Ohrana ( bg, Охрана, "Protection"; ) were armed collaborationist detachments organized by the former
Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization
The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; bg, Вътрешна Македонска Революционна Организация (ВМРО), translit=Vatrešna Makedonska Revoljucionna Organizacija (VMRO); mk, Внатр ...
(IMRO) structures, composed of Bulgarians in
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
-occupied
Greek Macedonia
Macedonia (; el, Μακεδονία, Makedonía ) is a geographic and former administrative region of Greece, in the southern Balkans. Macedonia is the largest and Greek geographic region, with a population of 2.36 million in 2020. It is ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and led by officers of the Bulgarian Army.
[ Bulgaria was interested in acquiring ]Thessalonica
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...
and Western Macedonia, under Italian and German occupation and hoped to sway the allegiance of the 80,000 Slavs who lived there at the time.[ The appearance of Greek partisans in those areas persuaded the Axis to allow the formation of these collaborationst detachments.] However, during late 1944, when the Axis appeared to be losing the war, many Slavophone Nazi collaborators, Ohrana members and VMRO regiment volunteers fled to the opposite camp by joining the newly founded communist SNOF
The National Liberation Front ( mk, Народноослободителен фронт (НОФ), ''Narodnoosloboditelen front'' (NOF)), also known as the People's Liberation Front, was a communist political and military organization created by ...
. The organization managed to recruit initially 1,000 up to 3,000 armed men from the Slavophone community that lived in the western part of Greek Macedonia.
Background
The “Macedonian Question
The region of Macedonia is known to have been inhabited since Paleolithic times.
Еarliest historical inhabitants
The earliest historical inhabitants of the region were the Pelasgians, the Bryges and the Thracians. The Pelasgians occupied E ...
,” became especially prominent after the Balkan wars
The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...
in 1912-1913, following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
and the subsequent division of the Region of Macedonia
Macedonia () is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time; however, it came to be defined as the modern geographical region by the mid 19th century. T ...
between Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
and Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
.
Bulgarian communities inhabited parts of southern Macedonia from the Middle Ages. This continued also during 16th and 17th centuries by Ottoman historians and travellers like Hoca Sadeddin Efendi
Hoca Sadeddin Efendi ( ota, خواجه سعد الدین افندی; 1536/1537 – October 2, 1599İsmail Hâmi Danişmend, ''Osmanlı Devlet Erkânı'', Türkiye Yayınevi, İstanbul, 1971, p. 118. ) was an Ottoman scholar, official, and histor ...
, Mustafa Selaniki
Mustafa Selaniki ( tr, Selanıkî Mustafa; "Mustafa of Salonica; died 1600), also known as Selanıkî Mustafa Efendi, was an Ottoman scholar and chronicler, whose ''Tarih-i Selâniki'' described the Ottoman Empire of 1563–1599.
See also
*Salo ...
, Hadji Khalfa
Hadji (also spelled ''Hajji'', ''Haji'' or ''Hatzi'') is a title and prefix that is awarded to a person who has successfully completed the Hajj ("pilgrimage") to Mecca.
It may refer to: People
* El Hadji Diouf (born 1981), Senegalese footballer
* ...
and Evliya Çelebi
Derviş Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi ( ota, اوليا چلبى), was an Ottoman explorer who travelled through the territory of the Ottoman Empire and neighboring lands over a period of forty years, recording ...
. The majority of Slav—speakers after 1870 were under the influence of the Bulgarian Exarchate
The Bulgarian Exarchate ( bg, Българска екзархия, Balgarska ekzarhiya; tr, Bulgar Eksarhlığı) was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and th ...
and its education system, thus considered themselves as 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 understo ...
. Part of them were influenced by the Greek Patriarchate, which resulted in the formation of Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
consciousness. Greece, like all other Balkan
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
states, adopted restrictive policies towards its minorities, namely towards its Slavic population in its northern regions, as a result of the aftermath of Second Balkan war
The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 16 ( O.S.) / 29 (N.S.) June 1913. Serbian and Greek armies r ...
and the potential threat that Bulgaria could pose in the fear of using the pro-Bulgarian oriented minority in Greece as a subversive Fifth Column
A fifth column is any group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation. According to Harris Mylonas and Scott Radnitz, "fifth columns" are “domestic actors who work to un ...
. After the Balkan Wars and especially after the First World War more than 100,000 Bulgarians from Greek Macedonia moved to Bulgaria, as part of the population exchange policy between the two countries.
During the 1930s a new identity parallel to the Greek and Bulgarian ones began to arose in the region of Macedonia, the Slav Macedonian (Greek: Σλαβομακεδόνας) and was initially supported by IMRO (United)
The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (United) (1925–1936) (Bulgarian: Вътрешна македонска революционна организация - обединена, ''Vatreshna makedonska revolyucionna organizatsiya - O ...
. In 1934 the Comintern
The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...
issued a declaration supporting the development of the new Macedonian identity, which was admitted by the Greek Communist Party
The Communist Party of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a political party in Greece.
Founded in 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece and adopted its curren ...
. During the 1930s under the Metaxas Regime
Metaxās or Metaxa may refer to:
Places
* Metaxas Line, fortifications in northeastern Greece in 1935–1940
* Metaxas, Greece, a village in the Greek region of Macedonia
* Metaxas Regime or 4th of August Regime, a short-lived authoritarian regime ...
, the government endorsed violence by nationalist bands, which sowed the seeds of bitterness that kept brewing within the local Slav-speaking population which found the opportunity to come into effect during the Second World War and the occupation of Greece by the Axis forces.
Bulgarian occupation and policy in Greece
In 1941 Greek Macedonia was occupied by German, Italian and Bulgarian troops. The Bulgarians occupied the Eastern Macedonia and Western Thrace, an area of 14,430 square kilometers, with 590,000 inhabitants. The Bulgarian policy was to win the loyalty of the Slav inhabitants and to instill them a Bulgarian national identity. Indeed, some of these people did greet the Bulgarians as liberators, particularly in eastern and central Macedonia, yet the campaign was less successful in German-occupied western Macedonia. At that time most of them felt themselves to be Bulgarians, irrespective of ideological affiliation. However, in contrast with the population of Vardar Macedonia, smaller fraction of the Slav population collaborated in the Greek part of Macedonia, whether in the Bulgarian-occupied eastern section or the German and Italian-occupied zones. Nevertheless, Bulgarian expansionism was better received in some frontier districts, where strong pro-Bulgarian oriented Slav-speakers lived (in Kastoria, Florina and Pella districts).
The Thessaloniki Bulgarian club
During the same year, The German High Command approved the foundation of a Bulgarian military club in Thessaloníki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region o ...
. The Bulgarian organised supplies of food and provisions for the Slavic-speaking population in Greek Macedonia, aiming to gain the hearts and minds of the local population that was in the German- and Italian-occupied zones. The Bulgarian clubs soon started to gain support among parts of the population. In 1942, the Bulgarian club asked assistance from the High Command in organising armed units among the Slavic-speaking population in northern Greece.[Hugh Poulton. ''Who are the Macedonians?'' C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 1995, , p. 109] For this purpose, the Bulgarian army, under the approval of the Commander of the German forces in the Balkans - Field Marshal
Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...
List
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
sent a handful of officers from the Bulgarian Army
The Bulgarian Land Forces ( bg, Сухопътни войски на България, Sukhopŭtni voĭski na Bŭlgariya, lit=Ground Forces of Bulgaria) are the ground warfare branch of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. The Land Forces were established ...
, to the zones occupied by the Italian and German troops (central and west Greek Macedonia) to be attached to the German occupying forces as "liaison officers". All the Bulgarian officers brought into service were locally born Macedonians who had immigrated to Bulgaria with their families during the 1920s and 30s as part of the Greek-Bulgarian treaty of the Neuilly which saw 90,000 Bulgarians migrating to Bulgaria from Greece and 50,000 Greeks moving the opposite direction. Most were members of pro-Bulgarian IMRO and followers of Ivan Mihailov
Ivan Mihailov Gavrilov ( bg, Иван Михайлов Гаврилов; mk, Ванчо Михајлов Гаврилов;He is credited in English-language sources as ''Mihailov'', while the Bulgarian and Macedonian transliteration schemes w ...
.These officers were given the objective to form armed Slavophone militias.[
]
The Kastorian Italo-Bulgarian Committee
The initial detachments were formed in 1943 in the district of Kastoria
Kastoria ( el, Καστοριά, ''Kastoriá'' ) is a city in northern Greece in the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Macedonia. It is the capital of Kastoria (regional unit), Kastoria regional unit, in the Geographic regions of Gree ...
by Bulgarian army officer Andon Kalchev
Andon Kalchev ( bg, Андон Калчев) (1910 – 27 August 1948) was a Bulgarian army officer, one of the leaders of the Bulgarian-backed Ohrana, a paramilitary formation of Bulgarians in Greek Macedonia during World War II Axis occupation ...
with the support of the head of the Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
occupation authorities in Kastoria, colonel Venieri,[Егеjски бури — Револуционерното движење во Воденско и НОФ во Егеjска Македоница. (Вангел Аjановски Оче), Скопје, 1975]
стр.122-123
/ref> who armed the local villages to help combat the growing communist threat presented by the ELAS
The Greek People's Liberation Army ( el, Ελληνικός Λαϊκός Απελευθερωτικός Στρατός (ΕΛΑΣ), ''Ellinikós Laïkós Apeleftherotikós Stratós'' (ELAS) was the military arm of the left-wing National Liberat ...
raiding the Italian occupation forces in the district. The name given to the bands armed was 'Ohrana' which in Bulgarian is defined as 'security'. The uniforms of the ''Ohranists'' were supplied by the Italians and were resplendent with shoulder patches bearing the inscription "Italo-Bulgarian Committee — Freedom or Death". The Kastorian unit was called the Macedonian Committee. The reasons of locals for taking arms varied. Some of the men were pre-war members of IMRO, and thus harbored deep nationalistic convictions, others because of pro-Nazi sentiments, some to avenge wrongdoings inflicted on them by Greek authorities during the Metaxas regime, and many took arms in order to defend themselves from the attacks of other Greek paramilitary and resistance movements as the latter saw them as collaborators with the Italian, Bulgarian and German forces.
Bulgarian collaborationist bands participated in reprisal missions together with the Nazi troops in the region. In one occasion together with the 7th SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment they were responsible for a major massacre in the village of Klisoura near Kastoria, that cost the lives of 250 women and children.
The Edessa and Florina Ohrana detachments
After their initial success in arming several villages in Kastoria
Kastoria ( el, Καστοριά, ''Kastoriá'' ) is a city in northern Greece in the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Macedonia. It is the capital of Kastoria (regional unit), Kastoria regional unit, in the Geographic regions of Gree ...
, Kalchev went to the German occupied zone in order to start arming villages in Edessa
Edessa (; grc, Ἔδεσσα, Édessa) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, founded during the Hellenistic period by King Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Seleucid Empire. It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene ...
region. In Edessa, with the help of the German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
occupation authorities, Kalchev created the Ohrana para-military unit. In 1943, Ohrana detachments counted a total of around 3,000 members and organized guerrilla activity. In the tradition of the IMRO Komitadji
Komitadji, Comitadjis, or Komitas (Bulgarian, Macedonian and sr, Комити, Serbian Latin: ''Komiti'', ro, Comitagiu, gr, Κομιτατζής, plural: Κομιτατζήδες, tr, Komitacı, sq, Komit) means in Turkish "committee memb ...
s, these bands pursued the local Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
population, including Greek-identifying Slavophones, Aromanians
The Aromanians ( rup, Armãnji, Rrãmãnji) are an Ethnic groups in Europe, ethnic group native to the southern Balkans who speak Aromanian language, Aromanian, an Eastern Romance language. They traditionally live in central and southern Alba ...
, and Pontic Greeks
The Pontic Greeks ( pnt, Ρωμαίοι, Ρωμίοι, tr, Pontus Rumları or , el, Πόντιοι, or , , ka, პონტოელი ბერძნები, ), also Pontian Greeks or simply Pontians, are an ethnically Greek group in ...
, seeing them as an obstacle to an all-Bulgarian Macedonia. The main leaders during the early phase of activity from 1941 to 1942 were Tsvetan Mladenov and Andon Kalchev in the Florina
Florina ( el, Φλώρινα, ''Flórina''; known also by some alternative names) is a town and municipality in the mountainous northwestern Macedonia, Greece. Its motto is, 'Where Greece begins'.
The town of Florina is the capital of the F ...
prefecture, where there were 600 men under arms.
Ohrana activity
In the summer of 1944, Ohrana constituted some 12,000 local fighters and volunteers from Bulgaria charged with protection of the local population. During 1944, whole Slavophone villages were armed by the occupation authorities to counterbalance the emerging power of the resistance and especially of Greek People's Liberation Army
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
(ELAS).
Ohrana was also fighting pro-communist Slavic Macedonian
Macedonians ( mk, Македонци, Makedonci) are a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group native to the region of Macedonia in Southeast Europe. They speak Macedonian, a South Slavic language. The large majority of Macedonians identif ...
s. and Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
s — members of the ELAS. A part of the Slavophone population, with the help of the Greek Communist Party
The Communist Party of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a political party in Greece.
Founded in 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece and adopted its curren ...
, organized itself into SNOF
The National Liberation Front ( mk, Народноослободителен фронт (НОФ), ''Narodnoosloboditelen front'' (NOF)), also known as the People's Liberation Front, was a communist political and military organization created by ...
, and their prime objective was to struggle occupation forces and pro-Bulgarian agents in the Ohrana, and try to persuade its members to join ELAS and fight against the occupation. Nevertheless, in the summer of 1944, members of the Macedonian faction of the Communist Party of Greece
The Communist Party of Greece ( el, Κομμουνιστικό Κόμμα Ελλάδας, ''Kommounistikó Kómma Elládas'', KKE) is a political party in Greece.
Founded in 1918 as the Socialist Labour Party of Greece and adopted its curren ...
were unable to distinguish friend from foe in Slav Macedonian villages. Mass involvement of the population was one of the tactics of Ohrana, which thus aims to provide good cover for its activities.
Ohrana and Mihailov's plans for Macedonia
Ohrana was supported from Ivan Mihaylov
Ivan Mihailov Gavrilov ( bg, Иван Михайлов Гаврилов; mk, Ванчо Михајлов Гаврилов;He is credited in English-language sources as ''Mihailov'', while the Bulgarian and Macedonian transliteration schemes w ...
too. In August 1943, Ivan Mihailov left Zagreb incognito for Germany where he was to visit the main headquarters of the Sicherheitsdienst
' (, ''Security Service''), full title ' (Security Service of the ''Reichsführer-SS''), or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Established in 1931, the SD was the first Nazi intelligence organization ...
. From German information, it is apparent that Mihailov received consent to create battalions consisting of volunteers armed with German weapons and munitions. Moreover, these battalions were to be under the operative command and disposal of Reichsfuhrer of the SS, Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...
. Additionally, in Sofia talks were held between high-ranking functionaries of the SS and the IMRO Central Committee members. Despite the confidential character of the negotiations between Mihailov and the Sicherheitsdienst
' (, ''Security Service''), full title ' (Security Service of the ''Reichsführer-SS''), or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Established in 1931, the SD was the first Nazi intelligence organization ...
, the Bulgarian government obtained certain information about them. In this connection to the village companies in these counties, there was also formed three volunteer battalions in Kastoria
Kastoria ( el, Καστοριά, ''Kastoriá'' ) is a city in northern Greece in the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Macedonia. It is the capital of Kastoria (regional unit), Kastoria regional unit, in the Geographic regions of Gree ...
, Florina and Edessa. These were organized by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization
The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; bg, Вътрешна Македонска Революционна Организация (ВМРО), translit=Vatrešna Makedonska Revoljucionna Organizacija (VMRO); mk, Внатр ...
and were to carry the name "IMRO Volunteer Battalions". They were formed after the arrival of the IMRO cadres from the Sofia.
Re-organization and clashes with ELAS
In spring 1944, the Germans taking up where the Italians left off, reformed, re-organized and re-armed the village companies in the Kastoria district. Soon after the villages in the Edessa and Florina districts were also armed and prepared for service. The militiamen from the Kastoria and Edessa districts were actively involved in the German anti-guerilla sweep operations. In June 1944 delegation of IMRO cadres met up with the German Commander in Edessa with whom they discussed the formation of the volunteer corps. This was in accordance with the agreement Ivan Mihailov and IMRO struck with Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...
and Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...
, which envisaged that these battalions would form the avant-garde of the whole Macedonian military effort in Western Macedonia and would spearhead the drives and sweeps against the ELAS forces. However, the guerrilla bands of EAM/ELAS soon forced Ohrana to retreat and disbanded many of its groups. In one report of Colonel Mirchev to the staff of the army on 5 June 1944, it was reported that the ELAS fighters took captive the local band consisting 28 militiamen. On 21 August 1944 ELAS successfully attacked the IMRO stronghold at the village of Polikerason. During the battle, 20 IMRO militiamen were reported killed in action and 300 militiamen were captured. In September, two IMRO companies were wiped out in the defense of Edessa by an ELAS attack.
The dissolution of Ohrana
After the declaration of war by Bulgaria on Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
in September 1944 Ivan Mihaylov arrived in German-occupied Skopje
Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre.
The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...
, where the Germans hoped that he could form a Macedonian puppet-state with their support. Seeing that Germany had lost the war, he refused. Ohrana was dissolved in late 1944 after their German and Bulgarian protectors were forced to withdraw from Greece. In autumn 1944 Anton Kalchev escaped northern Greece, and tried to flee with the retreating German army, but was captured in the vicinity of Bitola
Bitola (; mk, Битола ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki ...
by communist partisans from 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 t ...
, and was apprehended to ELAS officials. In Thesaloniki, Kalchev was put on trial as a military criminal and was sentenced to death by the Greek authorities.
After World War II the ruling Bulgarian Communists declared the Slav-speaking population in Macedonia (including the Bulgarian part) as ethnic Macedonians. The organizations of the IMRO in Bulgaria were completely destroyed. Also, the internment of those people disagreeing with these political activities was organized at the Belene labor camp. Tito and Georgi Dimitrov
Georgi Dimitrov Mihaylov (; bg, Гео̀рги Димитро̀в Миха̀йлов), also known as Georgiy Mihaylovich Dimitrov (russian: Гео́ргий Миха́йлович Дими́тров; 18 June 1882 – 2 July 1949), was a Bulgarian ...
worked about the project to merge the two Balkan countries Bulgaria and Yugoslavia into a Balkan Federative Republic
The Balkan Federation project was a left-wing political movement to create a country in the Balkans by combining Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey.
The concept of a Balkan federation emerged in the late 19th century from ...
according to the projects of Balkan Communist Federation
The Balkan Federation project was a left-wing political movement to create a country in the Balkans by combining Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey.
The concept of a Balkan federation emerged in the late 19th century from ...
. This led to the 1947 cooperation and signing of Bled Agreement. It foresaw unification between Yugoslav ("Vardar") and Bulgarian ("Pirin") Macedonia, as well as a return of the so-called Western Outlands
The Western (Bulgarian) Outlands () is a term used by Bulgarians to describe several regions located in southeastern Serbia.
The territories in question were ceded by Bulgaria to the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1920 as a result ...
to Bulgaria. They also supported the Greek Communists and especially Slavic-Macedonian National Liberation Front
The National Liberation Front ( mk, Народноослободителен фронт (НОФ), ''Narodnoosloboditelen front'' (NOF)), also known as the People's Liberation Front, was a communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit ...
in the Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος όλεμος ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom ...
with the idea of unification of Greek Macedonia and Western Thrace
Western Thrace or West Thrace ( el, υτικήΘράκη, '' ytikíThráki'' ; tr, Batı Trakya; bg, Западна/Беломорска Тракия, ''Zapadna/Belomorska Trakiya''), also known as Greek Thrace, is a Geography, geograp ...
to the new state under Communist rule.
By this situation, the Macedonian section of the Greek Communist Party created the SNOF
The National Liberation Front ( mk, Народноослободителен фронт (НОФ), ''Narodnoosloboditelen front'' (NOF)), also known as the People's Liberation Front, was a communist political and military organization created by ...
and some of the former collaborators enlisted in the new unit. and took part in the Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος όλεμος ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom ...
on the side of the Democratic Army of Greece
The Democratic Army of Greece (DAG; el, Δημοκρατικός Στρατός Ελλάδας - ΔΣΕ, Dimokratikós Stratós Elládas - DSE) was the army founded by the Communist Party of Greece during the Greek Civil War (1946–1949). At ...
. To an extent the collaboration of the peasants with the Germans
, native_name_lang = de
, region1 =
, pop1 = 72,650,269
, region2 =
, pop2 = 534,000
, region3 =
, pop3 = 157,000
3,322,405
, region4 =
, pop4 = ...
, Italians, Bulgarians or ELAS
The Greek People's Liberation Army ( el, Ελληνικός Λαϊκός Απελευθερωτικός Στρατός (ΕΛΑΣ), ''Ellinikós Laïkós Apeleftherotikós Stratós'' (ELAS) was the military arm of the left-wing National Liberat ...
was determined by the geopolitical position of each village. Depending upon whether their village was vulnerable to attack by the Greek communist guerrillas, or the occupation forces, the peasants would opt to support the side in relation to which they were most vulnerable. In both cases, the attempt was to promise "freedom" (autonomy or independence) to the formerly persecuted Slavic minority as a means of gaining its support.
Aftermath
After the Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος όλεμος ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom ...
many from these people were expelled from Greece. Although the People's Republic of Bulgaria
The People's Republic of Bulgaria (PRB; bg, Народна Република България (НРБ), ''Narodna Republika Balgariya, NRB'') was the official name of Bulgaria, when it was a socialist republic from 1946 to 1990, ruled by the ...
originally accepted very few refugees, government policy changed and the Bulgarian government actively sought out ethnic Macedonian refugees. It is estimated that approximately 2,500 children were sent to Bulgaria and 3,000 partisans fled there in the closing period of the war. There was a larger flow into Bulgaria of refugees as the Bulgarian Army pulled out of the Drama-Serres region in 1944. A large proportion of Slavic speakers emigrated there. The "Slavic Committee" in Sofia ( bg, Славянски Комитет) helped to attract refugees that had settled in other parts of the Eastern Bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
. According to a political report in 1962 the number of political emigrants from Greece numbered at 6,529. The policy of communist Bulgaria towards the refugees from Greece was, at least initially, not discriminative with regard to their ethnic origin: Greek- and Slav-speakers were both categorized as Greek political emigrants and received equal treatment by state authorities. However, certain institutions of communist Bulgaria, charged with the national policy, tried progressively to promote certain selection among them privileging Slav-speakers, frequently named ethnic Macedonians
Macedonians ( mk, Македонци, Makedonci) are a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group native to the region of Macedonia in Southeast Europe. They speak Macedonian, a South Slavic language. The large majority of Macedonians identif ...
and to prescribe special measures for the attainment of their “ethnic
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
” loyalty. Unlike the other countries in the Eastern Bloc, there were no specific organizations founded to deal with specific issues relating to the child refugees, this caused many to cooperate with the "Association of Refugee Children from the Aegean part of Macedonia", an association based in the Socialist Republic of Macedonia. However, the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s was marked by a decisive turn in the “ Macedonistic” policy of Bulgaria, ''which did not recognize anymore the existence of a Macedonian ethnicity different from the Bulgarian one''. As a result, the trend to a discriminative policy, the refugees from Greece – more targeted at the Slav-speakers and less to “ethnic Greeks
The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...
” – was given a certain proselytizing aspect. In 1960, the Bulgarian Communist Party
The Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP; bg, Българска Комунистическа Партия (БКП), Balgarska komunisticheska partiya (BKP)) was the founding and ruling party of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from 1946 until 198 ...
voted a special resolution explained “with the fact that almost all the Macedonians have a ''clear Bulgarian national consciousness and consider Bulgaria their homeland''. Eventually, many of these migrants were assimilated into Bulgarian society.
See also
* Democratic Army of Greece
The Democratic Army of Greece (DAG; el, Δημοκρατικός Στρατός Ελλάδας - ΔΣΕ, Dimokratikós Stratós Elládas - DSE) was the army founded by the Communist Party of Greece during the Greek Civil War (1946–1949). At ...
* Security Battalions
The Security Battalions ( el, Τάγματα Ασφαλείας, Tagmata Asfaleias, derisively known as ''Germanotsoliades'' (Γερμανοτσολιάδες) or ''Tagmatasfalites'' (Ταγματασφαλίτες)) were Greek Collaboration with ...
* Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization
The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; bg, Вътрешна Македонска Революционна Организация (ВМРО), translit=Vatrešna Makedonska Revoljucionna Organizacija (VMRO); mk, Внатр ...
(IMRO)
* Slavic-speakers of Greek Macedonia
, region3 =
, pop3 = 81,745 (2006 census) – 90,000 (est.) descendants of migrants from the region of Macedonia
, ref3 =
, region4 =
, pop4 = 50,000 – 70,000 (est., incl. descendants)
, ref4 = Simpson, Neil (1994). Macedonia Its Disputed Hi ...
* Macedonian Question
The region of Macedonia is known to have been inhabited since Paleolithic times.
Еarliest historical inhabitants
The earliest historical inhabitants of the region were the Pelasgians, the Bryges and the Thracians. The Pelasgians occupied E ...
* Military history of Bulgaria during World War II
The history of Bulgaria during World War II encompasses an initial period of neutrality until 1 March 1941, a period of alliance with the Axis Powers until 8 September 1944, and a period of alignment with the Allies in the final year of the w ...
* Axis occupation of Greece during World War II
* National Liberation Front (Greece)
The National Liberation Front ( el, Εθνικό Απελευθερωτικό Μέτωπο, ''Ethnikó Apeleftherotikó Métopo'' (EAM) was an alliance of various political parties and organizations which fought to liberate Greece from Axis Occ ...
* National Liberation Front (Macedonia)
The National Liberation Front ( mk, Народноослободителен фронт (НОФ), ''Narodnoosloboditelen front'' (NOF)), also known as the People's Liberation Front, was a communist political and military organization created by t ...
References
External links
OHRANA and persecution of Bulgar-Macedonians by Greeks
* ttp://www.makedonskatribuna.com/memoirsPM.pdf Във и извън Македония - спомени на Пандо Младенов, Македонска Трибуна.
Southwestern Macedonia 1941 - 1944
* ttp://www.macedonian-heritage.gr/downloads/library/Stefan01.pdf Modern and Contemporary Macedonia, vol. II, 64-103.Macedonia in the 1940s - Yiannis D. Stefanidis
Im Schatten des Krieges. Besatzung oder Anschluss - Befreiung oder Unterdrückung?. Eine komparative Untersuchung über die bulgarische Herrschaft in Vardar-Makedonien 1915-1918 und 1941-1944 Reihe: Studien zur Geschichte, Kultur und Gesellschaft Südosteuropas Jahr: 2005
{{Greece during World War II, state=collapsed
Expatriate military units and formations
Bulgarian revolutionary organisations
Bulgarian occupation of Greece during World War II
Greek Macedonia in World War II
Military history of Bulgaria during World War II
1943 establishments in Greece
Collaboration during World War II
Military units and formations established in 1943
Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization
Bulgarian collaborators with Nazi Germany
Collaboration with the Axis Powers