Prespa in Flames and Smoke By Kosta Mundushev (Translated from Macedonian to English and edited by Risto Stefov) Prespa in Flames and Smoke Published by: Risto Stefov Publications [email protected] Toronto, Canada All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without written consent from the author, except for the inclusion of brief and documented quotations in a review. Copyright 2017 by Kosta Mundushev & Risto Stefov e-book edition ************* March 28, 2017 ************ 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS In place of a preface ...........................................................................5 Mala Prespa: division, WW I and displacement ......................11 Prespa after Macedonia’s partition...............................................12 The First Balkan War and Macedonia’s Division............................12 World War I .....................................................................................15 The Greek-Turkish War (1919-1922) and exchange of populations ..........................................................................................................18 Forced assimilation imposed on the Macedonians...........................19 Mala Prespa - Rapid economic development and stiff resistance against assimilation ..........................................................................23 Declaring a dictatorship in Greece...................................................26 Italian occupation of neighbouring Albania with aims at invading Prespa ...............................................................................................31 World War II and Mala Prespa ....................................................32 Italy declares war on Greece............................................................32 Greece under occupation..............................................................42 Macedonian awareness for liberation rises ......................................42 Mala Prespa under Italian occupation..............................................46 Birth of Macedonian partisan groups and military detachments .....49 Bulgarians and the crimes they committed in Prespa ......................55 Macedonian-Kosovo Brigade visits Mala Prespa a second time .....57 Balists from Albania attack Mala Prespa.........................................57 Forming large Macedonian detachments .........................................58 Macedonian language school for teachers opened in the village German.............................................................................................58 Greek resistance leadership liquidates Macedonian partisan movement.........................................................................................58 The Varkiza Agreement killed the resistance movement in Greece59 The Greek Civil War comes to Mala Prespa – Monarcho-Fascists perpetrate terror................................................................................59 Terror escalates with the emergence of Macedonian armed bands..64 United Nations Commission investigating Greek allegations .........67 Mala Prespa a free territory for the Partisans...................................70 Mobilizing the Macedonian population into DAG and into other revolutionary operations...................................................................71 Creating a partisan caretaker government........................................73 Monarcho-Fascist aircraft bomb Macedonian school in German....74 Government troops attack DAG in Gramos.....................................77 3 Informburo resolution against Yugoslavia and the construction of a defense line in Bela Voda ................................................................78 Women mobilized into DAG’s ranks...............................................81 DAG units attack Lerin ....................................................................82 DAG military court imposes death sentences against those attempting to flee to Yugoslavia ......................................................83 Forming KOEM and CPG actions against Yugoslavia....................84 DAG attacked at Vicho and the Macedonian population fleeing to Albania .............................................................................................86 In Albania.........................................................................................96 Permanent eviction through migration.......................................103 A boat trip to the People’s Republic of Poland..............................103 Landing on Polish soil....................................................................105 Prespa in flames .............................................................................114 Legends and Hardship............................................................117 Legends ......................................................................................118 How Prespa got its name................................................................118 Prespa and Reka .............................................................................122 Tsar Samoil and Prespa..................................................................128 Mala Prespa under Turkish rule .................................................134 Stories.............................................................................................134 Love stories from Mala Prespa ..............................................153 Dafina.........................................................................................154 Dinka..........................................................................................189 About the author.........................................................................211 Acronyms ...................................................................................212 SOURCES AND LITERATURE ..............................................213 4 In place of a preface The book “Prespa in flames and smoke” is the work of many years of effort and a wish to write something that, in a way, would be a monographic display of a portion of Prespa, otherwise known as Lower Prespa, and now most of it being part of Greece. Kosta Mundushev, author of this book, was born in this part of Prespa, in the village Rabi. His great love for his homeland is what gave him the energy to write this short history of Lower Prespa and to highlight its natural, geographic and ethnic lines as an integral part of the Prespa Valley. In addition to his love for his homeland, Kosta Mundushev has carried and is carrying with him a desire to say something about the difficult history in this part of Prespa, about the struggles and suffering of the Macedonian people in this region during the many centuries of occupation and oppression and with their desire for freedom unfulfilled. He wants to say something about the many bitter, imposed disappointments and suffering that each individual has experienced with their hopes and dreams being shattered… Kosta Mundushev has written about one part of Prespa, the south part, the occupied part of partitioned Prespa. But Prespa is larger and must not be seen as simply partitioned. The reader should know that only part of Prespa’s history is presented here. However, we have made some effort to also provide the reader with, a small part, of all of Prespa’s history, its legends and its reality. The Prespa valley is divided into two parts; Gorna Prespa and Dolna Prespa. Today Gorna Prespa, a small part of Dolna Prespa and most of Lake Prespa belong to the municipality of Resen and are part of the Republic of Macedonia. Dolna Prespa and the lower part of Lake Prespa, as well as Lake Mala Prespa are occupied components, occupied by Greece and Albania. This tragic situation resulted from the invasion, occupation and division of Macedonia executed after the Balkan Wars and again after the First World War. From the east, north and west Prespa is surrounded by the Prespa mountain ranges called Baba, with Pelister as it peak, Bigla ,with Tsrni and Golovrv as its peaks, and ending at Mount Galichitsa. The 5 Southern part of Prespa starts at Lake Prespa, also called Lake Golema Prepa, and covers Lake Mala Prespa. The part of Prespa encompassed by Resen, along with the plain around the villages Tsarev Dvor, Drmeni and Bela Tsrkva, is the most fertile part of this valley. People from Prespa, especially from Resen, were among the first pechalbari (migrant workers) known to venture outside of their own town to seek employment. During the 19th and early 20th century many even drifted out overseas as far as America and Australia to seek migrant work. Some sought work closer in places like Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey (Istanbul), France and other places in Europe. The Western Macedonian road corridor intersects with the Southern Macedonian and Epirus road corridors in Resen near an area called Makazi. These routes were widely used by caravans before the Balkan Wars. Now these roadways, covered with asphalt, stretching beautifully along the lake connect the tourist areas and the villages Asamati, Pretor and Krani on the east side, and Sirhan, Oteshevo, Tsarina and Steni, on the west side. We also have remnants of the ancient Via Egnatia corridor, built during Roman times, still running through the Prespa valley. It is said that part of the Brsiak tribe settled in Prespa during the seventh century AD. During