Tragedies of Macedonia

8/7/2019 Tragedies of Macedonia

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B I B A I f i B H K R n A l f n . B U l I I K H l \AnoeHKH10 J O ~ : '$. u U-

A RECORD OF GREEK VICTIMSOF

BULGARIAN OUTRAGES IN MACEDONIA,BETWEEN

1897 and FE~RUARY 1903."/


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TRAGEDIES OF MACEDONIA:

A RECORD OF GREEKOF ,rBULGARIAN OUTRAGES IN MACEDONIA,

BETWEEN

1897 AND FEBRUARY

- - - ------PRINTED BYEDE, ALLOl'1\ & TOWNSEND, LIMITED,2, Southwark Bridge Buildings, London, S.E.1903


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A PLEA FOR JUSTICE.

I'ris on: of the st~ongest proofs of the iuherentjustice .ofthe BntJsh natron that one need never apologise forstating facts. 'Much h:1S been written on I h,~ unhappystate of affairs in Macedonia f1Jldi t wer. need] ess tl , enterhere into an exhaustive examination of M:le situation. 1'11eobject of this pamphlet is rather to supplemenl",the in].fol'-mn.tiori already placed at the disposal of tlLe general Br/t,ishpublic by the press, tm cV i:i1Sel by independent \.vriters.i 'I'heaspect of the l\'[aceamlHLll question wb,~.Qh has _mtl,,~pealeclto the English people is the greet! dl,~f:jlCe o J;~ i~e, C1 'PP>}l'< :m tlyto no purpose. "\\,osk after week ;vtrocity hflii:followed upona,trllcity until the list (if victims ""has gt~;\m to appl1llingdiwens,i,111l';. .Few in :b~llglalld have remained unmoved by'these tales of horror. rarely does the cry of t.1.10Se who arebelieved to be 110wn trodden [[.11(1oppressed fail to touch asYlTlpafthetic cborcfin the breasts. of Englishmen. The feelingof pit.l tba~ li,:,es. should be thns sacrificed has only b.eenequalled by tho indignation expressed D{;[1Il1st the perpetratorsof th outrages and crimes. Both feelings are legitimate;both in keeping with the. traditional justics of the Britishpeople. Unfortunately, however, when public passion 1 1 a , 8been aroused, as it has been on this question in Englandrecently, the line of demarcation between prej udice aridsound ,jndgluent- is a,pt to be blurred, awl in many caseaobli teratec1.

Turkey has bElen bitterly condemned by the press andpul pi t, for the excesses of its soldiers in Macedonia, Making

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every allowance [or exa.g,gemtion, the Turkish irregulartroops have been guilty of needlessly cruel methods inattempting to quell the revolution in that part of theSultan's dominions, and it is neeessary that the voice ofthe civilised world should be raised in dsnunciation. Butit is also necesst1ry that oivilisa.tiorr's standard of moralityand humanity should be applied all round. Let us at leastbe consistent. ,Vhat is cruel and criminal in a Mussulmancannot be righteous and just in a Cbristian. Yet we are notby any means free Irorn reproach .in this respect, Atrocitiesquite :1S brut-al as ever disfigured the history of civilisationhave been committed by those who are posing as the saviours,of Macedonia ..

Details are given in this pampblet of no fewer than22\1 murders and outrages which the BulgaLptl bands haveperpetrated against the Greek community of Mona~tir andSalonika, the two viJlL}:etS of which Macedonia E,roperSonsists.Every care has been exercised in compiling lld~reeord. Theparticnlars in each case have been verified. and no outrageis included which has not been directly and unquestionablytraced to the Bulgarian insurrectiofrists. The atrocities hereinenumerated extend oyer' a period of between five and six years.The list is complete only up till last February, although oneor t~GrirlJes that-occurred in March and April are included.l\Iqmy massacres of Greek residents have taken place sinceFebruary, but some time must elapse before all the detailsCi:~JJ be fully verified owing to the unsettled condition of thecountry. But the list is surely sufficiently ghastly to inducethose in this country who are, if not actually encouraging,certainly showing open sympathy with the insurrectionistsin Macedonia, to pause and ask ther.nselves whether outragesof this kind, committed in the sacred name of liberty, oughtto be condoned. So far the voice of civilisation seemingly hasbeen spent in shouting down the Turk. Greece has stoodalmost alone t1l1long the nations in contending that the,insurrectionists are not the friends, but the enemies, of the.

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:\L'Ucedonit1n people. .Finn il l that lmo\vledg(-;, Greece basmaintained t111 attitnde of hostility to t,b8 insurrectionists,in face of opposifion horn those who have distorted bel'motives, and illlpUgll(,d her Co the cause of freedom.

The sympathy wh ich bas been e;;;tendecl bY:1 very h1rgc,of lwople in this to the insIllT,c'C:Lionists ill

Macedonia .h:'LS been founded on two gl':1\e misconceptions ofthe true situation. In t.he first it b:'LS been erroneouslyassumed th:Lt the insurrection movement has t.he approval andt.Jle active Sllpport of the Macedon ian people. On tl1 8 cou trn rv ,it has been repudiated by t.he vast majority of the residentpopulation, a repudiation which lias cost (LlFlUV of theul theirlives at the hands of t.he ]3ulg:l.Li~111 brigands, \v-hu::oe actionsa.ll have been opposed to i.hs true Cf1llS('fif tbe Macedoaian.people-the cause of reform and better gCJ\,,{rlllJem.

. . r_rhc other rnisCoLlcepti(111 . is th : '1sRmupt-;(),lJ_ that l h ( ~C}"ll'1SUarq)O pnl:H IOD of ~d(!li '" mainly consists of B111~i;pan~.1\ot.bmg could be more ITlIs](,;:},c1!!1g. As a 1_na,tk1'-01~ct theGreek community outrmrubers t.he J3 both in SaJonikaand Mouastir. In tbr former -vii:l,Ytt, thc',l'e are L1,2,Hi4 moreG-l'i-:.(::1\::;them Bulgarians, whilst ill 1Joll:l.stir the Greek COllJ-lllUlli!!} is larger by Ul5,782 souls. These figures are taken frontoi1ici:1 .j s tLl .t i:~tic; :; ;. N oJ only have the 1\lacedonittll Greeks nosymp"l,thy \\,itJI the insurrection, but they have invoked theprotec1,i6n of the J.El'uks-aft.er their appeal to the Fowers had-J':1ilecl-frolD the cruelties of those who pose as their deliverers.EVen}1rl'lOllg t,beir own countrymen the brigands secure supportonly tho exerciae of t.he worst forms of coercion. It is,therefore, a misreprescnta.tion of the facts to S:1Y that thepeople of Macedonia, are in rebellion,

'The important point to be borne in mind is that theseBulgarian bands are not acting in the best inberests of t.beMacedonian people. Their progr:unme is to create disorder bytheir acts of brigandage-disorder that will be presented toEurope as the result of local discontent.

It will be seen from the details which follow that no class; 3


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of the Greek community h~LS escaped the persecution. Thevictims range in social position frorn the peasant to the laud-owner and tbemerchant A number of priests are also amongstthe murdered. \'Thole families have been exterminated in ...ornecases, au.I women and children have not escaped the ferocityof the ruffians. .POl ' U te majority of the crimes no reason hasever been suggested. Some of the victims were accused ofdenouncing the perpetrators of the (ll1tr;]'ges, and others incurredI;be hatred of t.he izzsurreotionists by refusi_ng either to join thebands or give monetary a.ssistance, but most of those who bavesuffered death were the innocent victims of a campaign whichis being waged neither inthe interests of jilstit.:e nor of liberty,The Maccdonian people ,11'e deserviug of ,.tIl the sylJ.lp~tILty [melall the support which Bngland can "..{e theru, but let usdiscrinrina.ta blo,'ttvelCD the f r, 'fWd L1 len t" ::1'1(1 ,th !P'rE)a.l, or l}er\\'isr:Y'OHr protest resolutions D . u . l ) - l01]1' ];lity may IW d o i n g mule h a r mthan good. /"

Outrages committed by Bulgarian bands against l\[LLC8-donian Gre~ks f1'O]11 lc~j7 till F(.LnlarY,)903 :

MurdersAttempted Murders

... 20227

'I'otal number of Crimes ... 22~1

iVlUmEF:S.MonastirSalonika

DE'AHT;\OlToNTS.MonastirSalorrikaKa:.:tori~1Serres

12il78

1116

; : 3 017

1 01412

57

Drama 5

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GreeksBulgarians ...

348,050205.886

VILAYET OF SALONIKA.

The vila,yet of SaJonilm, which includes the d8part.meritsof Serres and Drama, has a.population of nearly a millionpeople. Over tour hundred thousand of them arc :'Ilussu.lmansGreeks and Bulga,rians account for over half a million in theproportion shown above, and the remainder 1Ht~of variousnationalities, sixty thousand being Jews. In t.his vilayetninety-five crimes of a serious nature against the GLe(':k popu-lation have been traced to the BulgaricUl rm DC le~ S ev tu ty- nilH "of the victims were murdered in cold blood!, arid the numberincluded five wornen. The lives of sixtt~en OIlL.\:lrS, one 11woman, were attempted. The list includes twelve nota,LLQs orlec1c1ingmen of as many di,stricLs, the same number oIlanc1-owners, eight clergym,m, a clergYlnan's son, two Lllo;cLre:tln.)(~n,a schoolmaster, ,L schoolmistress, merchants, farmers, groeers,shepherds, labourers, and six young people under the age o reighteen. It will therefore be seE>r1that no class of thecornmun ity has escaped, and the sufferings which theseoutrages have inflicted upon the homes of high and lowamongst hl~beedonian {j-reeks is incalculable. One of th(-) mostp~the.qc cas~s is th~t of the Sara~nantos family of Eabi:1Di.~IemiJ,rs ~f one of th~ B111ganan b~nds entered CostasSarmlJ_....l'l'ntoshouse and, without explanation or reason gIven,murdered Costas and his wife in the presence of t.heir souNicolas, and also put to death a nephew of the old man andthe nephew's wife. Nicolas was spared only because themurderers required him to take a lnessage to the briga,ncls'camp. In another C[LSefive members of a Iarnily were notonly massacred, but. their bodies were mutilated in s uch ,1 \ \ ' < " . 1 'as to suggest that savages had run amok. A mother and herfour children living at Matsicovo were the victims. 'I'hey werebelieved to have given certain information aga.inst the atroci ty-

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mongers, who revenged themselves in this horrible manner.At Chouma three fanners who had informed the authorities of'Crimes committed by the bands were also put to death. Anumber of the other outn,ges followed upon refusals to handover sums of money demanded by the bands, One old man,eighty yen,rs of age, was attacked while in bed and succumbedto the terrible injuries which were inflicted upon him by the.Bulgarian brigands. Some 0 1 ' the murders were the acts ofmembers of the Bulgarian Committee. Christos Doitzinis,one of 1\Iatsicovo's leading men, met his death at the hands ofmembers of the Commibt.es, who lay in ambush for him on theroad leading to Gevgeli and shot him de~1CL Priest Papa-Stephanos, of Myraftza, was tortured l)efore be receivedbis fa.tal wound, and in another c ~ l ' e ~1priest named]Jelios of Schovo has had three attempts IllJdeJCon his life.Details of the outrages follow :- .,

MURDERS IN SALONIKA, SERRE, ANDDRAMA, 79.])ESCI(IPTIO~ J.OCATION. \\lHN A1t:l,f)ET'ED.

1VIicWelCl:I'egol'ioll Shepherd :- \(')O II0 1'O u


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N.\:\1 OF VICTDLDido E:olia

DESCRIPTIO~;. LOCYflON.

Grocer G-orgopik\ ' \ 'HE7'i )'IOR"01:':1:":;':D.

18~)7Christo Tango Landowner Aug. 17, 18\)\)(Struck down as he was entering his 11011S


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NAI\IE OF 'lrCTIM.

Demetre PapapetronP. PapadimitriouT1Htnos GatsosChristos Doitzinis

Priest's SonDESCRIPTION. LOCATIO;-i. \VHE:; !\'rURI)Ei~I~:l).

All three shot. on theroad from Goumcndje toBarov itza, Apr. 2,0, 1\}0::l

Matsikovo Oct. 6, 1900Bulgarian Committee).

Ossiani July '2 6, 1\:10 '2July 2,5,iS102

AO'eel 18;:, -Aged 1:2:\obble

(Murdered by rnem bet's ofJ Ct11l Yoftsos N otablsDennis DiosPierre StoikosAtba.nase Nolios

Shephercl Chouma Jan. :31, FlO;)Jan. :n, ]


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NAj\IE oIi' VrCTI\I. n.ESCHIPTIO:";. Locxr iox ,Demetrius MartziouAngelos Liont.asTwo ]\[enlbers of tbeGreek ChurchGeorges 'I'routskasAi\fern ber of GreekChurch

8cnant. of At.hanaseVlasani c~ pril 2;), " I 90~

Gornitza Mr.,],. 5, 1\)03Savi:wo }IrLr. io, 1\30;'3Volaca J\lJ1C~17. 1\)02Prossotsa.ni Sept. 1\)02

ATTEMPTED MURDERS IN SAL.ONIKA, SERRES,AND DRAMA, 16 ..,.

)lAi\rE or' Vrc ri: Dr::SCHIFTIO~ LOCAU'JO;';:. ?\ 'r .E lj! OUTR"~ I ,C ;1 : 'Dimitri Christo ~ot8iJle Neoilcl)['clUtt1:l l\'f:1rch 189r(\Voundec1 in the Church of N sohorouda).Christo Moulie Notable Gountzides J:+rl. 31, 1899C\Yonnc1ed ncar Church of St. George, Sah)llibJ.Dimitri Ka.ni Grocer Vosmitza 1898Pierre Kani Merc.hant" Sept. 18~)\)

Priest KalinoGOllOS Gevgcli 1898I'. DeLos "Schovo(LifcYilUtcmptec1.,.;three times between 18\)7 and 18\:j~i).Dimitri (leconomou Priest Gevgeli Nov. ltl\j\)G. J'atri,\~ti Merchant Doiran 18\}~)Marie llaclji Antoniou SchoolMistress VI:'LdC)v() . July 24, 1900(Atracked in her. s,hoolrooni);Papa-Stoyannis 'hear ~,.,.Messerneri .Ian. l7, 1~)0;2

(Set upon whilst on his way to Church).] \ . 1 . Sakellariou Doctor Goumendje Nov. 30, 1900Evangsli C. Gatsos Brother ofJean Gatsos Barovitza

KilkisSaviaco

Schoolmaster 'I'ertiz

April 20, 190:)JiHL.1900Oct. ;), 1\)00Aug. 20, 1\)00'

AngelakisPapa AthanaseThomas Papa Georges

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VILAYET OF MONASTIR.POPULATION.

GreeksBulgarians

309,78217


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KAME OF VICTli\I. DESCRIPTION LOCATIO>:.

Hairdresser :J:Iom,stirPriest ;,milSchoolmaster SyrtziPrirnat ofvillage Syrtzi

Ploughman of Kemal Bey SarifeleJ.'Nicolas Michel 1\111ledriver Kroussovo

Constantin YoanrionPapa 'raLesNestos Hitze

\::VIIE~ rlleRI)El{ED_Mar. 3. U)O:3

Mar. '28, 1903Mar. 28. ) 90SApril B. 190:)reb. 2. 190:1(Had given evidence aga.insL ruernbsrs of Bulgarian Cornrnit tee).

Economos Conssantinou Neret .Ian., J\=)01JE';:lTl Catziapi Lobnitza }\{,"y,1901Basile Zyimani Dybessi Sept., 190.1Cosma Primat ofvillaze LagoIlt!lzeml!Economos Dimitriou Priest '. Ba,,~i(za

(Munlered at St,renlbr;mb).Basile Notable LamlianifzaStephos Vourli;'I.l1i

(Killed at Tirnovo).ArmcnskoZag


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Ritze S toianDESCRIPTIO);,

Ochrida Dec. 2 ( _ i . I D O lMornir Dec. 2(j. 1901,,"Vifeof Priest Milos Slonitza Dec., 1901Two daugh ters of Priest Milos Dec., 190 i

(Those three ladies were burnt to declth--incendia,risrn).'D espoina Kypro Zlak1ri (Resna) }[:1l'., H)O:2Two women of GreekChurch.KaliaroupisPapacharalarnpis and hisson, (aged 10)An old lady(suspected of treachery).Ango,wife, of ,Jean Stephos~\iassa"wife of leader 'I'reitzeS.feta,her daughter-in-lawPatka, bel' daughterConst antinouMarichof'steGeorges P


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NAME OF '\:'ICTIM, DESCRIPTI,O:\'. LOCATION. "VliEN l\1UHDERCD.

Nicolaos Anastasiou Palaiochori Nov. 17, 1DOO(Member of Administrative Council of Greek Church.(Killed near Tsor.)Jean Chassapis Losnitza May, 1901(Drowned in Lake Petersko. Foul play.)K icolas Kamocris Professor Arrnensko Oct. 1, 1DO lNf1kis Yiovnos 'I'sercovo Nov. 21, 1901(Member of Administrative Council of Greek Churcb.)Stephos Vvrbaui Dec;. 28, 1\)01(Killed at Kakdb:;:i).Belias Shepherd Ba.ts. " N I t L y 1, Hl02

GorrtzkoOailar(Djouma)Tvrsia(Killed at Armensko).

Atbanase C~tantinou /Schoolnmster Sistcovo 1\}OOPapa Constantin Zissi Priest Neret Sept. 27, ] 900Basile Kn,to-Ktlttori 1900

Pierre Mitza ArolanoflVIarc Yiotos and hisfather 'I'raikos

Atbanase SkordefJean PialesGatzosGeorges VanneChristoGueles and his Wife

'1' zaull.mtsPierre Sopis'I'raikos MaliosTh. BimplisBasile 'I'zarnanisLozos KoleMitzosCosrnas

Father of Greek School-master at Pateli June LJ, H102

Bats. I(Killed at Banitza).

/'" l'ateli~iJred at Ostrovo),Kroussorat Dec. 10 , I DO:2

]i'eb. 14, 190:3Feb. 26, ] 903]T eh '27, 1DO ;:)

Cotzeni tzio 1YLL.y, H)l) ll\JOO

Notable Cotzeni tzio l\fay, Hl()JKorit.za, Aug., 1\)(){l(Killed neal' Stenia):

Notable

Dymbeni Sept., ] 90SConom blati Sept. 17, 1\)mlSOl'll'ovi tZ()VO Hl01(Killed near N eveska). .

8inger Zagoritziwi Nov. (3, IDOlIi)


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\1,\\1 or VICTIM, DESCRIPTION. LOCATIO".Pa pft Di rni trios Economon PriestStoian Kessin,I3fo1siie'Three women

\\'HEN ;VlnWEHEIJ.

Strernbreno Nov. 7, 1901B.,oulia Nov" E)01Larnbanitza ~ov, ;:]0, IDOLConomblati Nov., 1901.

Pissoc1esiPosdeni tzaSruardessi

Primat of village Zelenitza"

Artozioul\Iitsos LagoniKoles Narsis Stremhreno

(Jii:i~V15y a pardoned Bulgarian).Koles ZagoritsaniPapa Germano's Sister Larnbanitza

DESC!{IPTION.

Traikos (servant of leader Aga) Roulia .Ian. 8, 1\)0:2(Killed by revolver shot at Kastoria).Papa Helir'1s Priest and Schoolmaster Posdcnitza May 19, 1902'

VrCTBL

Mar. 5, 1902May 15, 1902'July 27, 1\)021~ . J O ' 2H)021D021902Dec., 1902IFep. 20, 19081\1ar. \J, 1\-)08190B

ATTEMPTED MURDERS IN MONA STIR AND!{ASTORIA, 11.

LOCATION, DATE OF OUTRAGEChrisbos poumas 'Merchant Monastir Feb. 20, 1\:)08

lQtlrne comnritted because Doumas refused. to give moneyto the Bulgarian Committee).,Jan., H)01Oct. 5, 1\-)01Oct., H)()lApril, 1902.Aug. 1D, H)02Sept. 24, 1\:)02Nov. 18, 1D02

Christcs TsiamosGeorges GiarnosLazareKytzosBasileBasile's NephewBasile's Ni(';ceChristos (leader of village)

Na,oLUlJ1 GopessiarioGramrnenopoulosTwo sons of PriestEconomos ConstantinouE>nwgelos BorsiaBasile LypitskaMot,her of Priest BasileMarc Karavias

NotableKroussovoZelanitzNeret

Schoolmaster PalaiochoriLiornbetinaZellini

Paul AthanasiouAristote Douveniotis

Doctor Moriastir(Dangerously injured at Resna) .PessonistiKastoria

]ti

1\J00May, ID02

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Tragedies of Macedonia

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