United Macedonians Executive Committee

Main Organizational Report to the First National Convention of the United Macedonian of North America
Held at the Inn on the Park Hotel, Toronto
September 4-5-6 & 7th, 1970

Your Eminence Metropolite Kiril,
Honorable Guest, Professor Nurigiani,
Honorable Guest, Professor Polenakovik,
Honorable Guests,
Brothers and Sisters Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen:

On my behalf, as president of the United Macedonians of North America, on behalf of all the people represented by the United Macedonians Organization, I hereby declare this Convention officially open. I wish to take this opportunity to extend our heartfelt welcome to all of you who have come to honor us and through us all the Macedonian people, on the occasion of our First National Convention of the United Macedonians of North America. It is a great pleasure and a privilege to have you present at this all Macedonian historic occasion. We are more than pleased to he honored with the presence of so many prominent guests and friends form the People’s Republic Macedonia, from the beautiful and friendly country of Italy, and from other faraway places, who took the time and trouble to travel thousands of miles, in order to be here responding to our invitation. This act of yours is real proof that you have love and respect for our organization and the Macedonian people as a whole. We are also grateful that so many of the founding members of the United Macedonians Organization are with us today. To them we say: a “big thank you” for your initiative and wisdom.

Dear Delegates and Friends:
With this report it is my intention and the intention of the whole Organizational Committee to give an outline of (a) the purpose of the United Macedonians Organization, (b) its achievements during the last 10 years, (c) its weaknesses and shortcomings and (d) our future plans and perspectives.

The purpose of the United Macedonians Organization is mainly one, and that is to unite all Macedonians of the North American Continent, regardless of their religious beliefs, ethnic origin, political opinions or affiliations. The above purpose is our declaration of a basic unifying principle, without, which our name, “United Macedonians” would not apply. This principle was upheld by the leaders and organizers of the 1903 Ilinden uprising. This principle was upheld by the leaders and organizers of the second Macedonian Ilinden from 1941 to 1945, during which the People’s Republic of Macedonia was born.

This principle is now the basic foundation of the constitution of the national freedom of the Macedonian people.

For this principle reason, the United Macedonians Committee was organized and founded 10 years ago. The response of the Macedonian people of North America and Australia to this appeal has shown to all of us that there are no better principles, which can serve the best interest of all the Macedonian people.

The United Macedonians Organization, in order to bring about the unity of the Macedonians, had to undertake a difficult task of education and a program of cultural activities. The United Macedonians started with the Ilinden picnic, the first of which was held in the year 1959. The first picnic with the minimum of preparation brought over 3,000 people together. This manifestation encouraged the United Macedonians Committee to take Ilinden an all-Macedonian holiday, which today has become tradition; drawing ten to fifteen thousand people every year. This manifestation of unity has a great political significance for all Macedonians everywhere.

The “United Macedonians” Organization undertook many other projects such as publication of periodicals, magazines, newspapers and bulletins. Through these publications, we were able, in a small way, to explain the purpose of The United Macedonians. The United Macedonians Committee held many social affairs such as dances, banquets, lectures, and invited many prominent speakers to enlighten the Macedonians about their culture and traditions. The Committee in the year 1962 decided to invite a religious delegation from Skopje to attend and officiate at the memorial service for the fallen Ilinden heroes of 1903. The delegation was headed by His Eminence very Reverend Bishop Naum. While performing the memorial service at the picnic 10,000 Macedonian voices went up calling on the Bishop, “We want a Macedonia church!” “We want a Macedonian church!”

The following day, United Macedonians Committee, together with the Bishop and his delegation, called a conference in the King Edward Hotel, Toronto, for the purpose of forming the first Macedonian church congregation in Canada. The United Macedonians are proud of this fact, when they look back and see the success of that historic decision. Since that time many more Macedonian church congregations have been established, not only in Canada, but also in United States of America and the far-away Australia.

Last year the United Macedonians celebrated its 10th anniversary. Within those short ten years the United Macedonians Organization has become a force which has attracted the overwhelming majority of Macedonian people of this continent. This we were able to do thanks to the broad principles of purpose of the United Macedonians Organization. The founders of the United Macedonians were fully mindful of the division existing at that time among our people, and for that reason formulated the principle of unity regardless of our political opinions, religious beliefs, and petty differences. The founders knew that the only way to unite the Macedonian people was to form and organization which is based and founded on national lines because the national interest of all the Macedonians is one and the same. It is the duty of this Convention to make crystal clear to all our delegates and members, and the Macedonian people in general, that this is the only way to keep the unity of the Macedonian people. Any other policy, which tends to bring petty politics into the life of the United Macedonians Organization, is detrimental and dangerous, not only to the Organization, but also to all the Macedonians in this country. This does not deny the right of each individual member to take part in the political life of Canada and have different political opinions outside the framework of the United Macedonians Organization.

In the opinion of the Convention Committee there is a lot of work to be done so that every member will understand the above principles if we hope to go forward and unite all the Macedonians of the North American continent.

It was this spirit of united feeling that responded in helping the Macedonian people to rebuild their lives after the second world war, when over 200,000 dollars were contributed by the Macedonian people of Canada and United States of America. These funds were used for the building of a modern hospital in the capital of Macedonia, Skopje. It was the same feeling of unity when we responded in mass to help the victims of the flood and the earthquake in the years 1962-63.

It was the same people with the same enthusiasm who helped to build the Macedonian churches and cultural halls where Macedonians of all walks of life congregate and enjoy mutual social life. It is this type of work that makes a good Macedonian and a good Canadian citizen.

Dear Delegates and Guests:
This year 1970 is and will be one of the most important historical dates to all Canadians and Americans of Macedonian origin. We know from past history that the generations that will follow us will refer to the decisions taken at this First National Macedonian Convention. Our decisions will give good leadership for the future development of the Macedonian movement, not only on the North American continent, but also throughout the whole world wherever Macedonians live.

This Convention will be able to look back into the short history of the United Macedonians Organization and evaluate both the good and the bad aspects of our organizational work; it will be able to correct the mistakes of the past and go forward for greater success. All this depends on the wisdom and maturity of the delegates who are here representing the great majority of the Macedonian communities of the North American continent.

This Convention will not only note our success and weaknesses, but will record the struggles of the Macedonian people for freedom, equality, and independence throughout our turbulent history.

This Convention is welcomed and supported by all the Macedonians of Canada and the United States of America. The eyes of all Macedonians are focussed on this Convention. Why so? Because, our people are proud of being Macedonians. We take pride in our history, culture, our traditions and our identity as Macedonians. As Canadians and as Americans, our record is A-1. We feel that we are part and parcel of our newfound homelands. We like to live peacefully with all the people of the American continent. Yes, we try to preserve our culture in the hope to enrich the culture of our newly adopted countries. We came to these lands as newcomers, but not to the world-we came here as heirs and descendants of an ancient people, as immigrants running away form oppression. We came to the shores of America with empty hands, but in our empty hands we brought a lifetime of creative labor; in our hearts we brought a deep love for new creative labor, on our lips we brought the sweet breath of song and freedom; and in our eyes we brought the bright light of a better tomorrow.

Macedonian brothers and sisters. Lip service to our history and heritage means nothing to the generations of today. Unless we all work actively in creating a better world for them and for their children…a world without fear, hunger, war and repression. These things can be achieved only through reason, tolerance, co-operation and understanding. A great American statesman said that, “There is nothing that cannot be settled on the conference table. The time is gone forever when the policy of the ‘Might is Right’ was prevailing in the world”.

Today, our young generations are excelling in many fields of public life, business and the professions. The rich and humane traditions of the Macedonian people date back many, many centuries. The folklore, the music and songs, the traditional dance and the people’s arts have become part of our difficult history by which we enriched our lives and built our character and our spiritual strength. The history of our people were able to build a character able to resist. This character of the Macedonian people saved our national identity throughout the ages.

We are also proud that our people always defended with great courage, their homes, their families and the good name of Macedonia. Regardless of this our people are also noted for their love of peace. Gotse Delchev, the leader of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization over seventy years ago was asked by someone of how he sees the world. He replied; “I see the world as a great field for cultural and humanitarian competition and not for self-destruction of one people against the other”. He also said, “I fight for the liberation of Macedonia, with wide rights for all the poor of all nationalities, religions and languages”. We ask how the wisdom of Gotse Delchev, if adopted by the present world leaders, can save humanity from self-destruction.

The Macedonian people should be proud that one of their leaders was able to foresee over seventy years ago, not only the problems of the Macedonian people, but also the solution to the problems of the whole world. Without being in any way chauvinistic we dare any nation to challenge the wisdom and correctness of the above statements by our great and immortal leader, Gotse Delchev.

Hence the perpetuation of these ideals and traditions among the people of North America is our greatest contribution to the molding of good citizens with high humanistic and loving ideas. These ideals now are becoming the ideals of all humanity.

For these reasons the promoters and founders of the United Macedonians Organizations realized a great need for such an organization as the United Macedonians in order to preserve and further extend our right Macedonian cultural traditions. It is our sincere hope that the cultural traditions of the Macedonians will in some way enrich the culture and thinking of the Canadian and American people as a whole.

Delegates and Guests:
The holding of this Convention at this time is of great political significance to all of us here and to all Macedonians everywhere. Why? Because for the first time the Macedonian people can truly say that we are masters of our own home. In the past we have been used in the interests of others as second class people. But, now we can proudly say that we stand on our own feet and like to serve notice to those who dream of the past to forget about it. At this very Convention we are honored with Macedonian educators and historians who are the authors of the Macedonian history written by Macedonians for the Macedonians. We no longer have to depend on people who are guided by foreign and personal interests and try to distort the facts of the history of Macedonia. We are also fortunate to have people like our great friend, Academician George Nurigiani, from Italy, who is supporting the just cause of the Macedonian people. The United Macedonians of this continent and the Macedonian people as a whole will forever cherish the friendship, sympathy of this great son of the Italian people.

For this reason, Brothers Macedonians, we have to learn to judge people not by what they say, but by what they do. This principle should apply to our organization also. We must judge our members not by what they say but by what they do to promote the unity of all Macedonians. We say this because unfortunately a very small group of our members are confused with the principles of the United Macedonians Organization and the Macedonian national organization. As Macedonians we like to see all of Macedonia free and independent but we must not forget that we are now Canadians and far away from Macedonia. The responsibility of doing the job and bringing about a complete and fully independent Macedonia belongs to the Macedonian people who now live in Aegean, Pirin, and especially of the people of the People’s Republic of Macedonia. The question of their regime-again it is not our responsibility but the responsibility of the Macedonian people who live there. However this does not mean that we have no moral obligation. It will be tragic if the Macedonian Organization agrees with the Bulgarians, the Greeks, the Panmakedoniki and the M.P.O. who say that there is no Macedonian nation and that there is no Macedonian government. This, Brothers Macedonians, should never, never be permitted within our ranks. It is a well-known fact that Bulgaria and Greece are dumping anti-Macedonian propaganda. For this the United Macedonian Organization protested and replied many times with facts against these falsifications of the history of the Macedonian people.

We further exposed the propaganda of the Greek and Bulgarian anti-Macedonian presses in Canada, which obviously seems to be in a panic over the activities of the United Macedonians. They fear the truth because they cannot any longer fool the Macedonian people. According to Paragraph 3 of the purpose of the United Macedonians, we have the right to defend the legitimate interest and good name of the Macedonian people, in accordance with Article 15 of the United Nations Organization Declaration of Human Rights. On the basis of these principles the United Macedonians have protested on more than one occasion without favoritism of any one government or institution which interferes with the rights of the Macedonian people.

In the year 1966, we directed an appeal to the International Congress of Balkan Studies in which we stated clearly our position by saying that the history of the Balkan people is full of tragic misfortunes in the past and present because of the improper solution of the Macedonian Question. Even today there are people and governments who continue to deny the existence of the Macedonian nationality. We strongly protest and believe that such positions will not help to create a more friendly relationship among the peoples of the Balkan Peninsula.

Last year two similar resolutions were approved by thousands of Macedonians protesting the position of the Bulgarian and Greek governments on the Macedonian Question. We hope that this Convention will again take a strong position on the same question and make further progress against the inhuman treatment of the Macedonian people now living in Greece and Bulgaria. We must continue to demand full and equal right for the Macedonian people now living under Greek and Bulgarian occupation. These resolutions were forwarded to the United Nations Human Rights Commission and also to the Canadian and American governments.

The Macedonian people are very closely related to their church as they were forcefully deprived of their religious institutions for a very long period of time. Now that they have regained and renewed their old church they are equally interested to defend its interest and growth.

We recommend to this Convention that we take a strong position against the Serbian church and all those who are trying to interfere with the progress of the Macedonian Orthodox Church. At present we have in mind one religious institution and that is the Serbian church which is trying to ignore the separation and rebirth of the Macedonian church. The contention of the Serbian church that the separation of the Macedonian church will create disunity among the Serbian and Macedonian people is not true. In our opinion the contrary is true: that the separation for the purpose of equality is the best and the most effective form of true unity.

The United Macedonian Organization fully agrees with the Church Council of Macedonia, which reestablished and renewed the old Ohridska Archiepiskopia, which was forcibly abolished over 200 years ago.

We, the United Macedonians of North America are fully aware of the importance of these developments. We feel that being in agreement is not enough. We must make it our business to see that those responsible that dominated the Macedonian church and the Macedonian people will never be allowed to mislead us again. We must not be intimidated. We must keep our spirit high because we are right. Let us serve notice to all those who have sinister designs on the Macedonian people that the holiday is over because the Macedonian people with gun in hand solved forever the Macedonian and social question and will continue to struggle for the complete freedom of all the Macedonian people and Macedonian lands.

It is our belief that brushing aside a few of the chauvinistic elements who now control positions of power, the peoples of Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, and the whole of Yugoslavia, will solve all the problems that have been dividing the Balkan peoples.

We further recommend that this Convention bring to the attention of the United Nations Organization Human Rights Commission to look into the matter of the violations of the rights of the Macedonian people in both Bulgaria and Greece.

We further recommend that this Convention directs a brotherly greeting to the Macedonian people and their national government for their efforts in achieving national freedom in the People’s Republic of Macedonia and for the further development and full emancipation and unity of all the Macedonian lands and people. Before we conclude our report we should take a moment and submit a few recommendations for our future work:

Our number one project must be a monthly newspaper or periodical without this we will not be able to achieve fully our objectives. Number two project should be to strengthen our branches and the formation of new branches, especially in the main cities of the U.S.A. Number three project, we must open a Macedonian school for adults. This is a must. We must also organize Women’s Sections wherever possible. We must promote more educational work: such as lectures, debates and public meetings. We must start the preparation for Gotse Delchev’s Centennial, January 23, 1972. Appoint a special committee to promote the Macedonian Radio program. Appoint a special Committee to organize some type of social activities for our senior citizens. And last but not least, we must all unite to put the shoulder to the wheel in raising the down payments for the new Macedonian Community Camp. All these and more projects can be achieved if we are united and understand the purpose of our mission. To use an old Chinese proverb, which says that: “Nothing is impossible for a United People”.

Long Live the Spirit of Unity!
Long Live Peace and Friendship!
For all the Peoples of the World!

Written by Spero Vasileff-Tupurkovski
Approved by the National Executive Committee
Delivered by Peter Kondoff