From: "mike vanier" <mike.vanier@canrem.com>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.greek
Subject: (check out this bob)
Date: 5 Sep 92 06:08:16 EST
Reply-To: "mike vanier" <mike.vanier@canrem.com>
Distribution: soc
Organization: Canada Remote Systems


->   Newsgroup: soc.culture.greek
->  Message-ID: <1992Aug30.135050.21666@eecs.nwu.edu>
->     Subject: Check out this Bob. [was Re: Macedonia]
->
-> In article <1992Aug30.111817.16994@enea.se> sommar@enea.se (Erland
-> Sommarskog) >>Aha! So there is an ethnicity called "Macedonian",
-> right? Well, surprise, >>surprise: WRONG.
-> >
-> >Of course there is. Since 1944 at least. Denying facts doesn't make
-> >them disappear.

Once again.  The only people who claim that the Macedonian identity was
created fifty years ago  are the Greeks and the Bulgarians.  They do
this because they currently occupy large sections of Macedonia.  Neither
the Bulgars nor the Greeks can trust their Macedonian minority and must
therefore "keep it down", to the point of denying its very existence.
How unusual it is that in the region commonly referred to as Macedonia
there should exist no such thing as Macedonians.   How very unusual it
is that in the parts of Macedonia that are now occupied  by Bulgaria
and Greece, the Macedonian population has ceased to exist.  In these
areas we come across people who are Macedonian-Bulgarians ,(many of whom
are imprisoned), and Slavophone or bilingual Greeks, but never any
Macedonians.  Some argue that these people in the newly independant
(not newly named), section of Macedonia are really just Bulgarians
who have been brainwashed by their Serbian masters into believing
that they are Macedonians.   Surely the Greeks and Bulgarians can do
better than this.   Considering the intense efforts by Bulgaria to
"Bulgarize" the Macedonian population, their total failure to do so must
indicate to them that you can't change people's ethnic identity in the
space of a century.  Or is it merely a case of the Serbians convincing
the "Bulgarians", to believe that they are Macedonians and the Bulgarian
Government then being unable to "convert" them back to Bulgarians.  All
this in less than fifty years.  The 1956 census of the People's Republic
of Bulgaria showed that the majority of people in Pirin Macedonia
(that part of Macedonia now occupied by Bulgaria) considered themselves
Macedonians and not Bulgarians.  Below is a short summary:
Region                  Macedonians             Bulgarians
Blagoevgrad             30,561                  26,403
Goce Delcev             29,568                  31,941
Petric                  40,008                  7,334
Sandanski               55,373                  4,649
Razlog                  23,358                  24,250

 the result indicates that in the 1956 Bulgarian census
in the region of Pirin Macedonia (Western Bulgaria), some
64% of the population defied the state and called itself by what it
beleived, in the core of its heart, to be its true ethnic identity.
In Greece the situation was significantly worse.  The Macedonian
identity became public enemy number one.  All things Macedonian had to
be eliminated.  The personal names of the Macedonians were forcibly
changed into "Greekocized" versions.  The names of towns and villages
along with the rivers and mountains were also changed.  Other than a
brief flirtaition, in 1925 or so,  the Macedonian language (recognized
world wide), became, and still is illegal in Greece.  Macedonian songs
may not be sung in public, no school can permit any classes or
conversations in Macedonian.   The question should be asked;
why do the Greeks ban the Macedonian language if there are no
Macedonians living in Greece?.  Isn't such an action irrelevant.
Greeks should ask themselves why this is the case.  Call it Yiddish, or
Eskimo if it suits you to, but why make it illegal?
Until a deacade ago, many Greeks obtained their degrees in Macedonian
Universities.   In what language were they receiving there lectures?
Why all of a sudden was it neccessary to prevent Greek students from
studying in Macedonia?   Greek students were coming back to
Greece with the ability to speak in a language that was forbidden.
The "non-existant" Macedonian minority was courted quite successfully by
the Greek communist party until their demise in the middle of this
century.   The current heightened anti-Macedonian propoganda in Greece
is merely a political tool being exploited by the current government in
order to strengthen its position, and it shows every indication of
succeeding.  But even here we have a case of give and take; while
Mitsotakis strengthens his position within Greece externally the Greek
position is weakened.  This is especially true with those countries
which border with Greece.  The first step toward improved relations
between the Greeks and the Macedonians is Greek recognition of the
Macedonian minority followed by the enactment of such basic rights as
the ability to practice one's culture and freedom of language.
The current mood in Greece will probably not permit a solution of this
kind.   It will boil down to a question of human rights.   As a Canadian
of Macedonian descent, it bothers me that my family in Greece must live
without benefit of some pretty basic human rights,  while I in Canada
am afforded all kinds of protection.  In fairness I will say that those
Macedonians living in northern Greece are not starving.  Their economic
situation is much the same as that of the Greeks around them.   But the
current situation whereby the Macedonians of northern Greece are
prevented from speaking their mother tongue publically and the denial of
their culture and history, is intolerable.  I would ask the Greeks to
stop squabbling about a name.  This name is not theirs, they call
themselves Greeks.   Accept the Macedonians for who they are and let
bygones be bygones.   Let Alexander rest in his grave.  His legacy is
great enough to be shared among many.  There are more current concerns.
Economics and regional stability are being put on the back burner.

              Lubi
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