Bulev Mati

Mati Bulev was born in 1904 in the exquisite and heroic village Ekshisovo, Lerin region. From a young age he was known in Surovichko for his revolutionary activism. Conferences of the village party organization of the CPG, VMRO as well as briefings of the party organisation of the Surovichko region were held in his house. The CPG activists found a hiding place in his home along with members of other organisations.

At the time of the parliamentary elections in January 1936 Mati together with a group of about 30 party and unaffiliated residents of Ekshisevo, joining the candidates of the People's Front, visited many villages in Surovichko and helped to distribute the CPG program, that of the People's Front. Thanks to the decisive and persistent operations of the communists from Ekshisovo, at the time of the elections an election office was established in the village and the People's Front had a significant win - it got 188 votes and was the first among a number of parties in the village.

In the time of DAG, Mati was older than the others. However, his age did not get in his way. Despite his 45 years bai-Mati Bulev from Ekshisovo could not tolerate the new occupiers. He grabbed his pistol and set off for Radosh. He made his base there. From the time of the German occupation he was familiar with the natural surroundings of Radosh - roads, caves, hills; every branch. When he had been very young he had been there often, taken the oxen to pasture and cut wood.

He met others there who were like-minded and with them he formed his group. He quickly showed the monarcho-fascists of Surovichko that they could not torture the people quite so easily. With the first attacks he armed his group well with Bren, Thompsons, pistols, hand grenades that he took from the American mercenaries. Sabotage, ambush, surprise attacks on their trenches were all a part of the plan of Bai-Mati. His eye was not afraid of anything. He encouraged his comrades. With his strength, cunning, cleverness, quick implementation of decisions, he impressed his comrades and becomes their leader. The hits he makes on the fascists made them quake in fear. Their attempts to destroy him had the opposite effect. Mati moved and acted in accordance with careful plans. He had a network of helpers because the people had a deep affection for him. He appeared where he was not expected.

In the Surovo plain, the village Elevish was frightened. A number of armed fascist mercenaries terrorised the whole region. Mati ruined their plans many times, but he did not have enough forces to render them harmless. At the end he thought of a plan to penalise the terrorists. He knew that at night all of the fascists kept guard over the village to ensure that the partisans did not enter. Mati took a donkey and loaded it with saddlebags in which he placed two Telermain mines, lit the fuse and turned the donkey toward the MAI trenches. The American "tough guys" opened fire as soon as they heard a sound. One of the many bullets hit the donkey and it fell, dead, within their trenches. Amazed, they ran to see the victim of their shooting. This was the time at which the mines came into play. The explosions destroyed a wide area. "Six brave fighters" were killed and some others who were injured were crying - they cried for the destiny that awaited them.

That is the penalty that Mati imposed on those who tortured the people. From that point on, the remaining forces could not leave the boundaries of the village.

Mati fell on 19 April 1949 fighting heroically above the village Zeleniche. For his services to the people's movement, after his death he was made a captain commissar and honoured with a medal for his selfless saboteur operations.

From: For Sacred National Freedom: Portraits Of Fallen Freedom Fighters

© 2009

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