Notes by Marcus A. Templar, National Security Advisor | Macedonian League
In respect of humanitarian issues arising from the civil war in Greece and the children gathering aka «παιδομάζωμα» including the transport of children to some Soviet republics such as Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, we wish to clarify a few matters.
In ancient times, the south part of Uzbekistan was part of the Hellenistic Seleucid Kingdom but the few Greek communities there have since assimilated.
In modern times, the community is made up of Greeks who were deported to Uzbekistan from Russia by Joseph Stalin; another group of Greeks is made up by political refugees from Greece, arrived after the Greek Civil War and the defeat of Democratic Army of Greece.
The Greeks of Kazakhstan are mainly descendants of Pontic Greeks who were deported from southern Russia and the Caucasus region (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan) along with those from Crimea. The total number of deported individuals was approximately 60,000 people.
According to the archives of Yugoslavian Red Cross, Dr. Olga Milošsević, the head of the Yugoslavian Red Cross, the children from Greece who were transported to Yugoslavia were either abducted by the rebels or were given by their rebel parents to Yugoslavian authorities for safekeeping. After they arrived at the very few reception centers in Yugoslavia were distributed to the countries of "Communist Information Bureau" (IB) aka Cominform. The USSR was not one of them. It is needless to say that an unknown number of children died in the custody of the Yugoslav authorities, especially babies and toddlers who needed special care. The Cominform countries were Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and of course Yugoslavia.
Yugoslavia for its role in the abduction and accommodation of abduction of the children was condemned by the UNGA and ordered the return of all abducted children. Of course, it did not happen. Only a few children returned to their homes and parents.
Between 1945 and 1946, 5,000 communists escaped to Yugoslavia. “Some of them had left during the WWII such as Dimitris Tupurkas, or Tupurkovski from Trigonon of Florina Prefecture, who had left during the WWII for Yugoslavia in order to train with Tito’s Partisans and then return home in order to kill Greeks. He joined the JNA and retired with the rank of Major. His son is Vasil Tupurkovski, a politician of the FYROM. The present FYROM Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski’s origin is from Macedonia, and although his grandfather fought against the Italians, his parents chose Tito’s communist paradise” (Templar, 2014). The total number of political refugees who left Greece by the end of the war in 1949 was an estimated 35,000.
After January 1954, about one year after Stalin’s death, their children were reuniting with their parents, and many of them were dispatched to the USSR, especially to Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan to unite with their parents. Those children who were forcibly abducted either remained in the former IB countries or after the fall of the Wall emigrated to other countries, one of which was Greece.
In 1982, Greece, under the government of PASOK, passed a law allowing political refugees of Greek descent who wanted to return to Greece regardless of the reasons for their stay in communist countries. This law precluded any ethnically non-Greek. After the fall of the USSR, many of them left the red “paradise” for a better life elsewhere.
In ancient times, the south part of Uzbekistan was part of the Hellenistic Seleucid Kingdom but the few Greek communities there have since assimilated.
In modern times, the community is made up of Greeks who were deported to Uzbekistan from Russia by Joseph Stalin; another group of Greeks is made up by political refugees from Greece, arrived after the Greek Civil War and the defeat of Democratic Army of Greece.
The Greeks of Kazakhstan are mainly descendants of Pontic Greeks who were deported from southern Russia and the Caucasus region (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan) along with those from Crimea. The total number of deported individuals was approximately 60,000 people.
According to the archives of Yugoslavian Red Cross, Dr. Olga Milošsević, the head of the Yugoslavian Red Cross, the children from Greece who were transported to Yugoslavia were either abducted by the rebels or were given by their rebel parents to Yugoslavian authorities for safekeeping. After they arrived at the very few reception centers in Yugoslavia were distributed to the countries of "Communist Information Bureau" (IB) aka Cominform. The USSR was not one of them. It is needless to say that an unknown number of children died in the custody of the Yugoslav authorities, especially babies and toddlers who needed special care. The Cominform countries were Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and of course Yugoslavia.
Yugoslavia for its role in the abduction and accommodation of abduction of the children was condemned by the UNGA and ordered the return of all abducted children. Of course, it did not happen. Only a few children returned to their homes and parents.
Between 1945 and 1946, 5,000 communists escaped to Yugoslavia. “Some of them had left during the WWII such as Dimitris Tupurkas, or Tupurkovski from Trigonon of Florina Prefecture, who had left during the WWII for Yugoslavia in order to train with Tito’s Partisans and then return home in order to kill Greeks. He joined the JNA and retired with the rank of Major. His son is Vasil Tupurkovski, a politician of the FYROM. The present FYROM Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski’s origin is from Macedonia, and although his grandfather fought against the Italians, his parents chose Tito’s communist paradise” (Templar, 2014). The total number of political refugees who left Greece by the end of the war in 1949 was an estimated 35,000.
After January 1954, about one year after Stalin’s death, their children were reuniting with their parents, and many of them were dispatched to the USSR, especially to Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan to unite with their parents. Those children who were forcibly abducted either remained in the former IB countries or after the fall of the Wall emigrated to other countries, one of which was Greece.
In 1982, Greece, under the government of PASOK, passed a law allowing political refugees of Greek descent who wanted to return to Greece regardless of the reasons for their stay in communist countries. This law precluded any ethnically non-Greek. After the fall of the USSR, many of them left the red “paradise” for a better life elsewhere.