Παιδομάζωμα - Communist child abductions in the Greek civil war

[Tsontos]

From early 1948, the Communist authorities deported 25,000-28,000 children across the frontiers from war-stricken zones (of whom only 538 had been repatriated by 1952). The next main wave of exiles followed the final defeat of the Democratic Army in the second half of 1949

The Greek Civil War, 1943-1950, David H. Close, 1993, p9

[Christov]

Originally Posted by akritas

The FYROM propaganda claims that all the children were Slavphones.
Of course and is a lie. Like the Risto Stefov lies.
In the book VII, page 26 referred the exactly numbers and the places that kids guided.
18.500 went in the Bulgaria (17 camps), Romania (11 camps), Hungary (11 camps), Czechoslovakia (18 camps), Poland (3 camps), East Germany and Albania ( 5 camps).
9.500 went in Yugoslavia (15 camps).
Those numbers and the names are recorded from Red Cross

Can you explain, please!

[akritas]

Christov the problem of the forceful abduction of Greek childern appeared before the international organizations and the public in the early years of the Cold War and it became one of the segments in the ideological, political, and propagainda settling of the accounts between the Greek royal government and its neighbors.

The issue was instrumentalized and used in the wide context of the worsening relations between the West and the East.The summer 1948 conflict between Yugoslavia and the USSR and other "peoples democratic" countries soon led to the severing of relations between Yugoslav and Greek communists. In this, as it seemed at the beginning, "family feud." Greek refugee children also had their place.The conflct with the Cominforrn countries led to the transfer of a part of the Greek emigration from Yugoslavia, and part of the refugee children population went with it. Thc "f'reezing" of the relations with the Soviet bloc led to the complete halt of the repatriation of children to their parents who resided in the countries ot the "people's democracies," and this repatriation continued only after the improvement of the Yugoslav-Soviet relations in 1955-1956.


In Bulgaria the major camps were in Stara Zagora, Sliven, Karlovo, Zemes, Botevgrad and Gabrovo. The sources are the Red Cross (Bulgarian Section) , Greek CP and the UN.

Do you want something more ?

[Tsontos]

Florakis said in the documentary "The Greek civil war" I saw recently that the abductions were "propagandist rumours", never having occured. Ill try upload his comments.

[Christov]

Originally Posted by akritas

Christov the problem of the forceful abduction of Greek childern appeared before the international organizations and the public in the early years of the Cold War and it became one of the segments in the ideological, political, and propagainda settling of the accounts between the Greek royal government and its neighbors.

The issue was instrumentalized and used in the wide context of the worsening relations between the West and the East.The summer 1948 conflict between Yugoslavia and the USSR and other "peoples democratic" countries soon led to the severing of relations between Yugoslav and Greek communists. In this, as it seemed at the beginning, "family feud." Greek refugee children also had their place.The conflct with the Cominforrn countries led to the transfer of a part of the Greek emigration from Yugoslavia, and part of the refugee children population went with it. Thc "f'reezing" of the relations with the Soviet bloc led to the complete halt of the repatriation of children to their parents who resided in the countries ot the "people's democracies," and this repatriation continued only after the improvement of the Yugoslav-Soviet relations in 1955-1956.


In Bulgaria the major camps were in Stara Zagora, Sliven, Karlovo, Zemes, Botevgrad and Gabrovo. The sources are the Red Cross (Bulgarian Section) , Greek CP and the UN.

Do you want something more ?

My question was about the children: were they speaking Greek or not? Or mayby they were bilingual

[akritas]

The kids were Slavmacedonians and Greeks.But in that time (in the middle of the Civil war) they named as Greeks.

[Christov]

Originally Posted by akritas

The kids were Slavmacedonians and Greeks.

I see... It's really sad! There is nothing better than kids. I've heard some of them, elderly people nowadays are not permitted to visit their birth places. Do you know something about?

[akritas]

Originally Posted by christov

I see... It's really sad! There is nothing better than kids. I've heard some of them, elderly people nowadays are not permitted to visit their birth places. Do you know something about?

This is difrent issue that involve politics from the FYROM side. Some of these kids, today adults they follow the nationalistic FYROM political line.

[Tsontos]

They are all allowed to travel to Greece and often do christov. But they wont be given citizenship.

[Amarantos]

This should be entitled the humanitarian crimes of the communists.Funny today all former communists are applying themselves with the human rights cause.
All the children came from Greece.They were grecophones and slavophones.The decision of their forceful abduction was taken in Belgrad on March 1948 during the International Conference of the Balcan Youth ,by all the communists.The reasoning had to do with the "protection" of the children by the "monarch-fascist" greek government and with the "fear" that the children could find themselves in the middle of the military operations.True reason? The communist army had the need of every single person available in its ranks for military and operative causes (it was by then losing the fight) and in this case the women-mothers occupied in taking care of their children. Slogans like "i (a mother) have four children! I'll send them all abroad ,so i'll be able to contribute with all my forces to the creation of a free democratic Greece" were used to convince parents.Even more these children could become a future reserve for the communist army in any case.
The transportation of the children was coordinated by the Greek Communist Party in accordance with the relative communist party of the country that would host the children.Their education too.Every single part of their life.For example those who desagreed with the communist line once in the new country were exiled ,imprisoned, not allowed to go to the university...
It did not took long for the greek communists to lose control ,as in the case of Yugoslavia.According to the policy of the GCP slavophone and grecophone children should not be separated during the educational process, since the objective of both was common: the return to their homeland,Greece.This policy faced the yugoslavian one which had as aim the separation of the children and the introduction of the slavophone ones in native families of the "Socialist republic of macedonia" .Guess why! The grecophone children were obliged to learn the slavic language made in yugoslavia too,something that would surely contribute to the assimilation of these children also in the local society, "rousing" them all in the end ethnically as genuine "macedonians" .
It is obvious that despite the agreements made between greek and yugoslav communists, the latter had no intention from the beginning to hand the children back after the end of the hostilities (the supposed primary reason).The reason is quite clear seeing those grown up now persons and the political ideology they represent.
It is interesting to note that there were various revolts in the institutions were the children were hosted, with the demand to be sent to their parents.Descriptions of these revolts are found in letters sent to the secretary of the U.N. The result of the revolts was the separation of the older from the younger children ,the first being acused of being "cominformists"!!! Despite the revolts the authorities did not satisfy the demand,but took all the necessary measures to keep the children in their territory. Finally, the teachers of the children who had accompanied them from the moment they were leaving Greece, slavophone teachers too among them, were gradually removed by yugoslavian authorities with various accusations.Persons who could in a way recall something in the childrens minds.