Vataša massacre

A massacre happened on 16 June 1943 near the village Vataša, Kavadarci, as part of the occupation of Vardar Banovina, part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers during World War II in Yugoslav Macedonia. The shooting happened near Moklište, where the neighborhood of "Čair" is, in the vicinity of the village of Vataša. The murders were part of an anti-partisan offensive launched by the Bulgarian occupation authorities against the communist resistance and its helpers.

History

The massacre was performed by the Bulgarian army and police forces led by captain Boris Zheglov, lieutenant Boris Kostov and the police officer Petko Oprekov under the command of Lyuben Apostolov, commander of 56. Veles infantry regiment from the Fifth Bulgarian Army. Apostolov was a local from Kriva Palanka. The principal of the local high school in Kavadarci, Ivan Iliev (IMRO), a former voivode of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, participated in the action too.[4] There was a talk in Vataša there were young people who had come into contact with the Macedonian partisans and were preparing to join them. In this regard, some locals loyal to the authorities prepared a list with the names of the involved. The operation to arrest the partisans' helpers was carried out on the morning of 16 June. During their interrogations, the rustic teacher, who was from Bulgaria, tried to exonerate the youths, but was removed.

The young men were subsequently taken out of the village and shot. They were between the ages of 18 and 28, while one boy was 15 years old.[5] Their names are Vančo Gurev (19 years), Ilčo Dimov (18 years), Panče Meškov (18 years), Danko Dafkov (18 years), Gerasim Metakov (18 years), Risto Gjondev (18 years), Pero Videv (15 years), Dime Čekorov (20 years), Vaso Hadžijordanov (28 years), Ferčo Pop Gjorgjiev (26 years), Pane Džunov (18 years) and Blaže Icev (20 years).[6] Four girls who were also arrested, were set free later. According to the then Tarnovo Constitution, most of the dead were minors, since adulthood was attained upon reaching the age of 21.[7][8] Persons under the age of 21 were not subject to the death penalty.[9]

The event led to anger among the local population. As a result, at the end of June 1943, the mayor of Skopje Spiro Kitinchev and the journalist Danail Krapchev, both local cadres, were sent to the village. They understood the main role in initiating this incident was of the deputy district governor Krum Kamchev, also a local. Subsequently Kitinchev went to Sofia and exposed there what a "mistake" had happened. However, the only consequence remained that Kamchev was moved from Kavadarci in a local village. After the war, the leader of the action, Colonel Apostolov, was handed over by the new Bulgarian authorities in Skopje. Before the court in Kavadarci, he pleaded not guilty. According to him, he had information that the young men and women had been captured armed in the forest. Per the orders in force in the army at that time, the Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War did not apply to them and they were to be shot immediately.[10] He was sentenced to death and shot. The other officers and non-commissioned officers who took part in the action, D. Raev, B. Zheglov, A. Bogdanov, B. Kostov and P. Oprekov, were also sentenced to death. Kitinchev, Krapchev and Iliev were also liquidated by the new communist authorities in Yugoslavia and Bulgaria.[11][12][13][14]

Legacy

A song dedicated to the youths, called Mi zaplakalo seloto Vataša, was written by Lazar Mančevski-Pindžur.[15] In honor of the killed youths, there is a sculpture in the village. In addition, during the 80th anniversary of the event, in June 2023, there were 12 busts of the youth and there was the solemn opening of the Room of Memory, which contains personal objects and photos of the youth.[16]

In the first post-war decades, the massacre was described in Yugoslavia rather as a result of a political and ideological conflict. After the aggravation of Bulgarian-Macedonian relations in the last decades, these events have been described in North Macedonia as an ethnonational conflict between "Bulgarian fascists" and "ethnic Macedonians".[17] This interpretation is disputed in Bulgaria, where it is claimed that the event was a personal mistake of Apostolov, and that there was no fascist regime in Bulgaria, while the authorities considered then the Macedonian Slavs as Bulgarians.[18][19] Moreover, local personnel was largely involved in this massacre.[20] As an example of the lack of ethnic motivation in the massacre, the Bulgarian side points to the Yastrebino massacre, which took place on 20 December 1943 in Antonovo Municipality. Then, the Bulgarian police and army killed 18 civilians, 6 of whom were small children, with the pretext for this being also hiding communist partisans.[21]

See also

References

  1. ^ Among the rank and file of the military units deployed in Macedonia, there were also many local youth. A large part of the officers serving in the Skopje and Bitola regions were of local origin and with Bulgarian military education. For more see: Димитров, Пламен, Рекрутиране и функциониране на българската администрация в Скопска и Битолска област 1941–1944 г. във Втората световна война и Балканите, Сборник, Военно издателство, София 2002, стр. 188–203.
  2. ^ Too often, the Macedonian story omits the participation of local people in the action and in the orders for the murder of the young. When it is mentioned that about 40 to 60% of the soldiers in the regiments of the Fifth Bulgarian Army stationed in Vardar Macedonia were locals, it is pointed out how they were forcibly recruited. For more: Стефан Дечев, Без съд и присъда. Как 12 младежи бяха разстреляни при Ваташа на 16 юни 1943 г.
  3. ^ Ташев, Т., „Българската войска 1941 – 1945 – енциклопедичен справочник", София, 2008, „Военно издателство", ISBN 978-954-509-407-1, стр. 9.
  4. ^ Малковски, Ѓорѓи. Профашистичките и колаборационистичките организации и групи во Македонија 1941 – 1944 година. Скопје, Институт за национална историја, 1995. стр. 70.
  5. ^ Јован Павловски, 1977, Судењата како последен пораз, "Полог" — Тетово, стр. 153.
  6. ^ Македонска енциклопедија, том I. Скопје, Македонска академија на науките и уметностите, 2009. ISBN 978-608-203-023-4. с. 249.
  7. ^ Bulgarian Constitutions, p. 14.
  8. ^ This is explicitly mentioned in Art. 99 of the 1907 Law on Persons, according to which adulthood is attained upon reaching the age of 21 from birth. Ciela Norma, Law on Persons.
  9. ^ According to Art. 58 of the Criminal Code of 1907, for criminals from 17 to 21 years of age the death penalty is replaced with 15 years of imprisonment. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Juliana Mateeva, The dangers and indiscretions in the proposed changes to the Criminal Code for minors. News Lex.bg., February 10, 2020
  10. ^ Петър Марчев, За смъртта на 12 младежи във Ваташа. И за Кървавия Божик. Време е за прошка. 21.08.2021 г. 168 часа.
  11. ^ Стефан Дечев, Без съд и присъда. Как 12 младежи бяха разстреляни при Ваташа на 16 юни 1943 г. 14 юни 2023, Свободна Европа.
  12. ^ Везенков, Александър. 9 септември 1944 г. София, Сиела, 2014. ISBN 978-954-28-1199-2. с. 377.
  13. ^ Пелтеков, Александър Г. Революционни дейци от Македония и Одринско. Второ допълнено издание. София, Орбел, 2014. ISBN 9789544961022. с. 221.
  14. ^ Јован Павловски, 1977, Судењата како последен пораз, "Полог" — Тетово, стр. 378.
  15. ^ Klinčarova, Viki (27 March 2023). "Авторот на "Ми заплакало селото Ваташа" посмртно беше прогласен за почесен граѓанин на Неготино" [The author of "Mi zaplakalo seloto Vataša" was announced a distinguished citizen of Negotino]. Fokus. Archived from the original on 10 April 2024. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
  16. ^ Бојан Блажевски, Одбележани 80 години од масакрот кај кавадаречкото село Ваташа. 16.06.2023 г. МЕТА.МК.
  17. ^ Блаже Миневски, Фашистите што ги убија ваташките младинци беа осудени и стрелани пред илјадници луѓе во Кавадарци! 31.10.2020 г. Нова Македониja.
  18. ^ In July 1942 a law of citizenship was passed, by which all (Slavic) inhabitants were held to have acquired Bulgarian nationality on the occupation, except, theoretically, those who chose to opt for their former nationality. If they chose the latter, they had to emigrate. Many Serbs in fact fled to Serbia. For more see: Macedonia. Its Place in Balkan Power Politics. Reprint. (Greenwood Press, 1980.) p. 72.
  19. ^ The question as to whether a Macedonian nation actually existed in the 1940s when the Communist Party of Yugoslavia decided to recognize one is difficult to answer. Some observers argue that even at this time it was doubtful whether the Slavs of Macedonia considered themselves to be a nationality separate from the Bulgarians (Palmer and King 1971: 199-200). For more see: Loring M. Danforth (1997) The Macedonian Conflict: Ethnic Nationalism in a Transnational World, Princeton University Press, ISBN 0691043566.
  20. ^ Каракачанов към Груевски: Във ВМРО няма гръцки вергини и шумадийски шайкачи. Вицепремиерът похвали македонски учен за "научното откритие", че българите и македонците са един народ. 02 май 2020 г. Клуб Z.
  21. ^ Стефан Дечев, Защо продължава борбата за паметта около Втората световна война и България? 15 юли 2023 г. Свободна Европа.
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