THE BULGARIAN PEASANT AND THE GREEK ARMY
No. 29. KING CONSTANTINE'S TELEGRAM. July 12, 1913.
The general commanding the Sixth Division informs me that Bulgarian soldiers under the command of a captain of gendarmes gathered in the yard of the school house at Demir-Hissar over one hundred notables of the town, the archbishop and two priests, and massacred them all. The headquarters staff ordered the exhumation of the bodies, with the result that the crime has been established. Further, Bulgarian soldiers violated young girls and massacred those who resisted them. Protest in my name to the representatives of the powers and to the whole civilized world against these abominations, and declare that to my great regret I shall find myself obliged to proceed to reprisals, in order to inspire their authors with a salutary fear, and to cause them to reflect before committing similar atrocities. The Bulgarians have surpassed all the horrors perpetrated by their barbarous hordes in the past, thus proving that they have not the right to be classed among civilized peoples.
(Signed) CONSTANTINE, King.
The above telegram was sent to the representatives of Greece in the European capitals.
No. 30. EVIDENCE OF FATHER JOSEPH RADANOV, of Kukush.
On July 2 he could distinctly see from Kukush that the surrounding villages were on fire, Salamanli among others. Fields of corn and stacks of reaped corn had been set on fire even behind the Greek positions. The Greeks moreover had fired upon the reapers who had gone to work in the early morning in their fields. The refugees from the neighboring villages began to arrive upon the heights called Kara-Bunar about a mile away, and were there bombarded by artillery.
Next day (July 3) the battle approached the town, but the Bulgarians retained their position. About midday the Greeks began to bombard Kukush, but when I left no house had taken fire.
No. 31. FATHER JEAN CHIKITCHEV.
I took refuge after midday on July 3 with Father Michel and meant to stay with him. I saw the shells falling upon the sisters' orphanage. I saw the hospital struck by a shell. There were at this time no Bulgarian troops in the town, although they were in their positions in front of it. The town was unfortified. The bombardment seemed to be systematic. It could not be explained as a mistake incidental to the finding of the range. Quite forty shells fell not far from the orphanage and three or possibly four houses were set on fire. At this point I left the town and fled with the refugees. Next night it looked as if the whole plain were burning.
NOTE.--Both the above witnesses are priests of the Catholic Uniate Church. (See also 63a.)
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No. 32. MR. C. [the name may not be published] a Catholic resident in the village of Todoraki near Kukush, states than on July 6 the Greek commandant of Kukush arrived accompanied by thirty infantrymen and eighty armed Turks. He was bound and left exposed to the full sun without food or water from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. His house was pillaged, and 200 francs taken with all his personal property. On being released he learnt from the villagers that they had lost in all ,T300 during the pillage. Two men were beaten and twelve were bound and sent down to prison in Salonica. The women were not maltreated.
No. 33. PETER SHAPOV, of Zarovo near Langaza, a shepherd.
He was taking his sheep and goats on the road to Demir-Hissar when Greek cavalry overtook the refugees on the edge of the town and began to slash out with their sabres to left and right. They took 600 goats belonging to himself and his two brothers. One of his brothers was wounded by a cavalryman and died afterwards at the Bulgarian frontier. The Bulgarian army was quite half an hour's walk away. There were no Bulgarian troops near them.
No. 34. MATE, Wife of Petro of Bogoroditsa, near Langaza.
I saw the Greek cavalrymen when they entered our village. I fled and in my haste was obliged to leave a baby of eighteen months behind in the village in order to flee with this one which I have with me, a child of three. I saw our village in flames. I want my child.
No. 35. ELISAVA, Wife of Georghi of Zarovo, near Langaza.
We all fled when the shells began to fall in our village and got safely to Demir-Hissar. Then I heard people saying the Greek cavalry are coming. There was a panic; children fell on the ground and horsemen rode over them. I lost my children, save one whom I was able to carry. My husband had two others with him. I do not know what has become of him, and have not seen him since that day.
No. 36. MITO KOLEV, a boy of fourteen from the village of Gavaliantsi, near Kukush.
On Wednesday, July 2, after the fighting at Kukush, the peasants fled from our village except a few old people. I fled with the rest and reached Kilindir. On Thursday I went back three hours' walk to our village to collect our beasts and find my mother. I found her and was going along the road back to Kilindir with others. As we were leaving our village I saw a Greek cavalryman in uniform on horseback. He fired his rifle at me and missed. I threw myself on the road, pretending to be dead. He then shot my mother in the breast and I heard her say as she fell beside me, "Mito, are you alive?" and that was the last word she spoke. Another boy came up and ran away, when he saw what had happened. The soldier pursued him, shot him, and then killed him with his sword without dismounting. Then I saw a little cripple girl named Kata Gosheva, who was in front of us hiding in a ravine. The soldier went after her, but I do not know whether he killed her. He then came back, passed us and met other cavalrymen. A certain miller of the village named Kaliu, who could speak both Greek and Bulgarian, then came up and lifted me up. The miller had a Mauser rifle. He hid in the ravine when he saw that the two troopers were hurrying back and I hid in some hay. I heard the horses' hoofs going towards the miller. They talked, and I suppose he must have surrendered. He then came back to where I was and the miller said, "Mito, Mito, come out or the cavalry will kill you." So I came out. We both then went to the school house where we found other Greek troopers. I was quite sure they were Greeks because I recognized the uniform.
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They used to come to our village sometimes before the war broke out. They questioned the miller in Greek and wrote something and gave it to him. The miller then said, "Let's go to the mill. It is about fifteen minutes from the village." We stayed there for an hour. In the meantime, three other Greek troopers came up from another direction. The miller went to meet them and showed them his piece of paper. The miller told me to gather straw, and he did the same. The troopers set fire to it so as to burn down the mill. [In reply to a question, Mito explained that the mill was not the miller's personal property. It belonged to the village community, which employed him.] The miller took away his mattress on his horse, which was at the mill. The troopers then left us and went to the village. We followed and the miller said to me, "We had better ask them for another bit of paper so that they will let us go to Salonica." Then some cartridges which had been left behind began to explode in the mill. This brought up other troopers at a gallop. They fired on us. The miller said something to them in Greek, showed them the paper and they chatted. [Mito only speaks Bulgarian.] I saw them looking at me. Then one of them drew his revolver and fired. The ball went through my clothes without wounding me. I fell down, pretending to be dead. He fired again and this time the ball went in at my back and came out at my breast. Then, still on horseback, he struck me on the shoulder with his sabre and the same blow wounded my finger. [Mito lay down and showed exactly how it happened. He still had the scars of all these wounds. The position was perfectly possible.] Blood was flowing from my mouth. I hid in the corn all the rest of the day and saw the village take fire in three places. The cavalry then gathered together and then rode off. I was in pain, but managed to walk away. I met two Bulgarian neighbors on my way and one of them took me in his cart to Doiran. There I met my father and had my wounds dressed in the military hospital. We fled through the mountains, and I was taken to the hospital in Sofia.
No. 37. VLADIMIR GEORGHIEV, of Dragomirtsi, near Kukush.
I left the village when the war began and afterwards went back to find some of my property. I saw the Greek cavalry, perhaps a whole regiment of them. There were ten in our village with officers. I managed to hide in some reeds near the village. I saw Gavaliantsi burning. About 2 o'clock eight cavalrymen passed and burned the mill. They then went into the village to finish the burning. I also saw our own village Dragomirtsi burning, and heard two or three shots fired. Toward 6 o'clock I fled and on my way met Mito Kolev, who was wounded and could hardly walk. Mito said he could not ride, so it was no use to offer him my beast. I left him and went on. (See also 63d.)
No. 38. CHRISTO ANDONOV, of Gavaliantsi.
He was beaten by the Greek soldiers. He saw the mother of Mito Kolev near the Greek cavalrymen and supposes she must have been killed. He did not see what happened very distinctly as he was at considerable distance. He saw the boy named Georghi Tassev killed with a sabre thrust by a trooper who was one of five. Some way off Kata Gosheva, the lame girl, was killed with a sword. This he saw quite distinctly. He was hidden in the ravine at the time.
NOTE.--These two witnesses were in a crowd of refugees at Samakov. In passing through the market place we inquired whether anyone present came from the village of Gavaliantsi. They stepped forward and told the above stories when asked to explain what happened to them after the battle of Kukush. See also the evidence of Lazar Tomov, No. 25.
THE AFFAIR OF AKANGELI
No. 39. MR. G., a Catholic inhabitant of Kukush, interviewed at Salonica, made the following statement:
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AAfter fleeing from Kukush, I arrived at Akangeli with some thousands of refugees from all the surrounding villages. It is close to the station of Doiran. Between two and three p.m. on Sunday afternoon (July 6) the Greek cavalry arrived, possibly 300 of them, with officers. The inhabitants went out to meet them with white flags and the priest at their head. About 120 people of the village were told off to look after the cavalry horses. These people disappeared and no trace could be found of them next day. That evening the women, both natives and refugees, were all violated, often repeatedly. The soldiers pillaged and killed, but would spare a man's life for five piastres or so. Probably fifty inhabitants of Akangeli were killed. I and another man were bound together by the cavalry. Six piastres and a watch were taken from me and my life was spared, but my companion was killed at my side. Women and girls were stripped and searched to find money. I saw many cases of violation myself. It was done more or less publicly, sometimes in the houses but sometimes in the fields and on the roads. I saw the village burnt and witnessed another case of the murder of a peasant. In reply to questions he stated that he saw the corpses of the fifty inhabitants after they had been killed. Some were shot and some were bayoneted. Again in reply to a question, he was certain there was no conflict in the neighborhood and no shots were fired, but the villagers were told to collect their rifles and surrender them. They did so and one went off accidentally in the hands of an officer who was breaking it. He was wounded, and the soldiers at once killed a boy who was standing near. Turks joined with Greeks in the pillage and so did the infantry, which arrived next day.
NO. 40. GEORGHI CHARISANOV, of Selo-Surlevo.
He took refuge in Akangeli. A squadron of Greek cavalry arrived on Sunday afternoon, gathered the refugees together and demanded arms, telling them not to fear. They then began to beat and rob. The Turks who followed them assisted in the pillage. On Monday, Greek infantry came and joined in sacking the village. Anyone who resisted was killed. There was a general panic and everyone fled who could. There were refugees from quite fifteen villages in the place. The soldiers violated women all the time, even little children. The soldiers went round from house to house on Sunday night and ordered the people to open the doors. They had a native of the village with them in order to give confidence to the people. Women were searched for money. About one hundred men were taken to look after the horses of the cavalry and these disappeared. On Monday the village was burned. We had given ourselves up quite voluntarily to the cavalry and welcomed them, and had surrendered about one hundred rifles. There was no excuse for what the soldiers did.
No. 41. MITO ILIEV, a butcher of Akangeli.
I was there when the Greek army arrived on Sunday afternoon towards four o'clock. Reckoning from St. Peter's day it must have been July 6. The village was filled with refugees from Kukush district, perhaps 4,000 altogether. The people went out to meet the cavalry by each of three roads. There were about 400 of them. We made a white flag and showed the Greek colors. Everything went quietly at first. The commandant asked for the mayor, and inquired in Turkish whether he would surrender and give up the arms of the village. We fetched our rifles (generally old Martinis) and piled them on a cart. The soldiers called for bread and cheese which were brought out. They then said, "Who is the butcher here, that he may kill sheep for us." I was chosen and troopers went with me to fetch and kill thirty sheep. Meanwhile the soldiers began to demand money from everybody. I saw a young man, a refugee from another village, whose name I do not know, killed with a sword because he had nothing. I was told that a boy of fifteen was killed about this time, but did not see it. The people were now gathered together in the
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square of the village and told to sit down. This I witnessed. The Greek commandant then came and asked, "Where do all these people come from?" Then he separated the men of Akangeli from the rest to the number of about sixty and sent them to a wood called Chaluk. Nothing more was ever heard of them. I went on cooking the sheep. Then the soldiers began to violate all the women. I heard cries going on all night, especially about 11 o'clock. The soldiers were not drunk, and they had officers with them. I stayed all night at my oven, and saw the two daughters-in-law of Stovan Popovali violated in front of me, a few paces away by three soldiers. Next morning, when we talked together in the village, I heard of many other violations. On Monday the Greek infantry arrived, seized me and told me to lead them to Dourbali. I led them there, and as I went off Akangeli began to blaze. I heard cries and rifle shots on all hands. When I got to Dourbali I fled to Atli, half an hour away, and hid in the house of my partner Saduk, a Turk. I sent Saduk to see what had become of my wife and family. He came back and said that everyone was being killed in the village, that he had seen many corpses, that my house was not burnt, but that there were three dead bodies in front of it. Saduk advised me to flee, and I did so. The Turks in our own village (Akangeli) behaved well, but strangers from other Turkish villages came and joined in the pillage.
In reply to questions the witness stated that an officer was accidentally wounded in the arm while examining one of the revolvers which had been given up. This he saw personally, but denied that it explains the killing of the young man who was the first to be killed with a sword. That happened some distance away.
NO. 42. STOYAN STOYEV, aged 18, of Akangeli.
This witness, at Dubnitsa, in reply to a question addressed to the group of refugees, whether any of those present came from this village or had passed through it in their flight, related in outline almost exactly the same story as the last witness, including the details about the conversation between the commandant and the mayor. The pillage, he said, began while the arms were being gathered. A rifle went off accidentally, and an officer was wounded, while the Greek soldier was emptying it. This he saw from a distance of about forty meters. Then the cavalry drew their swords and some people were killed, certainly two youths. At this point he hid and saw little more. He heard from a friend of his, a youth who came running out of the house of Dine Popov, that his wife was being violated. He then fled to a Turkish village. (See also 63b.)
NO. 43. ANASTASIA PAVLOVA, a widow of Ghevgheli.
Shortly before the outbreak of the second war I was staying with my daughter, a Bulgarian school teacher in the village of Boinitsa. A Greek lady came from Salonica, and distributed money and uniforms to the Turks of the place some six or eight days before the outbreak of the second war. She also called the Bulgarians of the village together, and told them that they must not imagine that this village would belong to Bulgaria. She summoned the Bulgarian priest, and asked him if he would become a Greek. He replied, "We are all Bulgarians and Bulgarians we will remain." There were some Greek officers with this lady who caught the priest by the beard. Then the men who were standing by, to the number of about fifty, had their hands bound behind their backs, and were beaten by the soldiers. They were told that they must sign a written statement that they would become Greeks. When they refused to do this they were all taken to Salonica. When the men were gone, the soldiers began to violate the women of the place, three soldiers usually to one girl. [She named several cases which she witnessed.] The soldiers came in due course to my house and asked where my daughter was. I said she was ill and had gone to Ghevgheli. They insisted that I should bring her to them. The Greek teacher of the village, Christo Poparov, who was with the soldiers, was the most offensive of them all.
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They threatened to kill me if I would not produce her. The soldiers then came into the room and beat me with the butts of their rifles and I fell. "Now," they said, "you belong to the Greeks, your house and everything in it, and they sacked the house. Then sixteen soldiers came and again called for my daughter, and since they could not find her they used me instead. I was imprisoned in my own house and never left alone. Four days before the war I was allowed to go to Ghevgheli by rail with two soldiers to fetch my daughter. She was really in the village of Djavato. At Ghevgheli, the soldiers gave me permission to go alone to the village to fetch her. Outside the village I met five Greek soldiers, who greeted me civilly and asked for the news. Suddenly they fired a rifle and called out, "Stop, old- woman." They then fired six shots to frighten me. I hurried on and got into the village just before the soldiers. They bound my hands, began to beat me, undressed me, and flung me down on the ground. Some Servian soldiers were in the village and interfered with the Greeks and saved my life. My daughter was hidden in the village and she saw what was happening to me and came running out to give herself up, in order to save her mother. She made a speech to the soldiers and said, "Brothers, when we have worked so long together as allies, why do you kill my mother?" The soldiers only answered, that they would kill her too. I then showed them the passport which had been given to me at Boinitsa. I can not read Greek and did not know what was on it. It seems that what was written there was "This is a mother who is to go and find her daughter and bring her back to us." The Greek soldiers then saw that it was my daughter, and not I, who was wanted and my daughter cried, "Now I am lost." The soldiers offered me the choice of staying in the village or going with my daughter to Ghevgheli. I begged that they would leave us alone together where we were until the morning, and to this they agreed. In the night I fled with my daughter, who disguised herself in boy's clothes, to a place two hours away which was occupied by Bulgarian soldiers. I then went myself to Ghevgheli and immediately afterwards, the second war broke out. The Bulgarians took the town and then retired from it, and the Greeks entered it. The moment they came in they began killing people indiscriminately in the street. One man named Anton Bakharji was killed before my eyes. I also saw a Greek woman named Helena kill a rich Bulgarian named Hadji Tano, with her revolver. Another, whose name I do not know, was wounded by a soldier. A panic followed in the town and a general flight. Outside the town I met a number of Greek soldiers who had with them sixteen Bulgarian girls as their prisoners. All of them were crying, several of them were undressed, and some were covered with blood. The soldiers were so much occupied with these girls that they did not interfere with us, and allowed us to flee past them. As we crossed the bridge over the Vardar, we saw little children who had been abandoned and one girl lying as if dead on the ground. The cavalry were coming up behind us. There was no time to help. A long way off a battle was going on and we could hear the cannon, but nobody fired upon us. For eight days we fled to Bulgaria and many died on the way. The Bulgarian soldiers gave us bread. I found my daughter at Samakov. My one consolation is that I saved her honor.
NO. 44. ATHANAS IVANOV, of Kirtchevo, near Demir-Hissar.
Our village is purely Bulgarian and consists of 190 houses. I am a shepherd and look after the sheep of the village. When the Greek army approached, most of the other villagers fled, but I was late in going and remained behind to see that my family had all got safely away. On July 16, while my wife was gathering her belongings, the Greek soldiers. arrived. Some of them told a young woman, a relative of ours, who was in front of the house, to go and find bread for them. Her husband had already been seized. I went to look for her. I found a sentinel with a fixed bayonet in front of her house. I rushed past him, and found that she had just been violated by a soldier, while another stood over her with his bayonet, and then the second soldier also violated her. She had had a baby only
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three days before. I then met Peniu Penev, who said to me, "You can speak Greek. All our wives are being violated; come and talk to the soldiers." I entered the courtyard of a house and saw three women on the ground who were being violated. One was wounded in the leg and another in the arm. [We took the names, but see no object in publishing them.] This was about three p.m. Many other women were there, crying. I then went out in fear, and when I had gone some distance, saw that the village was burning. I met a woman trying to put out the fire with water. The soldiers came up and violated her. I saw six soldiers trying to violate a young girl. Another soldier protested, but they threatened him with their bayonets. A sergeant then told this man to stop interfering and ordered him to arrest me and take me to the officers, who were at a place some half an hour's distance from the village. [In reply to questions, the witness stated that two cavalry officers were in the village, but were not in the courtyard, where most of the violations were going on. There were, however, non-commissioned officers among the infantry in the village.] When I got to the camp and was brought before the officers, the officers said, "Take him away and fling him into the flames." On my way back to the village, I met nine other villagers and saw them all killed with the bayonet. Their names were Ivan Michailov, Angel Dourov, Pavlo Zivantikov, Ilio Piliouv, Peniu Penev, Peniu Christev, Athanas Belcov, Thodor Kandjilov, Gafio Demetrev. I escaped at the moment by saying I was a Greek, when the soldiers asked, "What kind of creatures are these?" I can speak a little Greek. At dusk I managed to run away. They fired but missed me. I know nothing of what happened to my wife, but my children are saved. (See also Nos. 59-62.)
No. 45. A WOMAN FROM IJILAR, near Kukush, seen at Salonica. Name suppressed.
Everything in our village was plundered and burnt including the school and the church. All this was done by Greek soldiers of the regular army. The inhabitants mostly disappeared. Soldiers kept sending for peasants to supply them with sheep. Four would go and never return, and so on at short intervals until hardly anyone was left. "What am I to do now? I have nothing left but the clothes I wear."
No. 46. ANTON MICHAILOV AND DEMETRI GHEORGIIIEV, of German, near Demir-Hissar. (See also Nos. 59-62.)
On July 5 (Saturday), we went to the market at Demir-Hissar. A panic presently took place. Everybody said that the Greek cavalry was coming. We went up to a height from which the plain was visible. We could see no cavalry, but a lot of refugees coming from the other direction, from Barakli Djumaia. The Greeks of German, when the town was cleared, began to pillage the Bulgarian shops. They armed themselves and distributed arms to the Turks. We found the corpses of two Bulgarian soldiers in the garden of Doctor Christoteles. The refugees whom we met from the country all said that the Greeks were everywhere killing and burning; so we returned to our village which was still intact, gathered our things together and fled.
Some of the villagers, however, remained in German. Some days after we had left, Greeks and Turks arrived together and began to pillage, burn and kill. We believe that 180 men, women and children were killed. German had 100 houses, and about half the population remained. We heard of the fate of the others from a young man named Demitri Gheorghiev [not to be confused with our witness of the same name], who told us that the people were gathered together by the Greeks and Turks, the men in the church and the women in the house of Papa Georghi. Some of the men tried to escape from the church, but were all shot at once. This was a signal for the massacre. The men were first searched and robbed, and then killed. Young Demetri jumped from the window of the church and had the good sense to lie down as if he were dead when he was shot at. He told us that some insurgents (andartes) had arrived from Athens and organized everything. There is only one other survivor of the massacre, namely, Papa Georghi.
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NOTE. We made a uniform rule of refusing to allow witnesses to give us any information at second hand, but in this instance (and also in No. 50) since the alleged massacre had been so complete the circumstances seemed exceptional.
No. 47. ANTON SOTIROV, a Priest from the village of Kalendra near Serres, stated that Greek regulars and Turks came and burnt the Bulgarian houses at their village and killed an old man, the only one of the inhabitants who remained behind. This he saw from some little distance.
No. 48. GEORGHI DIMITRIEV, of Drenovo near Serres, stated that his village was burned by Greek infantry on a Tuesday about noon. He saw an old women named Helena Temelcova, aged about 80, shot and then beheaded by a Greek soldier. He was hidden behind some stones on rising ground and shortly afterward managed to flee. He saw the village burnt by the Greeks.
No. 49. MR. V. Seen at Salonica. Name suppressed. Was made prisoner by the Greeks at Pancherovo. He speaks Greek well and pretended to be a Greek and was released. He saw three men of the village killed, apparently for motives of robbery. Their names were Angel Michail, Athanas Bateto, and the latter's son. Athanas had ,T21. The peasants of this village had gone out to meet the troops with a white flag. This occurred on July 23. Eleven prisoners, who were taken at the same time as himself, were all killed on the hillside in the Kresna pass. These were armed men.
No. 50. NICOLA TEMELCOV, of Melnik, formerly a teacher, now a merchant.
Between July 11 and July 16, last, all the Bulgarian inhabitants of the Melnik district fled to Old Bulgaria, and he went with them, but had recently visited Melnik. In the village of Sklava, as he passed through it, all the women were gathered by the Greek soldiers in the house of Mito Constantinov, and the women were distributed among thirty soldiers. One girl of eighteen named Matsa Anton Mancheva resisted stoutly and offered money to the amount of ,T60. The Greeks took her money and still attempted to violate her. Sh resisted and was killed. Melnik has not been burnt, with the exception of the officers club, the hotel and the post office. The Greek houses are empty and the furniture gone. His father and mother remained in the town and told him their story. The Greeks said to them, "We do not wish to have bears living in our country. We want men." By "bears" they meant the Bulgarians. The officers took everything belonging to the witness on the pretense that he had fled. They demanded produce belonging to his father to the amount of 18 napoleons. They then took him out to his farm at Orman-Tchiflik and threaten him with death. He paid Tl8O for his life and was taken back to Melnik. All this was done by officers. They took quantities of wheat, rice and barley from his father's farm and also the buffaloes. The order was given that everything and everybody must be cleared out of Melnik and go to Demir-Hissar, and the government put both automobiles and wagons at the disposal of the Greek inhabitants for this journey. Those who were unwilling to go were beaten. This his father related to him. His father, an old man, has since died from exhaustion and mental worry.
No. 51. EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS OF GREEK SOLDIERS found in the mail of the nineteenth regiment of the Greek seventh division, captured by the Bulgarians in the region of Razlog.
(1) RHODOPE, 11th July, 1913.
This war has been very painful. We have burnt all the villages abandoned by the Bulgarians. They burn the Greek villages and we the Bulgarian. They massacre, we massacre,
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and against all those of that dishonest nation, who fell into our hands, the Mannlicher rifle has done its work. Of the 1,200 prisoners we took at Nigrita, only forty-one remain in the prisons, and everywhere we have been, we have not left a single root of this race.
I embrace you tenderly, also your brother and your wife
SPILIOTOPOULOS PHILIPPOS.
(2) Mr. Panaghi Leventi, Doctor Aliverion Euboea.
I also enclose herewith, the letter of congratulation from my commandant, Mr. Contoghiri in which he praises my squadron, which on the occasion of the short stay of a few days of our division, received the order at five o'clock, to march to the north of Serres. During the march, we engaged in a fight with the Bulgarian comitadjis, whom we dispersed, after having killed the greater part. We burnt the two villages of Doutlii and Banitza, the homes of the formidable comitadjis, and passed everything through the fire, sparing only the women, the children, the old people, and the churches. All this was done without pity or mercy, executed with a cruel heart, and with a condemnation still more cruel.
Merocostenitza, 12th July, 1913.
The outposts of the Army.
Love to you and also the others.
(signature unreadable)
sergeant.
(3) Mr. Sotir Panaioannou, in the village of Vitziano, parish Ithicou Tricala de Thessalie.
River Nesto, 12th July, 1913.
Here at Vrondou (Brodi) I took five Bulgarians and a girl from Serres. We shut them up in a prison and kept them there. The girl was killed and the Bulgarians also suffered. We picked out their eyes while they were still alive.
Yours affectionately: COSTI.
(4) Bulgarian Frontier, 11th July, 1913.
DEAR BROTHER JOANI:
Here is where the archicomitadjis live. We have massacred them all. And the places we have passed will remain in my memory forever.
SER. CLETANIS.
(5) RHODOPE, Bulgarian Frontier, 11th July, 1913.
BROTHER MITZO:
And from Serres to the frontier, we have burnt all the Bulgarian villages. My address remains the same: 7th Division, 19th Regt.; 12 Battalion at RHODOPE.
JOAN CHRISTO TSIGARIDIS. (6) NESTOS, 13th July, 1913. Village Bansta,
If you want to know about the parts where we are marching, all are Bulgarian villages,
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and everyone has fled. Those who remain are "eaten" by the Mannlicher rifle and we have also burnt a few villages. The Bulgarians suffered the same fate at the hands of the Servians.
S. NAKIS
(7) In the desert, 12th July, 1913.
. . . in Bulgarian territory, we are beating the Bulgarians who are continually retreating and we are on the point of going to Sofia. We enraged them by burning the villages, and now and again when we found one or two, we killed them like sparrows
Your brother GEORGE (name unreadable)
I am writing you in haste.
(8) Zissis Coutoumas to Nicolas Coutoumas.
With the present I give you some news about the war that we have made against Bulgarians. We have beaten them and have reached the Turkish-Bulgarian frontier. They fled into Bulgaria and we massacred those who remained. Further, we have burnt the villages. Not a single Bulgarian has been left. God only knows what will come of it. I have nothing more to write you. I remain, your Son Zissis Coutoumas. Many compliments from Thimios. He is well as also the other young men here.
12th July, 1913.
(9) M. Zaharia Kalivanis, Erfos-Milipotamos, Rethimo, Crete.
RHODOPE, 13th July, 1913.
Seal of the Commandant of Public Safety, Salonica
We burn all the Bulgarian villages that we occupy, and kill all the Bulgarians that fall into our hands. We have taken Nevrocop and were well received by the Turks, many whom came to our ranks to fight against the Bulgarians. Our army is in touch with Servian and Roumanian armies, who are 32 kilometers from Sofia. With regard to ourselves we are near the ancient frontier.
S.Z. KALIYANIS
(10) July 15th, 1913.
My BROTHER SOTIR:
Thanks to God, I am well at the moment of writing you. We are at present on the Bulgarian-Thracian frontier. As far as the war is concerned, I can not tell you anything about the situation and what takes place. The things that happen are such that have never occurred since the days of Jesus Christ. The Greek army sets fire to all the villages where there are Bulgarians and massacres all it meets. It is impossible to describe what happens. God knows where this will end. The time of . . . has come for us to start eating one another.
Love from your brother PANAGHIS BEGLIKIS.
I am writing you in haste.
(11) Bulgarian Frontier, 12/VII/1913.
Everywhere we pass, not even the cats escape. We have burnt all the Bulgarian villages that we have traversed. I can not describe it to you any better.
Your loving brother
GEORGES (corporal).
(Page 310)
My address is as follows:
To Corporal Sterghiou George,
12th Squadron, 3d Battalion, 19th Regt. 7th Division-if away, send on.
(12) RHODOPE, 13th July, 1913.
MY DEAR LEONIDAS:
Keep well, as I am. That is what I wish you. I received your letter, which gave me great pleasure. I also received one from Aristides, who is well, and writes that he has also been enrolled, which pains me, because my sufferings are such that could not be consoled by tears, because everything is lost, because you can not imagine what takes place in a war. Villages are burnt, and also men, and we ourselves set fire and do worse than the Bulgarians.
Your affectionate brother,
THOMAS ZAPANTIOTIS.
(13) Mr. Demetrios Chr. Tsigarida at Mexiata Hypati--Phtiotis.
COPRIVA (?), 11th July, 1913
For the Greek Army, as souvenir of the Turco-Bulgarian war.
Seal of the Commandant of the 19th Regt.
I was given 16 prisoners to take to the division and I only arrived with 2. The others were killed in the darkness, massacred by me.
NICO THEOPHILATOS.
(14) IN BULGARIA, 13th July, 1913.
What a cruel war is taking place with the Bulgarians. We have burnt everything belonging to them, villages and men. That is to say, we massacre the Bulgarians. How cruel! The country is inundated with Bulgarians. If you ask how many young Greeks have perished, the number exceeds 10,000 men.
YOUR SON, TSANTILAS NICOLAOS.
P.S. Write me about the enrollments that are taking place. They are surely on the point of enlisting old men. Curses on Venizelos.
(15) To Georgi D. Karka (Soldier)
First Section of the Sanitary Corps, 9th Division.
Arghirocastro, Epirus.
The River Nestor, 12th July, 1913.
DEAR BROTHER GEORGI:
Thank God I am quite well after coming through these five engagements. Let me tell you that our division has reached the river Nestor, that is to say, the old Bulgarian Frontier, and the Royal Army has passed this frontier. By the King's orders we are setting fire to all the Bulgarian villages, because the Bulgarians burned the beautiful town
(Page 311)
Serres, also Nigrita and a lot of Greek villages. We have turned out much crueller the Bulgars--we violated every girl we met. Our division took 18 pieces of artillery in good condition and two worn out pieces, altogether 20 cannon and 4 machine guns. It is impossible to describe how the Bulgars went to pieces and ran away. We are all well, except that K. Kalourioti was wounded at Nigrita and Evang the Macedonian got a bayonet wound while on outpost duty, but both are slight cases. Remember me to our countrymen and friends, although after coming through so much, thank God I am not afraid of the Bulgars. I have taken what I had a right to after all they did to us at Panghaion.
My greeting to you,
N. ZERVAS.
(Some illegible words follow.)
(16) M. Aristidi Thanassia, Kamniati.
Commune of Athanamow, Trikala, Thessaly.
14 July, 1913.
DEAR COUSIN:
I have received your letter of the lst and I am very glad that you are well, after all, so are we up to now. Let me tell you, Aristidi, all we are going through during this Bulgarian War. Night and day we press on right into Bulgarian territory and at a moment we engage in a fight; but the man who gets through will be a hero for his country. My dear cousin, here we are burning villages and killing Bulgarians, women and children. Let me tell you, too, that cousin G. Kiritzis has a slight wound in his foot and that all the rest of us, friends and relations are very well including our son-in-law Yani. Give my greeting to your father and mother and your whole household, as well as cousin Olga.
That is all I have to say,
With a hearty hug. Your brother,
ANASTASE ATH. PATROS.
(17) M. George P. Soumbli, Megali Anastassova,
Alagonia, Calamas.
RHODOPE, 12th July, 1913.
DEAR PARENTS:
* * * We got to Nevrokop, where again we were expected, for again we fought the entire day, and we chased them (the enemy) to a place where we set on the with our bayonets and took eighteen cannon and six machine guns. They manage to get away and we were not able to take prisoners. We only took a few, whom we killed for those are our orders. Wherever there was a Bulgarian village, we set fire to it and burned it, so that this dirty race of Bulgars couldn't spring up again. Now we are at the Bulgarian frontier, and if they don=t mend their manners, we shall go to Sofia.
With an embrace,
Your son.
PERICLI SOUMBLIS
7th Division, 19th Regiment, 12th Company, Salonica.
(Page 312)
(18) M. Christopher Kranea,
Rue Aristotle et de l'Epire 48. Athens.
RHODOPE, 14th July, 1913.
DEAR BROTHER CHRISTOPHER:
I am writing from Rhodope, a Bulgarian position, two hours away from the old Bulgarian frontier. If God spares me I shall write again. I don't know how much further we shall go into Bulgarian territory or if we are to have any more fights, as I don't know what further resistance we shall have to meet. If this war is to be the end of me, I pray the Almighty to comfort you greatly; and above all my mother and the relatives; but I hope that God will preserve my life. The money you speak of has not come yet. I have sent a few "bear-leaders" into a better world. A few days back my god-father Vassil Christon, tried his hand at shooting eight comitadjis. We had taken fifty whom we shared among us. For my share I had six of them and I did polish them off.
That is all I have to say.
Greeting from your brother,
DIM. KRANEAS
(19) M. Georges N. Yrikaki,
Vari-Petro, Cydonia, Canea, Crete.
Macedonia, July 12, 1913.
DEAR GEORGE:
* * * After that we went forward and occupied the bridge over the Strouma. A lot of Bulgars were hidden in different spots. After we had occupied the bridge we found numbers of them every day, and killed them. The Bulgars have burned the bridge to stop our advance towards Serres.
With greetings,
F. VALANTINAKI
This is my address--
STILIAN VALANTINO,
19th Regiment, 3d Battalion, 9th Company, 7th Division.
Macedonia.
(20) To A. M. Nicolas Hartaloupa,
Ksilokastro, Tricala, Corinth.
Rhodopian Mountains, 18/7/1913.
DEAR BROTHER NICOLAS:
I am very well and I hope you are as well as I am. We have turned up close to the Bulgarian frontier. We are constantly pressing on and putting the enemy to flight. . . . When we pass Bulgarian villages we set fire to them all and lay them waste.
With an embrace,
Your brother,
A.V. THODOROPOULOS.
(Same address.)
(Page 313)
(21) To Mme. Angheliki K. Lihouidi, Manastiraki, Acarnania, Ksiromera--Vonitza.
RHODOPE, July 13, 1913.
DEAR MOTHER:
I send you my greetings. I am in good health. * * * We have to--such is the order--burn the villages, massacre the young, only sparing the aged and children. But we are hungary. * * *
With greeting,
Your son,
JEAN LIHOUIDIS.
(22) To M. Christo Tchiopra,
Petrilo, Arghitea, Karditza, Thessaly.
The River Nestor,
July 13, 1913.
DEAR KINSFOLK:
My greeting to you. I am well and hope you are in good health. * * * This is something like real war, not like that with the Turks. We fight day and night and we have burned all the villages.
With greetings,
KAMBAS NICOLAOS.
(23) Independant Cretan Regiment,
12th Company,
To Corporal Em. N. Loghiadi.
Leaskoviki, Epirus.
Dobrisnitza, 12th July, 1913.
* * * today I am answering your letters of the 22nd of May and the 21st of June. * * * We have had a little engagement near the Strouma with the refugees from Koukouch and Lahna. The guns mowed them down on the road. We did not succeed in occupying the bridge, which they burned in their retreat toward Serres. This letter is being sent from Mehomia.
Greeting from,
E.N. LOGHIADIS.
(24) To M. Dimitri Koskinaki,
Skardelo, Milopotamo, Retimo, Crete.
Nevrokop, July 12, 1913.
DEAR COUSIN:
I am well and I hope you are, too. * * * We burned all the Bulgarian villages on our route and we have almost reached the old frontiers of Bulgaria.
With an embrace,
Your cousin,
S. KALIGHEPSIS.
(Page 314)
(25) 11th July, 1913.
I have not time to write much; you will probably find these things in the papers. * * * It is impossible to describe how the Bulgarians are being treated. Even the villagers--it is butchery--not a town or village may hope to escape being burned. I am well and so is cousin S. Kolovelonis.
With a loving embrace,
Your brother,
N. BRINIA
(26) The Bulgarian Frontier, 11th July, 1913.
DEAR BROTHER ANASTASE:
I hope you are well. Don't worry, I am all right. We have had a lot of engagements, but God has spared my life. We had a fight at Nevrokop and took 22 cannon and a lot of booty. They can't stand up to us anywhere, they are running everywhere. We massacre all the Bulgarians that fall into our clutches and burn the villages. Our hardships are beyond words.
Your brother,
NICOLAS ANGHELIS
I embrace you and kiss my father's hand.
(27) Dobrountzi,
13th JULY, 1913.
DEAR BROTHER:
All the villages here are Bulgarian, and the inhabitants have taken to flight as they did not wish to surrender. We set fire to all the villages and smash them up,--an inhuman business; and I must tell you, brother, that we shoot all the Bulgarians we take, and the are and a good number of them.
With an embrace,
Your brother,
AL. D---GEAS,
(Illegible.)
(28) Banitza,
11th July, 1913.
MY DEAR LEONIDAS:
I can't find paper to write to you, for all the villages here are burnt and all the habitants have run away. We burn all their villages, and now we don=t meet and a living soul. I must tell you that we are close upon the old frontiers of Bulgaria. We have occupied the whole of Macedonia except Thrace. * * * I want an immediate answer.
This is my address,
CORPORAL GEORGE KORKOTZI,
19th Regiment, 3d Battalion, 11th Com an 7th Division--wherever we may be.
No. 52.--A. BURNED VILLAGES IN BULGARIAN TERRITORY, DISTRICT OF STRUMNITSA
The list of burned villages which follows will be found to be accurate, in the sense that it includes no villages which have not been burned. But it is far from complete, save as regards the Kukush and Strumnitsa regions. Many other Bul arian villages were burned,
(Page 315)
particularly in the Serres and Drama districts. In many cases we have not been able to discover the exact number of houses in a village. It will be noted that the list includes and a few Turkish villages in Bulgarian territory burned by the Greeks, and a few villages burned by the Servians. The immense majority of the villages are, however, Bulgarian villages burned by the Greek army in its northward march.
The number of burned villages included in this list is 161, and the number of houses burned is approximately 14,480.
We estimate that the number of houses burned by the Greeks in the second war can fall short of 16,000.
The figures which follow the names indicate the number of houses in each village.
Eleven Bulgarian villages burned by the Greeks, with number of houses in each.
Dabilia (50), Novo-selo (160), Veliussa, Monastira, Svrabite, Popchevo (43), Kostourino (130). Rabortsi (15), Cham-Tchiflik (20), Baldevtsi (2), Zoubovo (30).
Nine Turkish villages burned by the Greeks: Amzali (150), Guetcherli (5), Tchanakli (2), Novo-Mahala (2), Ednokoukovo (80), Sekirnik (30), Souchitsa (10), Svidovitsa (10), Borissovo (15).
Two Patriarchist villages, Mokreni (16), and Makrievo (10), with three-fourths of town of Strumnitsa, about 1,000 houses and shops.
In all over 1,620 houses.
District of Petrits.--Fourteen villages burned by the Greeks: Charbanovo, Breznitsa, Mouraski, Mitinovo, Ormanli, Michnevo, Starochevo, Klutch, Koniarene, Kalarevo, Mikrevo, Gabrene, Skrit and Smolare (the two last partially).
District of Razlog.--Dobrinishta (298).
District of Gorna.--Djoumaia, Simitli, Dolno-Souchitsa and Srbinovo (200)--the last burned by the Greeks after the peace of Bucharest.
District of Melnik.--Sixteen Bulgarian villages burned by the Greeks: Spatovo, Makrikostenovo, Sklave (30), Sveti-Vratch (200), Livounovo (60), Dolni-Orman (90), Tchiflitsite, Prepetcheno (20), Kapotovo, Kromidovo, Harsovo (100), Dolna-Oumitsa, Hotovo, Spatovo (16), Spanchevo (30), Otovo (60). District of Nevrokop.--Seven Bulgarian villages burned by the Greeks: Dolna-Brodi (300), Libiachovo (400), Kara-Keui (40), Godlevo, Tarlis (10), Obidin, Tcham-Tchiflik, and ten houses in the town of Nevrokop; also the Turkish village of Koprivnik (100).
B. BURNED VILLAGES OF BULGARIAN NATIONALITY IN GREEK TERRITORY
District of Salonica.--Bulgarian villages burned by the Greeks: Negovan, Ravna, Bogorod. District of Ziliahovo.--Bulgarian villages burned by the Greeks: Skrijevo, Libechovo, Kalapot (partially), Alistratik (partially), and Guredjik.
District of Kukush.--Forty Bulgarian villages burned by the Greeks: Kukush tow 1,846 houses, 612 shops, 5 mills. Idjilar (70), Aliodjalar (50), Goliabache (40), Salamanli (15), Ambar-Keui (35), Karaja-Kadar (25), Alchaklish (13), Seslovo (30), Stresovo (20), Chikirlia (15), Irikli (20), Gramadna (100), Alexovo (100), Morartsi (350), Roschlevo (40), Motolevo (250), Planitsa in part (180), Nimantsi (40), Postolar (38), Yensko (45), Koujoumarli (30), Bigliria (18), Kazanovo (20), Dramomirtsi (115) in part, Gavalantsi (45), Kretsovo (45), Michailovo (15), Kalinovo (35), Tsigountsi (35), Harsovo (50), Novoseleni in part (20), Malovtsi (20), Vrighitourtsi (15), Garbachel (30), Haidarli (10), Daoutli (18). Tchtemnitsa (40), Rayahovo (150) in part, Gola (15).
In all 4,725 buildings.
District of Doiran.--Eleven Bulgarian villages burned by the Greeks: Akanjeli (150), Dourbali, Nicolits, Pataros, Sourlevo, Popovo, Hassanli, Brest, Vladaia, Dimontsi, Ratartsi.
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District of Demir-Hissar.--Five Bulgarian villages burned by the Greeks: Kruchevo (800), Kirchevo (180), Tchervishta (170), German (80), and Djouta-Mahala.
District of Serres.--Six Bulgarian villages burned by the Greeks: Doutli (100), Orehovatz (130), Drenovo, Moklen, Frouchtani, Banitsa (120).
District of Gevgheli.--Fifteen Bulgarian and three Vlach villages burned, mainly by the Greeks, but in two cases by the Servians: Sehovo, Schlopentsi, Matchoukovo, Smol, Baialtsi, Marventsi, Orehovitsa, Smokvitsa, Balentsi, Braikovtsi, Kostourino, Mouine, Stoyacovo, Fourca, and Ohani, Houma and Longountsa (vlach).
C. BURNED VILLAGES OF BULGARIAN NATIONALITY IN SERVIAN TERRITORY
District of Tikvesh.--Five Bulgarian villages burned by the Servians: Negotin (800), Kamendol, Gorna-Dissol, Haskovo, Cavadartsi (in part) (15), etc.
District of Kotchana.--Three Bulgarian villages burned by the Servians: Sletovo, Besikovo, Priseka, etc.
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Ethnic Cleansing of Macedonia
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Topic: Ethnic Cleansing of Macedonia
Keep up the good work.
And I repeat
