An even graver situation is expressed by both Tempo and
Tito, in that the entire district committee in Macedonia, headed by its secretary
Metodi Shatorov from Prilep, supports the idea that the Macedonian Slavs are
Bulgarians and the place of the Macedonian Communist Party (MCP) is within the
Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP). From a number of similar statements found in
official party correspondence, we cite the more relevant
At a meeting of the partisan brigades I and II, as well as a group of battalions
in the Resen region on 21 Dec 1943, Tempo makes the following
comments about Shatorov and the leadership of the MCP:
They thought that the Macedonian
people were Bulgarians and that they were oppressed by the hegemony of Great
Serbia and had to be transferred to Bulgaria. Their basic slogan is:
"All non-Macedonians out of Macedonia". The capital J
[Serbo-Croatian spelling of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavian, etc.] was deleted from all
documents. In fact they did not want Yugoslavia, no matter where it stood
politically. When the war started, the initial decision of this leadership
was to be separate from Yugoslavia and from Tito. They declared that
Macedonia would be free as soon as the Bulgarians came.
In addition it is revealed
Shatorov together with his comrades had taken part in the pro-Bulgarian action
committees preparing to meet the Bulgarian army and had voluntarily
handed over weapons to the occupation forces
Tito confirms all these actions of Shatorov and the MCP by calling him
an "old Bulgarian" (in Serbian: stari bugarin). For example in his
letter to the district committee for Macedonia (MCP), dated 24 July 1941,
he writes
The actions of the "old Bulgarian" have proved to be not only
against the party but also anti-revolutionary.
Referring to Shatorov as Sharlo Tito then details specific accusations
After the occupation, he severed all ties with the Central
Committee of the Yugoslav Communist Party.
He assumed an aggressive attitude towards his Serbian comrades,
an attitude that does not differ at all from that of
the Macedonian reactionary bourgeoisie
(Note that Tito calls "reactionary" that part of the Macedonian
bourgeoisie that considers itself a part of the Bulgarian people).
Immediately after the occupation of Macedonia, Sharlo expelled from
the CC of the YCP for Macedonia, Blazho Orlandich and Dobrivoe Vidich [later
chief party leader in Socialist Rep Serbia],
because they were Serbs and, as such, they had nothing to do with
Macedonia.
Therefore, according to his [Shatorov's] view, Macedonia has been
liberated.
Tito comes to the conclusion that the situation is intractable and acts accordingly
We decided to change the whole executive body of the Macedonian organization, because the
majority of this executive body expressed complete solidarity with Sharlo.
However the ideas of Shatorov and his comrades continued to live, despite his
suspension from the Central Committee of the Yugoslav Communist Party (CC
of YCP). Under the pressure of their followers, the new executive bodies of
the Macedonian Regional Committees continued to share Shatorov's ideas. Bane
Andreev of Veles, a party secretary for Macedonia, expressed this same ideology,
as cited in volume 7 of the "Encyclopedia Jugoslavie" (1955, p686)
Bane Andreev thought that the Macedonian people believe in Bulgaria's role
as liberator and that no Macedonian wants to fight against the Bulgarian soldiers.
That the Macedonians should respond positively to the mobilization call being carried
out by the Bulgarian authorities and join the army.
The best activists shared Shatorov's ideas:
- That the Macedonian Slavs are Bulgarians
- With the breakup of Yugoslavia and with the Bulgarian occupation,
Macedonia is free
- We no longer recognize Yugoslavia
- We want the Serbs to leave Macedonia.