Figure 1.--Here we see the orphans of the Papafeio orphanage in Thessaloniki. Many of the boys look old enough to have been born during World War II. They are posing with the War relief supplies sent by the American National Catholic Welfare Conference in 1954.

Fighting during World War II in Greece and the brutal NAZI/Fascist occupation caused the deaths of many Greek children as well as created many orphans. Unlike some counties, the Germans released the interned Greek Army and the War dead were fairly limited in Worl War terms. The Greek resistance, however, was active during the War. The Greeks organized one of the most effective ressistance movements. The Germans retaliated brutally by taking hostages and executing many more civilians than the Resistance fighters they managed to capture. Many children were as a result orphaned. And the famine which developed created more prphans. Greece had one of the most serious orphan problems among NAZI occupied countries. As Greek children were not light complexioned, they do not appear to have been involved in the NAZI Lebensborn Program. The Gerrmans were after young children with blond hair abnd blue eyes. Age was important because older children may have been corupted with nationalist sentiment. And more orphans were created after the War as a result of the Communist inspired Civil War. And as a final hideous action, the Communists kidnapped thousands of children ho were made orhphans by the action and settled in Communist Eastern Europe. Most of these children were mot orphans and had parents. Some Greek orphans were adoped by Americans.

Created: 10:23 PM 3/6/2019
Last updated: 10:23 PM 3/6/2019