“We didn’t have the key” — Simeon Atanasov rejects accusations against Esma Redzepova’s children

Simeon Atanasov — one of the many adopted sons who grew up with Esma Redzepova — posted a raw, emotional response after videos and photos showed her Kale house in Skopje ransacked and ruined, prompting outrage across the country and the region.

In his message Atanasov angrily rejected accusations aimed at the group of children Esma raised, saying they had no access or legal power over the property after her death in December 2016. He underlined that the blame should fall on those who actually managed the estate.

Atanasov asked the public a sharp question: “When you say ‘the children’, exactly whom do you mean? We, the children whom Esma raised, educated and cared for, after her death had no access to the house. We could not enter, take, sell or decide what would happen with the property.”

Five questions for those who handled the estate

He listed five direct questions addressed to the people who had keys and authority over the home:

• Who had the key to the house?
• Who had access to the property?
• Who decided what would happen with the villa?
• Where are the items that were in the house?
• Why is blame being shifted onto children who had no power?

Atanasov also appealed to truth and memory: “Esma taught us many things, and one of them was to tell the truth. So I say this for the last time: let those who had the right and opportunity to act on the inheritance be held accountable. And let Esma remain what she always was — our mother, our Queen and our legend.”

The ruined house on Kale — once intended by Esma to become a museum and humanitarian centre for the Macedonian people — has become a visible symbol of the legal disputes over her estate. Images showed shattered windows, scattered dresses, unpaid hospital bills and even the funeral cross of Stevo Teodosievski among damaged belongings, a scene that has embarrassed many.

Responding under Atanasov’s post, Esma’s only daughter (not by blood, but by love) echoed his account and defended the 48 children often cited in criticism: she wrote that everything in the message is true and that after Esma’s death they had no right, access or opportunity to enter the house, remove items, sell or decide anything regarding the property. “That is why it is unfair to shift the blame onto the 48 children,” she said, adding that she stands by the truth Esma taught them.

Photo: press material from the event