanov for the establishment of radio links, and in the near future we sha ll send our perma ne nt representative to the C K KPJ. With a wish for the soonest possible victo ri ous o utcome of the brilliantly guided libe ration of the whole of Yugoslavia from Hitler's filthy boot a nd fo r the closest cooperation between o ur two parties, we se nd you o ur militant greeting : DOWN WITH FASC ISM - FRE EDOM FO R THE PEOPLE! On beha lf of the Centra l Comm ittee of the Bulgarian Workers¡ Party (Communists) Secretary, (Spiridonov) T. Kostov Historica l Archi ves of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, Vo lume 7, Macedonia in the National Liberation War and National Revolution , 194 1- 1944, Belgrade, 195 1, p. 367, Document N°. 13 1

140

THE IDEA OF A GREATER BULGARIA WAS THE ID EOLOGY OF YOUNG BULGARIAN IMPERIALISM .. The Roots or Greoter-Bulgaritm Chau vinism ··•

1944

.. . The G reater-Bu lgarian aspi ratio ns of the ruling class befo re the Balva n Wa rs led to the fratricidal wars in the Balkans, which en d ed in the first n atio nal catastrophe o f Bulgaria. Th e culprit fo r this po licy a nd catastro phe was the p ropo nen t o f th e G erm a n pol icy in Bulgaria, Tsar Ferdina nd a nd his cama rilla .

The pa rticipati o n of Bu lgaria in th e first im peria list wa r, 19 14- 19 I8, was d ictated by the same acquisiti ve aspirati o ns. Young Bulga ri a n impe rialism was ex pa nsio nist a nd drea mt o f ne w la nds and ma rkets. T he idea of Greate r Bulgaria was the ideology o f yo ung Bulga ria n im peri alism ... T hose wa rs were waged unde r the ba nne r o f the realizatio n of " na- , ti o na l idea ls". It was a fa lse ba nner. Be hind it were hid d e n the acqu isiti ve imperia list aspi ratio ns o f the ru ling impe ri alist grou p in o ur country. ... T he pro po n ents o f the G reater- Bu lgaria n ideas in o ur country a re the reactio na ry sectio n of the fin a ncial capitalist ci rcles, the fascisized young o f the organizatio ns under the n a mes of " Wa rriors", " Leg io na ries", "Father Pa isie" etc., a nd all good -for-no thing po liti cia ns a nd traito rs of Bulgari a .

The offi cia l p ro paga nda a nd educatio n are highl y respon sible fo r th e impla nta ti o n o f tha t ideol ogy. The struggle against it is not easy a nd will not be con cluded in o ne b low. It must be waged wi th a ll th e means possible ...

* Kopc1111re /Ill .:teJ1 0". October 6, 1944.

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141

A ngel Dinev THE FALSE SLOGAN OF " MACEDON IAN BULGARIANS" IS AN IMPERIALIST ONE "The e1h11ogr;1phic idea o( 1he M :1cedo11i1111 S/;11 ., ··•

1944 T Ii l: POSTWAR RE nlRT H OF MACEDON I A

T he ethnic q uestio n , so important in the li fe of our natio na lity, has a lways been a crucial to uc hs to ne o f our s truggle fo r liberati on. It was s uch bo th in the time o f war a nd the tim e o f peace, whe n we d eclared o ur d emands for the autonomy or Macedonia a t the Intern a ti o na l Peace Confe re nce.

T hen we a lso used o ur ethnic ba nner and in our re po rts to the Peace Co nfe re nce we used fo reig n te rms. Ka ra ndfol ov' s fo rm o f Macedon ia n Bulga ri zed Yrhovis m in Bulga ri a discredi ted us with its in volvem ent. Bu xto n a nd o ther res pected Englis hm en recognized us fo r M acedo nia ns a nd raised the ir voices in favo ur of o ur s tru ggle - Macedonia for the Maced onians. We d e nou nced o ur nati o na lity o urselves a nd declared o urselves to be Macedonian Bulgarians in o ur m emoirs that followed and did g reat ha rm to o urselves.

So in the postwa r peri od they did no t believe us mainl y because we took up th e Bulgarian positi o n . The as pirants to Macedon ia wrongly inte rp reted th e symbo lic na m e o f Macedonian Bulgarians. T hey conside red o ur demands for a utonomy as noth ing but a po licy of th e Bu lgaria n govern m ent, which worked through us to gai n time a nd a stage in the an nexation of the who le o f Maced o nia to Bulga ri a.

W e did no t raise the banner of ou r ethnogra phi c idea in order to be con vincing at least before the S lav world , in o rde r 10 be protected . Many a re tod ay ra ising thei r voices o f p rotest agains t Masa ryk, who was strong a t the Peace Confe rence, because he d id no t pro tect us as S lavs when the peace was sign ed. But the accusati o ns aga inst this man have n o th ing to

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142

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d o with the logic o f commo n sense. Even after the g reat allEu ropea n war we were on the anti-Slav fro nt. Ma ny Macedonians in the name of M acedo nia carried out undermining act ivities in favo ur of o ther states, against M acedo n ia herself, against South Sla v unity and aga inst peace in the Aa lkans.

Everythi ng tha t was being don e by a group of Macedonians in the West was put down to the who le Macedo ni an people.

T he criminal adventure in Yalandovo,70 with wh ich th e war was provoked, could not be forgotten by the wi nners. With the Balkan War the Macedonian Q uesti o n acquired a Bulgarian c haracter. Ferdinand kn ew how to falsi fy t he wi ll of the people. He created th e s lavis h subm ission o f the Macedon ia ns in Bul garia a nd strengthened it for th e pu rposes o f his Yrhovism. It abused o ur cause abroad a nd a ll s ubsequent a ctions rem ained s upernuous a nd futile.

Using the unfami liar te rm of Macedonian Bulg:1rian, associatin g with un fam il ia r socia l bodies and following the line of a n unfamil iar policy, we di d no t demand o ur rig hts o n a n ho nest a nd p urely Macedon ia n basis and paid for the e rrors of th e governments o f Germany, Austri- Hungary a n d Bu lgaria. Undoubted ly there were ho nest Macedo nian activists, like Jane Sandanski an d Stojan Georgiev, but th ey were mu rdered even before the beginning of the a ll-European war and o ur d evelo pment was stooped by the a lm ighty Ferdina nd.

T he postwar resistance, which administred the ideas of the Greater- Bu lgaria n c ircles a nd Ita lian fascis m, defied a ny ini tiative for South Slav un io n a nd des troyed th e devel opm e nt o f th e M acedonian rebirth in th e bud. The Macedonian nationa l moveme nt .... as c rucified and, owing to the tyrann y a nd murders of th e ru lers, there cou ld be no word of a free creative li fe in Macedo nia under Bulgaria n rule, as well as unde r Yugoslav ru le and a mong the em ig ra nts in Bulgaria.

In the midd le of that murderous atmosphe re in 1924 Misirkov firs t wrote a n article on the rebirth of Macedo nia, which he entitl ed The Ma cedonian Culture, and publis hed it in the M11p (Peace) newpape r, N°. 7 155 of 1924. In that art icle Misirkov categori call y declared that the Macedonians fwd

no confidence in the historians from Belgrade and Sofia, and tlrnt they h,1d strnted to study the Macedonian culture and history independently.

143

Misirkov wrote another article in 1925 under the title

Macedonian Nationalism. In connection with this article he was denounced by the pro-govern ment C eo6o.nHa pe,, (The Free Word) newspaper, the mouthpiece of Aleksandar Ca nkov's government. Misirkov 7 1 responded in the M11p newpaper, N°. 7428 of 1925, with his articl e The Self-Determination

of the Macedonians.

The articles, Ma cedonian Nationalism and The SelfDetermination of the Macedonians, were touchstones with

th e intention of testing the reactions of the people in power.

The authorities were very sensitive on this question. The question o f the race to which the Macedonians in Sofia be longed was resolved in a " positive" way - the Macedoni ans were Bu lgarians, in the same way as the Macedoni ans were Hellenes in Athens, or Serbs in Belgrade. The Bulgarian, Serbian a nd Greek historians, all in their respective ways a nd accordin g to their im peria list a nd chauvinist as pirations, crucified the Macedonia n natio na lity with materia l using imperia list acquisti ve poli cies on Macedonia.

In the epoch of capita lism a nd imperial ism we can find evid ence of fals ification o f the history o f an enslaved people.

So the aspi rants to Macedonia found what they needed a nd used it for their purposes.

After the articles by Misirkov there was relative calm.

Misirkov was advised not to raise that question any more.

Th e terror in Bulga ria in those years, administred by the Bulgarized people, removed that question from the political scene. The Bulgarized people were free to act in the falsification of histo rical facts a nd a nyo ne who dared oppose them was murdered on the spot. For the fal sifi cation of the Macedonian truth two institutes were establis hed - The Macedonian National Committee and the Macedonian Scientific Institute. So, in this way, t!lrough these two institutes, the so-called Greate r-Bulgarian circl es of Macedonian origin were fo rm ed in Bulga ria a nd usurped the right to be naively in the service of the imperialist policy of the Bulgarian state. This " Greater-Bu lgaria n ism" in the ci rcles of the Macedonia n emigrants was form ed as a ki nd of Natio na l G uard, as those G reater Bulgarians ca lled themselves in their public speeches and threats against the intelligentsia of the people. Those vicious

circles through their two institutes published t1 greut number 144

of books to the disadvantage of the Macedonian cause of rebirth and to the disadvantage of the Macedonian political and cultural truth. Acting by various means and in many directions the individuals of the National Committee and the Macedonian Scientific Institute compromised the Macedonian name in Bu lgaria and abroad a nd set up the .Bu lgarian state before the definition of the attacker. The individuals of these instituts divided out their parts: one group passed for professional revolutionaries, the second for merchants and exploiters and the third for intellectuals and falsifiers, with the specia l tas k of giving a refined touch to Bulgarian politica l thought a nd of imposi ng Bulgarian and Greater-Bulgari an consciousness on the emigrants. Those vicious circles had unrestrained rights to mete out justice both in Macedonia under Bulgaria n rule and Bulgaria. As a result of this, the murders were committed undisturbed and without punishment.

It was precisely through these vicious circles that Greater-Bulgarianism strengthened its positions. It was through these circles that a series of political crimes were also committed with which its policy of a war to conquer Macedonia was strengthend.

But the Macedonian emigrants a nd revolutionary activists in Bulgaria did not lose their militancy and unmasked the terrible truth about the mediating role of the two institutes previously mentio ned. If there was anyt hing that could be said against the two institutes in o rder to sto p the spreading of lies, the first thing was to accuse the anointed perpetrator of a ll those false facts, the spiritual leader of the " mediating role", professor and academician, L. Miletit, who was the irreplaceable president of the Macedonian Scientific Institute. The first to throw light upon the mendacious acti vity of the " mediators" and unmask the o wls of the Macedo nian Scientific Institute was the Macedonia n scientist, G. 0 .

Balastev, who, provoked on one occasion, published the pamphlet The scientific activity of the professor and academician L. Miletic ( 1934). With that booklet Balastev methodically a nd scientifically deprived Miletit of his sta nding as a man and a scientist, and showed us his " scientific" value.

That pamphlet only is a sufficient document on the role of Mi letit, who stood at the head of the Macedon ian Scientific 10 The Histori cal Truth

145

Institute with tasks a nd purposed that had nothing in common with the scientific truth about Macedonia. Miletic remained silent and could not answer Balascev's pamphlet. Year after year he made up philological, historical and political stupidities on the ethnic c haracter of the Macedonians. And his friends in the Macedonian Scientific Institute, all of them without exception controlled by him, distorted the historical facts of the Macedonian struggle, glorifying its traitors as heroes and the spies to the Turkish authorities as patriots, and set the Macedonian struggle aims and tasks alien to the interests of the Macedonian people. The consciousness of the Macedonian emigrants was befogged in this way and not only the Bulgarian people, but also the whole world was misled about the origin and character of the Macedonian struggle and about the ethnic character of the Macedonian people.

At a certain time the Macedonian people began their struggle. The Macedonian national consciousness begin to clear its way. The Macedonian national idea imposed itself.

When the murders reached their peak, the progressive emigrants coordinated their efforts. The role of the Gevgelija Brotherhood must not be forgotten. Their brave attitude at the emigrant congresses and their progressive slogans and speeches in the House of the Brotherhood shall remain as bright pages in the life and struggle of a ll the progressive emigrants in Bulgaria.

The role of the MaKeJlOHCKO J HaMe (Macedonian Flag) newspaper must not be forgotten either; it elevated the morale of Macedonian young people and strengthened the progressive thought of the Macedonian emigrants.

The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (United) laid the foundation of the MaKellOHCKH eeCTH (Macedonian News) newspaper in 1935. We shall not expound on the role of the newspaper. The printed a nd unprinted responses speak eloquently about it. We managed to defend the Macedonian thesis: "Down with the false slogan ofMacedonian Bulgarians!"

"Long live our ethnographic idea!"

In the process of struggle against Vrhovism and its fa lsifications concerning our pure Macedonian Slav truths, we came to the book, The Macedonian Slavs. The next to appear 146

on the scene were the young poet, Venko Markovski, Kole Nedelkovski, Kosta Racin and other young Macedo nian poets who proved in public by their verses that the Mc1cedonian ethnographic idea was alive.

After the book, The Macedonilm Slavs, the poems of Venko and the writings of Todor Pavlov on Venko's poetry, there was a terrible uproar; there were even written accusations. CJJoeo (Word) published an article in ita lics under the title S.O.S. The fascist military ci rcles made plans for o ur liquidation. Some made exceptions and thought that a form might be found for us to revoke the slogan of a Macedonia11 nation.

Why was a ll that noise necessary? Why were those slanders against us necessary? The question of the ethnic belonging of the Macedonian Slavs was set academically by us. If our assertions had no t been true, they would have collapsed themselves. So why was the alarm signal necessary? Wh y was the police involved against us? But the Bulgarian imperialists, the so-called Greater-Bu lgarians, headed by Danail Krapcev, were afraid of the truth and murdered every proponent of the truths about our ethnic idea. They were overcome by inexpressible fear.

Owing to that fear, at the funeral of Petar Poparsov, a friend of Goce Delcev, the chosen speakers - Ivan Ha rizanov, Pavel Satev, Petar Deliradev and Mihail Gerdzikov, because of Danail Kraptev's presence at the fun eral, refrained from speaking. Krapcev was the symbol of the persecution against us and as a result of it we were all interned and imprisoned in concentration camps.

10â&#x20AC;˘

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Georgi Dimitrov NOT A F IG HT FOR DO MINATION O F MACE DONIA, BUT R ES PECT OF TH E WILL O F TH E MACEDONIAN S A Speech Held in the National Assembly or Bulgaria on 25th Decem ber, 1945"

1945 The struggle o f the Maced onia n peo pl e fo r freedo m was the a nvil o n whic h the M aced o nian n a tiona lity was forged a nd the Maced onia n s tate built. The d ecisive mo me nt in tha t struggle was the fact that the libera tio n struggle o f the Macedo ni a n people was integra ted with the struggle o f the Ba lka n peopl es under the lead e rs hip o f the progress.ive forces against the Germ a n occupi ers a nd against fascis m a nd their Ba lka n lackeys.

Is there a nything more na tura l tha n that the free Macedo ni a n sta te sho uld find its place within the fra me wo rk o f fed e ra l a nd d em ocratic Yugoslavia?

M acedo ni a n freed o m was bo rn in the struggle against fascis m. The Macedonia n s tate was esta b lished upo n the ruins o f G reater-Bulgaria n a nd G reate r-Serbia n c ha uvinis m .

The Ma ced o nia n peo p le wo n its right to self-d eterminatio n as a result o f the triumph of d em ocracy in Yugoslavia. These a re the histo rical fa cts.

T he Fa therla nd Fro nt put a n end to outside a nti-nationa l fore ign po licy fo rever. It rejected d ecisively the criminal po licy of Greater- Bulga ria n c ha uvinis m, the ma in cause o f the na tio na l catastrophe we s uffered .

T he foreig n policy of the F atherla nd Fro nt is the true na tio n a l Bulga ria n po li cy. It sta rts fro m the real na tio na l interests o f Bulgaria. It considers the bitte r ex peri ence o f the past wh en the q uestio n o f Maced o nia was used by fore ign impe ria lists a nd their Ba lka n agents fro m the circles o f the ru ling cl iq ues so tha t the Bulgari a ns could op pose the Serbs a nd vice versa. T he Fathe rla nd Front considers th at we must â&#x20AC;˘ .[b1'111Tpoo, r eop rn , r ooop11, crnr1111 I ')47, p. 153.

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11

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d o a ll tha t is necessary so that Ma ced o ni a can no lo nge r be the a pple of discord in the Bal ka ns but become a bo nd o f un io n between the Bulgarians a nd Serbs, between new Bu lgar ia a nd new Yugoslavia. N either p a rtitio n of Macedonia no r a fi ght fo r its do mina ti o n, b ut respect for the will of the Maced o nia ns, the ma in bo d y of whom gain ed their natio nal freed o m a nd equa lity within the frame wo rk o f the Federal People's Republi c o f Yugoslav ia. T he relat ions between Fathe rla nd Fro nt Bulga ria a nd the Fede ra l People's Repub li c of Yugoslavia - between the two ne ighbou rin g Slav countries a re so fra tern a l tha t they a lo ne ca n ful ly settle, without any interfe re nce fro m o utside, a ll the issues tha t concern their na tio na l inte rests. (appla use)

The Macedonian Scientific Institute - Sofia UNTIL TH E 9TH OF SE PTEMB E R, 1944, TH E LEAD E RS HI P OF TH E INSTIT UT E WAS P E RVA DED WI T H G R EATE R- BULG ARIA N IN TRI GUES AND SO WAS LITTLE INTER ESTE D IN TH E IMM EDIATE STR UGG LE O F TH E MACEDO NIA N P EO P LE FO R IND E P E N DE N CE ..New lnitutives o f the Mu cedoniun Scientific Institute - S011:1 ··•

1946 Ather the reorganization of the In stitute, consid e ri ng the new po litica l circumsta nces a nd the n ew researc h tasks set up by the new epoch, the Ma n aging Com mittee has exami ned the fu ture ta sks o f the Institute a nd ha s decided to d irect its a tte ntio n, a mo ng other th ings, to the examination o f its duties o n the fol lowing two initia tives: • Ma Ke;1011c K11 11a y'le11 1111cT111 yr - Co<IJ11R, Huu11 1111•1111111 1111 M 11KeCo</)11R. C-11. M.M. yea r. I., Jan./Feb. 1946, llook :>-6, pp. 193- 194.

: I 0 IICK IIR 1111y•IeH 1111c 1111yr -

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I. THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE ARC HIV ES OF THE MACEDONIAN LIBERAT ION MOV EM ENT

We ha ve been guided by the foll0wing reasons: I . The Macedonian m o vement, according to its time a nd place, although with its o wn and independent histo ri cal tas ks, has bee n the closest to the Bulga rian liberation movement a nd so it has set up the fourth stage of the liberation movements in the Balkan Peninsula, a fter the Greek, Serbi a n a nd Bulgarian ones.

2. Owing to its imperialist purposes, th e newl y-established Bulgarian monarchist state, after the example of the o the r small Ba lkan monarchi st states, has begun interfering immedia tely a fter its constitution in the life and s truggl t of the Macedonian populatio n directly or indirectly, a nd s ince the principles o f m o na rchies are oppos ite to those of re volutionary libe rati o n movements, it had done great harm , li ke the o ther states, either with its o ppositio n o r with its a tte mpts to lead th e Macedonian movement asi d e from the ri g ht way a nd to put it ;n the servi ce of Bulga ria n a nd Greek im peri alis m .

3. In contras t to the C oburg Court, th e broad masses of the Bulga ri a n p eo ple have most sincere ly a dmired the liberation struggle of th e M aced o nia n people a nd o ffered th em th eir fra tern a l he lp at every possible m o me nt ; a ltho ug h th ey have no t a lways been able rightly to assess the histo ri cal significance of th eir suppo rt, they ha ve a lways been s incere.

4. There has been a s incere cooperation between the t wo peo ples in their histo ry that has s urpassed th e bo rde rs of their ethnic inde penden ce, a nd that cooperatio n has been to the benefit of the two peo ples a nd ha d no thin g in commo n with the intrig ues o f discord o f the C oburg Dynasty, a nd in future wi ll be a bas is for th e frate rnal und ersta ndin g betwee n th e Slav a nd Balkan p eoples.

5. O wing to th e wars and internatio na l agreem e nts, within the fro ntiers of th e Bulgaria n state the re is a segm ent o f th e li ving body of M acedonia, whose po pula ti o n has waged , side b y side with th e Bulga ria n p eop le, an e nergeti c struggle aga inst internal a nd exte rn a l e n emies for th e a ttai n m ent of freed o m a nd agreeme nt wi th the fraternal and ne ighbouring peo ples.

150

6. Owing to political and econo mic reasons, several hund red thousands of Macedonians of Aegean a nd Yardar Maced o nia live within the frontiers of Bulgaria, among whom there a re many o ld fighters or their followers.

7. Un til the 9th of September, 1944, the leadership of the Institute was pervaded with Greater-Bulgarian intrigues and so was little interested in the immediate struggle o f the Macedonian people for independence or gave them a biased inte rpretation.

Owing to these reasons, the M aced o nian Scientific Institute has decided to establish a rchi ves in which the following m a terials will be collected, classified and openly availa ble: a. photographs and pictures of the activists for the po litical liberation and cultura l rebirth of Macedonia : b . the a rchives of the re!;pective activists, li ving or d ead; c . (the living activists should be stimula ted and enabled to write me moirs o f thei r direct o r indirect partic ipation in th e M acedoni a n cultura l or revolutio na ry movem ent): d . letters o f historical impo rt ance: e. data an d mate ri a ls about a ll M acedo nian o rga niza tio ns in M acedonia a nd Bulgaria, rega rdless of their tende ncies: f. all written a nd printed materials o n the Macedonian Q uestion : g. bibliographic n:.gister of written a nd printed material s a nd d ocuments concerning Macedonia; h. collectio n , o r, possibly, publication o f the old aC<?ounts of th e authors who have travelled through M acedoma; i. collectio n of da ta about a ll those who have done research o n Maced o nia in the fi elds of natura l history, history, a rchaeology, geography, econo mics, fo lklore, etc;

j . establishment of relations with th e scientific institutes in Macedonia and the other federa l peoples of fraternal Yugos lavia for cooperation and excha nge of historical record s.

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II. T HE ARRANG EMENT OF A MAC EDON IA N ETHNOGRAPHIC MUSEU M

The existing national collectio n should be put in order in cooperation with the National Association and the Ethnographic Museum in Sofia, enl arg ing it with the necessary materials so that it can be tra nsformed into an integral Ethnographic Museum of the materia l national culture of the Macedonian peo ple. With the suppo rt of the same institutes, whose cooperation has been voluntarily promised, Macedonian ethnographic exhibitions will soon be o rganized, of which the first will be held in Sofia at the beginning of the new yea r.

By informing its readers abo ut t he decisions of the Macedo nia n N atio na l Institute, the editorial sta ff of M aKe.LlOHCKa MHc'n (The Macedo nian Thought) ardently a ppea ls to them to help the realizatio n of these two historical and cultural initiatives, either by individual offers of histo rical materials - a rchives, letters, memo ries, pictures, fl ags, weapons of old fighters and so on - tha t they p ossess or know where to find . The d ata a nd materia ls can be do nated (with a receipt) to the Institute's library, in the Maced o nian Ho use, entrance from Lomska Street, 2nd fl oor, during working ho urs 8- 12 a.m. and 3-6 p.m.

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Todor Pa vlov IT MUST NEVER BE FORGOTTEN T HAT T H E NEW MACE DONIAN CONSCIOUSNESS HAS NOT FALLEN R EADY FROM H EAVEN, BUT THAT IT IS TH E R ESULT OF A WHOLE SER IES OF C IRCU MSTANCES, STRUGGLES AND EFFO RTS, CERTAIN OF WHI C H DATE EVEN FRO M THE TIME OF BEFORE THE LIB E RATION OF BU LGA RI A ·· The R egent To dor Pa vlov o n the MnKe.1O11cKn .1111c 11 newspaper··#

1945 The idea of publishi ng MaKe.nOHCKa MHC'n (The Macedonian Tho ught) should be welcomed by a ll the Macedonian emigrants in Bulgaria, as well as by a ll the Macedonians.

After the long years of revolutio nary struggle, the Macedonian people have fi nally gained a free, democratic state within the framework of Tito's Yugoslavia and t he widest possibilities fo r the fu ll develo pment of their cultura l forces, since they have created an independent Macedo nian culture, and for the development of Maced onian national conscio usness in a ll Macedo nians.

The establishment of the new Macedonia n sta te, as well as the formatio n of the new Macedo nia n cul ture are u nd oubtedly complex and extremely respo nsible tasks that can primarily be resolved consistent ly and fully if every Macedonian, Bulgarian o r Serb d oes not forget even fo r a minute that the struggle against G reater-Bulgarian chauvinism a nd G reater-Serbian chauvinism sho uld not mean any attem pt, either conscious o r unconscious, for implanting feel ings of hatred towards the Bulgarian and Yugoslav peoples themselves. T he struggle against Greater-Bulgarian chauvinism must be waged in such a way that the new Macedonian state a nd natio n should become a real bond of union between the Bulgarian, Serbian a nd other peace-loving peoples in the Balkans.

• Perct1n,n, r. To.nop naenoe Ja cn11ca t111c .. MnKCA OIICKB M11C1,J1 ··.

Cn . .. Ma KC.!lOHCKa M11CbJJ"' (Oprau 11a Ma Ke.no1➔ cK11 it 1iay•1e11 1rnCT11TyT), Sofia, Ju ly/ August 1945, book 1-2, pp. 2-3.

153

The MaKeJlOHCKa M11c'n newspaper will indubita bly pla y a useful role if its editors a nd asso ciates never forget tha t the new Macedonian consciousness has not fallen ready from heaven, but tha t it has been a result of a whole series of circumsta nces, struggles a nd effo rts, certain of which date even from the time of before the libe ratio n of Bulgaria. It has been a complex process tha t should be studied comprehensively in the theoretical, as well as the historical sense, a nd it is only in this way tha t the n ewspa per will contribute positively to the further strengthening and development of both the ne w n a tional culture of Ma cedonia and the ne w free a nd d emocra tic fed eral Macedo nia n state.

Finally, if the ne wspa pe r a ppears as a mo uthpiece for the resea rch o f the Maced o nia n Institute, it will be a ppro pria te to e mphasize in this connection tha t we must never forget that the Macedo nia n e migra nts in Bulgaria a re historically obliged to help the ne w Maced o nian sta te a nd c ulture in every possible way, but that we must not a llow under any circumsta n ces even the me ntio n of a ny aspira tio ns simila r to the Vrhovist o n es o f the past.

T he Maced onian sta te will be governed by the Macedonia n people in Macedonia herself, a nd no t by the emigra nts in Bulgaria a nd America. As far as the research capacities a nd possibilities o f the Maced o nia n emigra nts a re concerned , they must be d evelo ped in the spirit of lasting a nd unbreaka ble friendshi p between the Bulgaria n people on the o n e ha nd a nd the Soviet a nd Yugoslav peoples o n the o the r, as well as of sincere unde rsta ndi ng with a ll peace-loving n a tio ns.

I wish Ma Ke.rtoHcKa l\rnc'n complete s uccess.

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Jordan Anastasov MACEDONIA WAS ALWAYS AT TH E C ENTRE OF TH E GREATER- BULGARIAN ACQUIS ITIVE POLIC Y .. Greater-Bulgarian Policy and Macedonia ...

1945

It is certa inly wro ng to claim that it was o nly Bulgaria which had acquisitive ideas con cerning Macedonia. The truth is that all the Ba lkan sta tes tha t borde r o n her directed their greedy impe rialist eyes towa rds her, whether cove rtly o r openly, a nd wanted to o ccupy her.

T he questio n o f the natio n ality o f the C hristia n populatio n in Macedonia was used as a screen behind which other te nde ncies were hidden. Serbia (late r Yugoslavia), G reece a nd Bulgaria, each created fo r itself extensive "scientifi c" h istorical literatu re in order to prove whose Maced o nia was.

Relying o n tha t histo rical "science" o r sometimes even witho ut it, the governme nts of those sta tes, fro m the appeara n ce o f the Maced o nia n Questio n up to their last d ays, did n ot miss a ny oppo rtu n ity to strengthe n their " na tio nal" propaganda, to bargain over the pa rtitio n o f Maced onia a nd to seize as much te rrito ry as they could. Even the young sma ll sta te o f Alba nia did not lag behind in the contest fo r the seiz ure of pa rts o f Macedo nia . In o rder to complete the picture o f the aspirations o f the Balka n sta tes towards Macedo nia, we sha ll add tha t Ro mania a lso created its o wn "nation a l"' cause whose object were the Maced o nian Vlachs. However, since it did not b order o n Maced o nia a nd conseque ntly could no t have a n y territo rial d ema nds, Ro ma nia used the Vlachs as a n excha nge currency, d ema nding com pensatio n fro m Bulgaria in the event o f he r seizing pa rts o f Maced o nia.

Conde mning those aspira tions o f the Ba lka n sta tes, we ca nno t but unmask before the Bulgaria n people first a nd fo remost the G reater-Bulgaria n po licy directed by the for mer governments, whic h brought the na tio nal catastrophes to â&#x20AC;˘ A11.1c 1acoo. Clop.1a 11. Rcn 11 Ko61,11rapc1mTa noJ1 11T11 Ka II MaKeâ&#x20AC;˘ .101111w. M .M .. July/ August 1945. book 1- 2 p p. 15- 40.

155

Bulga ria a nd were the ma in culprits for the partition o f Macedoni a a nd its new subjugatio n .

Macedoni a was a lways at the centre o f Greater- Bulgari a n acquisitive policy. It wished to inc ulde her within the borders of "Greater Bulgaria".

Wha t has that policy brought to the Bulga rian p eo p le?

It has brought two natio nal catastrophes, seve ral hundred thousand victims in the Balka n, inte r-allied a nd the First World War, and economic a nd financial ruin of the country.

In the present war that inclina tion has brou ght Bulgaria to the brink of a new a nd even more terrible catastrophe. And all these wars have been dictated not by national liberation motives or by a desire to improve the material position o f the masses, but they have b een solely a resu lt of the interests of German imperialism and its servants in Bulgaria:. the C ourt and the handful of roya l, military and political adventurists.

The Bulgarian people have never wanted to conquer o ther lands and always when they have gone to war they have been cunningly deceived into thinking that they w ill fight for the liberation of the ir enslaved brothe rs. This c rimina l policy, suggested by Berlin, the most d a ngerous ene my o f the Slavs, has come to its logical end; it has done a ll 1t could do in order to turn the Bulga ria n people against their liberato rs, the Russians, and against the Western democracies.

How was Greater-Bulgarian policy re flected in the Macedonian liberation movement? Even with the conception of this movement, the Greater-Bulgarian chauvinists began to act in su ch a way and with such means as to deal blows to its indepe nde nce and its ideal of an autonomous Macedonia, and to s ubject it to the position and the interests of the C ourt and the clique around it. The attack on the town of Melnik (in 1895), the so-called Dz.umaja Uprising72 ( 1902), the premature ly started Ilinden Upri sing ( 1903), the establishment after the coup of the Young Turks of "the constitutional clubs", headed by emissaries of the Sofia Court and the pro vocative " donkey" assassinations carried out immediately before the Balkan War, represented a whole system of ideas a nd actions which aimed to create disorder and demoralize the ra nks of the Internal M aced o nia n Revolutionary Organization and to prepare the ground for the coming wars. Those actions o f G reater-Bulgaria n chauvinists a nd their blind pup156

pets, Macedonian Yrhovists, increased the appetites o f the other Balkan states towards Macedonia. This policy finally res ulted in the wars in which the Bu lgarian peo p le were in volved to shed their b lood fo r the interests of others and which brought to M aced o ni a devastation, partitio n a nd a new slavery.

The 9th of Seotember, 1944, put a n end to Greater-Bulgarian policy. Fatherland Front Bulgaria d ecisively and finally bro ke o ff with it and set the foundation s of a sincere, ho nest and sound attitute towards the M aced onian people a nd the other Ba lka n peoples.

The liquidation of G reater-Bulga rian policy coinc ided with the c reatio n of the new Federal and Democratic Yugoslavia , which, head ed by Ma rs hal Tito, a lso b uried GreaterSerbian chauvinism and G reater-Serbian ideology. Over the ruins of these two ideologies the Bulgari a n people and the peoples of the new Yugoslavia have offered each other their hands.

What has the liquidatio n o f Greater-Bulga rian a nd Greater-Serbia n policies b ro ught to Maced o nia ? It has opened the way for the Maced o nian libera tion movement and has removed the obstacles to the realiza tion of the ideals of the Macedonian peo ple. Today, the p a rt of Macedonia which was taken by Belgrade imperialists, the greatest by territo ry a nd the most oppressed by its regime, has been turned. into a free federal unit within the fra mework of Federal Yugoslavia.

So, instead o f wasting stre ngth a nd sacrifici ng he r dea r p eople in the struggle against Greater- Bulgarian a nd G reaterSerbia n pro paga nda , fed eral Maced onia is today using a ll its fo rces to build the country and m a ke it prosper. In the course of this creative wor k it has found unreserv ed su pport from a ll the p eop les that li ve in Yugoslav ia, includi ng the Serbian people, as well as fro m the fraternal Bulga rian people.

What has federal Macedonia brought to the South Slavs and the Ba lkans?

By elimin ati ng the causes o f discord and wars between the South Slavs, M acedonia has been turned into a foundatio n o n whic h the beautiful a nd strong buildi ng of true a nd etern al fraternity between all South Slavs will be built, who, 157

supported by the Slav colossus, Soviet Russia, will represent a guarantee for the complete democratization of the Balkans and security for the preservation of the national, cultural and political freedoms of the Balkan peoples.

Macedonia, the classic apple of discord between the Balkan states, made such by the Balkan chauvinist and imperialist cliques, is today rising with an olive branch towards all the Balkan peoples as a bond of fraternity and unity between them.

Cola Dragojceva 73 TITO'S YUGOSLAVIA HAS RESOLVED THE MACEDONIAN QUESTION IN A PURE POPULAR DEMOC RATIC WAY AND HAS SET AN EXAMPLE IN THE BALKANS ·· F:11her/:111d From 811lg11riu on M:,cedoniu ··•

1945 The question of national freedom was for the fascists a question through which quarrels between peoples were instigated, a question through which psychological war was prepa red and fro m which national oppression resulted. The truth of this was especially strongly felt and understood by the Macedonia n people who suffered greatly by the furious competition ~etween Balkan fascists in the implementing of their acquisitive policies. They always presented them to the masses in the clothing of nationalism.

The democratic development of the South Slav peoples ha s bro ken o ff with the unscrupulous past and has changed the picture completely. The questio n of national freedom for these peoples is no mo re a question of fascist disguise and propaganda, but is a living reality. They have uprooted the wo und that po isoned the social organism of the masses. The

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158

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question of national freedom for them is today not a question of disunity but of fraternal confidence and unity.

Tito's Yugoslavia has resolved that question in a pure popular democratic way. She has also resolved the most thorny national question - the Macedonian Question. With this she has set an example in the Balkans as to how peoples can be successfully integrated through respect of their national freedom.

Fatherland Front Bulgaria has finally broken off with the ideal of the Bulgarian fascists for a Greater Bulgaria and hegemony in the Balkans. She has entirely supported the ideal of the Macedonians for a state of their own and for national independence. She has identified herself in her democratic development with the development of all South Slav peoples and has so ensured the fraternal coexistence of these peoples.

Action Committee o f the Wome11 of Macedonia within the Framework o f the National Committee o f the Macedo11ia11 Emigrants - So fia 74 MAC EDONIAN WOMEN, IN BU LGARIA W E HAVE TH E FREEDOM OF DECLARING OURSELVES WHAT W E FE EL OURS ELV ES TO BE, OF SERVING MAC EDONIA, AND NOT BULGARIAN ACQUISITIVE POLI C Y•

1945 In spite of the terrible sufferings that the wo rld has experienced and is co ntinuing to experience, its peoples a re trying hard to create a new wo rld, a world with mo re humanity, peace ,ind happiness for peo ple and natio nal justice.

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159

O ne of the questi ons for discussio n to day has a lso been the M aced o nia n Questio n. U p to now it has been the crossroads at which Ba lka n contradictions have confro nted each o ther a nd which has instigated a ll the hostilities, wa rs a nd econ omic catastrophes o f the Balka n peop les. For the Maced o nia ns it has been something mo re - a source of the une nding waves o f refugees a nd fina lly, o f na tio nal slavery.

The Maced o nia n people have waged a struggle o f many decad es against suc h turns o f events ahd fo r the p rotectio n o f d e mocra tic d evelopment in the Balka ns, in the inte rest of peace between the Ba lkan peoples a nd their fraternity o n the basis o f freed o m a nd equa lity o f a ll peoples, including the Macedo nian people.

The M acedo nia n wom en have parti cipated in that struggle. Many langui shed in the Turkish p risons, tho usands o f them helped the M aced o nia n revolution a ries by hiding them o r being their messengers, etc. In more recent times dozens of M acedo nia n wo men pa rticipa ted in the partisa n d etachme nts of t he Gorna Dzumaja region, a nd hundreds o f them fo ught in Va rda r Maced on ia. And three-qua rters of the wome n of Macedonia took care of the feed ing a nd clothing o f the partisans. Thousands o f them lost their closest in the war: their brothers, fathers, sons a nd sisters.

The struggle has borne fruit. We already have a Macedon ia n sta te within the fra m ework o f T ito 's Yugoslavia, a state o f the Macedonia n people, a me mber with rights equ al to those o f all the free South Slav peoples. We can already freely protect o ur Maced onia n cau se in Bulgari a, we h ave the freed o m of declaring ourselves what we fee l ou rselves to be, of serving Macedo nia, a nd n ot Bu lgaria n acquisitive policy, whic h liquirla ted the best chi ldren o f Maced onia a nd which caused the wa rs and the slavery o f Maced onia a nd her refu~ees.

However, d ear Macedonian women, the cause of freed o m still has its en emi es who are straining to hamper a nd d estroy it. They will succeed on ly if we a re not ready e no ugh at our comba t p ost. A supreme struggle is being fought against the accursed past between the reaction a ries a nd d emocracy, between the people of peace a nd those of war, between those who a re fo r the freedom o f Macedonia a nd those who a re for its subjuga tio n, between those who c reate o ur 160

tra nquility, like mothers raising their ch ild ren, a nd those who like to play at war.

But where a re we, what are we su pposed to do ? Our siste rs in the Macedonian state are tak ing a n active a nd ma nysided part in building up the free life of the Macedonia n people. What are we d o ing?

You will certa inly ask you rselves: " What should we do?" There is something to do a nd there is plenty of it. The first ste p, the first task that we must carry o ut is to u nite ourselves a n d fully to develop the Macedon ia n feeling and conscio usn ess and d edication to the M acedon ian cause in us, to clarify the new, democratic position of the M acedo nian Q uestio n a n d its perspecti ve, to uproot completely GreaterBulgarian ism on Maced o nia n soil, to reinforce th e democratic community among the So uth S lavs o n such a basis o n which Macedo nia n freedom will be born a nd strengthened, to prevent separatism wh ich is toda y the banner of the reactio n aries, to aid Fatherland Fro nt aut ho rities in Bulgaria, wh ich have been the only o nes to pose the Macedo ni a n Question in the right way. And the re a re still a series of other questions a nd tasks that a rise in the p rocess of work.

In the name o f t hese tasks we have established the Actio n Committee o f the Maced onia n women, which will work in cooperatio n with the Maced o nian Natio nal Committee and the lead ershi p of the Bulgarian People's Un io n of Wo men. We appeal tha t all M acedo nia n women in Sofia sho uld unite around the Comm ittee, and that in the provinces suc h committees sho uld be establ ished.

O ur address is: Sofia, 5 Pi rot Street, Action Committee o f the Macedonia n Wo men wit hin the framework of the Macedonia n Natio na l Committee.

11 The Historica l Tru 1h

16 1

Hr. Kalajdi iev BA LKAN R EACTIO NARI ES HAV E DON E TH E G R EATEST EVJL WH E N TH EY HAV E ARTIFIC IALLY D IVID E D MACE DO NIA AG AINST TH E WILL AND INTE R ESTS O F TH E MACE D O N IAN P EOPLE ·· The Bulguro- Y ugoslilv R approchem ent und the M acedonian Question ..,,,

1946 A g reat, beautifu l a nd profound idea in o ur li fe has been the idea o f the Bulgaro- Yugoslav ra pprochem e nt. It is o ne o f the ideas tha t have fascinated th e m asses a nd s ti mul ated their creati vity towa rds progress; it is o ne o f th e bas ic ideas o f th e leading a nd a lready d em ocra tic elem en ts in these countries; it is the founda ti o n s to ne o f Ba lka n d em ocracy, the he lm tha t m oves th e Ba lka ns awa y fro m cha uvin ist cha lle nges a nd a rg um ents, fro m wa rs a nd acquisitive po licies, fro m socia l a nd na ti o na l s ubjuga tio n , a nd directs th e m to wa rds the qui et azure po rt o f peace, fra te rnity, pros pe ri ty o f the m asses o f peo ple, n atio na l equ a lity a nd j usti ce. O ne of the numero us questio ns that tod ay consti tutes th e di viding line betwee n the d a rk past a nd sunn y future, between the reacti o na ries a nd the d em ocra ts, between s ubjuga tio n a nd freed o m, is the questi o n of Bulga ro-Yu goslav ra pprochem e nt.

The questi o n o f Bulga ro- Yugoslav ra pproche m ent is a n o ld o ne a nd it has la in lo ng in th e hearts o f the masses of the peo p le, no t o n ly owing to the ge neral ru le tha t th e two peo ples have no t ha ted ea ch othe r a nd have not ha d obj ective reasons fo r d o ing so. In this case, a p a rt fro m th e gene ra l rul e, the re is so m ething else th a t gives th a t idea m ore life and m a kes it mo re rea l. It is th e closeness o f la ng uage, c u ltu re a nd genera ll y, of n atio na l en tity. I o nce wa lked fro m Nis to So fi a a nd an0ther tim e fro m Belg ra d e to Sofi a. I was ab le to communi cate with the peo ple everyw he re a nd cou ld no t te ll where o ne la ng uage ended a nd the other began . I became • KaJJalt.'.IJKIICIJ, X p., 6bJtrllpO- IOI OC/1801/I ICK07 0 Cb 6J11t!Ke1111e II w 1Ke.1011cK1111 obr,poc, C n. M .M ., year 2, Jan ./ Feb. 1947, book, 5- 6, pp .

175- 181.

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convinced tha t, if th e developm ent o f th e life of the masses foll owed a na tura l way of its own, w itho ut in terference a nd g uidance by im peria lists, the resu lting develo pme nt of na tion a l fo rm a ti o n wo uld m a ke a natio n of South Slav peoples.

But th e im peri a lis t m o ti ve gave a nothe r course to this develC!pm ent a nd we sho uld certa inl y have to go thro ugh d is uni o n towards a un io n . Wha t this m ea ns in p ractice has been ve ry cl~~ rly sho"."'n by th e ~enius of M a rs hal Ti to, g u id ed by the ge ni i of Lenin a nd Sta lin . It means the creatio n of a frate rn a l_ fa mil y e f free peopl es wi th equ a l rights, recognizing th a t n g ht to a ll who feel them selves to be a separa te un it.

But let us consider concretely the relatio ns between the Serbs a nd Bulga ri a ns under the leaders hips o f th e imperia list c liques. This a n a lysis is necessary in order to make the rig ht conclusio ns concernin g the inte rests of democratic develo pme nt.

The fratern al fee li ngs between the two peoples a n d their lead ers durin g the time of the revolutionary struggle fo r na ti o na l libera tio n a re very well know n. T he fraterna l rece pti o n o f the Bulgaria n revoluti ona ri es by the Serb ia n people a nd the relatio ns between Levs ki and Karavelov, Botev 75 a nd Svetozar M a rk ovic76, etc., a re a lso k nown . They nou r ished fra te rn a l feelings a nd stood uni ted in the idea of fra te rn a l relati o ns. M o reover, they so ught concrete form s for th e realizatio n o f these re la ti o ns. The road towards un ification was m oving furthe r a nd furthe r away from the road along wh ich events were n owing mo re ra pidly towards d is un io n in pa ra le l with the g ro wth of the in nue nce of the imper ial ist facto r, headed b y th e m o narchist institutio ns, over t he people's moveme nts fo r natio na l independence.

Here, like everyw here else, th e imperi a lis t fa ctor connected the nati o na l idea with its acquisi ti ve po licy, ten di ng furti vely away fro m th e masses o f people towards hegem ony over th e Ba lkans. But the rea lizati o n of that a im by o ne Balka n facto r could occur o nl y at the expense o f the destru ction o f th e o the r com petitive factors. In o rder to real ize that aim, a syste ma ti c po litica l an d psycho logical p repara tio n of the m asses was sta rted , so th at they could be ha rn essed to pull the imperi a list ca rt a nd to o ffer the ir masters G reater Bu lgaria o r G reate r Serbia served o n a p la tter a t the cost of their b lood a nd s weat. They began teachin g a nd educati ng the 11 â&#x20AC;˘

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masses tha t the Serbs were d egene ra tes o f the d evil himself a nd th at witho ut t heir liquidatio n we were doomed to perish, a nd vice ve rsa. I remembe r wha t brutal ha tred the m a in p ropo nent of tha t po licy, the lead er of the Yrhovists, D. Krapcev, felt towa rds the Serbs. I reme mber the who le Mihajlovist ga ng: their sto machs turned if you even mentio ned the wo rd "Serb". T ha t tende ncy fo und its clearest ex pression in the formu la stated by the fascists in Bulgaria: " There is n o place in the Ba lka ns for both a Serbia n a nd Bulgaria n sta te, a Serbia n a nd Bulgaria n mo na rchy. One o f them must disappear".

The b asic questio n of that po licy o f mutual repudia tio n, mutual d estructio n and wild, bestia l cha uvinism in the name o f the prevalen ce o f o n e sta te, was the Maced o nian Q uesti o n.

And no t owing to natio na l causes, but to econo mi c a nd strategic moti ves. However, the struggle was presented to the masses o n a na ti o na l basis. The pro paga nda machines were set in moti o n, the forces o f politi cs a nd science were used a nd fina lly a rmed actio n was o rganized with specia l d etachme nts for the suppo rt o f the Bulgaria n a nd Serbia n causes in Maced o nia in o rde r to ha rness M aced onia a nd th e M aced o nia n peop le to their imperia list carts.

We must emphasize fo r the ho no ur of the M aced o nia n peopl e th at t hey fo ught hero icall y and bravely against that po licy a nd took a d emocra tic position whic h parried a nd minim ized impe rialist po licy a nd po inted to a comp letely differe nt course o f d evelo pment. Tha t positi o n was that Maced o nia sho u ld belong to the M aced o ni a ns. With that positio n a nd struggle, the Macedo nia n peo pl e was o ne o f the first a nd most powerful facto rs fo r the democra ti c d evelopm ent o f the Balka ns.

So two Balkan trends were present o n M acedo nia n soil : Macedo nia as the source o f chau vinism, wa rs a nd subjuga tio n, o r in a word, the a pple of d iscord, and Maced onia as the bo nd of unior: and coexisten ce o f th e Balka n peoples.

The preva lence of the impe ria list facto r brought terrib le suffering a nd d estructio n to the Ba lka n peo ples, a nd especia lly to the Macedon ia n people. And the most regrettab le conseque nce was the pa rtitio n o f Macedo nia. With it the n atio na l prob lem in the Ba lka ns, especia lly the Maced onian o ne, was sharpened a nd deepened.

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Those wrongdo ings o f the imperia list fo rces a nd the sufferings o f the peoples have p layed a major ro le in the fact that there is today a completely changed , com pletely new picture in Yugosla via and Bulgaria. It h as been m ade by the failure o f the impe rialist factor a nd the affi rmatio n of the d emocratic o n e. The masses of peop le a re in power and this e na bles the mani: .!statio n o f all their ideas a nd ways, which smo uldered deeply in their hearts.

The feelings o f understa nding between the peoples o f Yugosla via and Bulgaria are again stro ng. They inspire the new states a nd a rouse ho pe, supported a n d a ided by the peop le' s go vernments o f the two sta tes. Everybod y ca n see the e nthusiasm with which this idea h as been accepted by the masses at the publi c meetings; eve ryb ody can wi tness the admiration that the na me o f Ma rsha l T ito a ro uses in t he masses. It is not by c ha nce tha t the song, " Lo ng Live Sta lin, Tito and Dimitro v", has become so po pu lar.

This idea is no mo re a n abstract a nd pro paga ndist idea.

It is alread y a living idea a t work, whic h is waiting fo r its realization and which sho uld cease to be on ly a n idea a nd be transformed into actio n. And this means clear, concrete actio n, fully democratic a ctio n a nd a solutio n to all issues t hat life imposes and de ma nds to be solved in connectio n with that problem.

To put it succinctly a nd clearl y, it mea ns tha t o ne o f the bridges, in fact the main o n e, fo r the Bulgaro-Yugoslav ra pproch ement is the solutio n to the Maced o ni a n Questio n. The bridge between So fia a nd Belgrad e passes th ro ugh M aced on ia .

I think tha t the enthusias m whic h the concrete realizatio n o f Bulga ro -Yugoslav ra pproche ment will a ro use in the masses will be no less tha n o n the 9th o f September, 1944.

Tha t is why we must sta nd clearly a nd determin edl y fo r the democratic forms and tra nsformed fro m a n app le of di scord into a bo nd of uni on between the Yugosla v peop les a nd the Bu lgaria n people.

We shall attempt to give a clear a nswer to such a clearly posed question, which is still hazy in the minds o f ma n y, so tha t many pro minent democrats un conscio usly serve the reactio naries and underm ine the Bulgaro-Yugoslav ra pprochement.

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The first questio n which imposes itself in these considerations seems to me to be the questio n of whether it is necessary, in the interest o f the Bulga ri a n and Y ugoslav peoples, to solve the Macedonian Q uestion no t as a Bulgarian or Serbian o ne, but as a Macedonian question. The answer is clear a nd positive. Even the oppositio n , behind which the G reaterBulgarian idea and po li cy hide, dares not answer "No." However, it demands a so lution to the Macedonian Question tha t reveals the Bulgarian essence a nd a n attempt to use Yugos lav de mocracy fo r the Bulgaria n reactio na ries under its Macedonian c lothing.

But let us leave the Bu lgaria n o ppositio n aside, whi ch resembles the Serbi a n o ppositio n as c learly as two drops o f wate r. Let us proceed to the second essen tia l questi o n, which imposes itself o n every ho nest person who sincerely wis hes to see the Macedonian Q uestion solved a nd the Bu lga ro- Yugoslav rapproche ment rea lized.

T he Balkan react io naries, as we ha ve a lready said, have d o ne the greatest evil whe n they have artificia ll y divided Macedonia into three parts, against the wi ll a nd interests of the Ma cedonian peopl e. Ca n the de mocratic fo rces that are in power accept the evil com mitted and accept that policy of partition whi ch leads to the disappearance of Ma cedonia fro m the geograp hic, ethnic and political maps? I think that the a ns wer to thi s questio n is c lear: the democra tic forces must turn the wheel 180 degrees and sta rt a long the line of the territorial unificati o n of Macedon ia. H ow can o ne possib ly wan t the solution to the Macedonian Questio n and simu ltaneo usly suppo rt the position that the part wh ic h is today under Bu lgaria n rul e is Bu lga ri a n a nd must remain Bulgaria n ? It is obvious that eithe r the Macedon ia n Q uestio n will be solved o r it will disappea r fro m the scene. But ho w ca n that unifi catio n be a ttai ned ? It is o b vious that it can neither be done under the Serbi a n bann e r nor the Bu lgarian o ne.

That wou ld mean that one of the states ad mitted that Macedo nia was Serbi a n or Bul garia n. F irs t of a ll, even the posing of th is question itself with the presence of the contempo rary Macedonia n state is no nse nse. T hose who d o n ot recognize this conseque ntl y de ny the Macedo ni a n state. The remna nts of G reater Bulga ri a nis m are do in g exact ly this. Other s hrewd persons resort to a di versio n in o rder to turn this line of deve-

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lopment o ff its course, o r at least to gain time, expecting more favou rable conditio ns fo r them . They say: let Aegean Macedon ia first be annexed and then our part will also be a nnexed . An o ld practice of the reactionaries has been to put the blame on somebody else. If those who su pport this thesis were sincere they would be those who s uffe red in the least fro m distrust in dem ocracy and judged it according to themselves. In thei r de mocratic actio ns, the d e mocratic fo rces compete among the mselves a nd d o not wai t and outwit each other. It is not naive a nd "q ui xotic", but it is a com p lete reality that our fa ith is not based upo n the wis hes a nd imaginatio n , but upon the objective rea lity tha t d emocracy will fin a ll y win a nd strengthen itself. The Greek Ouestion is a complicated and delicate question, a nd the solution of the Macedonian Questio n by Fatherla nd Front Bu lgaria and Tito's Yugoslav ia will und o ubtedl y be a step further in the struggle against G reek reacti o na r ies, since it will increase the polit ical gravity a nd ro le of the Maced o nian s tate in the further settlemen t o f the Macedonian Question.

The second questio n fol lows: the Macedonian state is a federa l part of the Fed era l People's Repub lic of Yugoslavia (FN RJ ) a nd the question of why the Macedonian problem s hould be sett led under the banner of the FNRJ is being posed with a kind of sorrow and a la rm . So begi n the reasonings and suspicio ns tha t undermine the tendency towards Bu lga ro-Yugoslav rapprochement at its foundation . I think that the a nswer is simple a nd clea r and removes a ll s us picio n in any sincere democrat, concern ing the deeply democratic c haracter of the FNRJ . This is because the FNRJ , headed by her lege ndary leader, was practi ca ll y the first correctly to solve the M acedo nian Questio n while solving the general nati o nal problem in Yugoslavia. We have no reason in this connectio n to be angry a t Ti to, bu t we s hou ld be gra teful to him a n d criticize ourselves for o ur many mistakes in the past, wh ich now ma ke ou r task of d emocratica ll y sett li ng this question mo re difficu lt to a certain extent.

We, the Macedonians in Bulga ria, ha ve lo ng been the ava nt-ga rde in the Macedo ni an s truggle. We have made great sacrifi ces in that struggle. But our fault was t hat we waged that struggle on a very abstract basis, never seekin g and applying th ose practi cal fo rms thro ugh which the strugg le is

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waged and which unavoid ably lead, through iron logic, to the separatio n of the li fe of Macedo nian society fro m that of Bulgaria and wo uld inevitably end in Macedo nian independence in a state. In contrast, o ur life has led us mo re and more towards mergi ng with Bulgaria n society. This mistake in the tactical approach however much it may be of o ur, Macedonia n making, is equally a mistake of Bulgarian democrats. In order to clarify my claim, I shall give an example. With the birth of the new o rder in the Balkans, in the struggle agai nst Germanism and fascism, Ma rshal Tito motivated the Macedonians to wage that struggle as a separate armed uni t with its own headqua rters and government, recognizing the lo ng a nd determined struggle of the Macedonia ns to become independent and live as Macedonia ns. So in the process of that bloody struggle the Macedo nia n state was bo rn and Tito gain ed the devotio n of the Macedo nia n people for his democra tic and national cause. Regrettably, the Macedo nia n cause in all the struggles in Bulgaria merged and lost its identity in the general struggle against the reactiona ries and fascism. I d o not want to be misunderstood . It was not that the struggle was unnecessary and harmful, but the Macedonians shou ld have waged it as a separate unit in a lliance with the Bul ~aria n democratic forces. It is in this way that the Macedo mans in G reece a re waging their struggle today.

The present posing of the Macedonian Questio n, when a Macedo nian state has been established is no t an artificial product of Marshal Tito's, but, on the contrary, he has best grasped Macedonia n reality, understood it, helped it and included it in the genera l democratic wave of Yugoslavia.

The very questio n of why the Macedonian problem should be solved within Yugoslavia contains reactionary a nd Greater-Bulgaria n remnants; it contains a negatio n of Yugoslav democracy a nd unavoidably leads the logic of this position to opposition.

The truth is that in Yugoslavia today a powerful Yugoslav patriotism is being develo ped in the same way as a powerful Soviet patriotism is being developed in the Soviet Unio n. Today the Macedonians of Vardar Macedo nia are equa lly devoted to a nd love both Yugoslavia and Macedonia. This is what rea lly irritates and upsets both those who 168

are unconscio usly and those who are conscio usly G reater Bulgarians. Why ? Because the form er cannot see and the latter do not wa nt to see the close connection a nd complementatio n between Macedo nia n patriotism and Yugoslav patriotism. And fo r the Macedo nians there, a clear and correct realization is gaining gro und : Macedo nia without the F N RJ cannot exist and the FN RJ canno t exist witho ut the freedo m of the peoples that live in her. Without this realization fresh water wo uld be bro ught to t he watermill of the Serbian reactio na ries, who have had o nl y one motto, emphasized in the past : to turn Macedo nia into South Serbia.77 Defeated on this position, the Greater Bulgarians, the greatest enemies of Bulgaro-Yugoslav rapprochement, those who want to see t he Bulgarians a nd Serbs choki ng each other to death, resort to another position. They and a lso a great number of o thers who pass fo r democrats a nd even communists, say: "The Macedonia ns were Bulgarians. Their great leaders, Goce, Dame, Pere, Jane, the Pilgrim, were and felt themselves to be Bulgaria ns. Why sho uld the beautiful and correct na me of a Macedo nian Bulgaria n no w be discarded and replaced with 'a Macedonian'."

The first thing we must say on this issue is that the emigrants sho uld stop feeling themselves guardia ns of the Macedonian people. The result of such an attitude will be that they will become mo re and mo re estranged from it. The Macedo nian questions will be solved by the Macedo nia n people itself, living on the soil of Macedo nia. There is o nly o ne quest ion for the emigrants: to recognize themselves either as a part o f the people fro m which t hey have originated o r as a part of the people in which they have been incorpo rated, i.e. whether they will live on their na tive soil o r o n foreign soil, whether they will help their people or become disinterested, but it will be harmful to hinder them in their development. Meta pho rically speaking, we shall either go to the mounta in or set ourselves the task of bringing the mo untain here.

And since we a re most clear o n that questio n, we say that the Macedo nian people in their majority in Macedo nia feel themselves to be Macedonians. Those who felt Bulgarian o r Serb in the past, no w no t only feel Macedo nian but they are also proud of it. I say, "or Serb", because the G reater 169

Bulgaria ns have hidden the truth, saying nothing abo ut the fact that once there were people in Maced onia who, a part fro m feeling Bulga rian, a lso felt themselves to be Serbs.

The truth is that there has been a waterfall in Maced onia n life which has c ut a furrow between the past and present. Whic h one should we subject to the other, the past to the present, o r vice versa? Indisputably, the livi ng reality is more impo rtant than the dead past. But the reactio na ries have done the o pposite, since it is essential for them to come to the conclusio n that the present situatio n is an artificial construction and that Tito's regime is the den of Serbianizatio n. And who else can clai m that, except the rusted and incorrigible reactio naries? Can the re be a Bu lgaro-Yugoslav rapprochem ent with such a positio n ?

The Maced o nian nation is a fact ; m oreover, it is a progressive fact. In the past the influence o f imperia lists was infiltrated through the lines of Bulgaria n o r Serbia n feelings.

The duty of the d emocratic forces is to suppo rt tha t process and not to hinde r it. In this connectio n we have a concrete task in Pirin Macedo nia, which, if we d o no t put fo rwa rd a nd settle, we sha ll o nly be speaking like protestant preachers, without a ny real results. T his tas k is to suppo rt and instigate the Macedonization of the populatio n o f Pirin Macedonia, of th at populatio n whi ch, head ed by Jane, led the bravest and most consistent struggle fo r an independent existe nce of Macedonia.

The Maced o nization of the Pirin populatio n and th e a nnexatio n o f this regio n to Vardar Macedo nia has been carried o ut and will be carried out inseparably from and in close connectio n with the Bulgaro-Yugoslav rapprochem ent, with the d evelopment and establishment of fri endly and a llied relatio ns between d emocrati c Yugoslavia and democrati c Bulgaria. The speeding- up o f this process a nd its completion will not bring isolation to Maced onia and Bulgaria, but will mean a united Macedoni a in the constellation o f the South Slav peoples as units with equal rig hts.

The correct attitude towards the Macedonian Questio n is a precondition for Bulgaro-Yugoslav rapprochement, and this again is a preconditio n for the rapprochement, and no t estra ngem ent, between the Bulgaria n people and the Macedonian people, as well as with the othe r Yugoslav peoples.

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Georgi Dimitrov THERE ARE NOT THREE MACE DONIAS78 ; THERE IS ONLY ONE MACEDONIA AND ITS MAJOR PART IS R EPRESENTED BY THE ESTABLIS H E D MACEDON IAN PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC WITHIN T H E FRONTI ERS OF THE FEDERAL PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA The Speech o f Georgi Dimitrov at the 10th Plenum of the 8ulgt1rian Workers¡ Pt1rty (Communists), held in 1946

1946 Another question is the questio n of the Pirin region.

What is this innovatio n we must introduce in the elections in t he Pirin region? It is connected with ou r attitude to the Macedo nia n Question. There are comrades in our ranks who have not clarified their notions of what our policy should be concerning the Macedonian Question. The fact has often been d isregarded that the majority of the Macedonian people has alredy been organized in a state and a nation withi n the framework of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (FN RJ ) as the People's Republic of Macedonia. Using this republic as a basis, the other sections of the Macedonian people wi ll be united to it in the near future, especially Maced onia o f the present Pirin region , thro ugh federal agreemen t between Y ugoslavia and Bulgaria which should also define the return of the western Bulgarian provinces to Bulgaria. It is necessary for the preparation of this great event, among o ther things, that the Pirin region have its own Macedonian candidates fo r the Fatherland Front in the elections for the G reat National Assembly, and that the elected cand idates represent a Macedonian parliamenta ry grou p in the future Great National Assembly. The use of the expressions, " Vardar Macedonia", "Pi rin Macedonia" and "Aegean Macedonia" is no t correct. There are no three M aced onias. T here is o nly o ne M acedonia and its major part is represented by the esta blished Macedonian People's Republic within the frontiers of the FNRJ, which is now d eveloping. (Applause). We a re no w speaking about the M acedonian population of the 171

Pirin region. This population sho uld declare itself even now as part of the Macedonian people and it will be united to the People's Republic of Macedonia in the near future. (Thunderous applause).

Sta rting from this standpoint, we must precisely d efine our tasks for practical action. It is not sufficient only to recognize in principle that the Macedonians a re a separate people, that the Macedonians are neither Bulgarians nor Serbs, that they are Macedonians. This is necesbry but not sufficient. The Macedonian population of the Pirin regio n sho uld be prepared from this moment. We sho uld work on the cultural ra pprochement between that po pulation a nd the population of federal Macedonia. A broad cultural cooperation between the Macedonia ns from the Pirin region and the Macedonians of the People's Republi c of Macedo nia is essential.

The adoptio n of the Macedonian language and Macedonian literature are essential. It is also essential that the Macedonians from the Pirin regio n be acq uainted with the history of the Macedonian people.

The closest contact between the Macedonian emigrants in Bulgaria and our Pirin Macedonians is necessary; the closest possible cooperation between them in favour of the People's Republic of Macedonia should be developed , which is in the general interest of a ll Slavs.

We, as a Communist Party, must demand from the Pirin Macedonians and the Macedonian emigrants participation in the struggle of the Bulgaria n people against the reactionaries and in the constructio n of our future republic, to wage a d etermined struggle agai nst the enemies of the rapprochement between Yugoslavia and Bulga ria, against the enemy and the Greater-Bulgarian chauvinists, against the enemies of the unificatio n of the Macedonian people, the enemies of the People's Republic of Macedonia and the suppo rters of reaction in Bulgaria. They must be unmasked, they sho uld be thrown out of the ranks of the movement for the unification of the Macedonian people, since they are inveterate enemies of the future South Slav federation. (Thunderous applause).

The Archi ve o f Maced o nia. Sectio n : Varia

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T H E RESOLUTION OF T H E 10TH EXTENDED PLENUM OF TH E CENTRAL C OMM ITTEE OF THE

BU LGA RIAN WORKERS' PARTY (COMMUNISTS) ON THE MACEDON IAN QUESTION On the 9th of August, 1946, the 10th Extended Plenum of the Central Committee of the Bulgaria n Workers' Party (Communists) was held . Decisions were mad e o n the Macedonian Question, which a re worded in d etail as fo llows : First, the Bulga rian Wo rkers' Party (Communists) is of the opinio n that the basic sectio n of the Maced o nian people have organized themselves as a natio n within the fra mework of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia as the People's Republic of Macedo nia. The unificatio n of the other sections of the Macedo nian people is to be done o n the basis of the Macedonian People's Republic within the framewo rk of the Federal Peo ple's Republic of Yugoslavia.

Secondl y, the Bulgarian Workers' Party (Communists) intends to prepare the necessary preconditio ns for this unificatio n, since the annexatio n of the Pirin region to the Peo ple's Republic of Macedonia is primarily the task of the Macedonians themselves, but also a common task of Fatherla nd Front Bulgaria and the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia.

Thirdly, the B.W.P. (C.) considers it indispensable, in the period until the annexation of the Pirin region to the People's Republic of Macedonia, to work systematically o n the cultural rapprochement of the Maced onian populatio n from this region with P.R. Macedonia, o n the po pularization in their milieu o f the work a nd achievements of the Macedonian People's Republic, of the Macedo nia n language and literature, on their acq ua intance with the histo ry of the Macedo nian people, as it is taught in the schools in Macedonia, in order to make the links across the border between Macedonia (Yugoslavia) and the Pirin regio n easier fo r a broad reci procal commun ication of the Macedo nian populatio n in the two coutries a nd, in general, to ta ke a whole series of other measures to fo llow the line of cultura l auto nomy and contribute to the develo pment of natio nal consciousness among the Macedo nian population, which will facilitate its 173

unification with the basic section of the Macedo nia n peo ple in the People 's Repub lic of Macedonia.

Actively pa rticipating in the struggle o f the Fathe rl a nd Front against the reactio na ri es a nd fo r t he strengthen ing o f the d em ocra tic regime in Bulga ria, the Macedo nia ns from the Pir in regio n sho uld have the ir own Maced o nia n candidates in the electi o ns for the G reat Natio na l Assem bly a nd their own pa rla me nta ry group in th e G reat Natio na l Assembly itself.

The nHp HHCKO !leno79 ( Pirin Cause) news pa pe r s ho uld acq uire a primaril y M acedo nia n characte r.

It is a lso essential to esta blis h the closest coop era ti o n between the Pirin Macedoni a ns a nd the Macedo nia n emigra nts in Bu lga ria for acti ve s uppo rt o f the Macedo ni a n Peo ple's Republi c.

Fourthl y, the B.W.P.(C.) is o f the opi nio n tha t the a nnexati0 n o f the Pirin regio n to the People's Re public of Maced o nia sho uld be d o ne o n the basis o f a federal agreement between Bu lga ria a nd Yugoslavia, whi ch w ill d ete rmine the exact fro ntie rs of the a nn exed Pi rin regio n, taking into conside ra ti on the wishes a nd interestes o f th e Maced o nia n peo pl e themselves, as well as the ri ght to Bulga ria n c itizens hip for the citize ns o f the Pirin regio n who would like to use that right. T he return o f the weste rn provinces to Bu lgaria, which a re now in Yu goslav ia , wi ll be solved by tha t agreement.

Fifthl y, t he 8.W.P.(C.) conside rs it to be in the interest of the Macedonian people themselves, as well as o f Bu lga ria a nd Yugoslavia , that the annexati o n of the Pirin regio n to the Maced o nia n Peo p le's Republic be done in s uch a way tha t there will be practically n o customs fo rma lities o r a ny other kind o f fro nti er betwee n Maced o nia a nd Bulgaria , as there a re no ne between P.R. Macedonia a nd the othe r units o f F.P.R. Yugoslavia. T he a nnexatio n o f the Pirin regio n sho u ld no t o nly no t hinde r the economi c a nd cultu ra l ti es b etween the a nnexed pa rt a nd Bulgaria, but, o n the contrary, it s ho uld a lso furthe r strengthen those ties between Macedonia ( Yugoslavia) a nd Bulgari a.

Sixthly, the 8 .W .P.(C.) o bliges a ll its members o f the Pa rty, a nd primarily its me m bers in the Pirin regio n, to fu lfil most strictly a nd imple ment in practice this directive of the

174

Party on the Macedonian Questio n and determinedly recommends that the Maced o nian e migrants in Bulga ria pa rticipate comprehe nsive ly in th e strengthening of the fraterna l Macedonia n repub lic and in the preparation s fo r the u nification of the Maced o nia n popu lation from the Pi rin region wi th it o n the basis o f a un ion between Fatherland Front Bulga ria and F.P.R. Yugoslavia.

Th e text of the Resol uti on of t he Tenth Plenum o f t he Centra l Committee of the B. W.P.(C.) was sent by Georgi Dimitrov o n behalf of the Central Committee of the B.W.P.(· C.) 10 the Central Committee of t he Comm unist Party of Yugoslavia and Comrade Tit o on 17th August, 1946.

T he A rchi ves of th e Central Committee of the League of Communists of Macedonia

The National Committee of the Macedonian Emigrants in Bulga ria THE MACEDO NIAN P EO PLE HAS MADE THE GREATEST SAC RI FICES I N THE STR UGGLE AGAINST BULGAR IAN IM PERIALI SM

1946 CALL BROTHE R MACEDONIANS*

Very long is the li st o f the Maced o nia n marty rs a nd victims in the stru ggle o f the Macedon ian people fo r their libe ra ti o n . The greatest sacri fices were made in the struggle aga inst the acq u isi ti ve policy towards Macedonia of Bulgaria n mo na rch ism, w hich longed to become the most importa nt factor in the Ba lkans, to conquer the a rea a nd to put it at th e service o f Germa n wo r ld-scale imperial ist policy.

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175

It was no t so long ago tha t the people in Bulgaria wo ndered : " How come there's no Maced onia n murder tod ay?"

The na me Macedo nia n in Bulgaria became a synomym for a bogy-ma n to fri ghte n the childre n ; this na me became in the o uter world a syno nym fo r a murde rer. T he head a nd the brains o f the M aced o ni a n liberatio n moveme nt, Corte Petrov, was mu rd ered; the ma n w ho first saw the unb reakable ties between the Macedonia n revo lutio n a ry movement a nd the wo rkers' m oveme nt, H adi idimov, was murdered ; the ma n who had the courage to d ecla re: "Out wi th the inte rference of the Bulgaria n government in the Maced o nian ca use!", Arsen ij Javkov, 80 was murdered; all the fellow-fighters of Sanda nski, headed by C. Ka nta rdi iev, A. Bujnov, Pa nica, Hadziev, Skrizevski, Gofo Penkov8 1 a nd so o n, were murdered; the leaders of the fede ralists, Slavfo Kovatev a n d Kl. Razmov, were murdered; Protogerov, T omalevski a nd Bazdarov were murdered because they d en o unced the Germa n policy of Boris 111 ; the fo llowing we re also mu rdered : Caulev, Kavrakirov, H r. Trajkov, H r. Hro lev8 2 a nd so o n, because they p ropagated the ideas of the I. M. R.O. (U nited) tha t the salvatio n of the Macedonia ns lay in their allia nce with t he workers, peasants a nd all progressive people in the Balka ns. T ho usands of Macedonia ns were murdered before the wdfs; over those 23 or 24 yea rs 5 thousand of them we re murdered in the Petrit regio n alon e a nd at least a n othe r 5 t housand all over Bulgaria.

T hey were mu rde red by som e dishevelled people with leggings, called " clouds''. However, the real mu rdere r was Tsar Boris JII, on ce rightly called by po licemen "the cloud of the clouds". T hey were murdered fo r the a nnexatio n o f Maced onia to Bâ&#x20AC;˘Jlgaria; they were mu rd ered so tha t the Coburg C rown could shine most b rightly in the Balka ns a nd show the Germa ns the way to the East, as well as ma ke their connection with the Slav element easier.

The rise of Bulgarian fascism, headed by Tsar Boris, met with a n a rmed insurrectio n by the Bulgarian people, aided by the M acedo nia n people. T hat com mon struggle o f the two peoples agai nst Tsar Bo ris a nd his fascist clique has continued fo r mo re tha n two d ecades. T he Bulgaria n people after the 9th of September p ro pe rl y puni shed the fascist 176

clique. O n the 8th o f Septe mber, this yea r, they will lay the wreath of their full triumph in that struggle. O n this d ay they will overthrow the crimina l mo na rchy and will d ecla re their "sacred republic" whic h has been pro mised to them fro m the time of the leaders o f the Revival. O n this d ay the thi rd republican sta r will begin to shine o n the Balka n sky; a no ther b a rrier aga inst the resto ra tion o f the accursed past, the realm o f blood a nd tears, will be created.

The Macedonia n peo ple in Bulgaria have waged this struggle continually in a fra te rna l alli a nce wi th the Bulgarian people. The Maced o nia ns will offer their ha nds as bro ther~ in the last stage, too, o n the 8th o f Septe mber, fo r the fin al defeat of the commo n e nemy, the m o n a rc hy. T hey are inspired to wage this b a ttle by t heir glo rio us K ru~evo Republic; the sacred blood o f the tho usands o f murde red heroes calls the m to revenge; they a re also called upo n by Maced o nia a nd her ideal for t he unifica tion o f Pirin a nd Ya rda r M aced o n ia so that they can d evelop as a n independent n ationa l a nd state unit ; they a re called upon by their d esire to live in fra ternal unity with the other Balka n peo ples a nd their Slav blood -rela tions; they a re called upo n by the necessity to prevent the a ttempt o f the Tsarist serva nts of M aced onia n o rigin - the Mihajlovists - to raise a new their blood y a nd crimina l b a nner.

As was estabished a few d ays ago, they ha ve resto red their centre in a llia n ce with the Bulgaria n, Ba lkan a nd intern a tio n al reaction a ries in the sha pe o f a representative in Bulga ria, have begun to a rm themselves, to ga ther their miserable a rmed forces a nd prepa re for a rmed actio n to be undertaken when their re presenta ti ve o rders. In colla bo ra tio n with the re mna nts of King Peter's followers, King George's adherents, butchers, the e nemies o f d emocracy a nd Sla vism in the world, they a re to create a n "indepe ndent" Maced o nia.

This is where the Macedo nian instruments o f Boris II I have a rrived.

O n the 8th o f Septe mbe r the Bu lgarians a nd Maced o nia ns will together put a n e nd to tha t disgusting stream and will po werfully announce their wo rds so tha t a ll the reactionaries o f the wo rld can hear them : 12 The His co rica l T ruth

177

Bow before our victims!

Down with the mo narchy!

Down with Tsar Bo ris's Mihajlovist gangs!

Long live the People's Republic of Bulgaria!

Long live the People's Re public of Maced o nia within the Federal Peo ple's Republic o f Yugoslavia!

Long live the fraternal unio n of the South Slav peoples!

Sofia, 29th August, 1946.

The Arc hi ve of Macedonia. Secti on : Va ria

THE MACEDON IANS OF TH E GO RN A DZUMAJA R EG ION 83 HAYE THE A BSO LUTE FREEDOM OF DEC LARING TH EIR NATIONALITY AND OR IG IN

An Important Announcement for the District Leaders, Village Mayors and Census Personnel in the Region, Announcem ent N °. 3628* 1946 The order for the organization and implementatio n of the first operatio ns concering the census under point 14, pa r.

38, d eals with the p reparations of the po pulatio n for the census.

Drawing your attentio n to the great economic a nd cultural significance of the census as a great step for our new Peoples' Republic, which involves the dignity and prestige of our people's governme nt I ca ll upo n yo u to explain to the population as fully as possible that it is in their own interests to give the m ost correct d ata in the census. All data, a nd especia lly those sought in connectio n with the ho useho ld fo rm "A", must figure in the appropriate graph after they have been checked fully a nd conscie ntiously.

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1946.

178

Since the population of the Gorna Diumaja region is primarily of Macedonian orgin, you should explain to that population that they have the absolute freedom of declaring their nationality and origin openly and without any coercion, j ust as they feel in their o wn hearts and souls, as faithful children of their fatherland.

You will certai nly dra w the attentio n of the census personnel to the fact that they ha ve no right under any circumsta nces whatever to interfere with the citizens in stati ng thei r nationa lity as Maced oni a ns.

Gorn.i D1umaja, 24th Decem ber, 1946.

Regional Director, Boris Volev

The Regional Committee of the Fatherland Front - Corna Di umaja AT T HE CE NS US OF T HE POPULATIO N OF BULGARIA T H E MACEDONIANS HAVE BEEN GIVEN FOR THE F IRST TIME THE RIGHT TO DECLARE THEMS ELVES MACEDO NIANS 1946 PRO CL AMAT I ON•

of the Regiona l Committee of the Fatherla nd Front to the Populatio n o f the Gorna Dzumaja Regio n O n the 25th of December, this year, the gene ral census o f the population of Fatherland Front Bulgaria began. For the first time in a census o f the populatio n of Bul gari a, alongside the other natio nalities, the M acedonians have been given the right to d ecla re themselves Maced onians. The recognition o f the right o f the Maced o nian people to a life as a nation is a great victory fo r the j ust natio nal policy o f the • O6pa111e1111e HII O6JIIICTIIIIR K0 .\/1/Te r HE/ Orc•1ecroe1mR <PpOIIT .!10 1111ce.1e1111ero o rop110.!l)l(Y\/111ic K11 06J1acr. .. nHp1111cKo neJ10", December JO,

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179

Fathe rl a nd Fro nt a nd its people's government. T he Maced oni a ns of the Go rna Dfo maj a regio n (The Pirin a rea) have been g iven full rights a nd freed o ms to ex press their will openl y a nd without coercio n in the census a nd to register their n atio na lity acco rd in g to th eir unde rsta nding a nd feeling.

T he Regio na l Committee of the Fatherla nd Fro nt, consistently impleme nting the just na tio na l poli~ o f the Fatherla nd Fro nt, considers tha t the census of the p opulatio n of o ur regio n as Maced onia n is the most pro pe r o n e, since this correspo nds to o ur Maced o ni an origin , to o ur struggles fo r the libe ratio n a nd unificatio n o f Maced onia, as well as to the furth er solutio n o f the M aced o ni a n Q uestio n in the inte rests of the M acedo nia n people a nd in t he inte rests of peace in the Ba lka ns a nd o f fra te rna l coope ratio n between P.R . Bulgaria a nd F. P.R. Yugosla via.

Let it be kno wn that the registra tio n of the po pulation as Macedo nia n d oes no t mean o ppositi on to Bulgaria, as the members of the o ppositio n a nd the Mihajlovists d eceive n aive people. The free expressio n o f the people's will is a n essentia l preconditio n fo r the correct imple mentatio n of the d emocra tic policy of the Fathe rland F ro nt, which treats all the nationalities in the country equally.

Members: Efl im Gcorgiev Spas Ta ntilov Mihail Dim it rov Slavejko Angelov Georgi Stamatov Boris Cavdarov Vera Antonova Cvetan Karapov Veselin Cotcv Dimi ta r Dimitrov and I van Lazarov

180

On beha lf of the Regional Committee, President: Georgi Madolev Secreta ry : Fili p Butin ski

R ESU LTS O F T H E CENSUS OF TH E POPULATION OF PIRI N M ACEDON IA IN 1946 T he census held is a con fi rmatvry evidence of the na tion ality o f the po pulatio n of Pirin M acedon ia. Mo re than 70% of the po pula tio n have d ecla red themselves as Macedonia ns.84 Accord ing to unofficial data, the resul ts o f the census of the po pulatio n of Pirin Macedo n ia in Decembe r, 1946, a ppear as follows: Petrit Sveti Vrat Nevrokop Razlog Go rna Dfumaja

85-90% 80-85% 60-65% 55-60% 45-50%

Macedonia ns Macedo n ian s Macedon ians Maced o nians Macedonia ns

R ESO LUTIO N OF T H E R EG IONAL CO NFER ENCE OF T H E BULGARIA N WO RK ERS' PARTY (COMM U NISTS) O N TAK ING CONCRETE M EASURES FO R TH E PRO VIS ION OF CULTU RAL AUTONOMY FO R TH E POPU LAT ION OF PIRI N M AC E DON IA "A Resolution Adopted ar rhe 3rd Regional Conference of the 8. W.P. (C.) in

the Corna Diumnja Disrrict. Held on 16th and l l rh February. 1947, in the Town of Gorna Dlumilja ..,.

1947 I. We sho uld wo rk o n a broad cu ltural p la tform of reciprocal visits a nd c ultural in terc ha nge fo r the rapprocheme nt of the Maced o nia ns fro m the Pirin region and the People's Republic o f Macedo n ia. We shou ld aid the establishme nt o f a Macedo nia n bookshop in Gorna Dfo maja and • Pe10. 110 111111 1J1e1a 118 11 1- ,a O6. 1ac 11ia KO IIQ)CpCIIIIIIJI 11a oPn(K ) II rop110.'.llKy,1.11·1c l(a o6;iac I c·bc , 0 11: 1a ce 1ia 16- 17 (l>cn r,ya p11 1947 11 , fl. r o r11a JllKy\l aJl.

18 1

th e n1-1p1-1 HCKO Jleno ( Pirin Cause) news pa per s ho u ld acquire more of a M aced o nia n c ha racte r. The regio na l a nd tow n committees sho u ld ta ke m easu res fo r th e d eta il ed exp la nati o n o f th e idea o f rapproc hem ent betwee n Fath e rl a nd Fro nt Bulga ri a a nd th e Fede ra l Peo ple's R e public of Yugoslav ia, without which we ca nn ot cons ider solving t he M acedoni a n Q uesti o n.

2. W e sho u ld d em a nd of the Fathe rla nd Fro nt governm ent th at th ey include the teaching o f M aced o ni a n history in th e Piri n regio n . The inte rcha nge o f d elegati o ns fo r the estab lis h m ent o f c lose r links between t he t wo pa rts o f M acedonia s hould a lso be m ad e easier.

3. We should d e m a nd o f the Ministry o f In fo rm a tion that t hey intercede in favo ur o f estab lis hing a regio na l na ti ona l th eatre in Gorna Dfomaja, a nd we s ho uld ta ke a ll the m easures necessary for its co nsolidat io n .

4. W e sho uld work o n rig htful edu catio n fo r the strength en ing of M aced o nia n feeling a m o ng Pa rty members an d th e in habi ta nts. The R egio na l Committee sho u ld co ntinu e its elabora ti o n o f the att it ud e of the Party towards t he Maced onia n Q uesti o n .

5. We s ho uld co ntinue t he lectu res o n t he Maced o nia n Question in t he reg io nal Pa rty courses. S uc h lectures s ho uld be o rga nized in th e teacher-tra inin g insti t utes and gra mmar schools, as we ll as the a du lt educatio n centres.

6. T he Regio na l Committee s ho uld p ro du ce theses a nd pa pe rs thro ug h its associates o n th e histo rical past co nnected wi th th e na ti o n a l struggle, as well as a su rvey of the his torical dates th a t sho uld be comme mo rated .

7. W e must co ntinue th e strugg le aga inst G reater- Bulga ri a n cha uvinis m a nd its p roponents he re - t he remains of Mihaj lovism.

8. Let us help o ur a llies to a d opt correct a ttit ud es on th e Maced o nia n Question.

The Arc hive of Macedonia . Sectio n : Va ria

182

Jordan Petrov TH E FORMATION OF T H E GORNA D ZU MAJA MACEDO NIAN NATIONAL TH E ATR E IS ON E OF THE G R EAT C ULTURAL A C HI EVE M ENTS OF THE MACEDONIAN PEOPL E OF TH E PIRI N R EGION ·· Prior to the Beginning or the The;11re Season Ell the Corna Diumajn Macedonian Narional Theatre··,,

1947 The Fathe rl a nd Front au tho rities devote a n undo ubtedl y great amount of care to th eatre in Bulga ria a nd a ll o th er cul tu ra l activities. T h is can a lso be seen fro m th e for matio n of the Gorn a Dfomaja M aced o nian National T heatre, wh ich is a res po nse to the g rea t an d growing c ultura l needs of th e M aced o nia n people o f th e Pirin region o f Maced onia. It is o ne o f the great cultura l achievem ents of the Maced o nia n peo ple of t he Pirin regio n a fter the 9th of September. This yea r the M aced o n ia n language wi ll freely resound on th e stage o f this th eatre.

Was this p ossibl e durin g t he yea rs of fascist g loom?

Only those wh o lived in this regio n can answer that questio n .

T he o rdinary citizen o f Pirin Macedonia k n o ws w hat kin g of cultu re th e fascists used in o rder to suppress a nd kill th e real natio n a l feelings in him. The Greater- Bulga ri a n chau vinists did not a llow o u r peo p le to have theatres o r schools, but instead o rga nized a nd actively he lped the Mihajl ovist gan gs in th eir liquid atio n and murdering o f everything ho nest a nd progressive in th e M aced o nia n popula tio n . T oday, in th e c ircumstances o f t he new life o f Father land Front Bulga ri a, the Pirin regio n o f Macedo nia can free ly develop its na ti onal lang uage and its cu lture, na ti o na l in form a nd universall y huma n in co nte nt. W ith its form a ti on o f th e M aced o nia n Theatre, the Fath e rland Front aut horities have not come to

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183

assimilate the Macedo nian po pulation with its repertoire policy and to make it Bulgarian, but to help it in the construction of its national Macedonian culture. This care o f the Fatherland Front a uthorities has even more strengthened the comprehensive ties betw~en the Maced o nia n and Bulga rian peoples and guaranteed the two peoples a peaceful cultural development and sincere frate rnal relations for eternity.

There is a responsible task before the Gorna Dfomaja Macedonian N atio na l Theatre. Some have asked the following questio n : " Does the Maced on ian la nguage possess the essenti al linguistic forms in order to serve as a means of esta blishing a Macedonia n natio nal culture in the Pirin regio n ?" I do not think this has to be proved because it has lo ng since been proved by the fact that there is already a Macedoni an natio nal lite rature a nd that that literature is growing every new day. It has also been proved by the successful activity of the Macedonian N atio nal Theatre in Skopje.

Apart fro m these respo nsible tasks - the popularization o f the Maced o nian language a nd su pport in the establishment of a Maced o nia n natio nal cultu re in the Pirin regio n there a re a series of other responsible tasks before the Go rna Dfo maja Macedonian National Theatre such as thrashing o ut o f the heads o f some G reater Bulgarians the idea that they can stop the new d evelo pment of t he Pirin region, or clarification o f the notions of some Maced o nia ns who ha ve blindly stuck to the villai no us ideology of Yanfo Mihajlov.

With its reperto ire, the Theatre sho uld help in the creatio n o f the new Man and new relatio ns between people. It should educate them in the spirit o f the uni versal and the collective, to create and con,inua lly d evelop in the hea rts of all Maced o nia ns of this region a stro ng love and devotion to the People's Republic o f Macedonia and Tito's Yugoslavia. It shon ld stre ngthen in the m the feelings o f solidarity a nd fraternal love towards Slavism and all democrati c peoples. The repertoire of the Theatre should no t be o nly a mirror of o ur contempora ry social and political development, but it sho uld a lso, with its d eep a rtistic contents draw the attentio n o f the broad masses of the people o f the Pirin regio n of Maced o nia to our future socia l, political a nd cultu ral development. It should suppo rt this deeply ideo logical and artistic mission 184

with classical works, with the new militant Soviet plays, ideologically sustained a nd reflected in the m ost recent social struggles, a nd with works of the progressive writers of other countries.

Ministry of National Education, Department of Study of Textbook Publishing SAMOIL'S STATE WAS NOT A WESTERN BULGARIAN STATE BUT IT WAS A STATE OF THE MACEDONIAN SLAYS 1947 CORRECTI ONS I N HI STORY T EXTBOOKS•

Work o n the new history textbooks after the 9th o f September, 1944, has been done under special circumstances.

Owing to that fact, several ideas c ha racteristic of GreaterBulgarian chauvinism have been permitted in !?laces. In o ther cases some o f the issues have not been sufficiently clarified. T hese circumsta nces ma ke possible a double and o ften cha uvinist interpretation of such sectio ns. In order to rectify the errors made and to avoid a ny possibi lity o f interpretation o r citation in the spirit of Greater-Bulgarian cha uvinism, the teachers of history must have the followi ng corrections in mind during their work in the classroom :

I. In History Textbook for the 3rd Form Pp. 40 and 41 - Samoil's Slav state should not be presented as " Western Bulgaria". It d eveloped in countries that actually fell within the limits of Bulgaria, b ut by their ethnic

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185

form were purely Slav countries. It sho uld be explai ned that Samoil's state was a typical feuda l formation , where there was n ot, no r could have been, any na tion al awa reness. Samoil's state was predo mina ntl y a state of the Macedonian Slavs.

II. In History Textbook for the 7th Form I. P. 34 - The triba l a lliance of the Slav tribes in Macc::don ia, headed by Prince Prebond should be presented as the first a ttempt of the M acedonia n Slavs for the establishme nt of their own sta te o rganizatio n.

2. P. 65 - Kliment (Clement) and Na um sho uld be presented as South S lav educato rs and write rs.

3. P. 80 - Samoil's Slav state sho uld not be presented as "a Western Bulgarian state". It developed in countries tha t actually fell within the limits o f Bulgaria, b ut by thei r ethnic form were purely Slav countries. It sho uld n o t be forgotten that Sa mo il's sta te was a typical fe udal fo rma tio n, where there could have been no n a tio na l awareness.

4. Pp. 209 a nd 2 19 - T he Mi lad inov brothe rs, as well as the o the r Maced onia n educators and writers, should not be treated as representatives o f Bulgarian enlightenment. At the time of the Revival, the common interests o f the Bulgarians and Macedonians also d etermined thei r common struggle, directed against their common enemy, the Fan a ri ots. T herefore, the same boo ks a nd newspapers served as ideological interpreters of the struggle waged by the brother Bulgarians a nd Maced onia ns.

5. Pp. 296-297 - T he text g ive n under the title, "The Na tional Moveme nt in Bulgaria", sho uld be ex pl ained in the sense that " the Macedo nian m ovem ent" for " the libe ratio n" of Macedonia was not a moulded a nd o rganized movement, but o nl y a ma nifestati on o f sym pathy by the progressive circles in Bulga ria towards the subjugated Maced o nians.

6. P. 424 - To explain tha t the " Hristo Botev" pa rtisan d etachme nt was formed in the Gevgelija a rea by progressive Bulgaria n soldiers unde r the comma nd o f the reserve second lieutenant Dito Petrov Takov. The d etachment acted a lo n-

186

gside the Macedonian pa rtisans against the Bulgaria n occupiers. O n its way to Bulgaria, the detachme nt fought battles in o ne o f which its comm a nder was killed .

Sofia, 2 1th November. 1947

Head of the Departmen t of Textbook Publishing, P. Zaimov Chief Inspector: T. Vlahov The Archive ol Macedonia. Section : Varia

Kukus Charitable Brotherhood, "Goce Delt ev", Sofia GOCE DAY - DAY OF STRU GG LE OF PROGR ESSIVE MAC EDON IAN S FOR T H E LIBERATION OF MACEDON IA 1947 C ALL Dear n atives of Kukus, Dear compatriots,* O nl y a few d ays separate us fro m the great date, T H E 5TH OF MAY, THE CEL E BRATION OF T H E DAY OF THE MACEDO NIAN APOSTLE AND R EVOLUTIO-

NARY, GOCE DELCE V This d ay has been solemnl y celebrated for fo rty-four years in a row bo th by the natives of Kukus a nd the emigra nts from the whole of Macedonia under all regimes.

It was the day of struggle of the progressive Maced o nians fo r the freedom o f the emigra nts a nd the liberation o f Macedo ni a, the ideal fo r which Goce gave everything.

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The forty-fourth anniversary of his d eath wi ll be celebrated this yea r for the second time with a free Macedonia n state a nd complete freedom of the e migra nts in Bulgaria under th e Fatherland Fro nt government.

The Macedonia n emigrants have never left their fi ghting posts. They have respected th eir he roes a nd celebrated their dear memory.

Goce Day sho uld be celebrated even more this year by all the Macedonian emigrants. Preservi ng the line o f p rogressiveness and the ideal of the complete liberation of Macedonia, the emigra nts will express this year their complete unity and concord .

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On the 5th o f May, o n the traditiona l initiative o f the Kuku~ Brotherhood and in cooperation with all brotherhoods, young people and Macedonia n wo men, the re will be a festive mati nee in the " MAKEDO NUA" film theatre hall at I0.00 a. m. wit h a rich literary and musical programme, a nd o n Gurgovden at 4.00 p.m. a national celebratio n will be o rganized in the " Gevgelija neighbourhood" o f Sofia.

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BROTH E R MAC EDO NIANS, propagate and join the celebratio ns en masse on the occasion of GOC E DAY. Entra nce free.

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THE GREATER-BULGARIAN CHAUVINISTS HAVE MOBILIZED THE PRESS, THE UN IVERSITY ACADEMICS, TH E WRITERS AND THE INTELLECTUALS IN ORDER TO PROVE TO 1 HE WORLD THAT MACEDONIA IS A BULGARIAN COUNTRY " Vrhovism and the Greater-Bulgarian C'huu vinists. Supporters or Bulguriun Mon.1rchisrn ..,.

1947 In the most recent histo ry o f Bu lgaria a nd Maced onia, Vrhovism has been inseparably linked to G reate r- Bulgarian cha uvinism . It has appea red as the most refined ideological product of G reater Bulgaria nism a nd the most appropria te ca mo uflage for Bulgarian c ha uvinist policy.

Vrhovism acquired its n a me from th e Supreme Committee for Maced o nia a nd Adrianople ( BpxoeeH MaKeJJ.OHCKO-o.np HHCKH KOMHTeT). But the Vrhovists were not on ly the activists o f the "Supreme Committee". Vrhovism continued to exist even afte r the fo rm a l disbanding o f Lhe "Supreme Committee" a nd became a comm o n n oun for a ll those in the service o f the Co burgs a nd Bulgarian reactionaries, who have used the evil fate of Macedonia for the justification a nd disguise of Bulgarian ava ricious and acqu isiti ve policy.

T he Bulgarian bourgeoisie was extremely weak as a class whe n Bulgaria became a free state. Owin g to this, the Bulgarian bougeoisie in free Bulgaria could not dominate the situation a nd gave Alexander of Battenberg the opportunity of playing the rol e of Caesar in s pite o f the existen ce o f the rela ti vely democratic Trnovo Constitution .

At the time o f Sta mbolov's regime there were favourable conditio ns for the development of capita lism in Bulgaria. T he foreign capital flowed into Bu lgaria, which, a lo ngside the capita l o f the local ri ch people a nd merc ha n ts, was â&#x20AC;˘ Bn axoo, T ., KpCfll/TCJIII Ill /

190

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invested in capita list production. Banks were created on foreign a nd local capital. Intensive construction of railway lines, roads a nd government a nd public b uildings began. The construction ente rprises gave o pportunities to not so small a number of capitalist building contractors to pile up good profits.

Capitalist development in Bu lgaria gain ed a new impetus beginning in the nineties, after the inhe rited "capitula tio ns" from Turkey were rejected. 84" T he handic rafts in decline cou ld partly recover and adapt to the c ha nged d emand s of the market under the protection o f the high import tariffs.

Thanks to the protective import taxes, conditions were c reated for the appearance of local Bulgarian industry. The newly built roads and railway network increased internal a nd externa l trade and he lped the infiltration of capitalist economic for ms even into the most isolated areas of Bulgaria.

Owing to the new economic development, the class of merchants and industrialists stood more firmly on its feet. A portion of the petty bourgeoisie grew into a midd le o r great bourgeoisie. Alongside this process there was also a new sociopolitical re-gro uping. The Party of the Conservatives, a ltho ugh it changed its name to the ' ' Nationa l Party", became a party of large capita l. The o ld Liberal Party, which a t first gathered arou nd itself ma inly the petty bourgeois elements a nd was characterized by its democratic form, later disintegrated into separate factions. The newly-created parties gradually renounced the democratic spirit of the o ld Liberal Party a nd became coteries greedy fo r power.

Stambo lov's foreign policy en tirely coincided with the interests of the Bulgarian bourgeoisie, which was in the process of fo rma tio n. It was a peaceful o ne, d irected towards unde rstanding with Turkey, since the still weak capitalist circles needed peace in order to stren~then th eir position in the country .

In the last yea rs of the 19th century the situation changed. The youn g Bulgarian bourgeoisie, a lready on its feet, began to show aspirations towards conquering foreign territo ries. The greedy capita lists needed new coun tries in order to e nla rge the scope o f their economic activity, to exploit new objects and so to strengthen them selves more easily and 191

quickly as a ruling group in the country. This young a nd greedy reactionary and bo rgeois class created G reate r- Bulgarian chau vini st ideology, the essentia l instrum ent fo r the mo ral prepa ratio ns of the acquisitive po licy.

Alo ngside the gro wth o f the Bulgari an bo urgeoisie, whic h occurred rathe r late o n the histo rical scene, growing signifi cance was acquired by its a ntago nists, the wo rking class and the poor p easants. It was difficult for the Bulgarian ruling groups to exert their po we rs, by constitutio nal m eans.

Consequently, most o f their parties, which expressed their gro up interests, neglected the principles of democracy and sought suppo rt fo r their class d o minatio n fro m the thro ne o f Ferdina nd o f Coburg. With the help o f the m ona rch, the reactio na ry and bo urgeois gro ups wanted to re-direct popular discontent and to put their ava ri cio us and acquisitive po licy into effect.

Ferdinad o f Coburg, who took the Bulgaria n th rone with the blessing o f Austria-Hungary and Ge rma ny, acted in Bulga ria as a Germa n and an agent o f Austro-German imperia lism. His a mbitions we re great. He wanted to impose his hegemony in the Balka ns a nd to m ake o f Bulgaria a fro nt post fo r Austro-Hungaria n penetratio n into the Middle East.

Ferd ina nd's ambitio ns coincided with the acquisitive aspiratio ns of the Bulgaria n reactio nary and cha uvinist bourgeo is groups. The a lliance between the Coburgs a nd the reactionary clique around them was built o n this common reactionary and ava ricio us p latfo rm.

While Stambolo v was in power, the Greate r-Bulgarian aggressio n was not ma nifested openl y. In his policy to wa rds Turkey, Stambolov directed his effo rts towards one basic a im : by expressing his loyalty to the Sulta n's gove rnme nt he attempted to obtain new benefits fo r t he Exarchate. And the Exarchate, although it fo und the idea o f an uprising completely alien, actually worked for the G reater-Bulgaria n idea through its ecclesiastic and educatio nal acti vities in M acedo nia.

Feeling that his positio n was still not strong e nough, Ferdinand had to suppress his ambitio ns a nd to accept Stambolov ¡s regime. However, little by little he succeeded in creating around himself a group of devoted officers and to become cl ose to severa l o fficials fro m the circle o f Sta mbo192

lov's oppo nents. In the situatio n thus c reated Stambolov could remain in power as long as the policy he enforced coincided with t he in terests o f the C rown. But since Ferdina nd enforced the aspiratio ns o f Austro-German imperial ism in the Ba lka ns, the destin y of Stambo lov in the long run d epe nded on the d iplom atic moves of Aust ro-German policy. Germany, afraid o f the Franco-Russian a lliance, mad e a n attempt to renew the broken "trad itional" friend-. ship with Russia after the Balkan Cong ress. In the spirit of this " new" policy Germany wanted to liquidate as soon as possible Stam bolov's Russophobia which she had originally aroused herself. Ferdinand 's Bulgaria had to ma ke peace with Tsarist Russia. In that situation Stambolov had a lready p layed his part. Stambolov was removed from power and somewhat later butchered in the middle of Sofia. With no special hindrances Ferdinand imposed his personal regime.

T he governments that were constituted according to his will o bediently enforced his d irectives, since they came fro m those social circles whose in terests and aspirations coincided with those of the Coburgs. Finally the time had come when an active chauvin ist and acq uisitive policy could be adopted.

Owing to a number of circumsta nces, the G reater-Bulgarian chauvinists di rected their acquisitive claws towards M acedona. T he sufferings of the M acedonians who remained enslaved aro used since re fraternal sympathy from the Bulgaria n people. T his very natu ral sympathy fo r the suffe ring Macedonians was used in a J esuitical way by the GreaterBulgarian chauvinist clique.

T he Greater-Bulgarian chauvinists mobilized the press, un iversity scho lars, writers and intellectuals, in order to prove to the wo rld that Macedonia was a Bulgarian country, that she should belong to Bulgaria. T hey imp rinted in t he minds of the Bulgarian people the not ion that the Macedo nians were yearn ing fo r union wi th t~eir " motherland". In this connection they enforced a successuful propaganda through the schools and the army.

For their acqu isitive aims the Coburgs and G reater-Bulgarian chauvinists used, also with considerable success, some of the Macedon ian emigrant circles. Among the Macedonian emigrants, who had come to Bulgaria vol u ntari ly to earn money, there were ma ny well-to-do ones. Pro mpted by their 13 T he Historical Truth

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class interests they soon jo ined the reactio nary groups o f the young Bulgarian bourgeoisie. Q ui te a few Maced o nians occupied high positions in the a rmy a nd the state machinery.

Macedonian mini3te rs, diplomats, teachers, so ldiers, industria lists and others did whatever was possible to strengthe n the cha uvinist and acquisitive positi o ns of officia l Bu lgaria towa rds Macedo nia. Owing to these services they were the coddled children of the C oburg reactionary a nd c hauvinist clique. The preferment of some M acedonians reached the po int whe re it caused sile nt protests from many Bulgarians.

A number of citizens, not acquainted with the refined machinations of the court camari lla, were left with the impressio n that Macedonia ns rul ed in Bulgari a. However, Dimo Hadzid imo v rightly observed that " Bulgaria was no t ruled by Maced onia ns, but, in view of o ffi cial factors, Bu lgaria succeeded bygiving presents and cha rity, no ttoo costly for state, to turn the Maced o nia n emigrants into b lind instruments o f he r po licy and through them to paralyse the pure liberatio n cause in Maced o nia, which did no t give certain enough guarantees that it would fo llow the megalo ma niac c ha riot of Bu lgaria n imperialism." (" Back to Auto nomy" - 19 19).

Fe rdinand and G reate r- Bulgaria n chau vinists ha d to base their aspirations towards Maced o nia in a more secure way. It was no t sufficient o nly to prove the Bulgaria n origin o f Macedonia and that Maced onia belo nged to Bulgaria . It was essential that the Macedo nia ns themselves should show willingness to be freed and, mo reover, ask fo r help fro m Bulgaria.

In fact the M aced o nian peop le in M acedo nia had already accepted the struggle for liberation. But that struggle, guided by Goce Delcev, had nothing in commo n with the acquisitive aspirations o f officia l Bu lgaria. The M acedo nia n natio nal liberatio n moveme nt was inde pendent and uncom promisingly moved towards its a im - an independe nt Macedonia .

T he independent revolutio nary movement thus created in Macedonia spo iled the dishonest pla ns of Ferdinand and the reactio na ry clique around him. Afraid tha t Macedo nia might slip through their hands, the chau vinist groups headed

by Ferdinand hastened to paralyse the inde pendent M acedonian liberatio n ca use, and, through their conscious o r uncon194

scio us instruments among the M acedonia n em igra nts, to make a Bulgadan question o ut o f the Maced o n ia n Questio n .

At the suggestio n of the cou rt cha uvinist clique, " fhe Su preme Committee for Maced o ni a and Adrianople" 85 was esta blished , head ed by Trajko Kitancev, a n ho nest person but a naive po litician, who seemed not to see the da rk inten tio ns o f Ferdina nd and his governm ent at first. This Sup reme Committee, which set the found ations of Yrhovism, was a n app ro priate refuge a nd instrument of Bulgrian chau vi n ist and acquisitive po licy.

As if at a given signal, va rio us societies o f Maced o nian e m igrants began to appear, a nd the Bulgaria n press began persistently to write abo ut " the sufferings of our e nslaved brothers o n the o ther side o f Mo unt Rila" a nd to be fil led wi th most harsh attacks o n Turkey. Simulta neously, a l-most in all the garrisons Officer Bro the rhood s were formed , wh ich gave solemn oaths that they wou ld wo rk by fo rce of a rms for the liberation of Macedonia. The who le noisy actio n was guid ed by the " Supreme Committee" and was warmly welcom ed by the Court and the governme nt. " Ko nstantin Stoi lov's cabinet a nd the Court," H. Si ljanov observes, "showed som ethi ng mo re tha n a warm welcome towards Kita ncev's initiative."

The real founde rs o f the Committee so deftly hid the t rue a ims of Yrhovism that even the members of the I nternal M aced o nia n Revolutionary Organization ( I. M. R. 0 .) believed that they could use the Committee as their a uxi liary o rga nization. However, it soon became clear - especia lly after the "expe rienced courtiers" li ke generals Nikolaev and Concev stood at the head of the Comm ittee - that the Supreme Comm ittee was a proponent of Court poli cy and wanted to take over the guidance of the Macedonian movement in order to use it for the pol itical a ims of Greater- Bulgarianism a nd the C ro wn.

Altho ugh the secret mecha nisms that moved the Vrhovist c urren t were clear to all farsighted people, Yrhovism has never revea led the real essence o f its activity and shown its cards. Vrhov ism played a n almost public role as a n agent provocateur in the Maced o nia n natio nal liberatio n cause and simultaneously conti nued to hide behind the ban ne r o f an "i ndepen de nt Maced o nia". Ti1tse special tactics of Yrho13â&#x20AC;˘

195

vism were dicta ted by the Court. The Greate r- Bulgaria n chauvi n ists, head ed by Ferdin a nd, did not wa n t to comp romise the mselves before the wo rld as aggressors. With the fa lse bann er of a n inde pe ndent Maced o nia they wa nted n ot o n ly to deceive the oute r world but a lso to d elude the p ubli c in Bulga ria a nd M acedon ia. T hey succeeded in this directio n to a certain exte nt. Beguiled by Vrh ovist de magogy, ma ny coul d not realize the d ifferen ces between Yrhovism and the Inte rn a l O rganizatio n , a nd were sincerely astoun ded to wit ness the bloody connicts between the two hostile blocks.

However, th e empty demagogic phrases o f the Vrhovists could not deceive the activists of the Intern a l O rga nizatio n a nd the honest progressive citizens. Behind t he a ttracti ve Yrhov ist ta les th ey saw the ir reactio na ry and c hauvi nistic na ture a nd their treacherous acts. Even H . Silja nov, the disg uised ex ponent o f Yrhovist aspira tio ns, a dmitted that " the Yrhovist thesis was diffi cult to defend b efore the intellectual wo rld", since " its internal side d id not bear too much showi ng".

Ferdina nd a nd the G rea ter-Bulgari a n cha uvinists wa n ted through Yrhovism to destroy the I. M. R. 0. - the main hindra nce to thei r acquisiti ve policy concerni ng Macedo nia.

For the fu lfilm ent o f these p lans the S up reme Commi ttee esta b lished a few d etachments as earl y as 1895, constituted o f o ld professio na l ba ndits (robbers) a nd Bulgaria n officers.

The detac me nts infiltra ted M aced o ni a in the summer. One o f th em a ttacked the unprotected Pomak village o f Dospat and committed murders a nd pillage a nd start ed fires. Anot her d etachment, head ed by Boris Sarafov, a Bulga ria n officer, attacked the town o f Melnik a nd set several T urkish ho uses o n fire. By these provocative acts the Yrhovists a nd th eir mas te rs wa nted to achi eve a dua l goal: on the o ne ha nd they ind irectl y ruined the cause o f the Ime rn a l Organization, a nd o n the othe r hand, by provoki ng the T urks to violent reprisa ls towa rds the Macedonian popu la tio n , they found the desired mo tive for harsh journa list attacks against the "ba rbarian Tu rks" and a ro used via the press a strong hat red o n the pa rt o f the Macedo nia n emigra nts a nd the Bu lgaria n society towards a ll tha t was Turkish. In this way the Coburg Ferdinand a nd the reactio nary a nd cha uvinist groups

196

morally prepared the people fo r the fu ture wars of aggressio n.

After the d eath of Trajko Ki tantev - who suffered a hea rt attack when he realized what diabolic interests he had served - the Supreme Committee, headed a lternately by Gen eral N iko laev, Boris Sarafov, General Contev and Stoja n Mihajlovski, o penly went for the Interna l Organization.

The Yrhovist detachments, composed of robbers, d eclasse c haracte rs and officers who were proponents of Greater- Bulgaria n cha uvinism t:.> ntinuo usly infiltrated Macedonia, politically d eluded the population a nd attacked the men of the Internal Organization as real bandits.

The Yrhovists, as Ferdina nd's agen ts, by prem ature provocative revolts in Macedonia wanted to open up the way fa r the politica l a nd milita ry in volveme nt of Bulga ria, not ta king into account the suffering they innicted upon the Macedo nia n population . W ith these activities the GreaterBulga ria n Yrhovists gave a pretext to the Greater Serbians a nd Pa nhe llenists to send their propaganda detachments into Maced o n a.

T he I. 0. did whatever was possible to parry the hidden intentio ns o f the Supreme Com mittee and to prevent the uprisings p repared by it. Ma ny Vrhovist detachments that set o ut to take over the zone of the Revolutio na ry O rga nization we re driven back to Bulga ria. T he Supreme Committee, however, by bribe a nd o ther dishonest means, succeed ed in attracting some no t very stable elements a nd gaini ng strength in the Gorna Dzumaja regio n. Severa l Yrhovist detachme nts even pe netrated to t he south-west provinces of Macedonia, a ltho ugh tem porari ly. T he I. 0, ha d to make great efforts to prevent the uprising in the Kostu r (Kastoria) region, prepared by Colo ne l J a nkov. In those conditio ns the Supreme Committee o f Gen . Contev co ncocted a provocative revol t in the Go rn a Dzumaja regio n in 1902. That the revolt was o rdered fro m Sofia can be seen by the sp eech o f S. Mihajlovski held at the Supreme Committee meeting three days before a shot was fired in Maced on ia. " Now we cannot pay attention to who's guil ty a nd who's no t!" he declared. " The slave has risen u p a nd h e should b e su p ported!"

Objecti vely viewed, the bold a nd he ro ic actio n of the Sa lo ni ka Assassins was a lso plan ned as provocati on. The

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young assassins, fu ll o f e nthusias m, were ready to give their li ves for the cause of the revo lution a nd did not suspect that by their heroi c action they were o nly a dd ing grist to the mill o f Yrhovism . H owever, Bo ris Sarafov, who inspired the m a nd supp lied t hem with the n ecessary material mea ns, conscio usly carried o ut the cause o f Yrhovism .

In fear of new Yrhovist provocative revolts, the Cent ra l Committee o f the Internal Organ ization was fo rced to adopt an overhasty d ecisio n - in the absen ce of Goce Deltev a nd o pposed by the Serresists (representa tives of the Serres revolutio nary district) - for the earl ies possible beginning o f the p re pa red ge nera l M acedo nia n uprising, w hich was not yet fully prepared . T hro ugh the persiste nt Yrhovist provocations Ferdinand a n d the cha u vinist Bulgarian governments wanted to ruin th e I. M . R. 0. completely, to take the libera tion cause o ut o f its hands and to clear the way for their acquisitive policy.

T he I. 0. was certa inl y not ruined . But the involvement of the Bu lgarian Yrhovists caused great harm to the Maced onia n cause. Since the a ttem pt to ru in the I. 0 , was successful , the Coburgs, the reactio nary socia l forces head ed by the Bulgaria n governme nts, the well-to-do emigres a lready connected with Bulgari a a nd the o ffi cers did wha tever was possible in o rder to give t he l. 0. a Bu lga rian natio na l cha rac ter a n d to ta ke it over from inside. U nfo rtuna tely, in the c ircles o f the I. 0. the re we re people who yield ed to t hem . Yrhovist tre nds began to pe rmeate the L 0. itself and to de-unify it fro m within.

Even s ince its establishment, people who had no t full y o utgrown G reate r- Bulgari a n ideas ha d jo ined the ra n ks o f the I. 0. H . M atov had never broken with Greater-Bu lgarianism, a nd even Dame Gruev,86 who p layed su ch a n im portant a nd leading ro le in the I. 0., did no t suppo rt suffic ie ntly the p rinci p les of independent struggle. Lead ing places in t he I. 0. were a lso occupied by people li ke I. Garva nov,87 adhere nt of the Exa rcha te, and Boris Sarafov, who, al tho ugh he had left the Supre me Committee, rem a ined Yrhovist in his soul. In a word , there were unstabl e e lements in the Organ i.a tion who a dopted the banne r o f a n independent Macedonia, b ut simulta neously had no thing against the possible an nexation of Macedo nia to he r "mothe rl a n d". Even before

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the llinden U prising of I 903 som e acti vists of the I. 0. had fallen under the innuence of Yrhovism. Yrhovist ideas cou ld be fou nd mai nl y a mo ng the rich and innuentia l Macedonian emigra nts, al ready a ll ied with Greater-Bul ga ria n reactionary a nd c hauvinist circles. Those em igrants, who had com e into Bu lga ria voluntarily for purely economic reasons, traced their o rigin prima rily to Western Macedonia. Owi ng to this, they cou ld e n fo rce their c riminal innuence through their connectio ns upo n the activists of the Bitola and Skopje revol uti onary districts. The Yrhovist tren ds among the activists of these districts had a lready had a considerable innue nce on the ad option of the overh asty decisio n for the proclama tion o f the Ilinden U prisi ng.

T he reactio nary a nd chauvin ist clique in Bulgaria relied o n these suspic ious e lements withi n the ra nks of th e I. 0. , a mo ng which there were a lso Vrhovist agent-provocateurs, in o rder to take the I. 0. over from withi n , after the fail ure of the fro nta l a ttack.

After the llinden Uprising, two currents were gradually fro med: the Rightists, who a d opted - sile ntly, of course - the cha uvinist ideas of Yrhovism, and t he Leftists, who u ncomp romisingly held to the o ld ideological positions o f th e I. 0.

T he Ri ghtists, headed by Boris Sarafov, Garvanov, Matov, Todor Aleksandrov a nd others, considered the struggle for a n a uton omous M aced o n ia as a transitional stage which should lead to the fin a l goal - the a nnexation of Macedonia by Bulgaria. By a dopting the Yrhovist Greater-Bulga rian thesis the n ew internal Yrhovists also changed their relations with officia l Bulgaria . At the Rila Congress in 1905 they supported the sta ndpo int that the I. 0. should rely on Bu lgaria and receive necessary material mea ns fro m he r.

In this way they s~ilfull y and furtively undermined t he independence o f the I. 0. a nd made efforts to t urn it into a serva nt of G reate r-Bulgaria n cha uvin ism. Attached to the cauldron of the Bulgaria n governments, the internal Yrhovists had to end up as d evoted agen ts of the Coburgs soone r or later.

The new internal Yrhovism was better suited to Ferdin a nd and the cha uvinist Bulgaria n governme nts. They cou ld better enforce tho ugh in their acquisitive plans, without being exposed to suspicion fro m the o utside wo rld. At the same

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time, the internal Vrhovism was mo re da ngerous for the independent natio nal liberation moveme nt in M aced onia, since it could take over the who le I. 0. and make it an instrument o f Bulgaria n chau vinist and acq uisitive po licy.

The o nly hindrance to the triumph o f Greater-Bulgarianism was the Maced o ni a n Left, headed by the Serresists.

Owing to this, when the Serresists, headed by Jane Sanda nski, Dimo Hadzidimov a nd others, started a n irreconcilable struggle against the new interna l G reate r-Bulgarian Vrhovism, the Court cama rilla did no t hesitate to organize a plot fo r their assassi nation. Placed in a positio n of self-defe nce, the Serresists had to respond with the same means. So, at the instigatio n o f the Court, conflicts full of blood foll owed within the I. 0.

T he Young Turk coup of 1908 met with undi sguised enmity fro m o ffi cial c ha uvinist Bulgaria. Greater-Bu lgarian cha uvinists, head ed by the Court and the government, suffered nervo us breakd owns at the thought that under the new constitutio na l government in Turkey the p osition of the Maced o nian po pulation might be improved and that the new regime might provide the o pportunity fo r a legal socia l and po litical struggle. G reater-Bulgaria n cha u vi nists lost their trump cards in the game of " the liberatio n o f their enslaved brothers" and generally lost ground for their aggressive a nd cha u vinist po licy towa rds Macedo ni a. N o t peace a nd prosperity, but blood y confli cts a nd suffe ring were necessary to J:',~rdina nd a nd the reactio nar)¡ clique aro und him . Even if they had not existed, they would have had to have bee n created!

After the coup, the Macedonian Left organized itself into a Nationa l Federal Party, built upo n a radical d emocratic programme. As a counterpo ise to the Left, the Rightist Vrhovist wing within the 1.0. esta blished the Party o f the "constitutio na l clubs'¡, thro ugh which it enfo rced the c hauvinist and acquisiti ve policy o f the Coburgs a nd the Bulgaria n ruling reactio na ry bourgeoisie and waged the struggle aga inst the Serresists. The Vrhovist agents of Ferdinad twice attacked a nd s ho t Jane Sanda nski .

But this was no t a ll. By orde r o f the Cou rt, the Maced onia n Vrhovists acti vated their illegal d etachments. By using the discontent a ro used by some negative sid es of the Young 200

Turk regime, they carried out a series of provocative assassinations with the aim of creating new confusion in M aced onia.

The aggressive and c ha uvinist gro ups in Bulgaria feverishl y prepared for the real izatio n of their acquisiti ve pla ns.

Bulgaria a lready had sufficie nt material means to become invo lved in acquisitive wa rs. Since the moment of his declaring himself to be " a Tsa r of all Bulgaria ns", Ferdinand relentlessly directed events to wards wars which were to make him master o f the Balka ns. lt was essentia l o nl y to fini sh the preparati ons o f the people in the spirit of aggressive cha u vinism in order to create the necessary war feeling.

This task was given to the speakers for Bulgaria n chauvinism and the M aced o nia n Vrhovists. N ew provocative assassinations followed, amo ng which particularl y disgusting were the so-called " do nkey assassinatio ns". In the load of a d o nkey the Vrhovist " hero assassins" would put a time-bomb a nd dri ve the animal o ut to the ma rket of a particular town, a ft er which the " assassins" would disappear without trace.

Victims of these assassinatio ns were usua lly innocent peo ple - Turks a nd Maced o nians. Afte r every such assassi nation the T urks would become enraged and would murder the first Maced o nians that would happen to come into their hands.

These pogroms o f the M aced onian populatio n were welcome fo r Greater-Bulgarian cha uv inists. They wou ld blow them up to incredibility a nd fill the newspape r p ages with descriptio ns o f the Turkish atro(;ities, and attack the " Anatolian tyrants" mercilessly.

The Bulgarian citizens, unawa re of this skilful manipulatio n, took everything at face value and were ready to plunge into the vo rtex o f the war prepared with aroused feelings of reve nge. Thus the M aced onian Vrhovists in the service o f the Court collabo rated with all their forces in the o utbreaks o f the wars, as a result of which Maced onia had to be unavoida bly partitioned.

After t he Balka n Wa is the LO. practically ceased to exist. Ho wever, the Vrhovist den remained a nd soon it turned into a mercena ry gang in the servi ce o f the Court of Bulgarian reactio naries.

During the imperialist First Wo rld War, whe n Ferdina nd of Coburg and Radoslavov's government fo rced Bulga20 1

ria into the wa ters o f Germa n imperialism, the Vrhovist gangs o f Todor Aleksandrov a nd G en. Protogerov regained their ro les of merce na ry provocateurs. By order of the Court a nd the government they carried o ut two or three attacks in Macedo nia under Serbian rule, caused the Vala ndovo Affair a nd thus created the te nse atmosphere between Serbia a nd Bulgaria, which was the essential preconditio n fo r t he Bulgarian attack on Serbia. H elped by the Vrhovist murde rers, Ferdina nd fin ally liquidated his sworn ene my, the uncompro mising fighter against the aspira ti ons of G reater-Bulgaria n chauvinists, Ja ne Sanda nski.

Afte r Bulgaria's involvement in the war, the Vrho vist ga ngs took over the un en viable task of Tsarist b odyguards a nd executio ners of the Serbian people in the Morava region occupied by the Bulgarian Army. In this way they not only served Ferdina nd but a lso the Germa n impe rialists, who wa nted to see the two fraternal peoples, the Serbs a nd the Bulgarians, divided by bloody ha tred .

Even a fter the 19 I 8 catastrophe, when the chauvi nist and acquisitive policy o f the Coburgs a nd reactio n a ry bourgeois parties suffered a total defeat,the Vrhovists, h eaded by Todo r A le ksandrov a nd Gen. Protogerov, remained d evoted serva nts a nd supporters o f their masters - the mon a rchy a nd the reactio naries.

Greater-Bulgaria n cha uvinists d id n ot give up yearning fo r " the unif1catio n of the Bulgaria n people", a nd the Vrhovists, as their devoted emissa rie, started collecting sig natures fro m the Macedonia n e migra nts in orde r to submit to the Peace Conferen ce a d emand for the annexation of Macedonia to he r " motherland " .

During a nd immediately after the war, the internal Vrhovists thre w away the banner of autonomy as an unnecessa ry rag. H owever, when it became clear to all of them that defeated Bulga ria would not gain " the whole of Maced o n ia", when the rising popular discontent threatened to e rase the catastrophic Greater-Bulgaria nism, the Bulgarian cha uvinists a nd Macedonian Vrhovists soon did an about-turn and a~ain became "auto no mists". Of course, even as "autono m1sts" they served Tsar Bo ris a nd the reactionaries as devotedl y a nd supported the sha ttered throne o f the Coburgs with suc h 202

ardou r, as they had o nce served Ferdinand and cha uvinist andmilitarist Bulgaria.

The 1918 catastrophe deli vered a severe blow to the mo narchy and the reactio naries. However, the blo w was not a decisive o ne. The Coburg Ferdi nand was replaced by the Coburg Bo ris III. The leading characters we re cha nged but the Ge rman representative office in Bulgaria remained unchanged. Nor were the reactionary social forces d estroyed - the ava ricio us cha uvinist bourgeoisie and its miserable sh ado w, the Macedonia n Vrhovist gan g.

Severely numbed by the catastrophe they had suffered , the butcherous cliques soon consolidated and in a llia n ce wi th the Coburg, they directed a ll their forces towards the resto ration o f the positions lost in 1918. The Vrhovists of Todor Aleksand rov a lso joined the m, now h idden under the fa lse banner o f a uto no my. Boris 111 a nd the reactio n set those quasi-autonomists the task o f resurrecting the defeated G reater- Bulgaria n cha uvinism . The quasi-auto nomists a nd G reate r- Bulgaria n c hauvinists with the characteristic boldness of mercena ries began to shed crocodile tears for " national ideals" gambled-away a nd for the unfortunate fate o f Maced onia. They d eclared themselves against A. Sta mbo liski's government a nd consid ered it to be d efeatist and treache rous, since the great leader of the Agra ria n League stopped the c hauvinist a nd adventurous policy of the Coburgs a nd started a policy of peace and understanding with n eighbou ring states. They threw similar accususations agai nst the Comm unists a nd against a ll the citizens who thought ho nestly a nd condemned the sla ughterous policy of the c hauvinist governments. Absurd and tragic ! The gravediggers of Bulgaria those who had gamb led away the " natio n al ideals" and caused Bu lgaria and M aced o nia innume rable disasters - had the nerve to accuse the progressive social fo rces for the fai lure of their own infe rnal pla ns.

With the b lessings o f Boris II I, with finan cial help from the reacti onary powerful bourgeoisie and with the full suppo rt of the reaction a ry officers of the type of Krstev, a foll ower of T sar Krum, the Macedonian quasi-a uto no mists c reated their o wn armed gangs a nd settled in Pirin Macedonia, making great use of the patronage of the local milita ry authorities. As devoted instrumets of the reactionaries they com 203

milted a series of murders - from ambush, of course - of progressive citizens (Macedonians, Communists and farmers).

As suppo rters and serva nts of the Coburg monarchy, the Maced o nian Yrhovists (q uasi-autono mists), headed by Todor Aleksandrov a nd Gen. Protogerov, were a m ong the responsible fort he events of the 9th of June. Alongside the Black Block sla ughterous coteries a nd reactionary mona rchist officers, they orga nized a plot against A. Stamboliski's government a nd took a n active part in its realizatio n. The Macedonia n butchers of Todor Aleksandrov's mafia participa ted in the hunt of Sta mbo liski a nd in the murders of some more impo rta nt me n of the Agrarian League.

On the 9th of June the quasi-autonomist organization o f Todor Aleksandrov, General Protogerov a nd , Vanco Mihajlov showed its real face. This organizatio n had nothing in commo n any more with the Macedonian libe ra tion cause.

It was only a c rimina l association o f hired murderers in the service o f the Coburg Dynasty a nd bloo dy fascist regime.

T he Macedonian bandits were among the mai n propon ents of the white fascist terror thro ugh which the Coburg, Boris Ill, a nd the butcher, Can kov, wanted to smash the democratic social fo rces in Bulgaria. T hey were the executioners of the working Macedonians and Bulgarians.

During the September Uprising Todor Aleksandrov a nd Yanfo Mihajlov's men committed ho rrible a nd bloody c rimes against everything progressive in Pirin Macedonia, which was e ntirely left to their will. T he bloody komitadjis took an active part in the supp ression of the September Uprising a nd "sla ughtered the Bulgarian peo ple as even the T urks had never do ne".

T hro ugh the Vrhovist quasi-autonomist organization, Boris 11 I and the G reater-Bulgarian cha uvinists maintained their acquisitive aspiratio ns towards Macedonia. Thro ugh it, they stirred up aggressive Greater-Bulgarian chauvinism, th rough it they liquidated all the honest progressive Macedoni a ns whi ch held close to the principles of the o ld 1.0. and unmasked the impe rialist aspirations of the mo narcho-fascist clique a round the Coburgs. The following were murdered in the meanest way: Go r6e Petrov - the o ld activist and ideologist of the 1.0.; Slavfo Kova6ev - the lead er o f the Federalist Macedonians; D imo Hadzidimov - the great Macedonian 204

leader and respected Communist delegate; a nd Arsenij J ovkov - the brave editor o f the " llinden" newspaper. Todor Panica, the Sandanski's faithfu l co-fighter, was also murdered by a vile hand in Vienna. Also murdered were the more prominent representatives of the Federalists and Sandanski's Serresists.

However, tht- Macedon ian h ired murderers did not kill only Macedonians. As supporters and servants of the monarchy a nd the slaughterous fascist regi me (Cankov Ljapcev), by o rder of their masters they li quidated all the brave fighters against the mona rcho-fascist dictatorship in Bulgaria. Macedonians were the murderers of Todo r Strasimirov - a Communist delegate, Petko D. Petkov - the bra ve leader of the Agrarian League an d Rajko Daska lov - an Agraria n tribune, killed in Prague. The Macedonian quasiautonomists worked with the p ublic and secret po lice. The Macedonia n bandits p layed the role of executioners in the massive terror in April 1925. The Bulgarian capitalist reaction aries used the komi tadjis, splattered with blood, as sca recrows in order to terrorize the Bulgarian workers. They supported the Macedonian butchers in the factories and tobacco wareho uses in order to keep the workers exploited by them cowed. In Pirin Macedvnia, which was left entirely to them by the Bulgarian governments as a colo nial concession, the q uasi-autonomists openl y murdered, pillaged and made extortions from the populatior. wi thout punish ment. In the same way they raged, although a little more covertl y, th roughout the country; the reactiona ries had given them a carte blanche to persecute the progressive Macedonians everywhere as well as a ll those who threatened the regime of the Coburgand hisgovernmentswith theiractivities. During the "pooular" government when Musanov, G irginov an1 Gicev ruled, the outstanding activist of the I. M .R.O. (U n ited), Simeon Kavrakirov, was k idnapped in the middle o f Sofia in order to be murdered after two years of inhu m an torture. During the rul e o f the Tsarist democrats, the Macedonian monsters murdered in Sofia the popular represen tative, H risto Trajkov, a nd a number o f o ther activists of the I.M .R.O. (U n ited), and the Bu lga rian courts put on trial and sentenced the ad herents of the J.M .R .O.(United ) according to the state security law; when the bestia lity a nd insolence of 205

the Macedo n ian fascists caused confusion and the silent d isapproval o f society, the responsible government o rgans shrugged ther sho ulde rs and most shamelessly d eclared that those were acti o ns o f an o rganizatio n whose centre was o utside Bulgaria . And the mercenary Bulgarian p ress headed by 3opa (Da wn) newspa per presented the vulgar crimes as hero ic accomplishments o f the invisible but all-powerfu l a nd legendary Macedonia n organization.

In fact both the "centre" a nd the " power" of the " legendary" organizatio n were in the middle o f Sofia, and its criminal acts were gu id ed by the Court, the Mi n istry o f Ho me Affairs a nd the Po lice Depa rtment.

The quasi-a uto nomist gangste rs had to be de pri ved of governme ntal support in 1934 in o rder for it to beco me clea r that the " legendary a nd all-powerful " organizatio n was on ly a soap bubbl e beh ind whic h the Bulgaria n mo narcho-fascists carried o ut their murkiest reactionary activities.

But even after 1934 the omin ous treach erous acti vity o f the quasi-auto no mists did n ot cease. Yanfo Mihajlov succeed ed in fl eeing from Bulgaria a nd passed into the service of Mussolini a nd Hitler. H is people in Bugaria sheltered a nd wa ited till the day when Bo ris of Coburg would succeed in removing the " 19th-of-M ayists" from power a nd establ ishin g his own fascist regim e. Boris Ill, a more perfidio us hypocrite a nd a mo re tactical o ne th a n Ferdinad, did n ot consid er it a ppropria te to renew o ffi cially the qu asi-autonomist ba ndit organizati o n, since the whole world realized that it was on ly a branch o f the Bulgaria n Police Department. Apart fro m th1,; Macedonia n bandits, who again remained in his service, he a lread y possessed a fairly la rge number o f fascis ized eleme nts thro ugh which he could e nforce his fascist dictatorsh ip within the country a nd support the powerful G reater-Bu lgari a n chauvinist inclinatio n for the a ims o f his foreign po licy.

However, Boris II I did no t want to break o ff with the quasi-auto nom ists. The idylli c relations betwee n the master a nd his fa ithful servants remain ed unbro ken. Y et, in acco rd a nce wit h the new needs, the Yrhovist quasi-a uto no mists had to transform their acti vity. With the Bulga ria n c ha uvin ists, they were g iven a n ew task : to collab orate with all their forces in o rder to bring Bu lgaria into the waters of fascism a nd Hitle rism . In this connectio n particul a rly active was the

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3opa newspaper, mo uthpiece both of Greater-Bulgarian ch auvinism a nd M aced o nia n Yrhovism. The Yrhovist intellectuals, grouped around the Macedo nian Scientific Institute, strengthe ned their "cultural" activities. Simo n Radev and Andrej Tosev, accom pa nied by a series of other autho rs, propagated the cause o f chauvinism a nd Yrhovism with special articles. Andrej Tosev, a n outstanding representa tive of Grea ter-Bulgaria n chauvi n ism a nd quite a close man to the Yrhovist quasi-auto no mist circles, became the prime minister of T sar Boris's government for some time. Vanco Mihajlov, altho ugh he had "emigrated" from Bulgaria, sent a letter requesting help from Boris II I for the ustash as of the C roatian quisling, Ante Pavelic. It was obvious: both Boris Ill a nd the Yrhovist leader served a common master - the fascist Hitl er's imperialism.

The Bulgarian chauvi nists and Yrhovists, headed by the Coburgs, consistent with their reactionary nature, linked their cha uvi nist a nd acquisitive aspirations, and at the same time thei r aspiratio ns to rule over the working people of Bulgaria a nd M aced o ni a, with the success of fascism and the German Hitler's imperialism. They were read y to submit to Germa n imperialism themselves, only to preserve their class domination over their own people.

Yrhovism had brought innumerable calamities to Bulgari a and Macedonia during the fifty yea rs of its existence.

Yrhovism avenged the externa l involvement in the Macedonian affai rs, checked the Macedonian liberation ca use for many years a nd con tributed most to the partition and devastation o f Maced onia. Yrhovism also contribu ted to Bulgaria's in volvement in three wars catastrophic fo r her, which cost her hundreds o f tho usands of Bulgarian lives. Yrhovism dug a n abyss between Bulgaria and her neighbours a nd caused b loody hatred between the Bu lgarians and the Serbs. The Yrhovists, as instruments and partne rs o f the darkest fascist reactio naries, became executio ners o f the Maced on ian and Bul garian peoples. They murde red t housands and thousa nds of Macedo n ian a nd Bulgarian sons. In a word, Yrhovism was a te rrible evil fo r the life of Macedonian a nd Bulgaria n society.

During ha lf a centu ry the Greater- Bulgarian chauvinists a nd Macedonian Yrho vists devo tedly served the

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Coburg Dynasty. The reactio na ry social groups in Bulgaria, whose p ropo n ents were the G reater-Bulga ria n cha uvinists a nd Macedo nia n Vrhovists, clearly understood that they could mo re easily strengthen their c lass domination over the masses a nd p ossibly sa tisfy their asquisitive appetites o nly with the help of the Coburg mo na rchy, which, as a n AustroGerma n age nt in the Ba lka ns had identical a ims. But the mo na rchy a lso protected the Vrhovists, since they were its mo::.~ devo ted instruments, its safest tools, with whic h it enforced its interna l reactio na ry a nd fascist policy a nd externa l cha uvinist a nd acq ui sitive p olicy most easily. The Vrhovists a nd cha u vinists suppo rted the Coburg mona rchy a nd in excha n ge received to ta l support fro m th e Coburgs. Both of them had a commo n ideal - the trium p h o f the reactionaries.

The popular upris ing o f 9th Septembe r 1944 put a n end to tha t idyll. The Bul garia n people, fi rm ly united in the Fa the rl a nd Fron t, headed by its fo under, Geo rgi Dimi trov, shatte red t he fascist reactio n a ries a nd smas hed the filth y ha nds of c hau vin ism a nd Vrhovism. Freeing t he country from fasc ist o ppressio n , the Fa therland F ro nt ended the acquisiti ve policy of the mo narcho-fascists, recognized the right to se lfd etermin a tio n o f the tortured Macedo nian people a nd established sin cere, fr ie ndl y and fraternal re lat io ns with the new Yugoslavia of Tito.

O n the 9th of September the fascist reaction a ries were defea ted but not destroyed. T he concealed Bulga rian fascists, c hauvinists a nd Vrhovists, surrounded by the growi n g number of interna tional reactiona ries, soon gained hea rt a nd began orga nizing into opposi ng gro ups o f ad herents of Gi rginov, N ikola Petkov a nd Pastuhov. Aroused by the most in vete ra te representatives o f international reactio n , the Bulga rian " me mbers o f the oppositio n " rose against the Fathe rland Front a nd by disgusting Yrhovist a nd c ha uvin ist writings about "our natio nal idea ls", a bo ut the na ti on a l o ri gin of the Macedon ia ns a nd abo ut o ur right to demand wha t is o urs began to undermi n e the existing fraterna l relations with the peoples of T ito's Yugoslavia. Expecting ex te rna l help from the in ternationa l reactionaries a nd the mo narchy in Bulga ria - the eterna l supporter of the reactionaries - the o p posi tio n lived on a nd has continued to live with the thought o f creatin g a nother 9th o f June. of resu rrecting Greater208

Bulga rian chauv inism a nd Yrhovism a nd restoring the o ld acquisiti ve po licy of the Coburgs. For every ho nest Bulgarian, it became ob vious that the roots of chauvi nism and Yrhovism a nd o f the ad venturous foreign policy would be eradicated o n ly with the removal of the monarc hy. On the 8th of September 1946 the Bulgaria n peo ple broke off in an impressive way with the m o na rchy w hich had brought o nly misfortune to our country. Bulga ria was p roclaimed a People's Republic. The first great struggle afte r the 9th of September was won!

But o u r victo ry is still not fin a l. The Bulgarian people faces another general struggle against internal a nd international reaction. The reactionary and fascist elements have n ot given up a ll their hopes. These ho pes, n ourished by exte rnal reactionary groups, will not d isappear either, un til the political a nd ideological remnants of the fascist or any other reaction are liqu idated. O nl y the n will the hopes o f a ll a ntipopular a nd reacti o nary eleme nts for a restoration be fo rever frustrated.

The Central Initiative Macedonian Committee in Bulgaria Sofia ILI NDEN -TH E BRI G HT AND G R EATEST MACE DONIAN NATIONAL HO LIDAY 1947 TO T H E LEADERSHIPS OF TH E MACEDON IAN C ULTURAL AND EDUCATI ONAL SOC I ETI ES, TH E MA NAG I NG BODI ES OF T H E MACEDONIAN BROTHERHOODS AND MACEDON IAN INIT IATIVE COMM ITTEES I N BULGAR IA*

Dear compatriots, On the 2 nd of August this year, I LINDEN (St. El ias' Day), it will be forty-four years since the popular a rmed I LI NDEN UPRIS I NG in 1903 a nd three years si nce the con* U e11Tpa11e11 lt1111UHllT II 0CH Ma KCD.OHCKII KO~IIITCT 0 61,111 ap11l1 Co<1>11ll. C ircul ar No. 2, August 10, 1947, Sofia . .Llo pbKODOJICT0aTa ua Ma~e!lOHCKHTC Ky11Typ11O-npocoeT11TCJIIII I n py)l(CCTDa, Ynpao11Te Ha M aKCAO II· CK IITC 6parcroa II MaKCDOHCKII TC IIIHIUHllTIIDIIII KO~IIIT CTII D 61,11 rap1H1.

14 The Histo rical Truth

209

vocatio n of the First National Council - ASNOM - o n the 2 nd of August, 1944 in the monastery of St. Pro hor Pt injski, where the MACEDONIAN NATIONAL STATE was proclaimed as a natio n with equa l rights within the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia.

This yea r )linden must be celebrated with the widespread participatio n of all the Macedonians who live in Bulgaria. Today, when the great accomplishments of o ur people have been crowned through harsh battles in 1903 a nd 1944, when o ur fi ery ideal - THE FREE MACEDONIAN STATE - is a joyous reality, the sense and significance of I LINDE N has grown in the minds of all Maced onians, regardless of where they live, as the BRIGHT AND GREATEST MACEDONIAN NATIONAL HOLIDAY. In order to prepare and organize a po pula r celebration of this yea r's I LINDEN, the Central Initiative Macedonian Committee issues the folo wing orders to the leaderships of the Maced onian cultural and educational societies, the managing bodies of the existing brotherhoods and initiative local committees in the country: I. To take up urgently the formation of )LIND EN CO MMITTEES, which should undertake the organizatio n of the celebrations.

2. Since the 2nd of August is a worki ng day, Saturday, the celebration will be held o n Sunday, 3rd August.

3. On Sunday, 3rd August, to convene solemn llinden meetings with a n appropriate programme in which speeches will be made about t he importance and significance of Ilinden 1903 and llinden 1944. To pay due respect to the living veterans llinden, reserving seats of ho no ur for them at the solemn meetings. To invite representatives of the Fatherland Front pa rties, local cultura l, economic and political activists, as well as representatives of the Bulgaro-Soviet, Bulgaro-Yugoslav, Bulgaro-Polish and other Slav organizations to participate in the celebrations as a sign of Pan-slav solidarity.

In additio n, excursions to some attractive sights out of the town o r village can be organized . The existing traditio ns in some brotherhoods can also be used - convening Ilinden meetings at which speeches about Ilinden Should be made.

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4. It would also be exceptionally useful to organize for the occasio n, o n the 2nd or 3rd of August, special I LIN D EN WORKING BRIGADES which should visit the areas populated by Macedonians, where, after the completion of the work, llinden festivities with appropriate speeches would be organized .

In order to make it easier for the speakers, the Central Initiative Committee will print special materials and topics, that will be distributed in time for the preparations.

Those societies and brotherhoods which do not have appropriate speakers should inform the Central Initiative Committee o ne week before the meet ing so that such can be sent to them fro m Sofia.

The C. I.M .C. will publish a special ILINDEN N EWSPAPER with a wealth of material about the Ilinden Uprising and national liberation a ntifascist struggle of the Macedo nian peo ple fro m 1941 to 1944, and many pictures, poems and sho rt stories.

The leaderships of the societies, brotherhoods and initiative committees sho uld state how man y copies of the llinden Newspaper they want to be sent.

President : V. lvanovski Secretary : G. Abad1iev

TI1e Archive o f Macedonia. Section : Varia.

14â&#x20AC;˘

2 11

Dr. K. Oramaliev OUR GREATER-BULGARIAN HISTORIANS AND STATESMEN HAV E STUD IED ANO STATED ALL THE POSSIBLE " ARGUMENTS" AND ALL THE OBSERVATIONS OF FOREIGNERS IN SU PPORT OF THE THESIS OF THE BULGARIAN C HARACTE R OF MACE DONIA ··The Theory and Practice or Greater-Bulgarian Chauvinism ..,.

1947 ... C ha uvinis m has not been an unknown phenomen .in in the life of o ur society. Jts beginnings can be traced to the second decade afte r the liberation, when the commerc ial and industrialist c lass gained strength a nd began ma nifesting aspiratio n for expansion . Marked indications of Greater-Bulgaria n cha uvinism were noticed in the period immediately before the Second Balkan W a r a nd in the interval before our participation in the European War, as wel l as durin g the War. But after the establis hme nt of fasci sm in our country, in the especia lly tense internal situation and under the influence of foreign fascist theory and practice, Greater-Bulgarian chauvinis m acquired a distinctly different physiognom y a nd contents.

The First World War brought about a deep economic, socia l a nd cultura l crisis. T he m asses rapidly began to become poorer. The establis hment of the first socialist republic gave a great thrust for the political maturing of the masses. The threat o f domination by large capital became quite real, especially for the defeated countries, where the crisis and discontent raged more fie rcely. It became clea r to the theoreticia ns and leaders of fascism that the ideological instruments from the time of Wilhelm II were a lread y unsatisfactory. So they tried to renew a nd strengthen old chauvinis m wi th a considerable portion of social demagogy. " H e who wants to be a nationalist today must oe a lso a socialist", said Hitler. In the National Socia lis t ideological arsenal were • .Llpa\la,111eo • .Ll-p, K., Teop1rn 11 npaK111Ka t1a oe.,11K06'b.1rapcK11R Sofia, 1947, pp.- 28-42.

UIODlll-1111'b\l,

2 12

a lso included racism, outrageous anti-Semitism and the struggle against " barbaric Bo lshevism". Wi th these and other similar "ideologica l" means, combined with unheard-of terror, the fascist leaders succeeded in misleading huge masses in Germany and pushing them into a n insane and c ri mina l war for German hegemo n y in the world, for the en slave ment of humanity and the thwarting o f its economic and cultural progress.

Our own fascists, who natura ll y liked those "ideas" very much, a lso tried to transform their domestic Great-Bulga ria n cha uvinism and modernize it. This re newed chauvinis m was c learly expressed in the news papers, journals and books, especia ll y in the period from 1933 to 1944.

In the first place the aspira tion for Bulga rian hegem o ny in the Ba lka ns was now much more open ly manifes ted, so that the adherents o f H itler loud ly declared that they woul d become masters of the world. Therefore the much more unrestrai ned assertion of the "greatness" of the Bulgar ian people, its histo rical rignts over a lmost all of the Peninsu la, its exceptional qualities a nd its historic mission were contrasted to the "worthlessness" of its neighbours, their "ti midity, cha u vin ism, meanness" and so on.

So the writer, T. Pavlov, wrote in 1933: "There is a fun damental difference bet ween the s piritual nature of the Serb and the other mortals in th is world. The Serbs a re proud and b lind chauvi nists". Unth inkingly and entirely in the spirit o f narrow-minded r hau vinis m, the au thor inc luded the whole Serbian people under the heading of " blind and proud c hauvinists". He probably forgot that even before the Balkan War Pet n o Slavej kov had written the fo llowing: "Bu lga rian c hauvinis m is not a fragrant flower either". As far as the spiritual nature of the Serb is concerned, the whole world now pays homage to the well-kn own heroism of the Serbian and other Yugoslav peo ples, before the enorm o us sacrifices they made over four yea rs against the German occupiers and admires their high degree of antifascist a nd democrati c com mitment.

As we approach the Second Wo rld War the number o f chauvinist books in creases: unrestrained Greater-Bulgarian cha uvinism rose its head more impudently. In 1938 S. C il ingirov's book, " Wha t have the Bulgarians given to the other peoples?" was published. This "historical" work set itself the 2 13

task of rais ing the self-impo rta nce of the Bu lgaria n people to a very hig h d egree, whic h is so essentia l when a n acquisitive wa r is imm ine nt. Accordint to S. C ilingirov, th e Bulgar ia ns a re everywhere in the his to ry o f the world. " Ours a re the watchwords of the French Revolutio n ". Ours is the gospel by whi ch t he French kings were s wo rn in . In the veins of Napoleo n Bo napa rte n owed youn g Bu lga rian blood " . Orpheus( !) was a Bulga ria n . Almost ha lf o f the Ro mania n leading fi gures ha d Bulga rian b lood in the ir veins, a nd so o n. The a utho r co ll ected every favo urable claim, every unre liable ass ump tion o r sus pic io n expressed by fo reign hi sto ri a ns about the Bulga rian origin o f some histo ri ca l personality, a n d gave a rbitra ry interpretatio ns to historica l even ts in o rder to " prove" the great ness of the Bulgarian p eople. S. C ilingirov kn ew well to what extent m odern na tions have mi xed b lood and tha t it was the mos t usua l thin g to have foreig n ingred ie nts in the blood of som e fam o us perso na lity. S. C. kne w and s till kn ows th a t, but he nevertheless wro te his book, since it was necessary for the a cquisitive a ims of the fa scist gove rnm en t.;.

Th is " histo ri ca l" book was printed in 40,000 copies ! T he mind s of the Bulga ria n young were poisoned in this way O f course, in th e journ a l o f Professors F il ov and J ocov (Book I, p . 234, 1938) the book of S.C. was compared with the wo rk o f Pa isij. T he fascis t a uth o rities had a great need of such " Paisijs". S.C. eve n ha d th e nerve to wr ite art icles in favour of G reater-Bu lgaria nism during the po pu la r go vern men t. In the 3 1â&#x17E;&#x201D;aMe (Flag) newspaper, No. 149, he w rote: " I have been ne ither a c hauvi nist no r a G reater- Bulga r ian. Such people are no t bo rn in Bulga ri a at a ll. They thrive in othe r places".

Cyni cis m, of course! T o prese nt the o th e r p eoples as ch:\Uvi nistic a nd yo urself a nd yo ur own peo p le a s "good" patri o ts is th e basic and m os t da ngero us characteristic feature of a ll the cha uvinists in the wo rld.

But firs t p lace in cha m p io ning the glo rifica ti o n of o ur people, whi ch bordered o n ma dness, b elongs to th e history teache r, Dr Sejtanov, for his work of a rt "The G reater- Bu lgari a n View" ( 1938). T his " learned histo ri an " a n d inspired G reat- Bulgarian, called upo n not o nl y his tory a nd geography, but a lso astro no my in o rder to prove to th e world that we are a n o ld, a ncient peop le o f uni versal huma n significance. "No o ne must forget tha t the me ridian of o ur Ba lkans 2 14

passes through Egy pt a nd Russia, a nd the parallel con nects o ur co un try with Babylon a nd India o n the o n e side, and Rome a nd Paris o n the o ther. Triconti nentality is our geograp hic a nd historica l destin y ; consequently our geographic n a me is Euro-Afro-Asia" (p. 7). And what wo uld our maritime name be, considering that o ur meridian a nd para llel a lso p ass thro ugh m a ny seas and oceans? And agai n (pp .

9- 10) : " The la nd of the Bu lgari an people is much larger than the te rritory of o ur sta te today. That land incl uded all the regions where o ur g randfathers settled a nd lived fro m time immemori a l and where Bulga rian histo ry has taken p lace ...

The Blue Sea might symbolize o ur tita nism. The Balkans fol low th e celestia l jo urney o f t he Sun . It com es fro m the Hi malayas. Sofia has been created by geogra phy a nd histo ry to ru le in the Balkans. Po pu la r Bulga ri a n ideology is GreaterBu lga ri an, tita nic". The a utho r's wild imaginatio n witho ut a ny cerem o ny d eclares Priam, Hecto r, Alexa nder the Great, Sparta cus, C onsta ntin e the Great a n d o th ers to b e Bulga rian heroes. " Balkano- Bu lga ria nism has sprea d througho u t the wo rld: in America, Austra lia (?), Pers ia (?), India (?), etc.

T his s hows that O u r c haracter is Pan-Ba lkanian, Pan-Slav a nd o n a world sca le or un iversa ll y huma n. And su ch a n essen ce can only belong to the people predestined to become a great po wer in the Balkan Peninsula. Owing to this, we, the Bulga ri a ns, consider the entire Balkan Peninsula as our own historical arena". He re o ur " learned histo rian" has a lread y exceeded all bounds: Bu lgaria has the right to rul e the Ba lkans in th e sam e way a s Germ a ny has the right to the who le world. Neverth e less, S.C. wrote o n the black flag that "ou r country has no t given birth to Greater-Bulga rians and c ha uvinists". She ha<;. regrettably, and quite remar kable ones, m oreover!

Othe r "scientis ts" o f o urs ha d the tas k of strengthenin g the co n fidence of the people in the power and un questionable victory of Ger many, a well a s the great friends hip of th e Fuhrer to wards the Bulgaria ns. T hus, after Bulgari a occup ied Macedonia a nd Thrace, Pro fessor Vlad iki n exclaimed : "The ha rvest (i.e. the acquisition of foreign territories - a uthor's note) has been unexpectedly rich . N ow all we Bulga ria ns know how much the Fi.lh rer lo ves Bu lgaria". "Even the b lind can see that with the exq uisite and uns urpassed qua li2 15

ties o f the great spirit of the German people, the future of Bulga ria will also be forged by fire ;,nd with the sword".

The faith in German power had to be strengthened by " proving" Soviet " impotence", at the same time giving the peo ple a horror of the "barbaric" Red Army. This thesis was prevalent over 25 years in the writings of T. Kofoharov (S htabs-Captain Kopejkin) of CJiooo (The W ord), D. Krapcev of 3opa (The D a wn) and a pleiad of other advocates o f Bulgarian fa scism . Here are some of the anti-Soviet pearls o f D. Krapcev: " The revo lutionary army o f the Third Re ich sweeps asid e the Asiatic communards of Sta lin". (3opa, 4th Nov., 194 1); " The level of the Soviet Un ion is lo w both from a n intellectu a l a nd moral point of view, as well as fro m a materia l o ne". (3opa, 16th Nov., 1941 ); " Semi -cultured Asiati c tribes have emerged on the politica l scene, from whic h Stali n hi mself origina tes. What would have become of Europe if th at rabbk had spread through o ur towns and villages?" (3opa, 5th D ec., 1941 ). This is how the fascist j ournalists inform ed the peo ple about the Soviet Union a nd the Red Arm y. Even a n a nti-Soviet exhibition was organized , as well as a d isp lay of "eye-witnesses" of the Shtabs- Kopejkin typ e. But without success. The Bu lga ria n people have long sin ce unde rstoo d the truth about the Soviet Unio n. The who le world has a lso understood it during the Second Wo rld Wa r.

There was a n attempt to use a nti-Semitism for the a ims of Greater-state Bulga rian po licy. "The J ews a re evil in this world. Capital is Jewish. It rules Engla nd a nd A me rica (but certa inly no t Ge rma ny); Judaism re igns even in the Soviet Unio n". By wha t kind of logic Juda ism m a intains both ca p italism and socia lism is certain ly very hard to grasp.

The Wa rri ors (me mbers o f a fascist o rga niza tio n in Bu lga ria in the past), Legio na ries a nd Defenders tr ied to create a nti-Jewish feeling in o ur country. G e nera l 2:.ekov wrote: " The Jew is anational, amoral ". The government undertook re pressive measures aga inst the J ews, bu t met with powerful resista nce from the po pula tio n. T he government did not dare go to the extreme of deliveri ng o ur Jewish compatrio ts to the Ge rma n Mo loch*, as ra w- ma taials for the soap factories a nd ta nn erie.,. But the Bulgaria n ~)Ccupying a uthorities handed â&#x20AC;˘ M., loch - u Canaa nite fire gou to whom children were sacrificed

2 16

over the Jews in the territo ries they occupied to the German beasts.

These were the deed s a nd "ideas" through which the fascist ru lers attempted to prepa re the minds o f the Bulgaria n peo ple, a nd first and fo remost the Bulga rian yo un g, in the Greater-Bulgarian spirit season ed with racist, anti-Soviet and a nti-Semitic spices. The schools, the a rm y, the churc h, t he press, sta tesmen, writers, jou rna lists, artists, sport, cine ma, radio - a ll of them worked with a ll sto ps out in this d irection.

With suc h persistent, system atic a nd eno rmous e ffo rts some results were inevitable. A sectio n of the Bulgaria n people, m a inly some intellectual circles, adopted the fascist a nd Greater-Bulgarian poi son. But the healthy core o f the Bulga rian people, the Bulgaria n youn g and inte lligen tsia remained fai thful to their t raditional democratic spirit, to the oaths o f the revolutiona ry fighters of the period before the libera tion , to Slav solidarity, to their affinity for the Russian people, to their love of freedom a nd d esire for a peo p le's democratic republ ic. The Bulga ri a n people not o nly conde mned the German acqu isiti ve po licy of Ferdinand, Boris and their Bulgarian assistants, but a lso waged a hero ic a nd d etermined struggle against it during the First World Wa r, the even ts of Vladaja and the fascist regime o f 2 1 years. Greater-sta te chauvinism could not deeply penetrate into o ur p eo ple's o rga nism, but the contagion is still not complete ly eliminated.

TH E ERA OF TH E FATHE RLAND FRONT

The 9th of September saw the end of the era of German orientation, a cquisitive po licy a nd Greate r-Bulga rian cha uvinism, a nd the beginning of the era o f frie ndl y relations with a ll democratic peoples, sincere friendsh ip wi th the peo ples o f fraternal Yugoslavia, ete rnal companio nship with the Soviet Union, an era of true de mocracy a nd reasonab le p a trio tism .

O n the 9th of September the progressive a nd creative ideology of the Fatherland Fro nt defeated the reactio nary ideology of b lood. An end was put to militarist theory a nd practice a nd a foundati o n was set fo r a no the r peaceful a nd creative one.

What was the theory of the Bulgarian, and a n y o the r, acquisitive policy? "We need living space, fo reign territo ries; 2 17

otherwise we sh all perish. Let us prepare the people for war, let us con vin ce them that war is inevitable, justified and tha t we will undo ubtedly win!" The c ha uvinistic proofs follow : o ur people is the best, the bravest; it is predestined by a great historic mission to become master o f the other peoples. Our cause is the o nly right one. "The enemy", i.e. the other peoples, " is bad, incompetent, uncul tured, mean a nd timid. An y agreeme nt wit h it is out of the question. We must defeat it, even destroy it".

A ll the aggressive governments prepared their peop les in this way. Grad ually a n inclination for, a nd late r a state of, wa r was created. After th e t heory a nd the diplomati c and psycho logical pre paratio ns behind the scenes, there fo llowed the b ruta l practice of war a nd its consequences: the merciless p illage of the people for the needs of the wa r and lining the pockets of the upper classes, a n e normous number of victims, monstrous vio le nce, national catastro phes, reparatio ns, hunger a nd terrible de privation. Our peopl e has three times ex perie nced this p ractice over the last 30 years.

A new theory and practice has been the programme o f the Fathe rla nd Front a nd its contri bution. The remna nts of the 9th-of-Septe mber reacti ona ries have risen with all their forces agai nst this programm e and against the people's autho rity itself. T hey dare not a ttack the Fatherland Front programme quite o pe nly since it is tru ly a programme of the peopl e. They cannot directly reject the foreign policy of Salvation since the Bulgaria n peo ple sta nds behind it as o n e.

But they a ttack it fro m "around the corne r", p laying o n t he G reater-Bulgarian string, attempting to aro use again the o ld hostilities a nd con0icts in the Balka ns.

T he incorr igible reactio na ries a nd G reater- Bu lgarians begin to sing the o ld tune in a new voice in articles a nd even lectures. "The Macedo nia n Questio n has not been so lved.

T he Macedonia n nation does not exist. We d emand wha t is o urs. We are no t cha uvinists ; the Serbs a re cha uvinists!" exclaim in unison t he adherents of Pas tuhov, C il ingi rov, C .

Stojanov, the b lack a nd the green nags, a nd the "socia list" Cao6o.neH Hapo.n (Free People). And a t the same time the Maced o nian people feel for the first time free a nd happy a nd b uild up their economic and cultu ral life as a na tio nal unit with equal rights within the fra mewo rk of federal Yugosla2 18

via. They showed their loyalty to T ito's new Yugoslavia in the elections where they gave the greatest percentage of votes for the People's Front afte r M ontenegro. T he Bulgarian and other c ha uvinists wonder in vai n how the Macedonian people cou ld have become aware o f their being an independ e nt natio n. The progressive Macedonia n internal movem e nt has worked in this direction for decades, seeing the only possibility for the real libe ration of M acedonia in her indi visibil ity.

Our Greater-Bulgarian histo rians and statesmen have studied and sta ted all the possible "argu ments" and a ll the observations of fo reigners in suppo rt of the thesis of the Bulgaria n character o f Maced on ia. Of course, both the Serbian a nd G reek " historia ns" have also do ne the same. But all those "historia ns" have most carefull y avoided presenting the public with the o the r facts they kn ow well, which could , however, shatter the Greater-state thesis upon which the acq u isitive policy of the Balkan governments was built. Here a re some o f those facts.

The Macedo nia n Revival o f 183 1 began not as a Bulgarian p he nomenon but as a M acedo nia n one. The fi rst M acedon ia n bisho p declared openly: " l am a Macedonia n". The c hil dren in the first Maced o nia n schools were taught ir th e Macedonian la nguage. The Miladinov broth ers and-R. Z inzifov wrote in Macedo nia n, although they wo rked on the creation o f the Bulgarian n atio nal consciousness. This is explained by the fa ct tha t they were stude nts in Russia. T sarist Russia rejected the idea of a n independent Macedonia. For wellknown reaso ns - at least until the liberation - the Russian governments were fo r a powerful San-Stefano Bulgaria.

In the middle of the 19-th century the Macedonian Revival adopted a Bulgarian form. Bulgaria n teachers were graduall y infiltrated into the schools. A signifi cant ro le in the infiltration of Bulgarian in0uence was played by "The Fish Primer" by P. Beron. By the middle of the 19th century the Macedonians we re calling themselves Brsjaks, M ijaks, Strumjans or simply "Christia ns". H owever, around 1870 th e Veles teacher, Ko nsta ntin D zinot, obviously with the support of Paisij, exclaimed: "Why a re you ash amed to call yo urself a Macedon ia n ?" Aro und 1880 in Petersbu rg a M aced o nian group was founded independently o f the Bulgarians that 2 19

gave lectures a nd published boo klets abo ut Maced o nia in Maced o nia n. O ne of those booklets, whose a utho r was a certai n Misirkov, was bought up by o ur Ministry of War and destroyed. It was soon printed in Macedonia. T he a utho r wrote in it: "From now o n this wi ll be the M aceo nian litera ry language. The Bulga rian schools have saved us fro m being Hellenized but checked the development of the Macedon ian conscio usness. The Greeks a nd the Serbs have d one the same. We a re Maced o nia ns. As we are not Serbs or Greeks, we a re no t Bulga rians either, but simply Macedonia ns".

In 189 1 in Sofia J103a (The Origin) journ al began a ppearing, edited by G.D. Ba lastev and Petar Poparsov in the Macedo nian la nguage, which dealt with questio ns abo ut the Macedonia n c ultu re and the a utonomy of Macedonia. After the publicatio n of three issues it was stopped by the Bulgaria n government. A similar attempt had previously been thwa rted in Belgrade by the Serbia n governme nt. The gro up around JJ03a was called "separatist" by o ur "patriots".

In the light of these and man y o the r facts from the recent a nd ancient history of Maced onia and the Macedonian struggles, the " Bulgarian", "Serbia n" and " Greek" theses o n Macedonia a ppear not pa rticul a rly " historically substa ntiated". The historical, ethnic a nd linguisti c truths are quite different from the " theses" suggested by natio na list egoism. We need no t consider here some interesting questio ns from the m ore distant past, such as Samoil's Macedonia.

Nevertheless, it is a historical fact that the M acedo nia n Slav popu latio n d id no t possess a pa rticular natio nal consciousness in the first half of the 19th century. H owever, its first acti vists wrote in Maced o nian, and som e o f them struggled for the awa kening o f the Maced o nian national conscio usness. At that time fo reign pro paganda began, in which the Bulgarians had considera ble success. The propaganda was especia lly increased after the liberatio n of Bulgaria. The rivalry fo r domination in the Balka ns was stirred up, a ro used by the interested imperialist powers. The 1885 war, th e statements mentio ned a bove of the Serbian King Milan and the Bulgarian statesmen indicated only a few years afte r our liberation the path full of blood which the Ba lka n peop les were to tread in the coming decades. The p rogressive Maced o nia n activists soon understood the real acquisitive aspiratio ns o f

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the Balkan dynasties and governments, and announced their suppo rt fo r a n independent Macedonian state. Goce Deltev spoke o f "an a utonomy for Macedonia as a n aim in itselr', and not as a stage in her annexation to Bulgaria. For him " the liberation of Macedonia lay in a n a r med uprising". H e indeed had certain illusio ns fo r support by the Western countries. But after the Ilinden Uprising such illusio ns were quickly discarded by all the progressive Macedonian acti vists. There was a re-orientation towards an auto no my within the fram ework of democratized Turkey. Sa ndanski supported the You ng Turk movement. However, the Greater- Bulgarian circles within t'1e Cou rt backed the activities of the Detachments' and terrorist actio ns and thwarted all the possibilities for a peaceful solution to the Macedonia n Question . T he road was clear for the p ressing "solution " desired by the Balkan dynasties by means of war, through the partition of Macedonia. Thus, the Ba lka n governments themselves, through their brutal acquisitive policy, conside ring Macedonia as booty, by dominating he r as a foreign subjugated people, by their propaganda and vio lence caused a p rolongati on of the temporarily impeded process of the crystallization of the Macedonian people as an independent nation.

T he M acedonia n people has experie nced many twists of fate over the last 50 yea rs in order to gain their consciousness o f being a n independent nation and finally to achieve their true liberation. The Turkish slavery, the Ilinden Up rising, the fratricidal wars aroused from outside, the partition uf M acedonia and the new slavery under the " liberato rs", the o bject of acquisitive aspirations in the E uropean and World Wars, the Bulgarian and German occupations, fascist violence a nd pillage, the natio nal liberation movement, the comm o n struggle with Tito's army of rebellion, the attainment of t rue political, econo mic and cultu ral freedom within the framework of the new, federal Yugoslavia - all of these are events that have created a feel ing and consciousness o f a commo n destiny, of a common natio nal life, confirming the old idea that Macedonia can be free o nly with in the fra mework of a Balkan agreem ent, which is already in the process of its realization.

There a re not so few hindrances in the path of that agreement, o f which the greatest is the fact that G reece is

22 1

ruled by a ch auvinist reactio nary clique. H owever, there can be no d oubt that the G reek people will know in the near future ho w to throw off the tyranny of the reactio na ries and establish a real democratic autho rity as exists in the other Ba lka n states.

For the time being, an immediate a nd real tas k will be the solutio n to all the o pen questio ns between Fed eral Yugoslavia and Fatherland Fro nt Bulgaria. This is the questio n of the near future. A great a nd d ecisive fact of the fate of the Ba lkan peoples was the esta blishment of the Yugoslav Federa l Republic and Fatherland Fro nt Bulgaria. These two events have led to the solution of the nationa l questio ns in the Ba lkans, primarily of the Maced o nia n Questio n. All the rest, including the full unification of the Maced onian people within the framework of Yugoslavia is a task of the Macedoni ans themselves and of fraterna l agreement between the two Slav states, and in perspective, with the future free d emocratic G reek republic.

T he histo rical fact that the nati o na l disputes a re insoluble only between sta tes with reactio na ry leaderships has also been co¡nfirmed by the exa mple o f the Balka n natio nal pro blems. When there is a true democra tic leadershi p, the natio na l questio ns are easily solved and gradually d isappear.

T his fact has confirmed that the natio na l conscio usness is d etermined not o nl y by the ethnic, territo ria l and linguistic mo ment, but also by histo rical a nd econo mic develo pment Where is the English, Germa n, Dutch o r Italian natio na l conscio usness of the older settlers in America? Do not the Germans, French and the Ita lia ns feel as o ne people in Switzerland ? Is not one natio na l consciousness gradually ta king shape amo ng the Czechoslovaks? Do not the Russia ns, Byelo russians, Ukra inians and mo re than I00 natio ns in the Soviet Unio n live in complete understa nding, feeling themselves to be citizens with equal rights in the po werful socialist republic? What is there disturbing for the Bulgaria ns and Serbs m the fact that the Macedo nia ns are becoming independent as a separa te nation ? Absolutely nothing. Quite the opposite, in this new situatio n there is fin ally a possibility for the ~alkan peoples to live in peace and understanding.

T he emancipation of the Maced o nian people disturbs onl y those who have come down fro m the histo rica l a rena,

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who again try to revive Grea ter-Bulgarian chauvinism, to make intrigues, to spo il the cord ial friendship with fraternal Yugoslavia, to push Bulgarian fo reign policy agai n onto reactio nary roads, ho ping that they will restore the lost do minio n. This will certa inly never happen. The Bulgarian people are keeping vigil ; all peoples are keeping vigil, having learnt the lesson of the recently experienced world war a nd knowing well what a Third World War would mean.

C hauvi nism appeared as a result of the socio-po litical circumstances at the beginning of the 19th centu ry. Towards the end of the century it became a powerful means fo r the psycho logical prepa ration of the Euro pean War. C hauvi nism reached its culminatio n in the fascist states, most o f a ll in G erman y. Fascism was vanquished o n the battlefield, and together with it was defeated its ideology, including its most significant constituent p art - G reater-state chauvinism.

But there is still large capita l - the basis and o rga nizer o f international reactio n - and its imperialist po licy. T his means that the struggle between the progressive forces and the reactio n aries is still no t finished . A maximum of vigilance and acti vity is necessary until the achievement of a total victory fo r democracy.

The struggle against the reactio nary ideologies, primarily against G reater-sta te cha uvinism, continues. Every natio n must settle accounts with the remnants of its own chauvinism. This is what is ha ppening today in all the states with real democratic a dm inistratio n.

Fatherland Fro nt a uthorities are waging an energetic struggle fo r the fina l era dication o f G reater-Bulga rian chauvinism, the cause of so ma ny misfortunes for o ur people. " Witho ut the mercil ess destruction of Greater-Bulgarian chauvinism - that cancerous growth in the livi ng body of ou r country - the building of a new, rebo rn Bulgaria is im possible", wrote the founder of the Fatherland Front, Georgi Dimitrov. Our progressive teachers, writers a nd pu blic wo rkers should intensify their explanatory ideological work in o rder to remove the very last trace of the terrible chauvinist po ison.

With the commo n efforts of the progressive people of a ll countries, under the pressure of the national masses

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ra pidly m a turin g po li ticall y, milita rist imperia lism a nd ba rba ri c cha uviriism will soon be b a nished to the cave o f fo rgetfu lness in o rder to m a ke wa y for true d em ocracy, sound p a tri o tism a nd peaceful c reati ve coexis ten ce a mo ng the n a ti o ns.

Fatherland Front - Gorna Diumaja ILI N D E N - G R E AT HISTORIC AL EV E NT FO R TH E MACEDONIAN P E OPLE /linden (theses)"

1947 I. !linde n (St. E lia s' D ay) is the m ost sig nificant historical event fo r the M aced o nia n p eo ple a s concerns their po litical freedo m , d e mocracy a nd economic a nd cultura l progress, a result of their o rganized struggle und er the lead e rship of D elcev's I.M . R.O .., Ilinden is a synthesis of the milita n t qu a lities o f o ur people, o f the feeling fo r united effo rts by the diffe rt: nt na ti o n a l g ro ups in the na m e o f a sublime idea l PEO P LE'S R EP U BU C, a readiness fo r an y sa crifices in its rea liza tion, evide nce o f the endura n ce, courage a nd hig h d egree of po litical co n scio usn ess a nd ma turity o f th e lead ers a nd the m asses. !linden is the highest point of th e o rga ni zed stru ggle of th e M acedo ni a n p eop le over m o re tha n a d ecad e.

- Ilind en clearly marks th e ma in road a lo ng which th e stru ggle ha d to be waged a n d won fo r a n indep e ndent a n d so vereig n state - T H E PEC,P LE'S R E P U BLIC OF MAC EO N IA , ma de a reality o n 2nd August 1944 in the M o nastery o f Proho r Pcinjs ki b y the rig htly ed ucated fig hte rs of the las t gen era ti o ns.

2. T he ca uses a nd facto rs fo r tha t o rganized a rm ed uprising we re th e econo mic and po litical slavery o f the Ma cedo nia n people, in which the m a in pa rti cipa nts were beys· serfs, d ecad ent craftsm en a nd teachers a nd village p ri • 0 ·1e•1 ec roe11 (j>po11T - fop 11a ,!l)l(y \ltt~. ll.11111_1eu ( T e311c11). 1947.

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ests. In this way, the ca ll fo r a n uprising included a lmost a ll the ma in classes a nd acquired a uni versal nati o na l c ha racter : land for th e peasa nts, aga inst high ta xes, against th e pillage of the pashas a nd beys, for a safe life, for a musem ent o f the c itizens, fo r po liti cal a nd cultura l freedo m, in a word - against the who le ru ling system of the feudal T u rkish E m pire, which was refl ected in the injustice a nd tota l s lave-like ex ploita ti o n a nd robbery . The infiltra tion of W est Euro p ean capita lis m into th e Os m a nli Empire in the form o f p rivileges, a greem ents a nd o the r custo m s d edu ctio ns, d es troyed the g uilds a nd bro ught the m to a high d egree o f ru in a nd poverty. That compet iti o n urged the po pulatio n to earn thei r bread in Ame ri ca , disintegra ted the fa mily a nd threw the peo ple in to des pa ir. The way-out was in jo ining the R evolutio n a ry Orga nizati o n.

3. The M aced o n ian people gain ed m oral supp o rt a nd courage also fro m the influence TH E G R E AT F R E N C H R EVOLUTIO N had ha d o n the vari o us peo ples that ha d freed the mselves fro m the yo ke of fe uda lism in E uro pe, the growing freedom a nd prosp erity with th e develo pme nt o f ca pita lis m in the period o f its revolutiona ry progress and the fo undation o f the natio na l sta te with its b a nne r o f libert ry, fraternity a nd equ ali ty. T hese great events a lso gave fa ith to the o th er e ns laved n ati o na li ties, including the Macedo n ian p eople, in the possibi lity by struggle o f their a ttain ing nation a l, pol itical and econo mic freed o m . The li beratio n of the Balka n state o f Serb ia, Grece a nd Bulgaria fro m Tu rkey's d esp o tism in 1878 was a lso instru ctive fo r the Maced o n ian peop le in the ir rebellio n . Th is resulted in Delcev's I.M . R.O ., the Detachme nts a nd the Il inden U prising.

4 . Ta king the R EVOL UTIONARY CO MMITTEES of Levski as a m o de l a nd the lessons fro m the struggle o f the Bulga ri a n peo ple, the founders of the Inte rn a l M aced o nian Revolutio na ry O rga n izatio n made a step fo rwa rd in buildi ng it up, a nd givi ng it stability a nd endura n ce. It can b e taken fo r g ra nted th at the Orga nizati o n was perfected to a n even g reate r extent tha nks to the ex perien ce and instru ct io ns that o ur leaders, Goce, Go ree, Dam e a nd o the rs used . - T he esse ntia l idea was th e sam e: TO SHATTE R O R D EST RO Y TH E EC O N O MI C AND PO LITIC A L SYSTEM OF FEUD AL T U RK EY ; to settle th e questio n o f givi ng T H E LA ND 11

T he Historical Truth

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TO TH E P EASANTS - the agra rian question o f ex pro priating the land fro m the beys a nd pashas a nd giving it to the la nd less Macedonian peo ple, the majority o f whom lived in the co un try. This was the fundam enta l demand a nd it d etermin ed to a great extent the solutio n to the natio n a l ques tion; the tra nsfer o f the la nd to the ha nds o f those who c ulti vate it is a questio n o f a revolutio n ary nature a nd gives sta tes a nd peo ples the o pporti;nity for d evelopmen t a nd mate ri a l progress. To day in a ll the liberated countries - Rom a nia, Po la nd , Yugoslavia - democ ratic deve lopme nt has been m a rked by the giving of the land to the peasants.

5. The struggle of De lcev's I.M .R.O. a lso had fo r its a im TH E ATTA INMENT OF A MACEDONIAN IND EP ENDENT NATIONAL STATE. Starting fro m the mo tto of ,,AUTONOMY", that stru ggle reached a higher stage and on Ilinden led to the M ACE DO N IA N P EO PLE'S R E PU BLI C. Th111 republi c was the lirst ir. the Ba lkans, headed by the peo pl e's socia list, N iko la Karev. 88 With this the I.M .R .0. proclaim ed its struggle as ITS O WN , INDEGENOUS ACT , do ne o utside Solia, Be lgrade a nd Athens. The true Macedoni a n revolutio na ries clung to this importa nt precondi tio n a nd la te r, w hil e ma king a sta nd FOR AN INDEP EN D E NT INTERNAL MACEDON IAN ORGAN IZATION, m a ny victims fell in the battle against Vrhovis m.

6. The meth od fo r the a ttainme nt of the freedom o f M acedo n ia was armed struggle, thro ugh the preparati o n of a MASS IVE UPR ISING against the regime, with the pa rtic ip ation of al l the people, regardl ess o f the natio nality gro ups in Macedonia. " The Liberation of Macedonia is the work of the people themselves" - Goce. This principle is a lso valid today, especia lly in the part o f Macedonia that still groans under the yo ke of the G reek mona rcho-fascists, in the stru ggle of the Macedoni a ns the re for the comprehensive settlement of the Macedo nian Q uestion. Th e seco nd principle was abou t the ALLIES in that struggle. De lcev s ho wed farsightedness a nd de ma nded support from the na tio nal g ro ups.

D elcev did no t even ha te the Osma nlis as a people. ''All who were usefu l for the cause" could join the Organizatio n, and ma ny people from these natio na lity groups s hed their b lood in the Jl inde n U prising. T his princ iple abo ut the a llies was

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full y deve lo ped la ter when the socia l a nd democrati c mo veme nts in the other countries were fo unded and came to the fore. The I.M .R.0. (U nited) call ed for the de mocra tic revolutio n ary moveme nts tha t foug ht fo r NATIONAL SELF-DET E RMINATION, mainly via the C OMMUN IST PART I ES. - Vienna Manifesto.

7. I LIND EN was the first breakthro ugh in the d eterminatio n of the Macedonia n peopl e to h ave a state of their own. That d ete rmina tion and will left d eep revo luti onary trad itions, the preservatio n of the oaths of the great fighters fo r the continua tio n of the cause ti ll its rea lizatio n on l linden 1944 in the form of the Peo ple's Republic o f Macedonia of today. In fact, this state was even conceived in the bosom of Delcev's f.M.R.O., within the Otto man Empire, wit h its institutions, courts a nd the involveme nt o f the Organi za tions in a ll the private o r social issues tha t concern ed the population in their everyday life. T he arbiter was the Orga nization, its autho rity was growi ng and the a uthori ties o f the offi cial state were inc reasingly becoming unpo pula r in the eyes of the people. Thus, the masses acquired confide nce in their revo lutionary o rga nization which became a LEADER a nd their p o litical a nd mo ra l edu cator. These mo ral prin ciples determined it as a FORCE a ble to conti nue the revolutionary cause till its a tta inmen t - in a FREE MACEDON IAN P EO PLE'S R E PUBLI C. " I wan t people able to endure a severe and lo ng s truggle as o ur struggle is, a nd 1101 such tha t wou ld leave us after the first fa ilure." - Goce. The new forces a nd circumsta nces strengthened th is p rinciple a nd freedom was attained - with ma ny sacrifices but forever!

8. Every Macedonian should be proud of his revol utionary histo ry, since that history is precious, soa ked in b lood, in the blood o f the num berless a nd nameless acti vists fa llen with or witho ut arms in their hands; he s hould respect the first patriotic Macedonia n o rganizers, nationa l leaders a nd commanders, brave and uncom p ro m ising, a nd fo llow the ir example. They are the following: the immo rtal aposto le, G. D elcev; Go ree, Da m e, Pere Tosev, Niko la Karev, Pitu Guli, Sava Mihajlov, Sandanski, D imo Ha dzidimov and the activists a nd fighte rs fro m the fo llowing gen eratio ns - the virtu a l creators of Macedo nian freedom ' 15*

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9. The VRHOVISTS. Although unti l and at the time of the I li nde n Uprising the questio n of the Macedonian nation was not posed in the way it is posed today, by virtue of its contents, the aims of the struggle a nd its c ha racther it was indisputably a Macedonian natio n al movement, a movement for free d evelopment and Macedonia n statehood. It was not a Bulga rian movement. The powerful o rga niza tion o f Delcev, however, disturbed the intentions of the C ourt and the c lique a round it, among whom were a lso the generals a nd rich peo ple o f Maced o nia n origi n, the Vrhovists ; so its p ower had to b.! diminished o r a nnihila ted . The Bu lgaria n im perialists set themselves the goal of grabbin_s Macedoni a. The M a fiosos proclaimed the Macedonian (.luestio n a Bulga rian o ne, spoke of "our brothers o n the other side o f Mo unts Ril a and Pirin ", o f "the na ti onal ideals" , " the unificatio n of the Bu lga ri a n peo ple", a nd the historia ns hi sto ri cally " proved " the ide nt ity o f the Bulgarians and the Maced o nians, a nd tha t the Court a nd the Bulga ria n a rm y would " libe rate" Macedoni a in o rder to a nnex it. The Vrhovists sent d etachm ents, bribed peo ple a nd waged a bitter strugle aga inst th e inte rn a l a ctivists. Great d a mage and sacrifices were th e resu lt o f th at activity. But their greatest provocation was TH E PREMATU RE PROC LAMATION OF THE ILIN DEN U PRISING through the covert Vrhovists within the Internal Macedon ian Revoluti o nary Organization with J. Garva no v at the ir head .

The U prising was procla imed, but it was prepared ne ither p olitically n o r militarily. It was a p ublic a dventure. The Upri sing fai led . Delcev a nd his comrades o pposed to it, considerin g it untimely; it wou ld mean o penl y leading the Macedonia n peo ple into slaughter, d estroying the personn el of the O rgani zatio n, its self-destructio n. And t hat was exactly what th e Vrhovi sts wanted ; in addition they wanted the Macedonian people to lose their confidence in THE IR OWN FORCES ANO RE LY ON BULG ARIAN M ILITARY POWER. To ren o unce the ir centrialist ideology a nd a d opt the a nnexatio n of Macedonia to her " mo therland" by means of war. The conseque nces o f the Uprising, the Court po li cy a nd the Vrhovists led to the partitio n o f Maced o nia into three p a rts.

TH E UPR IS I NG ITS ELF, A RESU LT OF THE H EROI C EFFO RTS AND COU RAGE OF THE MACE-

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DON IAN PEOPLE from the Bito la district was in an y case not a d eed o f the Vrhovists. It was a d eed of Delcev' s I.M.R.O. a n d ten yea rs o f efforts by its re vo lutionary leaders and the masses. Aware that the uprising would start a nyway, th e revolutio nary centra lists decided to take a m ost active pa rt in o rder to give it a broad revolutionary ran ge. The Vrhovists pro mpted it but stayed away from the uprising. HOW EVE R, T H E RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE FA ILURE ANO FOR TH E SAC RIFI CES IS EXCLUS IV E LY T H E IRS. 10. TH E KR USEVO R EPUBLI C: The supre me a ccomplishment of the Macedo nian peo ple. For eleven da ys - a peo ple's republrc o f the Macedon ia ns, the first re public in the Balka ns. It brought toget he r the nation a lity gro ups in their o wn country in a mo ment o f o utrageous cha uvini sm and propaganda disputes between the Ba lkan states a nd the furious start o f Eu ropean d emocracy towards colo ni al acquistitions. For eleven days the red ban ne r in Krusevo !

The Republi c inspired the hearts and the spirit of the coming gen era ti ons in the yea rs from 1941-1944 and was their gu iding star. T he small a nd sho rt lived Krusevo Re public turned into the PEOPLE' S REPUBLI C OF MACEDONIA - into a lasting Maced o nian state. A REPUBLIC - STATE, as Goce a nd the whole people imagined: free, inde pendent and with a ll the guara ntees fo r its prospe rity.

Il inden a nd the Krusevo epic le ft us severa l na mes conn ected with the uprising itself, which every Maced o nian should res pect as precious historical ca pital a nd be proud of them . They a re Nikola Ka rev, a socia list, head o f the Re public, a deep, wise and firm revolutio nary wi th o rganizing abili ties, who infin itely loved the p eople a nd fredom ! ; a nd Voivode Ivan Naumov, Pitu G uli exto lled by the peo ple fo r his companio nship and cooperatio n with the Maced o nian p eo ple in their painful but magnificaent efforts.

ILi N DEN re mai ns a great histo rical event fo r the Macedo nian people and cements with the bones of the fi ghters the I DEOLOGY AND M ETHODS o f Delcev's I.M.R.0 ., whic h have re mained unchanged up to the present d ay.

They have been supplemented by the new p o litical circumsta nces in the Ba lka ns and the wo rld. THOSE IDEA S ANO THE KURSEVO REPUBLI C ALSO IN SPIR ED TH E

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MODERN GENERATION OF MACEDONIAN FIG HTERS, W HO IN TH E Y EARS 1941- 1944, IN FRATERNAL COO PERATION W IT H TH E YUGOSLAV PEOPLES, ROSE I N R EBELLION AND WITH TH E POW ERFUL SUPPORT OF THE MIG HTY U.S.S.R. AND THE D EMOC RATI C NATIONS SUCCEEDED IN ATTAIN ING THE UN IVERSAL IDEAL OF THE PEOPLE - A FREE MACEDON IAN NATIONAL STATE. It became fo rever related to th e Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia by the fraterna l blood they shed togehter.

11. The great holiday of the People's Repu blic of Maced onia, ILI N D EN, will be celebrated here this year by marking the even closer political, economic a nd cultural connectio ns between the Macedonian people and the other peoples of the People's Republic of Yugoslavia, by mark ing the efforts in vested in the distinct formation o f the Macedonian state as a n independent unit, as well as, and even mo re, by ma rking the efforts for spiritual a~cord with the comm o n whole of the F.P.R.Y., as an essential and inseparab le pa rt of the COMMON BODY OF YUGOSLAVIA TODAY. On this day it wi ll mark its achievements in this respect and wi ll set itself even greater mora l, spiritual and cultural tasks; o n their rea lizatio n will depend the peacful development of the Macedonian state and people, as well as th e blossomin g of all the frate rnal republics o f the federation . It will mark the accomplishments over the last year on the econo mic front for Macedo nia's ra pprochement with t he other cultured natio ns of the Federatio n, such as C roatia o r Slovenia, from which fraterna l help is to be ex pected . In this respect it has the full sup po rt o f the fraterna l Yugoslav peoples. It will mark achi evements in th e fie lds of peace and Pan-Slav soli darity - a guarantee fo r the development of a ll the fraterna l Slav countries under the powerful protectio n of the Soviet Uni on. This yea r, too, a secti on of the Macedoni an people in Aegean Macedonia lives in harsh slavery. The Greek mo narcho-fa scists there murder our brothers and dehuma nize our country.

But the Macedonians - fait hful descendants of the glo ri o us Ilinden figh ters - wage a hero ic struggle sho ulder to sho ulder with the fraternal Greek people for the overthrow of fascism and the establishm ent of a democratic regi me in G reece.

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We, the Macedonian minori ty in Bulgaria, are celebrating this great holiday this yea r in a better mood and with greater ho pes that our fatherland wi ll develo p peacefully in fraternal associatio n with the Yugoslav peoples. We believe in th e fu ll triumph of democracy in Yugoslavia, which will grow into a higher form towards socia lism a long the road of peace. This policy of the peoples of Yugoslavia, a part of wh ich is a lso o ur coun try, inspires us to serve Macedonia with even greater devotion, to help continuously the Maced o nian natio n a nd state which are developing, to make them known everywhere a nd defend them from thei r enemies. The obligatio n of every Macedonian, whe rever he may be, is to celebrate the honourable mili tant Macedonian name, the ba nner of Macedonia and her heroic people. Let us not unden :stim ate our histo ry a nd o ur cu lture which the other nations, the mo re developed o nes, evaluate more highly and show us as an example.

The enemies of the Macedonian name a nd honour, and of Macedonian independence, who have publicly o r secretly attempted to impede the realizatio n of our high patriotic debt - to be on side of o ur people with al l our physical and spiritua l forces - should be unmasked as traitors or betrayers of their country. For, when the great accomplis hment of freedo m and fra tern ity is being built up, the great deed of Slavism, the salvation deed of peace - there is no place at all for hesitation and disru ptio n of the road!

Today in Fatherla nd Fro nt Bu lgaria, in the complete freedom of the Macedonian minority to act in favo ur of its fatherland, every Macedo ni an, on the occasion of the two VICTOR IES OF ILl NDEN, has reasons to feel a Macedonian more than ever, to look cheerfully towards the future, to be happy abo ut Macedonia more tha n ever, to praise her, to exto l her - in o rder to praise and extol himself; to rejoice at the powerfu l association of the South Slavs a nd of th e powerful Slav associatio n. We, the Macedonia ns, the a lert citizens o f Fathe rla nd Front Bulgaria, sha ll d o uble o ur efforts for the accomplishment of the two-yea r national economic plan wich wi ll strengthen the trium ph of the democratic Bulgari an people. By helping with a ll our po wer the econom ic and cultura l growth of Bulgaria, we co ntribute to the deepening of frat ernity and unit y between the peoples of Yugoslavia and 23 1

Bu lgaria, the true gua ra ntee for the happy future of our peo p le.

MA RC H FORWARD U NDE R BANN E R O F TH E TWO !LIN DENS !

LO N G LIVE TH E KR US EYO R E PU BLIC !

LONG LIVE TH E PREO PLE'S R EPU BLIC OF MACEDON IA WITH I N F.P.R.Y.!

LO N G LIVE T H E FRATE RNITY AN D UN ITY OF T H E SOUTH S LAYS! The Archive of Macedo11ia. Section : Varia.

Mihail Smatrakalev M ACEDON IAN BOOKS AR E C IRCU LATING FR EELY T HROUG HOUT T H E COUNTRY OF C LIM E N T OF O HRI D

1948 MACEDON IAN BOOKS•

" Maced o nia n books", - it sounds such a na tural source o f p ri de fo r us. Unti l yesterday o ur na tion was no t recogn i.ed . O ur la nguage was conside red to be a d ia lect, a nd o ur cu lture was usu rped by othe rs. T he resona nt M acedo nia n songs a nd th e bea utiful fo lk d a nces we re conside red to be Serb ia n o r Bu lgarian. O ur n ationa l spirit was sup p ressed by the Serb ia n a nd Bulgaria n cha uvinists. ... Now the greate r sectio n of Macedonia is free a nd ha ppy. Alo ngside the o ther Yugoslav na tio ns it has trodde n fi rmly a lo ng t he road o f socialist progress. We have o ur own People's Re pu b lic of Macedo nia wi thin the fra mework o f T ito's Yugoslavia, o ur own people's aut ho rities, o ur own na tional la nguage, o ur theatre, o ur schools, o ur un iversity, o ur lite ra ture ... Now unde r the protective wing o f the legen da ry Tito Maced onia n litera tu re is b lossom ing.

• l'\la1paKa11eo, M11xa 1111, M OKC,301/CA"O A"llllra, ·· n11 pmtCKO !IC.10··.

yt!ar4. No. I. Ja nua ry 1. 1948.

232

Macedo nia n books are circulating freely throughout the country o f C le me nt o f O hrid .89 M aced o nia n b ooks e nter village a nd town ho uses. Now we have our primer, ou r gramm a r, ou r read ing books, our newspa pers, jou rnals, textbooks.

O ur c hildren a re ta ught by means o f M acedo nia n books. The works o f the a d vanced na ti o ns have been translated into Maced o nia n. Marx, E ngels, Gorky and Sho lokhov are being ta ught in the Maced on ia n language in o u r fatherland . Our la nguage is becom ing riche r, it is developing a nd progressing. So m an y years o f slavery a nd obst ructio ns - now wi th fast a nd great steps fo rward!

But those b right a nd p rogressive books a re not intend ed o nl y fo r the People's Republ ic of Maced onia. T hose b ooks a re fo r all the M acedon ia ns from the Aegean to Mo un t Sar and fro m Ohrid to Mesta. Macedonian books have already e ntered Pirin M acedon ia with their subl ime missio n : to join firmly the Pirin Maced o n ians wi th those of the Ya rda r, to unite the sam e peop le. T h e new books adorn t he Maced o nian bookshops in Dfomaja, Petric a n d Nevroko p. The reson a nt Macedonia n la nguage is resou nd ing in the class rooms. Maced o nia n books uni te those long divided by barbed wi re. They d estroy the border m a rkers. T hey con nect Pirin wi th Ba b u na, Sar with the Aegean . T hey strengthen the Maced o nia n natio n. They fill Pirin M acedo nia ns with a proud na tio na l feeling. T hey cherish the enthusiasm o f the yo ung - they inspire faith in the imm ine nt full uni ficat ion of the Macedo n ians ...

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THE MACEDONIAN PEOPLE OF PIRIN MACEDON IA W E LCOM E IN THE PE RSON OF MARS HAL TITO THE C R EATOR OF THE PEO PLE'S R E PUBLI C OF MACEDON IA WITHIN THE F RAM EWORK OF F.P.R. YUGOSLAVIA " The Population of t he Pirin Parr of M11cedonia W11rmly Welcomes the L ender of New Yugosla via, Josip BroL Tito' ..

1947

...The coming o f Mars ha l J osip Broz Tito to Bulga ria has met with j oy and e nthusiasm fro m the Maced o ni a n people of Pirin Maced o n ia, since we welcome in the p erson of Ma rsha l Tito the creator of the People's Republic of Macedonia within the framework of F.P.R. Yugoslavia.

For us the Maced o nia ns, the establisheme nt o f lasting fraternal rela tio ns between Bulgaria and Yugoslavia is fo r exceptio na l historica l sign ificance, sin ce the fu ture o f o ur natio n will be determ ined upo n the basis of th ose re latio ns.

The future of the Maced onia n people ap pea rs in a won derful and brighter perspective, with oppo rtun iti es for the full realization of the great idea ls o f the aposto les of o ur freed o m - Goce Deltev a nd Jane Sandanski.

The ag reement that will be signed is in o ur hearts, but now mo re tha n ever we a re con vinced of o ur great cause, o f the ca use of Georgi Dimitrov a nd Ma rsha l Ti to.

• HaCCJICIIIICTO OT n11p1111CKIISI Kpa11 11a MUKC.10 111111 ropc,uo IIPII • neTc·1eyea DOlKna 11a 11 oea I01 ocm101rn ,ia p111a ·1 Hoc1111 6po1 T 1110. " n11p1111cKo :1e;10". November 24. 1947. p. I.

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Ministry or National Education - Sofia THE BULGA RIAN MINISTRY OF NATIONAL EDUCATION INTRODUCES THE STUDY OF T H E

MACEDON IAN LANGUAGE AND MACEDON IAN H ISTORY INTO T H E HIG H E R C LASS ES OF E LEMENTA RY SC HOO L AND T H E

GRAMMAR-SC HOOLS IN PIRIN MACEDON IA "Ministry of Natio1111/ Education - Sofia. 9th October 1947. To the Authorized Minister of the Federal People's Republic of Yug oshtvia Sofiu""

1947

In imple menting the po licy o f o ur gove rmen t concerning the na tio na l question, a nd especia lly the Macedo nia n Question, the Ministry of National Education ha ve decided to introduce from this very school yea r the study o f the M acedo nia n la ng uage a nd Macedonia n histo ry in a number of the higher c lasses of e lementa ry school and a ll the gramm ar-schools in Pirin Macedo ni a. Throught the ratio na l use o f teaching staff it will a lso be possible to intro duce the stud y o d Macedonian history in the fourt h forms of the elementa ry schools in the places where there a re higher fo rms.

The teaching o f Macedonian history could be effectuated wi th the existing staff of teachers. However, it is not · possible to find teachers here who could teach the Macedonian la nguage satisfactorily.

In order to so lve this proble m we n eed about I 00 teachers who must be quite com petent in the Macedonian literary la ngu age. At the meeting I had two weeks ago wit h the representa ti ve o f the Ministry of Education o f The Macedonian Repub lic it was promised to me that there was the possibility of sending such teache rs from Macedonia .

• M111111cTepc I oo 11a Hap0.'1110 ro npoceewc1111e. Sofia. Oc1o ber 9, 1947. Jlo rocrron1111a 011b11110\lou1c11 \1111111c 17,p rm (J)e.1epanm11a Hap0.111a Peny6,1111rn 10 1ocJia1J11R - Co<1>11R .

235

In a ddition, I was promised tha t there would be opportuniti es to accept a number o f young teachers from Pi rin Macedonia who would s tudy the Macedonia n la nguage in the institutes o f the Macedonian Republic. T his would make it possi ble fo r us to introduce p urely Maced onian teaching in the first forms o f the elementary schools, next year a nd in the foollowing years we could graduall y introduce it in the second to the fo urth forms o f the ele me nta ry schools.

Will you p lease info rm the Minister of Edu cati on of the Macedonian Rep ub lic about the conte nts of this letter a nd ask him to inform me in the shortest possible time concerning the fo llowing items: I. Will the Gove rnme nt o f the Republic o f Maced o nia be able to send about I 00 teachers to Bulgaria, who would be e mployed as teachers o f Maced onia n in the hig her c lasses o f elementa ry school a nd t he gra mmar-schools in Pirin Macedonia? 2. Will the same Government be wi lling to accept at state ex p ense a number of teache rs from the Pirin region who wou ld study the Maced o nia n la nguage in the Skopje institutes a nd would la ter return to the e le menta ry schools in Pirin Macedo nia ?

Respectfully yours, Minister of l\'.ational Edu cation, Dr M. NejCev The Archi ve of Macedonia. Section : Varia.

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Regional Committee for Teaching the Illiterate and for the Study of the Macedonian Language - Gorna Diumaj a W E, THE PIRI N MACEDONIANS, BY STUDYING OUR

NATIVE MACE DON IAN LANGUAGE, SHALL TAK E AN AC TIVE PART I N THE BUILDING OF OUR MACEDON IAN NATIONAL CU LTU R E ··Appeal to rhe Popuh!tion or rhe Pirin Part or Macedonia··~

1948 Among the o ther things left over from the ha rs h fa scist past is the great number of illiterate people, whic h tota ls a bout 34,000 in our Distri ct .

T he a nti-p opular educatio na l po licy o f the past regimes attempted to leave as ma ny people as p ossible uneducated .

By keeping our popula tio n in the Pirin part of Maced onia in the da rk, in supe rstitio n and igno rance, they mo re easil y en fo rced their polic ies of oppression and explo itation. This was o ne of the most seri o us mea ns of the Greater-Bulgarian chau vin ists for su ppressing the Maced o nia n natio na l feeling in o ur popu latio n . In this way the enemies of the Maced onian people could mo re calmly fal sify science a nd the histo ry o f o ur libe ration struggles. They were a fra id of education.

T o day the situa tio n is quite different. U nder the rule of the Fathe rl and Front the p eople have ta ken their d estinies in to the ir own ha nds.

The future of the peo ple depends o n the people themselves. For the successuful settle me nt o f the tasks tha t stand b efore the Fathe rla nd Front it is essential t ha t the people are educated a nd p oliticall y en lightened .

TH E E DUC ATE D WORKER WILL WORK BET T E R AND OPE RAT E TH E MAC HIN E IN TH E FACTORY BETTER. T H E E DUC ATE D PEASANT WILL BETTE R TILL HI S SO IL AND G A I N MORE C ROPS .

So o u r popu latio n in the Pirin p a rt o f Maced onia - the lite rate men a nd women - will more easily fo llow the li fe that is being built by o ur brothe rs in P. R. Macedon ia.

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Al l of us, by stud ying our na ti ve M acedo n ia n langu age, s ha ll ta ke a m o re acti ve pa rt in th e bu ilding o f o ur na tio nal M a cedonian culture.

Men and wo me n c itize ns, this m a kes it impe ra ti ve fo r us to liquidate illiteracy in our regio n as soon a s possible.

T his will be achieved by sta rting courses fo r th e stud y o f th e M acedo nia n la ng uage. In this direct io n s pecia l committees have been set up thro ug h th e who le regio n a nd in every p o pulated a rea. The campa ig n fo r th e settin g-up o f th ese co urses began o n 8th February t his yea r.

TH E ACCOMPLIS HM ENT O F THI S T AS K IS N OT EA SY. IT REQU IR ES EFFO RTS F RO M ALL CU LTURAL, E DUC ATIONAL ANO SOC IAL ACTIVIST S . TH E G R E AT EST PART I N TH E O RG A N IZ AT IO N OF TH E C O U RSES W ILL BE TAK EN BY OU R N ATI O NAL TEAC H ERS. TH E Y WIL L l3 E TH E H EADS OF TH E COU RSES. The pro bl em o f th e liquid a ti on o f illiteracy s ho uld be a n o bl igati o n a nd a qu esti o n o f ho no ur fo r every teache r a nd every m embe r o f th e m ass o rga niza ti o ns.

The youn g must in corpo ra te a ll th eir yo uth fu l fe rvour in this acti o n.

WO RKIN G WOM E N ANO M EN, LIQ U ID AT E ILLITE RA C Y IN YO U R RANK S. FO LLOW E RS O F TH E FATH E RLAND FRONT, WOM EN, BOYS ANO G IRLS, EDUCATI O NAL WO RK E R S, IN CORPO RATE ALL YOU R ASS I DIOUS E NTH US IASM IN TH E LI QU IDATI O N O F IL LITERAC Y IN O UR R EG IO N .

Forwa rd to wa rds m o re educati o n!

President : A . I vanov ( Region al Schoo l I n~pector )

Secretary : V . Levk ov (Ad vi~er to the Cullura l and Ed ucational D epartment at the Regional Commiuec o f F. F.) Members:

B. Vo lov, Minko Popov. Mirto Jurukov. Bori s A vramov T he Archi ve of M acedonia. Se.:tion : Varia.

238

I

Georgi Madolev THE

HI STORIC D EC IS IONS O F BLE D AN D TH E MACE DONIA N QUESTIO N* 1947

The vis it of th e governm en t d elegation headed by th e Minister Preside nt Geo rgi Dimitrov to th e new Fed er a l People's Re publ ic o f Yugoslavia has been welcom ed with g reat j oy by ti,e peo ples of P . R . Bui~aria a nd F. P. R . Y ugoslavia.

The d ecisio ns m a de at the h isto ri c con fe ren ce in Bled 90 have o p ened a new era Of peace a nd fra tern a l relatio ns between th e Bal kan peoples.

The Bu lgarian peo ple a nd the peo ples of Yugoslav ia have long looked forward to a meetin g between the leade rs of th e two fratern a l peo ple's re pu bl ics so that the ea rn est d esire o f th e peop le for rapprocheme nt, fra te rni ty a nd unity cand be acco mplis hed in reality. The p eoples of · the two countries have learnt good lessons fro m recent h isto ry w hen, in th e in terests o f the inte ra ntio na l imperi a lists a nd the ir own court a nd ca pita list c liques, fra tern a l b lood was shed ab un da ntl y in th e In ter-Alli ed War an d th e two wo r ld wars.

The imperi al ists s kilfu lly created in tri g ues between the Ba lka n peo ples, p rim ari ly between th e Bulgarians a nd th e Serbs, using th e d esires o f th eir bo urgeois gove rnm e nts fo r Ba lk a n d o mina ti o n .

In the centre o f th e struggles be twee n the Balkan im peri a list and court cl iq ues was th e struggle fo r the subjugati o n a nd pa rtitio n o f Maced o nia . Altho ug h the peo ples o f Bulgar ia and Yugos la via, suppo rted by their historic trium p h over fas cis m and reacti o n , thin k that th e causes fo r th eir most recent tragic histo ry a re hidden in the fra tri cida l wa rs a nd mis und ersta nd ings, o ur M aced o nian people th in k with even g reate r c rysta ll ine cla rity th at the ir pa rt itio n a nd na ti o n a l s u bj uga tio n were the results of th e crimina l policy o f the Bulga ri a n and Yugoslav an ti-popula r rul ers fo r spreading hatred b etween the Bu lgaria ns a nd th e Serbs.

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The decisions adopted at the Bled Conference a re the outcome of complete unanimity and agreement between the governments and peo ples of P. R. Bulgaria a nd F. P.R. Yugoslavia. Indeed , it is a great turning-point which has ta ken place o n the relatio ns between Bulga ria and Yugoslavia. The Maced o nia n Questio n has finally ceased to be a n a pple of discord between the two fra terna l countri es.

H ow was it possible that the Macedonia n Question ceased to be a controversia l ma tte r between Bulgaria and Yugoslavia?

I. Because T ito's new Yugoslavia has liquida ted the G reater-Serbi a n c ha uvinist clique, whic h did not recogn ize a ny na tio nal rights fo r th e M aced o nia n people, considering Macedo nia as a South Serbian province.

In T ito's new Yu goslavia the People's Republic of Macedonia has been established as a member with equa l rights within the Y ugoslav federa tion, by which the Macedonia n Questio n within the frame work o f Yugoslavia has been resolved in its basic a nd right way.

2. With the victo ry of the Fatherland Front, o n 9th September in Bulgaria a mo rta l b low was deli vered to t he G reate r-Bulgaria n cha u vinist po licy a nd F. F. Bulga ria rP.cogn ized the esta blished P.R. M acedonia wi thin the framewo rk of F. P.R. Y ugoslavia . The Fatherland Fro nt gu a ra ntees the rights o f the Maced o nia n people of t he Pirin regio n of Maced o nia to work o n their national unificatio n with P.R. Macedonia. With such a n attit ude of F. F. Bulgaria towards furthe r settlement of the Macedo nia n Question, it will no lo nger be a controversial ma tter between P. R. Bulga ria a nd F.P.R. Yugoslavia; o n the contrary - it will represent a bond od associa ti on in their unity a nd fraternity.

Taking the positio n that the further sett le me nt o f the Maced o nia n Q uestio n wi ll be accom p lished by strengthe ning a nd broadening the close fri endship between P.R. Bulgaria a nd F.P.13,.._ Yugosl~viah:-ve ~ega~d the decisions in Bled as the most dec1s1ve ste p in t ,s d1rect1o n.

When the two fratern al countries have d ecided jointly to defe nd themselves fro m externa l en emies, to coordinate th eir econ omic pla ns, to help each o ther in thei r econo mic development, in a wo rd - to join thei r d est inies forever, a ny thou1?ht about a dispute between the two countries abo ut the

240

Macedo nia n Question is the greatest c rime that could be committed against peace and democracy in the Ba ll..ans.

The people of the Pirin region of Macedon ia value with dignity the decisions of the historic Bled Con feren ce, whic h open up wonderful opportunities for a happ y a nd peaceful life for our M acedo nian people.

The destiny of M aced o nia is inseparably linked with the future of the two peo ple's republics - F.P.R . Yugoslavia a nd P.R. Bu lgaria. The ha ppy future of the Maced o nia n peple is based upo n the eternal fraternal fri endship between the South Slav peoples a nd u pon the Slav solidarity head eci by our geat protector a nd patron - the great Soviet Union .

We are led by such great lead ers as Georgi Dimitrov and M a rshal Tito, and t hey a re the most secure guarantee for the practical impleme ntation o f the Bled d ecisions. By receivin g the Bled decisions with great joy, the popu latio n o f the Pirin region o f M acedo nia will struggle fo r their realizat ion, since o n ly then will the cause of o ur great J a ne Sandanski fo r a South Slav be reali7.ed in whic h the Macedonia ns will live a life with equa l rights.

Georgi Madolev T H E POPULATION OF TH E PIRIN R EG ION IS MACEDONIAN BY A HUG E MAJORITY To the Central Commi11ce or the 8 . W. P.(C.) - Sofi[J

1948 L ETTE Râ&#x20AC;˘

Dear Com rad es, As a member of the former Regional Committee of the Wo rkers' Pa rty (Communists) o f Go rna Dzumaja, and at present a member o f the National C ouncil of the Fatherla nd â&#x20AC;˘ A letter by Georgi Mado lev, )lo Ue11Tpa11 Hm1 Ko~11ne-r ua 6 Pn(K).

Sofia. I948.

16 T he Histo rica l Truth

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Fro nt - a representati ve o f the Pirin regio n o f Maced o nia (as a Maced o ni a n I feel under a certa in o bligatio n towards m y regio n , a ltho ugh no w I a m in the service o f the Peo ple's Arm y), I have decided to a ddress this letter to the C entra l Committee (C.C.) a nd to pose severa l questio ns a bo ut Pa rty po licy concerning the Maced o ni a n na tio na l questio n, o n whic h I d o no t ag ree with the C.C .. Which a re these questio ns?

ONE. T H E I NCONS ISTENCY I N T H E POSIT I ON OF T H E MACEDON I AN NATIONAL PROBLEM I N T H E PI RI N REG ION.

Sho rt hi sto ry. I sha ll cove r onl y the peri o d afte r th e Nin th o f September. Immediate ly a fter the Ninth o f September th ere was a wish o n the part o f Pa rty lead ers fo r urgen t conjunction with the People's Republic of Maced o ni a. The C.C. ha d a n undefin ed a ttitude, a nd in recent tim es has suggested that tha t issue is n ot o n the agenda but tha t the popula ti on sho uld be prepa red fo r the unio n. We have accepted this vie w, but la ter ha ve not obta ined a ny directi ves fo r action . I wou ld like to em p hasize without a ny exaggera tio n tha t the Regio na l Committee, witho ut partic ula r help, d evelo ped the po licy, o f na tio na l c ul ture, whic h was la ter, w ith few exceptio ns, inculded as a bas is fo:- the d ecisions o f the I 0th Ple num o f the C.C .. At the beginning o f 1947 the C.C. convened a confe re nce a t which we presented the situa tio n in the Pirin regio n in deta il a nd s uggested a dequa te m easures.

Comra d e D imitar Ga n ev only la ughed a t us the re, a nd even Comrad e Po pto mov dit not go a n y further tha n the d esire to a ttack us that we were c reating a separa tist moveme nt. No practi cal measures were underta ke n . At the Region a l Pa rty Con fe rence in 1947 Comrad e V'lko Cervenkov d raw o ur a tte ntio n to the fact tha t we ha d do ne little for the study of the Macedonia n la nguage a nd history, a nd tha t was a well founded rema r k. We tri ed ha rd a nd mad e 1947 a decisive yea r in w hich the study of the Macedonia n la nguage was introduced (by ord er o f the goverement, the Maced o nia n Na tion a l T heatre a nd the cho ir, " Macedo nia n Song", we re fo unded; we strength en ed the n 11p11HCKO .n.eno (Pirin Cause) ne wsp aper, etc. At th e time o f the po pula tio n cens us we ach ieved a significant victo ry whe n the Regio n a l Committee came o ut

242

with a n a ppeal to t he people. T he C.C. had d ecla red nothing previo usly a bo ut this questio n, except that Com rade Jugov a rri ved in the end, with whom we sp oke o nl y abo ut the tactical issues. At the Congress of the F.F. we s uggested new ite ms concernin g the Constitution a nd the F.F. Program me, p roblems that concern us, but on which the C.C. did not take a n y decisio ns. Th ere were the condi tions to accept those ite ms, but fi na ll y they were rejected. I sp oke in detail with Com rade Cankov who to ld me tha t these items woul d be incl uded in the Constitu tio n a fter the e lections for the na tiona l councils ha d been held a n d a fter the fo rmer Go rn a Dfomaj a dis trict ha d been re-establ is hed in the Macedon ia n region with a regio nal lead ershi p. But this project was also rejected a nd the Go rn a Dfomaja district was dissolved. And if we were to ask ou rselves whether there was a clear lin e o f the Party o n the cultu ra l a nd natio na l q uestion in the Pirin regio n , we sha ll have to answt:r tha t there is no such line o r that it is im p lemented with insufficien t persistence. It m ust be a dmitted that th is situa tio n ma kes o ur wo rk in the Region highl y di ffic ul t.

TWO. SOME I DEOLOG ICAL ISSU ES:

a) It is not ra re to fi nd a mo ng res p o nsib le comrades, incl ud ing Comrade Popto mov, the a tti tude that if there had not been any unjust items a t the Congress of Berli n, the Macedon ian natio na l questio n would n ot have appeared o n the scene a t a ll. T h is view d oes not correspond to the historical tru th a nd does not follow fro m a scholarly Marxist-Leninist a nalysis o f the o ri gi n a nd d evelopment of nations, and fi na ll y it is a d a ngero us standpo int that opens the doo r to undesirable effects o n the develo pme nt of the Macedon ian natio n. T his unstudied positio n has led ma ny comra des the wrong way. b) T here are ma ny incorrect views that arise from the otherwise correct sta nd point that the na tiona l q uestion is subordinated to the uni versally democratic one (an d to socialism ). BUT WHAT HAS T HI S LEN INI ST-STALIN IST P RI NC IPLE I N CO MMON WITH T H E SUPPRESS ION AND UNDE R ESTIMAT ION OF T H E NATIONAL QUESTION? 16â&#x20AC;˘

243

It is possible to tell beautiful tales about adherence to prin ciples, d e mocracy a nd socia lism , but it is th e highest truth th a t d emocracy a nd socia lis m, in the name of th eir a ims, enab le a nd are obliged to enable the full blossoming o f every na ti o n . c) Eve rything is no t quite a ll right here with the issue o n the strugsle against the remnan ts of Greater-Bulgarian c ha uvinis m e ither. That stru ggle is either often fo rgotten (e.g. in the Progra mme of the F. F. There is no t a single ite m) or, whe n G reate r- Bulgaria n cha uvinis m is discussed, the Bu lgari an com rades d a re no t to uch the wound with th e ir fingers especia lly when the s ubject of the appetites of the G reaterBu lga ri a n bo urgeo isie to seize M aced o nia is to be discussed .

T H REE. AFTER T H E DI SSOL UTION OF TH E REG IONAL COMMITTEE.

The Regio na l Committee o f the Party had a g reat impact upo n the d evelo pme nt of the natio nal culture in this regio n , and therefore it sho uld no t have been dissolved. First of a ll , I think tha t the decisio n for the dissolutio n of th e Gorna Dfomaja district is no t right in a ny way and the a rgum e nts we have heard a re no t con vinc ing. This fact has had a n egati ve effect o n th e develo pment o f this region. If the higher state inte rests brought it about, why wou ld Comra d e Po ptomov say th a t the C .C. did no t know a ll the c ircumsta nces? Eve rything possible must be d one in order not to depri ve this dis tri ct o f its po litical leadership. This questio n ha s been recklessly over looked .

FOUR.

I d o no t understand , n or is it c lear to many comrades why the editoria l o ffi ces o f the n11p11HCKO neno newspaper s ho u ld be moved to Sofia, a nd why it has to be transformed fro m a mo uthpiece o f the F.F. of the Pirin r egio n into an issue of the N a tio nal Coun cil at the F.F.. This d ecision might lead to cessa ti o n of the appeara nce of the newspaper. The expla na ti o ns a re no t satisfacto ry even to the worst po liti call y informed Communists. This decision has embittered many comrades and Jis pleased them in vario us ways.

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FIVE. THE QUESTION OF TH E NATION AL C H ARACTER OF THE POPU LATION I N T H E PIRI N REG ION.

The population o f this region is M acedonian by a hu ge m ajor ity, except fo r a small nu1nber o f Bulgaria ns, immigrants, o ffi cia ls a nd Po m aks. And how fa lse d o sound p hrases such as "full freed o m ", th e peo ple " them selves" determining their nationa l:.y - Bulgarian o r M acedonian ! It is a perverted a pproach to the principle of self-de termi na tio n o f a natio n , of freedom o f expression. since in th is way the wellkn own res ults o f crimin a l de na tionaliza tion a nd Grea ter- Bulga ri an po licy in this regio n a re legalized. The free wi ll o f the people is being limited in the Pirin region, said Comrade Poptomov; that freedo m is restricted to the Mihaj lovists a nd Greater-Bulgarian cha uvinists who use the Bulgaria n name to unde rmine the na tional policy and c reate conn icts between Bulga ria and Yugoslavia. Wh y do they forget that the same elem ents have other ideas a nd become greater Macedonians than ourselves whe n they preach the idea o f "an a utono m o us Macedonia", o nl y to sow d iscord betwee n th e South Slavs? The Bulga ri a n d e m ocra tic publ ic has only o ne interest : to he lp the Maced o nia n po pul ati o n o f t he Pirin regio n to d evelop a nd fu ll y s hape its Maced o ni a n character, a nd no t to di vid e it into M acedonia ns a nd Bulgari ans.

SI X . T H E QUESTIONS OF LANGUAGE, CU LT U RE. ETC.

We set th e Peo ple's Republi c of Macedonia th e basic task o f d evelo ping na ti o nal cu lture a nd, first and fo remost, the language in the Pi rin reg io n . It is indispensa b le to introdu ce the M aced o n ia n la nguage in the schools as o b liga to ry in the very near future. Steps in th is directio n a re positive a nd so und, but there is a lso hesitat io n a nd inconsistencies.

Thus, Com rade Traj to Kostov has to ld man y stories a bo ut th e Bulga ri a n language in G o rn a Dfomaja , but has no t menti o ned the M aced on ia n la ng uage at a ll. Do the two la ng uages ha ve to be opposed so tha t the more civilized could be selected , as Comrade Trajto Kostov suggested with his atti tude?

O ur Party sho u ld have a clea r view o n this questio n, i.e. it sho uld wo rk ha rd o n th e study o f the M acedo nian language in side a nd o utside the schools. Ho w can we expla in the fact th at th e Maced o n ia n Nationa l Th eatre in its two yea rs of 24 5

existence has n ot become a sta le institution with a state budget? Can we agree with the numerous na ive ex planations we hear ? T he Bulga ria n la nguage a nd culture wi ll lose nothing if the Pirin region is given the o pportun ity for the blossoming of the M aced o nia n natio na l cu lture a nd la nguage. ln this d irectio n, o ur Party must overcome m a ny difficu lties and a ny yie ld ing before the G reater- Bulgaria n chau vi nists is unnecessary. THE PROBLEMS OF THE MACEDON I AN NATIONAL CU LTURE MU ST BE A CONCERN OF THE P EOPL E'S R E PUBLI C OF BULGA RIA. SEVEN.

T he Conference held in Gorna Dzumaja, whe re the sta ndpoi nt o f the Na t io na l Cou nci l of the Father land Fro nt o f the Macedo n ia n Q uestio n was substantiated, has given n egative res u lts instead o f positive o nes. In my opinio n , the basic fau lt was that it swayed the hesi tant e lements, e ncouraged ene mies a nd introd uced certa in rum o urs within the ran ks o f the Party. Now the re a re two trends in the Party in conflic t, a nd the Confe re nce objecti vely helped tha t s p lit. A turn to the le ft was ea rn estly looked for at the Confe ren ce, a nd the weaknesses that come with the unoeresti mation o f na tio n a l p o licy were q uite fo rgotte n.

It is obvio us from the above tha t I d o not agree with the po licy of the Pa rty in th e matte r o f the Piri n region, a nd I a m not a lone in this; so I ask the C.C. to convene a confere nce with the Macedon ian acti vists from the Region a nd cons ide r a ll the questi o ns posed.

I da re appea l to the C.C. w ith t his letter since I am deep ly co nvi nced that the poli cy of the Party on ma ny ques tio ns in the Macedon ia n regio n is in correct and as a Macedon ia n Com munis t I co nsid er myself obliged to write abo ut these ques tions.

I am d eeply convinced that m y concern will be correctly understood and that this paper wi ll not be for pe rsona l use o nl y.

The Archi ve o f Macedon ia. Sectio n : Varia.

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The CC. of the 8 . W.P. (C.)

W ITH UNRELENTI NG ENERGY TO CONTI NUE THE CU LTU RAL AUTONOMY OF TH E MACEDON I AN PO P U LATION IN THE PIRIN REG I ON THROUGH STUDY I N T H E SCHOOLS OF TH E HISTORY OF THE MACEDONIAN LIB ERATION M OVEMENT ··A Resolution of the 16th Plenum of the CC o f the 8 . W.P. (CF""

1948 4. With unre len ti ng energy to cont inue the cu ltu ral a uto no my o f the Macedonian populatio n in the Pirin regio n through stu dy in the schools of t he history of the Macedon ian liberation movement an d popul arizatio n of its acti vists; to establish Macedo n ian amateu r entertainment groups, etc.; to introduce optio na l study of the Macedonian literary language in the schools, which s hou ld be done by native Macedon ia n teachers; to name the schools a nd other social and cultura l institutions, organiza ti ons a nd societies after the na mes of fa mo us progressive Macedonian revolu tionaries, a n d so o n .

5. System aticall y to continu e care fo r the improvemen t o f the ma teria l and health position o f the Pi rin region popula tion.

6. To leave it to the popu lation of the Pi ri n region to determ ine their natio n a lity freely.

7. To intensify the struggle against the Mihajlovists and G reater-Bulga rian c hau vinists, the agents of Anglo-American imperialists, who would a tte mpt to use the present situatio n for the resurrectio n o f their o ld reactiona ry plans in the service o f imperialism con cering the Macedo nia n Ques tion ...

*Pe1011101t11~ 1ia XV I nn e11y~1 11a Uh: 6 ,'n(K), .,Pa60T1111•1ccKo n eno··.

July 15. 1948.

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The Central lnitiativeCommitteeo ftheMa cedonian Culturt1I und Educational Societies in Bulgaria and Other Ma cedonian Activists - Sofia WRITINGS ABOUT THE BULGARIAN C HARACTER OF MACEDONIA TURN THE WHOLE OF MARXIST IDEOLOGY UPSIDE DOWN WITH TH E IR CU LMINATION IN G R EAT ER-BULG ARIANI S M 1948 PAPER BY T H E M EM BERS O F THE C ENTRA L I N IT I ATI VE COMM ITTEE OF THE MACEDON I AN C ULTURAL AND EDUCATIONA L SOC I ETI ES I N BU LGAR IA AND OTH ER M AC EDON I AN A CTIV ISTS '"T hose who i'.ltend to protect 1he ego1ism of our cadres 1hrough hushing up 1heir mistakes, des1roy bo1h lhc cadres and 1heir ego1ism."

Stalin Comra des, T he Macedonia n Q uestio n in its histo rical development, both in the past and present, has concealed within it th e key to the federatio n of the South Slav a nd Ba lka n p eo ples. Owing to this, we, the fo llo wers of Goce Deltev, a lso try to separate tha t questio n fro m the innuence o f the Balkan bourgeois classes and the ir crowns, and particularly from the Bulgaria n bourgeois class a nd its crown , and to link it with the class workers' movement in the o ld Balka n revolutio naries represented by Botev, Levski, Karavelov, Svetoza r Markovic, Blagoev, Del6ev, Kabatiev, Georgi D imitrov, Ha dzi Dimov a nd o thers. But this was exactly the reaso n why the stru ggle o f the Communists in the M aced o nian sectio n of Bulga ri a was a lways diffic ul t, accompa nied by se lf-sacrifices o n the pa rt of everyone w ho undertook the task of wagi ng it.

Yo u know how in broad day lig ht a nd witho ut exce pti o n a ll the M aced onia n Communists were murdered in the streets of Sofia , o nl y because they j oi ned the Macedo nia n em igrant bro the rh ood s to wo rk there on o ur Macedo nian , na tiona l platform . The Bulgarian bourgeois class showed itself to be q uite sensiti ve to tha t secto r, since M aced o nia was for it a co rn e rsto ne in the po licy o f a ll its regimes a n d its c rown .

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But what is happening now? We aga in see th e M aced onian Q uestio n on the scene and sig ns o f d isagreement with th e Communists tha t are in power.

In o ur opinio n, the d ecisio ns of the 16th Ple11um of the Bulgarian Wo rkers' Pa rty (Co mmunists) a bo ut th e M aced onian Q uestio n re present a deviation from the fo rmer policy o f the Party o n this questio n; they are a wrong step whic h could lead to dangerous consequences. First of a ll, these decisions are contradictory to those of the I 0th Plen um of the C .C. of o ur glo rious Party a nd to the statem en ts of C o mrade Georgi D imitrov o n this ques tion . These decisions d o not correspond to the principles that comprise the teachings o f Marx, Lenin and Stalin about the natio nal qu estion a nd con ceal dangerous consequences fo r the other democra tic leaderships that would try to fo llow the Bulgarian example concerning some other unsettled na tional q uestio ns. We think that there a re no diffic ulties for the Stalinist Commun ist in the solution of the national question . This o ptimism of o urs is confirmed also by the decis io ns of the I 0th Plenum about o ur question, owing to whic h we expected that a t the 16th Plenum the decisions a nd principles of the I 0th Plenum would be elaborated and that system atic work would be sta rted for the expansion and reinfo rcement of the Macedon ian na tio na l c ulture a m o ng the M acedo nia ns in Bulgaria, and fo r Macedonization of the Pirin M aced o nia popu la tion whic h was suppressed on the natio na l front for m a ny yea rs by Greater- Bulga ri a n propaga nda , whose aim was to extirp ate its natio na l consciousn ess and take possession of its country To o ur reg ret, what we expected did no t happe n. The Ple num in its d ecisions made at the 16th sessio n , which have a lready been published in the Pa60TH11â&#x20AC;˘1ecKo ,neJJo newspaper, not only denied help to the M aced o nia ns in their work o n the building o f their c ul tural organizatio ns in Bulga ri a, but a lso adopted a decision that placed the popula tio n o f Pirin Macedonia in a n unfa vourable poli tical a nd cu ltura l positio n . We must adm it that the Ple num of o ur Party has lo ng taken a no t entirely clear positi o n towards the comprehens ive inte rests of the M acedonian people, towards its ethnic identity a nd to wards its cultura l progress, as a result of whic h opportunities have been give n to the Bulgarian histo ria n s to falsify the history o f the Macedo nian people.

249

Even a fte r 9th September 1944 the practice was continued in Bulga ria n schools o f s tudy ing o ld Bu lga rian histo ry in whic h the impera li st as pira tions o f the bourgeo isie towards M acedonia a re impl a nted a nd by which a s pirit o f c ha uvin ist hatred is being s pread . So, even a ft er 9th Se pte mber this s pirit is be ing ma nifested in the insole nt a nd provocative writings o f the a dhe re nts o f Pastuhov, Ivan Ha d i.ov, a nd recently a lso o f Orma ndz iev, and even in the wr itings o f o ur histo ria ns in the Acad em y o f Scie nces, who careful ly a llow tha t Samo il's sta te was a Western Bulgaria n E mpirt!, etc., a nd enab le the adhe re nts of Orma ndf iev to ra ise their head s in favo ur o f Greate r- Bulga ri a n b o urgeois 'scho la rs hip' .

T he man concerned is T use Yl a hov, ins pector of the Ministry o f Edu catio n, who set himself the tas k of revising Bulga ri a n history. There is n othing no bler o n T use Ylahov 's pa rt a nd nothing nobl er o n the part of the Macedonia ns towa rd s the o rga nizers of the d iscussio n fo r the revisio n o f Bu lga ri a n h istory whi ch up to no w has had o nly a n acquisiti ve characte r towards Macedo nia. But the te nde ncy in T use Vla hov¡s repo rt a nd the public discussion is en tirely different. We, the Maced o ni a ns, sha ll never rema in with o ur po isoned consciousness, whatever it may be, und er the innue nce of the Greater-Bulga ri a ns through th e Exarcha te a nd the whip of Gavrilo Krstevic, who as the Sultan's po licema n, by his ord er and helped by the Wes tern Po wers, estab lis hed the Exarcha te a gai ns t the will o f Russia . We, the Macedo nia ns, will fi ght agains t a ny n ew trends, scions o f Greate r- Bulga rian or Exarchist ideology. W e are strongly con cerned a t the logic in the attitude towa rds o ur Macedo ni a n Questio n in Bu lgaria , the d esire of the Centra l Comm ittee to seek Bu lga ri a ns in Maced o n ia a nd th e sla nde rs aga ins t the president of the government o f th e People's Repub lic o f Macedo n ia, Laza r Ko lisevs ki, who asce rta ined the existe nce o f G reater- Bu lgar ia n tre nds whic h have a ppeared recently in the Fatherl a nd Fro nt press. G reater co urage is demanded fro m us in call ing facts by their real na mes, in o rd er to pro tect o ur youn g Maced o ni a n na tio n whi ch p lays a creati ve role in the process o f the bui ld ing o f the fed e ra tion o f t he South Slavs a nd the Ba lka n peo p les in ge ne ra l. Now look at the Grea ter- Bulga ri a ns: they write against us and declare slogans tha t a re be ing to le1<1ted in Bulgaria, slogans tha t unde rmi ne our fraterna l

250

relatio ns. What do the slogans, "beq ueathed ideals", " the lo st land" a nd "the lost popul at io n of 19 13", wh ich the a dh e re nts o f Ormandziev declare mean ? They also write othe r things with wic h they damag.:: o ur fraternal relatio ns a nd, what is most iro nic o f a ll, they try to legalize the term o f " G reaterBulga ria nism ", by tra nsform ing the term o f "San Stefano Bulgaria" into a thesis. This is a n insolent a nd active phenome no n o f the o pposition abo ut the power o f whi ch o u r Party has ha rdl y a ny proper i<lea. Our C.C. in essence ha s unmasked a nd is still unm as king the o p positio n of t he Fathe r land F ront as a representa ti ve office of imperia lis m, but here, on the line o f seeking Bulgarians in P.R. M acedo nia, we ca n say that the id eologies merge. In addi tion , th e res ponsible peo ple ma ke th is easie r by givi ng lessons a lo ng th e pa rty line. Perhaps o u r C.C. is a fra id of the oppositi o n, owing to ist critique ¡ of the Maced onia n Q uestio n on historica l grounds. We must have the courage to admit that the people of the C.C. have not s tudied the Macedon ian Questio n in its depth histo rically a nd methodically. As the la te Comrade Lie utenant-General H risto M ihaj lov said in the camp of Rib a ri ca in 1940, the Pa rty in the past did not set itself the goal o f s tudy ing the Maced on ian Question scie nti fically , fro m t he historical side.

Its a tte nti on was directed towards the class struggle. So it is obvious where the o rigins of the mistakes abo ut the Macedon ia n Q uesti on may lie.

Natura ll y, after 9th September ou r Party was not concern ed wit h the historica l developm ent o f the Maced o n ia n people, sin ce th at problem was left to the establ is hed People's Republic o f Macedonia wi thin F. P.R "'ugoslavia. But it is sti ll yo un g and its scho lars a re sti ll lea rn ing. Everything has been engaged in the bu ildi ng o f th t fo unda ti o ns of the Republic a nd its legal ins titu tio ns, but ~ocialis m has been the most im portant thing in the count ry. This can a lready be considered a victory o n the po li tical front, which will undoubtedly b rin g us a lso a victo ry o n the historical fro nt.

We expect th e C.C. to d o everyt hing to help the Maced o nian peo ple a nd th e bu ilders of the Maced on ia n natio n a nd state, since Dimitar Canev, who was given the M aced oni an sector a nd, instead of he lping the Macedonians, b ecam e e ngaged in recruit ing and seeki ng Bulgarians in Maced on ia, is no t respo nsi ble fo r tha t secto r a ny lo nger. We think that

25 1

th e help we ex pect canno t be give n b y people who o n ly kn ow th e leftist character of the Macedoni a n stru ggle against th e C ro wn and Greater-Bulgarianism, a nd a re no t ca pabl e o f de fining the idea of "Greater-Bu lgarian is m", its o ri g in and deve lo pm ent.

Owing to th e lack of s uffi cient m ateri a ls for the developm ent o f th e M acedoni a n nati o n , the fai lure to study th e M aced o ni a n Question, th e existence of s ubjective fac tors, state egois m, etc., m a ny people have fa lle n to asse rtin g the Bulgari a n o rigin of th e Macedonia ns a nd claiming th a t th e M aced o nians a re o n ly beginning to create their Maced o nian na ti o n now. We b elieve th a t th ese sam e reasons have had an innue nce o n the fact that th ere is no t a compl ete ly clear attitude abo ut Pirin Macedo ni a. But when the C.C. o f the Party d ecided to grant Pirin M aced o nia c ultural autonomy and when th ey dec isively helped us in th e struggle fo r th e disba ndment of the bro th erh ood s that enforced Grea ter-Bulgaria n po licy, we th o ug ht th a t the reasons m entio ned above no longer existed. This can be clearly seen in th e d ecisions o f th e Tenth Plenum .

But how did the contradictio ns with the decis io ns o f th e 16th Pl enum a rise? Sho uld we assume that the former correct line has been aba ndo ned ? There are obviously some di g ressio ns. Wh y is th a t qu esti o n (the auto no m y of Pirin M aced o n ia) no t settled in a Sta linist way, i.e. in the way Lenin and Stalin settled th e natio na l questions in the U.S.S.R.?

Sho u ld no t po litica l auto nomy be g ra nted , o f course within the fra m ework of the Peo ple's Re public o f Bu lgaria, o n a territoria l basis, in o rder to re inforce the cultura l acco m p lis hments o f the Piri n Macedoni a po pulatio n, a res ult of the triumph over fa scism on 9th September 1944?

It is well known tha t in connection wit h th e elaboration of the Constitutio n o f P.R. Bulga ria, the C.C. o f o ur Party decided to isolate Pirin Macedo nia as a sepa rate geographi cal unit within the fra mework of P.R.8. The th en no ble tende nsy o f the C.C. is clear: to pre pa re the p o pulatio n for a ro using its Macedonia n na tiona l conscio us ness befogged by the po ison o us G r eater-Bulga ri a n propaganda carried o ut for yea rs. Tha t dec ision was the o nly real and correct o n e concerning that painful questi o n . But to o ur g reat regret it has been rejected . And that is not a ll : va rio us o rators go to Pirin 252

M acedo nia, either throu g h the F.F. or the Pa rty, a nd s peak as if they were b efo re a Bulga ri a n population. It is stra nge, after the pe rm ission for the a rri val o f M acedo nia n teachers and a fter the d ecisio n to study M acedo nian histo ry in the sch ools, to give lessons a nd speeches a b out the Bulga ri a n character o f M aced onia. For example, th e Bulga ri a n writer, Georgi Karaslavov, in one of his lectures in Gorna Dfomaja spoke about the Bulgaria11 Revival in which he inc luded all those who carri ed o ut the M aced o nia n Reviva l as Bu lgarians. In additio n , in the schools history is taught from textbooks from which Greater- Bulga ri a n a spirations towards Macedonia have no t been e ntirely eradi cated. This du a li ty arouses some confusio n a nd gives the impressio n that it is intentio na ll y helped .

Wh y is such confusio n being created? The C.C. sh ould inte rvene bris kl y in o rde r to eradicate such events. The glorio us fratern al Bulgarian Workers' Party (Communists) h as been brought up in a mi litant internation a l spirit and such m istakes concern ing the settlem ent of the M acedonian na tion a l question in Pir in M aced o n ia sho uld not be a llowed.

Quite o n the contrary, there must be immediate adoption and carrying o ut in practice o f what <.::ver is objective, histor ica ll y true a nd polit icall y re levant about the M acedo nia n Questio n.

It is quite unn ecessary to e nte r the field of history in ord er to prove th e historical d evelopm e nt of our M acedonian n a tion. This was proved by th e very stru ggles o f our fa the rs aga inst Turkish fe udalis m and the stru ggle o f o ur sons against fascis m. We do not in tend to discuss this iss ue, even more so because the glo ri o us C.C. of the B.W.P. (C.) a t th e p ro per tim e recognized the M acedo nian nation a nd the results of its stru ggles - the People's R ep ublic of M acedo nia w ith in the fram ework of F.P.R. Yugoslavia. But the re is still som ething m ore to be do ne : some m e mbers of the C.C. s ho uld look criticall y at the mselves a nd aba ndo n their o ld ideas about the Macedonian Questio n. And if this happens, a nd we firml y believe it will happen, a ll the disagreements o n the M acedo nian Question will disap pear.

Of what d o r.hose "old" i<â&#x20AC;˘,.as abo ut the Macedonian Question we are a fraid of consist ? Those o ld ideas are the fo llowi ng: th a t tin:: M acedoni a n natio n was created b ecause, afte r liberation fro m Turki sh subjugati o n M acedo ni a was left 253

o uts ide Bulgarian borders; that unti l the liberati on Macedoni a was Bu lga ri an a nd the Macedonians were Bulga rians. If San ~tefa no Bu lga ria had been c rea ted , the Macedonian Quest ion would not have appea red , o r eve n if after th e tri u_mph over fascis m Macedonia had been a nnexed to Bu lgari a, th ere wou ld have been ne ithe r a Macedon ia n n a tio n nor today's Peo p le's Republic of M acedonia.

T o a ll th ese ideas we have c ited and are afra id of, we ca n qui ckly res po nd: if the acti o n for the armame nt o f the ¡ Jan e Sanda ns ki" d etach m ent had not been sa botaged , the qu estion o f Pirin M acedonia would no t have ex isted today.

As a res ult of these ideas o ne can come to th e co ns lusio n th a t for th e establishme nt o f the M acedon ia n nation a nd sta te th e Bulga ri an bourgeois ie was res po nsible, whic h, owi ng to its a dve nturo us policy a nd imperialist wa rs, gamb led away the na ti o na l ideals of th e Bulgarian peo ple. No o ne can say tha t th e Bulgarian p eopl e have ever had natio nal ideals o f a n aggressive c ha ra cte r, identi cal with those o f the Bul ga ria n bo urgeoisie. There fore th eir prog ressive p eo ple d o no t instigate the pol icy of th e bo urgeoisie for do mina ti o n over M acedo nia. O n th e contrary, th e Bulgari a n intellige nts ia, re presented by Krsto Asenov, Peju Javo rov, C ud o mir Ka nta rdi iev, Hristo Cern o peev, Mihaj lo Apostol ov-Popeto a nd othe rs, a re th ose w ho fo ug ht for M acedoni a 's liberati o n fro m the Turks and a t . th e sam e time aga inst Ferdina nd's deta chm ents who entered M aced o nia with acqu is itive aims.

T he " Tesnaks" a nd th e people fro m the Agra ri a n League a re those w ho la un ched the m otto o f "Macedonia fo r th e Macedonia ns", hav in g in mind " The Maced o nian Slavs¡¡ under the te rm o f "Macedonians", w hich we he re s imply call M acedonia ns.

It is quite incorrect to de mand toda y Bulga rian schools in Maced o nia, whi ch existed in the Turkis h times a nd were renewed in the peri o d o f th e fascist occupation o f Macedonia in 194 1, replacing th e Serbian schools; Bulga ri a n sc hools wh ich were a uto m a tica ll y c losed with the triumph over fascism and M acedo nia n o nes opened . Now in an article en titled " Petty- Bo urgeois Nati o na lism under the Mas k of Com mun is m " ( P.,l].. No. 167), those closed G reater- Bulga rian schools a re agai n de m a nded . Why s uc h de m a nds? Who demanded such schoo ls before 9 th Septe mber, i.e. before the 254

a rri va l of the Germans in Bulgari a and Yugoslavia? It was th e Greater-B ul ga rians. They were the o nes who sent stat istics abou t the situ a ti o n in the schools, about the number o f teachers a nd male and female students in Maced o nia to the Geneva Ins titute of the League o f Nations. They were the adherents of Bazdarov a nd Karandfol ov, a nd recently o f Stanisev a nd Niko la Kolarov, who, o n the bas is of the Treaty o f St-Germ a in, d e manded rights fo r the " Bulgaria n " m inority no t o nl y in the Weste rs provinces, but primarily in Maced o nia .

The sa me is dema nded today. But nobod y asks the ques ti o n : where does this road lead ? Obvio usly it leads to na ti o nalism (in the crude sense o f the word), i.e. towards agg r~ssio n a nd war fo r M acedon ia.

After the Cominform Resolutio n 91 and during th e action o n the expla natio ns about th e d isagreem ents between the Co minfo rm a.1d the C. P.Y ., some we nt too far in their s tateme nts about the Maced0 n ia n Questi o n and a lmost took up th e pos itio n o f Professor N ikola Vul icY 2 of the State Un ivers ity of for m er Yugoslavia. In a speech be fo re the "el ite" o f the Se rbian intellige ntsia in th e Serbi a n Cu ltura l C lub in Belg rad e he decla red that the te rm " M aced on ia" was re lative o ne a nd shou ld be aba ndo ned . W e ca n find his summarized s peech and his pho tograph in the Bpe~â&#x20AC;˘e (Time) news pa pe r of 16th November 1939, w here it says: "This term s ho uld b e dro pped fro m use, sin ce o ur inte rn al life has been ruined anyway; if we accept this term in fut ure it will bring us o nl y ha rm . Maced o nia does not ex ist the Ma cedonian nation does not ex ist. M::icedonia must h ; called S, uth Serbia. Thi~ is i-1 1,;o incorrect, but the term 'So uth Serbia' has been adopted¡' .

Here, o u r dear comrades, we ha ve paid now as well as th en o ur Communist a nd nati o na l d ebt in ou r stru ggle.

As ked by the Maced o ni a n students who studied in the Serbian uni ve rsit y fac ul ties, we replied to Vulic in an open lette r w hic h the press a lmost ign o red a n d which we he re an d in Yugoslav: , copied as readin g m a teri al.

T he <11 ;to rtin g of th e facts does no t benefit o ur peoples.

At the C. P.Y. Congress Vlahov said that the M acedonia ns o f Pirin Macedonia felt c loser to the Macedo nia ns o f Varda r M acedo nia tha n to th e population o f th e Trnovo, Vidin a nd 255

S ilistra regio ns; yet o ur Pa60TH11'1ecKo .neJ10 newspaper stated th a t Vla r.ov ha d said tha t the po pula tion o f Pirin Macedo nia felt closer to th e popula tion of Varda r Maced o nia tha n the po pu lation of the Trnovo, Vidin a nd Silistra regio ns felt the mselves to be Bu lgarian and that with this Vlahov had pinpo inted so me n ew ai ms of Yugoslav natio n a lism, o f which we (the edito ri a l boa rd) a re hearing for the first time.

It is no t o ur task to defend Vla ho v, but o ur task and the tas k of every prog ressive person is to po int o ut th e devia tio ns tha t would cert a inl y g row in number if n obody pointed the m o ut. And concernin g o ur Macedonian Question there is a series of mi stakes. He , e is o ne of the more impo rta nt m ist,1:...es tha t leads us o n to o the rs. For example, Comrade Trajfo Kostov9 l inhis lecture onthe historyofthe B.W.P.(C.) writes: " T hose acquisiti ve as pirations o f the Bulgari an bourgeo is ie a nd Bulgari a n monarchis m which a lso o n its own side yearned fo r th e g reatness, glo ry and strength of the dynasty, coincided with the te ndency for natio na l unification of the Bulgari a n people in a San Stefan o Bulga ria". Such writings as the offi cia l line a nd the de m a nds for Bulgaria n schools even fro m T u rk is h times through the Party m o uthpiece, Pa60TH11'leCKO .neJ10, a nd other simila r writings about the Bulgarian cha racter o f Macedonia turn th e who le Marxist ideo logy upside down with their culmina ti o n in G reat..:r-Bulga ri a nism, "rhich the Bulgarian M a r xists, follo wers of Blagoev, preached with s uch zea l. T his is in contradiction wi th the letter o f C omrade Georgi D imitrov, sent from Moscow to the C.C. of B.W . P. (C.), in which G reater- Bulgaria nis m is pointed o ut as the culprit for the national catastro phes o f the Bul garia n people, a nd the ideology which Comrade Georgi Dim itrov condemns as a movement for domina ti on of o ther p eoples a nd a movem ent fo r the conquest o f fo reign la nds.

In his s peech at the ceremonia l sessio n o f the Sofia Repub li ka Theatre o n t he occa~ion of the 70th a nni versary of the liberation ofBulga ri a, Comrade Vasi l Kolarov 94__sta ted the sam e thesis when he said that at the Congress of Be rlin Bu lga ri a had been di vided into three parts. It is true that in this case he c ited a sta tement by another person , but it is a lso a fact that he did it without a ny introdu ction, whic h s hows th at he ag rees with wha t he cited in o rder to stre ngth en a n idea whic h is in contradictio n with the ideas o f the Party m e m bers 256

broug ht up for many years in a n anti-Greater- Bu lga rian revo lutio nary spirit.

So a ll this led to th e situation with the decisions of the 16 th Ple num concerning the question of Pirin Macedo nia to give the righ t to the population to study o nl y the history of the Macedo nia n li bera tion m ovement, and no t the who le history of the Macedonia n people, which comprises their whole c ultura l, econo mic a nd po litical d evelopment. This proceeded fro m the incorrect assumption tha t unti l the appea ra nce of the Macedo n ian libe ration movement everything was Bulga ria n. No doubt, this is a renection o f Greater- Bu lga rian his to riogra phy, whic h, if followed, may lead to da ngerous ground with its possible claims a bout the Bu lgarian c ha racter of the Morava regi o n , or possi bly, o f the whole of Serbia, in whic h Tsa r Simeon in the epoch of the "Golden Era of Bulgaria" had his own sovere ig n kings and feu d a l vassals.

Owing to this, we shou ld no t be surprised at a ll when in m any geography a nd histo ry textbooks o f Bulgaria we find the who le histo ry o f M aced onia included as Bulga ri a n history, a nd we should not be surprised at a ll when we see that o ur children are being ta ught that the M acedonian towns a re Bulgaria n o nes.

We cannot expla in to ourselves why ou r Pa rty undertook the burde nsome task of seekin g Bu lgaria ns in M acedonia a nd an no un ced a de mand for the recognitio n of " the rights of th e Bulgaria n natio n al mino ri ty" in th e People's Repu bli c of M acedonia. This could res ult only if we stood o n grounds witho ut princip les; if we followed a line of opportunism. We are asto nished by the contradiction : at the same time to recognize the M acedo n ian nation a nd to seek Bulgarians in it; th is is not an o utcom e of a logical sta ndpo int, but o f a po litical o ne. If this trend continues, if th e recent deviatio ns a re not admitted, in the lo ng run we shall arrive at the very negation o f the Macedo n ian nation.

In Macedonia the re a re remna nts o f the Greater- Bulgari a n occupiers and of those experts who cam e there by agreem en t. But th a t handful of people does no t represent a political object in order to anno un ce d em and s for " the rjght of the Bu lgaria n m ino ri ty". It is obvious tha t we must destroy with 17 The Hi storicul Truth

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red-ho t iro ns, as they say, a ll the possible G reater- Bulgaria n remna nts o f the o ld G reater- Bulga ria n influe nce in Maced onia, en fo rced by the Exarcha te through the church a nd the schools. For, with this resurrection o f the G reater- Bulgaria n re mn a nts, the remna nts of the G reater-Greek a nd G reaterSerb ia n pro paga nda a re also a uto ma tically resurrected , against which o ur fathe rs waged ba ttle with a rms in their ha n ds in the past. Therefore, we observe fro m the side the impressio ns made as reflectio ns o f the 16th Ple num decisio ns a mong the G reate r- Bulgari a n circles, which, o wing to suc h d ecisio ns ab out the Maced o nia n na tiona l question, gain stre ngth, a nd we could no t rema in silent observers a nd no t stress that the responsib ility is o urs. O n the contra ry, we a re d eeply aware that the hi sto rical respo nsibility fo r the erro rs concerning the Maced onia:1 natio " al questio n d oes no t fa ll o nl y o n those who ma ke the m b ut on a ll of us who d o not speak a bo ut them. whe n we say this, we painfully susta in a ll the mista kes abou t o ur questio n by va rio us people, sin ce they not o nly fo rget our Macedo nia n idea l fo r unificatio n, but a lso the process fo r th e unificatio n o f the South Slavs a nd the Balka n peoples in general. Wi th the ex isten ce of o ur progressive a nd d emocra ti c fo rces in Bulgaria, G reece, Alba nia a nd Yugoslavia, a n d fin a lly, with the existence o f o ur stead fast supporter, the U.S.S. R., our sma ll but heroic M acedo nia n na tion sha ll not fa ll a part.

O ur comrades a nd patriotic Macedo nia ns who fig ht unde r the ba nner o f E.A.M.9 .s with a rms in their ha nds as a Maced onia n secti on whose representati ve participates in the consultatio ns o f M a rkos's Headqua rte rs 96 â&#x20AC;˘ would be embittered if they understood a bo ut the unjust decisions concerning the qu estio n of Pirin Maced onia. We must act in a mo re friendly way a nd with fewer e rrors to wa rds o ur unfortuna te Maced onia n people, in th e way o ur Yugoslav brothers acted whe n they helped the stre ngthening o f the People's Republic o f Macedo ni a a nd continuo usly help o ur country, pill aged by the fascists, develo p its industry. We must a lways re membe r how muc h the Maced o nia ns in Bulgaria suffered fro m the fascist op p ression a nd ho w much they helped o ur Bulgaria n class wo rkers' movement. This people, who has bo rne in its bosom such sons a nd he roes, d eserves Communist care a nd help to throw o ff fro m its back a ll the diffic ulties o f life.

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How ha ppy are now the ad herents o f Pastuhov, Nikola Petkov and Yanco Mihajlov with the fact that by seekin g Bulgarians in M acedon ia their a utho rity will grow! This will a lso be refl ected in Yugoslavia where the disguised elements of the bou rgeois class also expect to raise their heads and de ma nd their right of a Serb ia n politi ca l mi nority in the Re pub lic of Maced on ia.

T he phrase " Macedonian Bulgarians" has its own negative side that insults the democ ra tic positions and peace in the Balkans fro m a pol itica l point of view. That p hrase d id not withsta nd c riticism fro m a historical point of view. From a poli tical point of view it has been used for the cause of t he M ihajlovists who demand "an independe nt Macedo n ia" u nder an A nglo-American protectorate. We must not forget that the G reater-Bulgarians from all the three parts of Macedon ia supported tha t phrase foreign to ou r Slav cause. By nurtu ring the " Bu lga ria n" feeli ng they con tribute to the preservatio n of the hope that th e dom ination of their class wi ll be resto red.

It is not clear to us at all ho w the c ul tural auto no my of tht: Pirin Macedo nia n population will be carried out in practice thro ugh facu ltative study of the history of the Maced onia n people; moreover, as we have a lready observed, through conditio nally defi ned h isto ry of the revolutionary struggles of Macedonia. T his does not mean real help to the popu lation, which is part of a natio n checked in its development because of harsh political an d economic subjugation and spiritual pressu re exerted in order to assim ilate it. The national questio n in the U.S.S. R. was resolved rationally and practicall y o n the second d ay after the October Revolut ion. That q uesti on was resolved n ot fac ultatively b ut ad min istratively, by real support in the natio nal and cultu ral fields, by open ing schools a nd by taking all economic measures for the needs of the nations checked in their developme nt. The Macedon ian peopl e wi th in the F. P.R .Y. mad e their decision themselves in the same way, but th rough facu ltativeness of the central a uthori ties. Freedom was attained th rough the armed struggle agai nst fascism d uring the fascist occu pat ion when the people rebelled en masse against the new subjugator a nd their triu m phant struggle led to the convocation of 17*

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the histo ric ASNOM (Natio na l Antifascist Liberation Council o f Macedo nia) a nd the establishm ent o f a federa l state wi thin the framework o f F.P.R.Y ..

S ince the re is not a clearly defined attitude on the Maced onian Quest ion, there are many Party members who argue about the la ng uage - tha t it is under Serbian influence.

Of the language of the po pulatio n o f Pirin Maced o ni a they say it is Bu lgarian. There should not be too many disputes abo ut the Bulgarization, Serbizatio n and Hellenizatio n of the Macedo ni a n la nguage in the different pa rts o f Macedonia.

Conditioned by propaganda influences, varieties with Bulgarian, Serbian or Greek admi xtures of the Macedonian language were c reated in the corres po nding part s of Macedo ni a.

Such p henomena occur with every natio na lity tha t has been subjugated fo r a long time. T he explanatory acti vity for the rejection of the d ishonest propagandists who onesided ly consider the language problem will be undertaken by the Communi sts who a re n eighbours of Macedonia. Our Party members, especial ly afte r the decisions of the 16th Plenu m concerning the population of Pirin Macedonia, began extensive discussion s abou t language a nd gave the oppone nts ma terial to make wro ng co nc lusio ns, whic h the Communists have a lso done, saying that, since the language of the Pirin Macedonia popu lation is closer to the Bulga ria n la nguage, the populati o n itself should be con verted into Bulga rians, ipso facto.

But the question of the study of the Macedonian la nguage is basic fo r the Macedonian people themselves. Long struggles have been waged for it. It is a histo rical truth that at the time of the Revival of the peoples in European Turkey, the only territo ry the n under the a utho rity of the Sulta n, the M acedonian language favoured by the Maced o nian elighteners threa tened to dominate the Bulgarians themselves, who, owing to the ir faster econ o mic dc:velopment, cast it o ut o f the pages of the books and journals o f the tim e. If we studied in a Marxist and methodical way the history of those linguisti c struggles an d the Reviva l of the two frate rn a l peoples - the Macedonia ns and the Bulga rians - we should never consider linguistic varieti es, we s ho uld never .insult the Macedonians by fo rc ing the m to stud y thei r m other tongue facultatively.

The facu lta ti ve study of the Maced o nian language in the schools o f the Pirin Macedonia populatio n means that

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the language is being studied like the Gospel, stenography or speranto o r a n y o ther foreign language, which wo uld n ot in ,111y case indicate to the M aced o nia n peo ple that it is o n e o f the characteristic feat ures of their na tion. The fa cultative '> ludy o f the Macedonian language in the present po litical circumsta nces sows o nly seed s of discord between the Macedo nians and the Bulgarians, a nd between the Serbs a nd the 0ulgarians. It a lso embitters those South Slav peoples who waged the struggle agai n st fascism o n the com mon princ iple w ith the Maced o nia ns, before who m they promised they would protect the Macedonia n na tion from va rio us encroach ments.

It is not necessary to consider the p roblem of the facu lta ti ve study a ny furth er. It irritates th e T u rks in Bulgaria and eas tern regions of Yugoslavia. Suc h an atti tude towards ou r people is unconvincing, insincere a nd ridiculous, a nd we wo uld suggest a depart ure in the shortest possible tim e from "uc h a hos tile a ttitude towards the people to who m the Bu lga rians ha ve really given mo ra l and material support in the pa<;t, which they a re now a lso ready to give agai n with a sincere des ire for t hem to be united with the People's Republic o f Macedonia.

We think that the fo rmu latio n about why teachers from the People's Re publi c of M aced o nia sho uld not be accepted is unfounded. The " rudeness", " h aughtiness" and "a rrogance" o f the teachers, tha t have contributed to the irritatio n, could be exposed to criticism a nd those who do not want to correct thei r behavi our could b e re pl aced a nd punish ed.

Otherwise, it could be considered a con cealment o f intentional deviation and vio lation of the ultimate principl es of Com munist ob ligatio ns towards the Pirin Macedo nia po pulatio n. The o pportuni sm cannot be con cealed by the mistakes o f othe rs. We, the Macedo nia ns, even the broad masses, are con vin ced that in this case the dispute betwee n the Comi nfo rm a nd K.P.Y. is being used. This circumstance gives grounds for such a n opinion, since the Maced onian Question is neithe r present no r is it involved in this case by the Comin fo rm as a basis for disputes and disagreements. The righ t to c ultura l a uto no my of the Pirin M acedonian population was given solem nly by o ur Pa rt y, a nd when the bookshop assis-

26 1

ta nts who have ma d e mistakes a re prosecuted it is n ot clear to us wh y th e bookshops, whi ch a re centres o f Maced o n ian culture, a re a lso prosecuted . We s ha ll not consider s ta teme nt give n in favo ur o f our M aced o nia n n atio n, but we o nl y ex press the d esire th a t the d ecisio ns o f the Po litbureau be revised concerning the issue o f Pirin Maced o nia, owing to the great confusio n caused b y tha t d ecisio n whic h is b oth in correct a nd a d ecision that disgraces o ur Leninist-Sta linist a ttitude o n the n atio na l questio n .

Let us consider a no the r issue o f incorrect p rocedure in the re!.olutio n o f th e 16th Plenum . W e cite : a t th e Conference in Bled there was a n ag reemen t b etween Com rad es Geo rgi D imitro v a nd T ito with the sense th a t the unificati o n o f the Pirin Macedo nia po pula tio n with the P.R .M . a nd the return of th e western regio ns to Bulgaria wo uld b e d one o nl y within the fra mework o f a fed eratio n o f the So uth Slavs, etc ... 97 If we discuss this issue we ca n see tha t there is no b asis for shirking t he resp onsibility a bout not fulfillin g the cultura l a uto n o m y of the po pul a ti o n o f Pirin M aced o n ia.

When we were in o ppositio n we a lwa ys agita ted fo r the follo wing: " N atio ns a re brothers. After the people have ta ke n p ossessio n o f po we r, there s ha ll b e no hind ra n ces fo r na tion a l a nd terri to ria l unificatio n . N ations understa nd each other. The imperi a lists a re the enemies o f the freedo m o f the peo pl e". The peo ple took possessio n of power in the F. P.R.Y . a nd P.R.B., but they, o r as it seems, the ir leaders d o n ot unde rsta nd each o ther a nd they set conditio ns. The laws o f Ma rxis m- Le ninism d o no t a ll ow the Communists to qui bb le over terri to ries tha t geog ra phically a nd ethnogra phically belo ng to o the r na tio ns. Pirin Macedo nia is set conditio ns fo r its unificatio n with P.R . Maced onia. Even in the district committees there a re sto ri es tha t La zo is eager to put the cart before the horse concerning the questio n o f Pirin Maced o nia's unifi ca tio n with the Re public o f M aced o nia, a nd tha t it would o nl y be if Bulgari a came within the framewo rk o f the F.P.R .Y .. Pirin Ma ced o nia a nd Bu lgaria in entering the f~d erati o n o f th e South Slavs ca n o nl y e nter togeth er o r wo ul d not ente r a t a ll. Th is is where the jo ke abo ut the " cart and the ho rse" before the unificatio n o f a natio n mea ns tha t no na tion ca n achi eve its unificatio n witho ut s uch a fed e ratio n .

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This is a bsolutely no rule in the li fe o f na tio ns. Ma ny peoples have achieved their unificatio n wjtho ut a ny existing a nd accomplis hed fed era tio n. The Bulgaria n people itself achieved its unificatio n of N o rth a nd South Bulgaria in 1885 witho ut a fede ra tio n with the Ro mania n s. Even a fter the com ing to po wer o f the d e mocratic government o f Petru G roza, the Ro manians have not posed the question o f D o bruja. The Fatherla nd Front he re rightly wants to unify Th race wi tho ut a fede ratio n. In this connectio n, Comra de Georgi Dimit rov, a ltho ugh he is not a na tio n a list in the bad sense o f the word , d ecla red a nd p o inted out tha t the course o f the R iver M a ri tsa is a n impo rta nt a rte ry in the life o f the Bulga r ian peo ple for its connectio n with the Aegean Sea. According to the T reaty o f Bucha rest o f 19 13 Bulgaria ha d Thrace fo r he rself without a federa ti o n with a ny othe r Ba lka n sta te. The ced ing o f' Thrace to Bulga ria wo uld be possible a t any time with the ex istence o f a peo ple's d e mocratic governme nt, even without a fede ra tio n . A federat ion does not necessarily mean oblitera tio n o f natio na lities.

Sin ce the d ecisions of the 16th Plenu m were a nno unced , a kind of mal ice a nd Macedonophobi a have been created . When we hea r disputes abo ut whether the re a re Bulgaria ns in Maced on ia o r not, we have the im p ression that we a re unde r pressure a nd de pa rting fro m o ur M acedonia n positio ns and that other o nes a re gaining ground . The popul a tion of Pirin Maced o nia says it does no t wan t to be uni ted to P.R.M. O ur people have never determinedl y stated t heir des ires. They have a lways been u rged by the Serbs, Bulga ria ns and the Greeks. They are on a crossroad s fro m the geographi cal, milita ry and stra tegic point of v iew. They would s ta te their desires if they were gi ven their o wn a utho rities, if the measures of oppression were a ba ndo ned in p ractice. This can be discussed , but since we, the Communists, a re in power, in o rd er to avoid dis putes we must in practice give real evide nce to the peo ple o f Pirin Maced o nia themselves that they are free to choose when a nd ho w they wa nt to be united with the P.R.M .. W e kno w who d o not wa nt them to be un ited, who d o no t wa nt the unificatio n o f Pirin M acedo nia. T hese are the former tobacco me rc ha nts, the export ers of commodities, who are ex pecting the Anglo-Amer ican im peria lists to resto re 263

the ir do mina tio n. T his is exactl y the direction in w hich they conspire against P.R. Bu lga ria.

So, yo u see, our dear comrades, we a re making obstructio ns for the ideal of the Pi ri n po pula tio n , a nd the agen ts o f imperia lism are directing it towards the Greater-Bulga ria n path and p o iso ning it with the Greater- Bulgarian thesis of "Maced o nia n Bulgarians". " Macedo n ia is a Bulga ria n country, the political c ircumstances will cha nge a nd we sha ll attai n our fin a l ideals", as O rga ndziev says, who con vinces us that the watchword of " G reater-Bulgaria nism" is no t bad, that tha t watc!'lword covers the ideal o f a "San Stefano Bulga ria". This is where our "allies" who are no w wooing us, urge us to go.

A bad impressio n has been created by the fact tha t the decisions of the 16th Ple num were quickly enacted, while the decisio ns o f the I 0th Plenum were slowly carried o ut, a nd in the Sofia regio n they did no t even see the light of day. The new decisio n s were especia lly brisk ly a nd ski lfull y carried o ut in Gorna Dzumaja. We sho uld speak about this, since in the present situ ation a nd the mood created we could be wrongly understood. And we want o ur criti cism to be fruitful a nd n ot to cause any ha rm to the a utho rity of our Central Co mmittee and to o ur milita nt D imitrov's Party.

Dear Comrades, We, the members o f the C entral Executive Committee of the Macedonian C ultura l a nd Educationa l Societies in Bulgaria and other Maced o nia activists, a nd th rough u s, a ll the Macedonians in Bulgaria, a re exasperated by the unfriendly attitude a nd occurrences of unnecessa ry "vigilance" toward us. There a re no m oti ves tha t can justify the search of o ur premises by the o rgans of the militia a nd the establishment o f a permanent centre fo r investigations here a few days ago. (This refers to the Maced o nia n Ho me in Sofia, editoria l note). Our speech about the Jlinden Uprising, which was sched uled for the 20th of last m onth, was forbidden. The excursion we pla nned for 2nd August was also forbidden to us. T he method cf removing the pictures o f Tito a nd Lazo Ko lisevski was unusual. All this was d o ne to prevent our free 264

gathering freely and freely asking the questions that are pa in ful to us. We have exact infor mation what you a re afraid o f a nd what yo u want; you criticize othe rs but you protect yourselves by ba nning o ur meetings in order not to come to a position to be criticised yourselves and unmasked. We do not unde rstand it. We a re not avoid ing crit icism and selfc riticism . This is o ur banner in o ur struggle against imperialism .

O n the 2nd of this month the re were theses by the National Committee of the Fatherland Front for the celebration of the llinden Uprising. T his is praiseworthy. We are for such celebrations. But we were not invited to the celebra tio n by the National Committee of the Fatherla nd F ron t, and t he celebration was given a n o ffi cial characte r, which received negative comments by the people as a n appearance of a new fo rm of Yrhovism .

The people o f the Fatherland F ro nt, even since 9th September 1944, when the Fatherla nd Front came to power, h as not shown a ny desire to take part in ou r celebrations. By the way the celebration was carried out a nd by the speeches made a n impression was made that the aim was not to express love for the Macedonian people, but to strain relations with them, relations that could be impaired by Sofia at a ny mo ment, as was the case in the past. The trends that show aspirations as to who will maintain relations with the Macedonian people established by fo rce, whether it will be Be lgrade o r Sofia, have brought o nly disappointment and bitter temptations to our South Slav Balkan peoples. It is obvio us it is a frustrated Greater-Bulgarianism, a deviation that must be ad mitted in o rder to stop the comments that even with the Communists the Maced onia n Question remains a Bulgarian national one, in the same way as the adherents o f Karandfolov a nd Protogerov on ce undestood it a nd as those who chatter abo ut the "bequeathed ideals" understand it today.

Nobody has sa id that the M acedonian people wants to be separated fro m the Bulgarian people a nd that the Bulgarian Workers' Party (C o mmunists) and the Bulgarian people have not he lped us. If we said that, it would be a disgrace for us. But it is also a disgrace to deny the help the C .P. Y. and the Yugoslav peoples gave us in the struggle against fascism 265

a nd in the o rga nization o f our Republic of Macedonia. If we went so far as to have disputes a nd d en y qua ntitative ly and qua lita ti vely th e he lp Be lgrade a nd So fia gave us, tha t help would the n lose its ideologica l value.

W e wou ld like yo u to ad mire the d eed s of o ur fathers the !linden fighters, but when you are doing it, you sho uld a lso stress the behavio ur of the ir son s who followed in their foot ste ps and attained wha t their fathers had fought for - the People's Re public o f Macedonia.

The way in which the National Committee and the C ity Committee o f the Fatherla nd Front behaved in the celebratio n of the Ilinden U prising, witho ut o ur pa rticipatio n, since we were forbidden a ny initia ti ve a nd cooperation, has sp o iled the ex pected e ffect of the motto o f "Fraternity a nd unity".

Included in the working praesidium of the National Committee o f the Fatherla nd Front is the tra ito r to the ideals o f the M acedo ni a n p eople, Gorgi Pophristov, who was a me mbe r o f the Central Committee of the Tsarist gang ca lled the 1.M.R.O., in the na me of whic h the following fa mo us Macedo nia n sons were murdered: Dimo Hadzi Dimov, Bozid a r Mitrev, Mitko Surlev, Simeon K a vrakirov, Hristo Trajkov, Hristo H orlev-G rafa, Arsenij J ovkov, Dimitar Agovski, Peta r <'.:aulev a nd ma ny others; as well as a re a ll the Serres revolution aries, young fi ghters a nd a ll the active Macedo nians who b elon ged to the left wing of the seceded 9 th-of June Contra hents" from 9 th June 1923, a nd who together butc hered the Bulgaria n a nd the Maced o nia n people. At the time o f the occu patio n o f Yugoslavia Gorgi Po phristov was o n the side o f those who were given Yard a r Macedonia as a rewa rd for their treachery towards the Bulga rian people.There you can find him in the lists o f those who travelled as chosen delegates fo r the celebratio ns orga ni zed by Tsar Boris, as we ll as at the celebra tion of the Ilinde n Uprising in Bito la, to which telegrams o f greeting were sent by Japanese and Germa n a uthori zed ministers a nd where Minister Gabrovski, a d elegate of T sar Bori s, a ppea red with the assurance that very great care had been ta ke n fo r the Ilinden fighters to receive pe nsio ns, but that severe measures would be ta ken against those Maced o nia ns who ha d proved to be " destroyers" o f the

266

state. And there Gorgi Pophristov, o ne o f those who stood in the first row of the celebratio n, spoke from the spot whe re Comma nder Alekso Turundiov had been ha n ged, after which the party proceeded towa rds the German cemetery headed by a m ilitary band. All this could be seen in the magazine, U mocrpaum1 J1JJHH.lleH ( llinde n Ill ustration), where the s peech of Gorgi Pophristov is a lso printed.

At this year's celebration of llinden words were uttered that cause la ughter. But who wa nts to seize M aced o nia? W e a re not convinced that there a re o thers who want to seize Maced o nia except the Greater-Bulga ria ns, who seized her in the war a nd wanted to preser ve he r fo r the mselves. A great dea l sho uld be said a bout them, since they were those who founded the a lliance with the Greater-Serbia n s and GreaterG reeks, a nd who, according to the Treaty of Buc harest, d ismembered M acedo nia, preserving as G reater-Bulgarians its Pirin sectio n fo r themselves. W e agree with your decisio ns co ncerning the federation of the South Slavs that it would be possible with a F.P. R.Y. which would remain faithful to the uni ve rsal socia list and democratic internation al front a nd we d eclare that the Macedonians sha ll remain faithful to the positions of the F.P.R.Y .. But we feel great u neasiness a t the digression concerning our Macedonian Q uestion and by the development of the Greater-Bulgarian thesis.

Dissociating ourselves from '"the complication s that have appeared a nd spread concern ing the questio n of the ethnic identity o f our Macedonian people and the question o f the identity of the inhabitants o f Pirin Macedonia, we stri ve for putting an end to th e instigations of the G reaterBulgarians a nd a ll the Anglo-American agents who b y seeking Bulgarians in Maced onia a re trying to cat.ch fi sh in mudd y waters.

267

We have made two copies of this paper, of which one should be sent to the Cominform by you and the other one we a re sending to the Macedonian Communist Party.

With friendly greetings, Fo r the Centra l Initiative Comm ittee of the Macedo nia n C ultura l and Educational Societies in Bulgaria : Vice-President : A . Dine v Follow the signall,res o f : 8 . Ivanov, o rga nizer at the C.C. of the Macedo nian C ultural a nd Educational Societies in Bulgaria Luka Gerov, a voi vode from Kitevo in the )li nden Uprising D. Danailov, a student from the village of Balindo l.

G ostivar regio n H.D. Papawv, a studen t fro m Sko pje M.R. Bofojakovski, from G alitnik, a worker in Sofi a Petar Vasilev Boino v, 82, Ovt e Pole Street 0 . Klllat eva, a student from Sofia K ostadin Milev, a member o f the Goce Oelfev Macedo nian Society, 28, George Washingto n Street Ster. Hristov, a me mber o f the G oce Deltev Maced onia n Society D.M . Hristov, a member o f the C ity Co mmi11ee o f the G oce Delt e v Society Sofia, July 1948

P83rJ1e/111 J ou rna l, No. 14, Septe mber 1968, Sko pje.

268

Tuse V/aho v

T H E GREATE R-BULGARIAN BOURG EO IS COUNTERFE ITERS HAVE FALSELY PRESENTED THE HISTORY OF T HE MAC EDONIAN NATIONAL LIB E RATION MOVEMENT IN FAVO UR OF TH EIR ASPIRATIONS ..A ValUE1ble Book about tile Struggles o f the Macedo nian People ··•

195 1 ... owing to the disma l fascist censo rship, whi ch prosecuted every free tho ught, ma ny basic fa cts from the histo ry of the Macedonia n liberation struggles co uld not acquire the right interpretation in our histories and mem oirs. This situ ation en abled the Vrhovists and Greater-Bulgaria n bo urgeois counterfeiters of history to present the Macedonian natio nal liberation movement in a fa lse light, fa vourable fo r their aspiratio ns, in order to make of it an instrument fo r the cultivation of the nationa list and cha uvinist spirit a mong so me Bu lgaria ns and Macedonians. Having a t their disposa l the p ress, the mercenary pens of va rious scribblers and the whole a rsena l of the bourgeois fal se history, in a word, having a monopoly o n the interpretation of the Macedonian Questio n, the Vrhovists a nd their Bulgarian masters succeeded in imprinting in the heads of many people qu ite co ntradicto ry notions about the development, essence a nd character of the Macedonian na tio nal li beration movement, co ntradi ctory ideas which today trouble the minds of a number of honest a nd progressive people, both Bulgaria ns and Macedon ia ns, and do not a llow them to und ersta nd the Macedonia n problem in the right way.

In order to reinforce the offici a lly pushed-th rough version of the Macedo nian Questi on by the Vrhovist-chau vinist clique, Hristo Siljanov, one of the ideologists of internal Vrhovism, wrote a two-volume history on "The Liberation Struggles of Macedonia" up to 1908. What were the aspirations of those who enabled the publ icati on o f that history can be seen from the introduction to the first volume. "The publi• B. ,a ~OIJ. Ty111c. lle111ia K11111a 1a Ciop6 11 , e 11 a , rn Kc.10 11c~11» 1iapo.1, .. llc1op11'1cc~11 11pe1.1e.1 }ea r 7. Book J. Sofia 195 1, pp. 349- 350.

00

•

269

catio n o f this wo rk", it says, " will contribute to the acquaintance of the young generati ons of Bulga rians in free Bulga ria a nd the en slaved Bulgarian la nds with the sublim e m oti ves and the sacrifices ma de so abunda ntl y by the Macedonian Bulgarians in the na me o f freed o m a nd the natio na l idea. It is the o b ligatio n of every Bulga ria n to know those unquen ch able moti ves and a ppreciate the sacrifices given, especia lly in these days ( 1933, T.V.) w hen the yo ung a re being led a lo ng road s d a ngerous for the Bulgarian na tio n a lity and Bulga ria n state". Thus, the book of Silja n ov aimed to suppo rt the vigi la nt c ha uvinist aspiratio n s towards Maced o nia a nd a t the same time to wa rn the Bulgarian bourgeois-fasci st sta te o f the Communist "da nger". Hiding behind the l.M.R.O., Hristo Siljanov wanted someho w to identify the fin a l ai ms o f the I.M.R .O. with the G reater-Bulgarian solution to the Maced onia n Q uestio n. In a masterl y man ne r he presented th e agents of the bo crgeois-fascist clique as " true" representatives of the I.M .R.O., a nd the Serresists - the faithful follo wers of Goce - as secta ria ns, dreamers a nd traitors o f their people.

Thus, the voluminous work o f Siljanov no t only fail ed to ex plain the history of the Maced onia n revolutionary liberation moveme nt, but o n the contrary, it a imed to mislea d those readers unacquainted with the demagogic Vrho vist machina tio ns ...

IN 1956 178,862 PE RSON S I N PIRIN MACE DON IA D EC LAR E D THEMSELVES TO BE MACEDON JA )olS ··The Census of the Population in the Peopte·s Republic of Bulg11ri.i on /st December 1956 - Generul Results··~

1960 In the census o f the popula ti on held in the P.R. Bulgaria in December 1956, Pirin Macedonia ha d 28 1,0 15 inhabi• rl peGpo1111:111e 11a 11ace. 1e1111e10 o Hapo;11rn pc11yfi.~11Ka 6 w11ap1111 11a 1- X 11 - 1956 1. - O/\11111 pe 1y.11 a 111. Book 2. pp. 106 and 11 0, l-h ;ia1111e 11a llc111p:t. 111010 c 1a111c 111•1eCK0 y11 pao. 1e1111c np11 M111111c1epCK IIII CblJCI. Sofia. 1960.

270

ta nts. O f this number, 93,67 I o r 33.3% decla red themselves to be Bulgarians.

178,862 person s decla red themselves to be of Maced onia n n atio na lity, o r 63.7% ex pressed in percentage.

Represented by districts, these resu Its appear as fol lo ws: District

Tota l

Blagoevgrad G oce Del6ev Petrit Sanda nski Raz log

58,256 64,590 48,384 6 1,877 47,608

Bulga rians 26,403 J l ,941 7,334 4,649

- 45.2% - 49.5% - 15.2% - 7.3%

Macedo ni a ns 30,56 1 29,568 40,008 55,373 23,358

-

52.4% 45.8% 82.7% 89.4% 49.1%

According to the census published , Ma ced o nia ns a lso live in the Va rna regio n - 423, in the Plovdi v regio n - I ,955, in the Pleven regio n - 326, a nd in the Sofia regio n - 4,046.

27 1

NOTES ' The Macedo nian Revolu tionary Socialis Group. It was founded in Sofia in 1893 by the Macedon ian socialist, Vasil G la vinov, with the aim of spreading socialst ideas among the Macedo nian workers in Bu lgaria and especially in Macedonia. ' The " Polit ical Freedom" newspaper, mouthpiece of the Macedonian revolutiona ry socialists, published by the Macedonian socialists in Sofia in 1898/ 99.

J Georgi Bakalov ( 1873- 1939). One of the pioneers of socialismin Bulgaria. Great journalist, literary critic and historia n.

• Vasil Glavinov ( 1868- 1929). One of the fi rst to expound socialist ideas in Macedonia and organizer of the Macedon in Revolutionary Socialst G roup. l Hristo Botev ( 1846-1875). Bulgarian revo luti onary, poet and journalist.

• This relates 10 the Turkish sultan, Ham id . ' Vasil Levski ( 1837-1873). Bulgaria n revoluti onary.

1 Dimo Had1i Oimov(l875-1924). Macedonian fighter for the national and socia l liberation of the Macedonian people and active journalist.

Murdered bu the Vrhovists, the agents of the Bulgaria n Court.

• The Milrzsteg Reforms were brought in by the Great Powers in 1903 in order to alleviate the harsh situation in Macedonia after the I linden Uprising. They were useful because they preserved the integrity of Macedonia and recognized the struggle for national liberation.

00 Bulletin of the Temporary Representative Government. Mouthpiece of the Macedonian revolutionaries for the preservation of the independence of Macedonia in 1919. " i.e. the Black Sea. the Aegean Sea and the Ad riatic liea. " This relates to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, signed by the Centra l Powers a nd Russia in 19 I 8. oJ Kjustendfa . Today Cons1an1a in Romania.

•• B. W. P. (C.). Th e Bulgarian Workers' Party (Communists), foun ded in 1919.

11 This relates to the municipal elections in 1920, when t he Communist Party ofYugoslavia (founded in 1919) won the elections in four boroughs, with Skopje at the head.

•• Georgi Zankov. Member of the leadership of the llinden Organization of Macedonian Emigrants in Bulgaria, which foug ht for an independent Maced onia .

18 The Historica l Truth

273

" Aleksandar Sramboliski ( 1879-1923). Eminent Bulgarian po litici an, head of the Bulgarian Agra rian Party and Pres ident o f the Bulgarian government in 1923.

11 This re lates to Pirin Macedoni a, whic h Bu lgaria annexed during the Ba lkan Wars, 191 2/ 13. " This relates to the Confe re nce o f the Balkan Social Dem ocratic Parties, held in Buc ha rest in 1929.

20 T he !linden Organ ization o f the Macedonia n Emigran ts in Bulgaria, whic h struggled for an independent Macedo nian sta te.

21 The Peace Treaty of Neu illy, signed by the Entente and the d efeated Bulgaria in 19 19.

22 Vasil Ko la rov ( 1877- 1950). O utstanding Bulgarian revolu tionary a nd administrato r in the Bulgarian Communist Party and the Comintern.

O ne of the leaders of the B. C. P. ' ' The Balka n Wars o f 19 12/ 13, waged by the Balkan countries against Turkey, during whi ch Macedonia was conquered a nd divided among them.

2â&#x20AC;˘ This relates to the participation of the rightist Bulgarophile Internal Macedonian Revolutio nary Organization o n th e side of the Bu lgarian Court in the September Uprising in Bulgaria in 1923. u The sha tterd Maced o nian national libe ratio n movement united in a new o rganizati on called the Interna l Maced o nian Revolutionary O rganization ( United).

2o This relates to Pirin Macedonia, renamed as the Petrit Region in order to eliminate the Macedonian name.

21 This relates to Pirin Macedo nia.

21 See note 2 1.

2 â&#x20AC;˘ Georgi Dimitrov ( 1882- 1949). Outsta nding revolutionary of the Bulgarian a nd internatio nal workers' communist movement, fo unde r and statesman of modern Bulgaria .

10 The Macedonian National League in Am eri ca. Patriotic progressive o rganizat ion o f the Macedonian imm igrants between the two world wars, which struggled for an independent natio na l state of the Maced o nian people. " Ivan Mihajlov. Head of the rightist Bulgaro phi le I. M. R. 0 .

12 This relates to Stam boliski's govern men t. See note 17. u T oday Blagoevgrad. ,. See note 8.

1 ' Hristo Trajkov (- 1933). Eminent Macedonian fighter for a Macedonian national sta te. i. Tsar Sam oil (976- 10 14). Sovereign o f the sta te of the Maced o nian Slavs who histo ri cally grew into the Macedo ni a n nat ion . " Alexander the Great a nd his people were considered to be barbarians and non-Greek by the Greeks. " Dimitrija (18 10- 1862) and Ko nsta ntin Mi lad inov (1830- 1862).

Maced onian educato rs who did muc h to revive the Literary heri tage. '" Bishop Teodos Gologanov (1846- 1926). Fighter for a Macedonian natio nal c hurch and schools.

0 â&#x20AC;˘ Peta r Po p Arsov ( 1868-1944). Ideologist and orga nizer of the Macedo nian Revolution ary Organ ization, fighte r against Bulga rian, Greek a nd Serbia n nationali st propaganda.

274

•• The Greek Patriarc ha te, Serbian Patriarchate a nd Bulgarian Exa rchate - the nationa l churc hes o f Greece, Serb ia and Bu lgaria - propone nts o f their nati o nalist p ropaga ndas in Macedonia.

41 I. M . R. 0. T he Intern al Macedonia n Revol utionary Organization was estab lished in 1893 to lead the Macedo nia n national moveme nt for the natio nal liberatio n of the Macedo n ian people. ° Corte Petrov ( 1864- 192 1). Id eologist and o ne o f the leaders of the Macedonian natio nal liberatio n movement. Murdered by the Vrhovis ts, the agents of the Bulgarian Court.

•• Vrhovists ("Supremists") - ad he rents and proponents of GreaterBulgarian propaganda in Macedonia . They murdered mo re tha n 4,000 ac tivists of the Maced o n ian revolutionary movement, " the blossom of the Maced o nian people." according to Georgi Dimi trov.

41 J103a journal o f the Macedonian intellectuals in Bulgaria seeking the recognition of the Macedon ian na tion.

•• Goce Dcltev ( 1872- 103). Ideo logist a nd o rganizer of the Maced onian national liberaion movement fo r the liberatio n o f Macedonia fro m the lo ng Osmanli sla very .

• 1 The 1903 llinde n Uprising of the Macedonian people against Osmanli slavery. As a result o f its short victory the Kru§evo Republi c was establis hed .

0 Jane Sandanski ( 1872-19 15). Ou tstanding Macedonian revolutionary. Murdered by the Vrhovists, the agents o f the Bu lgaria n Court.

•• See note 25. so The Septembe r Upris ing took place in 1923 in which the Maced ona in peo ple of Pirin Macedonia and a great number of emigran ts actively part icipated .

1 1 See note 30. " Todor Aleksandrov, Aleksandar Protogerov, Ivan Mihajlov. Leade rs o f Bulgarophile e migrant Macedoni an o rganizatio ns in Bulgaria and ab road execut io ners of the oest childre n of the Macedonia n people.

H Simo Kavrakirov ( 1898- 1934). Macedonian fighter for nationa l liberatio n and unificatio n of the Macedonian people in a state of their own.

Murdered by the Vrhovists, the agents of the Bulga rian Court. s• The Regional Committee of the Inte rnal Macedonian Revolutio nary Organizatio n (U nited). T he orga nizatio n was foun d ed in 1925 as the o nl y legitimate representative o f the Maced o ni a n natio na l liberation moveent o f the Maced o ni a n people. ss T his relates to Pi rin Macedo nia.

s• T he National Comm ittee of the Macedon ian Emigrant Brothe rhoods in Bulga ria was always filled with people loyal to the regime. s, Maced onian emigrant o rgan izatio ns in Bu lga ri a.

11 The Maced o nia n p rogressive emigra nts in Bulgaria who struggled for natio nal liberation a nd unifica tion of the Macedonia n peop le we re continuously persecuted and terrorized by the Bulgarian governments.

1• Boris 111, the then Tsar of Bulgaria.

0 • With the o utbreak of the Seco nd World Wa r the Fascist powers in their campaign to conq uer the Balkan coun tries sta rted offering Macedonia by turns to a ll the neighbouring countries in o rder to win them over to their

18•

275

s ide. In o rder 10 1h war1 1he new bargain concerning M acedo nia, 1he Co mmunis1 Par1y of Yugoslavia proclai med 1ha1 it wo uld struggle for the solu1ion of the Macedonian na tional q uestion wi1hi n the framework of a de mocrat ic Yugoslav ia by tra nsfo rming Vardar Maced o nia in10 a sepa ra te state.

1 • Da na il Krapfev. Bulgaro phil e Macedon ia n e migra nt po litic ian .

62 The p roclama1io n was a nno un ced by lhe Central Commi11ee of the Bul ga rian Workers' Pariy (Commun is1s) on the occasio n of 1he occupa1ion o f Macedonia by Fasc is1 Bulga ri a in 1941 .

62 J oint declaratio n of 1he Communist Pa rties of Yugoslav ia and Bulga ria agains1 th e new subjuga1ion o f Macedonia in 1941.

•• The Region me nti o ned rela1es to Piri n Macedonia.

61 ASNOM - Nat io nal Antfascis1 Libera1io n Council o f Macedo nia.

The supreme represen1a1ive body o f 1he Maced o nian people, which o n 2nd Augusl 1944 procla imed Vardar Macedonia a fed e ral state of the M aced onia n people with in th e fra mewo rk of T ito's new federal Yugoslavia.

•• Te 1sarist fascist regime in Bu lga ri a was overthrown with the help of th e Re d Army o n 9th Sep1ember, 1944. The Bul garia n Commun is1 Party a nd the Fa1herla nd Fron1 as a natio na l fro n1 organiza1ion came to power.

67 BZNS - Bulga rian Ag rarian Natio na l League. SO P - Social De mocratic Pa rty. ZV ENO - Bulga rian o pposi1io n po litical o rga nization of lhe Bulga ri a n bourgeoisie.

•• "Greate r Bulga ria" - 1he idea l of 1he Bulga ri a n reactio naries; it included th e whole of M acedoni a.

•• T his re la1es 10 1he agreement signed in Cra iova in 1944 by J osip Broz Ti10 and Do b ri Terpe~ev, Presi de n1 of th e Bulgarian governmen1.

10 Va lan dovo Affair. Armed ac1io n o f the Bulgarian government in 191 5 10 destroy a bridge o n 1he River Vardar in order 10 prevent Serbia from receivi ng supplies of mili1a ry equipment 1hro ug h G reece. " Krste M isirkov ( 187 5- 1926). Po li1ical wo rke r a nd philo logis1, one of 1he mos1 o utstanding ideologis1s of lhe M a ced o n ia n na1io nal ind ividuality.

72 The M e lnik a11acks a nd D t umaja Uprisi ng were organized by the Bulgarian government to extort positio ns in subjuga1ed Macedonia fro m 1he Turkish Porte. " Cola Dragoj¢e va was a member of 1he Central Comm iu ee o f the Bulgarian Com mun ist Party a nd secre1a ry of the Fatherland Fro nt in 1945. " After the Bulgaria n Communists cam e 10 power in Bulgaria, th e Maced onian emigrants were recognized as pa rt o f the M acedon ia n peo pl e a nd !he ir orga niu11io ns reOected 1his.

71 Ljuben Karavelov, Vasil Levski, H risto 8 01ev. Eminent Bu lgarian revolu1ionaries of the 19th century.

1 • Svetozar Ma rk ovic ( 1846- 1876). Serbian politi cian a nd wri1er, founder of socia lism and fig hter for a fede rati o n of 1he Ba lka n peoples in !he 191h century.

77 Afte r the occupa1ion o f Vardar Macedonia by Serbia in 19 13, i1 wa r renam ed "South Serbia".

71 Al 1he Plenu m o f 1he Bulga rian Commun isl Pa rty men1i oned, d uri ng 1he discussio n o n the so lu1io n of 1he M aced o n ia n na1ional ques1io n, Georgi Dimi1rov conde mned 1he imperia lis1 divis io n o f M aced o n ia during 1he Balkan Wars and o pposed 1he idea of na m ing 1he parti1io ned sect ions as

276

se para1e uni1s. Afler the Balkan Wars, Macedon ia was d 1v1ded inlo four pans among G reece, Bulga ria, Serbia a nd Alba n ia. " " Th e Pirin Ca use" - mo u1hpiece o f 1he Fatherland Fro n! in Pirin Macedonia.

0 • Arsenij J ovkov ( 1882- 1924) Macedonian revolu1ionary, figh1er for lhe independence o f 1he M aced o nian revo lu 1ionary ca use.

11 These are Bulga rians, figh1ers for the freed o m o f the M acedonian people.

12 T he vi c1ims mentioned are Maced o nian fighters for the freedom of Macedo nia.

11 Th is rela1es to Pirin M acedon ia (present-d ay Blagoevgrad). " Over 180,000 people declared themselves as Macedonians in the census.

••a C api1u la tions - co ntrac1s by whi ch the old T urk ish Empire g ua ranteed certain righ1s a nd p ri vi leges 10 som e Euro pea n stales. u This co mm i11ee was estab lished in 1893 wi1h the task o f enforcing 1he Bulgarian acq uisiti ve pol icy 1owa rds Ma cedonia.

•• Dame Gruev ( 1871 - 1906). Macedo nia n revolu1io nary and organi zer o f 1he Macedo nian na1iona l libera1ion movemen1.

17 Hris10 M a1ov,. Iva n Garva nov, Boris Sarafov. Bulgarian Vrhov isl agen1s in the Maced on ian movement.

11 Niko la Ka rev ( 1877- 1905). Macedo nia n socia l isl revolu1io nary, Presiden t o f 1he Krukvo Re public. " C lement of O hrid (-9 16). Maced onia n educator and missionary.

0 • T he Trea1y of Bl ed provided fo r 1he unitica1ion of Pirin M acedonia and 1he Republic of M acedonia wi1h1n 1he framework of Yugoslavia. " T his re la1es 10 1he conOic1 of Yugoslav ia wi1h 1he socialis1 countries, i.e. of1he Comm unist Pa rty of Yugoslavia wi1h 1he Co mmunis1 Parti es of 1he social is1 countries, headed by the Sovie1 Com munis1 Par1y. T his p re·, en1ed 1he unifiction o f Pi rin M acedonia and the Repub lic of Macedon ia. " Nikola Vulic. Serbian bourgeois hi s1orian .

1 ' Traj~o Kostov ( 1897- 1949). Secre1ary of 1he Bulga rian Com muni s1 Party. " Vasi l Kolarov ( 1877-1950). O ne of 1he leaders of 1he Bu lga rian Comm unisl Party and Presiden1 of 1he Bulgarian governmen1.

1 • Th is re la1es to 1he participa1ion o f the Macedonians in the resis1ance o f the Greek antifascis1 movemen t.

•• T his rela 1es 10 General Markos, commande r of 1he Greek Democrat ic Army in !he Greek C ivil War. " There were 1alks held be1ween 1he governmen ts of Yugoslavia and Bu lgaria in 1947 for 1he forma tio n o f a South Slav federa1ion. This was 11 01 realized owing 10 the con0ic1 between Yugoslav ia and !he Sovie1 Unio n .

277

,.

T H E HISTORICAL T RUTH PU IJLISH I NG HOUSE .. K ULTURA'" - SKO PJ E

t di1or- ,n-Ch,cf Dut un (' rvcnk O\\kj

~di1or

llranko Pcndov,ki Tr~n,lu1ion Ednor r ~tt nci,1 Mun h S1cfonovsku

('over OesiJn Nik0 To21

LJ)'-OUI

H risto Hris1ov,k1

Elcnu K r-;1cvu

Prnnfrcudcr ~Jcgicu Glu~nm 1C Prinrcd in Yugo:-luviu hy N IP .. Novu Mukcdon1JuSkopjc 062~>

Pri ntrd in 2.000 1.:op11:,

323. 1(497. 17) .. 1896/ 1956" (093.2) 949.7 17.05/ . I (093.2) THE HI ST O R IC AL Truth : the p1ogress ive social c ircles in Bulgaria and Pirin Maced o nia o n th e Macedoni,in natio nal questio n : docum ents, stu d ies. resolutio ns. appea ls and published articles : 1896-1956 I selected and edited by Pero Korobar, Orde l vanoski : [tra nslated from the Macedonian by Filip Kortens ki : translatio n editor Patricia Marsh Stefanovska]. - Skopje : Kultura, 1983. - 277 CTp . : 20 C\I In troductio n : crp . 11 - 13. - Notes : 273-277.

I. KOR0 13AR. Pero 2. IVANOS K I, Ordc H Y6 .. Kn . Oxp11J1CK11" - C ,c

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