Kuzman Josifovski Pitu

Kuzman Josifovski Pitu

Kuzman Josifovski – Pitu was born on 23 of June 1915 in Prilep. He was a member of KPJ from 1938, and later joined NOB in 1941. Pitu finished secondary school in Bitola and studied law at the University of Belgrade from 1935. He was a student leader and organizer of the student group “Vardar” and the the Macedonian People’s Movement (MANAPO).

In 1939 Kuzman Josifovski was a Macedonian secretary of the Communist Party of Jugoslavija (KPJ). The same year he participated in the province meetings of KPJ for Macedonia. Two years later, he became a member of the province Committee of KPJ for Macedonia. After the fascist occupation, Pitu, as a member of the Partizan leadership in Macedonia, works in the western part of Macedonia which was occupied by Italy. In Prilep he formed a Regional Committee of the party. In May 1943, as a member of PK and KPJ for Macedonia he led the Suburban Committee in Tetovo.

In the beginning of 1943, Kuzman became a member of the Main headquarters of NOB and PO of Macedonia. The same year he participated in organizing the meeting of the military and political leaders with representatives from the Albanian people, with aim to encourage the freedom battle in Albania, and he also came in contact with the Greek – Partizans.

Kuzman Josifovski Pitu birthplace.

Kuzman Josifovski – Pitu was killed under very unclear circumstances on February 25, 1944 in Skopje. According to the official version, Kuzman died on February 25, 1944, hit by a Bulgarian soldier’s bullet. The house where a meeting was held with representatives of the central committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) was previously surrounded.

Kuzman Josifovski Pitu Monument in Skopje.

Kuzman managed to get out and flee, but only reached about a kilometer to what was the “Alumina” factory, where he was mortally hit by a Bulgarian soldier. For the murder of Kuzman, his mother and her younger sister Pavlina learned about a year later, at the first rally after the liberation of Prilep, where the names of the dead fighters were read.

Proclamation for the Order of the People’s Hero.

People’s hero of Yugoslavia medal.

The tomb of Kuzman Josifovski Pitu in Skopje.

Today, according to historians, there was a telegram of the Montenegrin head Svetozar Vukmanovic-Tempo to Tito, in which he demanded that Pitu, at any price, be removed from ASNOM, and his request was intensified especially after the Prespa counseling, where Kuzman Josifovski advocated for the formation of a Macedonian partisan unit in the other parts of ethnic Macedonia and their common struggle with Macedonians from Vardar Macedonia for the complete liberation and unification of Macedonia.

Kuzman Josifovski Pitu monument in Prilep.

On August 2, 1945, he was posthumously proclaimed a national hero of Yugoslavia.

Kuzman Josifovski Pitu video (in Macedonian)