From: gd8f@kelvin.seas.Virginia.EDU (Gregory  Dandulakis)
Subject: Re: The Balkan Dance of Death [Macedonia]
Organization: University of Virginia
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 06:43:22 GMT

In article <1992Dec15.011615.10682@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> gd8f@kelvin.seas.Virginia.EDU (Gregory  Dandulakis) writes:
>In article <1992Dec14.213549.23873@cas.org> vkb57@cas.org () writes:
>>
>>Yes,  there were probably Macedonians that were praying that the brotherly
>>Christian Greece would liberate them from the Muslim Turk yoke.  Maybe even
>>thousands.  What they did not realize was that,  once they liberated them from
>>the Turks,  the Greeks were going to proceed to liberate them from their
>>language, their old Slavonic church books,  their names and the names of their
>>villages, mountains and rivers.  I am sure that the 11th and 12th century old
>>Slavonic writings on the church-wall frescoes did not fare much better.  You
>>know about most of that,  it has been on the net again and again,  quotes,
>>dates,  and the whole bit.
>
>
> I didn't know that the slav-speaking greek macedonians fighting during
> the Macedonian struggle in 1904-1912 didn't know that Greece's official
> language was Greek and not Slavic, like for example in Bulgaria and
> in Serbia. 
>
> You are known into manipulating things around, but not everything can
> be manouvered :-).


  OK. Since I have a little more time now I'll try to give a more expanded
answer:

                                ....


The story starts with a slavic speaking villager in a small isolated
village within the Ottoman state. It is about 6.00 am in the morning
(actually, he doesn't know about watches and times since precision and
expenses for watches are not needed or afforded in this rural and backward 
setup); when the sun starts raising, november 7th, 1904. We are in an area
around Monastir (today's Bitola), part of the Macedonian vilaet.

He has to raise a family of 6 people. His second son died last year
from "a bad illness", according to an elder wise man of the village.
He can barely survive the weather and nature's hardships, but in his
darkened from the sun face, engraved with deep marks, and his rough
hands you can see tha determination to give the fight for his and his
family life up till the last drop.

The sky is quite clear and for that reason his crop was a little
frosted during the night, but it doesn't matter; this happens so
often.

He brought his 4-5 animals in the country side to be fed since he
kept them during the night in the shelter to be protected from
the cold. After that he passes from the village's little caffe to
drink his coffee, maybe to smoke half a cigarette if he had kept
one from last months pack. He could possibly play and a little cards-game
but the last gift from the relatives in america was long been torn 
apart.

The discussion in the coffe came about the riches  in Evropa and
America which their relatives seems to speak about in their once
every two years letters. The same time they have to remember that
one third of their crop has to go the local muslim representative
for the states needs. "What the heck. Why do we have yet to pay
our masters for them being muslims and not have our people to
help us to become Evropa!!!", one of the braver man said.
"Yes but who is going to help us? The Russians forgot us, long
time ago" "The Bulgarians, the Greeks, the Serbs want us to
fight for them but without to give any real help with their
armies!" an other villager says. "And on top of that, everybody
wants us to be educated their way!"

Stavr says: "I want the Bulgarians! They speak my language!"

Nicola, politically more determined, answers: "The hell with the Bulgarians!
They want only to come to force me to follow  their German king!"

Dimitr then says: "I try to read Serbian newspapers and I don't
understand one sentence! Even though I followed one year
in the school with the Serbs"

Stavr: "Did you forget that if the Germans and Franchese and
Englese didn't stop us in 1878, we would be all in the paradise
which the Bulgarian Kingdom is today?"

Nicola responds: " And if the Bulgarians can not get us
then why to be with them. I want my children to stay with me
amd not to leave for the fabrika of Evropa. That's what it
counts! And the Serbs are the friends with the strongest of them".

Dimitr continous: "Listen! We have 1,000 words in our language
and they want us to learn 10,000 such as to understand their
novels, trade books and legal orders. Then why not to learn
the language of our Evangel and Holly Bible! To communicate
with our Lord better! And since you like how the Germane and
Franchese and Englese are doing, then why not to learn what
the best elite of them learns; the millenia wisdom of Plato
and Aristotle in the greek language. That's what made them
rich today. My uncle from America writes this to me always."

Stavr  revolts: "You don't want your children to learn how
your ancestors spoke and how they built our glorious past?
The hell with the Americano and Franchese! I am a Slav.
I am from the Russians; they have the same god like me!
Not the anti-god westerners."

Dimitr angrily responds: "And who told you that my ancestors
spoke Bulgarian? Didn't you see last year that the lucky Mario
got married with a rich man from Solun and her children speak
now Greek? Why not me to be from a mother who married a bulgarian
father?" 

Nicola interrupts the discussion: " I was last year in Belgrad
and I saw that the people are really good there. They have more
things than all of us. I like the Serbs! What's the difference
when you speak to a Bulgarian priest. He uses more unintelligible
words than an arab would speak! Old slavonic language! What is
our language today and what is our wallet; that's what it matters!
If I go to Australia don't you think that I will have to learn
those englese language; even though I don't like the englese
at all!"

Stavr interviens: "The Bulgarians helped us to revolt last year!
They are our brothers! The others want only our fertile lands!"

Nicola replies: "Go to see really fertile lands in Serbia and
then you tell me. After all, last year they spoke as Macedonians,
to help all the Macedonians, no matter what they speak: slav, 
greek, turkish, arnaout! Just be a christian and you would be
named as their brother, you wanted or not"

Starv says: "yes! I see how the cowards greeks and serbs have
helped us so far. Nothing!"

Dimitr immediately responds: "Did you forget how they helped
our fathers in 1975 but the englese stopped them? I have
a cousin whose father went and lived in greece since then."

Then the discussion became very heated. Everybody started on
how the Serbs, the Greeks or the Bulgarians had come and killed
and burned the houses of other people who didn't follow them.

Unfortunately, the future of those villagers was not a good one.
They had to be splitted and fight each other and kill each other.
The Ottomans eventually were drawn out of Macedonia but the loyalties
which emerged after some 60 years of unknown future had created
a deep rift to the peoples' psyche. More than 70 years later
and the Ottoman legacy didn't seem to have abandond them.
Left far behind from most of their country fellows, they are
still clinged into their loyalties divisions.


Gr

PS: Even though the above story was not taken from any specific historical
    account, it is believed that expresses many realities about the economic,
    political, and cultural characteristics of the region at that time.
    The economic realities are not much different in the region around
    Monastir-Bitola even today; just a look at the National Geographic
    issue of August 1990 will persuade even the most reserved reader.
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