Society against Serbs

Society against Serbs was a Bulgarian anti-Serb organization established in 1897 in Thessaloniki, Ottoman Empire, by Dame Gruev, a member of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO). It had the purpose of assassinating influential Serbs in Ottoman Macedonia, consequently maintaining Bulgarian propaganda in the region.

It was established in 1897 in Thessaloniki, Ottoman Empire, on the initiative of Dame Gruev,[1] a professor at the Bulgarian gymnasium in Thessaloniki.[2] It was an outgrowth of the IMRO.[2] It came as a result of the advancement of the Serb community in Macedonia.[3] The Bulgarian propaganda was unable to suppress the Serb advancement by cultural means, nor with espionage.[3] The opening of Serb schools in Ottoman Macedonia was met with protest demonstrations, fights, and riots organized by anti-Serb Macedonians.[4] Serbian teachers and students of these schools were intimidated and assaulted.[4] The organization openly called for violence against Serbs; in the Bulgarian magazine in Thessaloniki, Narodno Pravo, in the article of Bulgarian educational cause in Macedonia (блгарското учебното дело в Македониӑ),[3] it said that "the Serbs shall, with fire and sword, be evicted from Macedonia" (1897).[3][5][2] The organization carried out assassinations of Serbs, mostly in Macedonia.[6] The victims had crosses carved on their foreheads with knives.[6] The first victim with a carved cross was found in a street in Thessaloniki, the professor of the Serbian gymnasium Ilija Pejčinović.[2] The organization had up until 1902 murdered at least 43 persons, and wounded 52 persons, who were owners of Serbian schools, teachers, Serbian Orthodox clergy, and other notable Serbs in the Ottoman Empire.[7] By 1905, Bulgarian agents had killed more than 500 Serbs in Old Serbia and Macedonia.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 Maćedonija i Maćedonci: putopisne beleške sa geografiskom, etnografskom... 1906. p. 175. То су учин ли агенти „Друштва против Срба“ основаног У Солуну иницијативом проф. Лам. Грујева са задатком да „Србе треба огњем и мачем истребити из Маћедоније“ (в. .Нар. Права“ у Софији 1897. г.) То Друштво је до сад (1897–195 г.) у славу „српско-бугарског братства“ поубијало преко 500 најугледни их Срба у Маћедонији и Старој Србији. (Списак погинулих изаћиће у овој књизи). У повећем селу Моносишову множи се број присталица Егзархије и протестанске вере, јер струмски митрополит Грк, никако неће да дозволи словенско богослужење у том чисто словенском селу. Овде су хтели држати ...
  2. 1 2 3 4 Đurić & Mijović 1993, p. 63.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Ivanić 1908, p. 466.
  4. 1 2 Slavistic printings and reprintings. 297. Mouton. 1973. p. 152. Sometime around 1897, "A Society against Serbs in Thessalonica" was founded which seems to have been responsible for a number of acts of violence. The opening of Serbian schools was met with protest demonstrations, fights, and riots on the part of anti-Serb elements of the Macedonian population. Numerous students and teachers from these schools were intimidated and assaulted.
  5. ↑ Ivanić 1902, p. 112.
  6. 1 2 Milan Miletić (1997). Božija kuća. BIGZ. p. 80. На ножу ко)и му је ^Приликом ликвидацще, на]чешЬе ножем у ле^а, ви1)ених Срба у Македонии, припадници организаци]е "Друштво против Срба" сво]им жртвама ножем су урезивали крст на чело □ . пробно грудни кош, и таквом .
  7. ↑ Hadži Vasiljević 1928, p. 14.

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Further reading

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