SLAVE NIKOLOVSKI - KATIN SLAVÈ NIKOLOVSKI – KATIN · vo istorijata za takvo istrajuvawe na eden...

SLAVE NIKOLOVSKI - KATINSLAVÈ NIKOLOVSKI – KATIN

SVETOZAR - SVETLE STAMEVSKISVETOZAR - STEVE STAMEVSKI

KNIGOIZDATELSTVO”MAKEDONSKA ISKRA” - SKOPJE

MAKEDONSKA ISKRA PUBLISHING HOUSE – SKOPJE

Edicija: PORTRETISeries: PORTRAITS

SLAVE NIKOLOVSKI - KATINSLAVÈ NIKOLOVSKI – KATIN

SVETOZAR - SVETLE STAMEVSKISVETOZAR - STEVE STAMEVSKI

MONOGRAFIJA - MONOGRAPH

Recenzent / Reviewers:

Mitropolit Kiril, Polo{ko-kumanovski arhijerejMetropolitan Kiril, Bishop of Polog and Kumanovo

Tomislav Stojanovski - BombajTomislav Stojanovski – Bombaj

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PRVO PEÂTEWE 2006 • PEÂTENO VO MAKEDONIJA • „MAKEDONSKA ISKRA“ - SKOPJE

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form,without the prior permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief

passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine or newspaper.FIRST PRINTING, 2006 • PRINTED IN MACEDONIA • BY “MAKEDONSKA ISKRA“ - SKOPJE

Izdanieto e finansirano od semejstvoto STAMEVSKI

This edition was sponsored by the STAMEVSKI family

SLAVE NIKOLOVSKI - KATIN

SLAVÈ NIKOLOVSKI - KATIN

1997

Naca, Krste i Stame, predcite na Stamevski • Naca, Krste and Stame, the Stamevski ancestors

Cena i Tvrdomir, roditelite na Svetozar-Svetle Stamevski na 50-godi{ninata od brakot

Cena and Tvrdomir, Svetozar-Steve Stamevski’s parents at their 50th Anniversary

Svetozar-Svetle i Svetlana so decata • Svetozar-Steve and Svetlana with their children

Svetlana, Xorx, Lora i Svetozar-Svetle • Svetlana, George, Laura, and Svetozar-Steve

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SVETOZAR - SVETLE STAMEVSKI

SVETOZAR-STEVE STAMEVSKI

Belata ku}a vo Va{ington • The White House in Washington

Parlamentot na Republika Makedonija • The Parliament of Republic of Macedonia

11

IDEL - MAKEDONIJA MOJATA RODNA ZEMJA

INTRODUCTION

VO VEDAFIRMATOR NA MAKEDONIJA I SAD

INTRODUCTION

AFFIRMER OF MACEDONIA AND USA

MM ojot pove}egodi{en anga`man voprou~uvaweto na makedonskotoiseleni{tvo, dovede do publiku-vawe na brojni trudovi od ovaa

oblast. Poslednive godini, me|utoa, moetovnimanie sé pove}e go preokupiraat uspe{-nite Makedonci vo dijasporata, ~ij broj nee mal, a koi mu davaat svoeviden beleg naovoj star iseleni~ki fenomen. I ne samozaradi specifikata na migracionite dvi-`ewa vo svetot, osobeno vo minatiot vek,tuku poradi faktot {to Makedoncite, ne-zavisno na koi svetski meridijani }e senajdat, poseben beleg im davaat na op{test-vata vo koi se integriraat. Tipi~en primerza toa e po~ituvanoto semejstvo na Svetozar-Svetle Stamevski od selo Odri, od Polog.Toj e makedonski iselenik vo SAD, vo dr`a-vata Mi~igen, istaknat biznismen, poznati priznat donator, humanist i veren patri-ot na Makedonija i SAD. Negovoto semejstvominalo niz site fazi na makedonskoto ras-petie, ispolnuvaj}i go celiot dvaesetti vekso nastani tipi~ni za vekovnata borba namakedonskiot opstanok, ne samo vo staratatatkovina, Makedonija, tuku i na site svet-ski iseleni~ki prostori. Toa e semejstvo

MM y many years of studying Mace-donian migration resulted in thepublication of numerous works onthis subject. However, in recent

years, my attention has been increasinglydrawn by the successful Macedonians in theDiaspora, who are not just a few, and whogive this migration phenomena a uniquecharacteristic. And this is not only because ofthe specific nature of the migratory move-ments in the world, particularly in the lastcentury, but because of the fact that theMacedonians, regardless of where they are inthe world, add a special quality to thesocieties in which they integrate. Svetozar-Steve Stamevski's respected family from thevillage of Odri, Polog, is an epitome of this. Heis a Macedonian migrant in Michigan, USA. Adistinguished businessman, well-known andrecognized donator, he is a humanist and loyalpatriot of Macedonia and the USA. His familyexperienced every phase of the Macedoniancrucifixion, filling the entire 20 th century withevents typical of the age-old struggle ofMacedonian survival, not only in their nativefatherland Macedonia, but throughout themigrant world. It is a family to be respected

12



za po~it i primer od koe moàt i treba dase ogledaat i drugite makedonski semejst-va vo dvete tatkovini, SAD i Makedonija.Zatoa {to deloto {to go napravile Sta-mevski pretstavuva ubav primer i patokazna edno ~estito i blagorodno semejstvo.

Analizata na nivniot buren iseleni~kipat, tokmu od iznesenite pri~ini, ni go ot-kriva svetot na Makedonecot vo planetarnirazmeri, pokaùvaj}i i potvrduvaj}i dekapotomcite na Aleksandar Makedonski, neza-visno od nivnite rodokrajni koti, se del naedna od najstarite svetski civilizacii, ~iitrajni vrednosti gi raznesuvaat na site de-lovi na na{ata galaksija, po koi svetot i neprepoznava. Poradi toa istorijata na koebilo makedonsko uspe{no semejstvo vo di-jasporata, fakti~ki e istorija na makedon-skoto vekovno bitisuvawe, ne samo na Bal-kanot i vo Evropa, tuku i na site drugi kon-tinenti. Zatoa, obidot da napi{am mono-grafija za semejstvoto Stamevski, vo mojataistraùva~ka rabota za makedonskoto ise-leni{tvo, pretstavuva kruna na toj slobo-den proekt. Monografijava se potpira nafaktografija koja izvira od ìvotniotopus na tie na{i lu|e, so koi se gordee niv-nata stara tatkovina, Republika Makedoni-ja, koja, i pokraj site problemi {to denesgi ima, uspe{no za~ekori kon svojata demo-kratska preobrazba, vo ramkite na evrop-skite i svetskite integracioni procesi.

Edna od zna~ajnite li~nosti koja dalagolem pridones vo afirmiraweto na samo-stojnosta na Republika Makedonija i nejzi-no priznavawe od strana na SAD, sekako eSvetozar-Svetle Stamevski, politi~ar, so-partiec i prijatel na amerikanskiot pret-sedatel Xorx Bu{ - Junior.

and taken as an example, from which otherMacedonian families from both fatherlands,USA and Macedonia, can and should learn,for, the deed that the Stamevski family hasdone is a beautiful example and road sign ofan honest and noble family.

For these reasons precisely, the analysis oftheir turbulent road in migrating opens up tous the world of the Macedonians on aplanetary scale, demonstrating and confirmingthat the descendents of Alexander of Macedon,(the Great) regardless of their place of origin,are part of one of the oldest world civilizationswhose permanent values they take to everypart of our galaxy, for which the world knowsus. Because of this, the history of anysuccessful Macedonian family in the Diasporais in fact the history of the Macedonian age-oldexistence, not only in the Balkans and inEurope, but on every other continent as well.Thus, my attempt to write a monograph of theStamevski family, within my research onMacedonian migration, is the crown of this freeproject. The monograph is based on facts thatspring from the lifelong opus of these peopleof ours, who are the pride of their nativefatherland, the Republic of Macedonia, which,despite the numerous problems it is facing atthe moment, has nevertheless started steppingsuccessfully towards its democratic transfor-mation as part of the European and worldintegration processes.

Svetozar-Steve Stamevski, politician, mem-ber of the same party, and friend of the USPresident George Bush Junior, is of course oneof the significant personalities that made agreat contribution to the affirmation of theindependence of the Republic of Macedoniaand its recognition by the USA.

13

VOVED

INTRODUCTION

Knigava e monografija za semejstvotoStamevski, od selo Odri, Polog, Makedoni-ja, koe od vtorata decenija na minatiot vekìvee i raboti vo Soedinetite Amerikan-ski Dràvi, vo Detroit, vo dràvata Mi~i-gen. Celosna pretstava za niv moè da sedobie samo pod eden uslov: ako za proekci-jata na Stamevci se prekr{i rodnoto og-ni{te Odri, Tetovsko kako negov atar i Ma-kedonija kako Tatkovina. Taka istorijata zaniv }e bide kompletna, osobeno za onie vo~ii race }e se najde ova kniga, za ameri-kanskite prijateli na Svetozar-Svetle inegovite novi generacii, no i na onie votatkovinata koi sé u{te nemaat celosnapretstava za nea. A ne znaat kako da i po-mognat. Taa lekcija }e ja nau~at od Sveto-zar-Svetle Stamevski, koj ne samo {to nekrenal race od Odri, Polog i Makedonija,tuku efektivno vlijae i vrz tekovite naamerikanskata politika. Za izborot na nej-ziniot prv ~ovek, Xorx Bu{ - Junior, me|udrugite ima zasluga i Svetozar-SvetleStamevski, so {to i toj i Makedonija segordeat. Za{to negoviot vlog na toj plan eprilog vo idninata na najmo}nata nacija vosvetot, no indirektno i vo idninata naMakedonija.

Slave Katin

This book is a monograph of the Stamevskifamily, from the village of Odri, Polog,Macedonia, who has lived and worked inDetroit, Michigan, USA since the seconddecade of the last century. One can get the fullpicture of them only under one condition i.e. if,wishing to present the Stamevski family, onereflects their native hearth Odri, Tetovo, astheir property, and Macedonia as their father-land. Thus, their history will be complete, par-ticularly for those in whose hands this book willfind itself, for Steve-Svetozar's Americanfriends and for his future generations, as wellas those in his fatherland who do not know allof this land, yet, and those who do not knowhow to help it. They will learn this lesson fromSvetozar-Steve Stamevski, who has not onlynot given up on Odri, Polog, and Macedonia,but he also influences effectively the coursesof the U.S. policy. Svetozar-Steve Stamevski,among others, also deserves credit for theelection of the U.S. President George BushJunior, of which both he and Macedonia areproud, for his contribution in this field is acontribution to the future of the most powerfulnation in the world, and indirectly the future ofMacedonia.

Slave Katin

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Narodna nosija od Polog • Macedonian folk embrodiery cloth from Polog


PRV DEL

MAKEDONIJA NA[ATA RODNA ZEMJA

PART I

MACEDONIA – OUR NATIVE LAND

17

Karta na Makedonija od Dimitrija ^upovski i

Makedonskoto nau~no-literaturno dru{tvo

od Sankt Petersburg od 1913 godina.

A map of Macedonia by Dimitrija ^upovski and the

Macedonian Scientific and Literary Association in

Sankt Petersburg, 1913.

Rodniot kraj na Stamevci

Birth place of the Stamevski family

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Sv. Kiril i Metodij , ikona • Sts. Cyril and Methodius. icon

19

IDEL - MAKEDONIJA NA[ATA RODNA ZEMJA

PART I - MACEDONIA - OUR NATIVE LAND

Duborez vo crkvata „Sv. Spas“ vo Skopje od 19 vek • Woodcarving at the Holy Salvation Church in Skopje, 19th century

Freska „Oplakuvawe na Hristos“ • Fresco painting, Lamentation of Christ

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Makedonskata akademija na naukite i umetnostite • Macedonian Academy of Arts and Sciences

Crkvata „Sv. Kliment Ohridski“ na Plao{nik vo Ohrid • St. Clement of Ohrid Church on Plao{nik in Ohrid

MM akedonskoto mileniumsko opstoju-vawe, kako da nalikuva na dolga,retka i, re~isi neverojatna pri-kazna, smestena vo analite na po-

sebnosta, i besmrttnosta. Retki se primeritevo istorijata za takvo istrajuvawe na eden na-rod koj pominal niz takvi turbulentni ampli-tudi niz vekovite. Retki se primerite na ednazemja kako makedonskata, koja e tolku bogata socivilizaciski i kulturni doblesti i poseb-nosti so istoriski vrednosti. Makedonija odkade poteknuva semejstvoto Stamevski, kako et-ni~ki i op{testven organizam pominuvala izaminuvala niz tolku fazi na negacija, iscrpu-va~ka obespravenost na delewe i par~ewe nadolgi i krvavi buni i bitki. I s¯ taka, dodekana istoriskata scena, nalik na pticata fe-niks, ne stana nerazdelen i respektiran del odgolemoto evropsko i svetsko, od univerzalnotosemejstvo.

Beskrajno dolgiot te`ok pat, e ispolnet i sobleskavite stranici na makedonskoto istraju-vawe i cvrstina, kogo bibliska Makedonija gomina niz lavirintot na vremenskata nepokor-nost, za kone~no, kako nacija da se konstituirai da se potvrdi. Za `al, toa se slu~i duri konpolovinata na 20 vek, i toa kako narod od ev-ropski profil, lociran vo srceto na Balkanot,na teritorijata na anti~ka Makedonija, kade{to starite kulturi i rimskata civilizacijaostavile brojni tragi, a hristijanstvoto iislamot dolgo se borele za prevlast.

TT he millennium-old Macedonian survivalseems to resemble a long, rare, andalmost incredible story fitted in theannals of uniqueness and immortality.

There are rare examples in history of suchpersistence of a people that has endured such tur-bulent amplitudes throughout the centuries.Macedonia is a rare country that is so rich withvirtues of civilization and culture, and rarehistorical values. Macedonia, the land from whichthe Stamevski family descends as an ethnic andsocial organism, has passed through so many

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MAKEDONSKI LETOPISM A C E D O N I A N C H R O N I C L E

Herfordova karta od 1290 god. pr.n.e. • The Hereford map, AD 1290

Makedonskiot narod opstojal na site vidovipritisoci i dolgi vekovni obezli~uvawa, uspe-vaj}i da bide za~uvan, blagodarenie na svojatakulturna konsolidacija. Iako blagonaklonosta nasudbata naj~esto go odminuvala, sepak, mnoguve-kovnata iscrpuva~ka borba, vostanija i buni iprkosi, gi nau~ija Makedoncite uspe{no da jasovladuvaat surovata{kola na opstojuva-weto i kone~niot na-cionalno-dràvenoblik.

Kako samostojnadràva Makedonijaza prvpat postoi u{-te od anti~kiot pe-riod. Se nao|ala nateritorijata na ed-noimenata oblast,porano narekuvanaEmitija. DrevnataMakedonija se gra-ni~ela na jug soElada (dene{na Gr-cija), na zapad soEpir, na severoza-pad so Ilirija i naistok so Trakija.Osnovnoto nasele-nie vo dr`vata bi-le makedonskite ple-miwa Oresti, Lin-kesti, Elimioti, iEvrodejcite.

Makedonija vo 6vek pred na{ataera nemala poblis-ki komunikacii soelinskite dràvi ikulturi. Vo op{te-stven pogled taaseu{te ìveela voprvobitniot peri-od, no ve}e kon 5vek pred novata eranavlegla vo etapata na takanare~enata voenademokratija.

Koga ve}e razvojnite procesi na op{testvenplan ja vklu~uvaat i Makedonija vo klasnoto op-{testvo, doa|a prvoto obedinuvawe na rascep-

stages of negation and exhausting injustices ofdivision and partition, and of long and bloodyrebellions and battles. And this continued until, likethe phoenix, on the historical scene it became aninseparable and respected part of the hugeEuropean, global, and universal family.

The endlessly long and hard road is filled withthe bright pages ofMacedonian persis-tence and strength,which Biblical Mace-donia walked thro-ugh the labyrinth ofinsubordination to ti-me, to finally consti-tute and confirm it-self as a nation. Un-fortunately, this hap-pened as late as themid-20th century, butthen as a people ofEuropean profile,settled in the heartof the Balkans, onthe territory of Anci-ent Macedonia, whe-re the old culturesand the Roman civi-lization left numer-ous traces, whereChristianity and Is-lam fought for agesto dominate. The Ma-cedonian people en-dured every kind ofpressure and denialof its identity, stillmanaging to survive,thanks to its culturalconsolidation. Eventhough fate was ne-ver kind to them, themany centuries ofexhausting battles,rebellions and riots,

taught the Macedonians to learn successfully theharsh school of survival and the final shape of thenational state.

Macedonia first existed as an independent stateduring the Ancient period. It was located on the

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„Menada“, mala bronzena figurina na devojka od Tetovsko

“Menada” – bronze figurine of a girl from the Tetovo region

kanata zemja na oblasti, doa|a do politi~kotoobedinuvawe. Carot Aleksandar Prvi (498-454god. pr.n.e.) e i prviot obedinuva~ na Makedonija.Carot Arhelej ja zacvrstil centralizacijata ivovel pari~ni i voeni reformi (413-399) dode-ka vo vremeto na Filip Vtori (359-336) Make-donskoto Carstvo se pro{iruva. Toj ja reorgani-ziral vojskata gilikvidiral sepa-ratisti~kite ten-dencii, a so bit-kata kaj Heronea(338 god. pr.n.e.tokmu na 2 Avgustkako Prv Ilin-den) na Elinite,a i na celata an-t i m a k e d o n s k akoalicija im gonanel najgolemi-ot poraz, izdig-nuvaj}i ja Make-donija vo edna odnajsilnite drà-vi na Balkanot ipo{iroko.

Filip Vtoribil nasleden odnegoviot sin Alek-sandar Makedon-ski, narekuvankako AleksandarVeliki (Makedon-ski) (336-323 pr.n.e.) koj gi pro-dolìl zavoju-va~kite pohodi,na istok do In-dija. Toga{ Make-donija stanalacentar na ednaogromna dràvakoja se protegalana tri kontinen-ti i koja go do-stignala vrvot nasvojot razvoj.

No, po smrtta na Aleksandar Makedonski, Ma-kedonija kako dràva po~nala da se raspa|a.Zavojuva~kite stremeì na Rimjanite na Balka-

territory that used to be known as Emitia. AncientMacedonia bordered to the South with Ellada(modern day Greece), to the West with Epirus, tothe North West with Illyria, and to the East withThrace. The country was primarily populated by theMacedonian tribes known as Orestis, Lynkestians,Elimiotis, and Evrodeis.

In the 6th cen-tury BC, Macedo-nia did not haveany close commu-nication with theHellenic states andcultures. From asocial aspect it stilllived in the primi-tive period. How-ever, towards the5th century BC itentered the phaseof the so-calledmilitary democracy.When the develo-ping processes ona social level cameto include Mace-donia in the classsystem, too, thebroken up land ofdistricts was unit-ed for the firsttime, and a politi-cal unification re-sulted. King Alex-ander I (498-454BC) was the firstto unite Macedo-nia. King Archela-os enhanced cent-ralization and in-troduced mone-tary and militaryreforms (413-399),and during thetime of Phillip II(359-336) the Ma-

cedonian empire expanded. He reorganized the army and liquidated all sepa-

ratist tendencies. Furthermore, with the battle atChaironeia (338 BC precisely on the 2 August, as a

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Aleksandar Makedonski, osvojuva~ na kopnoto i vodite

Alexander the Macedon (Great), conqueror of the land and the waters

not dovele do trite takanare~eni makedonskivojni koi bile vodeni vo 214-205, 200-197 i176-168 godina pred novata era. Po ova Makedo-nija bila pokorena i podelena na ~etiri avto-nomni oblasti vo ramkite na rimskata provin-cija so centar vo Solun, a podocna i so vtoriotcentar vo Stobi.

Od krajot na 6 pado sredinata na 7vek po Hrista, re~i-si cela Makedonija,so isklu~ok na gra-dot Solun, ja nase-luvaat slovenskiteplemiwa Draguviti-te, Sugaditite, Ve-ligizitite, Strum-janite, Rinhinite,Smoqanite i Bere-zitite. Tie se izme-{ale so starosedel-cite brzo asimili-raj}i gi i na toj na-~in sozdavaj}i goidniot etni~ki amal-gam na Sklaviniteili na makedonski-te Sloveni, t.e. naMakedoncite. Nao-|aj}i se na najpro-metniot del na Bal-kanot. Tie nabrzo}e stanat objekt natu|inskite aspira-cii i zavojuvawa,za{to Vizantija se-koga{ vo nivnatapocvrsta dràvnaorganizacija gledalapotencijalna opas-nost od sozdavawena nova silna drà-va. Po ìlav i dolgotpor od preku 200godini makedonski-te Sloveni }e bidat pokoreni od Vizantija.

Edno od najpoznatite antivizantiski vosta-nija e bunata na sinovite na brsja~kiot knezNikola vo 976 godina. Sinot na Nikola - Samuil,uspeal do krajot na 10 vek da ja oslobodi cela

first Ilinden) he inflicted the greatest defeat uponthe Hellenians, and to the entire anti-Macedoniancoalition, thus making Macedonia one of the mostpowerful countries in the Balkans and beyond.

Phillip II was succeeded by his son Alexander ofMacedon, known as Alexander the Great (336-323BC) who continued the conquests and reached as

far as India to theEast. Macedonia thenbecame the center ofa huge country thatstretched over threecontinents and reach-ed the summit of itsdevelopment.

However, after thedeath of Alexander ofMacedon, Macedoniabegan declining as astate. The conquestefforts of the Romansin the Balkans led tothe three so-calledMacedonian wars thatwere waged duringthe periods 214-205,200-197, and 176-168 BC. After this,Macedonia was con-quered and partitio-ned into four autono-mous districts withinthe Roman provincewith its main centerin Thessalonica, andlater a second centerin Stobi.

From the end ofthe 6th century to themiddle of the 7thcentury AD almost allof Macedonia, withthe exception of thecity of Thessalonica,was inhabited by the

Slavic tribes known as the Draguvitis, Sugaditis,Veligizitis, Strumjanis, Rinhinis, Smoljanis, andBerezitis. They mixed with the natives, quicklyassimilating them and thus creating the future eth-nic amalgam of the Sklavins, or the Macedonian

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Samuilovata tvrdina vo Ohrid

Samuil’s Fortress in Ohrid

Makedonija i da ja organizira prvata dràvnazaednica na makedonskite Sloveni. Samuilovo-to carstvo traelo od 976 do 1018 godina. Toga{Makedonija, pak, stanuva edna od najsilnitedràvi na Balkanot, so centar najprvin voPrespa, a potoa vo Ohrid. Zna~ajno e da se odbe-leì deka toga{ vo Makedonija crkvata imalarang na patrijar{ija. Vo ramkite na Samuilova-ta makedonska dràva vleguvaat Tesalija, Epir,del od Albanija so Dra~, Severna Bugarija,Bosna, Dukqa i Ra{ka.

Po porazot na car Samuil od Vizantija vo1014 godina vo bitkata kaj Belasica, za Makedo-nija nastapuvaat dolga niza vekovi na robuva-we. Najprvin pod Vizantija, potoa pod Bugarijai Srbija, a najposle turskoto osmanlisko ropst-vo, {to }e se protegne niz pet stoletija, sé dopo~etokot na minatiot vek. Brojnite buni i vos-tanija na Makedoncite bile i protiv ovie zavo-juva~i, a i protiv turskata tiranija. Najmasov-no e vostanieto protiv turskata vlast vo vreme-to na Avstro-ruskata vojna do 1689 godina. Toa e

Slavs, i.e. the Macedonians. Finding themselves inthe busiest part of the Balkans, the MacedonianSlavs quickly became the object of foreign aspira-tions and wars, for Byzantium always saw in theirstronger state organization a potential threat that anew powerful Slavic country may be created. Aftera persistent and long resistance of more than 200years, the Macedonian Slavs were conquered byByzantium.

One of the best known anti Byzantine uprisings isthe rebellion of the sons of the Brsyak Prince Nikolain 976. By the end of the 10th century, Nikola’s son,Samuil, managed to liberate all of Macedonia and toorganize the first state of the Macedonian Slavs.Samuil’s empire lasted from 976 to 1018. Macedo-nia was then one of the most powerful countries inthe Balkans, with its center being first in Prespa,and then in Ohrid. It is important to note that at thetime the Macedonian church had the rank of a patri-archate. Samuil’s Macedonian state included The-ssaly, Epirus, and part of Albania including Durres,Northern Bulgaria, Bosnia, Duklja, and Ra{ka.

25



Kru{evo • Kru{evo

26



Karpo{ovoto vostanie, po koe se redat Kresnen-skoto od 1878 godina, Brsja~kata buna od1880/81 godina, akciite na vojvodite dedo IqoMale{evski, Spiro Crne, Sirma vojvodkata idrugi.

Kon krajot na 1983 godina vo Solun }e bidatstaveni osnovite na Vnatre{nata makedonsko-odrinska revolucionerna organizacija, pozna-ta pod imeto VMRO, kako izraz za fazata kogazapo~nuva kolektivniot otpor na Makedonciteprotiv sultanskata vlast. VMRO }e se zalaga zaavtonomija na Makedonija vo ramkite na turska-ta dràva. Osnova~i na VMRO se: Damjan Gruev,Goce Del~ev, \or~e Petrov, Petar Pop Arsov, anejzini poznati aktivisti i rakovoditeli po-docna }e bidat: Jane Sandanski, Dimo Haxi Di-mov, Pere To{ev, Nikola Karev i drugi. Vo oviegodini }e se sozdadat i prvite socijalisti~kigrupi vo Makedonija, koi }e proklamiraat deka„osloboduvaweto na Makedonija e rabotana site Makedonci“ i }e ja propagiraat ide-jata za samostojna i nezavisna makedonska re-publika.

Czar Samuil’s defeat by Byzantium in 1014 in thebattle near Belasica was followed by manycenturies of slavery for Macedonia, first underByzantium, then Bulgaria and Serbia, and finallyTurkish Ottoman slavery that went on for over fivecenturies, until the beginning of the last century. Inaddition to the numerous rebellions and uprisingsof the Macedonians against these conquerors, theyalso participated actively in the battle against theTurkish tyranny. They participated in the Serbianand Greek uprisings (in 1804 and 1821) with theirown troops. Nevertheless, the most massive upris-ing was the one against the Turks during theAustrian-Russian war up to 1689. This was the Kar-po{ Uprising, which was then followed by the Kres-nensko Uprising in 1878, the Brsyak rebellion in(1880/81), the activities of the Voyvodas Grandpa IljoMale{evski, Spiro Crne, Voyvodka Sirma and others.

In late 1893, in Thessalonica, the Vnatrešnamakedonsko-odrinska revolucionerna organizacijaknown as the VMRO (Internal Macedonian-OdriRevolutionary Organization) was founded as anexpression of the beginning of the collective resist-

ance of the Macedoni-ans against the sultanrule. VMRO strived foran autonomous Mace-donia within the Otto-man state. Founders ofVMRO included: DamjanGruev, Goce Del~ev,Gjor~e Petrov, and PetarPop Arsov. Some of itswell known activists andleaders later included:Jane Sandanski, DimoHadì Dimov, Pere To-{ev, and Nikola Karevamong others. Duringthese years, the earliestsocialist groups, whoproclaimed that the“liberation of Mace-donia is the job ofevery Macedonian”were also formed inMacedonia, They alsoadvocated the idea ofan independent Mace-donian republic.

êre{ovoto top~e • The cherry-wood cannon

FF inaleto na svoeto dejstvuvawe Make-donskata revolucionerna organiza-cija }e gi ostvari vo Ilindenskotovostanie vo 1903 godina, koga vo

Kru{evo e sozdadena desetdnevnata Kru{evskaRepublika. Makedonskite narodni masi so oru`-je vo raka se krenaa vo re{itelna presmetka soporobuva~ot, no vo neramnata borba so dalekuposilniot neprijatel, krvavo se porazeni.Vostanieto ne uspealo, no svetot po{iroko eve}e zapoznat so gotovnosta i re{itelnosta namakedonskiot narod da ja izvojuva slobodata.

Vo tekot na balkanskite vojni {to od 1912godina se vodele na teritorijata na Makedoni-ja, definitivno e urnato petvekovnoto osman-lisko vladeewe na Balkanot i vo Makedonija.Sepak, iako Makedoncite zemaat masovno u~e-stvo na stranata na sojuzni~kite vojski (bugars-ki, srpski, gr~ki), Makedonija ne dobiva slobo-da. So dogovorot vo Bukure{t od 1913 godina,Makedonija e razdelena me|u Srbija, Bugarija iGrcija (Vardarska, Pirinska i Egejska Makedo-nija). Po Prvata svetska vojna, so dogovorot vo1919 godina, ovaa polo`ba e sankcionirana.

Sepak, makedonskiot narod vo Vtorata svet-ska vojna, vklu~uvaj}i se vo antifa{isti~katakoalicija, vo Narodno-osloboditelnata borbaprotiv germansko-bugarsko-italijanskite okupa-tori, vo zaednica so drugite balkanski narodi,ja izvojuva svojata sloboda. No, za `al, izvojuvasloboda samo vo vardarskiot del na Makedo-nija, koj vo ramkite na biv{ata Federativna

TT he Macedonian revolutionary organiza-tion reached the summit of its activitieswith the Ilinden Uprising in 1903, whenthe ten-day-long Kru{evo Republic was

formed in Kru{evo. The Macedonian people stoodup with weapons in their hands in a determinedbattle against the conqueror. However, in theuneven fight against the far stronger enemy, theywere defeated in bloodshed. The uprising failed,but the whole world learnt of the readiness anddetermination of the Macedonian people to fightfor freedom.

The Balkan wars that were waged from 1912 onMacedonian territory definitely put an end to thefive-century-long Ottoman rule in the Balkans and inMacedonia. Nevertheless, even though the Macedo-nians participated massively on the side of theallied armies i.e. Bulgarian, Serbian, and Greek, stillMacedonia did not get its freedom. With the Bucha-rest Agreement of 1913, Macedonia was partitionedbetween Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece (Vardar, Pirin,and Aegean Macedonia). This position was sanctio-ned with the Agreement of 1919 after WWI.

The Macedonian people did, nevertheless, takeadvantage of their chance in WWII. Joining theanti-fascist coalition, the People’s Liberation Waragainst the German/Bulgarian/Italian occupiers, theMacedonian people won their freedom along withthe other Balkan peoples. Unfortunately, they wontheir freedom only in the Vardar region of Macedo-nia. As part of the former Federal Republic of Yugo-slavia, Macedonia got the status of a state – the

27



ILINDENSKI MOSTOVI I NEPOKORI L I N D E N B R I D G E S A N D I N S U B O R D I N AT I O N

Republika Jugoslavija go dobi svojot status nadràva - Republika Makedonija. Proklamiranae na Prvoto zasedanie na ASNOM vo manastirotProhor P~inski odràno na 2 avgust 1944 godi-na. Taka, pak, na Ilinden, po pat na vooruènaborba, najgolemiot del od makedonskiot narodse zdobi so svoja dràva, i ima{e svoj razvoj voramkite na jugoslovenskata zaednica. Potoa, na8 septemvri 1991 godina, stana celosno samo-stojna i nezavisna, poznata i priznatademokratska zemja.

Zemjata od kade poteknuva semejstvoto Sta-mevski e poznato kulturno àri{te i lulka nakulturata. Taka, makedonskiot narod cvrsto po-vrzan za doma{noto ogni{te, ìveel so svoitevekovni tradicii i prenesuvaj}i gi od pokole-nie na pokolenie, sozdaval i razvival ednaretka i bogata materijalna i duhovna kultura,koja za sebe zadràla i pove}e patrijarhalniobele`ja. Taka, narodnoto tvore{tvo e plod nesamo na bogatiot tvore~ki duh i negovata umet-ni~ka nadarenost na makedonskiot narod, tuku iodraz na ekonomskite, socijalnite i kulturniteuslovi vo razli~nite istoriski epohi niz koiMakedonecot minuval.

Osven na raznovidnite upotrebni predmetiposebno vnimanie vo umetni~koto oblikuvawenarodniot tvorec mu posvetil na svojata oble-ka, narodnata nosija i na nakitot, kako najizra-ziti primeroci na tradicionalnoto tvore{tvo.

Republic of Macedonia, proclaimed as such at theFirst ASNOM Assembly at the Prohor P~inskimonastery held on the 2 August, 1944. Thus, onceagain on Ilinden, following an armed battle, themajority of the Macedonian people got their ownstate, which developed within the framework of theYugoslav community. Later, on 8 September 1991,it became a fully independent, renowned, andacknowledged democratic country.

The land from which the Stamevski familydescends is a well-known cultural center and cradleof culture. Thus, closely tied to their native hearth,the Macedonian people lived with their age-old tra-ditions handing them down from generation togeneration, creating and developing a rare and richmaterial and spiritual culture, which retained manypatriarchal features. Hence, folk work was the resultnot just of the rich creative spirit and the artistic tal-ent of the Macedonian people, but it was a reflec-tion of the economic, social, and cultural conditionsin the various historical epochs which the Macedo-nian people experienced.

In addition to the various useful objects, the folkcraftsman also paid particular attention to the artis-tic shaping of his clothes, and the national costumeand jewelry as the most remarkable samples of tra-ditional craftwork.

28



Sosednite propagandi kon Makedonija

Neighboring propaganda against Macedonia

Spomenik na Iqo Anteski - Smok, prvoborec od Tetovo

The monument of Iljo Anteski – Smok, a fighter from Tetovo

KKarakteristi~no za narodnata nosija ebelata tunikoobrazna platnena ko{ula,kako i brojnite volneni obleki odbela i crna kla{a. Osobeno se izdvo-

juvaat prazni~nite i sve~enite nosii, vo koitvore~kiot duh na makedonskata `ena dostig-nal vrven izraz. So svojata monumentalnost,skladnost i elegancija se odlikuvaat nosiiteod okolinata na Skopje, Kumanovo, Tetovo, Prilep

SS haracteristic of the folk costume is the white

tunic-like cotton shirt as well as the numer-

ous woolen garments made of a thick white

and black fabric. The festival and formal

costumes in which the creative spirit of the Mace-

donian woman reached its summit are particularly

remarkable. Monumentality, harmony, and elegance

characterize the costumes from the areas of Skopje,

Kumanovo, Tetovo, Prilep, and other places in

29



NACIONALNI BELEZI , TRADICII . . .N AT I O N A L F E AT U R E S , T R A D I T I O N S . . .

Mitropolitot Kiril vo Le{ok • Mitropolitan Kiril in Le{ok

i drugi mesta vo Makedonija. So svojata vpe~at-liva i bogata ornamentika, osobeno e karakte-risti~en nakitot na prazni~nite i sve~eniteènski nosii od Polog, Stru{ko, Ohridsko,Prilepsko, Mavrovo, Skopsko, Prespansko idrugi regioni. Ne zaostanuva ni makedonskatagrn~arija: resenskata, vele{kata, stru{kata,debarskata, ki~evskata koja se karakteriziraso anti~ki formi, dejstvuvaj}i impresivno sosvoite izdolèni i vitki oblici. Rezbarstvo-to, pak, pretstavuva kruna vo narodnata umet-nost na Makedoncite. Mija~kite majstori-rez-bari (kopani~ari) bile poznati na Balkanot,osobeno so dlabokata i plitkata rezba, so kojabile ukrasuvani makedonskite crkvi i manas-tiri, a i bogatite ku}i vo Tetovo, Debar, Skopjei Bitola. Rezbite vo manastirot Sv. Jovan Bi-gorski, Debarsko, vo Sv. Spas vo Skopje i Sv.Dimitrija vo Bitola, pretstavuvaat najdra-goceni kulturno-istoriski spomenici i remek-dela na makedonskata narodna umetnost.

Vakviot podem na narodnata umetnost vo Ma-kedonija se dolì na makedonskite prosveti-teli sv. Kiril i Metodij, koja svoeto prodolù-vawe i rascut }e go doìvee tokmu vo Makedo-nija. Za{to, direktni nejzini prodolùva~i senivnite najbliski sorabotnici sv. Kliment iNaum. Sv. Kliment Ohridski (840-916) e sozda-va~ na poznatata i najzna~ajnata Ohridska kni-èvna {kola. Kako najdobar u~enik na solun-skite bra}a, po progonuvaweto od Moravija toj}e se naseli vo oblasta Kutmi~evica (dene{naZapadna Makedonija) i nekade po 887 godina }eja zapo~ne svojata bleskava prosvetitelskakariera. Sv. Kliment Ohridski otvora u~ili{taza deca i vozrasni niz cela Makedonija, a voOhrid i Univerzitet so nad 3.500 slu{ateli.

Najblizok sorabotnik i prodolùva~ na de-loto na sveti Kliment vo Makedonija e sv. NaumOhridski, koj, isto taka, rabotel vo oblastaKutmi~evica. Najstariot za~uvan kirilski spo-menik e otkrien vo Makedonija. Toa e nadgrob-nata plo~a na carot Samuil od 993 godina. No,od Makedonija poteknuvaat i nekolku najpozna-ti pametnici na staromakedonskata pismenost,pi{uvani na kirilica, a so elementi na make-donska redakcija. Toa se „Ohridskiot apostol“,„Bolowskiot psaltir“, „Bitolskiot triod“,„Lesnovskiot psaltir“ i drugi. Od drugiteza~uvani rakopisni zbornici }e gi spomeneme

Macedonia. Impressive and rich ornament is espe-

cially characteristic of the jewelry on the festival and

formal women’s costumes in Polog, and the areas

of Struga, Ohrid, Prilep, Mavrovo, Skopje, and Pres-

pa, among others. Macedonian pottery is equally

impressive. The pottery of the Resen, Veles, Struga,

Debar, and Ki~evo areas is characterized by

ancient shapes, and is quite impressive with its long

and curving shapes. Woodcarving, on the other

hand, is the crown of Macedonian folk art. The

“Mija~ki” masters, woodcarvers, were well known in

the Balkans, particularly for the deep and shallow

woodcarvings that decorated the Macedonian

churches and monasteries, as well as the wealthy

people’s houses in Tetovo, Debar, Skopje, and

Bitola. The woodcarings at the St. Jovan Bigorski

monastery near Debar, the St. Spas in Skopje, and

the St. Dimitrija in Bitola are the most precious

30



Leopardot i srnata, simbol na hristijanskata du{a i nejzinite stradawa, Herakleja •

u{te „Pop Jovanovoto evangelie“ (12 vek),„Gligorovi~eviot paramejnik“, „Vrane{-ni~kiot apostol“ (13 vek), „Slep~enskiotapostol“, „Dobraj{ovoto evangelie“,„Radomirovoto evangelie“ i drugi, koipoteknuvaat od periodot pome|u 12 i 13 vek.

Elementi od sovremenite makedonski govorise pojavuvaat i vo nekoi rakopisni tekstovi od16 i 18 vek. Makedonskiot jazik vo literaturnaupotreba, no vo neoficijalna forma, se vovedu-va u{te vo tekot na turskoto vladenie vo Make-donija, osobeno vo 19 vek. Po~nuvaj}i od Danai-loviot ~etirijazi~nik (1802), preku delata naKiril Pej~inovi} - Tetoec, Joakim Kr~ovski iTeodosija Sinaitski, od prvite decenii na 19vek, pa sé do pojavata na novata generacija ma-kedonski pisateli od sredinata na 19 vek(Dimitrija i Konstantin Miladinovi, Rajko

cultural and historical monuments, and master-

pieces of Macedonian folk art.

Such progress of folk art in Macedonia is owed

to the Macedonian educators, Sts. Cyril and Metho-

dius. It continued and flourished in Macedonia pre-

cisely because it was directly continued by their

close associates Sts. Clement and Naum. St. Cle-

ment of Ohrid (840–916) established the best

known and most significant Ohrid Literary School.

As the best student of the Salonica brothers, after

he was exiled from Moravia, he moved to the

Kutmi~evica area (in modern-day Western Macedo-

nia), and began his brilliant career as an educator

some time after 887. St. Clement of Ohrid opened

schools for children and adults throughout Macedo-

nia, and a University in Ohrid with more than 3,500

students.

The closest associate and continuer of St. Cle-

ment’s work in Macedonia is St. Naum of Ohrid,

who also worked in the Kutmi~evica area. The old-

est preserved Cyrillic monument was discovered in

Macedonia. It is the gravestone of Czar Samoil from

the year 993. In addition to this, some of the best

known monuments of Slavic literacy also come

from Macedonia. These are written in Cyrillic with

elements of Macedonian editing. They include “TheApostle of Ohrid”, “The Psalter of Bologne”, “TheBitola Triad”, “The Lesnovo Psalter”, and others.

Other preserved manuscripts include “PriestJovan’s Gospel” (12th century), “Gligorovi~’sParamejnik”, “The Vrane{ Apostle” (13th century),

“The Slep~enski Apostle”, “The Dobraj{ov’sGospel”, “Radomir’s Gospel” and others that date

back to the time between the 12th and 13th cen-

turies.

Elements of the modern Macedonian tongues

also appear in some manuscripts from the 16th and

18th centuries. The Macedonian tongue is introdu-

ced into an unofficial form of literary use as early as

the time when the Ottomans ruled Macedonia, par-

ticularly in the 19th century. Beginning with

“Danail’s Four-language Book” (1802), and continu-

ing with the works of Kiril Pej~inovi} – Tetoec,

Joakim Kr~ovski, and Teodosij Sinaitski from the

early decades of the 19th century, until the emer-

gence of the new generation of Macedonian writers

of the mid-19th century (Dimitrija and Konstantin

Miladinov, Rajko @inzifov, Grigor Prli~ev, Marko

Cepenkov, Kuzman [apkarev, and others) folk lan-

guage gradually developed to the level of a literary

form.

31



• Leopard and doe, symbol of Christian soul and suffering, Heraclea

@inzifov, Grigor Prli~ev, Marko Cepenkov,Kuzman [apkarev i drugi), narodniot jazik po-stepeno se izdiga do nivo na literaturna forma.

Na makedonskiot jazik deneska, pokraj nego-vata upotreba vo administracijata, javnatakomunikacija, u~ili{tata, pe~atot, radiotoi televizijata,teatrite i dru-gite vidovi me-diumi, se sozda-va literatura, sepreveduvaat naj-poznatite vred-nosti od svetska-ta duhovna riz-nica i na kated-rite na makedon-ski jazik vo mno-gu zemji vo sve-tot se odr`uva-at predavawa zanego, no i se izu-~uva kako svet-ski jazik.

Taka, duri poedinaeset stole-tija, makedon-skiot jazik, pov-torno ja do~ekasvojata reafir-macija. Toj e jazi-kot i kulturatana semejstvotoStamevski, {toso sebe go done-le vo novatasredina, za dapoplo~i skro-men del od boga-tiot mozaik nakulturnata riz-nica na SAD.

In addition to its use in administration, public com-

munication, schools, printed media, radio and tele-

vision, theatres and other kinds of media, today the

Macedonian language is also used to create lieter-

ature, to translate the best known values of the

world spiritual treasury. Furthermore, at the Mace-

donian langua-

ge departments

in many coun-

tries throughout

the world, lec-

tures are held

in the Macedo-

nian language,

and it is studied

as a world

language.

Thus, after

an entire ele-

ven centuries,

the Macedoni-

an tongue has

lived to see its

rea f f i rmat ion

once again. This

is the language

and culture of

the Stamevski

family, which

they took with

them to the new

environment to

fill a modest

piece of the rich

mosaic of the

cultural treasu-

ry of the United

States of Ame-

rica.

32



„Ute{enie gre{nim“ na igumenot Kiril Pej~inovi}

“Comfort to the Sinful“, by monk Kiril Pej~inovi}

VTOR DEL

KORENITE VO MAKEDONIJA

PART I I

THE ROOTS IN MACEDONIA

34



Karta na Polog • A map of Polog

Odri

35

I IDEL - KORENITE VO MAKEDONIJA

PART II - THE ROOTS IN MACEDONIA

SS emejstvoto Stamevski poteknuva odtetovskiot kraj vo Makedonija koj, me|udrugoto, Gospod go daruval so mnogu pri-rodni ubavini. Inaku, od Skopje do Te-

tovo vodi moderna magistrala, koja ovozmo`uvaova rastojanie od triesetina kilometri da sesovlada za polovina ~as. Malku kilometri tre-ba da se pominat za da se izleze od klisurata

TT he Stamevski family comes from the Te-tovo area in Macedonia, which God giftedwith an immensely picturesque landscape,among other things. A modern highway

leads from Skopje to Tetovo, which allows one topass this distance of about thirty kilometers in onlyhalf an hour. One only needs to pass a few kilometersto come out of the Karpalak gorge in the mountain

POLO[KA RAZGLEDNICAA P O R T R A I T O F P O LO G

TETOVO • TETOVO

Karpalak na planinata i da se zdogleda Tetovoso [ar Planina nad nego. Pred patnikot seotkriva i Polog, edna od najubavite kotlini voMakedonija, polna so gusto naseleni sela izelenilo i poznata po bogatstvoto zemjodelskiproizvodi {to gi snabduva Tetovo, Gostivar ipo{irokiot region. Isto taka, ovoj region epovrzan so avtopat, so {to patuvawata vo Ohridi Debar, preku Ki~evo, e udobno i atraktivno. A,Zapadna Makedonija e me|u najprekrasnite pre-deli vo dràvata, kako po svojata rasko{napriroda, taka i po izgra-denite elektroenergetskiobjekti so ìvopisniteezerski povr{ini. Radikakako kawon vo koj se nao-|a manastirot sv. JovanBigorski i bistrata rekakoja se vleva vo Debar-skoto Ezero, e raj za ri-bolovcite na re~nata pa-strmka. Mavrovo, pak, sohidroelektranata i ezer-skite vodi, a osobeno soskija~kite tereni naBistra, e nepovtorlivaubavina vo regionot i naBalkanot.

Tetovo e op{tinskicentar, i se nao|a na nad-morska viso~ina od 468metri, so preku 80.000ìteli, koj za prvpat voistorijata se spomenuvaduri vo 17 vek, kako Hte-tovo, a podocna Turcite go narekuvale Kalkan-dere. Denes gradot se nao|a na rabot naPolo{kata ramnina, pod samata [ar Planina,kade {to rekata Pena sleguva od planinata voramninata. U{te na prio|aweto kon gradot, odkoja i da e strana, patnikot go zapliskuva sve-àta i ubava klima {to e rezultat na mestopo-lo`bata na gradot opkolen so rasko{niteplaninski vrvovi, osobeno na [ara.

Spored nekoi podatoci, vo sredniot vek Te-tovo bil selska naselba, so belezi na orientot.Verojatno poradi blagoprijatnata mestopolo`-ba, turskite begovi tuka gi izgradile svoitesarai. Od toa vreme vo Tetovo se ostanati po-ve}e gradbi, nekoi od niv za~uvani do denes.

and see Tetovo with Mt. [ar in the distance behindit. At the same time, one sees Polog, one of themost beautiful valleys in Macedonia, filled withdensely populated villages and green fields, andrenowned for its wealth of agricultural productsthat supply Tetovo, Gostivar, and the wider area. Atthe same time, a highway links this area to Ohridand Debar via Ki~evo, thus making travel easier,more comfortable, and attractive. And, WesternMacedonia is truly the most attractive region of thecountry, both with its luscious nature and with its

electrical power plants andtheir scenic lakes. Radika,as a canyon where the St.Jovan Bigorski monastery islocated, and the crystalclear river that runs intoLake Debar, is a paradise forthose that fish for the rivertrout. Mavrovo, too, with itshydroelectric power plant,its lake waters, and especial-ly its ski terrains on Bistra,has a beauty that is uniquein the region and in theBalkans.

Tetovo is a municipalcenter located 468m abovesea level and has a popula-tion of over 80,000. From ahistorical aspect, it is firstmentioned in the 17th cen-tury as Htetovo, and laterthe Ottomans referred to itas Kalkandere. Today, the

city is located at the far end of the Polog valley, atthe foot of Mt. [ar itself, where the Pena Rivercomes down from the mountain and meets the val-ley. At the very approach to the city, regardless ofwhich side one is coming from, the traveler is metby the beautiful fresh climate due to the location ofthe city surrounded by the magnificent mountainpeaks, especially Mt. [ar.

According to some information, during theMiddle Ages, Tetovo was a village-type suburb withoriental characteristics. Most probably because ofits pleasant location, the Ottoman beys built theirpalaces (sarays) here. Many buildings from thattime remain in Tetovo, some preserved even today.Some of these are Baltepe and Alibaba teqe

36



Makedonski naroden vez

Macedonian folk embroidery

Me|u niv se Baltepe, Alibaba te}e, a nekoi odniv se koncentrirani na eden kompleks. Takov eslu~ajot so turskiot amam - dene{nata Umetni~-ka galerija, Begovskite konaci i edna ~e{ma.Toa se retki primeroci na islamskata arhitek-tura vo Tetovo.

Od periodot na turskoto vladeewe vo Tetovoposebno se izdvojuva {arenata xamija Alaxa xa-mija, koja se nao|a kraj Begovite kuli. Vnima-nieto go privlekuva ne samo so svojata arhitek-tura, tuku i so vnatre{nata i nadvore{nata

ornamentika. Na periferijata na gradot, pokrajstanicata na `i~arnicata za Popova [apka, senao|a te}eto Arabati-Baba. Toa e nekoga{niotmuhamedanski manastir na bekte{kata sekta,edinstven za~uvan na Balkanot. Toa e denesrenovirano vo atraktiven ugostitelski objekt,eden od najdobrite od ovoj vid vo Makedonija.Te}eto e opkoleno so zeleni trevnici i intere-sen ambient. Izgradeno e vo 17 vek od Rexeppa{a, koj podaril celi sela, du}ani vo Tetovo,Tirana, Elbasan, Solun i Istanbul.

Vo okolinata na Tetovo nema mnogu istoris-ki spomenici. Od posebno zna~ewe se crkvitevo seloto Le{ok, oddale~eno osum kilometri odTetovo, povrzano so dobar asfalten pat. Vo ova

(dervish lodge) while others are located in onecomplex. Such is the case with the Turkish bath(amam) – the present day Art Gallery, the Bey’sInn, and a fountain. These are rare samples ofIslamic architecture in Tetovo.

Also dating from the period of the OttomanEmpire, we especially need mention the colorfulAladja Mosque, located near the Bey’s Towers. It isattractive not only for its architecture, but also forits ornamental interior and exterior. The Arabati-Baba teqe is located at the periphery of the city,

near the chairlifts to Popova [apka. This is whatused to be a Mohammedan monastery of theBektesh sect, the only one in the Balkans that ispreserved. It has now been renovated into anattractive catering facility, one of the best of its kindin Macedonia. The teqe is surrounded with greenlawns and an interesting ambience. It was built inthe 17th century by Redjep Pa{a, who gave it entirevillages and stores in Tetovo, Tirana, Elbasan,Thessalonica, and Istanbul.

There are not many historical monuments in theTetovo area. The churches in the village of Le{ok,located eight kilometers from Tetovo and linked bya good asphalt road, are especially significant.There are two churches and a monastery in this

37



Manastirot Sv Atanasij i grobot na Kiril Pej~inovi} - Le{ok

The monastery of St. Atanasij and the tomb of Kiril Pej~inovi} - Le{ok

Motiv od Polog

A scene of Polog

selo se nao|a manastir so dve crkvi: Sveti Ata-nasij, podignata vo 14 vek, za vreme na osnova-weto na Prvata polo{ka episkopija. Soyidana evo vizantiski stil od kamen bigor i tula. Podote pokrien so mermerni plo~i. Ostatocite odfreskite poka`uvaat deka tie bile mnogu kva-litetni. Denes crkvata e vo urnatini. Vtoratacrkva e Sveta Bogorodica, koja za prvpat sespomenuva vo 14 vek. So doa|aweto na poznatiotmakedonski prerodbenik Kiril Pej~inovi} -

Tetoec vo 1818 godina, okolu nea se izgradenikonaci. @ivopisot vo crkvata bil raboten tri-pati. Vtoriot sloj e od 17 vek, a tretiot od 1879godina.

Grobot na Kiril Pej~inovi} se nao|a vo dvorotna manastirot Le{ok. Toj e roden vo Tearce okolu1770 godina. Ovoj makedonski prosvetitel vo

village: Sveti Atanasij, built in the 14th centuryduring the founding of the First Episcopacy ofPolog. It is built of limestone and brick in aByzantine style. The floor is covered with marbleblocks. What remains of the frescoes indicates thatthey were of very high quality. Today the church liesin ruins. The second church is St. Mary (SvetaBogorodica), first mentioned in the 14th century.Lodgings were built around it in 1818, with thecoming of the well-known Macedonian reformer

Kiril Pej~inovi~ – Tetoec. The frescoes in the churchwere painted three times. The second layer datesfrom the 17th century, and the third is from 1879.

Kiril Pej~inovi~ was buried in the yard of theLe{ok Monastery. He was born in Tearce around1770. This Macedonian educator organized a schoolat this monastery for the young ones in which he

38



Kiril Pej~inovi} 1871 - 1845 i Arsenij Marko, so ko{ni~ka v race

Kiril Pej~inovi}, 1871 - 1845 and Arsenij Markov holding a basketDeloto „Ogl;edalo“ na igumenot Kiril Paj~inovi}

The work „Mirror“ by prior Kiril Pej~inovi}

manastirot organiziral {kola za mladinci vokoja samiot bil u~itel. Osven toa sobiral knigii osnoval manastirska biblioteka. Vo konacitena manastirot e uredena soba muzej na KirilPej~inovi}. Sekoj nejzin posetitel ostanuvaimpresioniran od bogatiot i buren `ivot naovoj makedonski prosvetitel. Kako mlad ja pose-tuval manastirskata {kola vo „Sveta Pre~ista“Ki~evsko, za potoa so negoviot tatko i striko dazaminat za Sveta Gora, vo manastirot

„Hilendar“, kade {to se pokalu|erile. Tuka tojgo prodol`il svoeto {koluvawe, a vo 1801 godi-na se vra}a vo Makedonija i stanuva igumen vo„Markoviot manastir“ vo okolinata na Skopje.Vo tekot na svojot prestoj od okolu dvaesetinagodini toj go obnovil manastirot, istovremenopi{uvaj}i ja i svojata prva kniga „Ogledalo“,

himself was the tutor. He also collected books andestablished a monastery library. There is a museumroom devoted to Kiril Pej~inovi~ in the monasterylodgings. Visitors are impressed with the rich andbusy life of this Macedonian educator. As a youngman, he attended the monastery school at “SvetaPre~ista” in the Ki~evo area. Later, with his fatherand uncle, they went to the “Hilendar” monasteryon Mt. Athos, where they became monks. He con-tinued his education there, and in 1801 he returned

to Macedonia and became a Father Superior at theMarkov Monastery near Skopje. During the twentyyears he spent there, he renovated the monastery.At the same time, he wrote his first book “Ogledalo”(Mirror), published in Budim in 1817. One year later,he left this monastery and went to “Hilendar” tovisit his father and uncle, and then returned to

39



Sobir vo Le{ok • A gathering in Le{ok

izdadena vo Budim vo 1817 godina. Edna godinapotoa go napu{til „Markoviot manastir“ i zami-nal na „Hilendar“ da gi poseti tatko mu istriko mu, za potoa definitivno da se vrati voTearce. Negova cel bila da go obnovi razurna-tiot manastir „Sv. Atanasij“ vo selo Le{ok. Votoa i uspeal nasproti golemite problemi ite{kotii na koi naiduval. Vo manastirot for-miral u~ili{te koe go posetuvale okolu pede-settina u~enici od toj kraj.

Vo toj period Kiril Pej~inovi} ja prodolìlsvojata knièvna rabota i go napi{al „Ute{e-nie gre{nim“, objaveno vo 1840 godina vo Solun.Istovremeno, napi{al i @itie za knez Lazar,veruvaj}i deka toj e zasluèn za izgradbata naLe{o~kiot manastir, no toa ostanalo vo rakopis,bidej}i site negovi obidi da go otpe~ati voKraguevac, ostanale bezuspe{ni, poradi stroga-ta cenzura na Belgradskata mitropolija. Istatasudbina ja doìveal vo prvata faza i rakopisotna „Ute{enie gre{nim“, koj potoa mu go ponudilna arhimandritot Teodosij Sinaitski da gootpe~ati vo negovata pe~atnica vo Solun. Ovojnegov gest Pej~inovi} ne go zaboravil, pa kogaovaa pe~atnica vo 1840 izgorela vo poàr, mu

Tearce to stay. He intended to renovate the ruinedSveti Atanasij monastery in the village of Le{ok. Hemanaged to do this despite the numerous problemsand difficulties he encountered. He established aschool at the monastery that was attended byabout fifty students from the area.

During this period, Kiril Pej~inovi} continued hisliterary work and wrote “Ute{enie gre{nim”(Comfort to the Sinful), published in 1840 inThessalonica. At the same time, he wrote the

biography of Prince Lazar, believing that hedeserved the credit for the building of the Le{okMonastery. However, this remained as a manuscriptbecause all of his efforts to have it printed inKragujevac failed due to the strict censorship of theBelgrade Diocese. The manuscript of “Ute{eniegre{nim” also experienced the same fate in the firstphase. He then offered this manuscript to thearchimandrite Teodosij Sinaitski to print in his print-ing house in Thessalonica. Pej~inovi} did not forgetthis good deed, so that when this printing houseburnt down in a fire in 1840, he helped Gologanovrestore it. He underlined his expressions ofgratitude in the introduction to the book “Ute{eniegre{nim”.

40



Ba~ilo na [ara

Sheepfold on Mt. [ara

Hotelski centar na Popova [apka

The Popova [apka ski resort

pomognal na Gologanov da ja obnovi. Izrazitena negovata blagodarnost toj gi podvlekol vopredgovorot na knigata „Ute{enie gre{nim“.

Po smrtta na Kiril Pej~inovi} - Tetoec srp-skite vlasti go zatvorile u~ili{teto vo Le-{o~kiot manastir i ja uni{tile negovata bib-lioteka, ~ii knigi bile zapaleni vo manastir-skiot dvor. Tuka e pogreban i toj vo 1845 godi-na, vo grobnicata {to ja izgradil samo nekolkugodini pred svojata smrt.

Denes Tetovo se razviva vo industriski gradvo koj se nao|a edna od najgolemite fabriki natekstilnata industrija „Teteks“, ~ii proizvodise poznati vo svetot, osobeno vo Amerika. Voneposredna blizina na gradot se nao|a i hemis-kiot kombinat „Jugohrom“, koj pove}e godini e vosopstvenost na edna francuska firma. Vo ovojgrad denes rabotat i pove}e mali i sredni firmiod oblasta na zdravstvenata, prehranbenata igrade`nata industrija. Me|utoa, ona po {to Te-tovo se pove}e go privlekuva vnimanieto e raz-vojot na turizmot, osobeno na zimskiot, za koj soizgradbata na skija~kiot centar na Popova[apka i `i~arnicata, kako i brojnite hotelsko-ugostitelski objekti, se sozdadeni site uslovi

After the death of Kiril Pej~inovi} – Tetoec, theSerbian authorities closed down the school at theLe{ok Monastery and destroyed his library, burningthe books in the monastery yard. He was buriedhere in 1845, in a tomb he built only a few yearsbefore his death.

Today, Tetovo is developing into an industrialcity with one of the biggest factories of the textileindustry “Teteks“, whose products are well knownthroughout the world, particularly in the USA. The

chemical factory “Jugohrom“, owned by a Frenchcompany for many years, is also located near thecity. At the moment, a number of small andmedium size companies from the health, food, andconstruction industries are also active in this city.However, Tetovo is becoming increasingly attractivefor the development of its tourism, especially in thewinter. The construction of the Popova [apka skiresort and the chairlifts, as well as the numeroushotels and catering facilities, all created thenecessary conditions for its affirmation, not only inthe country, but also abroad. This is proven by thenumerous domestic and regional skiing competi-tions, some of which are traditional, such as the“[arplaninski kup” (Mt. [ar Cup).

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[arplaninec, posebna rasa na pesovi koi gi ima samo na [ara

[arplaninec, a special dog breed that originates from Mt. [ar

Jabolka od Odri

Apples from Odri

za negova afirmacija, ne samo vo zemjata, tukui nadvor od nea. Potvrda za toa se brojnitedr`avni i balkanski natprevari vo skijawe,del od koi se i tradicionalni, kako {to e„[arplaninskiot kup“.

Turisti~kata idnina na Tetovo e povrzana iso vrskite na gradot so Jadranskata magistrala,koja pred vleguvaweto vo Ka~ani~kata Klisurase oddeluva so eden krak koj vodi kon Tetovo,povrzuvaj}i se so zapadnata transverzala kojavodi za Ohrid - Bitola - gr~ka granica, odnos-no Ohrid - Bitola - Prilep i se povrzuva soavtopatot Belgrad - Gevgelija. Tetovo e mnogublisku do Skopskiot aerodrom, koj go povrzuvaso svetot. Dokaz za turisti~kite pogodnostinao|ame vo saraite {to vo ovoj grad gi gradeleturskite pa{i i begovi, iako vo toa vreme bilmal grad. Ruskiot konzul I. Jastrebov, vo sredi-nata na 19 vek, se voodu{evuval od zdravataklima na gradot i go smetal za golem rekreativencentar. Ami Bue go opi{uva Tetovo kako mnogu~ist grad, {to ne e daleku od vistinata, za kojanao|ame potvrda i denes.

Osven zimsko rekreativen sportski centar,[ar Planina e bogato lovi{te na dive~. NadTetovo, vo dolinata na rekata Pena se nao|a ba-wata Hisar, so temperatura na vodata od 20°S.Od Tearce i seloto Odri, rodnoto mesto na se-mejstvoto Stamevski kon rekata Bistrica e raz-vien lovot na me~ki i drug dive~, zaradi {to eizgradena i love~ka ku}a. Patnikot namernikkoj }e go poseti Tetovo, ne propu{ta da ne seiska~i na [ara, ako ne na nejziniot najvisokvrv od 2760 metri, toga{ sigurno do planinski-te ezera Livadi~ko, Crnoto ili Beloto ili,pak, do planinarskiot dom Jelak ili do ribar-skata ku}a Le{nica, ako e qubitel na lovot nadivi kozi. Vo sekoj slu~aj pojdovnata to~ka konPopova [apka e mestoto Arabati te}e vo Tetovo,odkade {to e startot na `i~arnicata, so koja zaokolu 30 minuti se pristignuva na skija~kitetereni ili do nekoj od hotelskite kapaciteti,kako {to se „Popova [apka“, „Skopje“, „Tetovo“i drugi, sega ve}e privatizirani i so mnogupodrug servis.

Tetovo’s future in tourism is linked to the city’sroad connections with the Adriatic Highway. Beforethis highway enters the Ka~anik gorge, it separates,thus one road leads towards Tetovo and connectsto the western transversal that leads to Ohrid,Bitola, and the Greek border, i.e. Ohrid, Bitola,Prilep, and then joins the Belgrade – Gevgelija high-way. Similarly, Tetovo is very close to Skopje aiport,which links it to the world. The seraglios that theTurkish pashas and beys built in this city, eventhough it was a small town at the time, areevidence of these tourist comforts. In the mid 19thcentury, the Russian consul Jastrebov I., wasimpressed with the healthy climate of the city andconsidered it a great recreational center. Ami Buedescribes Tetovo as a very clean city, which is notfar from the truth, which we can still see today.

In addition to being a winter recreational sportscenter, Mt. [ar is also known to be a rich wildlifehunting ground. There is quite a lot of fishing on itsrivers. The Hisar spa bath, with a water tempera-ture of 20°C, is located above Tetovo, in the valleyof the Pena River. From Tearce and the village ofOdri, the birth place of the Stamevski family,towards the Bistrica River there is a lot of bear andother wildlife hunting. A hunter’s lodge was builtthere for this reason. Hence, any passer by who willvisit Tetovo will not leave without climbing Mt. [ar,and if not its highest peak of 2,760 meters, thenthey will be sure to climb up to the mountain lakesof Livadi~ko, Crnoto or Beloto (the Field Lake,White Lake or Black Lake) or up to the Jelak moun-taineer’s center or the Lešnica fishermen’s house, ifthey like hunting wild goats. In any case, the start-ing point to go to Popova [apka is the Arabati Teqein Tetovo from where the chairlifts start and takeyou to the ski terrains in about 30 minutes to oneof the hotels such as Popova [apka, Skopje,Tetovo, and other hotels, which have now been pri-vatized and offer a whole new range of services.

42



SS rede polo{kata ubavina, vgnezdeno vopolo{kata pitomina, pove}e od sedum veka`ivee, se gradi, se razviva i taguva, se{iri i se iseluva ubavoto selo Odri.

Edno od najrasko{nite sela vo Tetovsko, vo ~iiatari se nao|aat i korenite, ottamu e poteklotona familijata Stamevski. Odri, rodnata grutkabila i }e bide mesto kade {to e nivniot semeendom i denes, se razbira, sovremen golem i ras-ko{en i kade {to i tretiot potomok Svetozar-

43


ODRI - SELO UBAVO - SELO GOLEMOO D R I – A B I G , B E AU T I F U L V I L L AG E

or more than seven centuries, amid thebeauty of the Polog valley, hidden in its ta-meness, the beautiful village of Odri hasbeen living, growing, developing, grieving, expanding, and migrating. It is one of the

most beautiful villages in the Tetovo area, from whoseland the Stamevski family originates. Odri, their birth-place was, and continues being their family home.Of course, it is a large, modern, and luxurious placewhich the third descendent, Svetozar-Steve, after his


Pogled kon Odri • A view towards Odri

Svetle, po dedoto Krste i tatkoto Tvrdomir, doa|ai sekoga{ ostanuva kolku {to moè podolgo.

Gordelivo go raskaùva Svetozar-Svetle kadei da e, niz semejnoto steblo i niz ostanatitekom{iski i maalski prikazni, za nad 700-te letapostoewe, koi bile vreme na tegobi, maki, prob-lemi, ropstvo, terori, no i vreme na nepokor,ìlavost, podemi, uspesi, radost i sre}ni migovi.

Vo istorijata za Tetovo i Tetovsko, seloto Odrise spomenuva vo 14 vek, me|u 27 selski naselbikoi u{te toga{ bile bogato naseleni mesta. Ve}ekon krajot na 19 vek, okolu 1890 godina, Tetovobroelo 19.200 ìteli, od koi 8.500 Makedonci,9.000 Turci, 1.200 Romi i 500 Albanci. So raz-vojot na gradot, ovie naselbi fluktuiraat taka{to vo nekoi od niv, kako Odri, na primer, brojot

na ìtelite opa|a, a kaj selata Tearce, Pirok iKamewane, rapidno raste. A imalo i takvi, kakoJedoarce, Setole, Otuwe, Varvara i drugi, koidoìvuvale kompletna depopulacija.

Crkvata „Sveti Dimitrija“ vo selo Odri, vopo~etokot na 14 vek bila imot na manastirotGra~anica. Vo sredinata na 15 vek (1568 godina)Odri e me|u selata so najvisok danok vo ìto od275 tovari, nasproti Gostivar, so 231 tovar. Od1453 godina koga vo Odri imalo 67 semejstva, 4vdovici i 16 neoèneti mom~iwa, nivniot brojvo 1468 godina se zgolemuva na 71 semejstvo, 8 vdo-vici i 5 neoèneti maì. Vo sredinata na 15 vek(1545 godina) brojot na semejstvata se zgolemuvana 82, na vdovicite 6, a na neoènetite - 9. Naj-

grandfather Krste and his father Tvrdomir, visits andstays there for as long as he can.

Svetozar-Steve talks about it proudly, whereverhe may be, through his family tree and other neigh-borhood stories. He talks about its 700 years of exis-tence that were times of trouble, hardship, problems,slavery, and terror, but also times of insubordination,flexibility, progress, accomplishments, joy, and happymoments.

In the history of Tetovo and the Tetovo area, thevillage of Odri is mentioned in the 14th century, asone of 27 village settlements that were characterized bya relatively high density. Towards the end of the 19thcentury, i.e. around 1890, Tetovo counted 19,200residents of which 8,500 Macedonians, 9,000 Turks,1,200 Roma, and 500 Albanians. As Tetovo developed,

these settlements fluctuated, thus, in some of themsuch as Odri the population dropped, whereas itgrew rapidly in villages such as Tearce, Pirok, andKamenjane. On the other hand, there were thosesuch as Jedoarce, Setole, Otunje, Varvara, and oth-ers that were completely depopulated.

In the early 14th century, the St. Dimitrija Churchin the village of Odri was the property of the Gra~a-nica Monastery. Towards the middle of the 15th cen-tury (1568) Odri was one of the villages that collec-ted the highest tax in the form of wheat, i.e. 275 loads,as compared to Gostivar, which had 231 loads. In1453 Odri had 67 families, 4 widows, and 16 bachelors.By 1468 this number had increased to 71 families, 8widows, and 5 bachelors. In the mid-15th century

44



Ulica vo Odri • A street in Odri Ulica vo Odri • A street in Odri

mnogu neoèneti maì se evidentirani vo 1568godina - 21. Vo ovoj period, osven Makedonci, dru-gi nacionalnosti ne se registrirani. Toa zna~i dekaOdri vo sredniot vek bilo ~isto makedonsko selo.

Seloto Odri se nao|a vo severoisto~niot delna Gorni Polog, na teritorijata na Op{tinataTearce, ~ij atar se izdiga do srtot na [ar Pla-nina. Seloto e ridsko, na nadmorska viso~ina od650 metri. Od gradot Tetovo naselbata e odda-le~ena 20 km. Atarot zafa}a prostor od 11 kilo-metri kvadratni. Na nego {umite zafa}aat povr-{ina od 352 hektari, na obrabotlivoto zemji{teotpa|a 320 hektari, a na pasi{tata 231 hektar.Seloto, vo osnova, ima zemjodelska funkcija. Vonego raboti osumgodi{nou~ili{te, ima ambulanta,spomenik za NOB (Narod-no osloboditelnata borba)i uslu`ni objekti. Vo se-loto postoela crkva "SvDimitrija", koja {to sespomnuva vo 13-ot i 14-otvek. Me|utoa, taa ne e za-~uvana. Vo 19-ot vek bilaizgradena crkvata "Sv. Ni-kola". Odri e golema na-selba, koja {to vo 1961 go-dina broela 1.363 ìteli,od koi 842 bile Albanci,a 518 ìteli Makedonci.Vo 1994 godina brojot nanaselenieto se zgolemilna 1608 ìteli, od koi1436 se Albanci, a samo168 Makedonci i ~etiriìteli Srbi.

Denes, seloto Odri so svoite 1.600 ìteli,od koi samo stotina ìteli se Makedonci, spa|ana teritorijata na op{tinata Tearce, koja senao|a vo severozapadna Makedonija, odnosnoDolni Polog. Op{tinata se nao|a na levata st-rana na rekata Vardar i pripa|a na negoviotsliv posredno preku rekata Bistrica. Kako pod-planinsko podra~je na jugoisto~nata strana na[ar Planina ima razli~na reljefna struktura.Se grani~i so op{tinite: Vratnica, Jegunovce,Xep~i{te, mal prostor so Tetovo i so pogolemadolìna so granicata so Srbija, odnosno Kosovoi Metohija.

(1545) the number of families had increased to 82,with 6 widows, and 9 bachelors. The highest num-ber of bachelors, i.e. 21, was recorded in 1568. Du-ring this period, other than Macedonians, there areno records of any other nationalities. Therefore, in theMiddle Ages, Odri was a clearly Macedonian village.

The village of Odri is located in the north-east-ern part of Gorni Polog, in the Tearce municipality.Its area spans up to the crest of Mt. [ar. The villageis on a hilly terrain at 650 meters above sea leveland 20 kilometres from the city of Tetovo. There are11 square kilometres of village land. Of these, 352hectares are covered in forest, 320 hectares arearable land, and 231 hectares are pastures. The

village’s major activity isagriculture. It has an eight-year primary school, a cli-nic, a monument honouringthe People’s Liberation War(NOB), and catering facili-ties. There used to be a St.Dimitrija’s Church in the vi-llage, of which records dateback to the 13th and 14thcenturies. However, it nolonger remains. St. Nikola’sChurch was built in the19th century. Odri is a largesettlement. In 1961 it had1,363 residents of which842 were Albanians and518 Macedonians. In 1994its population grew to1,608 residents of which1,436 were Albanians, only168 Macedonians, and 4

Serbs. Today, the village of Odri and its 1,600 resi-

dents, out of which only around a hundred inhabi-tants are Macedonians, fall under the Tearce Mu-nicipality in Dolni Polog, Northwestern Macedonia.The municipality is located to the left of the VardarRiver and is part of its left basin indirectly via theBistrica River. This region has a specific relief, andstretches on the southwestern side of the foot ofMt. [ar. It borders with the municipalities of Vrat-nica, Jegunovce, Dèp~i{te, a small area with Teto-vo, and a somewhat larger area with Kosovo andMetohija, Serbia.

45



Crkvata „Sv. Nikola“ vo Odri • St. Nikola’s Church in Odri

Del od crkvata vo Odri • A section of the church in Odri

46



Grobi{tata vo Odri • The cemetery in Odri

TRET DEL

SEMEJSTVOTO STAMEVSKI

PART I I I

THE STAMEVSKI FAMILY

48



Ku}ata na Stamevski vo Detroit (Va{ington, Mi~igen) • The Stamevski’s house in Detroit (Washington, Michigan)

Ku}ata na Stamevski vo Odri • The Stamevski’s house in Odri

NNo, pred malku pove}e da go portretiramelikot i voop{to ̀ ivotekot na Svetozar-Svetle Stamevski isklu~itelno dobles-ten, komunikativen i poln so pozitivna

energija Makedonec, sepak, }e se vratime mnogudecenii nanazad. ]e ja po~neme na{ata saga zaStamevci, od dedo-pradedo, od onie vremiwa koise vgnezdeni vo nezaboravot, od imiwata koi sestolbot na ovaaprekrasna tetov-ska, odriska, det-roitska familija.

Pradedoto naSvetozar-Svetle,se vikal Dimo itoj bil od seme-jstvoto Carevi odseloto Le{ok. Ka-ko {to bivalo votoa vreme, oti-{ol domazet voVratnica. Tamu ija bendisal pra-babata Menka, sokoja i se o`enili taka po~naleda se gradat temelite na ovaa familija. I Dimoi Menka, bile skromni, bile mnogu vredni lu|e.Za da se znae deka tuka vo Vratnica go po~nalesvojot zaedni~ki `ivot, pradedoto Dimo zasadilvo dvorot maslinovo drvo, koe im donese kasmetna Stamevci, i ete i den-denes tie naslednicite

NN owever, before we go any deeper into theportrait and life of Svetozar-Steve Sta-mevski, the exceptionally virtuous, co-mmunicative, and full-of-positive-energy

Macedonian, we will go back many decades. We willbegin our saga of the Stamevski family, with thegreat grandfathers, with the times that will beremembered forever, with the names that are the

pillar of this won-derful family fromOdri, Tetovo, andDetroit.

Svetozar-Ste-ve’s great grand-father’s name wasDimo. He camefrom the Carevfamily in the villa-ge of Le{ok. Aswas common atthe time, he ma-rried and went tolive with his wife’sfamily in the villa-ge of Vratnica. Hername was Menka.

He had liked and married her, and thus they beganto build the foundations of this family. Dimo andMenka were both very modest, very hardworkingpeople. To make it known that it was in Vratnicathat they had begun their life together, great grand-father Dimo planted in the yard an olive tree, which

49

I I IDEL - SEMEJSTVOTO STAMEVSKI

PART III - THE STAMEVSKI FAMILY

SEMEJNOTO STEBLO NA STAMEVCIFAMILY TREE OF THE STAMEVSKI FAMILY

Semejnite grobovi na Stamevci vo Odri • Graves of members of the Stamevski family in Odri

kako Svetozar-Svetle i negovite deca, ja prodol-ùvaat ovaa interesna prikazna za samite sebe.

Dimo i Menka silno }e i se izraduvaat i nasvojata vtora ma{ka ro`ba, na dedoto na Sveto-zar-Svetle, Krste (1898 - 1976). Da se rodi sin,i toa u{te eden, vo familijata zna~elo mnogu,bidej}i toa, toga{ bilo garancija deka }e seprodolì semejnata loza.

Kako {to se se}ava denes Svetozar-Svetle Sta-mevski, dedo mu Krste bil so sreden rast, no mno-gu dobro graden, i kako {to veli, cvrst ~ovek. Ama,site go pametat kako mnogu li~en. Sudbinata bilasurova kon nego. U{te kako malo detence na tri-godi{na vozrast, dedo mu Krste ostanal sirak.Tatko mu nastradal, poginal, i nemaj}i drug iz-bor za da moè da preìvee, majka mu se prema-ùva vo skopskoto selo Svilare. Tamu gi nosi sosebe od Vratnica i postariot sin Risto i seka-ko, pomale~kiot Krste.

O~uvot pravi sè {to moè za da bidat dobrozgrièni dvete dojden~iwa, negovite prisino-vi, i sekako nivnata majka Menka. Toj duri i nagrbot po rekata Vratni~ka gi nosel tie krevkide~iwa, na koi im bil dalek i naporen patot odSvilare do Vratnica, koga trebalo da odat navizita za praznik ili delnik.

Arno ama, povtorno, se slu~uva tragedija. Segave}e kobna za malite brat~iwa. Samo po necelagodina, umira nivnata maj~i~ka, koja tolku mnogu

brought the Stamevski family good luck. And still,even today, their successors, such as Svetozar-Steve and his children, continue this interestingstory about themselves.

Dimo and Menka were also thrilled at their se-cond baby boy, Svetozar-Steve’s grandfather, Krste(1898 - 1976). To have another son meant a lot inthe family, because at the time it was a guaranteethat the family vine would continue.

Svetozar-Steve Stamevski remembers his grand-father Krste as being a man of medium height, buta well built and strong man. Everybody remembershim as being very handsome. Fate was harshtowards him. At the very young age of three, hisfather died. Having no other way to survive, hismother remarried in the village of Svilare, nearSkopje. She took with her from Vratnica her elderson, Risto, and of course, the younger, Krste.

The children’s stepfather did everything he couldto make sure that his stepsons and their mother,Menka were taken good care of. He even carriedthese fragile little children on his back up theVratnica River when they went to visit on holidaysor other times because the way from Svilare toVratnica was distant and strenuous for them.

Unfortunately, another tragedy happened. Thistime it was fateful for the two little brothers. In lessthan a year, they lost their mother who had tried sohard to find happiness for herself and her little

50



Cena, Tvrdomir, Vlado i Daca • Cena, Tvrdomir, Vlado, and Doca

se trudela da ja najde svojata i sre}ata na dvetenejzini sin~iwa. Koga ve}e taka se slu~ilo, ikoga nemal od {to da ìvee i da go prehranisemejstvoto, toga{ o~uvot gi zema niv i gi vra}anazad vo Vratnica.

No, babata Menka koja bila najmala, nemalabrat, a site sestri i bile omaèni, pa de~iwa-ta i nemale kade da odat. Toga{ nekoj gi zemali gi donel vo seloto Odri, kade vsu{nost i po~-nuva da se plete prikaznata na semejstvoto Sta-mevski. Vo golemata familija na Jankovski, koibile sedum-osum bra}a, bil zemen Krste. Tieimale nadimak Patrowari, dodeka pak kaj Krs-ti}i bil posinet Risto. Dedo mu na Krsteta kajJankovci se vikal \oro, a baba mu Kocana. OdStaro Selo, vo Odri bil dojden pradedoto Sta-me kade i bil posinet. No, posinet bil od tet-kata Trpka koja so svojot ma` Janko, re{ile dago zemat Stameta.

Inaku, soprugata na Janko bila od popska fa-milija od Davo{nik a toj bil od Odri. Stamedo{ol od Staro Selo vo Odri. Toa zna~i dekaStame mu e pritatko na Krsteta, koga ve}e tatkomu Dimo umrel a majka mu samo {to se premaì-la, pa i taa umrela.

Krste bil ~ovek koj, isto taka, minal niz dostate{ki godini od svojata najrana vozrast. Toj ì-veel vo Odri, no, ve}e vo detstvo moral da za-mine vo Romanija. U{te vo 1909 godina, Krste,

boys. With this happening, not having anywhere tolive, and unable to feed the family, their stepfathertook them back to Vratnica.

However, grandmother Menka was the young-est. She had no brother, and all of her sisters weremarried, hence, the children had nowhere to go.Then, someone took them to the village of Odri,where in fact, the story of the Stamevski familybegins developing. Krste was taken by the Jankov-ski family, who were seven or eight brothers. Theywere also known as Patronjari. Risto was adoptedby the Krsti} family. In the Jankovski family, Krste’sgrandfather’s name was Gjoro, and his grandmot-her was Kocana. The great grandfather Stame hadcome from Staro Selo to Odri, where he had beenadopted. However, he had been adopted by hisaunt Trpka, who had decided with her husbandJanko to take Stame.

Janko’s wife came from a family of priests inDavo{nik, and he was from Odri. Stame came fromStaro Selo to Odri. Thus, Stame is Krste’s step-father since his father Dimo had died, as did hismother just after she had remarried.

Krste also experienced many years of hardshipfrom a very young age. He lived in Odri, but had togo to Romania as a child. He set off to work as earlyas 1909. There, as a child, he found ways to con-tribute to the family earnings. He sold bread rollsand ice-cream, and in the two years that he spent

51



Tvrdomir, Naca i Leposava • Tvrdomir, Naca, and Leposava

trgnal na pe~alba.Tamu, toj kako deten-ce, nekako se snao-|al za da pridonesevo zarabotuva~katana familijata. Pro-daval |evreci i sla-doledi i za vreme oddvete godini kolku{to bil vo Romanija,nego ve}e po~nal dago ~eli~i ìvotot.

Ne mu bilo lesno.Ama i doma, otkakosi do{ol, po tri go-dini bil sobran odtoga{nite xandari ibil ispraten nafrontot ne kako ma-kedonski, tuku, kakosrpski vojnik vo bal-kanskite vojni. Kak-va golgota preì-veal, samo toj znael,bidej}i te{kite luzni vo du{ata nikoga{ ne bileizbri{ani. So samoto toa {to od petnaesetiljadna vojska samo okolu devet iljadi Bog gispasil za da se vratat ìvi doma, najilustra-tivno zboruva za seta taa mra~na stranica naKrsteta.

Ama toa bilo samo po~etok. Za{to, toj mora pakasker da zamine so sila, sega, vo Prvata svetskavojna. Povtorno pominuva niz pekolot, ama pakBog go do~uval. Si doa|a nazad doma vo Odri. Re-{il da se èni. Izbrani~kata na negovoto srcee li~nata moma Naca od Jalo{nik. No, samo {tose izraduval na prvite bra~ni zaedni~ki dni,Krste moral da go narami torbuleto i povtornopreku Srbija i Dunav da zamine na pe~alba voRomanija, kade {to ve}e bil pojden tatko i nababa mu na Svetozar-Svetle Stamevski i toa socelata familija, i taka oti{ol i toj kaj niv. Me-|utoa, ne za dolgo. Nekako, rabotite ne mu trgnalekako {to planiral. Ne na{le razbirawe so niv, ieden den re{ava da se vrati nazad doma vo Odri.

Si do{ol vo Odri. Ama kako da se preìvee?Kako da se odgledaat èna i deca? Site tie di-lemi mu ja kornele du{ata i toj moral pak dabara nekoe ~are. Dolgo razgovaraat so soprugatai so brat mu Risto, koj li pat da go fatat i kadeda trgnat po zarabotka i opstanok.

in Romania, lifehad already star-ted to temperhim.

It was not easyfor him. Even af-ter he returnedhome, only threeyears later, thegendarmerie atthe time took himand sent him tothe front, not asa Macedoniansoldier, but as aSerbian soldier inthe Balkan Wars.Only he knowsthe Golgotha hewent through, forthe deep scars inhis soul were ne-ver healed. Themere fact that of

the fifteen thousand soldiers, God saved only ninethousand to return alive, speaks most illustrativelyof this dark page in Krste’s life.

Yet, this was only the beginning. Once again, hewas forced to become an asker (Turkish soldier) inWWI. Again, he went through Hell, but God savedhim and he returned home to Odri. He thendecided to get married. His heart chose the youngNaca from Jalo{nik. However, only after the firstdays of married bliss, Krste had to take his bag andgo to work in Romania again, via Serbia and acrossthe Danube River. He went to Romania, whereSvetozar-Steve Stamevski’s mother-in-law’s fatherhad already gone with the entire family. Krstejoined them, but not for long. Somehow, things didnot go as he had planned. They found little under-standing with them, so one day he decided toreturn to the village of Odri.

He came back to Odri. But, how was he tosurvive? How was he to take care of his wife andchildren? All of these dilemmas tore his heart apartand he had to look for a way out. They talked overand over with his wife and his brother Risto aboutwhich road to take to make a living.

52



Svetozar, Svetlana, Cena, Tvrdomir i Velko • Svetozar-Steve, Svetlana, Cena, Tvrdomir, and Velko

PPo analizata na site mo`ni varijanti,odlukata pa|a, dvajcata bra}a Krste iRisto sepak, da ja vrvat golemata vodai na gurbet da zaminat kon dale~nata

i nepoznata zemja Amerika. Taka i se slu~uva.Nekade okolu 1919 - 1920 godina, spored ka`u-vaweto na Svetozar-Svetle Stamevski, dedo muKrste kinisuva so la|ata na dolgata amerikans-ka destinacija. Otprvo do Wujork, a potoa i dokrajnata im cel, do Detroit.

AA fter considering all the possible alternatives,a decision was reached. The two brothers,Krste and Risto, would cross the ocean andgo to work in the distant and unknown

land of America. And so it was. According to Sveto-zar-Steve Stamevski, sometime around 1919-1920,his grandfather Krste set off on a steamboat on hislong American destination, first to New York, andthen to his final goal, Detroit.

There were already people from Odri in this city.

53



KRSTE NA GURBET VO AMERIKAKRSTE MIGRATED TO AMERICA

Pogled kon Odri • A view towards Odri

Vo ovoj grad ve}e imalo lu|e od Odri, i se-pak, bilo polesno nekako so niv da se snajdat zarabota i ìvea~ka, barem vo po~etnite vremi-wa. Kako dojdenec, dedo mu Krste po~nuva daraboti na tunelot kako i mnogumina drugi Make-donci. Koga ve}emalku se ponakrenali po~nal da gledaokolu sebe {to sémoè da dobie kako{ansa, toga{ toj odivo fabrikata za av-tomobili Ford. Goprimaat, i imal ob-vrska da gi stavaprozorcite na avto-mobilite. Nabrgu epofaluvan od pret-postavenite. Nego-viot nemiren duh nezapira tuka.

Misli, razmislu-va, kroi, prekrojuva,bara drugo ~are inajposle re{ava, dapo~ne da raboti toa{to najdobro go mo-è i umee i ba{kaza sebe, bez na gla-vata da mu stojat{efovi i tutori.Imal, zna~i ve}eiskustvo, poznat mubil zanaetot odRomanija i re{avazaedno so brat muRisto i so u{te edenna{inec da otvoratfurna vo Detroit.

Mu trgnal dobrofurnaxisko-pekarskiot biznis. Sepak i zarabotu-va~kata ne bila lo{a, pa taka i moèl sekojagodina da si odi doma vo Odri kaj najbliskite.I se znae kolku dale~inata, povremenoto vidu-vawe, kratkite viziti se i te{ki no i so efekt.Na sekoi tri godini im se ra|alo po edno deten-ce. Ne sakal nikako familijata da ja preseli voAmerika. Znael deka e na gurbet, a deka toj koga}e dojde doma, najdobro e ako kupi imot. Taka ipravel.

Thus, it was somewhat easier with them to find ajob and make a living, in the beginning at least. Asa newcomer, his grandfather Krste began to workon the tunnel, as did many other Macedonians.When he had settled in a little, he began looking at

the other opportuni-ties around him. Hethen went to the Fordautomobile factory.They employed him,and his job was toinstall the car win-dows. His subordina-tes soon commendedhim. However, hisrestless spirit did notstop here.

He thought overand over, he madeplans, looked for ot-her solutions. Finally,he decided to do whathe knew best, and towork for himself,without bosses andtutors standing overhis head. He alreadyhad the experience,having had learnt thetrade in Romania. So,along with his broth-er Risto and anotherMacedonian, they de-cided to open a bake-ry in Detroit.

His bakery busi-ness went well. Pro-fits were not bad,either, so he could gohome to Odri every

year to visit his family. We know how the distance,the occasional encounters, and brief visits can bedifficult, but also effective. Every three years theyhad a newborn. He did not wish to move his familyto the USA under any circumstances. He knew thathe was only there to earn some money, and that itwould be best for him to buy some property whenhe returned home. So, this was what he did.

He spent about fifteen years in Detroit. However,bad luck befell him some time around 1935-1936.

54



Naca i Krste • Naca and Krste

Vo Detroit ostanal okolu petnaeset godini.Nekade vo 1935-1936 godina, go fatil maler.Pravele tur{ija i dedoto se zatrul. Mnogu te{kogo o{tetil stomakot. Doktorot go stapisal kogamu rekol oti ima samo u{te tri nedeli ìvot,oti e tolku opasno trueweto. Ako e taka, re{ilda se vrati nazad vo Makedonija i koga do{loda se umira, barem da si umre doma vo Odri, kajnajmilite.

Se ka~il na parahodot. Znael deka dokolku seslu~i da umre na brodot, toga{ }e go frlat vookeanot i traga ne }e mu se znae nikoga{. Sepak,uspeal nekako da stasa do doma, iako bolen, amabarem ìv. Sepak re{il da zamine v planina itamu da bara lek. Ako go bide dobro ako ne, kra-jot se znael. Tamu visoko vo ridovite, na{olmnogu divi kosteni.

Po~nal sekoj den da gi mele da gi pe~e i da gijade istovremeno piej}i, planinski ~aj i drugibilki. Doma negovite ostanale pod silen stres,{to li }e se slu~i so Krsteta. Poleka, poleka,se slu~ilo ~udo. Stomakot mu se vra}al vo nor-mala. Se izlekuval i ìvnal ve}e. Eden den so-sema zakrepnat se vra}a nazad vo Odri. I toj ifamilijata bile najsre}ni. Najlo{oto minalo.

They were preserving some vegetables and thegrandfather got food poisoning. He damaged hisstomach badly. The doctor shocked him when hetold him he had only three weeks left to live, for thepoisoning had been that dangerous. If that was thecase, he decided to come back to Macedonia, sothat if the time had come for him to die, then hewould rather die home in Odri, with his dearest ones.

He got on the steamboat. He knew that if hedied on the boat, they would throw him into theocean and there would be no trace of him.Nevertheless, he managed to reach home, sick, butat least alive. He decided to go to the mountainsand look for a cure there. If he recovered, thatwould be good, but if not, there was only onealternative. High up in the hills, he found many wildchestnut trees.

Every day, he began to grind them, bake them,and eat them, drinking mountain tea and other herbsat the same time. His family at home continuedfearing what would happen to Krste. Gradually, amiracle happened. His stomach began returning backto normal. He had healed and felt much better. Oneday he returned to Odri completely recovered. Bothhe and his family were thrilled. The worst was over.

55



Zoran, Leposava, Cena i Tvrdomir • Zoran, Leposava, Cena, and Tvrdomir

56



Semejstvoto Stamevski vo Makedonija • The Stamevski family in Macedonia

Semejstvoto Stamevski • The Stamevski family

NN o, nabrgu po~nuva Vtorata svetska vojna.Toj ne moè da se vrati nazad vo Det-roit. [to kasmet }e da ima{e ~ovekov.Site vojni da gi vojuva. Se vklu~uva vo

osloboditelnoto dvièwe. Se vklu~uva vo bor-bata za osloboduvawe na Makedonija. Go hraniceliot {arski odred. Me|utoa, zarem ima kurtu-luva~ka od {pioni od kodo{i i dou{nici. Gosnimile i go predale na bugarskiot okupator.Nabrgu e faten, te{ko ma~en, tepan, maltreti-ran i na krajot po hitna postapka osuden na smrtso strelawe i toa od avtomat. Dvajca negovidrugari ve}e mu bile strelani od fa{istite.

No, i tuka ima kasmet. Vo posleden momentpred da bide egzekutiran, mu doa|a patrola voDobro{kata klanica za da proverela kako seraboti tamu. Koga go videl na~alnikot dedotoKrste kako e modar kako sliva, celiot oblean vokrv i skr{en od }otek, go pra{al bugarskiot~inovnik, {to li storil toj Makedonec.

Gi hrani partizanite i Albancite. Gi hrani{umkarite, mu odgovoril toj. Slegol od motorotna~alnikot pri{ol do dedoto i go pra{al kakose vika. Ovoj mu rekol, deka se vika Krste.

“Pa ti si zemjodelec, nie tebe te poznavame”,vozvratil uniformiraniot i zo{to toa ne im gokaà na ovie, mu rekol. Zbunet, tepa~ot i negova-ta svita koi ~ekale da go pokosat Krsteta, go ~e-kale ishodot od razgovorot. Koga Krste vozvra-til deka xabe bilo {to toj im kaàl koj e, kogatie ne mu veruvale, mislej}i deka gi mami dekae zemjodelec, koga se ubedeni deka e politi~ar,padnala naredba:

YY oon afterwards, WWII began. He could notreturn to Detroit. How unlucky this manwas, to have to fight every war. He joinedthe liberation movement. He joined the

struggle for the liberation of Macedonia. He fed theentire Mt. [ar unit. However, one cannot escape thespies, moles, and informants. They discovered himand betrayed him to the Bulgarian occupier. Soon,he was caught, tortured, beaten, and maltreated,and quickly convicted to death by shooting from anautomatic gun. Two of his friends had already beenshot by the fascists.

However, he got lucky. At the last minute priorto his execution, a patrol from the Dobro{ slaugh-terhouse came to check how they were workingthere. When the chief saw grandfather Krste allblack with bruises, covered in blood, and all beatenup, he asked the Bulgarian officer what this Mace-donian had done.

The officer replied that Krste had fed thepartisans and the Albanians. The chief descendedfrom his motorbike and approached grandfather,asking him what his name was. Krste told him hisname.

“But, you are a farmer, we know you,” theuniformed officer replied and asked him why he hadnot told them this. Confused, the bully and hisretinue, who were waiting to execute Krste,awaited the outcome of the conversation. WhenKrste replied that it had been useless telling themwho he was when they refused to believe him,thinking that he was lying about being a farmer

57



TE[KI VREMIWATIMES OF HARDSHIP

“Pu{tete go. Toj raboti zemja i ni{to drugone znae, osven da hrani narod”, otse~no pre-sekol na~alnikot. Se svrtel kon Krsteta i murekol deka od deneska ima{ nov den i novìvot i go pu{tile da si zamine doma. No, kako{to bil pretepan do smrt ne moèl da mrdne,ne moèl da napravi eden ~ekor. Morale da doj-dat negovite i na tezgere da go odnesat do doma.Soprugata i ostanatite, cel mesec go redele sokromid i so sol za da zastane na noze. Zna~i,glava spasil samo za nekolku minuti i toa opas-no premre`je dolgo mu bilo no}en ko{mar. Nezel nitu denar nekakva penzija ili nadomest zani{to {to toj pridonel i pretrpel vo vojnata.

Isto taka, maka videl i po vojnata. Maka vi-del od makedonskite komunisti iako mnoguminaod niv gi hranel i pomagal. Maka golema videli od Albancite koi bile lo{i. Iako, bil vo trivojni, iako celiot {arski odred go hranel, toanikogo ne go interesiralo, tuku u{te go treti-rale kako kapitalist i eksploatator, a siteznaele plus i deka tolku godini pominal na gur-bet ostavaj}i ja mladosta i zdravjeto vo tu|ina.Bil prinuden da ja dade celata stoka vo vreme-to na kolektivite, bidej}i ednostavno mu vpe-rile pi{tol vo slepoo~nicite.

No, koga zavr{uva siot toj cirkus so kolek-tivite, dedoto Krste koj imal golemo imawe voTetovsko, po~nal denono}no da raboti so setafamilija. Po nekoe vreme go kupile i ~ifligotvo Jegunovce, kupile zemja i vo Dobro{ko,Odarsko, vo Nera{ko. Samo ~ifligot vo Jegu-novce bil kupen za tri iljadi dolari. Golemipari vo toa vreme. Sose imotot vo Odri, fami-lijata bila mnogu zafatena i stanale golemigazdi.

S¯ do 1968 godina dedoto ne moèl da izlezeod Makedonija. Duri vo taa godina uspeva da sevrati vo Amerika. Pet godini pred toa, kako{to se se}ava dobro Svetozar-Svetle od kaùva-wata, vo Detroit ve}e oti{ol negoviot ~i~koVlado, za potoa da go zeme i dedoto. Ama toj ve}ebil star, izma~en, ne moèl i da raboti, pasamo po edna godina, vo 1969, se vra}a vo Odri.Poslednata èlba mu bila da umre vo svojataMakedonija. Pogreban e vo Odri. Vo negovotoOdri.

I, naglasuva Svetozar-Svetle, „Albancite jaispokr{ija celata crkva, gi skvernavija gro-bi{tata, napravija {teti i na mrtvite, no, ne

when they were convinced that he was a politician,the following order was issued:

“Let him go. He works on the land and knowsnothing but to feed the people,” the chief saidbrusquely. He turned to Krste telling him that as ofthat day he would have a new day and a new life,and they let him go home. However, having hadbeen beaten up, he could not move, he could nottake a single step. His family had to come and takehim home on a stretcher. His wife and the rest ofthe family had to treat him with onion and salt onhis skin for a whole month to get him back on hisfeet. Hence, his life had been saved by only a fewminutes, and this dangerous encounter with deathremained his nightmare for a long time. He neverreceived a dime of any pension or compensation forall of his contribution and suffering in the war.

58



Dedoto Krste • Grandfather Krste

gibnati ostanale krstovite samo na ve~nitepo~ivali{ta na dedoto Stame i dedoto Krste,bidej}i kaj nas rabotea celi albanski familiikoi dedo mi gi hrane{e.

Takov ~ovek be{e. Vreden. Mnogu vreden,mnogu ~estit. Ne piel, ne se kockal, go intere-sirala samo rabotata, dodava Svetozar-Svetle.Mislam deka duri i koga spie{e pametot mube{e vo zemjata, vo stokata. Ne be{e nekoj es-naf za na oro, nitu pak konte koj brka{e moda.Jas, se smee, Svetozar-Svetle, sakam moda, sakamkonte, ne sum na dedo mi. Toj be{e i prakti~en~ovek, i vo biv{a Jugoslavija najmnogu mu se do-pa|alo oti mo`el najmnogu da raboti i imaweda kupuva. Sekoga{ bil so motika i pred vojnatai po nea. Ne go bivalo za {kolo, ama so bistrinatana umot i dobrata promisla, toj to~no znael koga

He had more troubles after the war. He wastroubled by the Macedonian communists eventhough he had fed and helped many of them. Healso suffered from the Albanians who were verymean. Despite the fact that he had fought in threewars and had fed the entire Mt. [ar detachment, noone cared. They even treated him as a capitalistand exploiter even though everyone knew that hehad spent so many years working abroad, leavinghis youth and health in a foreign land. During thetime of the “collectives” (agricultural associations)he was forced to give up all of his cattle because hewas simply pointed a gun at his head.

Nevertheless, when the entire circus with the“collectives” was over, grandfather Krste, who hada lot of land in the Tetovo area, began working withhis family day and night. After some time, theybought a property in Jegunovce, and more land inthe Dobro{, Odar, and Nera{ areas. They paid threethousand dollars for the property in Jegunovce only.This was a lot of money at the time. Along with theproperty in Odri, the family was quite well-off andthey became large property owners.

The grandfather could not leave Macedonia until1968. It was in this year that he managed to returnto the USA. As Svetozar-Steve remembers well fromthe stories he was told, his uncle Vlado had gone toDetroit five years earlier, and then took the grand-father. However, he was now old and exhausted,and he could not work. Therefore, only after a year,in 1969, he returned to Odri. His last wish was to diein his Macedonia. He was buried in Odri, in his Odri.

Svetozar-Steve continues, stressing that “theAlbanians destroyed the entire church, desecratingthe graves, and doing damage to the dead ones.However, only the crosses of the eternal restingplaces of grandfather Stame and grandfather Krsteremained untouched because entire Albanian fami-lies had worked on our land and my grandfatherhad fed all of them.

He was that kind of man, very hard working –hard working and very honest. He did not drink orgamble, and cared only about his work,” Svetozar-steve adds. “I think that even when he slept, hismind was on the land and the cattle. He was noexpert on dancing, or someone who cared aboutthe latest fashion. I like fashion and I like to lookgood,” Svetozar-Steve laughs. “I do not take aftermy grandfather. He was practical. He liked formerYugoslavia because he could work a lot and buy a

59



Svetozar odi vo Belata ku}a • Svetozar-Steve goes to the White House

i {to da stori. A, be{e epten ~esen, po~esen~ovek od nego, ~inam ne }e se rodi. Ne ni doz-voluva{e nitu stokata da ja opcueme. Postojanoni vele{e da ne bideme pis na usta. Nikoga{ nese skara, nitu se stepa so nekogo. Ne. Kako {toni nas ne n¢ iskara nikoga{. Be{e mnogu trpe-liv i beskrajno dobar. Go pamtime kako najdo-bar, kako prekrasen lik, kako na{ predok so kogose gordeeme. I nego go po~ituvavme ne samo niekako familija, tuku site {to go poznavaa nizcela Makedonija, kako i vo Amerika.

Znam deka koga se podelivme, prodolùva daraskaùva Svetozar-Svetle Stamevski, dedo miKrste ostana da ìvee so dvajcata bliznaci\uro i \or|i. Znaete, tie bea pomladi i nekakologi~no be{e da e toj so niv, vo toa semejstvo.Iako po godina-dve i tie se oddelija. Decatamalku im potprknaa i ostana so \or|i viso-kiot”.

lot of land. Before thewar and after it, he wasalways with the hoe.He was not very goodat studying, but withhis bright mind andgood thinking, healways knew exactlywhen and what to do.He was very honest. Ithink that there neverwill be a more honestman than he. He didnot even allow us toswear at the cattle. Healways told us not tobe rude. He neverargued or fought withanybody. No, just likehe never scolded us.He was extremely pa-tient and endlesslygood. We rememberhim as the best, as awonderful person, asan ancestor we arereally proud of. He wasrespected not only byus as his family, butalso by everyone whoknew him in Macedo-nia and the USA.

I know that whenwe all went our ownways,” Svetozar-SteveStamevski continues,“my grandfather Krstecontinued living withthe two twins, Gjuroand Gjorgji. You know,they were younger, soit was kind of logicalthat he should be withthem, in that family,even though a year ortwo later, they split up,too. Their children hadgrown up a little, andhe remained with Gjor-gji, the tall one.”

60



Svetozar kako kum • Svetozar-Steve as the best man

61



Ku}ata na Stamevci vo Detroit • The Stamevski family’s house in Detroit

62



Tvrdomir i Cena • Tvrdomir and Cena

63



TTatkoto na Svetozar-Svetle, gazdaTvrdomir, e vistinska legenda, stolbna Stamevci, prekrasen sogovornik, i~ovek koj i dolgo pamti i mnogu pam-

ti. Tvrdomir e roden vo 1929 godina vo Odri.Bile osum deca, pet ma{ki i tri `enski, toj bilsrednoto dete. Koga prvpat tatko mu kinisal nape~alba vo Amerika, Tvrdomir ne bil ni roden.Sepak, niz deceniite, ova mnogubrojno semejstvopominalo niz dosta golgoti, niz dosta te{kotii,

YY teve’s father, master Tvrdomir, is a truelegend. The pillar of the Stamevski family,he is a wonderful collocutor and a man whoremembers long and remembers a lot.

Tvrdomir was born in Odri in 1929. He was themiddle of eight children, five boys and three girls.Tvrdomir was not even born when his father firstset off to work in the USA. Throughout the decades,this large family suffered many Golgothas, hard-ships, problems, and worries. Nevertheless, like

TVRDOMIR STAMEVSKITATKO I DEDO

TVRDOMIR STAMEVSKI

FATHER AND GRANDFATHER

Tvrdomir, Cena i Zoran • Tvrdomir, Cena, and Zoran

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problemi i sekiracii, ama od site niv i toa izle-guvalo, kako i Makedonija, kako pticata feniks.

Toj ni raskaà eden interesen detaq od vre-meto koga negoviot tatko bil zaroben od German-cite: Otkako se legitimiral vojnikot Krste deka eMakedonec a ne Srbin, mu rekle deka toj moè dasi odi doma. Ete, taka kako dete i prvpat slu{nal{to zna~i da si Makedonec, i taa odrednica i na-tamu postojano }e se potvrduva, kako nemerlivagordost i ubavina, kade i da si, blisku ili dale-ku od svojata rodna zemja, od svojata tatkovina.

Tvrdomir Stamevski, tatkoto na slavniot Sve-tozar-Svetle, e eden prekrasen Makedonec, Odri-~anin, Detroin~anin, ili ednostavno re~eno,

eden tolku blagoroden i razgovorliv prijatel,kogo so ~asovi so zadovolstvo bi go slu{ale, bi-dej}i sekoga{ ima {to da se nau~i od negovotoìvotno iskustvo, od negovata mudrost i doblest.

Go sre}avav mnogu pati i sekoga{ kako da seviduvame prvpat. A, zo{to? - Pa, zatoa {toTvrdomir e kako svoevidna enciklopedija, od~ie kaùvawe, od ~ii spomeni ima tolku mnogu{to da se nau~i, da se slu{ne i doznae.

Gazda Tvrdomir Stamevski e roden na 17 fev-ruari 1929 godina vo Odri, kako {to bi rekle,vo srceto na ovaa retko videna oaza vo pot{ar-planinskite sela. Imeto mu bilo prisilno sta-veno. Kumot go krstil Trifun, bidej}i e roden nasveti Trifun. Arno ama, popot ne doslu{nalnajdobro {to rekol kumot, se navednal nad tef-terite, izburi~kal ne{to i mu stavil ime Tvrdo-mir. Majka mu luta do nemajkade, nekolku meseciimeto nitu go izustila. Ama nitu go spomenala. I

Macedonia, the family also overcame all of this, likethe phoenix.

He told us about an interesting detail from thetime when his father was captured by the Germans– after Krste, as a soldier, had declared as a Mace-donian and not Serbian, they told him he could gohome. So, as a child he heard for the first time whatit meant to be Macedonian, and this was to be con-firmed repeatedly as a spotless pride and beauty,wherever one is, close or far from one’s own nativecountry, from one’s fatherland.

Tvrdomir Stamevski, the father of our well-known Svetozar-Steve, is a wonderful Macedonian,citizen of Odri, and a Detroiter. He is such a noble

friend and pleasure to talk to, that one could easilylisten to him for hours and there is always some-thing to learn from his lifetime experience, from hiswisdom and virtue.

I met him many times, but it was always like ourfirst meeting. Why? Well, because Tvrdomir is like aunique encyclopedia from whose stories andreminiscences one can hear and learn so much.

Master Tvrdomir Stamevski was born on 17 Feb-ruary 1929 in Odri, or as we would say, in the heartof this exceptional oasis in the villages at the footof Mt. [ar. His name was enforced upon him. Hisgodfather named him Trifun because he was bornon the day of St. Trifun. However, the priest did notquite hear what the godfather had said; he leanedover the books, scribbled a little, and named himTvrdomir. His mother was furious and did not sayhis name for several months. She did not evenmention it at all. His godfather was angry, too,

Tvrdomir Stamevski • Tvrdomir Stamevski Petko Stamevski, bratot na Svetozar • Petko Stamevski, Steve’s brother

65



kumot dodeka be{e `iv, lut be{e, velej}i dekatoj bil kumot, ama popot mu go odzel toa pravoi toj samiot mu dal drugo ime na Trpkota.

Od osumte deca, pette ma{ki i trite `enski,Tvrdomir e sredniot. Rastel vo edno mnogubrojno,vo mnogudetno i veselo semejstvo, kade sekoj sigo znael svoeto mesto i uloga. Kako {to rastelei kako {to stanuvale mom~iwa i devoj~iwa, kakostasuvale za rabota niz poliwata i bav~ite, takai doa|ale na red za svadbi i kr{tevki.

Se se}ava na beskrajno bezgri`nite godini, nadru`bata so drugarite, na toa deka na u~ili{tekinisal na sedum godini. Iako u~itelite bileMakedonci, sepak vo toa vreme vo dvaesettitegodini na minatoto stoletie, tie morale da u~atna srpski jazik. Ta taka i negoviot u~itel Jordanim zboruval i im predaval vo {koloto na srpski.Koga do{ol do ~etvrto oddelenie, toga{ im do-{ol u~itelot \oko.

„Seloto Odri, koga sum po~nal da u~am {kolo,se se}avam deka deka be{e pola-pola. Dokaj dvesteku}i. Vo toa vreme i {iptarite, kako {to gi vi-kavme i kako {to samite se narekuvaa, nemaa nimnogu deca. So golem del od tie na{i soselaniimavme mnogu ubav muabet, dobar pomin i razbi-

when he was alive; he said that he was the godfat-her, but the priest had taken away his right andgiven Tvrdomir a different name.

Of the eight children, the five boys and threegirls, he is the middle one. He grew up in a largeand happy family with many children, where every-one knew their place and role. As they grew up andturned into young men and women, as they grewold enough to work in the fields and the marketgardens, so their turn came for weddings andchristenings.

He remembers his endlessly carefree years, thetimes spent with his friends, and how he startedschool at the age of seven. Even though theteachers were Macedonians, nevertheless, at thetime, in the 1920’s they had to study in Serbian.Thus, his teacher, Jordan, spoke to them andtaught them at school in Serbian. When he was inthe fourth grade, a new teacher, Gjoko, came.

“I remember that when I started going to school,the village of Odri was half-half. It had about twohundred houses. At the time, the Albanians, as weused to call them and as they used to refer to them-selves, did not have many children. We were quiteclose and had a lot of understanding with many of

Leposava i Svetozar-Svetle • Leposava and Svetozar-steve

rawe. Za vreme na biv{a Jugoslavija, ama onaa,pred biv{a, u{te pred Vtorata svetska vojna, site{to bea na pe~alba se vra}aa doma. Potoa, vovoeniot vior, se se}avam deka postavija granicai nie potpadnavme pod bugarskata okupatorska~izma. Tri godini bevme vo Tetovo. Vovedoa po-liciski ~as, po osumnaeset ~asot ne smeevme damrdneme nikade. Sedevme samo doma i nikoj nene ~epka{e.

Na krajot od 1943 godina Bugarite izgubija,se povlekoa, ama dojdoa Albancite. Be{e te{kotoa vreme. Godina pred toa, se pojavija apa{i Al-banci. Pqa~ka{i, nevideni. I Bugarite koga beai tie pred niv kradea-su{ea. Vo na{eto selo namnogumina im ispokradoa kravi, volovi, kowi,a bre {to stasaa, toa odnesoa.

Koga se namnoìja ka~acite, vo mnogu gi naru-{ija i na{ite me|usebni odnosi so dosta sose-lani Albanci od Odri. Rabotata se rasipa. Jasim kaùvam i na moite deca, naglasuva gazdaTvrdomir, deka toga{ sum ja zagubil doverbatavo Albancite. Lo{i, bezgrani~no lo{i bea. Zu-lumi pravea, i makedonskiot narod maka vide.Taka nastana i omrazata a edna steknata doverbai dobar ìvot, bea uni{teni ili razni{ani“.

these local village people. During the former Yugo-slavia, the one before WWII, everyone who hadgone to work abroad was coming back home. Then,in the war I remember they put up a border and wefell under Bulgarian occupation. We were in Tetovofor three years. They introduced a curfew and wecould not go anywhere after six o’clock in theevening. We stayed home and no one ever touched us.

At the end of 1943, the Bulgarians lost andretreated, but the Albanians came. That was a diffi-cult time. A year before that, hoodlum Albanians,apashi, had appeared. Robbers like you have neverseen. Even when the Bulgarians were there, theywould steel in front of them. In our village theystole many people’s cows, oxen, horses, everythingthey could get their hands on, they took.

When the number of these outlaws increasedthey also disrupted our relations with many of ourlocal Albanian residents in Odri. Things were spoilt.I tell my children,” master Tvrdomir stresses, “thatthat is when I stopped trusting the Albanians. Theycommitted a lot of violence, and the Macedonianpeople suffered a lot of hardship. Hatred emergedwhile the trust and good living were destroyed orshaken“.

66



Na svadba na Cveta i Nenad Ivanov od @il~e, vo Le{ok • At the wedding of Cveta and Nenad Ivanov from @il~e, in Le{ok

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IInaku, raskaùvaj}i za familijata, Tvr-domir, veli: “Nie, nekade s¯ do 1960godina kako golemo semejstvo, bevmezaedno vo starata ku}a. Stara, dotraja

i po dosta godini se urna. Tatko mi koga se vra-ti od Amerika, re~e deka ne moè taka pove}e,ne se ìvee vo tolkava zaednica i vreme be{e dase podelime. Bevme pod ist pokriv, vo ista ku}ano, ve}e deleni. Imavme zemja, no, taa delena na{est dela, od koja zemja moè{ da ìvee{. Za-toa i se vrabotiv vo Jugohrom.

Vo 1964 godina napravivme nova ku}a. Za me-rak. Napravivme i nova {tala, so site tertipi.Vo noviot dom se preselivme nie trojcata bra}a,a dvajcata ostanaa vo starata. Toga{ u{te be{edobra za ìveewe. Vo novata ubava ku}a osta-navme s¯ do 1971 godina, koga izvadiv dokumen-ti i zaminavme za Amerika.

Pri doa|aweto moe vo Odri, imav najrazli~nidoìvuvawa. Se se}avam, na primer, deka koga sevrativ vo 1988 godina, ne moèv da vlezam doma.Majkata, si velam, ovde ne{to ne mi mirisa naarno. Toga{ najdov edno mlado mom~e, na~alnikbe{e i mu velam, deka ~etiri godini ne sum biltuka, i oti sakam da si ja pravam ku}ata. Sam }eja pravam. Kade da se obratam, go pra{av. Miveli vo SIZ-ot. Tamu nekoi si ~inovni~iwa, sevadea deka nemalo raspored i sli~ni gluposti,pa zatoa otidov pravo vo op{tinata kaj Du{ko.Epten, a~ik ~ovek be{e Du{ko, koj saka{e seko-mu da mu pomogne, da mu izleze vo presret. I nasni pomogna, nema {to.

TTvrdomir continues telling us his family story,“As a large family, we lived in the oldhouse up until sometime in 1960. It wasold and dilapidated, and fell some years

later. When my father came back from the USA, hesaid we could not go on like that any longer, withso many people living as one family, and that it wastime for us to split up. So, we remained under thesame roof, in the same house, but we had split up.We had land, but when you divided that up into six,there was not much land left to live off. Therefore,I took a job at the Jugohrom company.

In 1964, we built a new house. Really nice. Andwe made new stables, with everything they needed.Three of us, of the brothers, moved into the newhouse, while the other two remained in the old one.It was still good for living in at the time. We lived inthe nice new house until 1971, when I got my docu-ments and we left for the USA.

When I came to Odri I had all kinds of experi-ences. I remember for instance, that when I cameback in 1988, I could not go inside the house. I hadsome bad premonition. Then I found this young man,a chief, and told him that I had not been there forfour years, and that I wished to fix the house, to workon it myself. I asked him who I should go to. He toldme to go to the public housing company, the SIZ(municipality department). The employees therefound excuses that it did not have a design, and otherfoolish things, so I went directly to Du{ko at themunicipal office. Du{ko was a very nice man, he likedto help everyone, and he helped us, too.

SLO"NO SEMEJSTVOHARMONIUS FAMILY

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êsto pati i so moite prijateli vo Amerika ai so moite soselani od Odri i Tetovo, se prise-tuvavme deka kako vremiwata minuvale a vlas-tite se menuvale a ìvea~kata bila razli~na,sepak, sekoga{ familijata Stamevski, bila ednaod najvidnite. Bila esnaf, doma}inska, mnoguzafatena, bogata i kako }e do{ol tatko mu naTvrdomir od amerikanskiot gurbet, taka se vra-}al so grst spe~aleni pari v pazuvi, i so nivkupuval nivje, zemja, kupuval imot. Toj pominalniz dosta golgoti, sluguval za tu|i interesi natri te{ki i tu|i vojni i frontovi. Pa pritiso-cite i zakanite po sekoja cena da vleze vo ko-lektivite, da mu se odzeme i da se konfiskuvai toa so pi{tol vo slepoo~nicite sé {to pe-~alel vo tu|ina, i {to ne, dolga e toa storija.

Navistina, pominal ìvot vo rabota i samorabota. Me|utoa, sekoga{ bila neprestajna i sil-na griàta za tolkute svoi deca, èna i rodi-teli i rodnini i nikoga{ ne se poàlil, niko-ga{ ne pokaàl slabost, tuku naprotiv. Bil, i za-sekoga{ ostanuva zapameten, za familijata, iza site koi rabotele so nego ili, pak, go pozna-vale, kako vistinski graniten primer na cvrsti-na i borba, ama borba ako treba i do posledniotzdiv, bez razlika za {to i da bila taa.

Often, with my friends in the USA and other peoplefrom Odri and Tetovo, we remember how even thoughtimes changed, authorities changed, and the livingwas different, nevertheless the Stamevski family hasalways been one of the most distinguished. They werea good-standing family, skilled and rich, and wheneverhis father Tvrdomir came from the USA, he alwaysbrought back a lot of money he had saved, which heused to purchase land and properties. He had gonethrough a lot of hardships, and served others’ inter-ests in three hard and foreign wars and fronts. Thencame the pressures and threats to join the collectives,and then, with a gun pointed at his head, everythinghe had earned abroad was confiscated. It is a longstory of all of his experiences.

He spent a lifetime on nothing but work. Never-theless, he always cared strongly for all of his children,his wife, his parents, and his relatives. He never com-plained or showed any weakness. On the contrary, hewas, and will always be remembered by the familyand everyone who worked with him or knew him, as atrue epitome of strength and struggle, of fighting tothe last breath regardless of what the struggle was for“.

Tvrdomir speaks of these events today in so muchdetail as though they had taken place only yesterday. Asa family they lived in a lot of harmony and understanding.

Starata ku}a vo Odri • The old house in Odri

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And we know that there is always a lot of work to doin the village. However, they did not find their workdifficult. So many times they would walk through thefields or the mountain singing, while laughter and joywere part of their everyday living.

„Some time after the liberation in 1948, the firstofficial state Census was conducted in the free coun-try. We declared as we wished,” Trpko says. “No onepressured us or threatened us regarding what wewould say or fill in. that was when we removed the “-i}” suffix from our last names. Only my brother Vladeremained Stamevi}, and we made a lot of fun of him,telling him that he was now the greatest Macedonianamong us. Some time later, he changed his name, too,and he returned to his ‘flock’, to which he belonged.

You know, the family upbringing, what our parentstaught us, means so much. It is decisive of all theendeavors that one will undertake later in life. Ourparents implanted in us the strong feeling of belong-ing to one’s birthplace, and all of that love of one per-son for another.

Tvrdomir stresses how important honesty andreputation are, and adds: “I went to the army in 1949;a healthy young man resolved to defend his country.

Tvrdomir, Cena i Leposava • Tvrdomir, Cena, and Leposava

Cena, Vukica i Todorka • Cena, Vukica, and Todorka

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Tvrdomir, taka sveò i re~isi vo detali zbo-ruva i denes, nebare bile v~era. Kako semejstvoìveele vo sloga i razbirawe, imale odli~naharmonija, a rabotata se znae deka sekoga{ jaima na selo. No, taa ne im pa|ala te{ko. Pa, tiekolku pati, so pesna niz pole ili planina vrvele,a smeata i {egata im bila del od sekojdnevieto.

„Nekade po osloboduvaweto vo 1948 godina,imalo prv oficijalen dràven popis vo slo-bodnata zemja. Sami, veli Tvrdomir, si kaùvav-me, nikoj ne ne pritiska{e ili ucenuva{e {to }ere~evme i zapi{evme. Toga{ i gi izbri{avme tiedodavki na „i}“ vo prezimiwata. Samo brat miVlado ostana Stamevi} i go puknavme od smea idofrluvawa deka sega e najgolemiot Makedonecme|u nas. Po nekoe vreme i toj go smeni toa i sise vrati vo svoeto „jato“ na koe mu pripa|a.

Eh, kolku zna~i doma{noto vospituvawe. Onana roditelite, na familijata. Toa e presudno, zasite potezi i zafati koi natamu }e gi prezemetevo ̀ ivotot. Na{ite roditeli ni ja vsadile ogrom-nata rodnokrajna pripadnost, seta taa qubov od~ovek za ~oveka. Za toa kolku e vaèn obrazot i~estitosta, naglasuva Tvrdomir i dodava:

Vojnik trgnav vo 1949 godina. Onaka zdravomom~e re{eno da ja brani svojata zemja. Sluèv

„I served a whole three years. In the army they calledme Makedonce and everyone knew me as such. AndI was in the army when my family back home in Odriwas experiencing that true drama with the collectivi-zation. When I returned after serving my militaryduty, the collectives were already falling apart as anunsuccessful episode in the new Yugoslavia. Theynever even started functioning“.

However, before even becoming an solgier,Tvrdomir had decided to get married. Young, hand-some, and healthy, he decided he had had enough ofbeing single and it was time for him to look for a bride.In 1947, with music, drums, in-laws, and weddings,Tvrdomir married Stojna, the girl he loved and whomthey always called Cena (hypocoristic). Trpko was noteven eighteen years old, but Cena had attracted hisattention.

„My memories always take me back to Le{ok,”Tvrdomir says. „In every village there was music then.My mother and our whole family danced at the festi-val that took place there. Soon my mother came overto me and said, ‘Son, I have found you a girl to dancewith in the oro (folk dance). We know which familyshe comes from, we know their mother and father, soyou go and see her. I went immediately and took myplace in the oro next to her. Very politely, I asked her

Velko i Tvrdomir • Velko and Tvrdomir

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celi tri godini. Vo vojskata me vikaa Makedon~ei taka site me znaeja. I tokmu bev vo armijatakoga moite doma vo Odri ja preìvuvale taavistinska drama so kolektivizacijata. Koga ve}ese vrativ otkako go otsluìv voeniot rok, kolek-tivot kako neuspe{na epizoda na novata Jugosla-vija, se rasformira. Toj nikoga{ i ne zaìvea.

No, u{te pred asker da zamine, Tvrdomir sto-ril niet da se èni. Mlad, ubav, pukal od zdrav-je, toj re{il deka dosta mu e be}arlak i vreme eve}e da bara nevesta. Vo 1947 godina so muziki,so tapani, so svatovi i svadbi, Tvrdomir zet sta-nuva i ja zema negovata sakana Stojna, koja naga-leno sekoga{ Cena si ja vikal. Tvrdomir nemalni osumnaeset godini no, Cena oko mu fatila.

„Spomenite za Le{ok me vrzuvaat, veliTvrdomir.Toga{ vo sekoe selo ima{e muzika.Igravme majka mi i celata familija, na sobirotkoj tamu se odrà. Po nekoe vreme eve ja majkami i mi re~e:

Sinko sum ti na{la devoj~e za na oro. Znaeme~ie e, mu gi znaeme majkata i tatkoto, pa ti odi,vidi go. Jas vedna{ pojdov i vedna{ se fativ naoro do nea. Onaka kulturno, so usul, {to se veli,ja pra{uvam od kade e, i taka skr{ivme po nekojmuabet. Vtoroto viduvawe be{e na edna svadba.Pak oro igrame, koga tuka nekade se vrte{e nejzi-nata majka, za da doznae koj sum i kakov sum. Treta-ta sredba se slu~i vo Raotince na slava na denIlinden, koga e svetiot praznik vo seloto, a odtamu e i majka i. Samo {to me vidoa tatko i majkai, vedna{ po~naa da se vrtat okolu mene. Dvajca-ta se interesiraa. Do esenta u{te edna{ sevidovme tokmu za sveta Bogorodica. I dovolnobe{e. Po edna nedela so Cena moja se zedovme.

Nie bevme popularna familija. Bogata. Imavmesé. Imot mnogu. Toa se cene{e i be{e golemaprednost. Se oèniv mnogu mlad i samo po ednagodina mi se rodi }erkata Lepa, koja e maènaza Jovan~eta od Rusinovo, Berovsko.

Malku, da se vratam nanazad i da spomenam de-ka mojata sopruga Cena e rodena na treti mart1928 godina vo seloto @il~e. Nejziniot tatkose vikal Stoj~e a majkata Donka od s. Raotince.Dedoto na Cena se vikal Spiro, i mnogu ja mazelsvojata mila vnuka.

A Cena bila prvorodenoto dete na Stoj~e i naDonka Andovski. Vtoroto umrelo. Tretoto Dragoi toj umrel. Se ra|a sestra i Jelica maèna zaStevo, koi ìveat vo \or~e Petrov, vo Skopje.Sledna e Slavka omaèna za Kiro Bugarinot a

where she was from, and so we exchanged a fewwords of conversation. The second time we saw eachother was at a wedding. We danced oro again, andher mother hung around to see who I was and whatI was like. We met for the third time in Raotince onthe village festival day, Ilinden. Her mother also camefrom this village. The minute her mother and fathersaw me, they became very much interested in me. Bythe autumn, we had seen each other one more time,on the day of St. Mary. And it was enough. One weeklater, my Cena and I got married.

We were a popular family. We were rich, we hadeverything, we had a large property. That was valued andwas a great advantage. I married very young, and onlya year later, my daughter Lepa was born. She is marri-ed to Jovan~e from the village of Rusinovo, near Berovo.

I would just like to go back a little and mentionthat my wife, Cena was born on 3 March 1928, in thevillage of @il~e. Her father, Stoj~e, and her mother,Donka came from the village of Raotince. Spiro wasCena’s grandfather, who spoilt his dear little grandda-ughter very much. Cena was Stoj~e and Donka Ando-novski’s firstborn child. The second one died. The thirdone, Drago, also died. Then her sister, Jelica was born.She is married to Stevo, and they live in Gjor~e Petrov,Skopje. The next one is Slavka, who is married to Kiro

Biljana Stamevska • Biljana Stamevska

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se Ivanovi. Tie go zemaa Nenad i golema svadbamu napravija.

Niz godinite potoa, eve Bog ni dade so Cena,prekrasni deca. Site si go najdoa svojot pat voìvotot, a sekoga{ ja imaat na{ata roditelskagrià, pomo{ i poddr{ka. Zadovolni sme kakotie denes se dobri i uspe{ni na{i naslednici.

Da prodolàm so familijarnoto steblo: - Vo1948 godina vo mesec oktomvri ni se rodiLepa.Taa prvo zavr{i U~itelska {kola, a potoaotide i na Vi{ata pedago{ka akademija. Sinot{to ni pogina i ne zavi vo crno, be{e bistar izavr{i za elektri~ar. Toj be{e oènet soMenka od Belovi{ta. Imaat dve }erki Zorica iPavlina. Lepa gi ima Julijana i Slavjanka.Julijana e maèna za Dag koj e Amerikanec, do-deka Slavjanka za Palestinec, katolik, u~en~ovek.

Za sinot Svetozar-Svetle Stamevski, toa edruga prikazna i toj sam ja raskaùva vo ovaakniga. Mnogu se trudev na decata da im gi pru-àm site uslovi. Po~nav so edno malo resto-rant~e a za devet godini para dobra spe~a-livme. Napravivme ku}i, golemi, kupivme koliubavi. Svadbi i kr{tevki vo familijata Sta-mevski {to treba da se pamtat. Kupivme ifarma, a restoranot go prodadovme. Dostabe{e. Imame imot, du}ani, {oping-centri.

Ivanov known as Bugarinot (the Bulgarian). Theytook Nenad and made him a big wedding.

In the years that followed, God gave Cena andme wonderful children. They have all gone theirown way in life, always having our parental care,help, and support. We are happy with them as ourgood and successful successors.

Let me continue with the family tree. Lepa wasborn in October of 1948. First she finished teacher’scollege, and then went to the Pedagogical Acade-my. The son that we lost and mourn for was verybright and had become an electrician. He wasmarried to Menka, from the village of Belovišta.They have two daughters, Zorica and Pavlina. Lepahas Julijana and Slavjanka. Julijana is married toDough, who is an American. Slavjanka is married toa Palestinian; he is Catholic, and a well educatedman.

The son, Svetozar-Steve Stamevski is a differentstory, which he tells us, himself, for this book. Itried very hard to provide everything for my chil-dren. I started out with a small restaurant, and innine years we had earned some good money. Webuilt big houses, bought good cars. We had wed-dings and christenings in the Stamevski family thatare to be remembered. We bought a farm and soldthe restaurant. It was enough. We have land,shops, and shopping centers.”

Tvrdomir i Svetle vo Makedonija so semejstvoto na Tomislav Stojanovski -Bombaj • Tvrdomir and Svetozar-Steve in Macedonia with Tomislav Stojanovski – Bombaj’s family

73



Na svadbata na Julijana • At Juliana’s wedding

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Pred ku}ata vo Odri • In front of the house in Odri

Semejstvoto na Svetlana vo Makedonija • Svetlana’s family in Macedonia

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SO PO&IT KON PREDCITEWITH RESPECT TO THE ANCESTORS

MM y grandfather had this philosophy accor-ding to which he would tell us: ‘If some-one comes to ask you for something,give it to him. Help him. Do not turn him

away’. Another wise philosophy in which he believedwas that, even though we were about fifteen childrenand just as many adults, so many people in one place,

DDedo mi ima{e edna filozofija sporedkoja, kako {to ni vele{e: ako dojdenekoj da bara ne{to, dajte mu. Uslu`e-te go. Ne vra}ajte go. Druga filozofi-

ja, drugata mudrost mu be{e deka iako bevmeokolu petnaesettina deca i tolkumina postari,ete, tolku narod na edno mesto, vo edna ku}a i

Svetozar -Svetle pred ku}ata vo Odri • Svetozar-Steve in front of the house in Odri

na edna sof-ra, toj }e re-~e{e dekaprvo mora dase nahranatdecata, a po-toa ostanati-te, povozras-nite. Mislamdeka i naopa-ku da zasade-{e ne{to toa}e iznikne{ekako {to tre-ba. Meraklija,takov be{e.Ne go biva{eknigi da pi-{uva ili ad-ministracijada brka, amazatoa pak, ka-kov meraklijabe{e za niv-jeto, za bav~i-te, za zemjo-delstvoto.

Se se}avamdeka duri inekoi sortitikvi nose{eod Amerika. Anose{e te bo-stani, te raz-ni kalemi, paduri i ma{i-ni. Nie prviv pole ma{i-na za `neewevnesovme. Nizsiot tetovski vilaet vr{evme, a imavme vode-nica so tri kamewa. Nad 37 sela nosea `ito kajnas da melat. Ne mo`evme da prestasame. Zna~itri kamewa imavme na voda i eden na struja.Toa, vsu{nost, be{e mlin.

Sega od seto toa ima po ne{to ostanato amapodeleno niz familiite, vodenicata stoi kakomagacin. Inaku, sadevme i oriz vo Jegunovce iRaotince. Mnogu oriz sadevme vo Polog. Imavmei ma{ina za ~istewe, za lupewe oriz. Pred dadojdeme vo Amerika, {to sé nemavme. Dedo mi, i

in one houseand at onetable, he wouldsay that ‘thechildren needto be fed first,and then therest, the adults’.I think thateven if he plan-ted somethingthe wrong way,it would havegrown right. Hewas very en-t h u s i a s t i c ,that is how hewas. He wasnot good atwriting booksor keeping ad-ministration,but he lovedthe fields andgardens, he lo-ved agricultu-re. I rememberhe even brou-ght some kindsof pumpkinseeds from theUSA. He bro-ught melon,various grafts,even machi-nes. We werethe first to bringa combine tothe fields. Wedid threshing

all over the Tetovo area, and we also had a watermill with three stones. More than 37 villages bro-ught their wheat to our mills for grinding. We couldnot keep up. So, we had three stones turned by thewater, and one used electricity. This was in fact amodern mill.

Some of that still remains today, but it is split upamong the families. The water mill remains as awarehouse. In addition to this, we also used to growrice in Jegunovce and Raotince. We grew a lot of ricein Polog. We also had a machine to clean and peel the

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Ku}ata vo Odri • The house in Odri

nie kako familija sme bile pro~ueni vo celiotkraj za ovo{je, za lozja, za zelen~uk. Nikoj ne-mal pove}e kosteni od nas, nitu plantaì podjabolka. Doa|ale od [vedska, od [vajcarija, zada zemat orevi od nas. Sme imale po 35 mom~i-wa argati sekoj den od \ur|ovden do Mitrovdenkoi kaj nas spiele i rabotele. Ne poznavaa lu-|eto od Ki~evo, Gostivar, Skopje, duri i naKosovo. Od site tetovski sela od Jegunovce, Jan-~i{te, Otuwe, Raotince, Qubi{te, Siri}ino,@il~e, [em{evo, kako i od drugite sela, nemada ne do{ol ~ovek kaj nas da raboti po poliwa-ta. ôvek ako sakal da jade lebec, doa|al vona{ata familija, }e podzavr{el ne{to i domazaminuval najaden. Ednakvo bilo za site i zana{ite Makedonci i za Albancite.Toga{ be{edrugo vreme.

Imavme napraveno ku}a, veli Svetozar-Svetle Stamevski so dvaesettina sobi, imavmefurna, pa kujna. Imavme specijalno èni got-va~ki i specijalno ~ovek koj samo voda im nose-{e na argatite po nivjeto, lozjata i bav~ite.

rice. We had all kinds of things before we came to theUSA. My grandfather and we as a family were renow-ned throughout the entire area for our apples, vine-yards, and vegetables. No one had more chestnutsthan us, nor apple plantations. They would come fromSweden and Switzerland to get walnuts from us. Weused to have 35 daily laborers from spring till almostwinter (from the festival day known as Gjurgjovdento Mitrovden). They worked and slept at our place.People from Ki~evo, Gostivar, Skopje, and even fromKosovo knew us. From all the villages in the Tetovoarea – Jegunovce, Jan~i{te, Otunje, Raotince, Ljubi{te,Sirikino, @il~e, and [em{evo among others – everyonehad been to work for us in the fields. If someonewanted some food to eat, they would come to our fa-mily, do some work, and go home with a full stomach.It was the same for everyone, for our Macedoniansand the Albanians. Those were different times then.”

Svetozar-Steve Stamevski continues, “We had ahouse with about twenty bedrooms, a bakery, and akitchen. We had women cooks and a man especiallyemployed just to take water to the workers in the

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Ama taa cela vojska narod treba{e da se nahra-ni i nagosti.

Eve da nabrojam deka vo toa vreme imavmeiljada ovci, {eeset kravi, osum rala volovi,iljadi koko{ki, mazgi, magariwa. Se se}avam nakowot, eden rasen, svetnat kow, go vikavme So-kol. Vle~e{e ~eza kako traktor da e. Dedo mikoga odel na svadba, po svedeni, po viziti ilina pazar vo Skopje vo vtornik, ~etvrtok i nede-la, a bre kowot ~ini{ sam odel. Go znael patotbez da mu kaè{ - ajde. I toa, mu stavale vo~ezata nad iljada kilogrami jabolka. So Sokolanema{e problem. Leta{e po patot. Taka be{e.

No, koga zboruvam za dedoto Krste, kako dazboruvam ednovremeno i za baba mi Naca. Silnai milna èna. Taa bila najmlada. Se omaìla iostanala vo Makedonija vek da vekuvaat so dedoKrste. I baba Naca vistina go izvekuva. Od neapo~ista èna nemam videno. Navistina nemam.Struja be{e za sé. Duri i babica be{e. Pora|a-{e mladi nevesti, povozrasni, ama kogo ne. Ku-ma mislam deka be{e na celo selo. Dedo mi nesaka{e da e kum, ama taa, gajle nema{e. Be{ekako mati~ar. Da be{e ìva sega, ne treba{edrug nekogo da pra{uva{ za koj bilo detaq, zakoja bilo slu~ka, za godini ili za koj bilo

fields, the vineyards, and the market gardens. Well,this whole army of people had to be fed and acco-mmodated.

I can tell you that at the time we had a thousandsheep, sixty cows, eight plows and oxen, a thousandchickens, mules, and donkeys. I remember the horse, athoroughbred shiny horse; we used to call him Sokol(Falcon). He would pull the cart as though a tractor.When my grandfather went to weddings, or visiting so-mewhere, or to market in Skopje every Tuesday,Thursday, and Sunday, you would think the horse fo-und his own way. He knew the road without anyonetelling him where to go. And they used to load his cartwith more than a thousand kilos of apples. This was noproblem for Sokol. He would fly. That is how he was.

But, when I speak of my grandfather Krste, it is asthough I am speaking at the same time of my grandmother Naca. She was a strong and likable woman.She was the youngest. She had married and rema-ined in Macedonia to live her life with grandfatherKrste. And grandmother Naca really did live a lifetimewith him. I have never seen a cleaner woman than her.She was good at everything. And she was a mid-wife,too. She delivered young women, more elderly ones,everyone. I think she was the godmother to the entirevillage. My grandfather did not like to be a godfather,

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Svetozar-Svetle, Svetlana i Leposava • Svetozar-Steve, Svetlana, and Leposava

~ovek. Taa be{e kako ìva enciklopedija. Kom-pjuter ne i be{e ramen. Iako babi~ka vo godi-ni, taa ima{e bistar um i be{e mnogu pamteliv~ovek. I sive ovie raboti koi jas denes vi giraskaùvam za da vlezat vo ovaa kniga od ìvo-tot na na{ata familija, toa seto go znam odnea, od nejzinite kaùvawa, od toa {to saka{esekoga{ u{te i u{te da mi raskaùva, so gor-dost veli Svetozar-Svetle i dodava:

„I vo Amerika ja donesovme. Tuka ìvee{e sostriko mi \or|ija. Bog ja prosti na 99 godini. Zamalku ne ja fati stotkata. Po~ina vo Detroitama ostavi amanet da ja odneseme doma vo Make-donija. I ja ispolnivme poslednata èlba. Vomir po~iva do dedo Krste, do nejziniot, do na-{iot Krste. Toj koj go iznikna i vozdigna semej-noto steblo Stamevsko.

Sekoga{ koga }e zastanam molkum i prostumpred nivniot ve~en dom na grobi{tata vo Odri,jas mu blagodaram na Boga {to sum nivniot po-tomok i {to ne nau~ija tie moi mili predci,moite dedo i baba Krste i Naca na mnogu umni,na mnogu va`ni, nemerlivo korisni i tolkuva`ni ìvotni mudrosti“, veli so mnogu smislaSvetozar-Svetle Stamevski.

but she did not mind at all. She was like a registrar. Ifshe were alive now, you would not need to ask any-one else about any detail, any event, about years, orabout any one person. She was like a living encyclo-pedia. A computer could not beat her. Even though anaged grandmother, she was very bright and a remar-kable woman. And all of these things that I am tellingyou here today so that they can be a part of this bookabout the life of our family, I know it all from her, fromher stories, from what she always wanted to tell memore and more of,” Svetozar-Steve tells us proudly.

He adds, „We also brought her to the USA. Shelived here with my uncle Gjorgjija. God laid her to restat the age of 99. She missed a hundred by a little.She passed away in Detroit, but she had made uspromise to bring her back home in Macedonia. Wefulfilled her last wish. She rests peacefully next tograndfather Krste, next to hers, and our Krste – hewho sprouted and raised the Stamevski family tree.

Every time I stand a little and pay tribute beforetheir eternal resting place at the Odri cemetery, Ithank God that I am their descendant and that mydear grandfather Krste and grandmother Naca taughtus so many wise, very important, and so endlesslyuseful wisdoms in life“, Svetozar-Steve Stamevskiadds with a lot of sense.

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Ku}ata na Stamevski vo SAD • The Satmevski family’s house in the USA

80



Tvrdomir so grupa iselenici • Tvrdomir with a group of migrants

Vo crkvata “Sv. Bogorodica” • At St. Mary’s Church

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Tvrdomir, Ilija i Svetozar-Svetle • Tvrdomir, Ilija, and Svetozar-Steve

Svetozar-Svtele i Siljan Bogoevski • Svetozar-Steve and Siljan Bogoevski

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Tvrdomir i Bo{ko Raj~ovski - Pelisterski • Tvrdomir and Bo{ko Raj~ovski - Pelisterski

Svetozar-Svetle i Xorx Atanasovski • Svetozar-Steve and George Atanasovski

&ETVRTI DEL

AMERIKA KAKO SUDBINA

PART IV

THE USA AS A DESTINY

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Statuata na slobodata • The Statue of Liberty

85

IVDEL - AMERIKA KAKO SUDBINA

PART IV - THE USA AS A DESTINY

II meto i deloto na Svetozar-Svetle Sta-mevski i negovoto semejstvo e tesnopovrzano so negovata vtora tatkovinaSoedinetite Amerikanski Dr`avi (SAD).

Zatoa vo ovaa prigoda }e dademe kus istoriskipregled za SAD, zemjata vo koja `ivee, se razvi-va, pro{iruva, opstojuva i postignuva napredoksemejstvoto Stamevski. Imeno, SAD e vetenata

TT he name and accomplishments of Sveto-zar-Steve Stamevski and his family areclosely tied to his second fatherland, theUnited States of America. Therefore, we

will take this opportunity to make a brief historicaloverview of the USA – the country in which the Sta-mevski family lives, develops, grows, survives, andprospers. More precisely, the USA, or the ‘Promised

SAD - NOVATA TATKOVINA NA STAMEVSKI

THE USA – STAMEVSKI ’S NEW FATHERLAND

Belata ku}a vo Va{ington • The White House in Washington

zemja, kako ja narekuvaat Makedoncite i drugitedoselenici, sojuzna republika vo Severna Ame-rika, smestena me|u Atlanskiot i Tihiot Okean,me|u Kanada i Meksiko, sostavena od 50 sojuznidràvi i eden sojuzen okrug. Zaedno so Aljaskai Havaite, taa e edna od najgolemite vo svetot,vo koja ìveat nad 250 milioni ìteli. Naj-golem broj Amerikanci se doseleni od Evropa,prvenstveno od Velika Britanija i od Irska,potoa od Germanija, Italija, Rusija po Oktom-vriskata revolucija), od Polska, Norve{ka,[vedska, potoa ima brojno crne~ko naselenie,Indijci, Japonci, Kinezi, Makedonci i druginarodi.

Glaven grad e Va{ington, koj se nao|a vo So-juzniot okrug Kolumbija i zaedno so predgradi-jata ima nad tri milioni ìteli. Drugi va`nimetropoli se: Wujork, îkago, Los Anxeles, Fi-ladelfija, Detroit, Boston, Baltimor, Kliv-lend, San Francisko i drugi. Reljefot na SAD emnogu raznoviden: kontinentalniot del se delina nekolku golemi geografski oblasti, razli~-ni po prostor i prirodni bogatstva. Tamu vla-dee od kontinentalna, suptropska, primorska,kontinentalno-planinska i arkti~ka do umere-no topla okeanska klima. SAD raspolaga so go-lemo bogatstvo na planini, ezera i reki. Naj-poznati ezera se: Gornoto, Hjuron, Mi~igen, Irii Ontario, a od rekite Misisipi, Misuri, RioGrande Kolorado i drugi.

Najstari poznati ìteli na dene{nata teri-torija na SAD se Eskimite i Indijancite. Sepretpostavuva deka od Evropejcite na severno-amerikanskiot kontinent prvi do{le Normani-te pred iljada godini. Kristifor Kolumbo jaotkri Severna Amerika vo 1492 godina, a vopo~etokot na 16 vek po~naa da doa|aat i prviteevropski kolonisti od: Anglija, Francija, Ho-landija, [vedska, [panija, koi, za da osvojatprostori, vodele vojna so Indijancite. Prvaangliska kolonija e Virxinija, formirana vo1584 godina, potoa Masa~usets vo 1620 godina,a vo 1614 godina e formirana Nova Holandija,so glavniot grad Nov Amsterdam, koj vo 1664godina se preimenuva vo Wujork.

SAD imaat burna i bogata istorija od svoetoformirawe do denes. Taka, pokraj borbite soIndijancite, vo 1775 godina po~naa prvitesudiri me|u amerikanskite dobrovolni odredii angliskata vojska, so {to, vsu{nost, po~na

Land’, as the Macedonians and other migrants liketo call it, is a federal republic in North America, lo-cated between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans,between Canada and Mexico, consisting of 50 fed-eral states and one federal district. Along withAlaska and Hawaii, the USA is one of the biggestcountries in the world, with a population of over250 million. The majority of Americans migratedfrom Europe, mostly from Great Britain and Ireland,from Germany, Italy, and Russia (following theOctober Revolution), and from Poland, Norway, andSweden. There is also a large black population, aswell as Indians, Japanese, Chinese, Macedonians,and other nationalities.

Washington is the Capital of the USA, located inthe Federal District of Columbia, and along with itssuburbs, it has a population of over three million

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DETROIT

borbata na severnoamerikanskiot kontinent zanezavisnost. Vo 1783 godina, so mirot vo Versaj,Anglija ja prizna nezavisnosta na SAD, so {tonastanaa krupni promeni ne samo vo SAD, tuku ivo celiot svet. SAD gi potrese Gra|anskata voj-na od 1861 do 1865 godina, potoa svetskata eko-nomska kriza 1929-1935 godina, Vtorata svetskavojna, osobeno vojnata so Japonija i upotrebatana atomskoto oru`je nad Hiro{ima i Nagasakido Vietnam i dene{nata kriza vo Irak.

SAD e edna od vode~kite sili vo te{ka,lesna, prehranbena, zemjodelska i avtomobils-ka industrija politi~ka i voena svetska sila.

people. Other important cities include New York,Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Detroit, Boston,Baltimore, Cleveland, and San Francisco, amongothers. Its landscape is quite diverse, with a conti-nental part that divides into several large geograph-ical regions that differ in size and natural resources.Main climates include a continental, subtropical,oceanic, continental-mountainous, and arctic to amoderately warm oceanic climate. The USA has ahuge wealth of mountains, lakes, and rivers. Thebest known lakes are the Upper Lake, Huron,Michigan, Erie, and Lake Ontario. The rivers includethe Mississippi, Missouri, Rio Grande, and Colorado,among others.

The oldest known residents of what is presentlythe USA are the Eskimos and the Indians. It isbelieved that the Normans were the first of theEuropeans to arrive on the North American con-tinent about a thousand years ago. ChristopherColumbus discovered North America in 1492. In theearly 16th century the earliest European colonistsbegan arriving from England, France, Holland, Swe-den, and Spain, and fought the Indians to conquernew lands. The earliest English colony was Virginia,founded in 1584, followed by Massachusetts in1620. New Holland was founded in 1614, with theCapital City of New Amsterdam, which was rena-med to New York in 1664.

The USA has a turbulent and rich history from itsfoundation to the present. In addition to their warswith the Indians, in 1775 the earliest clashes beganbetween the American volunteer detachments andthe English army, which meant in fact the beginningof the struggle of the North American continent forindependence. In 1783, with the Versailles PeaceAgreement, England recognized the independenceof the USA, which brought huge changes not onlyin the USA but also throughout the world. The USAwas shaken by the Civil War during 1861-1865, thesecond world economic crisis during 1929-35,WWII, particularly the war with Japan and the useof the atomic bomb over Hiroshima and Nagasaki,and Vietnam, up to the current crisis with Iraq.

The USA is one of the world leaders in the heavyand light industry, food production, agriculture,automobile industry, as well as a political andmilitary power.

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• DETROIT

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Stara makedonska ku}a vo Odri • An old Macedonian house in Odri

„Tozluci“, `enski ~orapi od Polog • “Tozluci“, woman’s socks from Polog

89



DDolga, burna, neobi~na, veselo-ta`na,no mnogu originalna i sekako po mnogune{ta samosvojna e makedonskata ise-leni~ka storija koja eve tri veka edno

po drugo ja ispi{uva ìvotot. Po~nata e nekadepri krajot na devetnaesettiot vek, mnogu dina-mizirana i masovna vo dvaesettiot i re~isiturbo prodolèna bez prestan vo dvaeset iprviot vek.

Tokmu del od nea, od taa iseleni~ka rekakoja od site delovi na makedonskata zemja te~ebez zapir kon site strani na svetot, od [vedskado Ognenata Zemja, od Aljaska do Avstralisko -novozelandskite i Amerikansko-kanadskite{iro~ini i dolìni.

Ta`na e makedonskata preselni~ka saga. Ta`-no e zaminuvaweto do opustuvawe na celi sela,ulici, regii, i na otkornuvaweto za navek naceli semejni stebla, stari so vekovi. No, toa ena{ata stvarnost. Toa e makedonskata vistina.

Na ovie stranici, vo ovaa monografija, ja smes-tuvame vistinata za Stamevci. Poznata, dolgo-deceniska familijarna zaednica koja vo tetov-sko Odri e najdolgove~no zadomena, no nejzini-te ~lenovi bile rasprskani po razni drugimesta vo pot{arplaninskite atari.

Svetozar, Svetle, Stiv, kako i da go nare~etenema da go zgre{ite, e, najpoznatiot od site ma{kiro`bi. I vo Makedonija i vo Amerika, toj e onojstamen, gord, vreden, umen, li~en i ugleden se-meen ~ovek, dokaàn biznismen koj od svoitepredci, od svoite roditeli ja nasledil snaodli-vosta, ~estitosta, rabotlivosta, i se ona najdob-roto {to moè da bide zbrano vo eden ~ovek, kako{to e toa na{iot, Svetozar-Svetle Stamevski.

TT he Macedonian migrant story that lifehas been writing for three centuries in arow is long, turbulent, unusual, happyand sad, but very original, and in many

ways unique. It began sometime in the late 19thcentury, became very dynamic and massive in the20th century, and continued intensively almostwithout pausing in the 21st century.

A part of this migrant river runs endlessly fromevery end of the Macedonian land to every side ofthe world, from Sweden to South America, fromAlaska to Australia and New Zealand, to the Ame-rican and Canadian wide expanses.

The Macedonian migrant saga is a sad one.They are sad departures that abandon entire villa-ges, streets, regions, that remove for ever entirefamily trees, centuries old. However, this is our real-ity. This is the Macedonian truth.

On the pages of this monograph, we present thetruth about the Stamevski family. It is a well known,decades-old family that has lived in Odri, nearTetovo for a very long time, although its memberswere scattered in various places in the foothills ofMt. [ar.

Svetoslav, Svetle, or Steve - call him whicheverway you like and you will not be wrong – is the bestknown of all the sons. In the USA and inMacedonia, he is the strong, proud, hardworking,smart, and respectable family man, a provenbusinessman who inherited from his ancestors thewit, honesty, enthusiasm, and all the best featuresthat one man can possess, as is our Svetozar-SteveStamevski.

„We arrived on the great North Americancontinent on 21 September 1971. All together there

ISELENI&KA REKAMIGRANT RIVER

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Petko, Cena, Leposava, Jelica • Petko, Cena, Leposava, and Jelica

„Vo golemiot severnoamerikanski kontinentdojdovme na 21 septemvri 1971 godina. Site za-edno ramno trinaeset du{i od familijata i odnekoi drugi mesta bevmevo avionot na Pan Ameri-ken, koj leta{e od Bel-grad za Detroit vo di-rektna linija. Jas prvpattoga{ se ka~iv na avion.Interesno ~uvstvo i ne-obi~no doìvuvawe. Naaerodromot ne pre~ekaapedesettina a moèbi ipove}e {to bratu~edi,{to poznati, {to nepoz-nati, ìvo se prisetuvaSvetozar-Svetle.

Toj u{te kako deteslu{al denono}no ilibil svedok na gurbetxisko-pe~albarskite maki nizkaùvawata i doìvuva-wata na dedo mu Krsteta

91PART IV - THE USA AS A DESTINY

were thirteen of us from our family and from otherplaces. We flew on the Pan American plane directlyfrom Belgrade to Detroit. That was my first time

ever on a plane. It was aninteresting feeling and anunusual experience. At theairport, we were greetedby about fifty people, someof which cousins, some Iknew, and some I did not“,Svetozar-Steve remembers.

Even as a child, everyday he heard about, orwitnessed the witnessed thehardship of living as amigrant from the storiesand experiences of hisgrandfather Krste Stamev-ski, who had boarded thesteamboat back in 1919and departed for a foreignunfamiliar land.

Slavka, Tvrdomir, Cena, i Jelica • Slavka, Tvrdomir, Cena, and Jelica


Svetozar-Svetle i Ace Atanasovski • Svetozar-Steve and Aco Atanasovski

Stamevski koj vo dale~nata 1919 godina se ka~ilna parahodot i zaminal vo tu|a zemja nepoznata.

Taka sega, {totuku zamom~eniot Svetozar-Svetleso svoite osumnaesettina godini, trgnuva po stap-kite na dedo mu i toj zaminuva po beliot svet.

Zna~i, tradicijata prodolùva vo familija-ta. Posebno {to i ve}e i stanuvalo tesno voOdri, koga tatko mu so pette bra}a kako i da godelel imotot, }e bil nedovolen za site da moèdobro da ìveat od zemjata. A najva`noto e dekaSvetozar-svetle saka li~no da si ja proba sre-}ata, da si go probiva svojot pat i da uspee voìvotot. So taa misla go napu{ta tetovskiotkraj i se preseluva vo detroitskiot.

Vo Amerika, neli zaminuva so tatko mu, majkamu i celoto semejstvo, re{eni da po~nat sosemaod samiot po~etok. No, tamu ne bilo lesno. ]e sepo~uvstvuva nebare gluv i nem, zgora i poniènvo novata sredina koga ne znae da izusti nizbor angliski.

Thus, the young eighteen-year-old Svetozar-Steve continued in his grandfather’s footsteps andset off in the big wide world. Hence, the family traditi-on continued, especially since it was already beco-ming too crowded in Odri. No matter how his fatherdivided the property with his five brothers, it wouldnot have been enough for everyone to be able tolive well off the land. Most important of all was thatSvetozar-Steve wished to try his luck alone, tomake his own way through life, and to succeed. Itwas with this thought in mind that he left theTetovo area and moved to Detroit.

They moved to the USA with his father, his mot-her, and his whole family, determined to start fromthe very beginning. But, it was not easy there. Notknowing a single word in English, he felt as if dumband deaf, and on top of that, humiliated in the newenvironment.

They made plans from where to start. Svetozar-Steve was losing his patience. Fortunately, he did

92



Cena, Tvrdomir, Svetozar-Svetle, Slavka, Lepa, Kire i Jelica • Cena, Tvrdomir, Svetozar-Steve, Slavka, Lepa, and Kire

93



Krojat planovi od kade da po~nat. Svetozar-Svetle ve}e mesto ne go drì. I za sre}a nemada ~eka dolgo na {ansata. Samo po ~etiri denaotkako }e stasa, toj se vrabotuva, so pomo{ na~i~ko mu vo edna fabrika za nadnica od tridolari na ~as. Rabotel pedeset i {est ~asa izel 141 dolar. Tolku pari za dva i pol dena.

Svetozar-Svetle Stamevski, junakot od na{a-va kniga, ja prodolùva svojata prikazna. Tojpotsetuvaj}i se na vremiwata minati, raskaù-va kako tatko mu Tvrdko, ne moèj}i da go izdr-ì pe~albarskiot ìvot a nostalgijata vo prvi-te godini i nemu i na soprugata im ja razjaduvadu{ata, baraat ~are kako natamu. Samo po ~eti-ri meseci se kategori~ni deka za niv e nadobroako se vratat nazad doma vo Odri. I se vratileza da ne im ostanele nivjeto neobraboteni.

Svetozar-Svetle ostanuva sosema sam i toamu bilo mnogu teòk period na negoviot ameri-kanski ìvot. Tatko mu vo Odri si dava sam nasebe amanet deka nikoga{ ve}e nema da janapu{ti Makedonija. No, planovite ne izlegu-vaat spored doma{niot esap.

not have to wait too long for his chance to comealong. Only four days after his arrival, with the helpof his uncle he found a job at a factory that paidthree dollars an hour. He worked fifty six hours andearned $141. That much money for two-and-a-halfdays.

Svetozar-Steve Stamevski, the hero of our book,continues our story. Remembering the days goneby, he tells us about his father, Trpko. Unable to en-dure the life as a migrant and to take the nostalgiathat his wife and he suffered in the first few years,they had to look for a way out. In only four monthsthey decided that the best thing for them to do wasto return home to Odri. And they came back so thattheir fields would not stay untilled.

Svetozar-Steve remained all alone and this wasa very difficult period in his life in the USA. Hisfather in Odri made a promise to himself that hewould never again leave Macedonia. But things didnot go as he had planned.

Some time later, his father left the vilage of Odrito return to Detroit again. As soon as he arrived, agreat family tragedy took place. His younger son

Svetozar-Svetle i Tvrdomir so Ane Antevski vo Makedonija • Svetozar-Steve and Tvrdomir with Ane Antevski in Macedonia

94



Po izvesno vreme, tatko mu pak se vra}a odOdri vo Detroit. Samo {to do{ol, se slu~uvagolema semejna tragedija. Vo sredata go pre~e-kuvaat mladiot sin i brat, a za àl, vo nedela-ta nautro na 16 oktomvri 1972 godina zaginuvanegoviot brat. Svetozar-Svetle preìvuva mno-gu traumati~ni migovi, kako i celata familija.

Raboti naporno, se do maj slednata godina inekako siot toj nesre}en splet na okolnosti potragedijata na bratot, majka mu i nego gi vra}anazad doma vo rodnoto Odri.

No, nikade ne moè da se zalekuva te{katataga i bolka za zagubenoto ~edo, za nesre}no za-ginatiot brat. Svetozar-Svetle samo pet meseciostanuva vo Makedonija, koga i se vrabotuva voJugohrom, so Slavko Naumovski i so @ivko bratmu koj bil vo @elezarnicata. Izdràl dve ne-deli vo Jugohrom. Nikade ne go sobiralo. Baraluteha, ama ne ja na{ol i zatoa povtorno re{avada zamine za Amerika.

Se vrabotuva vo istata fabrika vo Detroit.So nego zaedno e i tatko mu. Ama kako obemot senamalil, i kako slabo mu odelo na menaxerskiottim, niv i dvajcata gi otpu{taat istovremeno.

and brother met him on the Wednesday, and unfor-tunately, on Sunday morning, 16 October 1972, hisbrother, died. Svetozar-Steve, and the whole family,experienced some very traumatic moments.

He worked hard until May of the following year.Somehow, that whole course of events following hisbrother’s tragedy brought his mother and him backhome to their native Odri.

However, the hard pain for the lost child, for thetragically lost brother, could not be healed anywhe-re. Svetozar-Steve remained in Macedonia for onlyfive months, when he took the job for Jugohrom,along with Slavko Naumovski and his brother @ivko,who worked in the iron and steel plant. He stayedat Jugohrom only two weeks. He was restless. Helooked for comfort but could not find it. So, hedecided to return to the USA again.

He found a job at the same factory in Detroit.His father was with him. However, as the work loaddropped and the managerial team was not doingwell, they were both laid off at the same time. Thismade them look for a solution in a different field.First his father, and then Svetozar-Steve found a jobin a restaurant.

Svetozar-Svetle i Tvrdomir • Svetozar-Steve and Tvrdomir

95



Toa gi nateralo da pobaraat izlez vo druga ob-last i najprvo tatkoto a potoa i Svetozar-Svetle se vrabotuvaat vo eden restoran.

Vo me|uvreme si dava cvrsta zada~a da mora~as pobrgu da go sovlada angliskiot jazik, otibez toa sè bi bilo re~isi nevozmo`no. Kako re-kol, taka storil. Go nau~uva dosta dobro anglis-kiot jazik. I samiot e zadovolen od sopstvena-ta upornost i od vkupniot rezultat.

Vo 1978 godina, re{avaat pak da zaminat voMakedonija. Do Holandija doa|aat so brod a ot-tamu so avtomobil duri do Odri. Kako mlad, kakoli~en be}ar im go privlekuval okoto na mnogumladi devojki. No, Svetle e nekako maanxija ine e lesno da se re{i za taka brgu i da se o`eni.Ostanuva pet meseci. Za toa vreme se ras{etuvalniz Makedonija, gi krstosuval mnogu krai{ta,kade se ne bil, i na kraj pak re{ava da trgne zaDetroit. No, toga{ zaedno so sestra mu i decata.

In the meantime, he had set himself the task oflearning the English language as soon as possiblebecause everything would be almost impossiblewithout it. So, he did as he said he would. He learntEnglish quite well. He was happy with his perseve-rance and the end result.

In 1978, they decided to come to Macedoniaagain. They came by ship to the Netherlands, anddrove by car all the way to Odri. Young, handsomeand eligible, he attracted the attention of manyyoung women. But, Svetozar-Steve is not that easyto please, and he could not decide so easily to getmarried so quickly. He stayed for five months. Hetraveled throughout Macedonia, went everywhere,and finally decided to depart for Detroit again. Thistime he went with his sister and her children.

Svetozar-Svetle, Biljana i Cena • Svetozar-Steve, Biljana, and Cena

96



Svetlana, Biljana i Svetozar-Svetle • Svetlana, Biljana, and Svetozar-Steve

Slavko Gavrovski , Slave Katin i Svetozar-Svetle • Slavko Gavrovski, Slave Katin and Svetozar-Steve

PETTI DEL

SEMEJNITE PATEKI

PART V

THE FAMILY PATHS

98



Sve{tenikot Eco Trpevski gi ven~ava Svetozar-Svetle i Svetlana • Priest Eco Trpevski performs Svetozar-Steve and Svetlana’s wedding ceremony

Svetozar-Svetle i Svetlana • Svetozar-Steve and Svetlana

99

VDEL - SEMEJNITE PATEKI

PART V - THE FAMILY PATHS

Na svadbata na Svetozar-Svetle i Svetlana • At Svetozar-Steve and Svetlana’s wedding

Tome i Olga Krstevski na svadbata na Svetozar-Svetle i Svetlana • Tome and Olga Krstevski at Svetozar-Steve and Svetlana’s wedding

100



Svetlana i Svetozar-Svetle • Svetlana and Svetozar-Steve


OD ODRI DO DETROITF R O M O D R I TO D E T R O I T

TT he pages of this monograph are devotedto the chronicle collage of the life of theexceptionally humane and philanthropicAmerican Macedonian, Svetozar-Steve Sta-

mevski, and to the decades-old tree of this renownedfamily. Their roots originate from the foothills of Mt.[ar, yet the migratory search for a better futuretook Svetozar-Steve and his ancestors from the quietOdri near Tetovo far across the ocean, all the wayto the biggest automobile center in the WesternHemisphere, to the city of Detroit, Michigan.

Throughout all of these decades, experiencingfame, success, troubles, stress, and terror,Svetozar-Steve and his family have formed their

SS tranicite na ovaa monografija mu se po-sveteni na `ivotniot letopisen kola`,na isklu~itelno blagorodniot, vistino-qubiv, humanopoklonik i ~ovekoquben

amerikanski Makedonec, Svetozar-Svetle Sta-mevski, i na dolgodeceniskoto steblo na ovapoznato semejstvo. Korenite mu poteknuvaat odpod{arplaninskite sinori, a gurbetxisko-pe-~albarskite potragi za edna poinakva idnina,negovite pretci i samiot Svetozar-Svetle, givodat od pitomoto tetovsko Odri, daleku prekuokeanot, duri do najgolemiot avtomobilski cen-tar na zapadnata hemisfera, vo mi~igenskiotgrad Detroit.

Dvorot od starata ku}a vo Odri • The yard of the old house in Odri

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Pominuvaj}i niz slava, uspesi, problemi, napo-ri, premreìja, Svetozar-Svetle i negovite Sta-mevski, niz site ovie decenii nepokorno, mnoguuporno, otporno i rezultatno go formiraat se-mejniot portret, koj ja zasluùva i po{irokatavnimatelna ponuda, kako primer na edna uspe{-na prikazna po~nata vo Makedonija a prodolè-na na severnoamerikanskite prostori.

Prvata pe~albarska noga na Stamevci u{tevo prvite decenii na minatiot vek, stapnala vo“vetenata zemja”, za pari da zaraboti i doma da sevrati so òlticite vo pazuvite. U{te kako deteSvetozar-Svetle so seta detska fantazija i qu-bopitnost gi slu{al i gi memoriral vo negova-ta krevka psiha prikaznite na dedo mu Krste,koj celi no}i i dni, koga }e se vratel, ja preras-kaùval taa negova te{ka i ma~na gurbetxiska saga.

Dedoto Krste od evropskite pristani{ta naparahodot se ka~il vo dale~nata 1919 godina iso torbuleto v race, zaminal za Amerika. Ovojgord i stamen Makedonec, znael deka ne }e mu selesni godinite vo dale~nata zemja bez nikoj ni-kade, no veruval vo sebe, vo svojata sila i mo}da raboti i zaraboti i da se spravi so siteisku{enija koi gi nosi eden takov pat dale~en,teòk i nepoznat.

Tokmu dedoto Krste ja povlekuva nogata i potoa,ne slu~ajno semejstvoto Stamevski gi prodolùva

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family portrait persistently, with resistance and re-sults, and it deserves to be seen as an example ofa success story begun in Macedonia and continuedin North America.

The Stamevski family first stepped on the“promised land” as early as the beginning of theprevious century, coming to earn some money andreturn home with gold in their pocket. As a youngchild, Svetozar-Steve would listen with all of hischildish fantasy and curiosity, and memorize in hisfragile little mind, the stories that his grandfatherKrste would retell for days and nights, after his re-turn, about his hardships and troubles as a migrant.

Grandfather Krste had boarded the steamboat atthe European harbors in the distant 1919, anddeparted for America with his tiny little bag in hisarms. This proud and strong Macedonian knew thathis years passed in the distant land withoutknowing anyone would not be easy ones for him.However, he believed in himself, in his strength andpower to work and earn, and to deal with all thechallenges that such a distant, difficult, andunknown trip would bring.

It was precisely Grandfather Krste who made thefirst step, and then, it was no coincidence that theStamevski family continued and completed theirmigratory lives from Odri to Detroit for always.

Svetozar-Steve lived a happy, careless, and

Odri • Odri

i gi zaokruùva pe~albarsko-iseleni~kite svoiìvoteci od Odri i zasekoga{ vo Detroit.

Vo pot{arplaninskite rasko{ni atari veselo,bezgri`no i interesno detstvo pominal Sveto-zar-Svetle. U{te od tie godini, toj postojanoslu{al i gledal i ìveel so toa deka vo nivnataku}a, sekoga{ nekoj odel i doa|al od gurbet, za-minuval i se vra}al od pe~alba, te vo bliskitedràvi, te daleku preku okeanite. Po tiepati{ta nabrgu po zamom~uvaweto }e kinisa,odnosno, }e gi prodolì i samiot toj.

No, najprvo odi na u~ili{te. Po osmoletkata,re{ava da go prodolì srednoto obrazovanievo Gostivar, vo Srednoto tehni~ko u~ili{te.„Tatko mi saka{e i naviva{e jas da odam vogimnazija, no, mojata èlba i opredelba be{epoinakva. Sakav da zavr{am zanaet a tehniku-mot mi leè{e pove}e na srce. I plus toa, sonego }e moàm i vo Amerika, kade {to ve}e bevre{en da zaminam, }e moàm pobrgu i polesnoda se snajdam i da po~nam nov ìvot.

Morav ne{to da storam za da kurtulam odselskite raboti od kravite i {talite. Zatoa,otidov vo Gostivar i otprvo se vseliv vo inter-nat. Arno-ama vo internatot kako vo horor. Ni-kakvi uslovi, nikakvo vnimanie, polo{o zdravje.Otkako ne izdràv ni cela godina, re{iv da

interesting life in the foothills of Mt. [ar. From avery young age he constantly heard and saw, andlived with the fact that in their house someone wasalways going or coming from abroad, whether it bethe countries close by or those across the Atlantic.Soon after he had grown into a young man, he wasto set out on this road, too.

Nevertheless, first he went to school. After fini-shing primary school, he decided to continue his se-condary education at the Technical Vocational Schoolin Gostivar. “My father wanted me to go to Gimna-zija, a more general-subjects high school. However,I had different desires and plans. I wanted to learna skill, and I enjoyed doing technical things more.Besides, with a skill I could go the USA, where I hadalready decided to go; I could find a job more eas-ily and start a new life.

I had to do something to get away from the villagework, the cows, and the stables. That is why I wentto Gostivar first and moved into a boarding school.However, the boarding school was a horror – badliving conditions, no attention, it could be worse. Icould not endure even a whole year, so I decided totravel every day from Odri to the school. This meantthat I traveled fifty-six kilometers every day. It wasvery hard, but I told myself that I had to endure atall costs. I used to get up at five o’clock in the morning

103




patuvam sekoj den od Odri do {koloto. Toa zna-~e{e sekoj den da pominuvam po pedeset i {estkilometri. Mnogu naporno, no stegnav zabi irekov ova mora da se izdrì po sekoja cena.Stanuvav vo pet ~asot nautro a se vra}av domaduri vo pet nave~er. Vo zimno vreme toa ve}ebea crni temnici. U{te nerasonet mora{ dagazi{ dolg pat a koga si umoren pak po istatamar{ruta nazad doma.

Nekako ja turkav naukata. Nekoja kriza mefati vo vtorata godina Ne deka ne sakav da gozavr{am {koluvaweto, no sepak vidov deka ne etoa za mene. Ni{to ne razbirav. Ni{to. Moèbi

ako bev drear poarno }e pominev. Ma kakov {traf-ciger kakvi bakra~i. Pa jas i den-denes {traf-ciger v race ne dràm. I ni{to ne popravam.Toa za mene e {pansko selo. Toga{ dali neumeeja da ne nau~at ili, pak, ne{to drugo be{evo pra{awe.

Ma{inobravarskiot zanaet be{e toj koj goimavme po zavr{uvaweto na srednoto tehni~koobrazovanie, ma{inski otsek. Potoa ostanav voGostivar dva meseca. Eden den, re{iv da osta-vam sé. Taka i storiv, ostaviv se i nabrgu ve}egi pakuvav kuferite za dolgiot pat duri doSoedinetite Amerikanski Dràvi.

and come back at five in the evening. In the winterit was dark that time of day. You had to walk all thatway still sleepy in the morning, and then again, tired,walk the same road back.

I did my school work somehow. I fell in some kindof crisis in my second year (year ten of school). Notthat I did not want to finish it – it was just that Irealized that I was not made out for it. I did not un-derstand anything. Nothing. Perhaps if I had beena metal smith, it would have been better. I was nogood with the screwdriver. To this day I cannot evenhold a screwdriver in my hand. I never fix anything.It is all foreign to me. I do not know whether they

just did not know how to teach us at the time, orwhether something else was the problem.

After finishing at the mechanical department of thesecondary technical school, we became skilled metalsmiths. I remained in Gostivar for two more months.One day I decided to leave everything. So I did; Ileft everything, and soon I was packing my bags forthe long trip to the USA.

As time passed I began thinking very seriouslyabout getting married. Not that my life as a bache-lor was bad, but I was coming to an age that I tho-ught was the right age for me to ‘lose my mind’, asour people would say.

104



Zorica }erkata na Petko, Tvrdomir i Velko • Zorica Petko’s daughter, Tvrdomir, and Velko

Vremeto si vrve{e i po~nav mnogu serioznoda razmisluvam okolu mojata èna~ka. Ne dekamom~e{kiot ìvot mi be{e lo{, no, navleguvavvo godini koi smetav oti se taman da zastanam na,{to bi rekol na{iot narod „ludiot kamen“.

Lagodniot ìvot vo Amerika ne go otkornuvaod negovite rodni krai{ta. Kade da ja bara svo-jata sre}a. Niz glavata mu se vrtat mnogu misli,idei, priliki, devojki, predlozi, i {to s¢ ne.Ama edno e sigurno, kako i sekoj dobar Makedonec,re{en e da zeme moma Makedonka.

„Da bide od na{ite krai{ta, i toa e kone~-nata odluka. Na{ite èni se podobri od kojabilo Amerikanka. Sakav da imam èna a ne {efkoj postojano }e mi „trie sol na glavata“. Vakasvoeto si e svoe. Ama sa-kav mojata idna soprugada bide i od golema fa-milija, so dosta bra}a isestri, za da ne mi pla~epostojano posle, da baraza da se vra}a nazad za dagi vidi mama i tato“.

Od tolku momi {to okomu frlile na li~en Sve-tozar-Svetle i vo Ameri-ka i vo Tetovsko, toj se-pak na krajot ja odbrali~na moma Svetlana.

Sredbata bila slu~aj-na, poznatstvoto, isto ta-ka na 26 maj. „Be{e prem-lada. Ima{e odvaj {es-naeset godini, rodena ena 28 juli 1963 godina.Ama kako toga{ bilo vremena zemjotresot, taa imatri datumi na ra|awe,bidej}i nemalo ni mati~no.

Ne se ni znae{e dali nejzinite trojca bra}a}e ja dadat za mene. Jas onaka visok, doteran,izmaznet, krckam celiot, vlegov kako {erif voNovo Selo. Odam kaj roditelite na Svetlana ipo site adeti, ja pobarav za nevesta. Dadovme,zbor, nazdravivme. Se sobraa rodninite i kom-{iite. Selo veselo. I dobiv dozvola, da moàmda si ja odnesam vo Amerika.

Samo po edna nedela se ven~avme. Svadbanapravivme, isto taka, po site obi~ai i sre}nizadovolni, po~navme da pribirame dokumenti zazaminuvawe. Kako {to mojata nevesta ima{e

The easygoing life in the USA did not pull himaway from his native place. Where was he to seekhis fortune? All kinds of thoughts, ideas, opportuni-ties, girls, and proposals went through his head. Butone thing was for certain; like every good Macedo-nian, he had decided to marry a Macedonian girl.

„She was to come from our area, and that wasthe final decision. Our women are better than anyAmerican woman. I wanted to have a wife, and nota boss who would be ‘telling me what to do’ con-stantly. It is different when they come from yourown area. But I also wanted my future wife to comefrom a large family with many brothers and sisters,so that she would not be crying to me constantly andwanting to go back to see her mummy and daddy“.

Of all the young womenthat found Svetle attractivein both the USA and theTetovo area, in the end hechose the beautiful younggirl, Svetlana.

It was a chance enco-unter on the 26 May. „Shewas so young, barely six-teen. She was born on the28 July 1963. However, shehas three different birth-dates as she was born atthe time of the earthquakeand there was no birth reg-istry office then.

We did not even knowwhether her three brotherswould let me take her formy wife. Tall as I was, alldressed up, combed andsqueaky clean, I walkedinto Novo Selo like a sheriff.

I went to Svetlana’s parents and asked if I couldmarry her in accordance with all the customs. Theyagreed and we all drank a toast. Relatives andneighbors gathered. Everyone was merry. And I gotpermission to take her to the USA.

We got married only a week later. We had awedding, again with all the customs, and all happywe began collecting the necessary documents forour departure. As my bride had several dates ofbirth and neither an identification card or passport,I had to run from place to place to get her traveldocuments so that we could apply for a US visa.The registrar in Vratnica was my father’s cousin,

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nekolku datumi na ra|awe, a nema{e u{te ni li~-na karta ni paso{, jas morav da se rastr~am nasite strani za da gi sredime nejzinite patni is-pravi, i da brkame viza za Amerika. I vo Vrat-nica Trpko be{e mati~ar, inaku bratu~ed natatko mi, pa vo sudot vo Tetovo, isto taka, na{~ovek. Sudijata Petko otprvo malku prave{emajtap so mene, koga vide deka ne moàm da sesetam koj e toj, iako sme se videle i vo Detroit,me ispopra{a kako toa mislam da ja izdrùvamèna mi, a jas mu iznakaàv deka imam ovdeimot, deka vo Amerika imam biznis so restora-ni itn., i deka nema voop{to problem da izdr-ùvam èna i semejstvo.

Toga{ sudijata se raspoloì i vedna{ ja pratisekretarkata da kupi ne{to i, toj namesto mene,da ~esti. No, pred toa, nekoi slu`beni lica koibea dojdeni od Skopje, bidej}i be{e maloletnakandidatkata za sopruga, pa mora{e so svedocida se sredat rabotite, go pra{uvaa tatkoto nanevestata kolku godini ima taa i u{te nekolkudrugi temi. Ovoj celiot se zbuni i veli, ne znam.Dali 12 ili 13. Ne znam. Imam sedum deca, re~e iod kade da im gi pamtam godinite na site.

Koga jas si pomisliv deka sega e opleskanarabotata i deka ni{to ne pravime, koga ete tatko-to ne se seti za godinite, i deka ako barame

Trpko, and at the Tetovo court, one of our peopleagain. Petko, the judge, made a little fun of me atfirst, when he realized that I could not rememberwho he was even though we had met in Detroit. Hequestioned me about how I planned to support mywife and I told him all about how I had a propertyhere, that I had a restaurant business in the USA,and that it would be absolutely no problem for meto support a wife and family.

The judge then got into a good mood and senthis secretary to buy something so that he, insteadof me, could treat everyone to a drink. But, firstthere were some officials that had come fromSkopje because my future wife was underage, sowe had to have witnesses to get the job done. Theyasked the bride’s father how old she was and someother things. He got all confused and said, ‘I don’tknow, either 12 or 13. I don’t know. I have sevenchildren; how can I remember everyone’s age?’

Just when I thought that we had really ruinedeverything since her father could not remember herage, and that if we were going to do this the rightway we would never make to the USA, just then thejudges and the other people in the room all burstout laughing. This comic situation lasted briefly,and right away they told us we could get married.

From here we set off directly for Vratnica. Trpkocame to the registrar’s office. When he saw me hestarted crying with joy. He had been in the USA forquite some time, too. He was happy and he tookout his wallet wanting to treat everyone. I said,‘Hey, wait a minute everyone. Shouldn’t the groombe treating everyone?’ Petko replied, ‘No, no, weare happy with you, so we will buy the drinks.’

The next step in getting all the formalities donewas the trip to Belgrade and procedures to get a USvisa for my wife. We took the train to what wasthen the Capital of the former federation, but whenwe came to the embassy there was a huge crowd.There were so many people that one could easilylose hope of ever getting there. ‘No way am I goingto wait here,’ I thought to myself. We, Macedonianscan found our way around in any situation.

All dressed up as I was, and according to mypassport I was a foreigner to them, I walked strai-ght into the embassy nonchalantly and boldly be-fore the very eyes of the watchmen and policemenas if I were their employee or some important visitor.

As I walked in they looked me up and down, noone daring to ask me anything, nor did I listen to

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Na svadbata na Svetozar-Svetle i Svetlana • At Svetozar-Steve and Svetlana’s wedding

prav pat nikoga{ nema da stasame vo Amerika, ete,vo toj mig, sudiite i drugite slu`beni i neslu`-beni lica vo salata prsnaa da se smeat. Ovaakomi~na situacija trae{e kratko, i vedna{ ni jadadoa odlukata deka moè da stapime vo brak.

Ottuka kinisavme pravo vo Vratnica. Vo Ma-ti~noto dojde Trpko. Koga me vide po~na duri ida pla~e od radost. I toj be{e vo Amerika mnoguvreme. Mu be{e milo i toj go odvrza keseto,saka{e da ~esti. A, bre ~ekajte lu|e, velam jas,pa neli treba zetot da po~esti. Ne, ne, mi voz-vrati Petko, i nie se raduvame zaedno so vas, izatoa i nie }e ~estime.

Sledniot ~ekor okolu sreduvaweto na for-malnostite, be{e patuvaweto do Belgrad i pro-cedurata okolu dobivaweto na amerikanska vizaza nevestata. Stasavme so vozot vo toga{niotglaven grad na biv{ata federacija, no koga doj-dovme pred ambasadata, ima{e {to da vidime,narod pleva. Tolku mnogu be{e gu`va, {to ~o-vek da izgubi nade` deka moè da dojde na red.Ne doa|a vo predvid da ~ekam, si rekov. Ta nelinie Makedoncite sme snaodlivi vo site priliki.

Jas onaka doteran i bidej}i spored paso{otza niv bev stranec, sosema non{alantno i od-va`no, pred o~ite na redarite i policajcite,si vleguvam vnatre vo ambasadata, nebare sumnivni slu`benik ili vaèn dojdenec.

Jas vleguvam, tie me merkaat, nikoj ne se osu-duva ni{to da me pra{a, nitu pak gi slu{am koj{to veli i kako veli, odam pravo na {alterot.Vo toj moment slu{am kako nekoj vika - Mi{o,Mi{o! A si velam, zna~i toj e Mi{o koj treba dami ja otvori vratata. Toga{ i jas viknav - Mi{ootvori, ama na angliski. Eden ~ovek vistina miotvori vrata, me gleda, ne znae koj sum. Samo murekov deka odam gore i tolku. Prodolìv. Sivelam ako ~ekam, nikoga{ nema da vlezam. Vakaako treba neka se pravam i na udren, samo da sezavr{i rabotava.

Na katot stoeja duri ~etvorica policajci.Aj! Im velam na angliski, tie isto me otpozdra-vija, pra{uvaj}i me od kade sum.

Od Mi~igen, rekov. Toga{, }e odi{ vo taa itaa soba kaj konzulot, me upatija tie. Po~ukavdvapati na vratata. Gospo|ata koga me vide, se~udi, koj sum, pak, sega jas.

Sakam da se ènam, im rekov, vedna{, a imamproblemi so dokumentite, za èna mi. Prvo mi~estitaa site {to bea vo sobata, a potoa, rekoa,deka nema nikakov problem. Go pratija policaecot

who or what anyone wassaying. I went straight tothe counter. At thatinstant I heard someonecall out, ‘Mi{o, Mi{o!’‘Aha,’ I thought, ‘so Mi{ois the guy who shouldopen the door for me.’ So,I called out, too, ‘Mi{o,open the door!’ but Icalled out in English.Someone really openedup the door for me andlooked at me, not know-ing who I was. I just toldhim I was going upstairs,and I continued. I toldmyself that if I waited, Inever would have comeinside. This way I wouldeven pretend I was crazyif I had to, as long as gotthe job done.

There were four poli-cemen standing on thatfloor. I said, ‘Hi!’ to themin English. They greetedme, too and asked whereI was from.

‘From Michigan,’ I said.Then they told me whichroom to go to, to see theconsul. I knocked twiceon the door. When thelady saw me, she won-dered who I was.

‘I would like to getmarried right away,’ I toldthem, ‘but I am havingtrouble with my wife’s pa-pers. First, everyone in theroom congratulated me,and then they said therewould be no problem.They sent the policemanto go outside and bringmy bride from where shewas waiting in queue withall those people. Theyopened up my file andrealized that had taken

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109



Na svadbata na Svetlana i Svetozar-Svetle • At Svetlana and Svetozar-Steve’s wedding

Decata na Svetozar-Svetle i Svetlana • Svetozar-Steve and Svetlana’s children

za da ja donese tamu dolu od redot, mojata ne-vesta koja ~eka{e zaedno so tolku narod. Ved-na{ go otvorija dosieto i gledaat deka jas duritrinaeset lu|e sum donel vo Amerika. Otkako japrelistaa seta dokumentacija i garancijata {toja imav za Svetlana, toga{ nea ja pra{aa - dalime saka. Taa vedna{ kako od pu{ka odgovori so - da.

Interesno be{e {to i cve}e donesoa. Se ven-~avme, tuka vo amerikanskata ambasada vo Bel-grad. Se po{eguvaa toga{ velej}i ni deka u{teedna Amerikanka sega imaat plus. Gi stavija sitepe~ati, mi ja dadoa vizata v raka i me sovetuvaadeka moram da izvadam lekarsko uverenie, bidej-}i bez toa, taa po ova ne moè da vleze vo SAD.

Ottamu otidovme pravo vo bolnicata za da ze-meme lekarsko uverenie. No, i pred bolnicatanarod kako pleva. Nema {ansa da se stasa na redso denovi. Mojata itro{tina morav nekako pak daja upotrebam. Gledam kako medicinski sestrivleguvaa od zadnata vrata i jas trgnav po niv. Jaotvori edna sestra vratata i me pra{uva {tobaram jas tuka. I, velam, ne samo kogo baram, tukui mene koj me bara oti se izgubiv.

“A, {to vi treba, mi se obrati ènata. I kaàvvo dve re~enici s¢, koga edna {to stoe{e potamure~e deka, ba{ taa }e ni zavr{i rabota. Jas objas-nuvam kako vo Belgrad s¢ {to treba{e od strana

thirteen people to the USA. After they looked at allthe documents and the letter of invitation I had forSvetlana, they asked her if she loved me. Withouthesitating, she said ‘Yes’ right away.

It was interesting that they even brought a bunchof flowers for us. We got married, there at the USEmbassy in Belgrade. They joked, saying that they nowhad one more American. They put all the stamps,gave me the visa in my hand, and advised me to getmy wife a doctor’s certificate because without it shewould not be able to enter the USA.

From there, we went directly to the hospital toget a doctor’s certificate. However, there were hugecrowds in front of the hospital, too. It would takedays for your turn to come. I had to use my clever-ness again somehow. I watched nurses going inthrough the back door and set off behind them. Anurse opened up the door and asked what I want-ed there. I told her not only who I was looking for,but who was looking for me, too because I hadgotten lost.

‘What do you need?’ the lady asked me. In acouple of sentences I told her everything. Anotherlady, who stood a little further, told us that she woulddo everything for us. I explained to her that all theother documents I needed in Belgrade were ready,and that all we needed was the doctor’s certificate.

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Stamevski na oro • The Stamevski family dancing

na dokumenti mi e gotovo, a deka ostana samo lekar-skoto uverenie. Nemam vo ovoj grad nikakvi rod-nini, nitu pak nekogo poznavam, a nemam ni vreme,bidej}i se brzam za da stasam na vreme vo Amerika.

Qubeznite medicinski lica u{te i so kafeme ponudija, ja povikaa soprugata, taze nevesta, ginapravija site pregledi i ni kaàa deka rezulta-tite }e se gotovi utre-izutrina. Im velam, dekane moàm da ~ekam tolku ni slu~ajno, a ako trebase }e platam samo vedna{ u{te denes da se zavr-{i rabotata. Toa ne uspea, bidej}i moralo da se~eka do izutrina. Koga sabajleto otidovme, nemaaber od rezultatite. Se podnalutiv, pa belkimnema da zagubam i cela nedela ~ekaj}i niz Bel-grad samo na eden rezultat.

Mi prijde edna qubezna gospo|a, me pra{uva{to e problemot. I kaàv. Potoa se interesira-{e kako e vo Amerika, jas i dadov nekoj dolar dase po~esti iako ne saka{e. Dojde so mene nizcela bolnica, gi zede rezultatite, mi gi dade ijas zablagodaruvaj}i i se, zaminav.

Slednata destinacija be{e patni~kata agen-cija za da zemam karta za Svetlana za Amerika.Koga dojdov na red, slu`beni~kata po~na da vres-ka. Nema karti, mi re~e nekulturno i si se svrte.Jas sosema bev so vrzani race, bidej}i bev so ne-vestata, pa morav da bidam strpliv, inaku lom kenapravev. Ajde nekako, so dobro, so ne{to ru{-vet, i vo dva dena ete, i toa se zavr{i.

Izlegovme nadvor da fa}ame voz za Tetovo, amojata izbrani~ka pra{uva, {to pravime so svadba.Edino ~are be{e da se fatime za telefon. Yvo-nime kaj nejzinite, yvonime i kaj moite vo Odrii barame vo nedelata vedna{ svadba da pravimebidej}i vo ponedelnikot za Amerika trgnuvame.Taka i se slu~i. Nabrzina be{e, ama ubava svadbabe{e. So zet, nevesta, deveri, svatovi, muziki, iso site adeti ja napravivme. Sledniot den nieve}e zaminavme kon Detroit.

Na internacionalniot del od aerodromot vo De-troit, bea dojdeni majka mi so zetot i nekoi drugirodnini i prijateli. Ne pre~ekaa ni se izraduvaa.Tatko mi im rekol - ajde bre, toj neoti }e dojde sonevesta. ]e go vidite sega so nekoi deca tamu naaerodromot. Koga dojdovme doma, gleda i se ~udi,koj do{ol za neceli dve nedeli so viza i sitezavr{eni formalnosti. No, koga sednavme i giizraskaàvme site raboti, se be{e jasno, iakoizgleda{e kako na film. Gospodova rabota...“ Jazavr{i prikaskata Svetozar-Svetle Stamevski.

I told her I had no relatives in the city, nor did Iknow anyone, and that I had no time eitherbecause I was in a hurry to get to the USA on time.

The kind medical personnel even offered me somecoffee. They called my newlywed wife to come in,examined her, and told us that the results would beready the following morning. I told them there wasno way I could wait that long, and that I would payif necessary but to have everything done that day.This did not work, for they had to wait for the nextmorning. When we went back the next morning,there was no sign of the results. I lost my temper alittle; I did not wish to waste a whole week inBelgrade waiting around for just one result.

A very kind lady approached me and asked whatthe problem was. I told her. Then she asked how itwas in the USA. I gave her a few dollars to buy her-self something even though she did not want it. Shecame with me throughout the hospital, got the re-sults, and gave them to me. I thanked her and left.

Our next destination was the travel agency topurchase a ticket for the USA for Svetlana. When itwas my turn, the lady started yelling. She told merudely that there were no tickets, and turned away.I had to be very patient being with my young wife;otherwise I really would have made a scene. So,somehow, the nice way, in two days we had fi-nished that, too.

We went outside to catch the train to Tetovo, whenmy young bride asked me what we were going todo about a wedding. The only thing we could dowas to pick up the telephone. We called her family,and then my family in Odri, and asked them to havethe wedding that Sunday because we were leavingfor the USA on the Monday. So it was. It was a hasty,but beautiful wedding. We had the groom, the bride,best man, in-laws, music, and all the traditionalcustoms. The next day we departed for Detroit. Mymother and my brother-in-law along with someother friends and relatives had come to meet us atthe international section of Detroit airport. Theygreeted us with a lot of joy. My father had said tothem, ‘Come on, I doubt whether he will come witha wife. You will see him with some children there atthe airport.’ When we got home, he looked in won-der – who had arrived in less than two weeks witha visa and all the formalities completed? But, whenwe sat down and told them everything, it becameclear, and seemed like a movie. God’s work…“Finished the story Svetozar-Steve Stamevski.

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Svetozar-Svetle vo mladi godini • Svetozar-Steve as a young man

Svetlana Stamevska • Svetlana Stamevska

115



ZZ aedni~kiot `i-vot na Svetozar-Svetle i Svet-lana nalikuva

na edna sovremena sto-rija. Tie ja gradatbra~nata zaednica somnogu qubov, me|useb-na doverba, vnimaniei uva`uvawe. Imaat~etiri prekrasni decaVelko, Zoran, Biljanai Gordana.

Velko e najstariotsin i prva ro`ba nasemejstvoto na Sveto-zar-Svetle Stamevski.Toj e roden na 21 april1981 godina vo Detro-it. Bil dobar u~eniki student, a denes odipo stapkite na svojottatko vo restoranskioti drug biznis. Velko}e vleze vo bra~nitevodi so svojata dolgaqubov Silvana Trbo-vi}, na 4 juni 2006 go-dina. Za svojot sinSvetozar-Svetle }enapravi golema svad-ba. ]e pokani okolu

YY vetozar-Steveand Svetlana’slife together re-sembles a mo-

dern story. They builttheir marriage with a lotof love, mutual trust,attention, and respect.They have four wonder-ful children, Velko, Zo-ran, Biljana, and Gorda-na.

Velko is the eldestson and the first of Sve-tozar-Steve Stamevski'schildren. He was bornon 21 April 1981, inDetroit. He was a goodpupil and student, andis now following hisfather's footsteps in therestaurant and otherbusiness. Velko will ma-rried the girl he loved formany years, SilvanaTrbovi}, on 4 June 2006.Svetozar-Steve will havea big wedding for hisson upon the occasionof this significant eventfor the two families. Hewill invited about six

MLADITE GENERACIITHE YOUNG GENERATIONS

Gordana • Gordana

{estotini gosti, rodnini i prijateli od sitedelovi na SAD i Kanada. Toa }e bide svadba koja}e se pameti po s¢ ona {to semejstvoto Sta-mevci }e go ponudi na gostite.

Vtoriot sin na Svetlana i Svetozar-Svetle eZoran koj e roden na 18 oktomvri 1982 godina. Toje roden na godina i polovina po svojot brat Velko.

Tretata ro`ba e Biljana, rodena na 12 septem-vri 1984 godina. Taa e prvo ènsko ~edo na se-mejstvoto na Svetozar-Svetle Stamevski, a ~et-vrtata e Gordana, koja e rodena na 22 avgust1985 godina. Tie se dobri studenti koi, isto-vremeno i u~at i rabotat vo restoranot. êstodedoto Tvrdomir veli deka ne e mo}en da godrì restoranot bez negovite vnu~iwa. Tie muse desna raka.

Semejstvoto Stamevski e edna prekrasnaamerikansko-makedonska zaednica, koja e gorda{to e od tetovskiot kraj isto kolku {to e gordadeka e od detroitskoto, mi~igensko podnebje.

Rabotite i vo biznisot sosema mu trgnaa naarno na ova semejstvo.Restorani, pa potoadoa|a nivnoto navlegu-vawe vo pretpriema{t-voto, vo grade`ni{tvo-to i vo nedvi`nostite.Stamevski otkupuvaatslobodni placevi iprostori, i gradat ku-}i, gradat naselbi zaìveewe so visok stan-dard. Da gi poso~imeonie izgradeni {eese-ttina super luksuznirezidencijalni ìvea-li{ta so bazeni i go-lemi gradini. Ima{ekupeno i okolu 330.000metri kvadratni pro-daèn prostor. Pa sle-dea drugi, treti zafa-ti i taka vo niza. Uspe-site se nièle. Ne dekase odelo kako podma~ka-no. No, upornosta, sna-odlivosta i znaeweto nabosot na firmata odStamevci, gi razre{u-vaat problemite.

hundred guests, friends, and relatives from all overthe USA and Canada. Considering everything thatthe Stamevski and Trbovi} families will offer theirguests, this will a wedding to remember.

Zoran, born on 18 October 1982, is Svetlana andSvetozar-Steve's second son. He was born a year-and-a-half after his brother, Velko. Their third child,Biljana, was born on 12 September, 1984. She wasthe first girl in the family. Gordana, born on 22August 1985, is their fourth child. They are exce-llent students who study and work at the restaurantat the same time. Their grandfather, Tvrdomir, oftensays that he would be unable to run the restaurantwithout the help of his grandchildren. They are likehis right hand in his work, and he is very glad.

The Stamevski family is a wonderful American-Macedonian community. They are just as proud tobe from the Tetovo area, as they are proud to befrom the Detroit-Michigan area.

This family was also very lucky in business. Firstthe restaurants, and then they went into the entre-

preneurship business,construction, and realestate. They purchasedvacant lots and premi-ses, built houses andentire high class resi-dential blocks. Let usjust mention the sixtyor so highly luxuriousresidences with swimm-ing pools and huge gar-dens. He had also pur-chased about 330,000feet, or about 100,000square meters of busi-ness premises. A chainof other endeavors fol-lowed. One successcame after another. Notthat everything went sosmoothly, but the clev-erness and knowledgeof the boss of theStamevski firm resolvedall the problems.

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Silavana i Velko • Silvana and Velko

117



Silvana i Velko • Silvana and Velko

118



Velko i Silvana so darovi • Velko and Silvana with presents

Svetlana i Svetozar-Svetle - sre}ni roditeli • Svetlana and Svetozar-Steve - happy parents

119



Biljana i Aleksandar Pirkovi} • Biljana and Aleksandar Pirkovi}

120



Semejstvoto Stamevski • The Stamevski family

Biljana i Gordana • Biljana and Gordana

Gordana • Gordana

Zoran • oran • ZoranZoran

123



Cena i Leposava so vnu~iwata • Cena and Leposava with the grandchildren

Silavana i Velko • Silvana and Velko

124



Decata na Stamevci so drugari • Stamevski’s children with friends

Gordana so drugarki • Gordana with friends

125



Biljana • Biljana Svetozar-Svetle so Zorica i Pavlina • Svetozar-Steve with Zorica and Pavlina

126



Gordana • Gordana

127



Cena, Velko, Biljana • Cena, Velko, and Biljana

Zorica, David, Greg • Zorica, David, and Greg

128



Biljana i Gordana • Biljana and Gordana

So prijateli na Florida • With friends in Florida

129



Svetozar-Svetle so Suzana • Svetozar-Steve with Suzana

Svetozar-Svetle so Biljana • Svetozar-Steve with Biljana

130



Sre}ni roditeli: Svetlana i Svetozar-Svetle • Happy parents: Svetlana and Svetozar-Steve

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OO snovata na biznisot na Svetozar-SvetleStamevski ja postavi negoviot tatkoTvrdomir, koj vloìl mnogu trud, vreme,pamet i sredstva. Istoriskiot razvoj na

nivniot biznis ne bil lesen, tuku bil ispolnetso turbulencii. No, blagodarenie na nivnataverba vo Boga, i kako rezultat na samodoverbata,to~nosta, ispolnitelnosta, ~esnosta i delov-nosta, tie postignale zna~aen uspeh. Semejstvo-to na Svetozar-Svetle Stamevski e edno od po-imotnite Makedonski semejstva vo SAD.

Za po~etocite na biznisot Svetozar-Svetleveli: „Go kupivme restoranot kade {to rabote{etatko mi. I jas tamu bev dosta angaìran, no is-tovremeno bev i vo fabrikata. Na dve mesta ne be{elesno, iscrpuva~ki e toa maksimalno, no zarabo-tuva~kata ne be{e lo{a. Vo 1979 godina, vedna{po Novata godina, ja napu{tiv fabrikata i pro-dolìv edinstveno samo so restoranskiot biznis.Iako mlad, mislam deka uspeav prili~no brgu iprili~no dobro da ovladeam so nego, pa bogamipo~na i na cena ve}e da bide, doa|a{e s¢ podobraklientela, steknuvavme s¢ pobrojni i dobri gosti“.

Potoa zapo~naa da kupuvaat nedvièn imot, koj imobezbedi napredok vo biznisot. Taka, denes semej-stvoto na Svetozar-Svetle Stamevski e sopstvenikna pet golemi trgovski centri, vo razli~ni mestavo Mi~igen i Ohajo. Tie se sopstvenici na 60du}anski prostori, od koi tri supermarketi i dru-gi specijalizirani delovni prostorii. Pritoanegoviot luksuzen dom vo op{tinata Va{ington,pretstavuva privle~no i bogato kat~e za ìvee-we. Restoranot, pak, na Svetozar-Svetle e mestona sredbi i razdelbi. Vo nego, pokraj vkusnatahrana {to ja prigotvuva Tvrdomir, prijatelstva-ta i sredbite zazemaat posebno mesto.

YY vetozar-Steveeve Stamevski's business wasestablished by his father, Tvrdomir, who in-vested a lot of time, effort, cleverness, andfunds. The historical development of his bu-

siness was not an easy one. Instead, it was filled withrises and falls. Nevertheless, thanks to their faith inGod, their self confidence, punctuality, conscientious-ness, sincerity, and professionalism, they accomplis-hed significant success. Svetozar-Steve Stamevski'sfamily is one of the better standing Macedonian fam-ilies in the USA and beyond.

„We bought the restaurant at which my fatherworked. I also spent a lot of time there, but I workedat the factory at the same time. It was not easy towork in two places at the same time; it was mostexhausting, but the earnings were good. In 1979,right after New Year’s I left the factory and continuedworking only in the restaurant business. Although Iwas young, I think that I managed to pick up thebusiness quite well and quite quickly. And the restau-rant started becoming more popular, with increa-singly better and more numerous guests coming“.

Then they began purchasing real estate proper-ties, which enabled him to progress in the business.Thus, today Svetozar-Steve Stamevski's family ownsfive large shopping malls, or plazas, in various citiesin the states of Michigan and Ohio. They own sixtystores, of which three supermarkets and other spe-cialized business premises. At the same time, hisluxurious home in the Washington municipality inDetroit is an attractive and rich living place. Hisrestaurant, "Steve's Caffee" is a meeting and partingplace. Here, in addition to the tasty dishes that chefTvrdomir prepares, the friendships and meetingsare a story in themselves and deserve a specialplace.

BIZNISOT NA STAMEVSKITHE STAMEVSKI FAMILY BUSINESS

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Trgovskiot centar vo Tekamseh • The shopping center in Tecumseh

Du}an vo Tekamseh • A store in Tecumseh

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Trgovskiot centar vo Harper

Trgovskiot centar vo Port Hjuron • The shopping center in Port Huron

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The shopping center in Harper

Eden od restoranite • One of the restaurants

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Trgovskiot centar vo Ist Taun vo Ohajo • The East Towne shopping center in Ohio

Mestoto Vest Rix kade e ku}ata • West Ridge, where the house is located Pred restoranot vo Detroit • In front of the restaurant in Detroit

[ESTI DEL

SO QUBOV KON MAKEDONIJA

PART VI

TO MACEDONIA , WITH LOVE

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Ku}ata vo Odri vo prolet • The house in Odri in spring

So semejstvoto na Tomislav Stojanovski -Bombaj • With Tomislav Stojanovski – Bombaj’s family

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VIDEL - SO QUBOV KON MAKEDONIJA

PART VI - TO MACEDONIA WITH LOVE

Tatko i sin vo Makedonija • Father and son in Macedonia

Velko vo Makedonija • Velko in Macedonia

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Sve~eno pu{tawe na patot za Odri • Official opening of the road to Odri

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PP ot{arplaninskoto selo Odri, kon koe seupativme eden son~ev oktomvriski po-nedelnik, veli Laze Bilbilovski, novi-nar na makedonskoto radio - Radio-

Skopje vo svojata reportaà za pu{taweto napatot vo rodnoto selo na Svetozar-Svetle Stamev-ski i prodolùva. „Moè li peroto na novinarot,moè li reporterskiot mikrofon da ja izmerisilata na kopneòt kon stariot kraj? Moàt lida se dolovat mislite i ~uvstvata tamu dalekuzad okeanot, za edna vakva esen pod [ar Planina?Za nas odovde od ovaa na{a i nivna makedonskazemja, te{ko e toa. Pa sepak, dol`nost i ~esnaobvrska na novinarot e da se obide toa da go po-~uvstvuva i da go prenese barem vo retkite sred-bi so tie na{i sovremeni gurbet~ii. A niv odTetovsko vo Amerika, vo Detroit gi ima mnogu. Niv-nite o~i ako gi sretnete, velat, sekoga{ sme tuka,makar so du{ata. Sakame da pomogneme. Moèbivo toa ima izvesna gordost zaradi parite spe~a-leni vo novata tatkovina. Pa i za inaet. Koj znae.Nadevaj}i se na edna takva sredba, velam, poj-dovme vo Odri. Za àl ne go sretnavme doma}inotTvrdomir Stamevski. Nekolku dena porano zami-nal za Amerika. No tuka be{e negoviot brat, ipote~e prikaznata.

- Jas se vikam Todor \urovski od selo Odri,Tetovsko sega ìveam vo istoto selo. Nie sme petbra}a jas sum najstariot brat ta se nao|am tuka voselo Odri. A od moite bra}a dojde eden brat, tojse vika Tvrdomir-Tvrde Stamevski. Osum godinine bil a s¢ na s¢ 18 godini e vo Amerika vo Det-roit. Koga dojde, toj re{il ottamu, bidej}i ovde

rom the village of Odri, which is on the footof Mt. [ar, to which we headed that sunnyMonday in October, Laze Bilbilovski, a reporter from the Macedonian radio station

in Skopje, said in his report on the opening of theroad in Svetozar-Steve Stamevski's native village,and he continued. Can the reporter's pen, can thereporter's microphone measure the strength of thelonging for one's native place? Can one express thethoughts and feelings there, far across the ocean,for one such autumn at the foot of Mt. [ar? It ishard to do this from here, from our and theirMacedonia. Nevertheless, it is a reporter's responsi-bility and sincere obligation to try to feel this and topass it across at least during those rare meetingswith our modern migrants, (gurbet~ii). And thereare many of them from the Tetovo area in the USAand in Detroit. If you see their eyes they will tellyou, We are always here, at least deep in our souls,if not more. We want to help. Perhaps there is acertain pride in this because of the money earnedin their new fatherland. And out of mere spite. Whoknows? Hoping for one such meeting, as I said, weheaded for Odri. Unfortunately, we did not meetthe host, Tvrdomir Stamevski. He had left for theUSA a few days earlier. But, his brother was there,and so the story began. He spoke in his Odridialect.

My name is Todor Gjurovski. I come from the vi-llage of Odri, near Tetovo, and I live in the village.I am the eldest of five brothers, and I have remai-ned in the village of Odri. Of all my brothers, onecame. His name is Tvrdomir Stamevski. He came

PATOT E "IVOT - "IVOTOT E PATTHE ROAD IS LIFE – LIFE IS A ROAD

after eight years. He had not come for eight years,and he has been in Detroit, USA, for 18 years alto-gether. When he came, since he did not have a carhere, he decided there to come by car.

He brought the car on the plane. When he came,as brothers, we went here and there, He ruined thecar; we don't have a road to the village. After thesetroubles, I said to my brother, 'Brother, let's dosomething to put an end to these problems with theroad. It was enough. We are old; let us see somegoodness, too. What can we do, brother?’ And hegave me an answer’. You know how. Ask your Ma-cedonian friends in Detroit somehow to raise somemoney, and we here will get some, and we can fixit. You say, that needs a lot of work, and it wouldtake a long time. I don't have time to wait for it thatlong. How can we do this quickly? ‘Quickly, I said’,if you have the money, you can do anything. ‘Andthey did as they had decided. He thought for a whi-le and said’. I'll do it. We will go to the municipalcouncil, ask how much a square kilometer costs,and whether they would be ready to do it rightaway. So that we don't have to wait. So that itcould be done quickly. To have the asphalt.’ And wewent to see the municipal mayor. He instructed usto go to the Roads Department.

We checked everything and the job was done.When we decided with my brother, and the munic-ipal council promised to do everything, my brotherprovided the funds, in foreign currency. He paideverything in foreign currency, in dollars. And wecollected ten million (dinars) from every householdin the village. It was not big money, but my broth-er insisted so that the village people could say thatthey also contributed to the road, that they alsogave money. So that no one could say some daythat only one person made it. My brother wouldn'thear of it. 'You will all contribute a little and partic-ipate in the road, so that we will all participate. I donot want anyone to say that only I, only Tvrdomirmade the road. I do not want that.' That was howhe spoke. And that is how it was. We raised moneyfrom the villagers and fixed a few days for volun-tary work to widen and clean up the road. Variousbranches of trees and vegetation had grown allover it on both sides. We trimmed everything,cleaned up, and had everything ready for the RoadsDepartment to come and work. And they beganworking on the road immediately. And they made it.That is how it was with our asphalt in the village ofOdri.

nema{e negova kola, da dojde so kola. Kolata jadonel so avion. Koga stigna, nie kako bra}a se dru-ìmo idemo tamu-vamo kolava ja upropasti, nema-mo put, nemamo vlez vo seloto. I od tia muke jasmu spomnav na brat mi, brat bre nekako da u~ini-mo so ovia put da se turi kraj. Dosta bilo. Pastari smo vi{e, pa da vidimo i nie ne{to malkoubavo. Pa kako da naprajmo bre brat. Mi dadeodgovor. Kako. Daj nekako dopra{aj se so drugari-te tamo na{i ludi {to ima u Detroit neka pribe-rev nekoja para pa ne{to i nie od ovde da ga na-prajmo. A, re~e, toa mnogu rabota ima mlogo }e seprodolì toa. Nemam vreme tolku da se prodol-ùva toa, nego nekako nabrzina da se napravi.Nabrzina, ako ima{ pare, rekov, sve biduva.

I kako {to re{ile taka i napravile.Se pomisli on malko pa re~e. ]e napraim. ]e

idemo re~e u op{tina }e pra{amo koja e cena pokvadrat na kilometar sve toa kako moè i dali }e senafati da ni naprai odma. Da ne ~ekamo mie. Od-ma nabrzina da bide toa. Napraeno asvalt. I oti-dovmo u op{tina pri pretsedatelot. Toj ne prati naUpravata za pati{ta ispitavmo se, bidna rabotava.

Koga re{ivmo so bratot i ni obe}a op{tinatasve da se napravi i brat mi obezbedi sredstva udevize. Sve platil u devize, dolare. A od seqaniteod svaka ku}a sobravmo po deset miliona, bratotmoj zahteva{e, tie ne bea nekoi golemi pare, negoda re~ev seqanite i nie smo u~estvovale vo pu-tot. I nie smo dale pare. Da ne moè da se re~eutre deka samo eden go napravil. Toa brat mi ne sa-ka{e da ~ue. Site }e si dadete po malku i da bi-dete u~esnici u putot za da bidemo site u~esnicine samo jas da re~at, a Tvrdomir go naprail pu-tot. Toa ne sakam. I taka se izrazuva{e on. I svetoa bidna, sobravmo pari od seqanite i odrediv-mo nekolko dena akcija da se pro{iri putot, dase o~isti. Toj be{e urasnat od dvete strani levo-

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desno od granke od razni drvja. Sve smo toa iskas-trile, otvorile, smo namestile i koga be{e goto-vo za da dojde Uprava za pati{ta da ni raboti toabe{e sve gotovo. I odma momentalno po~naa putotda go pravat. I go napravija. Taka be{e so asval-tot na{ vo seloto Odri. Ne bilo takov nastan voseloto da ne se odbeleì. Re{ivmo edna sve~enostda naprajmo. Toa za nas, za na{eto selo be{e naj-golem praznik. Najgolemo ne{to za nas be{e {todobivme asvalt. I ni dojdoa od sosednite sela,smo gi pokanile kako gosti na pu{tawe na putot,lenta smo sekle, lenta zna~i, kako dolikuva. Pu-tot go blagoslovi mitropolitot Kiril, a ima{e imnogu drugi vidni gosti. Golema radost smo ima-le. I taka go pu{tivme putot na upotreba.“

Glasot na dobrodetelta nadaleku se slu{a re-kol narodot odamna. Vpro~em i nie pottiknati odtoj glas trgnavme da napravime zapis za deloto{to ne }e ostane nezabeleàno kako {to veli pret-sedatelot na tetovskoto dru{tvo na Maticata naiselenicite od Makedonija, @ivko Vidoevski.

Eden takov primer e na{iot predlog do Sobra-nieto na Op{tina Tetovo za nagradata 19 noemvrina Tvrdomir Stamevski od selo Odri koj so 60 ot-sto od vkupniot iznos u~estvuva{e vo izgradbatana asfaltniot pat do svoeto selo. Bi bilo toa priz-nanie od negoviot roden kraj za Tvrdomira tamudaleku zad golemata voda vo Detroit vo Amerika.No veruvam li~no za nego toa podaruvawe na 15-ina iljadi dolari za nov asfalten pat od Odrido patot kon Tetovo sega ve}e ima i ne{to po-inakva dimenzija. Edna ideja rodena prvin kakoli~en inaet so {arplaninskite bespa}a se preto-~i vo nezgasliva èd. Crnata asfaltna lenta pokoja ita avtomobilot kon Tetovo za Tvrdomir i zanegovite bra}a no i za mnogumina kako niv go otvo-ri patot za vra}awe na starite ogni{ta.

Brat mi Tvrdomir 18 godini ìvee vo Amerika,vo Detroit, dodade Todor i re~e deka brat mu Tvrd-ko so telo e vo Detroit, a so duhot e vo Odri. Stalnomisli za rodniot kraj. Eve sega pravi ku}a. Maj-stori mu rabotat, a toj mora{e da se vrati nazadza{to ima rabota i tamu, da ne trpi taa. Naproletpak }e dojde, da se doraboti ku}ata vo negovoprisustvo i ima namera da dojde za postojano daìvee ovde. A isto i od drugite bra}a Vlado Sta-mevski i toj }e doa|a si ima ku}a tuka, si ima sé,za da ìvee tuka. Starosta da ja provede vo seloOdri“, se veli na krajot od ovaa reportaà zaOdri i za Tvrdomir Stamevski.

An event like that could not go unmarked in ourvillage. This was a great holiday for our village, sowe decided to celebrate. It was a great thing thatwe had gotten asphalt. And people came from theneighboring villages. We had invited them to theputting of the road into operation. We cut a ribbon,as is appropriate. Metropolitan Kiril blessed theroad, and there were many other distinguishedguests. There was great joy. And so we put theroad into operation.

People said a long time ago that a good deed isheard of afar. Hence, encouraged by this, we decid-ed to record the deed that will not go unnoticed, as@ivko Vidoevski, president of the Tetovo society ofthe Migrant's office (Matica na iselenicite of Mace-donia) said.

One such example was our proposal to theAssembly of the Tetovo municipality for the 19thNovember Prize for Tvrdomir Stamevski from thevillage of Odri, who covered 60% of the total costsfor the building of the asphalt road to his village.This would be an acknowledgement from his nativecountry for Tvrdomir, far across the great waters,in Detroit, in the USA. However, I believe that forhim personally, the donation of about $15,000 for anew asphalt road from Odri to the road to Tetovo,now has a different meaning. An idea, first born aspersonal spite towards the cruelty of Mt. [ar,turned into unquenchable thirst. The black asphaltroad under Tvrdomir and his brothers' car rushingto Tetovo, and for many others like them, hasopened the road for the return to the nativehearths.

My brother Tvrdomir has been living in America,in Detroit, for 18 years,' Todor added and said thathis brother Tvrdomir's body is in Detroit, but hisspirit is in Odri. 'He thinks constantly of his nativecountry. At the moment, he is building a house. Hehas workmen working, yet he had to go backbecause he has things to do there too, the job can-not wait. In the spring he will come again to see thehouse finished in his presence, and then he plans tocome here for good, to live here. And of the otherbrothers, Vlado Stamevski will come; he has ahouse here, too. He has everything he needs to livehere. To spend his old age in the village of Odri,"we hear at the end of this report on Odri andTvrdomir Stamevski.

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Sredba vo Rim so Papata Jovan Pavle II • Meeting in Rome with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican

Sredba na crkovna delegacija vo Le{ok • Meeting of a church delegation in Le{ok

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SS emejstvoto Stamevski e tesno povrzano soLe{o~kiot manastir. Ne samo zaradi bli-zinata na nivnoto selo Odri do ovoj sema-kedonski svetilnik, tuku i zaradi faktot

{to ovoj manastir pretstavuva simbol na za~u-vuvaweto na makedonskata vistina, a so toa i nasemejstvoto Stamevski. Taka, vo edna toplo av-gustovsko utro vo Le{ok se sretnavme so Sveto-zar-Svetle Stamevski. Toga{, u{te rano – rano odsite strani narod kako reka nadoa|a{e vo Le-{o~kiot manastir. Brza{e staro i mlado za davleze vo svetite dveri na legendarniot duhovenhram, {iroko rasposlan srede zelenata oaza bli-zu Tetovo, pod polite na visokata [ar Planina.

Odeknuvaa kambanite, dodeka golemiot crko-ven dvor brgu se ispolnuva{e so pove}eto ilja-di iseleni na{i bra}a koi, tokmu na toj ilin-denski vikend, bea stasale od Amerika, Kanada,Avstralija, Evropa i sekako od cela Makedonija.

Veli~estvena be{e gletkata na prepolnetiotLe{o~ki manastir. Odamna iselenite od rodnitemakedonski ogni{ta, so mnogu emocii, a pove}e-mina i so solzi vo o~ite, go razgleduvaa hramot„Sv. Atanasij“, na konacite, a do niv i staratacrkva „Sveta Bogorodica“. Odvreme – navrememnogumina od iselenicite }e podzastanea koga}e uspeeja da se prepoznaat so po nekoj prijatel,a mo`e i so bli`na roda. Godinite i deceniite gostorile svoeto, sepak, golem kasmet be{e da sepregrnat bratski, tuka vo tatkovata zemja Make-donija i tokmu vo le{o~kite atari. Toa bea itagovni, no sepak, mnogu radosni sredbi, koi se

TT he Stamevski family is closely tied with theLe{ok Monastery. Not only because of thecloseness of their village, Odri to this all-Macedonian shrine, but also for the fact

that this monastery symbolizes the preservation ofthe Macedonian truth, and thus the Stamevski fami-ly. Hence, I met Svetozar-steve Stamevski in Le{okone hot August morning. That early morning a riverof people started flowing in to the Le{ok Monastery.The young and the old rushed to enter the court ofthe legendary shrine spread out in the midst of thegreen oasis near Tetovo, in the foothills of the tallMt. [ar.

The church bells echoed while the several thou-sand of our migrant brothers gathered and quicklyfilled the large church yard, coming from the USA,Canada, Australia, Europe, and every end of Mace-donia on this Ilinden weekend (2nd of August).

The overcrowded Le{ok Monastery was a mag-nificent sight. Having had moved away from theirnative Macedonian hearths, with a lot of emotion,and many with tears in their eyes, they looked atthe St. Atanasij Church, at the inns, and next tothem the old Church of St. Mary. From time to time,many of the migrants would stop a little when theymanaged to recognize an old friend, or perhaps aclose relative. The years had passed, but still theywere lucky to give each other a brotherly hug, herein their fathers’ land of Macedonia and at the Le{okMonastery precisely. These were sad, and yet joyfulencounters, made eternal with the cameras andmemorized forever.

SREDBA VO LE[OK

ovekove~uvaa so kamerite i se memoriraa vo ne-zaboravot.

A pod svodovite na stariot i ~udesno fresko-ìvopisen hram „Sv. Atanasij“ odeknuva{e silniot,milozvu~en, prepoznatliv glas na mitropolitotKiril, tuka nadle`niot prv eparhiski dostoin-stvenik, koj ja sluè{e svetata liturgija voovoj nadaleku ~uen i opean vo pesnite manastir.

Golem broj Makedonci od sekade {irum svetotvleguvaa za da zapalat sve}a za zdravje i beri-}et, se poklonuvaa pred oltarot i ikonite i, iakonema{e ve}e igla kade da padne, tie ne zami-nuvaa tuku ostanuvaa do kraj na bogoslu`bata, sovoshit poneseni od ~inona~alstvuvaweto na ne-govoto preosve{tenstvo - Kiril. A potoa tie beaponeseni od inspirativniot govor koj go odràmitropolitot. Toj na nasobranite vernici i namer-nici, bra}a po rod, dojdeni specijalno na ovaasemakedonska sredba od razni strani na svetot,do kade {to gi rasprskala sudbinata, makata, na-merata i sre}ata im go ~estita praznikot Ilin-den i im posaka zdravje, sre}a, qubov i napredok.

Vo toj topol, prijaten den, i seta taa prekrasnaatmosfera imaa sredba so doma}inot – vladi-kata Kiril. Za taa biserna razglednica {to javidoa iselenicite vo Le{o~kiot manastir pri-kaùvaat i raskaùvaat na pokolenijata.

Mitropolitot so svojata presretlivost, qu-beznost, topol bratski zbor, duhovna potkrepa inade`, za sekogo, napravi toj iseleni~ki den,toj semakedonski sobir, da bide vistinski denza radost i nezaborav i ve~no da ostanat spome-nite za Le{o~kiot manastir.

Underneath the arches of the old and amazinglyfresco-painted Church of St. Atanasij one couldhear the strong, pleasant, and specific voice ofMetropolitan Kiril, the first Diocesan dignitary incharge here, who served the holy liturgy at this wellknown and much praised monastery.

Many Macedonians from around the world camein to light a candle for good health and fortune, andto bow before the altar and the icons. And eventhough it was full from wall to wall, they did notleave until the end of the service, carried away inexaltation with the church ritual of the ReverendKiril. They were then exalted by the inspirationalspeech that the Metropolitan delivered. Believersand guests, our brothers had come to this all-Ma-cedonian gathering especially. They came fromevery end of the world, dispersed by fate, troubles,intentions and fortune. The Metropolitan wishedthem a happy Ilinden and much good health,fortune, love, and progress.

On this warm, pleasant day, in that wonderfulatmosphere they met the host – Bishop Kiril. Themigrants tell and retell their future generations aboutthe magnificent sights they saw at the Le{okMonastery.

With all of his hospitality, kindness, warmbrotherly words, spiritual support and hope, theMetropolitan made that migrant’s day, that all-Macedonian gathering, a true and memorable dayof joy from which the memories of the Le{okMonastery will remain forever.

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Sobir vo Le{ok • A gathering in Le{ok

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So Mitropolitot Kiril vo Le{ok• With Metropolitan Kiril in Le{ok

Vo Le{o~kiot manastir • At the Le{ok monastery

Vo manastriskiot kVo manastriskiot kompleks na Popova [apka • ompleks na Popova [apka • At the monastery on Popova At the monastery on Popova [[apkaapka

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SS o Svetozar-Svetle Stamevski i pogolemagrupa iselenici od Detroit go posetiv-me manastirskiot kompleks na Popova[apka. Tamu bevme pre~ekani od mitro-

politot Kiril, koj so golemo zadovolstvo zboru-va{e za istorijata na kompleksot, kade e izgra-den preubaviot hram „Sv. Naum Ohridski-ûdo-tvorec“. Vo taa prilika, mitropolitot Kiril,me|u drugoto re~e deka vo ramkite na programa-ta za odbeleùvawe na 25-godi{ninata od voz-obnovuvaweto na avtokefalnosta na Makedon-skata pravoslavna crkva, koja se realizira votekot na 1992 godina, kako i dvete decenii odkonstituiraweto na Polo{ko-kumanovskata epar-hija, na Popova [apka se odrà sve~enost po-svetena na imeto i deloto na eden od makedon-skite svetii sveti Naum Ohridski - ûdotvorec.Imeno, vo prisustvo na golem broj li~nosti oddràvniot vrv, golem broj vernici, pretstavni-ci na kulturni, nau~ni i drugi institucii odRepublikata i op{tinite od eparhijata, be{epoloèn i osveten kamen-temelnik na noviotmanastirski kompleks {to go nosi imeto nasveti Naum Ohridski, so {to be{e zbogatenpraznikot na ovoj na{ svetitel.

Ovoj ~in se slu~i vo vremeto koga makedon-skata suverena i nezavisna dràva i avtoke-falnata Makedonska pravoslavna crkva vo sve-tot, doìvuvaa s¢ pogolema afirmacija kaj pok-lonicite na pravdata i vistinata.

Potoa mitropolitot Kiril gi informiraiselenicite deka ova manastirsko svetili{te e

ith Svetozar-Steve Stamevski we visitedthe monastery complex at Popova [apkaand a large group of migrants fromDetroit. Metropolitan Kiril met us there,

and with great pleasure he told us about the histo-ry of the complex where the beautiful Church of St.Naum of Ohrid, Miracle Worker, was built. On thisoccasion Metropolitan Kiril said that as part of theprogram to mark the 25th Anniversary of therestoration of the autocephaly of the MacedonianOrthodox Church taking place in 1992, as well as thetwo decades since the constitution of the Polog andKumanovo Diocese, a ceremony was held at Popova[apka in honor of the name and work of one of theMacedonian saints, St. Naum of Ohrid, MiracleWorker. More precisely, in the presence of numer-ous state leaders, many believers, and representa-tives of cultural, scientific, and other institutions inMacedonia and the parishes of the Diocese, a foun-dation stone was laid and sanctified. This is thefoundation stone to the new monastery complexthat bears the name of St. Naum of Ohrid, whichfurther enriched the festival day of our saint.

This event took place at a time when the Mace-donian sovereign and independent state and theautocephalous Macedonian Orthodox Church throu-ghout the world are experiencing growing affirma-tion among the believers in justice and the truth.

Metropolitan Kiril then informed the migrantsthat this monastery church was built with donationsof the Macedonians from Detroit who felt speciallove towards this monastery. It is at about two

VO MANASTIRSKIOT KOMPLEKSNA POPOVA [APKA

AT THE MONASTERY COMPLEX ON POPOVA APKA

MM

izgradeno so donacija i od Makedoncite od Det-roit, koi imaat posebna qubov kon ovoj hram.Toj e na nadmorska viso~ina od okolu dve ilja-di metri i pretstavuva gospodov branik natatkovskata Makedonija. Toa e duhovno le~ili{teza site onie koi se sobiraat na molitva, koi vonego }e baraat milost Bo`ja, }e crpat mudrost isili za golemi ìvotni postigawa i radosti.Spored informaciite od crkvata, manastirot

Sv. Naum Ohridski na Popova [apka se gradi nanajvisoka kota vo isto~nata hristijanska crkva.

Vo ramkite na sredbata be{e organiziranacrkovno-narodna trpeza na koja Kiril ima{e ar-hijerejska beseda. Toj, me|u drugoto, re~e dekani{to nema podostoinstveno, po~esno i povozvi-{eno od toa eden narod da ìvee vo sloga, razbi-rawe i mir vo svojata slobodna, suverena idemokratska zemja, vo koja sozdava trajni i dos-tojni dela za svoite pokolenija. Toa e odlika namakedonskiot narod, koj opstojuva so vekovi naovie nemirni balkanski prostori. Isto taka, mit-ropolitot Kiril re~e deka site }e ja sogledaatvistinata za Makedonija, kako {to toa go napra-vija golemite sili na ~elo so SAD, vo seta nejzi-na svetlina i golemina. Site dosega{ni otporiprotiv nas pridonesoa svetot da se zapoznae soMakedonija i so na{eto kulturno bogatstvo itrajni civilizaciski vrednosti. Veruvame vo ko-ne~noto me|unarodno priznavawe na Makedonijaod strana na celiot svet za{to ona {to e rode-no, {to e sozdadeno od Boga e predodredeno daìvee i da opstojuva, re~e mitropolitot Kiril.

thousand meters above sea level and representsGod’s guard to our fathers’ Macedonia. It is a spiri-tual healing place for everyone who will gather topray, who will ask for God’s mercy there, who willreceive wisdom and strength for great life’s achi-evements and joys. According to information fromthe church, the St. Naum of Ohrid Monastery atPopova [apka is being built at the highest peak ele-vation in the eastern Christian church.

During the gathering a church-people’s lunchwas organized at which the archbishop Kiril delivereda speech. He said, among other things, that thereis nothing more dignifying, sincere, and exaltingthan one people living in harmony, understanding,and peace in its free, sovereign, and democraticcountry in which it creates permanent and worthydeeds for its future generations. This is characteris-tic of the Macedonian people, who have survivedfor centuries in these restless Balkan regions.Metropolitan Kiril added that everyone will realizethe truth about Macedonia, just as great powersheaded by the USA in all of its glamour and vast-ness did. Every resistance against us in the past hasonly contributed to the world getting to knowMacedonia and our cultural wealth and permanentvalues of civilization. We believe in the final interna-tional recognition of Macedonia by the entire worldbecause what was born, what was created by God,was also predetermined to live and survive,Metropolitan Kiril said.

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Manastirot Sv. Naum vo Ohrid • The St. Naum monastery in OhridSpomen plo~ata na daritelite za manastirot Sv.Naum

Memorial plate for the donors of the St. Naum monastery

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GG olem sram, crna damka be{e toa {to i seslu~uva{e na na{ata tatkovina Makedo-nija vo vremeto na 2001 godina. Koj i kak-vi prikazni da kaùva v~era, denes ili

koga bilo vo idnina, ne }e moè da ja pomestiod stolbot na sramot taa crna stranica {to i seslu~i na Makedonija na samiot start od noviotmilenium. Nitu narodot be{e konsultiran zapogromniot ramkoven dogovor, nitu pak, neko-ga{ mu se objasni zo{to i kako dojde do nego. Seveli vo reporta-àta na FidankaTanaskovska, novi-nar, dopisnik namakedonskite ra-dija vo Melburn -Avstralija i Keln- Germanija.

Nas vo Odrikriminalno-te-roristi~ki ban-di ni ja ograbijaku}ata, a na yido-vite u{te pak iso golemi bukviizna~krtale U^K.Gi ukradoa i moi-te tri avtomobili. I, {to so toa? Da se omrzneme.Mislea deka nekoj }e se ispla{i. - Ama, ve mo-lam. Takvi banditski gluposti ve}e nikade nepominuvaat. Jas, pak, sé storiv i vo idnina }e sto-ram. Vo mojata rodna ku}a, vo moeto rodno Odri,

TT he events that took place in our father-land Macedonia in 2001 were a greatshame and a dark blot. No matter who,or what kind of stories one may have

told yesterday, today, or any time in the future, theywill not be able to clear the shame of this blacknessthat befell Macedonia at the very start of the newmillennium. The people were neither consultedabout this pogrom Framework Agreement nor didanyone ever explain to them why and how it came

to be. Fidanka Ta-naskova, journa-list, coorespondentfor the Macedonianradio programs inMelburne, Australiaand Cologne Ger-many, wrote.

“In Odri crimi-nal terrorist gangsrobbed our houseand on the wallsthey even wroteUÇK in capital lett-ers. They stole mythree cars. And sowhat? Should we

hate each other? They thought they would scareus. Oh, come on. No one falls for that kind of gangstupidity. I replaced it all and will have more in thefuture. In my home, in my native village of Odri, inmy Tetovo, in my Macedonia, everything is in its

VOJNATA VO 2OO1 GODINACRNA DAMKA VO ISTORIJATATHE WAR IN 2001 – DARK BLOT IN HISTORY

Svetozar-Svetle kako branitel vo Ratae • Svetozar-Steve as a “defender“ in Ratae

Manastriskiot vo Le{ok vo tekManastriskiot vo Le{ok vo tekot na vojnata • ot na vojnata • LeLe{{ok monastery during the warok monastery during the war

vo moeto Tetovo, vo moja Makedonija, rabotitesi doa|aat i u{te pove}e }e legnat na svoetomesto, ama crnite stranici od minatoto nemanikoj da gi izbri{e, a vistinata vremeto nemada ja posipe so pepel, tuku naprotiv.

Znaete deka nie od Amerika i Kanada kako iod drugi zemji vo svetot, toga{ dojdovme, na{ilu|e sme, tokmu koga se puka{e, koga so te{kipridru`bi odvaj uspeavme da se probieme, za davidime odblizu nekoi na{i mesta vo tetovskiotkraj. Kolku li taguvavme zaedno so na{ite bra-}a i sestri izbrkani od nivnite rodni ogni{ta,kade bile so vekovi i vekovi, a dojde vreme, zaàl, da moraa da spasuvaat glava po razni pri-fatili{ta. Bevme i kaj amerikanskiot ambasa-

dor Ajnik od kaj kogo izlegovme razo~aranibidej}i se znae{e na koja strana „duva“ toj.

Mitingot {to go odràvme na plo{tadot Ma-kedonija vo centarot na Skopje, be{e za da imdademe celosna poddr{ka na na{ite bra}a voTetovsko, koi bea `rtvi na zlo i nesre}i, i dai dademe poddr{ka na na{ata tatkovina, kojabe{e vovle~ena vo eden takov opasen pekol ~iiposledici ne }e moè da se saniraat so decenii“.

Vo svojot emotiven govor pred nasobraniotnarod na plo{tadot "Makedonija" Svetozar-Svetle Stamevski me|u drugoto re~e:

place and will continue settling down, but no onewill erase the dark pages of the past, and time willnot cover the truth with ashes, but on the contrary.

You know that we, our people, came from theUSA, Canada, and other countries throughout theworld in the midst of the clashes, when we neededheavy guards to penetrate, to see from close bysome of our places in the Tetovo area. We mournedso much along with our brothers and sisters drivenaway from their native hearths, where they hadlived for centuries and centuries, and unfortunate-ly, the time had come for them to run to shelters tosave their lives. We also went to see the USAmbassador Einik but came out very disappointedknowing whose side he was on.

The meeting we held at Macedonia Square inthe center of Skopje was to give our full support toour brothers in the Tetovo area who had been thevictims of evil and misfortune, and to support ourfatherland, which had been drawn into such a dan-gerous hell whose consequences no one will beable to repair for decades“.

In his emotional speech before the people thathad gathered at Macedonia Square Svetozar-SteveStamevski said the following among other things:

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Makedonci od SAD zaedno so Makedonskata armija • Macedonians from USA with the Macedonian army

„Bra}a i sestri,Jasno i glasno odovde na celiot svet sakame

da mu kaème deka Makedonija e stara nacija,stara dràva, i deka site nie zaedno }e se bo-rime protiv teroristite (aplauz). Nie site za-edno }e se borime protiv niv. Nie sme tuka istotaka za da mu pokaème na svetot deka sme zaed-no, nie, vie, site koi sme edno - Makedonci,kade i da ne odnela sudbinata, kade i da ì-

veeme, kade i da sme raseleni. Ova e Makedoni-ja. Ova e makedonska zemja, makedonska dràva.Taka bilo, taka i }e ostane. Nikoj nema pravo daprodava dràva. Nikoj. (aplauz) Onie {to ì-veat vo Makedonija treba da imaat soìvot sosite Makedonci, a ne da se teroristi. (aplauz)Da ìvee na{a Makedonija. Da ìvee na{aAmerika.... (aplauz)

Koe srce moè{e da bide kameno, koga go vi-dovme razru{eniot Le{o~ki manastir, gordostana{a duhovna. Tamu odime na vistinsko duhovnopoklonenie i pro~istuvawe. Tamu, pred oltarototsekoga{ palime sve}i molej}i se za zdravje,sre}a i beri}et. Vo konacite sme kako doma, avo {irokiot dvor na Le{o~kiot manastir smepominuvale i za sre}a prodolìvme da pominu-vame nezaboravni praznici, sredbi na iseleni-cite, festivali i {to li u{te ne.

“Brothers and sisters,Loudly and clearly, from here we wish to tell the

entire world that Macedonia is an old nation, an oldcountry, and that all together we will fight the ter-rorists (applause). We will all fight against themtogether. We are also here to show the world thatwe are all together, we, you, and all who are one –Macedonians, regardless of where our fate mayhave taken us, wherever we live, wherever we are

dispersed. This is Macedonia. This is Macedonianland, a Macedonian country. So it was, and so it willremain. No one has the right to sell a country. Noone (applause). Those who live in Macedonia haveto live with all the Macedonians, and not be terror-ists (applause). Long live our Macedonia. Long liveour America… (applause)

What heart could have remained cold as stonewhen we saw the Le{ok Monastery, our spiritualpride in ruins? We go there for true spiritual pilgrim-age and relief. We have always lit candles beforethe altar praying for good health, happiness, andgood fortune. We feel at home in the inns, and inthe large yard of the Le{ok Monastery we havecelebrated, and luckily we continue celebratingmemorable holidays, migrant meetings, festivalsand many other things.

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Svetozar-Svetle i Rade Mihajlovski vo Jegunovce • Svetozar-Steve and Rade Mihajlovski in Jegunovce

Dedoto Kiril, stolbot na Kumanovsko-polo{-kata eparhija, golemiot borec i optimist, ni ekako matica okolu koja se sobirame sekoga{ ikoga ima i koga nema povod. Povod e i samiot vla-dika Kiril za da pojdeme i da bideme zaedno, toj,navistina, e retka figura, koj umee da gi soberevernicite, da go sobere narodot. Bravo. Sekoga{sum uìval, sum se voshituval od negovite komu-nikaciski mo`nosti i sposobnosti so svojot na-

rod, so svoeto sve{tenstvo. Sekoj ne go moè toa.Na{iot nadleèn tetovski arhijerej e eden golemduhoven voda~ i patriot.

Vo vremeto na konfliktot, i toga{, dedotoKiril bestra{no gi obikoluva{e makedonskiteduhovni svetili{ta od koi za nesre}a na civi-lizaciskite vrednosti, mnogu se nepovratnouni{teni ili o{teteni. Ete, vo tie meseci, jasna ulicite ili na pazarot niz Tetovo i Skopjesre}avav ~esni Albanci, moi drugari, moi pri-jateli, so koi sme delele dobro i zlo i mnogusme se po~ituvale, {to se sramea od seta taaglupost vo 2001 godina. Tie me kanea doma,baraa da ispieme zaedno kafe i da porazgo-varame, toga{ me vikaa kaj niv i mi garantiraabezbednost, ama ne sakav da im pravam beqi.

Znaev deka ludostite nema da traat dolgo. Voj-nata zavr{i so te{ki luzni za siot narod, za

Kiril, the pillar of the Kumanovo and PologDiocese, the great fighter and optimist, is like ourqueen bee around which we gather always, with orwithout a special occasion. Bishop Kiril himself is agood reason to go and be with him for he is truly aunique person who knows how to bring togetherthe believers, the people. Bravo. I have alwaysenjoyed, I have been impressed with his ability tocommunicate with his people and with his clergy.

Not everyone can do this. Our Bishop in charge ofTetovo is a great spiritual leader and patriot.

Even during the conflict, Bishop Kiril fearlesslyvisited the Macedonian spiritual shrines of which,unfortunately, much of the valuable work of thepast civilizations have irreparably been destroyed ordamaged. During these months, on the streets orthe market in Tetovo and Skopje, I met honestAlbanians, my friends with whom we have sharedboth good and evil, and mutual respect, who wereashamed of the entire foolishness of 2001. Theyinvited me to their homes to have some coffee andchat, they invited me to their places and guaran-teed me my safety, but I did not wish to causethem any trouble.

I knew that the foolishness would not last long.The clashes finished leaving deep scars on every-one, on Macedonia. Many Macedonians from

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Mi{ko Vasovski i Svetozar-Svetle kako vojnici • Mi{ko Vasovski and Svetozar-Steve as solgiers

Makedonija. Mnogu tetov~ani, mnogu Makedonciod celata tetovska okolija nepovratno se iseli-ja, etni~ki se ~isti, toj del na Makedonija i toae pogubna varijanta, pred koja ne treba da se bideslep i gluv. Pa potoa koj bi se ~udel {to narodotse razo~aruva, {to ne im veruva na politi~aritei taka natamu, temata e beskraen lavirint.

Toga{, vo 2001 godina, mediumite vo Amerikadavaa iskrivena slika za nastanite i voop{to zasite slu~uvawa vo toa vreme vo Republika Make-donija. Zatoa, spored Stamevski, bea organizi-rani demonstraciite pred CNN koga go iskaàvmena{iot revolt na mediumskata kampawa protivMakedonija i pristrasnite, neobjektivni izve{-tai so koi od niv be{e bombardiran svetot.

Po na{ite protesti i urgencii, potoa, me-diumskite amerikanski kolosi, vo prv red CNNinformiraa poobjektivno. Go pokaàa ̀ alno raz-ru{eniot manastir „Sv. Atanasij“ vo Le{ok, gopokaàa i krenatiot vo vozduh motel „Brioni“ kojete i po nekolku godini ostana da bide kamen nasopnuvawe i edna takva katastrofalna pogromaod strana na ka~a~kite bandi toga{, dolgo da epredmet na kavgi i pazari.

Imavme dosta sredbi so amerikanski kongres-meni, imavme poseta na Stejt departmentot, imav-me demonstracii pred Amerikanskiot crven krsti pred Belata ku}a. Sakavme Amerika da ja slu{nevistinata za Makedonija. Vo Stejt departmentotmu postavivme mnogu pra{awa na toga{niotzamenik-sekretar na SAD, Ri~ard Armita`. Toj nire~e deka „Makedonija }e ostane cela, nikoj nemada ja par~i, nie sme za Makedonija i }e i pomog-neme na sekoj plan“, ne uveruva{e Armita`.

Moite toga{ni a i potoa da re~am, ete, li~ni,i aktivisti~ki, i patriotski celi bea da sum vopostojan kontakt so kongresmeni i senatori, soStejt departmentot i po{iroko za da se probi-vaat to~nite informacii, koga bilo od koja pri-~ina }e se najde vo fokusot nekoe pra{awe ilidilema za Makedonija.

Navistina, imame dosta pozitiven odnos voamerikanskata administracija koga e vo pra{a-we Republika Makedonija i taka me|u drugoto ise finalizira priznavaweto na ustavnoto imevo 2004 godina od strana na svetskiot xin, ipostojanata ~lenka na Sovetot za bezbednost naObedinetite nacii - Soedinetite AmerikanskiDràvi“, re~e Svetozar-Svetle Stamevski.

Tetovo and its vicinity left forever. This part ofMacedonia is undergoing ethnic cleansing, which isthe fatal alternative before which one must notremain blind and deaf. Who would wonder thenwhy the people are disappointed and do not trustthe politicians? – The subject is an endlesslabyrinth.

Then, in 2001 the US media presented a distort-ed picture of the events and overall developmentsat the time in the Republic of Macedonia. That iswhy, according to Stamevski, the demonstrations infront of CNN were organized when we expressedour revolt at the media campaign against theMacedonians and at the bias, non-objective reportswith which they bombarded the world.

After our protests and interventions, the USmedia giants, CNN above all, began informing moreobjectively. They showed the sadly destroyed St.Atanasij Monastery in Le{ok, and the Brioni Motelthat was blown up in the air, which has remainedeven after many years, a tripping stone and a dis-astrous pogrom from the Ka~ak gangs at the time,yet to be the subject of fights and deals for a longtime to come.

We had many meetings with US congressmen;we visited the State Department, and demonstrat-ed before the American Red Cross and the WhiteHouse. We wanted America to hear the truth aboutMacedonia. At the State Department we askedmany questions of the deputy Secretary of the US,Richard Armitage. He assured us that ‘Macedoniawill remain intact; no one will partition it, we are forMacedonia and we will help it in every way.’

My personal, activist, and patriotic goals at thetime were to remain constantly in touch with con-gressmen and senators, with the State Departmentand beyond, so that the right information wouldpenetrate whenever any question or dilemma aboutMacedonia was to be the focus of attention. Wereally do have the positive attitude of the AmericanAdministration when the Republic of Macedonia isin question. Hence, among other things, the finalrecognition of our constitutional name in 2004 bythe global giant and permanent member of the UNSecurity Council – the United States of America“,said Svetozar-Steve Stamevski.

156



SEDMI DEL

AMERIKANSKI HORIZONTI

PART VI I

AMERICAN HORIZONS

159

VIIDEL - AMERIKANSKI HORIZONTI

PART VII - AMERICAN HORIZONS

SS vetozar-Svetle stanuva i li~en prijatelso semejstvoto na Lora i Xorx Bu{. Mnogupati gi posetil na nivniot privaten imotvo Teksas, kade minale nezaboravni deno-

vi vo dolgite razgovori za najrazli~ni temi, zakakvi se ne pra{awa. „Tolku pati sum zboruvalpred nego za dolgata makedonska istorija, zadrevnata civilizacija na ovie makedonski

YY vetozar-Steve became a personal friend ofthe family of Laura and George Bush. Manytimes he visited their private property inTexas, where they spent unforgettable days

with lengthy discussions on various subjects, on allkinds of issues. “I have spoken so many times be-fore him about the long Macedonian history, aboutthe ancient civilization in this Macedonian region,

LI&NO PRIJATELSTVO SO LAURA I XORX BU[

PERSONAL FRIENDSHIP WITH LAURA AND GEORGE BUSH

Svetozar-Svetle i Xorx Bu{-postariot • Svetozar-Steve and George Bush Senior

160



Svetozar-Svetle i Xorx Bu{ • Svetozar-Steve and George Bush

Xorx, Svetlana, Xon Engler i Svetozar-Svetle • George, Svetlana, John Engler, and Svetozar-Steve

161



Svetozar-Svetle i Xorx Bu{-postariot • Svetozar-Steve and George Bush Senior

Svetozar-Svetle so Patrik Bakenen • Svetozar-Steve with Patrick Buckanon

162



Svetozar-Svetle so Boris Trajkovski, pretsedatelot na Makedonija • Svetozar-Steve with Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski

Svetozar-Svetle so Vlado Bu~kovski • Svetozar-Steve with Vlado Bu~kovski

163



prostori koja i natamu postojano se iskopuva ipotvrduva niz bogatite arheolo{ki nao|ali{-ta, za kulturnite vrednosti, za demokratijata,za ìlaviot opstoj na mojot narod i pokraj sitescili i haribdi niz koi minal i zaminal toj.Sme minale migovi koi se pamtat sekoga{.

Prvata amerikanska lejdi Lora Bu{ e isklu-~itelna li~nost. Posvetena majka, sopruga, pos-vetena humanistka, i pred s¢ mnogu drag ~ovek,vistinska dama, sekoga{ pozitivna i prijatel-ski raspoloèna kon prijatelite.

Kontaktite, sredbite, linkovite, i voop{to,komunikaciite so semejstvoto na amerikanskiotpretsedatel, se odrùvaat vo kontinuitet kakodel od mnogu dragata i nezaboravna i arhiva ipasiva, minato, sega{nost i idnina“, na {to egord, Svetozar-Svetle, kako i negovata dragaSvetlana.

Stamevski potro{ile dosta vreme, umeewe,znaewe, snaodlivost, i sekako mnogu pari za pret-sedatelskata kampawa na Xorx Bu{. Makedoncitevo dràvata Ohajo glasaa za nego i toa be{e re-{ava~ko i za kone~niot ishod na izborniot re-zultat. Bu{ odrà eden od svoite predizbornimitinzi na najgolemiot sportski stadion vo ovaaamerikanska sojuzna dràva, i toa be{e vo glavna

which continues to be dug out and confirmedthrough the rich archaeological localities. I havespoken about the cultural values, the democracy,the resistant survival of my people despite all thetortures it had to experience. We have experiencedmoments forever remembered.

The first American lady Laura Bush is anexceptional person. She is a devoted mother, wife,and humanist, and above all a very dear person, atrue lady, always positive and friendly towards herfriends.

The contacts, meetings, links, and generally thecommunication with the family of the AmericanPresident are maintained in continuity as part of thevery dear and unforgettable file, liability, past,present, and future“, of which Svetozar-Steve andhis wife Svetlana are both proud.

The Stamevski family spent a lot of time, skill,knowledge, cleverness, and of course a lot ofmoney on the presidential campaign of GeorgeBush. The Macedonians in Ohio voted for him,which determined the final outcome of the electionresults. Bush held one of his pre-election meetingsat the biggest sports stadium in this Americanstate, all organized and financially supported byStamevski.

Svetlana, Xorx, Lora i Svetozar-Svetle • Svetlana, George, Laura and Svetozar-Steve

164



Lora Bu{ i Svetozar-Svetle Stamevski • Laura Bush and Svetozar-Steve Stamevski

organizacisko - finansiska „reìja“ na Stamevski. Makedonskoto lobi vo SAD toga{ be{e, a i

prodolùva da bide naso~eno kon afirmacijana vitalnite pra{awa za Makedonija, kako {tobe{e priznavaweto na ustavnoto ime, i poddr{-kata na „golemiot brat“ za zabrzuvawe na na{iteevrointegracii. Makedoncite vo svetot imaatedna partija, toa e Makedonija. Taa ideja vodil-ka e alfa-omega za site minati, sega{ni i idnina{i zalo`bi i konkretni dejstvuvawa. „Znaetedeka Makedonecot i na kamen moè da sozdadeìvot, a i nemo`noto da go prestori vo mo`no,

veli Svetozar-Svetle. Bev siguren deka }e bideefektuiran siot trud za mojot prijatel XorxJunior i, taka izleze na krajot, na zadovolstvoi o~ekuvawe od site nas.

Pretsedatelot Bu{ e prekrasen ~ovek. Toj e~esen, bogat nekorumpiran. Da se pofalam, amaimame sli~na filozofija vo ìvotot i dvajca-ta gi sakame lugeto bez razlika kakvo ime i pre-zime nosat. Va`no e koi se, kakvi se.

Xorx e mnogu poboèn ~ovek. Zatoa i edna{,od poodamna mu sugerirav deka ako ne znae po-ve}e ne{to za Makedonija, toga{ neka ja otvoriBiblijata i tamu }e ja najde mojata rodna zemja.Isto taka mu rekov deka na makedonskiot narod mutreba demokratija, mir, no i celovitost. Bu{ mi vetideka Republika Makedonija }e ostane celosna.

Koga sme kaj po anegdotite, da kaàm deka vo edna

At the time, the Macedonian lobby in the USAwas, and continues focusing on the affirmation ofthe vital issues for Macedonia, as were the recog-nition of our constitutional name and the support ofour “big brother” in speeding up our European inte-gration. The Macedonians throughout the worldhave only one party, and that is Macedonia. Thisleading idea is the alpha and omega of all our past,current, and future efforts and specific actions.„You know that the Macedonian can create life on astone, and turn the impossible into possible,”Svetozar-steve says. “I was certain that all my

efforts for my friend George Junior would be worth-while, and that is how it turned out in the end, asanticipated and at everyone’s pleasure.

President Bush is a wonderful person. He ishonest, rich, and uncorrupted. I can boast that wehave a similar philosophy on life and we both lovepeople regardless of the kind of first or last namethey bear. What is important is who they are, andwhat they are like.

George is a very religious man. That is why Isuggested to him once, a long time ago, that if hedid not know much about Macedonia, then heshould open the Bible and he will find my nativeland there. I also told him that the Macedonianpeople need democracy, peace, but also to stayintact. Bush promised me that the Republic ofMacedonia would remain intact.

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Svetozar so kongresmenot Xo Nogert • Svetozar-Steve with Joe Knogert Svetozar so Debi Stebano - senator • Svetozar-Steve with Senator Debby Stebano

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Svetozar-Svetle, Lora i Svetlana • Svetozar-Steve, Laura, and Svetlana

Svetozar-Svetle so Karl Levin - senator • Svetozar-Steve with Senator Carl Levin

Speaking of anecdotes, let me tell you that onone occasion during a meeting of the President andnumerous congressmen from the US Senate, whenPresident Bush saw how well I was dressed, hegave me a compliment about how well I looked. Ireplied that Macedonians are usually very goodlooking men, after which we had a good laugh,”Svetozar-Steve adds.

Svetozar-Steve Stamevski is one of the foundersof the American-Macedonian Association in Detroitwhose one of many aims was, and continues beingto help the Republic of Macedonia. “Tens of thousandsof our brothers not only from the North American con-tinent, but we can say from every end of the world,showed interest in, and supported the platform andthe activities that the association undertook. For in-stance, at the meeting in Buffalo, which was atten-ded by numerous members, supporters, and follow-ers they were all united in the position that our fat-herland needs support of this kind,” Stamevski em-phasized. “This organization continues following theroute it has marked out for itself, sometimes with afaster, sometimes a slower pace, but it is good that itexists, that it unites the ideas and actions. And webelieve there are yet to come many more occasions,issues, and initiatives for new manifestations and rai-sing of the Macedonian voice,” Svetozar-Steve adds.

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prilika pri sredbata na pretsedatelot i brojnitekongresmeni od Amerikanskiot senat, pa koga mevide deka sum dobro oble~en, pretsedatelotXorx mi dade kompliment kako ubavo izgledam.Mu vozvrativ deka Makedoncite se obi~no mno-gu simpati~ni mom~iwa, posle {to i ubavo seiznasmeavme zaedno“, dodava Svetozar-Svetle.

Svetozar-Svetle Stamevski e eden od osnova-~ite na Amerikansko-makedonskata asocijacijaod Detroit, ~ija cel me|u drugoto be{e i osta-nuva taka, da i pomaga na Republika Makedonija.„Desetici iljadnici na{i bra}a ne samo od se-vernoamerikanskiot kontinent, tuku moè da sekaè od site strani na svetot, pokaàa interesi-rawe i ja poddrùvaa platformata, gi poddràaaktivnostite koi gi prezede Asocijacijata. Namitingot, na primer, vo Bafalo, koga dojdoa go-lem broj ~lenovi, poddrùva~i, simpatizeri, si-te tie bea edinstveni vo stavot, deka na tatko-vinata i treba poddr{ka od ovoj vid, naglasuvaStamevski. Ovaa organizacija prodolùva da odipo trasiraniot pat, nekoga{ so posilen, nekoga{so posmiren intenzitet, no taa e dobro {to po-stoi, {to gi obedinuva ideite i akciite, i veru-vame deka doprva }e ima u{te mnogu povodi, pra-{awa i inicijativi za novi projavi i krevawena glasot makedonski“, dodava Svetozar-Svetle.

Batler, Svetozar-Svetle i Mi{ko • Butler, Svetozar-Steve, and Mi{ko

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Svetozar-Svetle so kongresmenot Sender Levin • Svetozar-Steve with Congressman Senders Leven

Svetozar-Svetle i Svetlana so Xon Engler, guverner na Mi~igen • Svetozar-Steve and Svetlana with John Engler, governor of Michigan

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Svetozar-Svetle so Antoni Morako • Svetozar-Steve with Antony Moracco

Svetozar-Svetle so senatorot David Banier • Svetozar-Steve with the Senator David Banier

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Svetozar-Svetle, Viktor Dijas i Tvrdomir • Svetozar-Steve, Victor Dias, and Tvrdomir

Svetozar-Svetle so Dik Pastumas • Svetozar-Steve with Dick Pastumas

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Svetozar-Svetle so Ri~ard Armate{ • Svetozar-Steve with Richard Armatess

Svetozar-Svetle so Xon Konier • Svetozar-Steve with John Conier

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Tvrdomir, Batler i Svetozar-Svetle • Tvrdomir, Butler, and Svetozar-Steve

Svetozar-Svetle so gradona~alnikot na Op{tinata Va{ington vo Mi~igen • Svetozar-Steve with the mayor of the Municipality of Washington, Michigan

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Svetlana so Ministerkata Mitreva i ambasadorot Dimitrov • Svetlana with the Minister Mitreva and Ambassador Dimitrov

Svetozar-Svetle so Xo Knonberg • Svetozar-Steve with Joe Knonberg

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Svetozar-Svetle so Pretsedatelot Branko Crvenkovski • Svetozar-Steve with the President Branko Crvenkovski

Na otvoraweto na ambasadata na Republika Makedonija • At the opening of the Embassy of the Republic of Macedonia

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Svetozar-Svetle so Bu~kovski i Ramsveld • Svetozar-Steve with Bu~kovski and Ramsfeld

Svetozar-Svetle so Premierot Bu~kovski • Svetozar-Steve with Prime Minister Bu~kovski

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Svetozar-Svetle i Svetlana so prijateli • Svetozar-Steve and Svetlana with friends

Slave Nikolovski - Katin, avtorot na ovaa kniga so svojata sopruga Nada • Slave Nikolovski-Katin, the author of this book with his wife Nada

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Crkvata „Sv. Bogorodica“ vo Detroit • St. Mary’s Church in Detroit

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SS vetozar Stameski e nemiren duh kogastanuva zbor za afirmacija na nacional-nite dostoinstva, i koga stanuva zbor zaafirmacija na imeto makedonsko, na crk-

vata makedonska, na svojot narod i na svoitedve tatkovini-makedonskata vo koja se rodi iamerikanskata vo koja so svoeto semejstvo, vekvekuva.

YY vetozar-Steve Stamevski is a restless spiritwhen it comes to affirmation of the nation-al dignity, the Macedonian name, theMacedonian church, his people, and his two

fatherlands – Macedonia, in which he was born, andthe USA in which he lives with his family.

For a long time, he has been a part of this self-organization of the Macedonians in our largest

PRETSEDATEL NA MPC „SVETA BOGORODICA“ VO DETROIT

PRESIDENT OF THE MACEDONIAN ORTHODOX

CHURCH OF ST. MARY IN DETROIT

Upravata na „Sv. Bogorodica“ za 2004-2005 godina na denot na sve~enata zakletva

The management of St. Mary’s Church for 2004-2005 on the day of their official oath

Toj odamna e del od siot toj kola` na sebeor-ganizirawe na Makedoncite vo najgolemata na{adoseleni~ka kolonija vo SAD, vo najgolemiotsvetski centar na avtomobilskata industrija, atoa e Detroit. Taka i se iniciraa, taka i se or-ganiziraa mnogu dru{tva, zdruènija, asocija-cii, organizacii i sekako, crkovnite op{tinivo ovoj zna~aen politi~ko-ekonomski i bizniscentar na dràvata Mi~igen - Detroit.

Sre}en e {to pove}e mladi Makedonci spo-sobni generacii rodeni i obrazovani vo SAD,navleguvaat vo site sferi od ìvotot od indus-trijata od pravoto, ekonomijata, univerziteti-te i kade sé ne.

U{te od prvite denovi na negovoto doa|awevo Amerika, Svetozar-Svetle doa|a vo duhovnitesvetili{ta. Taka e i do den - dene{en. So gor-dost zboruva za najgolemiot i najubaviot visokoizdignat makedonski hram na edna od najpromet-nite patni arterii na Detroit, za crkovnataop{tina „Ra|awe na Presveta Bogorodica".

migrant colony in the USA, in the world’s largestcenter of the automobile industry, Detroit. Thus,they initiated and organized many societies,associations and organizations, and of course thechurch parishes in this important political, economic,and business center of the state of Michigan –Detroit.

He is happy that many young Macedonians,talented generations born and educated in the USA,are entering every field of life from industry to law,to economy, universities and every other field.

Svetozar-Steve visited the churches from thevery early days of his arrival in the USA andnothing has changed today. He speaks proudly ofthe biggest and most beautiful Macedonian churchthat stands tall on one of the busiest highways inDetroit, the church parish of the Birth of St. Mary.

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Svetozar-Svetle so Mitropolitite Kiril i Stefan • Svetozar-Steve with Metropolitans Kiril and Stefan

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DD etroit, metropolata vo koja `iveatSvetozar-Svetle Stamevski i negovo-to semejstvo e velegrad i pristani{-te na izlezot na rekata Detroit vo

dr`avata Mi~igen. Po golemina e petti grad voSAD i pretstavuva svetsko sredi{te na avtomo-bilskoto proizvodstvo Toj e centar i sedi{tena kompaniite „Ford“, „Krajsler“ i „GeneralMotors“, potoa na industrijata za avioni, ten-kovi, elektri~ni ma{ini i e eden od najrazvie-nite trgovski centri. Nego go formirale Fran-cuzite, a vo sostav na SAD e od 1796 godina.Detroit, isto taka, e eden od centrite na cr-ne~koto naselenie, a pretstavuva i zna~aenkulturen i sportski centar na SAD.

U{te vo 19 vek vo Detroit po~nale da se do-seluvaat Makedonci od site krai{ta na Make-donija, a spored nekoi podatoci niv gi ima po-ve}e od desetici iljadi i toa od Prilepsko, odLerinsko, od Ohridsko, od Gostivarsko, no naj-brojni se od Tetovsko, od Prespansko i od Bi-tolsko. Velat deka Vratnica - Tetovsko i Qu-bojno - Prespansko nebare se preselile vo Det-roit. Vo ovoj pove}emilionski grad, osobeno voHemtremik i Sterling Haitc, Makedoncite otvo-rile mnogu firmi, restorani, agencii, fabri~-ki pogoni. Eden od niv vo Detroit e poznatioti priznat biznismen Svetozar-Svetle Stamev-ski. Tamu e~at nekolku makedonski radio~asovi,a ima i makedonska televiziska programa, imafolklorni grupi, sportski klubovi. Zatoaobi~no se veli deka Makedoncite vo Detroit se

Ketroit, the metropolis in which Svetozar-Steve Stamevski lives with his family, is alarge city and port on the Detroit River inthe state of Michigan. It is the fifth

largest city in the USA and is a world center ofautomobile production. It is the center where wefind the headquarters of the Ford, Chrysler, andGeneral Motors companies, of the industry for air-planes, tanks, and electrical machines, and one ofthe most developed trade centers. It was foundedby the French, but has been part of the USA since1796. Detroit is also one of the centers of the blackpopulation, and is one of the most significantcultural and sports centers of the USA.

Macedonians from all over Macedonia beganmigrating to Detroit as early as the 19th century.According to some data, there are some tens ofthousands of them from the areas of Prilep, Lerin,Ohrid, and Gostivar. Most come from the areas ofTetovo, Prespa, and Bitola. It appears, they say,that the village of Vratnica, near Tetovo, andLjubojno, near Prespa, moved to Detroit. The Ma-cedonians founded many companies, restaurants,agencies, and factories in this huge city, particularlyin Hamtramck and Sterling Heights. Svetozar-SteveStamevski is one of the well known and renownedbusinessmen in Detroit. Here there are manyMacedonian radio shows, a Macedonian televisionprogram, folklore groups, and sports clubs. This iswhy they usually say that the Macedonians inDetroit feel at home, because they have preservedfully their customs and traditions, just like they

MPC „SVETA BOGORODICA“

MACEDONIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH OF ST. MARY

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~uvstvuvaat kako doma, bidej}i celosno gi za~uva-le obi~aite i tradicii, kako vo „stariot kraj“ - voMakedonija.

Aktivnostite za organizirano opfa}awe naMakedoncite vo Detroit i od okolnite mestapo~naa u{te pred Vtorata svetska vojna so for-miraweto na Makedonsko-amerikanskiot naro-den sojuz (MANS). Me|utoa, kako rezultat na go-lemosrpskata i golemobugarskata propaganda,vistinskoto makedonsko crkovno ìveewe zaMakedoncite po~na duri vo sedumdesettite go-dini od minatiot vek. Imeno, vo 1974 godina seformira Inicijativen odbor za organizacijana makedonska pravoslavna crkva pod jurisdik-cija na Makedonskata pravoslavna crkva (MPC),{to zna~e{e eden nov op{testven ìvot.

Inicijativata za formirawe i izgradba nasvoja makedonska crkva me|u Makedoncite odDetroit postoe{e u{te od poodamna. Me|utoa,taa èlba se ispolni duri koga na 14 januari1975 godina se konstituira Inicijativen odborza formirawe na MPC „Ra|awe na PresvetaBogorodica“ vo Voren - Detroit, koja be{e pri-mena vo zakrila na Svetiklimentovata crkva ipotpadna pod nejzina jurisdikcija. Prvata

were in their native land of Macedonia. Activities to organize the Macedonians in Detroit

and the surrounding areas began way back beforeWWII with the formation of the Macedonian Ame-rican People’s Union. However, due to the greaterSerbian and greater Bulgarian propaganda, the trueMacedonian church living began as late as the1970’s. More precisely, in 1974 a steering com-mittee was formed to organize a MacedonianOrthodox Church under the jurisdiction of theMacedonian Orthodox Church (MOC), which meanta new social life.

The initiative to form and build their own Ma-cedonian church had been present among theMacedonians in Detroit for quite some time. Theirwish came true on 14 January 1975 with the consti-tution of the steering committee for the foundationof the MOC of the Birth of St. Mary in Warren,Detroit, which was taken under the protection ofthe St. Clement’s Church and fell under its jurisdic-tion. The first bishop’s liturgy in this colony wasdelivered at a Roman Catholic church in August1975, by the bishop in charge, Metropolitan Kiril, ina joint service with Mihail, Metropolitan of theVardar region at the time. This was followed by an

Vo MPC „Sv. Bogorodica“ vo Detroit • At St. Mary’s Church in Detroit

arhijerejska liturgija vo ovaa kolonija ja ot-sluì nadle`niot arhijerej, mitropolitot Ki-ril, vo sosluènie na toga{niot povardarskimitropolit Mihail, podocna poglavar na MPCvo edna rimokatoli~ka crkva vo avgust 1975 go-dina, a potoa be{e organiziran piknik na kojprisustvuvaa pove}e iljadi iselenici.

Kako rezultat na brojnite aktivnosti, sobra-nite sredstva i silnata èlba na Makedonciteda imaat svoj makedonski duhoven i kulturno-prosveten dom, vo periodot koga se odbeleùva-{e 75-godi{ninata od Ilindenskoto vostanie,na 13 avgust 1978 godina, mitropolitot Kiril,vo sosluènie na brojni sve{tenici, a pred mno-gubrojni posetiteli e izvr{eno osvetuvawe namestoto, a na 24 dekemvri 1978 godini be{e kupenazgradata vo Voren, koja e osvetena na 20 juli1980 godina. Osvetuvawe go izvr{i mitropoli-tot Kiril.

Denes stariot objekt na crkvata e prodadena izgradena e nova crkva koja pretstavuva so-boren hram i najgolem objekt na MPC vo SAD. Dohramot se izgradeni golemi sali i drugi pros-torii {to pretstavuvaat ubav makedonski arhi-tektonski kompleks. Mestoto be{e osveteno na25 septemvri 1995 godina, a na 21 septemvri

organized picnic which was attended by severalthousands of migrants.

As a result of the numerous activities, the fundsraised, and the strong desire of the Macedonians tohave their own Macedonian spiritual, cultural, andeducational center, at a time when the 75th Anni-versary of the Ilinden Uprising was being marked,on 13 August 1978, Metropolitan Kiril - in a jointservice with numerous priests and before numerousvisitors – consecrated the place. On 24 December1978, they purchased the building in Warren whichwas sanctified on 20 July 1980. Metropolitan Kirilconducted the ceremony.

The old church building was then sold, and anew church was built. It is a cathedral church andthe biggest building of the MOC in the USA. Largehalls and other facilities were built near the church,and it is all one beautiful Macedonian architecturalcomplex. The place was sanctified on 25 September1995, and the foundation stone was laid on 21September 1998. The new St. Mary hall was sancti-fied by Archbishop Stefan and Metropolitan Kiril on21 September 2000, while the church was sancti-fied on 21 September 2002.

The St. Mary Church is one of the most signifi-cant Macedonian spiritual, cultural, and educational

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Vo MPC „Sv. Bogorodica“ vo Detroit • At St. Mary’s Church in Detroit

Arhiepiskopot Stefan i mitropolitot Kiril so ~lenovi na crkvata • The archbishop Stefan and mitropolitan Kiril with the Church memebers

1998 godina e postaven kamen-temelnikot. Noviot objekt naSv. Bogorodica, poto~no sala-ta, e osveten od arhiepiskopotStefan i mitropolitot Kirilna 21 septemvri 2000 godina,a crkvata be{e osvetena na 21septemvri 2002 godina.

Crkvata „Sv. Bogorodica“ eeden od najzna~ajnite make-donski duhovni i kulturno-prosvetni centri vo SAD. Taae sobirali{te na golem brojMakedonci od Detroit i odokolinata i organizator nabrojni kativnosti, me|u koi ina crkovno-narodnite sobiri.

Pretsedatel na Crkovnatauprava na Sveta Bogorodica eSvetozar-Svetle Stamevski,koj zaedno so svoeto semejstvoi so golem broj ~lenovi na cr-kovnata op{tina posvetuvaogromno vreme za progresotna crkvata. Crkvata Sv. Bogo-rodica be{e doma}in na 31-otcrkovno-naroden sobir na Ame-rikansko-kanadskata makedon-ska pravoslavna epaprhija vo2005 godina.

185

centers in the USA. It is the gat-hering place of many Macedoni-ans from Detroit and its vicinity,and it organizes numerous acti-vities, including the church-pe-ople’s meetings.

Svetozar-Steve Stamevski isthe current president of the St.Mary Church board. Along withhis family and numerous mem-bers of the church parish, hedevotes an enormous amount oftime to the progress of thechurch. He is the patron andone of the biggest donators ofthe St. Mary Church.

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Vo MPC „Sv. Bogorodica“ vo Detroit • In St. Mary Church in Detroit

Svetozar-Svetle so Mitropolitite Kiril i Stefan • Svetozar-Steve with Metropolitans Kiril and Stefan

187



Aco Atanasovski, Kosta Jovanovski i Zlate Petrovski • Aco Atanasovski, Kosta Jovanovski, and Zlate Petrovski

Svetozar-Svetle so Qup~o Lordanovski na sobirot vo Detroit • Svetozar-Steve with Ljup~o Jordanovski at the Church Convention in Detroit

Denes Svetozar-Svetle Stamevski e istaknatMakedonec koj, pokraj biznisot se zanimava i sopolitika. Toj e afirmirana li~nost vo make-donskata dijaspora vo SAD, ugleden biznismen ivernik, kako i golem daritel i humanitarnali~nost, so okolu 60.000 dolari na „Sv. Bogoro-dica“. Svetozar-Svetle zaedno so soprugataSvetlana be{e kum na crkvata „Sv. Bogorodica”vo 2001 godina, koga i podari 21.000 dolari.Me|utoa, posebna ~est na semejstvoto be{e kogaSvetozar i Svetlana bea kumovi na ~inot naosvetuvaweto na novata crkva „Sv. Bogorodica”na 21 septemvri 2002 godina.

Today, Svetozar-Steve Stamevski is a distinguishedMacedonian. In addition to his business, he is alsointo politics. He is an affirmed figure in the Mace-donian Diaspora in the USA and beyond. He is alsoa prominent businessman, a believer, and a gener-ous donator who has given about $60,000 to theMacedonian Church of St. Mary (Sveta Bogorodica)in Detroit. Svetozar-Steve and his wife Svetlanawere the main sponsors, or ‘kumovi’, of the St. MaryChurch in 2001. The family was especially honoredand pleased when Svetozar-Steve and Svetlana werekumovi during the sanctification of the new Churchof St. Mary in Detroit on 21 September 2002.

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OSMI DEL

DRUGITE ZA SVETOZAR SVETLE

STAMEVSKI

PART VI I I

OTHERS ABOUT SVETOZAR-STEVE STAMEVSKI

191

VIIIDEL - DRUGITE ZA SVETOZAR STAMEVSKI

PART VIII - OTHERS ABOUT SVETOZAR-STEVE STAMEVSKI

SS vetozar i Svetlana ̀ iveat vo Amerika no,sekoga{ so mislite se so rodnata Make-donija. Ne samo niz biznisot, tuku gazdaSvetozar e mnogu aktiven i vo afirmi-

raweto na makedonskoto ime, kultura, tradici-i, na makedonskiot crkoven ìvot, eve, sega ikako pretsedatel na najgolematamakedonska crkva vo Amerika, toae Sveta Bogorodica vo Detroit.

Svetozar e inicijator za for-miraweto na Amerikansko-make-donskata asocijacija vo Detroit,koja napravi nekolku isklu~itel-no efektni akcii, vklu~ena eaktivno vo sobiraweto na human-itarna i druga pomo{ za Repub-lika Makedonija, gi organizi-ra{e protestite na Makedonci-te pred OON. Tuka se i posto-janite lobi-aktivnosti so vo-de~kite amerikanski institu-cii i li~nosti i so mediumiteza probivawe i za obnarodu-vawe na makedonskata vistinavo ovaa prijatelska zemja,vistinata i faktite za drevnaMakedonija

Svetozar re{ava da se vklu~i vo politikata.Smeta, a toa se pokaà kako ispraven poteg, dekamnogu moè da pomogne za Republika Makedo-nija, dokolku stane del od Republikanskata par-tija na Amerika. Toj e mnogu aktivno vklu~en vodvete uspe{ni izborni kampawi na pretseda-telot Xorx Bu{ i e zadovolen poradi toa.

YY vetozar-Steve and Svetlana live in the USA,but their thoughts are always in their nativeMacedonia. Not only through his business,but master Svetozar-Steve is also very active

in affirming the Macedonian name, culture, traditi-ons, and Macedonian church living. He is currently

the president of the biggest Ma-cedonian church in the USA, theChurch of St. Mary in Detroit. Forinstance, Svetozar-Steve initiatedthe formation of the American-Macedonian Association in Detroit,which conducted several extre-mely effective campaigns. It isalso involved actively in raisinghumanitarian and other forms ofaid for Macedonia, and they orga-nized the Macedonian protests infront of the UN headquarters.They also have ongoing activitiesin lobbying with the leading Ame-rican institutions, personalities,and media with the aim of pene-trating and making the Macedoniantruth known in this friendly coun-try, and spreading the facts andtruth about ancient Macedonia.

Svetozar-Steve believes – and this proved to bethe right move – that he could help the Republic ofMacedonia a lot if he joined the Republican Party ofthe USA. He was very actively involved in the twosuccessful election campaigns of President GeorgeBush, and he is glad.

MOST ME\U SAD I MAKEDONIJAA BRIDGE BETWEEN USA AND MACEDONIA

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Republika Makedonija

KOMISIJA ZA ODNOSI SO VERSKITE

ZAEDNICI I RELIGIOZNI GRUPI

Republic of MacedoniaCOMMISSION FOR RELATIONS WITH

RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES AND GROUPS

Bul. Ko~o Racin 14 blok 9, Skopje, R Makedonija

tel/faks + 389 2 3226-777; 3225-032

e-mail: [email protected]

VEREN NA PRADEDOVSKIOT ZAVET

Nekade na po~etokot na mandatot vo Komisijata za odnosi so verskite zaednici i reli-

giozni grupi, se sretnav so Tvrdomir, Zlate i Svetle. Na{ata sredba zapo~na so debatata okolu

grbot na Republika Makedonija koj se nao|a na yidot od kancelarijata. Mojata prva sredba be{e

zbogatena so informacii za naporite za izgradbata na hramot na Makedonskata pravoslavna

crkva vo Detroit vo Soedinetite amerikanski dràvi, "Sv Bogorodica".

Dve godini podocna Svetle Stamevski e pretsedatel na makedonskata pravoslavna crkovna

op{tina.

Sredbite so nego se ispolneti so vedrina i duh na ambicioznost specifi~na za lu|eto od

biznis krugovite na zapadniot svet. Negovata grià za nepre~eneto funkcionirawe na makedon-

skata zaednica vo ovaa severnoamerikanska metropola, postojanata grià za rodokrajnite

slu~uvawa, osobeno na onie od tetovskiot kraj, èlbata da se pronajdat novi prijateli preku

vospostavuvaweto na novi prijatelstva so amerikanskite vlijatelni li~nosti. Osobeno negova-

ta involviranost vo aktivnostite okolu pretstedatelskata kampawa na aktuelniot pretsedatel

na SAD g-dinot Xorx Bu{, go smestuva vo onaa generacija koja pokaùva deka amerikanskoto

geslo "ne pra{auvaj {to Amerika napravi za Tebe, tuku pra{aj se {to Ti napravi za Amerika" e

silen motiv da se vgradi me|u vtemeluva~ite na odli~nite amerikansko-makedonski odnosi.

Svetozar-Svetle Stamevski e del od makedonskite iselenici na severnoamerikanskiot

kontinent, koi so nesebi~nost i nepregorna rabota se vtemeluvaat vo prekrasnite graditelski

tradicii na makedonskite neimari, gradej}i pravoslavni hramovi i kulturni centri, àri{ta

kade }e se slavi Bog na makedonski jazik, }e se unapreduva kulturata i }e se griì za tradicija-

ta da stane del na multikulturniot proces na amerikanskoto op{testvo.

Gospodinot Svetozar-Svetle Stamevski nesomneno i pripa|a na onaa gorostasna makedon-

ska generacija koja pravi uspe{en is~ekor vo inteegracijata na novoto op{testvo i zemjata koja

ja izbral za sopstveno ìveewe i negovoto poteklo. Toj is~ekor samo ja potvrduva specifikata

na makedonskiot ~ovek, da ja saka svojata zemja, no i da ostane veren da pradedovskiot zavet, da se

saka pravoslavnata vera, da gradi crkvi i manastiri, da se griì za integritetot i idenitetot

na Makedonskata pravoslavna crkva, da ja unapreduva makedonskata kultura i tradicija, ednos-

tavno da e del na amerikanskata zaednica i na svoite tradicii.

Prof. d-r Cane Mojanoski

Pretsedatel na Komisijata za odnosi

so verskite zaednici i religiozni grupi

Bul. Koco Racin 14 blok 9, Skopje, R Macedonia phone/fax + 389 2 3226-777; 3225-032

e-mail: [email protected]

196



RODOSLOVIETO

NA SEMEJSTVOTO STAMEVSKI

THE STAMEVSKI FAMILY TREE

198



199

RODOSLOVIETO NA SVETOZAR SVETLE STAMEVSKI


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VESNA STEVKOVSKA - PREVEDUVA^

Vesna Stevkovska (Bo{kova) e rodena voMakedonija. Osnovno i sredno obrazovaniezavr{ila vo Sidnej, Avstralija. Diplomi-rala na Katedrata za angliski jazik i kni-`evnost pri Filolo{kiot fakultet voSkopje i predavala angliski jazik vo sred-ni u~ili{ta. Vo 1995, na Univerzitetot voAlabama, SAD, nazna~ena e za instruktor ponastava. Ima vodeno brojni seminari zaprofesori po angliski jazik. Vesna bilakoordinator na programa za angliski jaziki rabotela intenzivno na proekti za po-dobruvawe na kvalitetot na obrazovanietovo Republika Makedonija.

Taa e sopruga i majka na dve deca, a golemdel od svoeto vreme go pominuva vo preve-duvawe na knigi i materijali od razli~nioblasti, vklu~itelno medicina, sociologi-ja, psihologija, etika, makedonska flora ifauna i makedonska istorija, no najmnoguod `ivotot na Makedoncite vo dijasporata.Taa go preveduva{e spisanieto Makedonijaod Ministerstvoto za iseleni{tvo, kako ibrojni monografii i publikacii na izda-va~kata ku}a Makedonska iskra. Vo posled-nite nekolku godini raboti isklu~ivo kakopreveduva~.

VESNA STEVKOVSKA – TRANSLATOR

Vesna Stevkovska (Bo{kova) was born inMacedonia. She completed her primary andsecondary education in Sydney, Australia. Shegraduated from the English Language andLiterature Department at the Faculty ofPhilology in Skopje, and taught EFL in second-ary schools. In 1995, she became a TeacherTrainer at the University of Alabama, USA, andhas conducted numerous workshops and sem-inars for EFL teachers throughout the country.She was coordinator of an English languageprogram, working intensively on projectsaimed at increasing the quality of education inthe Republic of Macedonia.

A wife and mother of two, she has devotedtremendous time to translating books andpapers from various fields, including medicine,sociology, psychology, ethics, Macedonian floraand fauna, and Macedonian history, but mostof all the life of the Macedonians in theDiaspora. This included the Makedonija maga-zine of the Ministry of Immigration as wellnumerous monographs and other publicationsfor the Makedonska Iskra Publishing House.For the last few years, she has been a full-timetranslator and interpreter.

219

Voved ............................................................................................................ 11Del I Makedonija na{ata rodna zemja ............................................................... 15

- Makedonski letopis ........................................................................................ 21- Ilindenski mostovi i nepokor ....................................................................... 27- Nacionalni belezi, tradicii ......................................................................... 29

Del II Korenite vo Makedonija ............................................................................ 33- Polo{ka razglednica ..................................................................................... 35- Odri - selo ubavo - selo golemo ...................................................................... 43

Del III Semejstvoto Stamevski ............................................................................... 47- Semejnoto steblo na Stamevci ......................................................................... 49- Krste na gurbet vo Amerika .............................................................................. 53- Te{ki vremiwa ................................................................................................ 57- Tvrdomir Stamevski - tatko i dedo .................................................................. 63- Slo`no semejstvo ............................................................................................. 67- So po~it kon predcite ..................................................................................... 75

Del IV Amerika kako sudbina ................................................................................ 83- SAD - novata tatkovina na Stamevski .............................................................. 85- Iseleni~ka reka .............................................................................................. 89

Del V Semejnite pateki ........................................................................................ 97- Od Odri do Detroit ....................................................................................... 101- Mladata generacija ........................................................................................ 115- Biznisot na Stamevski ................................................................................... 131

Del VI So qubov kon Makedonija ........................................................................ 137- Patot e `ivot - `ivotot e pat ........................................................................ 141- Sredba vo Le{ok ............................................................................................ 145- Vo manastorskiot kompleks na Popova [apka ................................................ 149- Vojnata vo 2001 godina - crna damka vo istorijata ........................................ 151

Del VII Amerikanski horizonti ........................................................................... 157- Li~no prijatelstvo so Laura i Xorx Bu{ ....................................................... 159- Pretsedatel na MPC „Sv. Bogorodica“ vo Detroit ........................................ 179- MPC „Sv. Bogorodica“ .................................................................................... 181

Del VIII Drugite za Svetozar-Svetle Stamevski .................................................. 189- Most me|u SAD i Makedonija .......................................................................... 191

Del IX Rodoslovieto na semejstvoto Stamevski ................................................ 197

SODR"INA

220

Introduction .................................................................................................. 11Part I Macedonia our native land ............................................................................ 15

- Macedonian cronicle ........................................................................................... 21- Ilinden bridges and subordination ........................................................................ 27- National features, traditions ................................................................................29

Part II The roots in Macedonia .................................................................................. 33- A portrait of Polog .............................................................................................. 35- Odri - a big, beautiful village ............................................................................... 43

Part III The Stamevski family .................................................................................... 47- Family tree of the Stamevski family ..................................................................... 49- Krste migrated to America ................................................................................... 53- Times of hardship ............................................................................................... 57- Tvrdomir Stamevski - father and grandfther ......................................................... 63- Harmonius family ............................................................................................... 67- With respect to the ancestors .............................................................................. 75

Part IV The USA as a destiny ..................................................................................... 83- THE USA – Stamevski’s new fatherland ................................................................ 85- Migrant river ...................................................................................................... 89

Part V The family paths ............................................................................................ 97- From Odri to Detroit .......................................................................................... 101- The young generations ...................................................................................... 115- The Stamevski family business ........................................................................... 131

Part VI To Macedonia, with love ............................................................................. 137- The road is life – life is a road ............................................................................ 141- A gathering in Le{ok ......................................................................................... 145- At the monastery complex on Popova [apka ....................................................... 149- The war in 2001 – dark blot in history ................................................................ 151

Part VII American horizons ...................................................................................... 157- Personal friendship with Laura and George Bush ................................................. 159- President of the Macedonian ortodox Church of St. Mary in Detroit ....................... 179- Macedonian ortodox Church of St. Mary .............................................................. 181

Part VIII Others about Svetozar-Steve Stamevski ..................................................... 189- A bridge between USA and Macedonia ................................................................ 191

Part IX The Stamevski family tree ........................................................................... 197

CONTENTS

KNIGOIZDATELSTVO ”MAKEDONSKA ISKRA”-SKOPJE

Ul. „Boìdar Axija“ br. 7Skopje, Republika Makedonija

tel.: + 389 2 2777 369faks:+ 389 2 3136 318

www. makedonskaiskra.com.mk

SLAVE NIKOLOVSKI - KATIN

SVETOZAR-SVETLE STAMEVSKI

Za izdava~ot:Sun~ica Zmejkovska

Urednici:Fidanka TanaskovaSneàna VelkovaJasmina Aleksova

Prevod na Angliski:Vesna Stevkovska

Likovno oblikuvawe:Toni Vasi}

Lektura / Korektura:Elena To{eva

Slavica Bogoevska

Kompjuterska obrabotka:Daniela Pan~evska

Fotografii:Od semejniot album na Stamevski

Bo{ko ê{mixiskiSlave Kasapinov

Aleksandar S. NikolovskiCane Mojanovski

Pe~ati:„SOFIJA“ - Bogdanci

Tira`:500 primeroci

PUBLISHER ”MAKEDONSKA ISKRA”-SKOPJE

Ul. „Bozidar Adìja“ br. 7Skopje, Republic of Macedonia

tel.: + 389 2 2777 369fax: + 389 2 3136 318

www. makedonskaiskra.com.mk

SLAVÈ NIKOLOVSKI - KATIN


Editorial:Sun~ica Zmejkovska

Editors:Fidanka TanaskovaSneàna VelkovaJasmina Aleksova

English Translation:Vesna Stevkovska

Art design:Toni Vasi}

Proofreaders:Elena Tosheva

Slavica Bogoevska

Computer data:Daniela Pan~evska

Photographs by:From the Stamevski family’s album

Bo{ko ê{midziskiSlave Kasapinov

Aleksandar S. NikolovskiCane Mojanovski

Printed by:„“SOFIJA“ - BOGDANCI

500 copies

CIP - Katalogizacija vo publikacijaNacionalna i univerzitetska biblioteka „Sv. Kliment Ohridski“, Skopje

929.52Stamevski

NIKOLOVSKI-Katin, SlaveSvetozar-Svetle Stamevski / Slave Nikolovski-Katin ; (prevod na angliski Vesna Stefkovska)

= Svetozar-Steve Stamevski / Slave Nikoilovski - Katin. - Skopje ; Makedonska Iskra = Skopje ; Makedonska iskra, 2006. - 224 str. : ilustr. vo boja ; 30 sm. -(Edicija Portreti = Series Portraits)

Tekst naporedno na mak. i angl. jazik

ISBN 9989-157-56-1

a) Stamevski (semejstvo), 19 v. - IstorijaCOBISS.MK-ID 65374474

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