Biographies
from the Chronicles of the Oshchima Book
Part 4 - Janko’s Story April 2005 by Risto Stefov Petre, son of Paso and Lena was born in Oshchima in 1923 and died at age 24 in 1947. He was the first Partisan from Oshchima to die in action. Fellow Oshchimians Nikola and Dimitar tell his story. Dimitar’s accounts were obtained from page 22 of the May 1975 issue # 265 of the Macedonian Magazine. Most of Nikola’s accounts come from a boy named Vasil from Bapchor whom Nikola met while serving in the Greek concentration prison camps. Vasil was an eyewitness to Petre’s ordeal during the last days of his life. In 1928, Petre’s father Paso left Oshchima for Australia to seek work as a pechalbar and never returned. Petre, the eldest of three brothers (Done and Risto), was five years old at the time and was left in the care of his mother and grandmother. After finishing grade six in public school, Petre assumed responsibility for managing the household and farm. His family was poor and on many occasions Petre had to seek work outside the home to make ends meet. Prior to the occupation (before 1941), Petre took on odd jobs including road construction work. During the occupation he regularly traveled in and out of Albania, purchasing and selling fabrics. Petre was a bright young man and did not agree with the injustices of the Greek Fascist regime; especially the inequalities created between Macedonians and Greeks. It was no surprise that he and a friend, Lazo, were the first from Oshchima to sign up with the Partisans. The promise of equal rights inspired the duo to take a trip to Malimadi to make contact with the Partisans. Unfortunately, soon after their trip Lazo had a severe appendicitis attack which ended his life. Petre went on to join the political wing of the workers revolution and worked hard to fight exploitation. During the occupation Petre joined the antifascist uprising and organized the collection of arms and ammunition and recruited members for his organization. During the spring of 1943, in the Lerin and Prespa regions, when the first Partisans began to organize, Petre was one of the first to volunteer his services. During the conflict Petre proved himself to be brave and decisive. He
was an excellent organized and able leader, both politically and militarily.
During one of his missions Petre was severely wounded but was lucky to
escape with his life. A mortar hit the barrel of his rifle and exploded
on contact. The rifle was completely obliterated and he received severe
burns to his hand and a gushing wound through his throat. He was taken
to a hospital in Yugoslavia where, after several surgeries, he recovered. Unfortunately this fearless, battle hardened fighter of many battles and volunteer of volunteers took too many risks during his missions and one day he fell prey to the enemy. After blowing up several trucks on the railroad connecting Lerin to Solun and successfully completing his mission, Petre ran into enemy fire. During the skirmish Petre was severely wounded. With both legs broken he lay immobilized awaiting his fate. When the enemy approached he agreed to surrender but the enemy’s enthusiasm was cut short when he pulled out his Thompson, cutting them to pieces. He then he shot himself. Near the village of Tserevo, on March 23rd, 1947, to avoid capture, Petre took his own life and became the first Oshchimian to die for Macedonia. Even in death his enemies did not let him rest. The Monarchist Fascists took him to Sourovich and hung his body in the City Square, in full view as a reminder of what would happen to Macedonians who dared stand up and fight for their rights. With heavy hearts and tears in their eyes the people of Sourovich paid Petre their last respects. For similar articles click on: www.oshchima.com/biogaphies |