Appeal to the Macedonians in Bulgaria (1944)

Appeal to the Macedonians in Bulgaria ()Written in older Bulgarian  spelling as "Апелъ къмъ Македонцитѣ въ България" is an appeal from 29 notable Macedonian activists in Bulgaria, they were former activists of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (United), the appeal was published in Sofia which is where it was written at the time during World War II. The whole point of the appeal was to get support from the Macedonians in Bulgaria to participate in the liberation of Pirin Macedonia, which was occupied by Bulgaria during the war. They also wanted to help participate in the National Liberation of Macedonia. The appeal is very famous between Macedonians in Bulgaria for showing a sign that Macedonians in Bulgaria existed back then despite the Bulgarian goverment denying their existence. OMO Ilinden Pirin, a Macedonian organization in Bulgaria would do a similar version with their own appeal in the 1990s. The entire appeal is saved in Macedonian archives. The Appeal also used the motto from multiple Macedonian organization at Bulgaria at the time which was "Macedonia for the Macedonians".Cvetkovska, N. (1990). Političkata aktivnost na makedonskata emigracija vo Bugarija od 1918 do 1929 godina.  Македонија: Institut za nacionalna istorija. p.39

The new Bulgarian power established after the September 9th coup, soon after that began to reorganize and/or close the Macedonian patriotic organizations that had existed until then, such as the Union of Macedonian Emigrant Organizations, the Ilinden Organization, the Macedonian Women's Union and the Union of Macedonian Youth Organizations. The fate of the signatories of the Appeal is different. Some of them soon after had high public and political positions in both countries, while others were repressed or isolated from political life. Overall the appeal had failed in what it tried to do, and that was to gain autonomy or independence for the Pirin Region in Bulgaria. However Georgi Dimitrov, the first president of the newly formed socialist Bulgaria actually planned to give the region independence but after his death his successor refused to.

 Structure 
The appeal starts with "Dear fellow citizens" (which is talking about the Macedonian population in Bulgaria) and then in detail explains the terror the Macedonian population has experienced throught its history, recounting stories of Ottoman rule and mentioning how heroic the Ilinden Uprising was. they then name multiple famous Macedonian revolutionaries, some of which are: Dame Gruev, Goce Delčev, Dimo Hadži Dimov, Gjorče Petrov. The appeal talks about the Macedonian question, a political debate on whether or not the Macedonians as a nation should exist.

The appeal ends with a call for unity with Yugoslavia and more local autonomy in Bulgaria, they also show support for the USSRs army and the Yugoslavian partisans. They wish for end of fascism in the Bulgarian goverment and to accept communism. There are 29 signatures and they are located at the end and they are:
Number NameLocation of BirthPhoto of the person 1 Pavel ŠatevKratovo, Macedoniaframeless|159x159px 2 Božin DimitrovunknownN/A 3 Ivan Pop JordanovVeles, MacedoniaN/A 4 Ljuben ManolovunknownN/A 5 Hristo KalajdžievGiannitsa, Aegean MacedoniaN/A 6 George SarakinovSarakinovo, Aegean Macedoniaframeless|102x102px 7 Aleksandar MartulkovVeles, Macedoniaframeless|141x141px 8 Lazar PopovskiKosinec, Aegean Macedoniaframeless|146x146px 9 Hristo DalkalčevVladovo, Aegean Macedoniaframeless|164x164px 10 Hristo TenčevKukuš, Aegean Macedoniaframeless|175x175px 11 Petar ŠandanovOhrid, Macedoniaframeless|192x192px 12 Peco TrajkovVrbeni, Aegean Macedoniaframeless|127x127px 13 Lazar AšlakovunknownN/A 14 Tuše DeliivanovKukuš, Aegean Macedoniaframeless|166x166px15Georgi DiniševDolni Todorak, Aegean MacedoniaN/A16Georgi DespotovKruševo, Macedonia  N/A17Angel DinevSmokvica, Macedonia N/A18Krste GermovPrilep, Macedonia frameless|160x160px19Filip Pop TodorovGorno Brodi, GreeceN/A20Dimitar HalvatdžievunknownN/A21Ivan PalejkovunknownN/A22Nikola KonstantinovunknownN/A23Lazar BožinovunknownN/A24Goce GrkovKukuš, Aegean MacedoniaN/A25Vasil HristovZeleniče, Aegean Macedoniaframeless26Boris MihovVeles, MacedoniaN/A27Tuše VlahovKukuš, Aegean Macedonialeft|frameless|141x141px28Stefan NanovMalovišta, Macedonia29Mihail GerdžikovPlovdiv, Bulgariaframeless|151x151px

 Sources 

Category:Macedonians from Bulgaria