THE MACEDONIANS IN AUSTRALIA
Macedonia is mentioned in some records in the fourth century before Christ.
Today it is a State situated in the central part of Balkan Peninsula, bordering
with Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece and Albania.
Among the most prominent personalities in the Macedonian history are King
Philip of Macedon, Alexander the Great, Tsar Samuil and Goce Delcev.
After the Balkan Wars in 1913 with the Bucharest Agreement it was divided
among the neighbouring States: Vardar Macedonia (named after the river Vardar)
was taken over by Serbia, Pirin Macedonia (named after the Pirin mountains)
by Bulgaria, Aegean Macedonia (named after the Aegean sea) by Greece, and
a small part remained in Albania.
Today's independent and sovereign Republic of Macedonia is made only of
the Vardar part, whereas in the other parts Macedonians still do not have
national and human rights.
Because of the hard economical situation, and even more because of political
reasons - running away from persecution and foreign domination imposed with
the divisions in 1913, people left their birth place and went to work in
the neighbouring countries (pechalbari), staying first as season workers,
later on over longer periods of time. Finally they began emigrating to the
European countries, then USA and Canada.
According to what the old Macedonia immigrants say the first Macedonians
came to Australia in 1906 from the Aegean part of Macedonia. The immigrants
from over there began arriving in this Godsend country in a more organised
manner in the twenties of this century.
It was the period when in the Aegean part of Macedonian the Greek regime
began erasing the Macedonian ethnic features: changing the names and surnames
- the Macedonians cities and villages were given Greek names and it was
forbidden to use the mother tongue. Some of the still living Macedonian
immigrants pioneers remember: "For each act of disobedience toward
the Greek regime it was better to be in hell than in a Greek prison".
So coming to Australia was considered as a divine gift and salvation.
The second wave of immigrants followed after WWII, or better after the
Civil War in Greece in 1949, when again people had to flee in order to continue
being Macedonian.
In the sixties Australia became more accessible for the immigrants. The
transport connections improved greatly. The immigration of Macedonia from
the Vardar part of Macedonia began. It was then called Socialist Republic
of Macedonia. It was made possible through the relatives who had arrived
from Aegean Macedonia and who made guarantees for their relatives in the
Republic. The migration from the Vardar part was in larger numbers towards
the late 60's and in the beginning of the 70's.
So the Macedonian Community became a part of the wonderful multicultural
mosaic of Australia with about 300, 000 Australians of Macedonian origin.
Our people settled first where it was the easiest to find employment because
the majority was without any vocation. Better known places where they migrated
were Wollongong, Cringila and Manjimup.
As the number of our people increased they began to meet and organize together
social events. Thus they were able to maintain their background.
Krste Naumovski - Mechkar
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