The Greek Civil War and Genocide by Forcible Transfer of Children

Abstract

ABSTRACT The article uncovers the connection between Article II(e) of the Genocide Convention and the Greek Civil War (1946–49). Through archival research and secondary sources, it reconstructs the Greek legal arguments that framed the transfer of children conducted by the communist guerrillas in Northern Greece as an act of genocide and led to the inclusion of this action in the legal definition of genocide. By analyzing the arguments of the Greek government, it presents a new interpretation of Article II(e) of the Convention. It is contended that the historical antecedent of the provision supports a biopolitical understanding of the genocidal act in question. The article concludes with a more general discussion of the continuing importance of Article II(e).