About Gradche
Excerpts from the article A Life
in Macedonian Affairs – Interview with Mick Veloskey (Gradche, Egejska Makedonija) available courtesy of
Pollitecon Publications
Michael Veloskey was one of the first leaders of the Macedonian community in Australia . He has been active for over 60 years, and in that time has
helped establish newspapers, churches, human rights groups and other community organizations. Now 82 years old, Mick Veloskey was interviewed by
Pollitecon Publications editor, Victor Bivell.
Mick, when and where were you born and can you tell us about your parents and their life under the Ottoman Empire ?
I was born in 1924 in the village Gradche, Aegean Macedonia. My father, my mother, my grandparents from both sides and the rest of the families were
born under the Ottoman occupation and they were badly suppressed and when the Ottoman Empire collapsed we thought that the people would have a bit
more freedom and a bit more choice for a better life but unfortunately this did not happen.
My father left for Australia when I was about a year old. My grandparents, I remember, they used to put me on the knee and they used to say to me
“Sinko” in Macedonian of course, “Nikogash nema da zaboravish sho nie sne Makedontsi. Nito Grtsi, nito Bulgari, nito Serbi, nito Albantsi.” [Little
son, never forget that we are Macedonians. Not Greeks, not Bulgarians, not Serbians, not Albanians.] They were the words of my grandparents from both
sides.
My mother, my grandparents from both sides, could not speak a word of Greek. The only language they spoke was Macedonian, and also Turkish during the
Ottoman occupation.
During my youth... I can close my eyes now and picture the village the way it was, a small river dividing the upper and the lower village, and a hill
to the west which is called Sveti Ilia and a little church up the top there and also a spring which was flowing out from the mountains. The water from
that spring, summer and winter, was absolutely wonderful to drink and very very cool.
How strong was your parent's sense of their Macedonian identity?
My father, my mother and also the other relatives, every one of them, my uncle, everyone of them, felt that they were Macedonian but nothing else.
Irrespective of what was taking place in the Balkans.
Can you tell us about your childhood in the village?
My childhood in the village was a very happy one because I had a lot of relatives and also young relatives who were my age and some a bit older. We
had a wonderful time. At the age of six or going towards six and a half/ seven, we were forced to go to Greek school. We were not allowed to speak
anything but Greek. If you were heard speaking Macedonian by the police or Korofilatsi as they called them in Macedonian, you were taken and punished.
Even at the age of seven. As I grew older and older, I felt that our people were severely suppressed. They were not allowed to speak in Macedonian,
sing in Macedonian or dance. The church services which were previously in Macedonian were forbidden. They were only allowed to have the sermons in
Greek, in no other language. Even if people spoke to the animals in Macedonian they were taken to court and they were fined heavily and in some cases
they were even gaoled.
Things got worse and worse. My father was in Australia and we were in Macedonia. Life was beginning to get worse and worse because of the suppression
that was carried out. At that particular time the prime minister of Greece was Venizelos. He put through legislation, draconian measures, which were
anti-Macedonian. We thought he was bad but eventually he was replaced by Metaxas - who was a straight out fascist, he idolized Hitler, and he put through
even worse legislation for the suppression of Macedonians.
Family Names of Gradche Inhabitants
Here is a list of family names which at one point lived in Gradche (although it is NEVER complete).
In the first column is the original Macedonian version of the name. In many cases individuals and families that have emigrated to other countries have had their
names 'localized' to the local language (in Australia/Canada/USA they have been shorted - Ivanov to Evans, Branov to Brown). In the European countries they have
adjusted to include "-ski" or "-sky" (examples are Popovski from Popov, Mangovsky from Mangos).
In the second column is how it would be written in Macedonian (NOTE: you will need to have the "MAC C Times" Truetype font installed on your system to properly read it. For
more information on how to get this done please visit Biser Balkanski - How To Install Macedonian fonts on your computer .
The third column is the Hellenized (ie. "Greek") version assigned by the Greek government in the years which followed the Treaty of Bucharest in 1913. In a majority of the cases
the changes did not appear until after 1920. In many cases as with the village names, an attempt was made to spell the last names in the Greek alphabet sound-for-sound but it
was later decided to make them sound more "Greek" (examples were "Dimov" to "Dimopoulos", "Iliev" to "Iliadis").
For those unaware, the Treaty of Bucharest "divided the spoils" of Macedonia amongst the three neighbouring countries - Bulgaria, Greece, and Serbia.
Amongst the worst of what was to follow happened in Greece - family names were given "Greek" versions, village names were renamed, churches were re-Christened
under Greek saints, tombstones and epitaphs along with any visible signs of the Macedonian language were erased and re-written in Greek.
| Original Macedonian Name | Po Makedonski | Hellenized Version |
|---|
| Veloskey |
|
|
Thank you to everybody who has contributed to the various lists. If you would like to add your family
please email me at tedn@macedonianvillages.com and specify the village and a list of family names.