Greeks took in 12,000 Serb children
More than 12,000 children from war-ravaged Yugoslavia came to Greece in 1992-1995, when slaughter was raging in Bosnia-Herzegovina. They were all Serbs, even though Muslim and Croat children were suffering as much or worse from the horrors of war. Ordinary Greeks who offered hospitality to those children should not be criticized for bias. The Greek line then was Greece-Serbia-Orthodoxy, and it governed humanitarian initiatives. This does not diminish the help given to those children by Greek families and agencies such as KEDKE, the Church of Greece and Solidarity Caravan. The combat has ceased in the former Yugoslavia, but the drama of orphaned children goes on. Many of them live in institutions, in poor conditions and without hope of anything better. Others roam the streets of Belgrade, Serajevo and Zagreb, begging or picking pockets to eke out a living. Some luckier ones, like Lazar Mentarovic, survive thanks to the humanity of families in Greece, which continue to offer them moral and financial support in their country.
