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February 27, 2019 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E221 to underline his loyalty: for almost a cen- edonia from 1941 to 1944, committing many Macedonian flute for us as his own small son tury, ethnic Macedonians in Greece have atrocities; many Greeks wrongly attribute looks on. He and a group of friends used to been objects of suspicion and, at times, per- these to Macedonians, whom they identify as host an international music festival in the secution, even as their presence has been de- Bulgarians.) village square, with bands from as far away nied by almost everyone. Most are reluctant When the Communists were finally de- as Brazil, Mexico and Russia. to speak to outsiders about their identity. feated, severe reprisals followed for anyone ‘‘After those bands had played we’d have a To themselves and others, they’re known associated with the resistance or the left. party and play Macedonian songs,’’ he says. simply as ‘‘locals’’ (dopyi), who speak a lan- ‘‘Macedonians paid more than anyone for ‘‘None of them were nationalist or separatist guage called ‘‘local’’ (dopya). They are en- the civil war,’’ Mr. Fokas says. ‘‘Eight peo- songs—we would never allow that. But in tirely absent from school history textbooks, ple were court-martialled and executed from 2008, just as we were expecting the foreign have not featured in censuses since 1951 this village, eight from the next village, 23 musicians to arrive, the local authority sud- (when they were only patchily recorded, and from the one opposite. They killed a grand- denly banned us from holding the festival in referred to simply as ‘‘Slavic-speakers’’), and father and his grandson, just 18 years old.’’ the square, even though other people—the are barely mentioned in public. Most Greeks Mr. Fokas was a student in Thessaloniki very ones who wanted us banned—still hold don’t even know that they exist. then—but he too was arrested and spent their own events there.’’ three years on the prison island of That erasure was one reason for Greece’s At the last minute, the festival was moved Makronisos, not because of anything he’d long-running dispute with the former Yugo- to a field outside the village, among the done but because his mother had helped her slav republic now officially called the Repub- reeds and marshes, without proper facili- brother-in-law escape through the skylight lic of North Macedonia. The dispute was fi- ties—which, Mr. Fokas’s son points out, only of a cafe where he was being held. nally resolved last month by a vote in the made Greece look bad. Greek parliament ratifying (by a majority of Most of the prisoners on Makronisos were just seven) an agreement made last June by Greek leftists, and were pressed to sign dec- ‘‘And do you know why the songs are the countries’ two prime ministers. When larations of repentance for their alleged banned in the square but not the fields out- the Greek Prime Minster, Alexis Tsipras, re- Communist past. Those who refused were side?’’ his father adds. ‘‘Because around the ferred during the parliamentary debate to made to crawl under barbed wire, or beaten square there are cafes, and local people could the existence of ‘‘Slavomacedonians’’ in with thick bamboo canes. ‘‘Terrible things sit there and watch and listen secretly. But Greece—at the time of World War Two—he were done,’’ Mr. Fokas says. ‘‘But we outside the village they were afraid to join was breaking a long-standing taboo. mustn’t talk about them. It’s an insult to in—they would have drawn attention to The use of the name ‘‘Macedonia’’ by the Greek civilisation. It harms Greece’s good themselves by doing that.’’ neighbouring nation state implicitly ac- name.’’ The ratification of Greece’s agreement knowledges that Macedonians are a people in Tens of thousands of fighters with the with the Republic of North Macedonia—and their own right, and opens the door to hard Democratic Army, about half of them Slav- its implicit recognition of a Macedonian lan- questions about the history of Greece’s own ic-speakers, went into exile in Eastern bloc guage and ethnicity—is a major political Macedonian minority. countries during and after the civil war. breakthrough which should help to alleviate When Mr. Fokas was born, the northern About 20,000 children were taken across the such fears. But the process has also sparked Greek region of Macedonia had only recently border by the Communists, whether for their new waves of anger and anxiety, with large, been annexed by the Greek state. Until 1913 protection or as reserve troops for a future sometimes violent protests opposing the it was part of the Ottoman Empire, with counter-attack. agreement, supported by parts of the Ortho- Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia all wooing its Many Slavic-speaking civilians also went dox church. Slavic-speaking inhabitants as a means to north for safety. Entire villages were left An election is due before the end of the claiming the territory. It was partly in reac- empty, like the old settlement of year. Greece’s right-wing opposition has tion to those competing forces that a dis- Krystallopigi (Smrdes in Macedonian) near been quick to capitalise on nationalist senti- tinctive Slav Macedonian identity emerged the Albanian border, where only the impos- ments, accusing the Syriza government of in the late 19th and early 20th Century. As ing church of St. George stands witness to a treason and betrayal. For Greece’s Slavic- Mr. Fokas’s uncle used to say, the family population that once numbered more than speakers, who have long sought nothing was ‘‘neither Serb, nor Greek, nor Bulgarian, 1,500 souls. more than the right to cultural expression, but Macedonian Orthodox’’. In 1982, more than 30 years after the con- the time to emerge from the shadows may In the end, the Slav Macedonians found flict’s end, Greece’s socialist government not quite yet have arrived. issued a decree allowing civil war refugees to themselves divided between those three new Mr. Fokas has been referred to by his first return—but only those who were ‘‘of Greek states. In Greece, some were expelled; those name to protect his identity. who remained were pushed to assimilate. All ethnicity’’. Ethnic Macedonians from Greece villages and towns with non-Greek names remained shut out of their country, their vil- were given new ones, chosen by a committee lages and their land; families separated by f of scholars in the late 1920s, though almost a the war were never reunited. century later some ‘‘locals’’ still use the old Mr. Fokas’s father-in-law and brother-in- ISAAC HINOJOS VENEGAS ones. law both died in Skopje. But, he points out, In 1936, when Mr. Fokas was nine years old, that decree tacitly recognised that there the Greek dictator Ioannis Metaxas (an ad- were ethnic Macedonians in Greece, even HON. ED PERLMUTTER mirer of Mussolini) banned the Macedonian though the state never officially recognised OF COLORADO their existence: ‘‘Those war refugees left language, and forced Macedonian-speakers to IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES change their names to Greek ones. Mr. children, grandchildren, fathers, mothers be- Fokas remembers policemen eavesdropping hind. What were they, if not Macedonians?’’ Wednesday, February 27, 2019 on mourners at funerals and listening at It’s impossible accurately to calculate the windows to catch anyone speaking or singing number of Slavic-speakers or descendants of Mr. PERLMUTTER. Madam Speaker, I rise in the forbidden tongue. There were lawsuits, ethnic Macedonians in Greece. Historian Le- today to recognize and applaud Isaac Hinojos threats and beatings. onidas Embiricos estimates that more than Venegas for receiving the Arvada Wheat Women—who often spoke no Greek—would 100,000 still live in the Greek region of Mac- Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth award. cover their mouths with their headscarves to edonia, though only 10,000 to 20,000 would Isaac Hinojos Venegas is a student at muffle their speech, but Mr. Fokas’s mother identify openly as members of a minority— was arrested and fined 250 drachmas, a big and many others are proud Greek national- Wheat Ridge High School and received this sum back then. ists. award because his determination and hard ‘‘Slavic-speakers suffered a lot from the The Macedonian language hasn’t officially work have allowed him to overcome adversi- Greeks under Metaxas,’’ he says. ‘‘Twenty been banned in Greece for decades, but the ties. people from this village, the heads of the big fear still lingers. A middle-aged man I met in The dedication demonstrated by Isaac families, were exiled to the island of Chios. a village near the reed beds of Lake Prespa, Hinojos Venegas is exemplary of the type of My father-in-law was one of them.’’ They where the agreement between Greece and the were tortured by being forced to drink castor North Macedonian republic was first signed achievement that can be attained with hard oil, a powerful laxative. last June, explained that this fear is passed work and perseverance. It is essential stu- When Germany, Italy and Bulgaria invaded down through the generations. ‘‘My parents dents at all levels strive to make the most of Greece in 1941, some Slavic-speakers wel- didn’t speak the language at home in case I their education and develop a work ethic comed the Bulgarians as potential liberators picked it up and spoke it in public. To pro- which will guide them for the rest of their lives. from Metaxas’s repressive regime. But many tect me.

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