By Risto Stefov, rstefov@hotmail.com, March 8, 2009
Many Greeks, it seems, are not happy with the material I turn out in these articles and have bitterly complained. It is not that they believe what I have written nor do they believe anything anyone has written outside of their trusted state sponsored Greek educational system. Their problem is that they can’t understand why I do this! And by „this“ I mean writing about their true identities which, for some reason, seems to offend them.
The largest numbers of e-mails, outside of the profane and downright vulgar ones, I receive from Greeks on a daily basis, show a trend of puzzlement; „why, they want to know, do I do this?“ Well, I will tell you.
Millions of Macedonians have been denied their ethnic identity by no one else except Greek governments, Greeks and Bulgarians. This has been going on relentlessly for over a century. For over thirty years I have tried to reason with Greeks and explain to them how we feel about being treated this way but in spite of all my effort I have not being able to make any progress. All I received back was more ridicule and the standard Greek government sponsored responses such as „you are a Slav“, „there is no such thing as a Macedonian“, „Macedonia is Greek“, „Tito created the Macedonian identity“, etc., etc., etc. I have to be honest, I don’t much like what the Greeks are doing, especially considering where they stand regarding their own identity, so after thirty years of pleading I have decided to fight back in a familiar manner that every Greek would understand; deny their identity as they are denying mine.
There is however, if I may point out, a big difference between the Macedonian ethnic identity and that of the Greeks. While Macedonians are people who are true to themselves and have accepted their ethnic identity as was passed on to them by their ancestors, the Modern Greeks have accepted an artificially constructed identity which is a product of the 19th century Western Philhellenic imagination.
Macedonians have put up with a lot from the Greeks in the last hundred years and it’s time we start fighting back. Greece, with its partners Serbia and Bulgaria, invaded occupied, partitioned and annexed Macedonia, a land that did not belong to them. They each then tried to forcibly and against their will turn Macedonians into Greeks, Serbians and Bulgarians respectively. Those Macedonians who resisted were persecuted to no end. Some were exiled, some were tortured and many were outright killed. Greece, in its new found megalomaniac glory, wanted to turn Macedonians into Hellenes which is not only alien to Macedonians but downright artificial, a creation of the imagination.
In their zeal to expand the curse of Hellenism into Macedonia, the Greeks did some very nasty and unforgettable things to the Macedonians, of which I am sure they are not proud. Among the nastiest things they did is torture, murder and exile many Macedonians because they refused to become Hellenes. They then introduced policies to change all Macedonian place names and people’s names to Greek sounding ones to prove to everyone how „Greek“ Macedonia was. They even changed the engravings on church icons and gravestones to remove all traces of Macedonia and to make the past look like it was always Greek. On top of that the Greeks introduced laws to prohibit Macedonians from speaking their mother language in order to erase another unique and dear thing belonging to the Macedonians. Need I say more?
Now that Serbia abandoned its share of divided Macedonia and the Macedonian people managed to scrape a little country together that they can call their own, the Greeks wasted no time in exporting their Hellenism and harassing them too. It seems if you are a Macedonian there is no safe place to hide from the curse of Hellenism.
After all the things Greeks have done to the Macedonians how can anyone be surprised if the Macedonians started fighting back? Who are these Greeks anyway and what right do they have to abuse the Macedonians and get away with it? How can a fabricated nation of people who are not who they say they are have such rights? In fact, how can a people like the Modern-Greeks even be allowed to have a country?
The only reason Modern Greeks have gotten away with what they have done (and are still doing to this day) is because the Macedonian people have been passive. Macedonians who have been abused over the last century have accepted their abuse as „an act of fate“ because there was no one willing to help them. Macedonians however are human beings with rights and it’s a matter of time before they discover they have those rights and start fighting back and exposing the racist Greek attitude which has ruled over them for more than a century. If I am any example, Macedonians will no longer tolerate the Greek abuse and will fight for their place in this world and get back what was taken from them, including their identity and dignity.
For many years Greeks have abused, tortured, exiled and murdered Macedonians and not a single perpetrator has yet to be punished. Naturally all Macedonians have lost faith in Greece and in Greek justice. Greece has shown no interest in coming to terms with the Macedonians and reconciling the past wrongs it has perpetrated against them. Is there any wonder why its abused loyal citizens drift through life like zombies?
If I may add, Greece is perhaps the only country in Europe where racism, Nazism and Fascism are still alive and well. Racism, Nazism and Fascism were destroyed during the Second World War but not in Greece. Racism, Nazism and Fascism are not only tolerated they have been allowed to flourish in Greece. Greece is still ruled by the same dynasties which served Metaxas, Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, people with no respect for human rights, people who still believe in Hellenism and in the creation of a superior race. The USA among others has also supported these Greek dictatorial regimes on many occasions since World War II and if not directly, then indirectly is responsible for the fate of the Macedonian people in Greece. No wonder the US State Department in its „Country Reports on Human Rights Practices“ downplays the plight of the Macedonian minority in Greece!
Speaking of Metaxas, in the book „The Metaxas Myth Dictatorship and Propaganda in Greece“ by Merina Petrakis on page 126 we read „The word Hellenism is a symbol and this symbol is the central point around which the civilization of all the nations on earth will be constructed.“
To the Greeks who place blind faith in their trusted government which has been telling them they are „Hellenes“, „descendants from the Ancient Hellenes“ please take heed; even Metaxas did not believe „Hellenism“ was an ethnic entity; he believed „Hellenism“ was a symbol, an idea! One cannot build an ethnic nation from a symbol or from an idea!
„The target of Metaxas‘ theater propaganda was the transformation of the masses in such a way that they could become worthy citizens of a ‘regenerating Greece‘ and participate in the creation of the ‘Third Greek Civilization‘. The ‘regeneration of Greece‘ formed one of the basic objectives of the new regime and was launched by Metaxas on 10 August 1936 on his radio speech, and was repeated and analyzed in Thessaloniki on 6 September 1936: ‘We were forced to impose a dictatorship (…) in order to be able to accomplish our supreme goal which is one and only one: the ‘regeneration of Greece‘: a regeneration which is not only economic but social. Greece cannot exist socially if its society consists of unhappy and miserable people. The Greek people have reached such a point of degradation and indifference that they have endangered the fate of the nation and the country (…) Thus I repeat: Regeneration from a national point of view: because you cannot exist but as Greeks; as Greeks who believe in the power of Hellenism and through it you can develop and create your own civilization.“ („The Metaxas Myth Dictatorship and Propaganda in Greece“ by Merina Petrakis, pages 126 and 127).
Further down on page 127 in the same book we read „Metaxas envisaged a new state based on the revival of Hellenismos (Hellenism-Greek National Identity), and the supreme Greek ideals. These ideals and Hellenism had been squashed after the Great War and the Asia Minor catastrophe, together with the Megaly Idea (the Supreme Idea) of a Greater Greece, which was the standard-bearer of Hellenism. In Metaxas‘ view, no person, especially a young person, could live without national identity because he would become disoriented and confused.“
Further on, on page 127 we read „The existing educational system, instead of offering them a cultural education based on national ideals, introduced new theories to instruct and enlighten young people on general matters. This was, according to Metaxas, a fatal mistake: education in Greece should serve no other purpose than to educate Greeks and directed them towards the great national ideals. Spiritually, people could only exist as Greeks, Turks, French, English, Germans and others. Therefore, Greek youth should realize that they could exist and act only through their nationality: Hellenism, Metaxas claimed in the ‘historical‘ articles exchanged between him and his political rival Venizelos, (the charismatic propagandist for ‘Greater Greece‘), through Kathimerini in 1934-1935 had no boundaries, and the Megali Idea was dead only in its territorial form. By and large, Greek Civilization and Greek Culture had no boundaries either. Thus, it was imperative that Greek National Culture, the Hellenic Culture, should be reconstructed and reinstated, in such a way, that it could spread beyond the geographical frontiers of Greece. This was the essence of Hellenism and the Megali Idea and it became the dream of the ‘Fourth of August State‘. On 2 October 1936 when Metaxas set out the main objectives and policies of his government the ‘regeneration of Greece‘ formed the central theme. ‘Greece has but one way out‘ he strongly emphasized ‘to march ahead determined to achieve her regeneration; this regeneration would be a long and difficult task; but we are determined to accomplish this task completely and thoroughly. This objective needed the mobilization of every section of Greek society.“
Allow me to remind the reader that by „regeneration“ Metaxas meant the total destruction of the real ethnic identities which seemed to „creep back up“ in Greek society. The re-emergence of real ethnic identities Metaxas calls „degradation and indifference“. In other words regeneration according to Metaxas means the re-introduction of „Hellenism“ in a more potent form.
Then at the bottom page 127 Metaxas goes on to says „The route that must be taken by our Organization, an organization which bears a successful title which signifies your goals, are open to discussion and further meanings. I am sure that you will work very hard so that your ideals will be very successfully conveyed to the whole of Greece in such a way that a special class of people, who think alike are totally devoted to the state, will emerge and form the governing class of our society.“
On page 128 we read „The above extract suggests that the regime was determined to use every possible means to ensure the ‘regeneration of Greece‘ and the creation of the ‘Third Greek Civilization‘. In his speech to EON in Ioannina on 13 June 1937, Metaxas analyzed this concept and set out the conditions for its materialization: ‘You must be prepared for what is coming because you will live to see the creation of the Third Greek Civilization which is the Modern Greek Civilization. The first civilization was the ancient civilization. That civilization was great in spirit but lacking in religious faith and is gone forever. Along came the second Greek civilization (Byzantine) which did not accomplish great spiritual things but had a deep religious faith. Now it’s your turn to combine the best elements of both these civilizations and with your deep Christian faith (…) and the inspirations drawn from the great accomplishments of your ancestors you must create the Third Greek Civilization.‘
The ‘Third Greek Civilization‘ demanded a return to national values as they were epitomized by the Metaxas regime. These values would, according to Nicoloudis urge the ‘thirsty‘ Greek people ‘to return to their eternal springs where they would accomplish their spiritual elevation and national regeneration and create a new supreme civilization: The Third Greek Civilization‘.“
And finally on page 131 we read „Thus, the Greek foreign policy under Metaxas, at least in the beginning, came under German influence.“
Besides sounding utterly mad like a script for a fiction b-rated movie, Metaxas‘ approach in theory may sound progressive. There is nothing wrong with a people returning to its roots, but to what roots was Metaxas proposing to return? To the Slav, Albanian, or Vlach roots from which his Modern Greek people descended? Of course not! He was proposing to return to his mythical roots of the Philhellene creation, the ones that never existed before. Still one might say that there is nothing wrong with that, unless the one was a Macedonian who lived through and witnessed the Metaxas madness.
Outside of Macedonians being exiled in the hundreds of thousands to the hot and dry island concentration camps purely for being born Macedonians, outside of having their language banned by law not to be spoken in private or in public, and, outside of having been forced to accept foreign names and a foreign imposed alien identity, Macedonians don’t have much to complain about Metaxas’s accomplishments.
But the worst thing about Metaxas is his policies which he instituted in the late 1930’s regarding the treatment of ethnic minorities in Greece; policies which exist and are still enforced to this day. Another prevalent issue in today’s Greece is Metaxas‘ racist attitudes which have survived and been practiced not only in education and in government institutions but in the psyche of the Greek people who for years have been brainwashed and sold on the glory of Hellenism which, if they care to find out, is synonymous with racism, Nazism and Fascism.
Ladies and gentlemen, the legendary Dr. Frankenstein is alive and well, and for the past century or so, has been working for the Greek government in aid of Hellenism.
For those who still ask „why I do this?“ let’s say I have my reasons. Besides the countless Macedonian lives lost in the fight against Hellenism, the countless people exiled, split apart from their families, had their properties and homes confiscated, and, besides those who were converted into ardent Hellenes, there are also those Macedonians who still feel insecure about their culture and identity thanks to the Greek need to propagate Hellenism. I have decided to speak to those people and tell them that they have no reason to feel insecure and ashamed of who they are and have no need to question their history and ethnic identity just because the Greeks told them to. I want these people to look into the true face of Hellas and the Hellenes and see them truly for what they are; a fake nation full of frauds unworthy of attention and undeserving of admiration.
For those who are still not convinced that the Modern Greek identity is an artificial creation, please continue to read this series of articles.
Continue…Part 11