PART OF THE BOOK “SELECTED PAPERS FOR MACEDONIA”
BY SLAVÉ KATIN
Modern economic emigration gained great intensity in the nineties of the previous century (XX) when more than 100, 000 of the residents of Macedonia (including Macedonians, ethnic Albanians, and others) left the country. This can be seen from available data from the last census of the population of the Republic of Macedonia. According to it, in 1994 173,611 persons were abroad, of which approximately 50,000 left in the period 1989 – 1994. There are a number of indications that show that these migratory movements continue with the same intensity even today.
This is evident from the high level of negative net migration of 7,438 persons annually in the period 1994 – 1996, and the available data from foreign sources. For instance, according to data of the European Council, only in Germany, Italy, and Switzerland in the period 1996-1999 the number of Macedonian residents increased by approximately 41,000 people.
As regards the social and qualification structure of the Macedonian emigrants in the transatlantic countries we need emphasize that in the past the majority of them came from the villages, were of a difficult economic state, had a low level of education, and little skilled qualifications, unlike today’s emigrants who mainly have completed tertiary education and are professionally skilled. Hence, in the past the main reason for emigrating was to provide for a living and save material reserves for the family.
A small number of emigrants left their native country due to political reasons, as well as the tradition of going abroad. However, with the last several generations, as well as the more recent emigrants, especially those from the Republic of Macedonia, there is an emphasized emigration of people with completed tertiary education and a higher cultural and social level, which in turn results in a new structural level of Macedonian emigration. Thus, among them we find intellectuals from various fields, affirmed not only in Macedonia, but throughout the world.
Changes in the economic, political, social, educational, and qualification structure, and the accomplished material potential, also bring about a partial transformation of the living habits of the Macedonian emigrants in the Diaspora. Thus, many of them, especially the second and third generation, have made their way through to the higher classes in the societies in which they live. However, in the political life of their new environments and societies, the Macedonian emigrants are far behind the other ethnic groups, which is also the case with the other emigrants from the Balkan countries.
Nevertheless, their achievements in an economic, spiritual, educational, cultural, and sports scale increasingly contribute to their not being treated as second class citizens, but instead, as an integral and important factor in their new environments in the Diaspora, especially in the multi-ethnic societies.
Despite the differences in social structure which the emigrants of Macedonian origin in the Diaspora possess, and which are the result of the different levels of education and material status, they still have joint mutual characteristics in their everyday life. Thus, many of the emigrants from Macedonia are in a way assimilated or “melted in the assimilation pot.” On the other hand, the majority of the Macedonian emigrants only seemingly accept integration in those societies while in fact they remained faithful to their traditional way of life.
They continue to maintain close family ties, essentially based and nurtured in a traditional patriarchal spirit, keeping the folklore, language, customs, and traditions brought with them from Macedonia. Providing for and completing the family is one of the priority aims in the life of the Macedonian emigrants in their new environment. For this reason the most part of their social life takes place mainly within the Macedonian ethnic communities.
At the same time, some of them resist the demands of the new environment and find it difficult to adapt to the new way of life, afraid of losing their personal and national identity. Therefore, the majority of Macedonian emigrants continue staying close and gathering into the Macedonian ethnic communities located mainly in the larger industrial centers, where they initially began their organized life.
The first forms of meeting among the Macedonian emigrants date back to the time of their massive arrival in the new environments, when they brought with them their culture, traditions, religion, customs… As a result of this at the very beginning they established groups from the same village for helping each other, and later cultural, church associations, and other forms of meetings in all of the major centers, such as Detroit, Gary, Chicago and Cleveland in the USA; Toronto, Hamilton, and Windsor in Canada; Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney in Australia; Goteborg and Malme in Sweden; in Copenhagen in Denmark; in Paris, France; Munich, Berlin and Hanover in Germany; Zurich in Switzerland, and other industrial cities.
The aim of these associations was to maintain the Macedonian culture, customs, and religious traditions, and to provide material aid to those Macedonians in need. At the same time they collected funds for construction of churches and other buildings in their new environments and in their native places in Macedonia. Thus, as early as 1919 they built the first church in Toronto, the Macedonian – Bulgarian church of St. Cyril and Methodius. Here also, in 1912 the first bank of the Macedonian emigrants from Aegean Macedonia was established. In those early years they also established a number of village societies of emigrants from the whole of Macedonia.
To be continued
BY DUSHAN RISTEVSKI-MAKEDON
