The Philhellene, March-April, 1943

The Philhellene, March-April, 1943, Vol. II, No. 3-4, Page 2

"...In addition to the Fascist and Nazi terrorism, poor Greece has to suffer the inhuman treatment imposed by their Bulgarian accomplices. The "Manchester Guardian" published recently a report on the atrocities committed against the Greek population in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace by the Bulgarian authorities occupying these territories. The Greek inhabitants are expelled from their homes, men and women are shot or put to forced labor, churches and schools are closed. It is hoped that the perpetrators of these crimes will receive their due at the proper time."

Hellas Weekly, June 18, 1943

Hellas Weekly, June 18, 1943, Page 4

BULGARIAN EFFORT TO STAMP OUT GREEK CULTURE

Although the question of education in Greece under enemy occupation has retreated to the background in the face of the frightful famine, it remains nevertheless one of the manifestations of the nation's life that has been the most cruelly mutilated by the enemy in their endeavour to sap the vigour of the national spirit at its very roots.

Greece has been partitioned into three spheres of influence: the Bulgarian, the Italian, and the German. The conditions of education vary according to the special aim of the Occupying Power.

The Bulgarian occupation of Western Thrace and Eastern Macedonia is the most pernicious. Bulgaria's aim is the denationalisation of these areas either by the expulsion or the extermination of the Greek inhabitants. Schools and teachers have been the objects of more persecution than any other section of the community.

So far as is known all the schools in Eastern Macedonia and Western Thrace have been closed. This state of affairs followed the occasion then all teachers were called to the police station and informed that the occupation authorities had no intention of impeding their work: the teachers would be allowed to continue their functions, but on one condition - that they spoke and taught Bulgarian. As not one of them fulfilled that condition, they were not allowed to teach.

A few days later they were given 24 hours in which to leave the country; as a consequence more than 150,000 children of all ages were deprived of their accustomed schooling, of their teachers, and of the school premises as well.

The school buildings of those provinces were built under a comprehensive educational scheme, and were models of modern architecture. Most, and the best of them, were taken over for war purposes by the Bulgarians.

The Bulgarians are trying to force the population to learn the Bulgarian dialect. Greek is not only barred from schools, but also from conversation in the streets. The Bulgarians hope that by those measures they will force the of nursery school age to learn only Bulgarian and thereby forget their mother tongue, or at least never grow used to its written signs; that they may grow estranged from their elders, and from the circle of ideas, mental pictures and traditions that form the basis of a common culture.

They hope to introduce in this way the Greek community a mental disruption and distortion of feeling.

The Germans have allowed Bulgarian influence to spread further: the Bulgarians are now taking part in the policing of Salonica. In that city the second university of Greece has its seat; there are also some affiliated schools of technical importance - agricultural, veterinary, surgical, and so on.

The flourishing university has been closed and its professors dismissed.

- From "The Schoolmaster."

The Philhellene, January-February, 1944

The Philhellene, Bulletin of the American Friends of Greece (30 Rockefeller Plaza - New York - COlumbus 5-8594), Vol. III. No. 1-2. January - February 1944, page 2.

...

"Greek units fought back during this period wherever and whenever possible. The latest accounts in the "New York Times" report guerrilla activities in Macedonia, eastern and southern Epirus and Thessaly..."

...

"As an illustration, it is reported by the Greek Government on advices received from Greece that seventy-nine villages in the province of Grevena, in western Macedonia, have been totally destroyed. Grevena is the home town of the Executive Secretary of American Friends of Greece and he recalls that there were only about 150 villages and towns in the whole of the province. It appears then that one half of the province has been destroyed."

...

"Another dispatch adds that "in Macedonia and Thrace, Bulgars are reported to be faithful pupils of the Germans and in several instances have shown themselves to be crueler aggressors than the Nazis, if possible." Yet, many continue in this country to deceive themselves with the idea that the Bulgarian people are innocent and that it is only a group of government leaders in Sofia who are subservient to the Nazis."

Indomitable Guerrillas

Hellas Weekly

Indomitable Guerrillas

Friday, June 18, 1943

Page 4

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Hellas Weekly, June 18, 1943

Hellas Weekly, June 18, 1943, Page 2

The Bulgars

The "Burgarski Phare" reports that Bulgarians are settling in Thrace in almost all the villages, and in some places are already forming a majority. It also states that mistakes are being made, in that "lazy and troublesome people are being sent as settlers."

[Editor's Note. - If their own Press labels these settlers as troublesome, it can be imagined what the Greeks in those areas are suffering at their hands.]

Significantly, it is also reported that the census of Macedonia and Thrace was completed on May 10. It will be interesting to see the figures when they are published.

To make their control of these areas even more effective, the Bulgarian Government has forbidden the sale of real property in Macedonia and Thrace. Property confiscated by the Bulgarian State may only be bought by Bulgarian nationals - on payment of 10 per cent of the price, the balance being spread over a long period.

The Bulgarian Government has also forbidden Moslems to settle on the coast of Thrace and the Aegean Province, according to the "Zaria."

A modern Bulgarian school will be inaugurated in Salonica, wrote the "Zaria" recently.

***

The "Deutsches Nachrichten Bureau" reports from Sofia that the Bulgarian Ministry of Health has declared the provinces of Thrace and Macedonia to be malaria areas, where the laws concerning the combating of the disease have to be strictly carried out.

The Philhellene, September-October, 1944

The Philhellene, September-October, 1944, Vol. III, No. 9-10, Page 6

BULGARIA'S LATE REPENTANCE

"...At the last hour, Bulgaria's new leaders have been trying to play off Russia against the United States and Great Britain. It is hoped that this attempt, too, will fail and that the interests of Greece and Yugoslavia will not be sacrificed to power politics. It is also hoped that one of the conditions of the armistice shall be that Bulgarians installed in Greek Macedonia and Thrace shall vacate the Greek homes immediately and that the homeless and deported Greeks shall be restored at Bulgaria's expense. In other words, the restoration of the status quo ante in the ravaged Greek provinces must be a definite condition of the armistice.

For us really to understand this we bounded. As soon as the new government sued for an armistice, it addressed telegrams to a certain Bulgarian "general" Apostoloff, in the ranks of Marshall Tito, offering congratulations for his struggle "for the liberation of Macedonia" and another telegram to Marshall Tito himself assuring him of the desire of Bulgaria "for brotherly cooperation of the Slavic countries against the common enemy." In other words, the stage is all set for Bulgaria's claim for a free Macedonia, the fraud of which has been exposed in our last issue.