Following the Footsteps of Alexander the Great : A Dream Come True

After three years of planning, studying and dreaming about the journey, finally the beginning of a dream, became a reality. On July 25, 1995, Michael Keathley and myself landed at the airport of a former capital city of Pakistan, Rawalpindi. A light drizzle was falling down; it was about 9:00AM. Little did we know that this was the Monsoon season for that part of the world. We felt everything was under control.

We had a prepaid ticket from Pindi to Gilgit, which is a 700 kilometre flight. We took a taxi to the Pakistani Airline office. There we found out to our surprise, all flights to Gilgit or the Chitral Valley were cancelled. We asked if we could board the next day and they replied that we were to be at their office at 11:00 AM in the morning and we will see, weather permitting. Disappointed, we asked the driver to take us to a hotel. As we arrived at the hotel, we noticed that there were no women in the lobby or anywhere on the street. We do recall that on the airplane the women who boarded from Manchester, England, were dressed casually, and as we approached our landing, they all went to the washrooms, dressed in the Muslim dress, loaded with jewellery from head to toe. The men wore very loose baggy pants and a shirt or cover from shoulder to below the knees.

We had our first different cultural encounter with the hotel manager. We asked if he had a room for two; oh yes he replied, it would be thirty dollars American, but Why don't you have some breakfast first and we will get the room ready in the meantime. After we I had our breakfast, the manager said the room which he thought he had available, wasn't, but he had a better room for $38 American. Fine, we said and we accepted it.

After we rested, we decided to go out and look around. The streets were very busy, traffic moving in all directions cars, horse drawn buggies, bicycles-and on foot, constant congestion, but nobody gets, into an accident, also it seems that nobody moves out of the way for anyone. Small Suzuki cars everywhere, but no beggars, keep in mind this is about the centre of Pakistan. If you went south, where the population is enormous, there, I was told, you would find beggars and thieves. The men were very polite, all were dressed the same, and I mean exactly the same. Only men, everywhere, young and old, but no women.

The living standards are very poor, but they are all the same, so this way no one feels short changed. We were glad we took all the vaccinations back home. I believe that is the only thing that would save us. Things are not very clean, also no government assistance of any kind and only up to grade 3 free schooling. No alcohol of any kind, it is pure and simply illegal, or any other drugs. But the one and only drug is cigarettes and they are being exploited with advertising.

The next day, we knew the airport was closed again, so we hired a private taxi to take us to Gilgit. About 300 km up the highway, the traffic stopped still. We went to look and to our sad surprise the mountain had slid and the road was cut off, with big boulders and mud. We asked the Army men when the road would be cleared and they told us not for at least 2 days. So I took out my movie camera and started acting like a tourist. The scenery was spectacular, simply beautiful. Sky high mountains with a rushing river at the bottom of the gourge. People everywhere, some decided to walk past the slide and continue on to their destination. We decided to turn back because we didn’t know any better.

Back we turned, we were furious, mad, very mad. We thought we were doomed, back to Pindi, again no flights, no roads. The next day, this is now two days later, we had breakfast and headed to a Pakistani government office. There we told them our story and the purpose of our trip. The man was very nice, he told us to forget flying, because even if the sky cleared for a short time, government officials would be the first to board and because no flights took off for a week there was a back log of people. Take a 4x4, which is a jeep or stay here for the duration of your holiday. Thanks to Visa, plus 20% for the use of it, because we did not have an American Express, and they did not take any other cards or travellers cheque. We charted a different course, instead of going first to Hunza Valley, we would go west to Chitral Valley and meet the Kalashi people. This was the perfect destination, because I read a lot about the Kalashi people.
First point of interest on the road to Chitral Valley was pointed out to us by the driver, the road built by Alexander the Great and his army. This road was from Kabul, Afghanistan to Calcutta, India. We stopped to take photos and I walked on the same footsteps of Alexander. I felt very touched, 2300 years later, the first Macedonians, Steve Pliakes and Michael Keathly felt part of Alexander. You have to be there to feel the emotions.

As we went on our journey, the driver again pointed one of the narrow passes that Alexander went on. This pass was called the Malakand Pass, and not so far was Kyber Pass. These are mountain tracks, some places they are paved, but most are no more than 4 feet wide. But the road Alexander the Greats army built was solid. I believe the Macedonians were the first road builders and what other way can an army travel. Most of this road was scavanged and only parts remain intact.

The people in these parts of the country are very hard working. They take the mountain and slowly turn it into beautiful terraced and lush fields. Also the aquaduct methods that they use are out of this world. Every village and every household have water right to their homes. All by engineering methods of redirecting the river and making these aquaducts.

As we took a closer look at these people, they have blue eyes, a fair complexion. They are totally different from the Muslim Pakistanis, in fact they do not want to be called Pakistani, because they are not, they stated this to us. Michael and I even joked as to which one of these men were our brothers. As the day came close to the end, we decided to spend the night at a town called Dir. To our amazement, again more of our brothers and sisters were visible. We walked the main street of Dir. There we saw the small shops where people were selling anything they could sell. At the restaurant, we had mountain tea, thin bread called Chipati, a flat, round in the middle loaf of bread. In the east they call it Pita bread. They also served us yogurt or I call it sour cream, and a delicious plate of cucumbers, yogurt and garlic.

The next morning, off we go to Chitral, a Town and the valley called Chitral. It was about 100 km to Chitral, a very remote area, no road as we would call it. River flowing, rocks falling and rivers crossing and blocking the road. Now I understand how these people remained in isolation. We drove to a height of 10,500 feet. It was cold and windy and you couldn’t stand at the edge of the road for fear of being blown over.

People live and make a living from the mountains. We stopped for tea where a family lived and worked. We also bought goat cheese for the long drive. The speed we travelled was not more than 10-20 km/h.

We reached Chitral Valley. It is beautiful. The river flowing through the middle of the valley. The people have very fair complexions, with blue eyes; mind you there were darker people among the lighter skinned or Kalashe as they call themselves. Sadly, creeping civilization is not always good for some people and some areas in the world. But they must accept change, and as change comes, we lose the innocence and the old traditions. As far as Michael and myself are concerned, we came here in the nick of time. The first Macedonians and hopefully not the last.

Daily, I was writing my findings, as we witnessed everything. Early the next morning to be precise July 29, 1995, we are leaving Chitral for another valley called Kalash Valley. It took 2 ½ hours, over the most treacherous road you could imagine. Again, these are not roads, goat trails. If it were not for the jeep, we would never have reached anywhere. Stones were all over the road, falling everywhere, it was very scary. At one time, our driver, a Muslim asked if he could stop the jeep to pray. We agreed and even asked him to pray for all of us. As we approached Kalash valley, we were stopped by an official and he asked us to record the purpose of our trip, the passport number and the length of our stay. Naturally we had to pay him. They told us this is frontier territory and the locals do not like Pakistanis, so we obeyed as instructed.

As we entered the Kalash valley, we could see the beauty before us. The lush scenery, the rivers flowing and merging, the fruit trees, mainly apricots, plums, mulberries and grapes. The vegetation, small plots of land terraced into the mountain, with fresh vegetables growing everywhere. They grow two crops a year on the same plots, thus enabling them to survive because of land shortage. To make a plot of land, first they have to remove all rocks from the lot, then they built a stone wall horizontally so there won’t be any land erosion, then a slow process of planting first grass so that top soil could be retained. All this time an aquaduct has to be built to irrigate the soil and then ahouse will be built to accommodate the rest of the family.

We were met by a young man called Dawoo, who spoke English. He took us to the cemetary and showed us their method of burying people. He said as far back as approximately fifty years go, they were laying the coffin on the ground. This was a custom which came from Afghanistan, but recently they bury their dead under ground. He showed us a place where they gather during their festivities. An open concept with a roof. This is for the summer. There they dance and romance. There were many carvings on wooden posts or pillars. We saw the Macedonian flower, Zdravets on these carvings although the flower does not grow anywhere in Kalash valley or Hunza valley.

We went to the place of worship. An enclosed room, again decorated with carvings on walls and posts, more of the same and also shapes of the sunburst, Alexander’s flag. We asked what religion they worshipped and they said they believe in God, and if you are good in this life, you go up to a beautiful place, and if you are bad, you go down to bad places and suffer forever. They are not Pakistanis and they do not even like the Pakistanis. In their place of worship, I did see the sign of crosses, here they don’t pray, they sing and dance. As we concluded our walk, we finally stopped to rest and have some food. Talking and eating, we learned they were told by their elders and foreigners about Alexander the Great. Also they were told of their blue eyes and fair complexion and that they are descendants of Alexander the Great. All the countries that Alexander conquered, there were Macedonians living there. I asked them if they knew where Alexander was buried and they said maybe Bagdad.

Ever week they have dances at different villages. Kalash Valley has three villages. That same evening, we were asked if we wanted to go to their village dance. Of course we agreed and by 9:00PM we arrived on an open court yard where the dance was being performed. Only single girls dance, from the ages of about 8 to 15 or 16. They all dance the same as all Macedonians, counter clockwise, with a leader and a tall end person. All shoulder to shoulder with their hands stretched. Young girls in the centre of the oro and according to groups and the oldest girls on the outside. Men only observe. I should mention, no cover charge and no other business was conducted, very innocent. All the girls were dressed with their best costumes. Lovely embroidery and head pieces. The band consisted of two drummers, one small and one larger. The drummers sang and tapped their drums. The girls sang and danced. Men dance in the day time, I was told. The dance lasted until about 12:00 or 1:00AM and off to work the next morning.

The next morning we went back to their temple, although that is not what they call it. We took a few more pictures and then off to another valley and more people to see. But we had to use the same road, it was awful. This is when it dawned on me of the movie “Lost Horizons” Shangrila. In the movie it was snow storms and blizzards, with us it was rocks and floods.

On to Hunza, following a mountain range called Hindukush. We came to an old fort about 300 to 400 years old called Massooch. Here we met the owner of the property, who was a Prince before Pakistan took their title and made them commoners. We discussed religion and most of all, Alexander the Great. He told us that every young man, when he grows up wants to be as wise and strong as Alexander. They even study it in school and he told us that he felt he was a descendent of Alexander of Macedonia, who conquered Athens, Egypt, Persia, Afghanistan and down to day Pakistan and India, after about four cups of mountain tea, we returned to our tent for the night. The next morning, I found the dogs had chewed up one of my shoes. Breakfast was scrambled eggs and tea. On the road again. What road, 10 km/h was the fastest speed for another day.

We are following the hindukush mountain range with the Gilgit River running in the middle between both sides of the mountains. First stop was at a hotel on the road to Gilgit. The hotel consisted of three tents, one for the staff and two for customers. Bathroom facilities on the river. For lunch we had two little fish the size of smelt flat bread, corn soup and tea. As we drove for a few hours, we stopped by the river to wash our faces. Well, the water was so cold that if you were in it for 10 minutes you would be dead. Off we go chugging along 10 to 20 km/h more or less, until the next stop. Along the way, we found young boys fishing. We bought fish as we went on until we had about 10 of them. We finally found a place to stay, a cabin with no hydro of course. The driver cooked the fish we bought. We also bought some cucumbers and tomatoes, and we had the best drink ever, mountain tea. As I am writing this report three young boys are watching us and wondering what we are doing here in their land, but we must drive on after a nights sleep. I guess all good things in life you have to pay dearly, both physically and financially in order to see or feel.

On the road again. Now the Hindukush mountains become the Karakoram mountains. Spectacular view as usual and the road is called the Karakoram highway, built by China and Pakistan. Finally we reach Gilgit and rested at the Chinar Inn. We finally ordered a can of beer each, cool and delicious. After we drank it, we found out that it was non alcoholic which suited us just fine. We forgot that alcohol is illegal in Pakistan. I admire the Muslim religion, no alcohol. The next morning we are headed towards a town called Karimabad. As you know Gilgit is in Hunza valley. Along the way we stopped to buy apricots, mulberries and grapes, mangos and vegetables. We found a good stream and there we stopped for a picnic. At Karimabad, there was no room so we drove 2 km and came to a village called Altit. We found room here at a hotel called Kissar Inn. A real dream place, a beautiful grape covered shelter throughout the whole courtyard. In front, the mountain Rakaposhi, show capped. We even witnessed an avalanche. A beautiful sight all around us. We decided to have a shower, a very cold shower naturally. That same day we visited a fort called Fort Altit. As we entered the fort, we saw carvings of the flower Zdravets and the Sunburst. After the fort, we went shopping for souveniers and I mean real antiques, carvings and whatever you wished.

The following morning we went to visit the Mir of Hunza. We had a 9:30 AM appointment. A real gentleman, but also a rich one. We told him we are Macedonian and he said he was a descendent of Alexander the Great. We had about a two hour meeting. We covered a lot including the Muslims in Macedonia. He didn’t know there were Muslims in Europe. I gave him presents that I brought along. I should say that I gave presents everywhere I met people of interest to me. He loved the Macedonian Flag. He said that he would make every effort to adopt it as the flag of Hunza. He asked what Macedonia exported because he was very interested in us. I told him we export tobacco, shoes, clothes, jam and wines. He wants closer ties with us and the Republic. In the mean time he wants us to send him anything he could display at all of his hotels. As we departed he told us to stay at his brother’s Inn along the way because it had a museum. What a store, again we saw ancient souveniers, the Zdravets, the flag and real artistic works of art. The museum person told us that a particular stone was from the time of Alexander. I held it in my hand, I was very excited.

The next day we parted for China. We are on the Karakoram mountain range and Karakoram highway and the Gilgit river becomes the Hunza river. What a road, they call it the highway to Heavan, very scenic and very dangerous, rock slides and mud slides. Finally we reached China. The elevation was 17,000 feet above sea level. You could not run around here. I tried and got dizzy, then I realized the air is very thin. We met some Chinese tourists and naturally we told them we were Macedonians from the land of Alexander the Great. By now we weren’t surprised to hear that everybody knew of Alexander of Macedonia. As we left for Gilgit, we stopped along a beautiful river, a true turquoise colour, then we bought some fish and the young man cooked them for us, and made us tea. I believe we got hosed at the next town, which is normal, small amounts to us, but large for them.

The next day the driver took us and showed us his home. Five miles on the mountain, a one room house, dirt floor, chickens living under the bed, the stable was the next room. He had one bull, one water buffalo and two baby ones. He had three girls and two boys. His wife and mother cooked dinner for us, fried meat, okra, yogurt and tea. Inat, the driver, wanted us to sleep at his home that night, but there was no room. He was going to sleep in the stable if we stayed. So we decided to got to the nearest town called Balakose. There we booked at the hotel, had a shower and did our last clothing wash in a pail. The next day will be our last in Pakistan.

We went to a town called Taxila with plenty of history. A monestary with immense Macedonian information, a tremendous find for us. Everywhere we looked, we found history of Alexander. At the souvenir shop we gave the owner the Macedonian flag. At first he didn’t believe, but when he opened a book of all the countries of the world, sure enough there was Macedonia with its flag.

I urge all Macedonians wherever you may be, do not wait for someone else to write your history. Go out and tell the world the truth, see for yourselves, what is out there waiting for you. We must change the course that others took to falsify our history. We are as old as the Egyptians. We did have an Empire, which lasted 500 years. Alexander’s adventure took him about 7,000 miles, to promote culture. We travelled about 200 miles following in his foot steps. Imagine what is out there for us to find, more and more of our roots.

AEGEAN PART OF MACEDONIA AFTER THE BALKAN WARS

1. Partitions and Colonization

After the Balkan Wars (1912-1913), the First World War (1914-1918) and especially after the Peace Treaties of Lausanne (1923), which gave the Macedonian issue a central place, there began a great ethnic cleansing of Macedonians, who in 1912 had numbered 374,000, from the Aegean part of Macedonia. Disregarding the principle of respect for minority rights within existing states, the negotiations in Lausanne accepted the principle of an obligatory resettlement of Christians from Turkey (Greeks, Turkophones, etc.) and of Moslems from Greece (Turks, Macedonian Moslems, etc.). Under the convention for obligatory emigration, 350,000 Moslems were expelled from the Aegean part of Macedonia. 40,000 of these were Macedonian Moslems. In place of the Macedonians expelled to Bulgaria and Turkey (a total of 126,000) the Greek state resettled 618,000 persons of Greek and non-Greek origin in the Aegean part of Macedonia. This heterogeneous population, colonized in the Aegean part of Macedonia in the period between the two world wars, came from other parts of Greece, as well as from Asia Minor, the Black Sea region, the Caucasus, western Thrace, Bulgaria and other places. The large majority of the refugee Christian population was settled in villages throughout the Aegean part of Macedonia, thus creating what has become known as the village, or agricultural, colonization; and a smaller number were colonized in towns, creating the so-called urban colonization. 134 This large colonization effected by Greece resulted in a major change in the historical status of the Macedonian language. Once the language used by most, it was now afforded only the status of the language of a minority, or the status of a family language, which was spoken by 240,000 Macedonians. The large ethnic changes were the cause of changes in the status of the Greek language as well. From being the language of a minority, it now became the most used language, being imposed even on the Armenians, the "Turkophones", the in-comers from among the various Caucasian peoples, etc. With the imposition of the Greek language and with the help of mixed marriages, a new Greek nation was being created in the Aegean part of Macedonia. The colonization by this population, whom the Macedonians called madziri (in-comers, foreigners), resulted in the Aegean part of Macedonia losing its Macedonian ethnic character. The Macedonians (240,000) became a minority; they were present as a majority only in the western part of the Aegean part of Macedonia (Kostur, Lerin and Voden regions). The large colonization brought about by the Greeks was followed by a law passed by the Greek government in 1926 on the change of the toponymy of the Aegean part of Macedonia. All villages, towns, rivers and mountains were renamed and given Greek names. The Greek state achieved this through a policy of state terror. As early as the period of the Balkan War of 1913 Greece had begun the ethnic genocide of the Macedonian people. The cruelty displayed by the Greek soldiers in their dealings towards the Macedonian people was merciless. Following the political partition of Macedonia in 1913, Greece launched upon an active policy of the denial of the nationality and the assimilation of the Macedonians. The name Macedonian and the Macedonian language were prohibited and the Macedonians were referred to as Bulgarians, Slavophone Greeks or simply "endopes" (natives). At the same time, all the Macedonians were forced to change their names and surnames, the latter having to end in -is, -os or -poulos. With the denial of the Macedonian nation went the non-recognition of the Macedonian language. It was prohibited, its standing was minimized and it was considered a barbarian language, unworthy of a cultured and civilized citizen. Its use in personal communication, between parents and children, among villagers, at weddings and funerals, was strictly forbidden. Defiance of this ban produced Draconian measures, ranging from moral and mental maltreatment to a "language tax" on each Macedonian word that was uttered. The written use of Macedonian was also strictly prohibited, and Macedonian literacy was being eliminated from the churches, monuments and tombstones. All the churches were given Greek names. The attacks on the Macedonian language culminated at the time of Ioannis Metaxas (1936). General Metaxas banned the use of Macedonian not only in everyday life in the villages, in the market-place, in ordinary and natural human communications and at funerals, but also within the family circle. Adult Macedonians, regardless of their age, were forced to attend what were known as evening schools and to learn "the melodious Greek language". The violation of the ban on the use of the Macedonian language in the villages, market-places or the closed circle of the family caused great numbers of Macedonians to be convicted and deported to desolate Greek islands.

2. The Athens ABECEDAR Case

By signing the Treaty of Sevres on 10th August, 1920, the Greek government undertook certain obligations regarding "the protection of the non-Greek national minorities in Greece". Articles 7, 8 and 9 of this treaty stipulated precisely the free use of the minorities' language, education, religious practice, etc. Bulgaria and the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes interested themselves in the implementation of this treaty, and when Greece realized it was in its interest to sign the "Lesser Protocols" (League of Nations, Geneva, 29th September 1924) on the protection of the Greek minority in Bulgaria and the reciprocal protection of the Bulgarian minority in Greece, Sofia launched a campaign in support of the activities initiated by the Joint Greek-Bulgarian Commission for the ,'voluntary" exchange of minorities. Large numbers of Macedonians were forcibly moved to Bulgaria, and Orthodox Christians from Turkey, Bulgaria and other places were brought to the Aegean part of Macedonia where, as Greeks, they took over the Macedonians' property. However, since this met with resolute opposition not only in Sofia but in Belgrade as well, the Greek parliament did not ratify certain relevant clauses of the "Lesser Protocols". In March 1925 the Council of the League of Nations concerned itself with the situation so created and addressed three questions to the Greek government, insisting particularly on a reply on the measures taken with regards to the needs, the education and the freedom of religious practice of the "Slav speaking minority" in Greece. These documents treated the Macedonians neither as a Serbian nor as a Bulgarian minority, but as a "Slav-speaking minority". In its reply the Greek government categorically denied the Bulgarian government the right to be interested in the "Slav-speaking minority", claiming that only the League of Nations could have and had the right to intervene with regard to the rights of this minority. Greece stated that no steps were taken for the protection of the "Slav-speaking minority in Greece" as it had been thought that the convention on reciprocal resettlement would result in "the moving of all Macedonians" beyond the borders of Greece. The Greek government also notified the League of Nations that "measures were being taken towards the opening of schools with instruction in the Slav language in the following school year of 1925/26" and towards granting freedom to practice religion in the Slav language. The primer intended for the Macedonian children in this part of Macedonia, entitled ABECEDAR, was offered as an argument in support of this statement. This primer, prepared by a special government commission and published by the Greek government in Athens in 1925, was written in the Lerin-Bitola vernacular (even though Bitola was not within the Greek borders!) but printed in a specially adapted Latin alphabet (instead of the traditional Cyrillic, which was the official alphabet of Bulgaria and Serbia). Many primers written mainly in Macedonian and intended for schools in Macedonia were published in the 19th century, but this was the first primer for Macedonians written and published by a legitimate government for its citizens and under the aegis of the League of Nations. This significant act on the part of the Greek government was condemned outright by both Belgrade and Sofia. The former proved that those for whom the primer was intended were in fact "Serbs", whereas the latter claimed that they were "Bulgarians". Bulgaria commissioned its outstanding philologists and Slavists to help its diplomats and Belgrade inspired petitions from two ailari villages (written in Serbian!) which were sent to the League of Nations. These petitions stated that the signatories were "Serbs by nationality" and that they demanded their rights "as a national minority" and also a "Serbian school" in order to "protect their language from enforced Graecization". At the same time, propaganda activities were undertaken among the population of these villages, promising free land and Serbian priests and teachers to those who declared themselves as Serbs. The Greek government's immediate response was another petition from the same village (Birinci), signed 16th October 1925, in which the signatories claimed that "in this region there are no Serbs, nor are there any Serbian institutions, and consequently the Serbian language is not used". The League of Nations used this statement to ask, in writing, the following question: the Greek government claims that this population does not speak Serbian, but does not say "what the language they speak in is". At the last moment before the deadline the Greek government replied by cable saying that "the population of these villages knows neither the Serbian nor the Bulgarian language and speaks nothing but a Slav-Macedonian idiom". Thus the Greek government officially recognized for the first time the separate national entity of the Macedonians within Greece's borders, which is also clearly confirmed by the pure language of the pnmer, ABECEDAR, published in Greece. Following the stormy and violent reaction in the press of the three monarchies the Greek government decided, with relief, not to introduce the primer, which was already published, into Macedonian schools.

3. Change of Toponyms

Immediately after the Bucharest Peace Treaty, when it became quite clear that Greece had usurped territory which did not belong to it either by the ethnic structure of the population or geographically, the Greek government conducted a census of the population in the new lands. According to this census the Aegean part of Macedonia numbered 1,160,477 inhabitants. In 1917'the law known under the number 1051 was passed, article 6 of which established the formation and functioning of the town and village municipalities of the New Lands. On 10th October 1919 the Commission on Toponym in Greece issued a circular letter which contained instructions for the choice of place-names. The circular letter from the Commission was immediately followed by a booklet by N. Politis entitled "Advice on the Change of the Names of Municipalities and Villages" (Athens, 1920), published by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Greece. At the same time, special sub-commissions were formed in the newly-established districts in the Aegean part of Macedonia, whose task it was to study the problem on the spot and to suggest new names for the villages and towns in the respective districts. In the spirit of this letter, in 1922, the Commission on Toponyms of Greece issued a more detailed statement under the number 426. This Commission had intensified its activities and was now giving concrete suggestions. However, owing to the Graeco-Turkish War, the still undefined peace agreement with Turkey and also the great migrations of the population between Aegean Macedonia and Turkey and the forced movement of an estimated 33,000 Macedonians to Bulgaria (imposed by the Neuilly Convention, signed by Bulgaria and Greece, for "voluntary" resettlement) the process of renaming was slightly slowed down. Thus in the period from 1918 to 1925 inclusive, 76 centres of population in Aegean Macedonia were renamed: in 1918 - one; in 1919 - two; in 1920 - two; in 1921 - two; in 1922 - eighteen; in 1923 - eighteen; in t924 - six and in 1925 - twenty-six. But as soon as the processes of migration came to an end and the position of the state was strengthened, and, following the legislative orders of 17th September 1926, published in the "Government Gazette" N2 331, 21st September 1926, and the Decision of the Ministerial Council dated 10th November 1927, and published in the Government Gazette S2 287, 13th November 1927, the process of renaming the inhabited places was accelerated to an incredible degree. Consequently, in the course of 1926, 440 places in the Aegean part of Macedonia were renamed: 149 in 1927, 835 and-in 1928, 212, i.e. in only three years , 1926, 1927 and 1928, 1,497 places in the Aegean part of Macedonia were renamed. By the end of 1928 most of the centres of population in the Aegean part of Macedonia had been given new names, but the Greek state continued the process by a gradual perfection of the system of renaming, effected through new laws and new instructions. On t3th March 1929 the special law known under its number, 4,096, was passed and published in the "Government Gazette" S-- 99 of 13th March 1929. This law contained detailed instructions and directives as to the process of renaming places. By the force of this law and the earlier instructions, amended by Law Ng 6,429 of 18th June 1935, Law S2 1418 of 22 November 1938, Law N2 697 of 4th December 1945 and many other instructions, legislative orders and other enactments, the process of renaming the inhabited areas has been carried on to this day, taking care of each and every geographical name of suspicious origin throughout Macedonia, including entirely insignificant places, all aimed at erasing any possible Slav trace from the Aegean part of Macedonia and from the whole of Greece. With these laws, instructions and other enactments, the district commissions in charge of the change of place names and the Principal Commission at the Ministerial Council of Greece (established as early as 1909) enforced many more changes. In the period from 1929 to 1940 inclusive, another 39 places in the Aegean part of Macedonia were renamed, and after World War II (up to 1979 inclusive) yet another 135 places in this part of Macedonia were renamed. An estimated total of 1,666 cities, towns and villages were renamed in the Aegean part of Macedonia in the period from 1918 to 1970 inclusive. This number does not include those inhabited places the renaming of which has not been announced in the "Government Gazette", which has been taken as the exclusive source for the figures and the dynamics of renaming given here by years and districts. Neither does it include the numerous Macedonian settlements named after saints, the names of which official Greece simply translated from the Macedonian into the Greek language.

Renamed centres of population in the Aegean part of Macedonia by district

1. Ber - 49; 2. Negush - 16; 3. Greven - 82; 4. Voden - 34; 5. Enidzevardar - 56; 6. Meglen - 48; 7. Drama - 233; 8. Kavala - 24; 9. Pravishta - 36; 10. Sari shaban - 38; 11. Tasos - 3; 12. Katerini 42; 13. Kajlari - 32; 14. Kozzani - 88; 15. Naselichka - 72; 16. Gumendze 29; 17. Kukush - 179; 18. Kostur 104; 19. Lerin - 101; 20. Valovishta 84; 21. Zihneni - 20; 22. Nigride - 35; 23 Ser - 55; 24. Lagadin 76; 25. Salonica - 78; 26. Larigovo - 6; 27. Halkidiki - 40; or a total of 1,666.

Renamed places in the Aegean part of Macedonia by years

1918 - 1; 1919 - 2; 1920 - 2; 1922 - 19; 1923 - 18; 1924 - 6; 1925 - 26; 1926 - 440; 1927 - 835; 1928 - 212; 1929 - 9; 1930 - 7; 1932 - 6 1933 - 2; 1934 5; 1936 - 2; 1939 - 2; 1940 - 6; 1946 - 1; 1948 - 2; 1949 - 5; 1950 - 17; 1951 - 4; 1953 - 22; 1954 - 18; 1955 - 25; 1956 - 4; 1957 - 3; 1958 - 2; 1959 - 2; 1960 - 5; 1961 - 6; 1962 - 3; 1963 - 6; 1964 - 3; 1965 - 4; 1966 - 1; 1968 - 1; 1970 - 1; or a total of 1,646.

I shall give just a few examples of renamed places, rivers, mountains, rivers, lakes and mountains: The town of Voden was renamed Edessa; Rupista - Argos Orestikon; S'botska - Aridea; Postlo - Pella; Libanovo - Eginion; Larigovo - Arnea; ostrovo - Arnisa; Vrtikop - Skidra; Valovista - Sidirokastron, and the small settlements of Barbesh and Kutlesh into Vergina. The River Vardar was renamed Axios, the Bistrica - Alliakmon; the Galik - Erigon, etc. Lake ostrovsko became Limni Arnisis; Lake Gorchlivo became Pikrolimi, etc. Mt. Pijavica was renamed as Stratonikion; Grbovica on Mt. Athos Agion Oros; Karakamen - Vermion, Kusnica - Pangeon, etc. The Voden district became Nomos Pelis; Gumendze district - Eparhia Paeonis; Valovista district - Eparhia Sindikis; Zihnenska ditrict - Eparhia Philidos; Pravishka district - Eparhia Pangeu, etc.

4. Oppressive measures in the period following World War II

The Greek policy towards Macedonians in the course of the Second World War had a dual goal: to maintain the process of the assimilation and de-nationalization of Macedonians and the prevention of the creation and development of a Macedonian liberation movement with a Macedonian national programme in the Aegean part of Macedonia. With this aim in mind, the Greek right wing formed a variety of nationalist and chauvinist organizations in the Aegean part of Macedonia, such as the Protection of Northern Greece (I'VE), the Pan-Greek Liberation Organization (PAO) and others such, as well as a variety of military formations which persecuted the Macedonians, using terror, murder, Mass court proceedings, deportation, plundering, confiscation of property, clearances, resettlement, etc. In the given period 3,482 houses were burned down, 80 villages consisting of 1,605 families were plundered and 1,045 head of large live-stock and 23,382 head of small livestock were confiscated. In order to put the anti-Macedonian persecution on a legal basis the Greek authorities passed laws, decrees and other enactments by which Macedonians were subjected to large-scale persecution. We shall mention only a few such laws: Law N2 453 and Law TOD of July 1945 "on the securement of public safety"; Law 509/1945 "on public order and banditry"; Law 543/45 against organizations and individuals acting in favour of secession from the Greek territories", etc. The anti-Macedonian harshness of these laws surpassed the Compulsory Law S2 2366 of 7th September 1938, passed by Metaxas' regime and aimed at erasing every possible trace of the Macedonian national character of the Aegean part of Macedonia. Under these laws Macedonian men and women, members of the Macedonian national democratic organizations, the National Liberation Front (NOF), the National Liberation Youth Association (NOMS) and the Antifascist Women's Front (AFZ) were proclaimed bandits. As soon as a person was proclaimed a bandit his or her next of kin and any other people who could be suspected of helping him or her were interned, in accordance with the regulations of these laws. Law 543/45 "against autonomist activity" helped rig thousands of charges against Macedonians accused of co-operation with Bulgaria and Yugoslavia in activities aimed at the secession of the Aegean part of Macedonia and similar offences. Special commissions formed in every village or other populated place preferred mass charges against Macedonians to the District Attorney's office, with groundless accusations of collaboration with the occupier, autonomistic activities and the like. In the Kostur region alone 4,500 Macedonian men and women were accused of autonomistic activities, even though most of them were on active service with ELLAS. According to the information available, in the period from 1945 to the end of 1974 9,924 Macedonians were remanded in custody and 4,203 were convicted. 23,811 Macedonian men and women were interned on the basis of decisions of the special Security Commission. It was becoming clear that the Greek authorities were resolved to continue the oppression of the Macedonians, notwithstanding the cost, and thus to force them to flee across the border. The wave of refugees was growing daily. Under the pressure exerted by the Greek authorities entire villages fled across the borders. The most -typical examples of forced migration of Macedonians are to be found in eastern Macedonia, where Greek terrorist bands killed 29 and imprisoned 3,100 Macedonians and expelled 600 Macedonian families across the borders - and this in the period from February to the end of March 1945 alone. The situation was no different in the other areas of Aegean Macedonia. In 1948 the majority of the Macedonian population of western and central Aegean Macedonia fled to Yugoslavia and Albania in order to save their lives. More than 60,000 Macedonian men and women were forced to seek, refuge outside the country, fleeing across the border. As well as all these methods and measures, the Greek authorities attempted one of the greatest crimes against the Macedonians. In June 1946 a group of Greek Members of Parliament suggested that the Greek Parliament issue a decree for the forced deportation of all Macedonians from the Aegean part of Macedonia, a suggestion which was justified by their alleged activities, which were said to be a threat to the integrity and sovereignty of Greece and a danger to the peace. In the period before the announcement of the suggestion and during the debate in Parliament a campaign of slander against Macedonians was carried out by the entire state and propaganda machinery, this being aimed at preparing domestic and international public opinion to regard the eventual implementation of this suggested action as completely justified. Thus Macedonians were described, among other things, as the "Sudetens of the Balkans and it was said that for as long as they were present in Greece they would represent a cause of war and a focus of war among the Balkan lands: or in other words, there would be no peace. For certain reasons both internal and external the Greek Parliament did not pass a decree on the exile of the Macedonians, but the Greek right wing clung to its policy on the exodus of the Macedonians. One of the Crimes committed by the Greek monarcho-fascists was the forced resettlement of their villagers and the dumping of them in special camps in urban centres, which had begun as early as 1946. According to the statistics, 213,000 people were forcibly exited from the Aegean part of Macedonia. The terror, mass murder and other forms of repression proved ineffective when it came to breaking the spirit of Macedonians. Indeed, the Macedonian national liberation movement grew into an important and in certain periods even a decisive military and political factor in the country, one with clear and defined strategic goals. More than 20,000 Macedonians served in the ranks of the Democratic Army of Greece (DAG) and its auxiliary services. The liberated territory, covering mainly the territory of Aegean Macedonia, had popular rule, Macedonian people's schools, a Macedonian people's printing-house which published newspapers and other material in Macedonian, cultural and arts groups and other Macedonian institutions. Faced with the stand taken by the Macedonians the Greek authorities tried yet another cunning manoeuver. In order to shatter the unity of the Macedonian people and of the Macedonian Liberation Movement the Greek government passed, on 23rd May 1949, a strictly confidential decree by which the Macedonians, until then considered "Bulgarians", and other non-Greek elements which were to be uprooted, were renamed "Slavicised Greeks", and were to be treated as such by the Greek authorities: they were thus to be granted all civil rights, and included in all sectors of political and state life and the like. Their being called by the names Bulgarians or Slav Macedonians was strictly prohibited, and the name of "Slavophone Greek" was the only one permitted. The governmental agencies were instructed to adapt themselves and to help the Macedonians in every way possible to develop trust in the state and to seek its protection, so that they would begin to approach government representatives freely for the solution of their problems. This attempt on the part of the Greek right wing also proved to be a total failure. The decree had no effect on the Macedonians. They carried on with their struggle for national liberation and for the affirmation of their national identity with even greater intensity. As a result, the Greek authorities continued and even reinforced the violent repression of the Macedonians. On 20th January 1948 the Greek government passed the "M" Decree ordering the confiscation of the property of those individuals who had taken part in the Civil War on the side of the Communist Party of Greece (CPG) and NOF, and of those who had assisted these organizations and whose Greek citizenship had been revoked. In addition to this decree, the "N" Decree was passed on 2nd April 1948. This decree revoked the right of inheritance of all those who had taken part in or helped the Civil War. In view of the fact that large numbers of Macedonians had taken part in the Civil War, the consequences of this Decree and other regulations were borne mostly by them, but, after all, that was the main intention of the decrees. The implementation of these laws and decrees continued even after the Civil War had come to an end, for they were supported by enactments issued by the Ministerial Council of Greece: Nos. 944/1950; 253/1951; 826/ 1952. All these regulations were sanctioned by article 105, inserted into the Greek Constitution in 1952. The aim of this was to prevent Macedonia ns returning to their homes even after the end of the Civil War. Commissions for the confiscation and expropriation of refugees' property and for the allocation of this to new owners were formed in every district. The property confiscated and expropriated from the Macedonians was allotted to people loyal to the regime and to those who had distinguished themselves in the struggle against DAG and particularly against the Macedonians. Most of these people were brought in from the Greek hinterland. On 23rd February 1953 a meeting of the Greek military and administrative authorities in Macedonia was held in Thessaloniki at which it was decided to propose that the Greek government pass a law on the resettlement and re-inhabiting of the so-called sensitive border areas of the Aegean part of Macedonia. it was suggested that all Macedonians from within 60 kilometers of the border be resettled, as disloyal elements, and that in their place Greeks loyal to the regime should be brought in as "healthy elements" with "pure Greek national awareness . The Greek government accepted this proposal and submitted it to the Greek Parliament which, on 4th August 1953, passed Law NL- 2536 on the resettlement of the population from the border areas. In accordance with the regulations of this law special state commissions were formed which effected the resettlement, selected people of pure Greek origin and established them in the Macedonian border areas, handing over to them the Macedonians, property. Among these people there were Greek nationalists, chauvinists and anti-Macedonians who had distinguished themselves in the struggle against NOF and DAG. A case in point, and not an isolated one, is that of the group of Macedonian villages called Janovenski in the Kostur region, the inhabitants of which had all fought in the ranks of ELLAS. Some of the inhabitants of these villages did not emigrate but were resettled in other parts of Macedonia. When the Civil War ended they requested to be allowed to return to their villages, but their request was turned down and their properties were pillaged and their homes demolished. The court proceedings for the return of their estates have lasted for decades. After the end of the Civil War the question of the confiscated properties became very strained. There were many new laws and regulations on the issue. The aim was to avoid returning the Macedonians' property, to prevent them from returning to their homes and thus to prevent the creation of conditions for the formation of a compact Macedonian population. All this was in the interest of the Graecization of the Aegean part of Macedonia. The problem of the estates was taken care of in Regulations Nos. 3958 and 2951 of 1959, as well as in Law *- 4234, known as "Measures for Public Order", passed by K. Karamanlis's government in 1962, and by the 1972 decree No. 666. Under these regulations Macedonians were prevented from realizing their rights. An enormous number of applications for repatriation were turned down and those few who succeeded in returning could not have their estates back, which forced them to engage in marathon lawsuits which eventually ended to their disadvantage. In accordance with tradition, the Greek church took an active part in the anti-Macedonian campaign. Besides the daily sermons of anti-Slav and anti-Macedonian content preached by Greek priests, the Greek church took measures to force the Macedonians to give a collective and public oath that in future they would not use Macedonian but only the Greek language. In April 1980 the leadership of the Central Committee for Political Refugees (KEPPE) submitted a demand to the Greek government that political refugees be allowed freely and unconditionally to return to their homes. Minister Konstantinos Stephanopulos replied that the request could not be granted, because of national interests. In his explanation Stephanopulos stated that in certain parts of Greece there were areas in which there had lived and still lived people of a reduced national feeling, i.e. territories with a sensitive population composition, so that if a free repatriation of such people were to be allowed, Greece would have to face once again a national issue and danger in certain sensitive areas. Recent history had confirmed this, said Stephanopulos. He went on to offer a precise figure of 40,000 people residing in East European countries (Macedonians) and to say that this did not constitute an issue that concerned Greece. That this was out of the question so far as Greece was concerned. For these reasons, according to Stephanopulos, the Greek government could not accept or apply the principle of free repatriation. When the Pan-Greek Socialist Alliance (PASOK) assumed power, the government of Andreas Papandreou sharpened the measures towards assimilation and de-nationalization even further. On 30th December 1982 this government passed a law on the free repatriation of refugees from Greece, i.e. of those "Greek by birth", by which the Macedonians (as non-Greeks by birth) were deprived of the possibility of returning to their homes, to the country of their birth.