The Four Heroines from the Village Ekshisovo

In 1947 four villagers from Ekshisovo were brutally killed - Aspasija, Vesa and Niki Streshovi (sisters) and Matka Popova.

Aspasija was born in 1908, and Vesa in 1912, to a poor family. After they completed their primary school education they joined life's struggle. They were both seamstresses and Aspasija was renowned in the whole of the Surovichko region. They had a younger sister Niki, who was born in 1917. Niki, with the help of her two sisters, managed to complete teacher's college in Lerin to become a teacher. From a young age, all three sisters had deep sympathy for the CPG and helped the democratic movement. It was the same for Matka Popova.

In 1943 the three sisters and Matka became members of CPG and actively fought against the Nazi occupiers to free their country. Aspasija in 1944 was elected a member of the Surovichko regional committee and bravely worked organising women in the liberation struggle. She fought hard for the brotherly unity of the Greeks and Macedonians and against all chauvinism and divisive actions.

After Varkiza, the four women continued to fight passionately for the democratic movement to prevail. Because of that activity they were arrested and taken to the Surovichko Police station. There they were subjected day and night to brutal torture but they did not make any concession. Aspasija was tortured the most. The Police head, Dzhelatot-Baburis, when he saw that she was prepared to die, cut her throat. The other two sisters, Vesa and Niki, along with Matka Popova were transferred to the Ekshisovo Police prison where they were further tortured. And when the police saw that nothing was going to come out of the mouths of the three heroines, they thought up even more brutal tortures. They dragged the women into the yard of Matka Popova, gathered together many people from Matka's neighbourhood, called out Matka's four children - aged 8 to 16 as well as Vesa and Niki's mother. They lit a fire in the yard and with heated irons they poked the women. But nothing, not even the medieval tortures, were enough to make the women give in. They died as real heroines of the people.

G Pilaev

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

© 2009

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