"It's Exactly 10:02 p.m. That's It, It's Begun!": 85 Years Since the Night Prilep Took Up Arms Against the Occupier

"I look at my watch - it's exactly 10:02 p.m. That's it, it's begun!" That is how Vera Aceva remembered the moment the attack began in Prilep, on October 11, 1941. Eighty-five years later, those few minutes are marked as the start of the organized people's uprising and of the anti-fascist struggle in Macedonia.

Three groups, three targets

The action was no improvisation. According to the historical chronology, the plan to attack the police station and the prison was set on October 8, and on October 9 the Local Committee and the Military Staff assigned the tasks. On October 10 the fighters gathered at Crveni Steni. On the evening of October 11, around 10 p.m., sixteen partisans from the Prilep partisan detachment "Goce Delčev" came down toward the town, split into three groups.

The first group, led by Asparuh Josifoski, attacked the Učastok, the building of the Bulgarian occupation police. Among them was Duško Naumoski, whom historian Rubinčo Belčeski names as the fighter who fired the first bullet. The second group, led by Nikola Poposki, attacked the prison. The third, headed by Mice Dimeski, had the task of cutting the telephone and telegraph lines. According to historical records, no partisans died in the action, and one guard from the police station was killed. On the evening of October 12, two partisan detachments set out in the Kumanovo area.

Prilep with a re-enactment, the state in Kumanovo

Prilep marked the anniversary last night at the Stone Stage, with the anthem, a short film about the attack, a speech by Mayor Dejan Prodanoski, a staged re-enactment of the attack on the Učastok, fireworks and a concert. The program, under the motto "The Story of the Hero City", runs from October 1 to November 3. The central state commemoration is today in Kumanovo, at the Memorial Ossuary, where Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski addresses the ceremonial academy "Ideals That Build the Future".

The staged re-enactment and the short film show an effort to keep memory from shrinking to wreaths and speeches. That matters, because living witnesses of that night are increasingly rare. What remains are the written testimonies, the "11 October 1941" museum and the date on the calendar.

There is one detail that is hard to ignore. Prilep is re-enacting an attack on the Bulgarian occupation police station in the very week Sofia is once again declaring there will be no concessions on Macedonia's European path. History doesn't repeat itself, but in the Balkans it is rarely silent. The question is whether October 11 stays a holiday with fireworks, or also a reminder that the first step toward freedom 85 years ago was not handed over by anyone - it was taken by sixteen people who set out into the dark.