Greek Atrocities in Macedonia by Risto Stefov

"Ethnic cleansing" may be a modern term but its meaning is well understood by the Macedonian people living in northern Greece. Ever since Greece took possession of Macedonia, in the early 20th century, the Macedonian people have experienced ethnic cleansing first hand.

This series of articles will present evidence of atrocities perpetrated by the Greek State against the innocent Macedonian civilian populations prior to, during and after the Balkan wars. Most of the information contained in the articles is obtained from the 1913 Carnegie Inquiry and from Greek sources.

Before beginning with the atrocities committed by the Greek army against the Macedonian civilian populations in Kukush, I want to provide you with some background information on the overall situation in Macedonia in order to better understand what was happening.

For some thirty years prior to the 1912, 1913 Balkan wars, the Greek, Bulgarian and Serbian States had established zones of influence inside Macedonia.

Initially, through their respective churches which operated freely inside Macedonia, they employed propaganda campaigns enforced by armed brigands, denationalizing the Macedonian population and swaying it, sometimes forcefully, into accepting Greek, Bulgarian, or Serbian national sentiments.

After the 1903 failed Ilinden Macedonian uprising, many Macedonians lost hope for self-liberation. Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia, aware of this, began to exploit the situation. Again through their churches, they started new propaganda campaigns, this time promising to liberate the Macedonian people.

While reporting Turkish atrocities in Macedonia to the outside world, mostly instigated by their own agents, the Greeks, Bulgarians and Serbians were raising false hopes inside Macedonia. On one hand, their agents were working hard to vilify the Turks and gain the sympathy of the Great Powers and at the same time they were feverishly promoting the idea of liberation for the "Christian brothers" while all along their aim was "occupation and annexation".

Many leading Macedonians, including Krste Misirkov the author of "Macedonian Matters", understood that there would be a price to pay if foreign powers were allowed to invade Macedonia. There were warnings that if Macedonia was invaded, there would be consequences for the Macedonian people. Unfortunately, in view of the overwhelming Greek, Bulgarian and Serbian propaganda cries for liberation, those few voices of protest were drowned out.

By the first Balkan war, Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia, through their respective church agents had established contacts inside Macedonia and had prepared the civilian population for liberation. Each State, village by village had strategically established who would support them and who would oppose them. Each State identified each village as "Greek friendly", "Bulgarian friendly", or "Serbian friendly" based on which sentiment the village majority supported. Villages with strong Macedonian sentiments were classified hostile. Villages with strong Greek sentiments were classified as "Greek Villages", those with strong Bulgarian sentiments were classified as "Bulgarian Villages" and so on.

I must strongly emphasize at this point that prior to 1912-1913 there were no "Greeks", no "Bulgarians" and no "Serbians" living in the Macedonian villages. Statistics produced by the Greek, Bulgarian and Serbian States were based strictly on religious affiliation and not on national sentiments.

Because Macedonia at the time was not a State, it did not have its own church. As Christians, however, the Macedonians were entitled, according to Ottoman law, to pray in their church of choice. The majority, being Orthodox, chose the Orthodox Church. Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia, as Orthodox States with their own active churches, took advantage of this situation and each established its own churches inside Macedonia. (The Ottoman authorities prohibited any other type of organization within its territories).

As part of their regular service, each church introduced their own brand of denationalization policies. Each offered its service not in Macedonian but in its own language, Greek, Bulgarian, or Serbian. Even though their parishioners were Macedonian, the parish registered them not as Macedonians but as Greeks, Bulgarians, or Serbians depending on which church they attended. The parishes also changed the parishioners' Macedonian names to reflect their new Greek, Bulgarian or Serbian identities. For example if a certain Macedonian was a parishioner of the Greek Church, then he would be given a Greek name, registered as a Greek and statistically counted as Greek. If his brother, on the other side of the village, was a parishioner of the Bulgarian Church then he would be given a Bulgarian name, registered as a Bulgarian and statistically counted as a Bulgarian. If their sister in mid-village was a parishioner of the Serbian church then she would be given a Serbian name, registered as a Serbian and statistically counted as a Serbian.

Many Macedonians who left Macedonia for the west during that period still carry foreign family names given to them by the foreign church clergy.

In addition to prayer, the competing foreign churches also offered Macedonian children free education. That too unfortunately was offered, not in Macedonian, but in foreign languages, Greek, Bulgarian, or Serbian.

This is how the Macedonian population of late 19th and early 20th century was denationalized and declared extinct.

Foreign propaganda in Macedonia was so effective that when the Greek, Bulgarian and Serbian armies marched into Macedonia they were welcomed as friends. Even the old guard from the 1903 rebellion joined in and fought side by side with them. But as soon as the Turks were driven out, the Macedonian old guard and its leaders were arrested and jailed.

The second Balkan war was about the division of Macedonia. Neither Greece, Bulgaria, nor Serbia, after occupying Macedonia, was happy with what they had.

Since no division lines were agreed upon prior to Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia occupying Macedonia and treaties were broken as soon as they were made. The three States that entered Macedonia as allies quickly found themselves at adds with each other. Bulgaria who believed it fought the hardest to drive the Turks out, was not happy with its meager share. Greece who grabbed the most territory with the least effort was unwilling to share. So conflict was inevitable.

The second Balkan war was about grabbing territory and exacting revenge. As the armies clashed, there were winners and losers. The losers took revenge on the civilian population by looting, burning, killing and raping the Macedonian population.

"Deny that your enemies are men, and presently you will treat them as vermin". (P 95)

"When you have to deal with barbarians, you must behave like a barbarian yourself". (P 95, a quote from a Greek officer)

According to the Carnegie report, Greece was the first to instigate aggression by attacking Kukush on July 4, 1913. In retaliation Bulgaria attacked Demir-Hissar on July 7, Serres on July 11 and Doxato on July 13.

On July 12, according to the Carnegie report, King Constantine dispatched the following telegram to the representatives of Greece in the European capitals;

KING CONSTANTINE'S TELEGRAM

July 12, 1913.

The general commanding the Sixth Division informs me that Bulgarian soldiers under the command of a captain of gendarmes gathered in the yard of the school house at Demir-Hissar over one hundred notables of the town, the archbishop and two priests, and massacred them all. The headquarters staff ordered the exhumation of the bodies, with the result that the crime has been established. Further, Bulgarian soldiers violated young girls and massacred those who resisted them. Protest in my name to the representatives of the powers and to the whole civilized world against these abominations, and declare that to my great regret I shall find myself obliged to proceed to reprisals, in order to inspire their authors with a salutary fear, and to cause them to reflect before committing similar atrocities. The Bulgarians have surpassed all the horrors perpetrated by their barbarous hordes in the past, thus proving that they have not the right to be classed among civilized peoples.

(Signed) CONSTANTINE, King. (Page 300)

The accounts you are about to read are of those who either witnessed or themselves experienced the Greek atrocities at Kukush.

EVIDENCE OF FATHER JOSEPH RADANOV, of Kukush.

On July 2 he could distinctly see from Kukush that the surrounding villages were on fire, Salamanli among others. Fields of corn and stacks' of reaped corn had been set on fire even behind the Greek positions. The Greeks moreover had fired upon the reapers who had gone to work in the early morning in their fields. The refugees from the neighbouring villages began to arrive upon the heights called Kara-Bunar about a mile away, and were there bombarded by artillery.

Next day (July 3) the battle approached the town, but the Bulgarians retained their position. About midday the Greeks began to bombard Kukush, but when I left no house had taken fire. (Page 300)

FATHER JEAN CHIKITCHEV.

I took refuge after midday on July 3 with Father Michel and meant to stay with him. I saw the shells falling upon the sisters' orphanage. I saw the hospital struck by a shell. There were at this time no Bulgarian troops in the town, although they were in their positions in front of it. The town was unfortified. The bombardment seemed to be systematic. It could not be explained as a mistake incidental to the finding of the range. Quite forty shells fell not far from the orphanage and three or possibly four houses were set on fire. At this point I left the town and fled with the refugees. Next night it looked as if the whole plain were burning.

NOTE.-Both the above witnesses were priests of the Catholic Uniate Church. (Page 300)

MR. C. [the name may not be published] a Catholic resident in the village of Todoraki near Kukush, states than on July 6 the Greek commandant of Kukush arrived accompanied by thirty infantrymen and eighty armed Turks. He was bound and left exposed to the full sun without food or water from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. His house was pillaged, and 200 francs taken with all his personal property. On being released he learnt from the villagers that they had lost in all £T300 during the pillage. Two men were beaten and twelve were bound and sent down to prison in Salonica. The women were not maltreated. (Page 301)

PETER SHAPOV, of Zarovo near Langaza, a shepherd.

He was taking his sheep and goats on the road to Demir-Hissar when Greek cavalry overtook the refugees on the edge of the town and began to slash out with their sabres to left and right. They took 600 goats belonging to himself and his two brothers. One of his brothers was wounded by a cavalryman and died afterwards at the Bulgarian frontier. The Bulgarian army was quite half an hour's walk away. There were no Bulgarian troops near them. (Page 301)

MATE, Wife of Petro of Bogoroditsa, near Langaza.

I saw the Greek cavalrymen when they entered our village. I fled and in my haste was obliged to leave a baby of eighteen months behind in the village in order to flee with this one which I have with me, a child of three. I saw our village in flames. I want my child. (Page 301)

ELISAVA, Wife of Georghi of Zarovo, near Langaza.

We all fled when the shells began to fall in our village and got safely to Demir-Hissar. Then I heard people saying the Greek cavalry are coming. There was a panic; children fell on the ground and horsemen rode over them. I lost my children, save one whom I was able to carry. My husband had two others with him. I do not know what has become of him, and have not seen him since that day. (Page 301)

MITO KOLEV, a boy of fourteen from the village of Gavaliantsi, near Kukush.

On Wednesday, July 2, after the fighting at Kukush, the peasants fled from our village except a few old people. I fled with the rest and reached Kilindir. On Thursday I went back three hours' walk to our village to collect our beasts and find my mother. I found her and was going along the road back to Kilindir with others. As we were leaving our village I saw a Greek cavalryman in uniform on horseback. He fired his rifle at me and missed. I threw myself on the road, pretending to be dead. He then shot my mother in the breast and I heard her say as she fell beside me, "Mito, are you alive?" and that was the last word she spoke. Another boy came up and ran away, when he saw what had happened. The soldier pursued him, shot him, and then killed him with his sword without dismounting. Then I saw a little cripple girl named Kata Gosheva, who was in front of us hiding in a ravine. The soldier went after her, but I do not know whether he killed her. He then came back, passed us and met other cavalrymen. A certain miller of the village named Kaliu, who could speak both Greek and Bulgarian, then came up and lifted me up. The miller had a Mauser rifle. He hid in the ravine when he saw that the two troopers were hurrying back and I hid in some hay. I heard the horses' hoofs going towards the miller. They talked, and I suppose he must have surrendered. He then came back to where I was and the miller said, "Mito, Mito, come out or the cavalry will kill you." So I came out. We both then went to the school house where we found other Greek troopers. I was quite sure they were Greeks because I recognized the uniform.

They used to come to our village sometimes before the war broke out. They questioned the miller in Greek and wrote something and gave it to him. The miller then said, "Let's go to the mill. It is about fifteen minutes from the village." We stayed there for an hour. In the meantime, three other Greek troopers came up from another direction. The miller went to meet them and showed them his piece of paper. The miller told me to gather straw, and he did the same. The troopers set fire to it so as to burn down the mill.

[In reply to a question, Mito explained that the mill was not the miller's personal property. It belonged to the village community, which employed him.]

The miller took away his mattress on his horse, which was at the mill. The troopers then left us and went to the village. We followed and the miller said to me, "We had better ask them for another bit of paper so that they will let us go to Salonica." Then some cartridges which had been left behind began to explode in the mill. This brought up other troopers at a gallop. They fired on us. The miller said something to them in Greek, showed them the paper and they chatted. I saw them looking at me. Then one of them drew his revolver and fired. The ball went through my clothes without wounding me. I fell down, pretending to be dead. He fired again and this time the ball went in at my back and came out at my breast. Then, still on horseback, he struck me on the shoulder with his sabre and the same blow wounded my finger.

[Mito lay down and showed exactly how it happened. He still had the scars of all these wounds. The position was perfectly possible.]

Blood was flowing from my mouth. I hid in the corn all the rest of the day and saw the village take fire in three places. The cavalry then gathered together and then rode off. I was in pain, but managed to walk away. I met two neighbors on my way and one of them took me in his cart to Doiran. There I met my father and had my wounds dressed in the military hospital. We fled through the mountains, and I was taken to the hospital in Sofia. (Pages 301 and 302)

VLADIMIR GEORGHIEV of Dragomirtsi, near Kukush.

I left the village when the war began and afterwards went back to find some of my property. I saw the Greek cavalry, perhaps a whole regiment of them. There were ten in our village with officers. I managed to hide in some reeds near the village. I saw Cavaliantsi burning. About 2 o'clock eight cavalrymen passed and burned the mill. They then went into the village to finish the burning. I also saw our own village Dragomirtsi burning, and heard two or three shots fired. Toward 6 o'clock I fled and on my way met Mito Ko1ev, who was wounded and could hardly walk. Mito said he could not ride, so it was no use to offer him my beast. I left him and went on. (Page 302)

CHRISTO ANDONOV, of Gavaliantsi.

He was beaten by the Greek soldiers. He saw the mother of Mito Ko1ev near the Greek cavalrymen and supposes she must have been killed. He did not see what happened very distinctly as he was at considerable distance. He saw the boy named Georghi Tassev killed with a sabre thrust by a trooper who was one of five. Some way off Kata Gosheva, the lame girl, was killed with a sword. This he saw quite distinctly. He was hidden in the ravine at the time.

NOTE.-These two witnesses were in a crowd of refugees at Samakov. In passing through the market place we inquired whether anyone present came from the village of Gavaliantsi. They stepped forward and told the above stories when asked to explain what happened to them after the battle of Kukush. (Page 302)

To be continued ...

A Land of Sorrow

December 15th, 1915

Everything is in ashes and ruins, everything is devastated. Only the little white churches have been preserved, together with the small mills on the banks of streams: they can easily be seen from the hilltops.

Greek armies had marched here, devastating everything on their way. I do not know what was done in other parts of Macedonia by other peoples that conquered it one after the other: Turks, Bulgarians, Serbs. Probably the same, but here, in the region of Kukush, it was done by the Greeks. You can pass from village to village without meeting a living soul, except for the shepherds and their herds. Perhaps it is a village there in the distance? No, it is all in vain! It is nothing but ruins. The miserable huts have been pulled down. Nothing can be seen but the blackened walls overgrown by weeds. Nothing. Nobody. Only occasionally a rabbit dashes across the field, swift as lightning in the wilderness; hardly a bird fluttering its wings as its starts its flight, and then everything is silent and motionless again, under the clear sun in the glimmering blue light of December. The water is so clear that the horses can hardly stop drinking from it. They drink thirstily from every small stream that we pass by. Fields that could be tilled stretch around us, but there are no furrows in sight. Those that used to till it have been either killed or banished. Macedonia could be the granary of the Balkans. This is the conclusion to be made after one-sees those numerous mills and rich little churches.

Lieutenant V. Lebedev, En Macedoine avec l'armee Francaise. Impressions d'un officier Russe. Traduit du Russe par Paul Trogan Le Correspondant, 88 anee, 10 Septembre 1916, Paris, 1916, p.p. 842-849.

References:

George F. Kennan. "The Other Balkan Wars" A 1913 Carnegie Endowment Inquiry in Retrospect with a New Introduction and Reflections on the Present Conflict. Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment For International Peace, 1993.

For comments regarding this article contact the author at rstefov@hotmail.com