The Bloody Christmas ( bg, Кървава Коледа, ''Kărvava Koleda''; mk, Крвава Коледа, ''Krvava Koleda'') or the Bloody Bozhik ( bg, Кървав Божик, ''Karvav Bozhik''; mk, Крвав Божиќ, ''Krvav Bozhiḱ'') was a campaign in which several hundred people of Macedonian Bulgarian descent were killed as collaborationists by the Yugoslav communist authorities in the Socialist Republic of Macedonia from 7 to 9 January 1945. Thousands of others who retained their pro-Bulgarian sympathies and pro-Bulgarian views, suffered severe repression as a result. After the end of the Second World War,

Bulgarians Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe. Etymology Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely unders ...

in the so-called "new lands" in

Vardar Macedonia Vardar Macedonia (Macedonian and sr, Вардарска Македонија, ''Vardarska Makedonija'') was the name given to the territory of the Kingdom of Serbia (1912–1918) and Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) roughly corresponding to to ...

, briefly annexed to Bulgaria during the war, were persecuted using charges of "great-Bulgarian chauvinism". This chapter of Macedonian history was a

taboo A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

subject for conversation until the late 1980s, and, as a result, decades of official silence created a reaction in the form of numerous

data manipulation Statistics, when used in a misleading fashion, can trick the casual observer into believing something other than what the data shows. That is, a misuse of statistics occurs when a statistical argument asserts a falsehood. In some cases, the misus ...

s for

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

and communist propaganda purposes. To wipe out the

Bulgarophile Bulgarophiles ( bg, българофили; Serbian and Macedonian бугарофили or бугараши ; ; ro, Bulgarofilii) is a term used for Slavic people from the regions of Macedonia and Pomoravlje who are ethnic Bulgarians. In Bulga ...

sentiments of parts of the local population, the Yugoslav communists started a process of nation-building. From the start of the new Socialist Republic of Macedonia, accusations surfaced that new authorities were involved in retribution against people who did not support the formation of the new ethnic Macedonian identity. The number of dead "traitors" and "collaborators" due to organized killings of Bulgarians during Bloody Christmas and afterwards is unclear, but some sources put the number of victims at 1,200. The idea was to weaken the Bulgarian intelligentsia in Macedonia, to eradicate Bulgarian self-consciousness of parts of the population, and to speed-up the process of Macedonisation. At the end of 1944, a law was passed for the protection of the Macedonian national honour, which legalized the persecution of people who openly expressed Bulgarian self-consciousness. Special courts have also been set up to protect Macedonia's national honour. During the terror of January 1945, on the road between

Lake Ohrid Lake Ohrid ( mk, Охридско Езеро , al, Liqeni i Ohrit , also referred as ''Liqeni i Pogradecit'';) is a lake which straddles the mountainous border between the southwestern part of North Macedonia and eastern Albania. It is one of E ...

and

Lake Prespa The Lake Prespa is located on the tripoint of North Macedonia, Albania, and Greece. It is a system of two lakes separated by an isthmus: the Great Prespa Lake, divided between the three countries, and the Little Prespa Lake, mostly within Gree ...

, and on the hills of

Galičica Galičica ( mk, , sq, Mali i Thatë) is a mountain situated across the border between North Macedonia and Albania. There is a national park on North Macedonia's side of the mountain, situated between the two biggest lakes in the republic: Lake Oh ...

mountain near the village of Oteševo and other villages, more Bulgarians were executed. Most of the bodies were disposed of in Lake Prespa. Nearly all inhabited places in

provided victims for the campaign. In several cities in Vardar Macedonia which were set up people's courts, issuing death sentences over citizens charged of "great-Bulgarian chauvinism". In

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and List of cities in North Macedonia by population, largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Sk ...

. in 1945 alone, 18 trials were held with 226 defendants, 22 of whom were sentenced to death. In

Štip Štip ( mk, Штип ) is the largest urban agglomeration in the eastern part of North Macedonia, serving as the economic, industrial, entertainment and educational focal point for the surrounding municipalities. As of the 2002 census, the city ...

in the same period, seven Bulgarians were sentenced to death. Ten Bulgarians were sentenced to death in

Prilep Prilep ( mk, Прилеп ) is the fourth-largest city in North Macedonia. It has a population of 66,246 and is known as "the city under Marko's Towers" because of its proximity to the towers of Prince Marko. Name The name of Prilep appear ...

and in Veles. In Bitola, nine were sentenced to death. According to Bulgarian sources, between 1945 and 1947 over 4,700

were

massacred A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...

or went missing. As a result of the purge, up to 100,000 people were deported, displaced, imprisoned, persecuted or sent to concentration camps in

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

.Rae, Heather (2002) ''State Identities and the Homogenisation of Peoples''. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press. p.227. Additionally, some 100,000 people were imprisoned in the post-1944 period for violations of the law for the "protection of Macedonian national honor," and some 1,260 Bulgarian sympathizers were allegedly killed. (Troebst, 1997: 248-50, 255-57; 1994: 116-22; Poulton, 2000: 118-19). For more see: Roudometof, Victor (2002) ''Collective Memory, National Identity, and Ethnic Conflict: Greece, Bulgaria, and the Macedonian Question''. Westport: Connecticut: Praeger. p.104.

References

Informational notes Citations

External links

Statistics of Yugoslavia's

Democide Democide is a term coined by American political scientist Rudolph Rummel to describe "the intentional killing of an unarmed or disarmed person by government agents acting in their authoritative capacity and pursuant to government policy or high ...

. Estimates, calculations, and sources by R.J. Rummel. {{Authority control Yugoslav Macedonia Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization 1945 in Bulgaria 1945 in the Socialist Republic of Macedonia Macedonian Bulgarians Yugoslav Macedonia in World War II Anti-Bulgarian sentiment Political repression in Communist Yugoslavia Political and cultural purges Bulgaria–Yugoslavia relations January 1945 events in Europe Ethnic cleansing in Europe Aftermath of World War II in Yugoslavia Conflicts in 1945 Mass murder in 1945

See also

References

External links