The edited volume by Mary Cardaras, Voices of the Lost Children of Greece: Oral Histories of Cold War International Adoption (2023, Anthem Press) is a unique collection of life stories by Greek born people who were adopted by Americans (primarily).

In the opening chapter, Gonda Van Steen sets out what she has identified as 4 waves of “mass adoptions” of Greek children to the US for 20 years after the end of the Greek Civil War (1946-1949).

This is followed by 14 life stories by adoptees.

A common theme in the stories is that of looking different and the amazement of returning to Greece and finding relatives who look like the adopted person.