The Four Heroines from the Village Ekshisovo
In 1947 four villagers from Ekshisovo were brutally killed - Aspasija,
Vesa and Niki Streshovi (sisters) and Matka Popova.
Aspasija was born in 1908, and Vesa in 1912, to a poor family. After
they completed their primary school education they joined life's struggle.
They were both seamstresses and Aspasija was renowned in the whole of
the Surovichko region. They had a younger sister Niki, who was born
in 1917. Niki, with the help of her two sisters, managed to complete
teacher's college in Lerin to become a teacher. From a young age, all
three sisters had deep sympathy for the CPG and helped the democratic
movement. It was the same for Matka Popova.
In 1943 the three sisters and Matka became members of CPG and actively
fought against the Nazi occupiers to free their country. Aspasija in
1944 was elected a member of the Surovichko regional committee and bravely
worked organising women in the liberation struggle. She fought hard
for the brotherly unity of the Greeks and Macedonians and against all
chauvinism and divisive actions.
After Varkiza, the four women continued to fight passionately for the
democratic movement to prevail. Because of that activity they were arrested
and taken to the Surovichko Police station. There they were subjected
day and night to brutal torture but they did not make any concession.
Aspasija was tortured the most. The Police head, Dzhelatot-Baburis,
when he saw that she was prepared to die, cut her throat. The other
two sisters, Vesa and Niki, along with Matka Popova were transferred
to the Ekshisovo Police prison where they were further tortured. And
when the police saw that nothing was going to come out of the mouths
of the three heroines, they thought up even more brutal tortures. They
dragged the women into the yard of Matka Popova, gathered together many
people from Matka's neighbourhood, called out Matka's four children
- aged 8 to 16 as well as Vesa and Niki's mother. They lit a fire in
the yard and with heated irons they poked the women. But nothing, not
even the medieval tortures, were enough to make the women give in. They
died as real heroines of the people.
G Pilaev
From: For Sacred National Freedom: Portraits Of Fallen Freedom
Fighters
© 2009
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For Sacred National Freedom: Portraits Of Fallen Freedom Fighters