From: sachz@montebello.ecom.unimelb.EDU.AU (SAS)
Subject: Greek Macedonian writes about "Macedonia".
Followup-To: soc.culture.yugoslavia.soc.culture.greek,soc.rights.human
Organization: Dept. Engineering Computer Resources, Melbourne Uni.
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1992 10:33:57 GMT

Published in Australian Macedonian Weekly, 25th August 1992, Edition 234.
 
AUSLANDREPORTER
BRSF
60 FLORIANSMUHLSTRASSE
8000 MUNICH 45
GERMANY
 
Dear Sir/Madam
 
   I would firstly like to apologise for not being able to
communicate in German as English is my only literate language.
I am writing to you in response to an article produced by your
agency on the topic of Macedonia. Without trying to be
condescending, I would like to point out that there are many
glaring inaccuracies and falsifications in the report thus giving
the uninformed world a distorted perception on the Macedonian
question.
 
   Firstly, Macedonians are not: Greek, Bulgarian, Serbia or
Albanian. No, we are none of these things, we are simply Macedonians.
 
   We have our own identity, culture and language, and most
importantly we have a past, present and future. Your article gave
the Greek, Bulgarian and Albanian arguments more deference than
they deserve. You gave very little room to Macedonians to express
their views on their own past and destiny. Even worse you made no
attempt to interview ethnic Macedonians that live within the
borders of Greece, Bulgaria and Albania who would have left the
viewer in no doubt that we are a seperate and distinct ethnic
group who have been spiritually and physically divided by the
tragic partitioning of our fatherland at the treaty of Bucharest
10th of August 1913.
 
   In recent months the term "ethnic cleansing" has been bandied
about by the media to describe atrocities committed in Bosnia-
Hercegovina in the name of creating ethnically pure areas.
This concept is not new. In 1925 a vicious program carried out by
the Greeks destroyed the town of Sorovich forcing the survivors
to flee. Over the next five years virtually the entire
south-eastern area of Macedonia was depopulated of ethnic
Macedonians who were forced at gun point to abandon their homes,
livestock, businesses and assets by the Greek government and
forced to flee to Bulgaria where they were persecuted for
declaring themselves "Macedonians" by the Bulgarian authorities.
The Greek government then proceeded to resettle some 1.8 million
Turkish-Greek refusees into Macedonia from Asia Minor in order to
Hellenize Macedonia.
 
   However, south-western Macedonia was and is to this very day
predominatly populated by ethnic Macedonians, particularly the
countries of Kostur (kastoria), Lerin (Florina) and Voden
(Edessa) which is why during the "Greek civil war" Macedonians
allied themselves with the communists when they were promised an
autonomous state within a Balkan confederation by Tito, Georgi
Dimitrov (President of Bulgaria), Nikos Zachariadis and Markos
Vafiadis (both leaders of the Greek Communist Party). This lead
the Greek Government to pursue a harsh terrorisation program
against the ethnic Macedonian population by massacring entire
villages and imprisoning thousands of others. My parents were in
their early teens when this occurred from 1946-49 and witnessed
the execution of many of their family, friends and countrymen.
They were greatly distressed that the documentary chose to
completely ignore this ghastly chapter in Macedonia's history.
 
   It is also distressing that the documentary chose to totally
ignore the fact that the 400,000 ethnic Macedonians still living
in the Greek occupied sector of Macedonia, live in constant fear
of persecution by the Greek authorities if they declare
themselves Macedonian or dare speak their native language in a
country described by Amnesty International as having the worst
human rights record in Europe. Also equally distressing was that
the documentary also ignored the fact that the 1 million ethnic
Macedonians living in Bulgaria have no basic human rights as
well, proof of which can be seen in the report compiled by human
rights activists "Helsinki Watch (Feb. 12, 1991)
entitled "Destroying ethnic identity. Selective persecution of
Macedonians in Bulgaria".
 
   In closing, I feel that it would be far more prudent if in
future when compiling a documentary for public exhibition on the
topic of "Macedonia", that the researchers and reporters are
German, English, Dutch, etc as opposed to Albanian, Greek,
Bulgarian and Serbian who would not be objective and attenmpt to
obfuscate the truth on behalf of their governments. It is with
great displeasure that I cannot give you my name for further
correspondence as I have relatives within Greece who would face
great hardship, persecution and discrimination if my identity was
to be made public.
 
Australian Macedonian
LALOR


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