About Boreshnitsa
taken from the book Lerin in Mourning by Atanas Tane Naumovski available courtesy of
Pollitecon Publications
Boreshnitsa had its name changed by the Greek Government
to Palestra. It is about 10 kilometres to the northeast of Lerin.
It is on the southern part of the Pelagonia plain and
surrounded by mountains with plentiful water and fertile
soil.
It is at 21 degrees 31 minutes longitude and 40 degrees 48
minutes latitude, 632 metres above sea level and with an
area of about 9 square kilometres.
The village borders to the west the villages Armenovo and
Lazheni, to the northwest with Petorak, to the northeast
with Neokasi, to the east with Zabrdeni, to the southeast
with Rosen and to the southwest with Pesochnitsa.
In 1945 there were about 590 residents of Macedonian
background together with a small number of Greeks who
were Madzhiri (immigrants).
The villagers were employed in agriculture, raising
livestock, some trades and other occupations.
During the Greek Civil War the residents did not show any
particular revolutionary activism. The geographical position
of the village did not enable this. Only 4 took part as active
fighters in the ranks of DAG and, sadly, they all died. Five
were imprisoned for being communists and sentenced to
death by shooting at the Lerin prison
They were:
- Atanasov (Popov) Vasil Atanas
- Atanasovska Atanas Kata
- Banichotov Kosta Lambo
- Banichotov Kosta Aristidi - brothers
- Banichotov Lazo Mire
- Banichotov Kosta Gjorgi
- Banichotov Delo Stevo
- Mandzhukov Kole Pavle
- Ovcharov Pandil Evropidi
The details of the above names were completed by Andon
Vasil Atanasov who is from the village.
Of the above named fallen fighters there were 8 men and 1
woman.
After the Greek Civil War and the forced emigration from
the village the number of residents fell. In the census in 1991
there were 337 residents.
Family Names of Boreshnitsa Inhabitants
Here is a list of family names which at one point lived in Boreshnitsa (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 |
|---|
| Atanasov, Atanasovska |
Atanasov, Atanasovska |
|
| Banichotov |
Bani~otov |
|
| Mandzhukov |
Manc`ukov |
|
| Ovcharov |
Of~arov |
|
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.