Paidomazoma: il rapimento dei bambini greci da parte dei ribelli comunisti durante la guerra civile (1944-1949)

Abstract

At the end of World War II the Greek Communist Party purposed to seize power soon after the withdrawal of the British forces, but it was blocked by US initiative. From 1946 to 1949, about 28,000 children were kidnapped and brought beyond the Iron Curtain by Communist rebels and afterwards obliged to fight against their own population. This crime is called in history as Paidomazoma. The United Nations Special Committee on the Balkans (UNSCOB) reported the child-traffic was directed to Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania. The UN resolution no. 193, issued on 17 November 1948 by the United Nations General Assembly, recommended that the children come back to Greece and invited all UN members to take all necessary measures. In 1949, the UN approved the resolution no. 288 concerning the children's return. The Communist governments asserted that their purpose was to save children and young people from war sufferings