Without being Greek, I had the joy and honor of enjoying the friendship of Apostolos Patelakis, who spoke to me about his scientific work. Immediately, I promised him that I would stand by his side in every way to help him, especially regarding the support of his work concerning archival research. Therefore, I can state that I am among the lucky ones who witnessed the birth of this book, even from the stage of its formation.

In our opinion, the greatest contribution of Apostolos is that he managed to overcome his personal experience and record on paper a story that is honest, fair, and as objective as possible.

We are sure that Professor Patelakis' persistent research will continue, with the hope that this book will soon have a sequel. From our side, we extend our congratulations to the author, while encouraging readers to engage with the following pages with the same love that the author wrote them.

The study by Apostolos Patelakis represents a sincere and fair contribution to a previously unknown chapter of both Greek and Romanian history. I have known Apostolos for many years. He honors me with his friendship, for which I am grateful. I know his passion for history, the Greek Civil War, political exile, the "loving mother," his second homeland, Romania. I thank him for entrusting me with a manuscript of his study. I "devoured" it with unabated interest, moved as I followed his example and feelings, enraged, and contemplated as one of the darkest pages of modern Greek history unfolded before my eyes.

Apostolos Patelakis' study is written with the hand of thousands of political refugees, children of Greece in Romania and the other socialist countries. It is their voice, deeply silenced for decades, surrendered to the oblivion of history. The study at hand largely delineates the future of historical research regarding the communities of Greek political refugees. It will develop into a thorough and multi-faceted bibliographic reference in the coming years, I am confident. It deserves to be read carefully by history enthusiasts and to fuel a fruitful dialogue on an issue that continues to create tensions and stir passions among people.