Greek Cold War Adoption Stories Take Centre Stage in Athens

A documentary theatre production exploring the stories of more than 4,000 Greek children adopted by families in the United States and the Netherlands during the Cold War opens in Athens on 6 November 2026, bringing decades of separation, unanswered questions and the search for identity to the stage.

For Three Refrigerators and a Washing Machine will run for seven performances at the Olympia Municipal Music Theatre Maria Callas. Based on more than 14 years of ongoing academic research by Professor Gonda Van Steen, the production combines personal testimonies, archival material and historical documents to illuminate one of the lesser-known chapters of modern Greek history.

The production comes as efforts to restore Greek citizenship to people adopted abroad begin to deliver results. Sixty people born in Greece and adopted by American families have now reclaimed their Greek citizenship, while approximately 500 others in the United States are seeking to regain their nationality, Van Steen told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (AMNA).

The adoptees were born between 1950 and 1975, and several more are waiting for their applications to reach completion.

Read more: Greek Children Adopted in US After Cold War Gain Citizenship

Behind the figures lies a painful post-war history. During the Cold War, American families adopted approximately 4,000 Greek children, while around 600 went to the Netherlands and another 50 to Sweden.

Poverty, the aftermath of the Second World War and the Greek Civil War helped create an extensive network of international adoptions. In several cases, the process involved opaque procedures, inadequate supervision and serious irregularities. Authorities classified some children as orphans even though their parents were alive, while financial and social pressures influenced mothers’ decisions to relinquish their children.

Not every adoption was illegal. However, many families experienced incomplete disclosure, questionable practices and a lack of reliable information about the children’s origins.

For decades, this history remained largely outside public debate. Many children who grew up in the United States did not know the actual circumstances of their adoptions, while their biological families often lacked the means to trace them.

Van Steen, holder of the Korais Chair of Modern Greek and Byzantine History, Language and Literature at King’s College London, has played a central role in bringing the issue to public attention. Through her research and her book Claiming the Past: The Greek Adoption Saga (Potamos Publications), she has documented scattered personal accounts, uncovered previously unknown aspects of international adoptions and helped turn a long-silenced issue into a collective demand for recognition and redress.

Through adoptees’ testimonies, archival research and the work of the Nostos initiative, Van Steen has helped give these personal stories a public voice and organise a campaign to restore Greek citizenship to people born in Greece but raised abroad.

Together with Mary Cardaras, who has personal experience of adoption, Van Steen met Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in September 2024. Interior Minister Theodoros Livanios also attended the meeting, which focused on removing bureaucratic obstacles preventing adoptees from reclaiming the Greek citizenship they held from birth.

The prime minister responded positively to the request. In April 2025, a ministerial decision established the procedure for registering, correcting or changing municipal registry details for people adopted abroad up to 1976.

Van Steen describes the decision as an important step towards restoring Greek citizenship and recognising the rights of those affected.

However, the process remains complicated. One of the biggest obstacles involves missing or inaccurate documents, particularly birth certificates. For some adoptees, finding a document means recovering a missing piece of their identity.

Van Steen has also called for institutions that housed children before their adoptions to open their archives. So far, only three of these institutions provide access to the relevant files.

For Van Steen, reclaiming Greek citizenship goes far beyond an administrative procedure. It carries profound symbolic meaning because it recognises the connection between these individuals and the country where their lives began. It can help close a chapter that has remained open for decades and restore a relationship that, for many, ended without their consent. Subject to applicable legal requirements, citizenship can also establish a connection for future generations.

The search for answers also involves the mothers who lost contact with their children, often without knowing what happened to them, and the families who remained in Greece with unanswered questions.

Van Steen stresses the importance of hearing these voices while respecting privacy and avoiding pressure on women who may not wish to speak publicly. Each story carries its own sensitivities, and every search requires time.

During her work, she has received many messages from people in Greece trying to locate relatives or understand what happened to members of their families.

One search involved a woman who wanted to find the family that had financially supported her relatives for years. The search eventually identified the son of the man who had started providing the assistance, although he had since died. A small detail in a family archive, Van Steen explains, can become the starting point for reconnecting two stories separated by time and distance.

She also describes a recurring experience after public talks and discussions: people approach her to reveal similar stories within their own families. Some knew fragments of what had happened, while others grew up surrounded by silence and half-truths.

This pattern has led her to describe the adoption history as “the biggest open secret”. Despite the thousands of personal stories involved, the issue remained outside public discussion for many years.

Van Steen believes that public awareness must continue so the issue does not disappear from the news agenda again. Restoring citizenship represents an important achievement, but it does not automatically answer every question or complete every search.

The 60 people who have already reclaimed their Greek citizenship represent a significant beginning. The approximately 500 others still seeking the same right demonstrate how much work remains.

Bringing the Adoption Stories to the Stage

Kyriaki Mitsou directs and designs For Three Refrigerators and a Washing Machine, and also appears in the cast. The performers include Elli Tringou, Giannis Koukourakis and Ioannis Athanasopoulos, alongside Nefeli Papaderou, Eirini Lambraki, Despina Lavda, Vic Holt and Nick Morrison Baker.

Van Steen herself also appears, bringing the perspective of the researcher behind the historical documentation. The production also features people who experienced adoption themselves, bringing personal testimony into the theatrical narrative.

The production includes filmed appearances by Giannis Dalianis, Yvonne Maltezou, Spyros Bibilas, Romina Spyraki and Renata Sofrona. Mary Cardaras, Stefania Pazoles and Chrysoula Skyrla make special appearances.

Children and the Voices of the Adoption Community Choir also take part, reinforcing the production’s collective dimension.

The multilingual performance, presented in Greek, English and Dutch, reflects the international reach of a story that began in Greece but shaped lives and family histories across several countries.

Music, film projections and personal testimonies combine to create a layered theatrical work that goes beyond recreating the past. The production seeks to connect historical memory with the unanswered questions that remain today.

The performance also carries an activist purpose. It aims to give a platform to people who could not speak publicly for many years, amplify the voices of adoptees and biological mothers, and encourage wider discussion about identity, collective memory, trauma, social injustice and the exploitation of women and economically vulnerable people.

The production has already appeared in London, where it received excellent reviews. Its creators now hope to bring a story long marginalised in public memory to Greek audiences, transforming historical documents and personal testimonies into a living encounter with the past.

For Three Refrigerators and a Washing Machine premieres on 6 November 2026 at the Olympia Municipal Music Theatre Maria Callas, 59 Akadimias Street, Athens. The production will run for seven performances. Tickets are available through Ticketplus, while audiences can also make telephone reservations on 210 8817072.

(Source: AMNA)

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