Ohrana
Ohrana (
Background
The “
.Bulgarian communities inhabited parts of southern Macedonia from the Middle Ages.
During the 1930s a new identity parallel to the Greek and Bulgarian ones began to arose in the region of Macedonia, the
Bulgarian occupation and policy in Greece
In 1941 Greek Macedonia was occupied by German, Italian and Bulgarian troops. The Bulgarians occupied the Eastern Macedonia and Western Thrace, an area of 14,430 square kilometers, with 590,000 inhabitants. The Bulgarian policy was to win the loyalty of the Slav inhabitants and to instill them a Bulgarian national identity. Indeed, some of these people did greet the Bulgarians as liberators, particularly in eastern and central Macedonia, yet the campaign was less successful in German-occupied western Macedonia.[11] At that time most of them felt themselves to be Bulgarians, irrespective of ideological affiliation.[12] However, in contrast with the population of Vardar Macedonia, smaller fraction of the Slav population collaborated in the Greek part of Macedonia, whether in the Bulgarian-occupied eastern section or the German and Italian-occupied zones. Nevertheless, Bulgarian expansionism was better received in some frontier districts, where strong pro-Bulgarian oriented Slav-speakers lived (in Kastoria, Florina and Pella districts).[13]
The Thessaloniki Bulgarian club
During the same year, The German High Command approved the foundation of a Bulgarian military club in
The Kastorian Italo-Bulgarian Committee
The initial detachments were formed in 1943 in the district of
Bulgarian collaborationist bands participated in reprisal missions together with the Nazi troops in the region. In one occasion together with the 7th SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment they were responsible for a major massacre in the village of Klisoura near Kastoria, that cost the lives of 250 women and children.[16][17]
The Edessa and Florina Ohrana detachments
After their initial success in arming several villages in
Ohrana activity
In the summer of 1944, Ohrana constituted some 12,000 local fighters and volunteers from Bulgaria charged with protection of the local population.
Ohrana and Mihailov's plans for Macedonia
Ohrana was supported from
Re-organization and clashes with ELAS
In spring 1944, the Germans taking up where the Italians left off, reformed, re-organized and re-armed the village companies in the Kastoria district. Soon after the villages in the Edessa and Florina districts were also armed and prepared for service. The militiamen from the Kastoria and Edessa districts were actively involved in the German anti-guerilla sweep operations. In June 1944 delegation of IMRO cadres met up with the German Commander in Edessa with whom they discussed the formation of the volunteer corps. This was in accordance with the agreement Ivan Mihailov and IMRO struck with
The dissolution of Ohrana
After the declaration of war by Bulgaria on Nazi Germany in September 1944 Ivan Mihaylov arrived in German-occupied Skopje, where the Germans hoped that he could form a Macedonian puppet-state with their support. Seeing that Germany had lost the war, he refused. Ohrana was dissolved in late 1944 after their German and Bulgarian protectors were forced to withdraw from Greece.[26] In autumn 1944 Anton Kalchev escaped northern Greece, and tried to flee with the retreating German army, but was captured in the vicinity of Bitola by communist partisans from Vardar Macedonia, and was apprehended to ELAS officials. In Thessaloniki, Kalchev was put on trial as a military criminal and was sentenced to death by the Greek authorities.
After World War II the ruling Bulgarian Communists declared the Slav-speaking population in Macedonia (including the Bulgarian part) as ethnic Macedonians. The organizations of the IMRO in Bulgaria were completely destroyed. Also, the internment of those people disagreeing with these political activities was organized at the
By this situation, the Macedonian section of the Greek Communist Party created the
Aftermath
After the
See also
- Democratic Army of Greece
- Security Battalions
- Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO)
- Slavic-speakers of Greek Macedonia
- Macedonian Question
- Military history of Bulgaria during World War II
- Axis occupation of Greece during World War II
- National Liberation Front (Greece)
- National Liberation Front (Macedonia)
References
- ^ Добрин Мичев. Българското национално дело в Югозападна Македония (1941 — 1944 г.)
- ^ "The Second World War and the Triple Occupation" Archived 2007-07-02 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ ISBN 0-8047-0870-3.on the Turkish border. Bulgaria looked longingly toward Salonika and western Macedonia, which were under German and Italian control, and established propaganda centres to secure the allegiance of the approximately 80,000 Slavs in these regions. The Bulgarian plan was to organize these Slavs militarily in the hope that Bulgaria would eventually assume the administration there. The appearance of the Greek left wing resistance in western Macedonia persuaded the Italian and German and authorities to allow the formation of Slav security battalions (Ohrana) led by Bulgarian officers.
In Greece the Bulgarians reacquired their former territory, extending along the Aegean coast from the Struma (Strymon) River east of Thessaloniki to Alexandroupolis
- ISBN 1-85065-381-X, pp. 120-121.
- ISBN 0-8108-5565-8, pp. 162-163.
- ^ A charter of Romanus II, 960 Pulcherius (Slav-Bulgarian population in Chalcidice Peninsula is mentioned), Recueil des historiens des Croisades. Historiens orientaux. III, p. 331 – a passage in English Georgii Cedreni compendium, op. cit, pp. 449-456 - a passage in English (Bulgarian population in Servia is mentioned) In the so-called Legend of Thessalonica (12th c.) it is said that the Bulgarian language was also spoken hi the market place of Thessalonica, Documents of the notary Manoli Braschiano concerning the sale and liberation of slaves of Bulgarian nationality from Macedonia (Kastoria, Seres, region of Thessalonica etc), From the Third Zograf Beadroll, containing the names of donors to the Zograf Monastery at Mt. Athos from settlements and regions indicated as Bulgarian lands, Evidence from the Venetian Ambassador Lorenzo Bernardo on the Bulgarian character of the settlements in Macedonia
- ^ Венециански документи за историята на България и българите от ХІІ-XV век, София 2001, с. 150, 188/Documenta Veneta historiam Bulgariae et Bulgarorum illustrantia saeculis XII-XV, p. 150, 188, edidit Vassil Gjuzelev (Venetian documents for the history of Bulgaria and Bulgarians, p. 150, 188 - Venetian documents from 14-15th century about Slaves from South Macedonia with Bulgarian belonging/origin)
- ^ Известия Уральского государственного университета № 0049(2007), с. 138-153. Гуманитарные науки. Выпуск 13. Дмитрий Олегович Лабаури — Берлинский приговор 1878 г. и проблема македонского этноязыкового своеобразия. РГНФ.(Russian) [1]
- ^ The Situation in Macedonia and the Tasks of IMRO (United) - published in the official newspaper of IMRO (United), "Македонско дело", Но.185, Април 1934
- ^ "Резолюция о македонской нации (принятой Балканском секретариате Коминтерна)" - Февраль 1934 г, Москва
- ISBN 978-0-691-04357-9. p. 73.
- ISBN 1-85065-492-1, p. 67.
- ^ Koliopoulos, Ioannis. "Macedonia in the Maelstrom of World War II" (PDF). macedonian heritage. p. 305. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
- ^ ISBN 1-85065-238-4, p. 109
- ^ a b Егеjски бури — Револуционерното движење во Воденско и НОФ во Егеjска Македоница. (Вангел Аjановски Оче), Скопје, 1975. стр.122-123
- ^ Doris M. Condit (1967). Challenge and Response in Internal Conflict: The experience in Europe and the Middle East. Center for Research in Social Systems.
- ISBN 978-0-7156-2135-6.
- ^ IMRO Militia And Volunteer Battalions Of Southwestern Macedonia, 1943-1944 by Vic Nicholas "The Pavelic Papers | Documents: The Croatian National Resistance/HNO/Odpor/Otpor". Archived from the original on July 20, 2006. Retrieved January 3, 2008.
- ^ IMRO Militia And Volunteer Battalions Of Southwestern Macedonia, 1943-1944. By Vic Nicholas
- ^ "Macedonia and Bulgarian National Nihilism — Ivan Alexandrov" (Macedonian Patriotic Organization “TA” Australia Inc. 1993) [2]
- ^ Unlike the activists of the right IMRO of Ivan Mihailov who declared themselves as Bulgarians, the communist orientated Slavic-spacing population of Greece declared themselves as Ethnic Macedonians - Γιά το ζήτημα των Σλαβομακεδόνων — Ρέννος Μιχαλέας, ΕΛΑΣ, Θεσσαλονίκη 13.XI.1944 (σελ. 1, σελ. 2, σελ. 3, σελ. 4, σελ. 5)
- ^ Егеjски бури — Револуционерното движење во Воденско и НОФ во Егеjска Македоница. (Вангел Аjановски Оче), Скопје, 1975. стр.126-127, стр.128
- ^ Егејскиот дел на Македонија (1913-1989). Стојан Киселиновски, Скопје, 1990 стр. 133
- ^ British Officer Evans. December Report, AV, II, 413
- ^ Проф. Добрин Мичев. Българското национално дело в Югозападна Македония (1941 – 1944 г.)
- ^ Macedonia in the 1940s. Modern and Contemporary Macedonia, vol. II, 64-103. [3] by Yiannis D. Stefanidis
- ^ Идеолошкиот активизам над Македонците под Грција, Стојан Кочов, Скопје, 2000 стр.43
- ^ "Във и извън Македония. Спомени на Пандо Младенов стр. 97 - 100" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-18. Retrieved 2007-11-16.
- ^ Genocide of Macedonian Children - "Macedonian tribune" newspaper, Fort Wayhe town, No. 3157 from November 4, 1993."Greek Genocide of Macedonian Children in "Greek" Macedonia". Archived from the original on 2008-09-11. Retrieved 2008-10-19.
- ^ Marinov, Tchavdar (2004). Aegean Macedonians and the Bulgarian Identity Politics. Oxford: St Antony’s College, Oxford. p. 5.
- ^ Marinov, Tchavdar (2004). Aegean Macedonians and the Bulgarian Identity Politics. Oxford: St Antony’s College, Oxford. p. 7.
External links
- OHRANA and persecution of Bulgar-Macedonians by Greeks
- България и Беломорието (октомври 1940 - 9 септември 1944 г.) Военнополитически аспекти. Димитър Йончев (“Дирум”, София, 1993)
- Във и извън Македония - спомени на Пандо Младенов, Македонска Трибуна. Archived 2012-02-18 at the Wayback Machine
- Southwestern Macedonia 1941 - 1944
- "OHRANA" in Aegean Macedonia (1942-1944)- a comparative analysis.
- Modern and Contemporary Macedonia, vol. II, 64-103.Macedonia in the 1940s - Yiannis D. Stefanidis
- Im Schatten des Krieges. Besatzung oder Anschluss - Befreiung oder Unterdrückung?. Eine komparative Untersuchung über die bulgarische Herrschaft in Vardar-Makedonien 1915-1918 und 1941-1944 Reihe: Studien zur Geschichte, Kultur und Gesellschaft Südosteuropas Jahr: 2005 ISBN 3-8258-7997-6