MOBILIZATION OF THE NOF CADRES

After the first congress of the NOF on 13 January 1948 in the village B'mbel, Kostur, and after the election of the new leadership of NOF, many of the old, tried and experienced cadres of the Lerin region were left without any functions and duties.

They were the following cadres:

1. Lambro Chokalov
2. Fote Agijanov-Oche
3. Mihail Maliot
4. Ilo Dimakov- Goche

At that time, Ilo Dimakov-Goche was forced from the ranks of DAG as incapable.

These people were available to the secretary of the Lerin region, Tane Lazar Naumov, to allocate them in his region and give them a function in the organization. Tane knew that such would be the future of many other cadres who had until then been in the ranks of NOF and DAG.

In Aril 1948 a general mobilization of cadres from NOF was undertaken. The reason for this was: at the time of holding the first NOF congress Zaharijadis and his like-minded colleagues saw the great and powerful activity and the authority that NOF had with the people. And instead of being happy about it, it was as though they were afraid of it. They decided to close down the organization as soon as possible so that it would no longer exist.

Toward that aim, Zaharijadis together with the military head quarters of DAG decided to undertake a general mobilization of NOF cadres. To achieve that goal all the members of NOF from the Lerin region were called to assemble in the village Zhelevo, where the office was located. 35 cadres from the regional committee met there. From Zhelevo to the village of Rulja where the recruitment was to end, they walked day and night.

At the last moment, Zaharijadis and Ioanidis had a rethink; they decided not to mobilize the secretaries because they considered that in the future they would need them to establish a new NOF committee and if another need arose, they would call for another mobilization. "Embedata" was in Rulja a place where partisans were trained before entering the fighting ranks of DAG. After examination by a military commission, another two cadres of NOF from the Lerin region were released for health reasons, they were German Lajov for his old age and Tego Stoinichin because he had TB.

Out of 35 members in NOF for the Lerin region, only three remained. Then, the secretary, Tane Lazar Naumov, reallocated the remaining two members - German Laev as organizing secretary and Tego Stoinichin was responsible fo education. With these two cadres, they had to start to form a new NOF. To that end German Laev was sent to Sorovichko-Kajlarski region, and Tego Stoinichin to the villages on the Lerin plain.

Headquarters of the Lerin region, taken 25 March 1948. From left to right: Sultana Naskova - a member of NOF, Tane Naumov - secretary of NOF, Mahi Pileva - secretary of AFZ, German Damov - member of the headquarters, and Sterjana Vangelova-Slavjanka - member of AFZ.

Headquarters of the Lerin region, taken 25 March 1948. From left to right: Sultana Naskova - a member of NOF, Tane Naumov - secretary of NOF, Mahi Pileva - secretary of AFZ, German Damov - member of the headquarters, and Sterjana Vangelova-Slavjanka - member of AFZ.

The three remaining cadres were obliged to seek some left over fighters - invalid, capable only for organizational activity, so that the new NOF could be formed.

It is interesting to note that the members of NOF who were mobilized into the fighting DAG ranks were given no military function because of their age even though they were capable at the time. It was apparent that they had been mobilized so that they could be killed. To that end, every last one of them was allocated to the role of ordinary soldier and sent to the front in the first waves. They were meant to die from enemy bullets or mines. With this allocation of NOF cadres, the ultimate aim of KPG against the Macedonian people is clear.

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