AROUND 40,000 GREEKS, however, remained in Georgia, and eventually the
decision was taken that they should not be denied the benefits their fellow-countrymen from the Crimea had received. On June 14, 1949, the entire Greek population of the Caucasus were aroused—early in the morning so that they would not miss the best of the day— and informed that all the necessary arrangements had been made for them to follow their fellow- countrymen to the East. They were easily per- suaded not to take any belongings with them (it was felt that the sentimental associations attaching to old possessions might later sadden some of the older Greeks) and they were given free travel, in special trains, to Central Asia, where they were even allowed to build their own houses, if they could find building materials on the tundra. Small wonder, then, that the voters in Greece should contrast this benevolent behaviour with that of the British authorities, who have done nothing of a comparable nature—except give an Archbishop a holiday in the Indian Ocean.
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