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Boatmen of Thessaloniki

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Boatmen of Thessaloniki
Гемиджиите
LeaderSlavi Merdzhanov
Yordan Popyordanov[1][2]
Dates of operation1898–1903
MotivesAutonomy for Macedonia and Adrianople regions
Active regionsIstanbul, Adrianople, Thessaloniki
IdeologyPropaganda of the deed
SloganNo gods, no masters
Notable attacksThessaloniki
StatusDefunct
Means of revenueSupreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee
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    Bulgarian postcard depicting the arrest of surviving members of Gemidzhii, April 1903.

    The Boatmen of Thessaloniki (Bulgarian: Гемиджиите, romanized: Gemidzhiite; Macedonian: Гемиџиите, romanized: Gemidžiite) was a Bulgarian anarchist group, active in the Ottoman Empire in the years between 1898 and 1903.[3] The members of the group were predominantly from Veles and most of them − young graduates from the Bulgarian Men's High School of Thessaloniki.[4] The group was radicalized by the Bulgarian anarchist Slavi Merdzhanov, whose initial target was the capital Istanbul, and subsequently Adrianople,[5][6] but after his execution by the Ottomans in 1901, the group's attention shifted to Thessaloniki.[7] From April 28 until May 1, 1903, the group led a campaign of terror bombing in Thessaloniki.[8] Their aim was to attract the attention of the Great Powers to Ottoman oppression in Macedonia and Adrianople Thrace.[9] The group's roots can be traced to 1898 in Geneva, and nearly all of its founders were natives from Bulgaria.[10] It was associated with the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization,[11] but also had close ties with the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee.[12] The result of the bombings was disastrous for the Bulgarian community in Thessaloniki.[13]

    Origins and etymology

    [edit]
    Slavi Merdzhanov (1876 - 1901), Bulgarian anarchist and founder of Gemidzhii group.[14]

    The group draws its roots from the Bulgarian anarchist movement which grew in the 1890s, and the territory of Principality of Bulgaria became a staging-point for anarchist activities against the Ottomans, particularly in support of Macedonian and Thracian liberation movements.[15] The Boatmen of Thessaloniki was descended from a group founded in 1895 in Plovdiv and called "Macedonian Secret Revolutionary Committee", which was developed in 1898 in Geneva into a secret, anarchistic, brotherhood called "Geneva group". Its activists were the students Mihail Gerdzhikov, Petar Mandzhukov and Slavi Merdzhanov. They were influenced by the anarcho-nationalism, which emerged in Europe, following the French Revolution, going back at least to Mikhail Bakunin and his involvement with the Pan-Slavic movement. The anarchists in the so-called "Geneva group" of students played key roles in the anti-Ottoman struggles. Nearly all of the members who founded the Committee in Geneva were natives from Bulgaria. Despite being of non-Macedonian descent, they espoused supranational Macedonian identity, emancipated from the pan-Bulgarian national project.[16] Their motto was: No gods, no masters.[17][18]

    In 1899, Merdzhanov moved to the Bulgarian school in Thessaloniki, where he worked as teacher and sparked some of the graduates with anarchist ideas. In 1900, Petar Mandzhukov also resided in Thessaloniki, where had a contact with the Gemidzii and they were influenced by his anarchist ideas, especially those relating to methods of terrorist struggle. The first meetings of the group took part in 1899 with the purpose of forming a revolutionary terrorist group with aim of changing international public opinion in the matter of the freedom of Macedonia and Adrianople Thrace through urging the social conscience of the oppressed.[19] The group is found in published works with several names: "The boatmen of Thessaloniki", the "Crew",[20] or the "Gemitzides", form of the Ottoman word for "boatman". At their start, they had a different name, the "Troublemakers", gürültücü.[21] The name "boatmen" was due to "leaving behind the everyday life and the limits of law and sail with a boat in the free and wild seas of lawlessness."[21] Their new slogan became "we will spend ourselves", i.e. we will die in the name of the freedom of the people.[22][23]

    Attack plans and actions in Istanbul

    [edit]

    At first the anarchists started to make plans for a bomb attack in Istanbul. In the summer of 1899, under the leadership of Slavi Merdzhanov the group planned the assassination of the Sultan. Merdzhanov, Petar Sokolov and their friend, the anarchist Petar Mandzhukov, approached Boris Sarafov, the leader of Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee, and asked him for funds to finance large-scale terrorist activities in the main towns of the Ottoman Empire.[5] He promised to provide money, and the three left for Istanbul, where after much discussion, they decided to assassinate the Sultan. In December of the same year Merdzhanov was connected by the secretary of the Bulgarian Exarchate Dimitar Lyapov with local Armenian revolutionaries. Here they established that even with the help of the Armenians it was impossible to do it. Quite early on, they decided that the effect of the explosion would be greater if there were parallel actions in other towns, and they consulted with Yordan Popyordanov, a member of a small terrorist group in Thessaloniki, who agreed to blow up the Thessaloniki branch of the Ottoman Bank. He enlisted the aid of a number of close friends.[5] Thessaloniki terrorists were very young men, mostly from Veles, pupils in the Bulgarian High School. The Thessaloniki terrorist group called itself "the Gemidzhi" (from the Turkish word for "boatman", gemici). They planned to begin by blowing up the central offices of the Ottoman Bank in Thessaloniki and Istanbul. During 1900 Merdzhanov arrived again in Istanbul to discuss the plan with the Armenians, and afterward the terrorists started to work, digging tunnels in both places. On September 18, 1900, the Ottoman police apprehended a member of the group, who was carrying the explosives and later the whole group was arrested, including Merdzhanov, Sokolov and Pavel Shatev. The core was hastily disbanded for security and only Pingov stayed in Thessaloniki to prepare future activity. In 1901 the prisoners were deported το Bulgaria, after pressure from the Bulgarian government.[24]

    Attack plans and actions in Adrianople

    [edit]

    Merdzhanov and Sokolov went to Sofia and began to think up new ideas, one of which was to hold up the Orient Express on Ottoman territory near Adrianople, and to gain possession of the mail in order to finance future actions.[5] In pursuit of this plan, they went to the Adrianople area in July 1901, with a cheta consisting of ten men, equipped with the help of Pavel Genadiev, the Supreme Macedonian Committee's representative in Plovdiv. The cheta managed to place a large quantity of dynamite on the railway line, but something went wrong, and the train passed undamaged. They learned then that the Persian Shah would pass through Adrianople by train, preparing to take him on the station at Lule Burgas, but failed. From there they headed to Adrianople with the intention of capturing the governor, who was the son-in-law of the Sultan, but failed again. After this failure, they kidnapped the son of a rich local Turkish landowner, but they were soon discovered and surrounded by large Turkish forces. In a battle which lasted several hours, most of the chetnitsi were killed or seriously wounded. Sokolov was among the dead, and Merdzhanov was captured alive, together with a Bulgarian from Lozengrad, and two Armenians. The captives were taken to Adrianople, where, in November 1901, all four were publicly hanged.[25] The Gemidzhii were ready for action again in 1902, but the seizure in Dedeagach of dynamite, arranged by Supreme Macedonian Committee's leader Boris Sarafov, forced the group to abandon planned attacks of Austrian post office in Adrianople, and to restrict its activity. Afterwards the members of the group went to Thessaloniki and continued to plan their bombings.

    Bombings in Thessaloniki

    [edit]

    On April 28, 1903, a member of the group, Pavel Shatev, used dynamite to blow up the French ship "Guadalquivir" which was leaving the Thessaloniki harbor.[26][27] He left the ship together with the other passengers by lifeboat but was caught later by the Ottoman police at the Skopje train station due to a description by a boat crew member. The same night, other group bombers: Dimitar Mechev, Iliya Trachkov, and Milan Arsov, struck the railway between Thessaloniki and Istanbul, causing damage to the locomotive and some of the cars of a passing train without wounding any passengers.[28]

    The next day, the signal to begin the large raid in Thessaloniki was given by Kostadin Kirkov who used explosives to shut off the electricity and water supply systems of the city. Yordan Popyordanov (Orceto) blew up the building of an Ottoman Bank office, under which the "gemidzhii" had previously dug a tunnel. Milan Arsov exploded a bomb at the Alhambra Theater.[26] The same night, Kostadin Kirkov, Iliya Trachkov and Vladimir Pingov detonated bombs in different parts of the city. Dimitar Mechev and Iliya Trachkov failed to blast the reservoir of a gas-producing plant. They were later killed in their quarters during a shoot-out with army and gendarmerie forces, against which Mechev and Trachkov used more than 60 bombs.[5] Pingov was shot dead in an attempt to set fire to the Bosh-nyak Inn.

    Yordan Popyordanov was killed on April 30 in a shoot-out with the army.[26] In May, Kostadin Kirkov was killed by a sentry while trying to blow up a postal office.[5] Right before being caught, Tsvetko Traykov, whose mission was to kill the local governor (vali), killed himself by setting off a bomb and then sitting on it.[27]

    [edit]
    Pavel Shatev, one of the most notorious survivors from the group, was jailed in Communist Yugoslavia and died in home custody.

    Continuation of the Thessaloniki bombings were the bombing in the same year of the passenger train near the railway station Kuleliburgaz led by Mihail Gerdzhikov and the bombing campaign of the passenger ship "Vaskapu" in the Burgas Bay led by Anton Prudkin, both organized by anarchists close to the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (IMARO).[29] The daily express from Budapest to Istanbul was blown up near Kuleliburgaz on August 28. The explosion was intended to destroy a bridge and cut off the communication between Adrianople and Thessaloniki. Seven persons were killed and fifteen were injured. Two cars were smashed. The second terrorist act on the board of the Austro-Hungarian river- and sea- steamer Vaskapu occurred on September 2. The detonating of the ship, dates back to the time when the passenger traffic with ships between Danube river and the Black Sea ports was busy all the way to Istanbul.[30] It killed the captain, two officers, six of the crew, and 15 passengers, and set fire to the vessel. The assailants - Ivan Stoyanov and Stefan Dimitrov, both close relatives of Zahari Stoyanov, also died by the explosion. It was planned to attack the port of Istanbul, with four ships being exploded there on September 9: besides "Vaskapu", these were the Austro-Hungarian "Apollo", the German "Tenedos" and the French "Felix Fressinet". Due to the premature explosion of "Vaskapu", the plan failed.

    Aftermath

    [edit]
    Abstract monument representing the Gemidzhii, in the center of Veles, North Macedonia

    In the wake of the attacks, martial law was declared in the city. As a response the Turkish Army and "bashibozouks" massacred many innocent Bulgarian citizens in Thessaloniki to purge the province of the Bulgarian "threat", and later in Bitola. Vigilante reprisals against Christians were committed by the Muslim population, with consular sources citing eleven Christian deaths.[31] Pavel Shatev, Marko Boshnakov, Georgi Bogdanov and Milan Arsov were sentenced to death by a Turkish court martial.[26] Under Russian and Austro-Hungarian pressure, the death sentences were commuted to life sentences. They were sent to a penal colony in Fezzan. Members of the Central Committee of IMORO, including Ivan Garvanov, D. Mirchev and J. Kondov, were incarcerated.[32] The attacks of the group were not well received in Europe.[27][33]

    In Libya, Boshnakov died from malaria on February 14, 1908, and Arsov from exhaustion on June 8, the same year. After July 30, 1908, because of the victory of the movement of the Young Turks, Ottoman amnesty was given to the two remaining "Boatmen". They cut the heads of their dead comrades and arrived in Thessaloniki on October 18, where they gave the heads to the parents of the deceased.

    Members

    [edit]

    The members of the group were as follows:[34][5]

    • Yordan Popyordanov, called Ortzeto, was born in 1881 in Veles. Considered the leader of the group from a bourgeois family and mixed with radical-revolutionary organizations after he entered the Thessaloniki Bulgarian School in 1894. He is thought to be the mastermind of the Boatmen. He was killed during the bombings and he is the only boatman from whom no picture is saved because he refused to be photographed on the grounds of not wanting to leave a memory of himself after death.
    • Kostadin Kirkov, born in 1882 in Veles, bonded with Ortzeto from an early age. They entered the Bulgarian School at the same age. He was known for his great memory and sarcastic humor.
    • Milan Arsov, born in 1886 in Oraovetz near Veles, was the youngest of the team and still at the 4th grade of school when the attacks were made. He died in exile.
    • Dimitar Mechev, called Dime Mecheto,[35] was born in 1870 in Veles. He joined IMARO and tried to kill a man from the local authority, who was sentenced the death by the Organization, with an axe in 1898. When he failed, he left for the mountains to join armed guerrilla groups. He later emigrated to the Principality of Bulgaria and worked in a mine in Pemik before joining the group. He died during the events.
    • Georgi Bogdanov, born in 1882 in Veles, originated from a wealthy family. In 1901 his father sent him in Thessaloniki to work in a real estate office. As part of the Gemidzii he threw a bomb on the restaurant "Noja". Bogdanov was arrested and sent into exile in Libya. Following the Young Turk Revolution he was pardoned. Bogdanov died on June 12, 1939, in Sofia.
    • Iliya Trachkov, born in 1885 in Veles and worked in Thessaloniki as a shoemaker. He died during the bombings.
    • Vladimir Pingov, born in 1885 in Veles, was a "daredevil" and always took the most dangerous missions. He was the first member of the group who died.
    • Marko Boshnakov, born in 1878 in Ohrid. It is said that he was an officer in the Bulgarian army and he was the one that made the plans for the tunnel under the Bank. He was the only one who did not take part in the bombings. He was caught 14 days after the bombings, exiled in 1908 and died in Fezan, Libya, in the same year.
    • Tsvetko Traykov, born in 1878 in Resen and lived several years in Thessaloniki. He was an active member of the Bulgarian community. He was the last member of the group killed during the events.
    • Pavel Shatev, born in 1882 in Kratovo. His father was a trader. He got enrolled in the Bulgarian School in 1896. From 1910 until 1913 he lived in Thessaloniki and worked as a teacher in the Bulgarian Mercantile College. Shatev was jailed in Yugoslav Macedonia for his pro-Bulgarian and anti-Yugoslav sympathies,[36][37][38] He died in home custody in Bitola in 1951.

    Legacy

    [edit]
    Monument in honor of the Gemidzhii, in the center of Skopje, North Macedonia

    Thessalonica bombings and the exiles in Fezzan, based on the memoirs of Pavel Shatev, was published in 1927 in Sofia by the Macedonian Scientific Institute. The story of the group was fictionalized in the 1930 novel Robi (Slaves) by the Bulgarian writer Anton Strashimirov, who was a former member of the IMARO.[39][7] In Macedonia under slavery. The Thessalonica conspiracy (1903), a recollections of Pavel Shatev, was published in 1934 in Sofia by the IMRO revolutionary Peter Glushkov. In 1961, the Yugoslav production movie called The Salonika Terrorists was released in Yugoslav Macedonia, focusing on the struggle for independent Macedonia.[7] In 1983, the writer Georgi Danailov (1936–2017) created the play "The Thessalonica conspirators", which is popular in the theaters in Bulgaria.[40][41] Kosta Tsarnushanov (1903–1996), an activist of the MYSRO, wrote a documentary novel called Thessaloniki Assassins, which was published in Sofia in 1987.[42] The Municipality of Veles constructed a monument by an iron bridge.[43] As part of the project Skopje 2014, a monument was also erected in the center of Skopje, North Macedonia, in honor of the group.[7]

    [edit]
    • Thessalonica bombings and the exiles in Fezzan, based on the memoirs of Pavel Shatev, published in 1927 in Sofia by the Macedonian Scientific Institute.
      Thessalonica bombings and the exiles in Fezzan, based on the memoirs of Pavel Shatev, published in 1927 in Sofia by the Macedonian Scientific Institute.
    • In Macedonia under slavery. The Thessalonica conspiracy (1903), authored by Pavel Shatev and published in 1934 in Sofia by the revolutionary Peter Glushkov
      In Macedonia under slavery. The Thessalonica conspiracy (1903), authored by Pavel Shatev and published in 1934 in Sofia by the revolutionary Peter Glushkov
    • Depiction of the Ottoman Bank after explosion, April 1903
      Depiction of the Ottoman Bank after explosion, April 1903
    • Depiction of the burning French ship "Guadalquivir"
      Depiction of the burning French ship "Guadalquivir"

    See also

    [edit]

    References

    [edit]
    1. ^ Raymond Detrez, The A to Z of Bulgaria, Scarecrow Press, 2010, ISBN 9780810872028, p. 390.
    2. ^ Stefan Troebst, Das makedonische Jahrhundert: von den Anfängen der nationalrevolutionären Bewegung zum Abkommen von Ohrid 1893–2001; ausgewählte Aufsätze, Oldenbourg (in German), 2007, ISBN 9783486580501, p. 56.
    3. ^
      • "In 1898 a group named the Boatmen of Thessaloniki was formed and acted in the spirit of propaganda by the deed: the group's members, of Bulgaric origin, carried out deadly attacks against targets including the city's Ottoman bank, hotels, a theater, and light and gas pipes. Nearly all of the group's members were executed." Antonios Vradis and Dimitrios K. Dalakoglou, Anarchism, Greece in International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest, Volume 8, Set: 1500 to the Present with Immanuel Ness as ed., Wiley-Blackwell, 2009, ISBN 1405184647, p. 126.
      • "The Boatmen of Thessaloniki were an anarcho-nationalist, pan-Slavic influenced Bulgarian militant group, active in Θεσσαλονίκη (Thessaloniki) between 1898 and 1903." Nicholas Apoifis, Anarchy in Athens: An ethnography of militancy, emotions and violence, Manchester University Press, 2017, ISBN 9781526100597, p. 73.
      • Giannēs Megas, The Boatmen of Thessaloniki: The Anarchist Bulgarian Group and the Bombing Actions of 1903, Athens: Trochalia (in Greek), 1994, ISBN 9789607022479.
      • The A to Z of the Ottoman Empire, Selcuk Aksin Somel, Scarecrow Press, 2010, ISBN 1461731763, p. ixx.
      • A History of the Ottoman Bank, Edhem Eldem, ISBN 975333110X, Ottoman Bank Historical Research Center, 1999, pp. 239; 433.
      • The Imperial Ottoman Bank in Salonica: the first 25 years, 1864-1890, John Karatzoglou, Ottoman Bank Archives & Research Centre, 2003, ISBN 9759369257, p. 9.
      • İlkay Yılmaz, Propaganda by the Deed and Hotel Registration Regulations in the Late Ottoman Empire, Journal of the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association, Vol. 4, No. 1, p. 142, doi:10.2979/jottturstuass.4.1.08.
    4. ^ Post-Cosmopolitan Cities: Explorations of Urban Coexistence, Caroline Humphrey, Vera Skvirskaja, Berghahn Books, 2012, ISBN 0857455117, p. 213.
    5. ^ a b c d e f g Mercia MacDermott, Freedom Or Death, the Life of Gotsé Delchev, Journeyman Press, 1978; ISBN 0904526321, pp. 304–306; 350–355.
    6. ^ Georg Brandes, Human Rights and Oppressed Peoples: Collected Essays and Speeches; Editor William Banks; University of Wisconsin Pres, 2020, ISBN 0299324109, p. 97.
    7. ^ a b c d Dimitar Bechev, Historical Dictionary of North Macedonia; Historical Dictionaries of Europe, second edition, Rowman & Littlefield, 2019, ISBN 1538119625, p. 124.
    8. ^ Iakovos D. Michailidis, From Christians to Members of an Ethnic Community: Creating borders in the city of Thessaloniki, in Luďa Klusáková and Laure Teulières (eds.), Frontiers and identities: cities in regions and nations, PLUS-Pisa University Press, 2008, p. 174.
    9. ^ Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Macedonia, Historical Dictionaries of Europe, Dimitar Bechev, Scarecrow Press, 2009, ISBN 0810862956, p. 82; 198.
    10. ^ Дончо Даскалов, Анархизмът в България, Унив. изд-во "Св. Климент Охридски", 1995, ISBN 954-07-0157-0; стр. 34–36. Doncho Daskalov, Anarchism in Bulgaria, St. Kliment Ohridski Univ. Publishing House (in Bulgarian); pp. 34–36.
    11. ^ "In April 1903 there was a campaign of bombing in Thessaloniki undertaken by anarchist Bulgarian students associated with IMRO. The bombing was followed by a generalized peasant uprising among the Christians of Macedonia." For more see: Costas Lapavitsas, Pinar Cakiroglu; Capitalism in the Ottoman Balkans: Industrialisation and Modernity in Macedonia, The Ottoman Empire and the World; Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019; ISBN 1788316592, p. 252.
    12. ^ Duncan M. Perry, The Politics of Terror: The Macedonian Liberation Movements, 1893-1903; Duke University Press, 1988; ISBN 0822308134, p. 101.
    13. ^ "According to information from Bulgarian commercial agent Atanas Shopov, the authorities killed more than a hundred people and arrested more than three hundred. These included all principals and teachers in the Bulgarian schools, four priests, 25 members of Bulgarian commercial families, 52 wealthy entrepreneurs, and many members of the artisan guilds. Most of these people had no connection with the Gemidzhii or the IMARO." For more see: Dimitris Keridis and John Brady Kiesling as ed., Thessaloniki: A City in Transition, 1912–2012; Routledge, 2020; ISBN 0429513666, Dimitris Keridis, Introduction.
    14. ^ Die makedonische Frage. Ihre Entstehung und Entwicklung bis 1908. Steiner, Wiesbaden 1979, ISBN 3-515-02914-1 (Fikret Adanır's Frankfurt am Main, Universität, Dissertation, 1977), p. 171.
    15. ^ Ryan Robert Mitchell, Anarchism in Bulgaria in The International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest, ISBN 9781405198073, DOI: 10.1111/b.9781405184649.2009.01759.x .
    16. ^ We, the People: Politics of National Peculiarity in Southeastern Europe, Diana Mishkova, Central European University Press, 2009, ISBN 9639776289, pp. 123–124.
    17. ^ Павел Шатев, В Македония под робство: солунското съзаклятие (1903 г.), подготовка и изпълнение. Изд-во на Отечествения фронт, 1983, стр. 66.
    18. ^ Михаил Герджиков: спомени, документи, материали, Наука и изкуство, 1984, стр. 71.
    19. ^ Петдесет 50-те най-големи атентата в българската история, Крум Благов, Репортер, 2000, стр. 21.
    20. ^ James Sotros, The Greek Speaking Anarchist and Revolutionary Movement (1830–1940) Writings for a History, No God-No Masters, 2004, p. 191.
    21. ^ a b Giannēs Megas, The Boatmen of Thessaloniki: The Anarchist Bulgarian Group and the Bombing Actions of 1903, Athens: Trochalia (in Greek), 1994, ISBN 9789607022479, p. 52.
    22. ^ ...Бяхме решили да извършим нещо, против тираните на нашия народ, в което да изгорим. Девизът ни бе "ке се арчиме", т.е. ще умрем в името на свободата на народа. Затова няма смисъл да се учим, да се обличаме, да мислим за лично благополучие. Често бягахме от училище и ходехме на морето да се къпем или да зяпаме. Завършихме седми клас, но на матура не се явихме, понеже "ке се арчиме". Тази фрази ни беше винаги на устата. Иначе бяхме силни ученици, любознателни, но не намирахме смисъл в учението. Бягахме често от училище, скитахме покрай морето, вземахме лодки и малки гемии, влизахме с тях в морето, или пък помагахме на гемиджиите, когато изкарваха гемиите на сухо, за да ги поправят. Постепенно добихме прозвището "гeмиджиите". Така възприехме това име... (In English: ...We had decided to do something against the tyrants of our people, in which we would burn. Our motto was "we will spend ourselves", i.e. we will die for the freedom of the people. Therefore, it made no sense to study, to dress, to think about personal well-being. We often ran away from school and went to the sea to bathe or stare. We finished the seventh grade, but we didn't show up for graduation, because "we will spend ourselves". This phrase was always on our lips. Otherwise, we were good students, inquisitive, but we did not find meaning in learning. We often ran away from school, wandered along the sea, took boats and small ships, went into the sea with them, or helped the boatmen when they took the ships ashore to repair them. Gradually we got the nickname "Gemidzhii". That's how we came up with this name...) For more see: Тодор Органджиев, "За Солунското съзаклятие", спомени в сборник "50 години от Илинденското въстание", София, 1953 година,стр. 126-124. (in Bulgarian).
    23. ^ Младежите искали да осмислят своя живот в тази борба, като умрат в името на свободата на народа. Те си служили с думите: „Ке се арчиме” в смисъл, че ще се пожертвуват за свободата на народа. (In English: The youth wanted to give meaning to their lives in this struggle by dying in the name of the people's freedom. They served each other with the words: "We will spend ourselves" in the sense that they will sacrifice themselves for the freedom of the people.) For more see: Илинденско-Преображенското въстание 1903—1968, Отг. редактори: Дино Кьосев и Ламби Данаилов. Редактори на спомените: Йордан Анастасов, Тодор Браянов и Илия Славков. (Издателство на Националния съвет на Отечествения фронт, София, 1968 г.), 2. Божидар Д. Божиков - Въстанието в Битолски революционен окръг, стp. 25.
    24. ^ Екзарх Йосиф I в спомени на съвременници. София, Университетско издателство „Св. Климент Охридски“, 1995. ISBN 954-07-0530-4. с. 202.
    25. ^ Николов, Борис Й. Вътрешна македоно-одринска революционна организация: Войводи и ръководители (1893-1934): Биографично-библиографски справочник. София, Издателство „Звезди“, 2001. ISBN 954-9514-28-5, с. 102.
    26. ^ a b c d Nadine Lange-Akhund, The Macedonian Question, 1893-1908, from Western Sources, East European Monographs, 1998, ISBN 9780880333832, pp. 121-122.
    27. ^ a b c İlkay Yılmaz, Ottoman Passports: Security and Geographic Mobility, 1876-1908, Syracuse University Press, 2023, ISBN 9780815656937, p. 46.
    28. ^ Николов, Борис Й. ВМОРО: псевдоними и шифри 1893-1934. София, Издателство „Звезди“, 1999. ISBN 9789549514179. с. 74.
    29. ^ Благов, Крум. 50-те най-големи атентата в българската история, 3. Експлозията на кораба "Вашкапу"
    30. ^ Yulian Konstantinov, Studying Disconnectedness: Postsocialist ‘Liberated’ Informal Economies and Ideas of European Unity. A Bottom-up Look from the Lower Danube (Bulgarian North-west) Bulgarian Society for Regional Cultural Studies (BSRCS).
    31. ^ Keith Brown, Loyal Unto Death: Trust and Terror in Revolutionary Macedonia, Indiana University Press, 2013, ISBN 9780253008473, p. 66.
    32. ^ Освободителната борба на българите в Македония и Одринско 1902-1904. Дипломатически документи, София 1978, с. 182-183 – Доклад от 8/21 май 1903.
    33. ^ Ipek K. Yosmaoglu, Blood Ties: Religion, Violence and the Politics of Nationhood in Ottoman Macedonia, 1878–1908, Cornell University Press, 2013, ISBN 9780801452260, p. 34.
    34. ^ "James Sotros..." same with citation 1, p. 194, Megas G. The Boatmen of Thesalloniki. p. 72.
    35. ^ Laura Beth Sherman, Fires on the Mountain: The Macedonian Revolutionary Movement and the Kidnapping of Ellen Stone, East European Monographs, 1980, ISBN 9780914710554, p. 80.
    36. ^ "After the annihilation of the pro-Bulgarian right-wing elements after 1945, the Yugoslav authorities concentrated their attention on communists with a Bulgarian past and pro-Bulgarian comments. One such was Venko Markovski, who dared to oppose Koneski's ideas on the Serbianization of the Macedonian language. Others were Panko Brashnarov and Pavel Shatev, who wrote letters to Georgi Dimitrov and Stalin to complain about Tito and to ask for help in maintaining the Bulgarian character of Macedonia... The Yugoslav communists created special gulags in Idrizovo, near Skopje and Goli Otok, a barren island in Croatia, where they sent such pro-Bulgarian or pro-Macedonian independence agitators." For more see: Contested Ethnic Identity: The Case of Macedonian Immigrants in Toronto, 1900-1996, Chris Kostov, Peter Lang, 2010, ISBN 3-0343-0196-0, p. 88.
    37. ^ Macedonia's child-grandfathers: the transnational politics of memory, exile, and return, 1948-1998, Author Keith Brown, Publisher Henry M. Jackson, University of Washington, 2003 pp. 32–33.
    38. ^ Ivo Banac. With Stalin against Tito: Cominformist splits in Yugoslav Communism, Cornell University Press, 1988, ISBN 0801421861, p. 198.
    39. ^ Радев, Ив. „Роби“ - големият роман на Страшимиров. Родна реч (бр.1). 1995.
    40. ^ Словото, © 1999-2016, WEB програмиране - Пламен Барух, Солунските съзаклятници, (набрала и въвела в мрежата: Вера Бучкова) 1983 г. Георги Данаилов.
    41. ^ „Солунските съзаклятници” – за героите, с човещина и без етикети ("Thessalonica conspirators" - about the heroes, with humanity and without labels), Bnr.bg, November 7, 2014.
    42. ^ Коста Църнушанов, "Солунските атентатори", София, Изд-во на Отечествения фронт, 1987 година.
    43. ^ Visit.Veles.gov.mk: Boatmen's monument, accessed on February 24, 2024.
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