Prof. Lazar Lazarov, PhD, INI

DEPARTURE WITHOUT RETURN-THE EMIGRATION OF THE MACEDONIANS IN THE PAST AND TODAY 

                The findings up to now confirm the reality that today there are more Macedonians in the other countries then in their own country Macedonia, which is practically a rare example in the world (in Australia there are over 300 thousand, in Canada between 200 to 250 thousand, in the West European countries between 200 to 250 thousand, in the USA about 150 thousand, in Latin America over 50,000, in the neighboring countries: Bulgaria - about 3 million, of which over 200 thousand settled in the area of Burgas after the First World War,[1] and according to the President of the Ministerial Council for Foreign Affairs of France, in March 1924, there were about 500 thousand Macedonians in Bulgaria, while in the Turkish -Bulgarian Agreement from the 15th of December 1923 it is written that 1,200,000 Macedonians who did not considered themselves neither Serbs nor Bulgarians lived in Bulgaria;[2] in Greece - over 500 thousand, in Albania - over 350 thousand, in Yugoslavia - over 150 thousand, of which half settled in Belgrade and the surrounding areas, in the East European countries - Hungary, Czech, Slovakia, Romania, Poland, Russia, Uzbekistan and other countries of the former Soviet Union there are over 100 thousand Macedonians, and significantly smaller number of Macedonians are in many other countries on all continents on our planet.

                Why and how this unwanted destiny and tragedy has happened? Where the truth about this reality is hidden? Whether the Macedonian does not really like his born fire-place and leaves it, which is impossible and absurd? Whether the numerous wars that have happened in this region and the disintegration and the divisions of the Macedonian national body by the neighboring Balkan countries during the Balkan and the First World War have been the reason, or the  reasons should be searched in the social-economic motives - poverty and unemployment, or maybe the careless and wrong policy of the Macedonian authority after the Second World War until today with respect to the own people and state, which at least had to try, if not being able to prevent the devastation, and to slow down and stop the raging emigration river of mostly young and educated brains, well accepted in the new surroundings which did not invest a single cent in the creation of this important trained potential.

                Why is this, why this outflow and a great wish to escape, without any hope to return at home, when the Macedonian man did not have any established and significant tradition for leaving his born fire-place in the past but, on the contrary, he has been tightly connected to his home and his invaded country and through the centuries in the past survived and fought for his freedom and separate state.

                Our findings confirm the reality that the roots of the more organized and more massive emigration are dated from the end of the XIX century and became more visible during the XX century, and is especially significant today, without any hope for returning. The first more massive emigrations of the Macedonians from Macedonia started in the XIX century and they are result of the unbearable economic-social policy and the hard security position under the Turkish rule. The bloody breaking of the Ilinden uprising by the powerful Turkish army and the destruction of its peak - Krushevo Republic, the first republic on the Balkan, created catastrophic consequences for the future of Macedonia and the Macedonian people. At the beginning, the Macedonians emigrated to the neighboring Balkan countries and then, especially after the Ilinden uprising, to several European and overseas countries. According to the available documentation, Macedonian colonies have been established in Canada, USA, Australia, Argentina and other countries. “The emigration of the Macedonians in the North and South America in the last several years (after the Ilinden uprising until 1907) has bigger magnitude and is a threat and real danger for this region, especially from the economic point of view, and according to reliable information, the number of the Macedonian emigration until today (year 1907) is 75,000 people  of which 300 are in Argentina, 1,000 in Texas, 10,000 in Canada etc.[3]

                The emigration of the Macedonians from their homeland has gotten bigger dimensions in the period of the disintegration of Macedonia in the Balkan and the First World War, which is a result,  first of all, of the unbearable political-economic, social and security situation of the Macedonian population. According to Mr. Kniht, French Ambassador in Canada, from February 1929 the Macedonians from all three parts of Macedonia were connected among themselves through different political organizations, cultural and sport associations, and 60% of them came from Aegean Macedonia, 25% from Vardar Macedonia and 15% from Pirin Macedonia.[4]

                Among the reasons for the emigration from Macedonia, besides the unbearable social-economic situation and the unfavorable security situation of the Macedonian population, is also the performed colonization in all three parts of the disintegrated Macedonia. Thus, the French representatives noted that “from 1919 until March 31, 1924 in the Serbian Macedonia 118,000 ha of arable land was granted to  8,000 families with about 70,000 newcomers from Serbian-Montenegrin origin, colonized in Macedonia” [5]. The economic and social situation of the Macedonian population has been picturesquely and realistically presented in the report of the French consul in Skopje submitted on September 5, 1932 under the title “ The economic situation in the Vardar Province”, which reports that the situation was very serious. Many factors influenced such situation, but among the main ones were: the farmers got a moratorium of six months to repay their debts and the traders rejected the new credit applications, which meant a complete stagnation of the activities. Most of the traders lost even the small amounts of money they had. The price of the cereals and of the other agricultural products did not only decreased, but no buyers could be found. The opium is the biggest fortune in this region, which in 1928 was valued at 1,200 denars per kilo, and now (1932) is not worth more then 200 denars per kilo and even at that price there are no buyers. The taxes rapidly increased, the market was completely silent and no trade transaction was possible. For a farmer to buy 2 kg of sugar, he was forced to sell 30 kg of cereals”.[6]

                With the exchange of the population performed  from 1918 until 1924, only until the end of 1922, with a tendency to change the ethnic structure, 868,186 Greeks settled in Greece, of which 47,170 in Thessalia, 55,659 in Peloponez, and even 296,823 persons settled in Macedonia. According to the President of the Council of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of France, in March 1924 the number of Macedonians in Bulgaria was 500,000, and according to the Turkish-Bulgarian agreement from October 15, 1923 “1,200,000 Macedonians called themselves Macedonians and not Bulgarian Macedonians and they fought for creation of autonomous Macedonia.”[7]

                At the end and right after the Second World War the emigration of the Macedonians continued with the same pace in all three parts of Macedonia but mostly the Macedonians from the Aegean Macedonia  emigrated. According to the report of the French consul in Thessalonika Parmantie, sent on February 27, 1952, whose title is “Greek-Macedonian Relations”, for a long time “the process of departure by the Macedonians from the Aegean Macedonia who emigrated to the European and overseas countries was enhanced. The Macedonians in Greece do not have even elementary rights because they are not Serbs or Croats”.[8] According to Mr. Sherverijat - member of the Special Commission of the United Nations for the Balkan, the report prepared on May 13, 1949 writes that of the total 552,000 refugees, the born fire-places were deserted by 232,000 persons in Macedonia. [9] In the places of the exiled Macedonians from Aegean Macedonia, the Greek authorities settled and colonized “Greek Macedonia with Greek refugees from Small Asia”.[10]

                With the objective to change the ethnic composition of the population in Aegean Macedonia, immediately after the Second World War, the Greek authorities begun to terrorize, persecute, and physically extinguish the Macedonian population. The Greek official authority was the bearer and the organizer of these persecutions. Thus, bigger part of the population was killed, and even bigger part, in order to save their lives, was forced to leave their homes and to escape in Yugoslavia, Bulgaria and other European and overseas countries. According to the reports of the French diplomatic-consular representatives from Athens and Thessalonika, later “some silence” was felt which was manifested by Belgrade, due to the “difficult situation” in Yugoslavia, but they nevertheless could not agree “that in the XX century a national minority - Macedonian is being persecuted, is being politically and economically tortured, neither with the change of the names of the cities... For that reason we are strongly opposing this campaign, which we condemn, and the authorities in Greece have to worry because the problem of the Macedonians in Aegean Macedonia has not been resolved, which contributed for them to emigrate in the overseas countries”.[11]

                With full attention should be considered how the French representatives looked upon the territory of Macedonia and its differentiation from the neighbors on the Balkan, and especially upon the changes that its population faced in specific periods. More precisely, they openly asked the question where Macedonia starts and where it ends, because all of its neighbors took out, occupied one part of it. Seeking the answer to the open question, the French representatives presented their views through the definition of the Macedonian territory and its population, and most of them considered that the population consists of one same nation which was called Macedonian nation. They analyzed its specifics and pointed to the existing national characteristics and to the differences which separate them from their neighbors. Thus, for the territory of Macedonia, located in the heart of the Balkan,  the French documentation points that it is one region “perfectly bordered from Kumanovo to Thessalonika, from the Rodop mountains to the Albanian border, along the river Vardar and Struma to the Aegean Sea. Macedonia has three neighbors: Bulgaria with border of 160 km, Greece with border of 230 km, and Albania with border of 155 km border”[12], and with respect to the population, the national composition is presented according to the national affiliation and give objective information for the Vardar part, i.e. for the NR Macedonia, which are similar to the official statistical data.[13]

                In order to change the ethnic composition of the population in Aegean Macedonia after the Second World War, the Greek authorities begun a physical extinction of the Macedonian population, and as a result 35,000 Macedonians from Aegean Macedonia fled to Yugoslavia. The insecurity of the population, caused by the persecutions and the terror, contributed to speed up and increase the emigration process from the country. In order to prevent this situation, the United Nations established their Special Commission for the Balkan. Even the Greek Government in its report from November 30, 1949 does not deny but admits that there were 486,925 refugees from Greece, while according to the Special Commission of the UN, there were 552,000 refugees of which 232,000 from Macedonia.[14]

                The internal and the external migrations in the Vardar part of Macedonia were result of several factors, among which are: the degree and the dynamic of the economic development, the political aspect, the war conditions and especially the occupation conditions as a pressure and coercion and others. Thus, in different periods of the time, the intensity of the migration movements of the population was different. This finding is supported by the numbers according to which in the period from 1920 to 1940 over 74,000 people changed the place of residence, and in the following 20 years (1940-1960) their number increased five times and amounted to 363,000 people.[15] These significant changes in the migration movements of  the population are mainly due to two main  factors: war factor with the specific occupation conditions and the economic factor as a result of which bigger movements of the population had happened in the direction village-city, as well as migration in the European, and overseas countries. In addition to that, it is worth to note the immigration from the neighboring countries of Macedonia, mainly from Kosovo, Sandzak, South Serbia and Albania, which was more intensively expressed in the period 1950-1960 as well as the voluntary emigration from Macedonia of over 250,000 Turks in the whole after war period, of which 150,000 emigrated until 1956.[16] The changes of the population before and after the Second World War were as follows:[17]

                From the point of view of the national representation in the NR Macedonia, the biggest percentage is noted in the Albanian minority, and the biggest decrease is noted in the Turkish minority , which is confirmed by the following data:[18]

                The emigration from the homeland, Republic of Macedonia unfortunately is present today (the last couple of years over 100,000 people, mainly young and educated left Macedonia), and if no concrete steps are taken by the authorities, this process of separation from the homeland will continue with a faster pace. The country is getting more and more empty, with a tendency to become helpless elderly nation dieing out without war and with self-destruction. As a result of the intensified emigration process, today there are more then twice Macedonians on all of the continents than in their own country Republic of Macedonia. The big unemployment and the insufficient care and the inability of the authorities to improve the situation are killing factors which stimulate the emigration from Macedonia. No matter the different data for the unemployment rate (34% or 53%, from the official data of the Statistics Bureau and the Employment Bureau), it is important to emphasize that according to the rate of unemployment today Macedonia is on the first place in Europe. That is a worrying fact but at the same time shows that we are among the poorest countries in Europe, without perspectives for exit from the blind alley of the poverty in which Macedonia has found itself.

                From the economic and social point of view, it could be concluded that Macedonia has entered on the path of the social disintegration of the population on two basic categories: unemployed, socially vulnerable population and pensioners of whom the biggest part are in the first category -poor population or socially vulnerable. The rest is a thin layer of ten percent of rich citizens. There is no more middle class, which is the main pillar in any society and in any state, in the past and today.

                As for the intelligence as a designated critic and moving engine in any society, we should not be sorry that it has been moved from the middle class toward the poorer class of the population in Macedonia, but we should be sorry because it is no more a moving force for solving the bitter problems among which the unemployment which generates the poverty as a worldwide problem in any society. The intelligence becomes more and more inert, frightful and closed within itself, which is not characteristic of its role, that is to make efforts and to fight for changes of the existing conservative social systems and for development of the democracy and the democratic processes.

contents

board of editors

© Hi-story magazine, issue 1, June 2003; web-design: "Vertikala - Progressive Ideas and Technologies", Skopje