- AHEPA ORPHAN SMUGGLING
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySr_iG5YOOg (VIDEO4TLDR)
Beginning in the 1940s Ernest Mittler (a New York Defense Attorney) investigated domestic baby-selling rings extending across North America and Canada (search “georgia mann”). A vocal advocate for domestic adoption reform, he first discovered AHEPA’s international ring in the 1950’s. In 1959 Stephen S. Scopas, a magistrate who had been appointed by Mayor Robert F. Wagner (and Supreme President of AHEPA) , was indicted on charges of selling 30 Greek children to New York couples. In a scandal that captured front-page headlines, Mr. Scopas was charged with accepting payment for placing the children and for doing so without authorization. Though forced to resign, Mr. Scopas was acquitted. A judge ruled that because the adoptions had been legal in Greece -- as it was believed at the time -- Mr. Scopas could not be convicted in New York. Because adoption laws were considered a “states-rights” issue, they differed widely. This lack of standardization continues to facilitate inter-state and international adoption rings. Thus, AHEPA was able to operate with relative impunity well into the 1970’s (and, I believe, to this day).
https://www.silive.com/news/2012/02/historic_pages_from_the_archiv_159.html
OUSTED JUDGE CALLED BY D.A. Still insisting that he is innocent of any wrongdoing, former City Magistrate Stephen S. Scopas was due to show up today in Manhattan District Attorney Frank S. Hogan's office to answer questions about his role in the adoption of Greek orphans and their immigration to this country. Scopas was ordered to undergo the questioning following a report submitted to Mayor Wagner last Friday by Commissioner of Investigation Louis I. Kaplan. On the basis of the report, Wagner asked Scopas to resign as magistrate on Saturday. Several hours after first refusing to do so, Scopas telegraphed his resignation to the mayor.
http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/43823 (NYT News clipping #2)
People v. Scopas
https://www.leagle.com/decision/196213111ny2d1201117
This New York Times Paid Obituary makes no mention of that scandal, but instead provides more uncomfortable threads to research.
https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/12/classified/paid-notice-deaths-scopas-stephen-s-sr.html
SCOPAS-Stephen S. Sr., on January 9, 1999. Beloved husband of Cleonike (nee Andromidas). Loving father of Pamela Basedow (her husband William) and the late Stephanie Ann Scopas & Stephen Scopas Jr. Cherished grandfather of Stephen William and Stephanie Cleonike Basedow. Mr. Scopas served twelve years as a member of the Parish Council and six years as PRESIDENT of ST. NICHOLAS GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH. He was a Past PRESIDENT of ST. BASIL’S ACADEMY and the Archdiocese Council and was honored as an Archon of the Greek Orthodox Church. Mr. Scopas served as Chairman of the First Justice for Cyprus Committee and helped build the AHEPA HOSPITAL at SALONICA and the AHEPA WING at the EVANGELISIMOS HOSPITALl in ATHENS. He was awarded the Royal Order of Phoenix by King Paul of Greece. Mr. Scopas served on a local district and national level in the Order of Ahepa having held the office of SUPREME PRESIDENT in both the AHEPA and SONS OF PERICLES. He has served as a Judge of the Crimnal Court of the City of New York and he founded the St. Paul's Society. He also served on the Professional Ethics Committee of the Queens County Bar Association. Mr. Scopas served until his death as the National Chairman of the AHEPA COOLEY’S ANEMIA FOUNDATION Reposing at the Frederick Funeral Home of Flushing Northern Blvd. at 193rd St. Visiting hours 2-5 and 7-10 PM. Funeral services will be Wednesday St. Nicholas G.O. Church at 12 noon. Interment Flushing Cemetery. In lieu of flowers donations to The Ahepa Cooley's Anemia Foundation, 1909 Q St. N.W., Suite 500 Washington, D.C. 20009.
https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/103069988/
THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER FRIDAY, AUGUST 22, 1941 Ahepans Consider Establishment Of Counterpart Of Boys' Town
An Ahepa Convention Committee is considering a plan to establish a Greek counterpart of Father Flanagan's famous Boys Town in Nebraska. Still In the preliminary stage, the plan calls for assistance In obtaining the land a a 15,000-acre tract and construction of dormitories, a school, church, and hospital "somewhere In the United States" which would be known as the Ahepa Home
Ahepa leaders said the government probably would be approached. The home would be launched on a small scale, possibly large enough to house 100 each of orphan, made available to Greek war orphans and refugees, primarily, and to orphans and poor aged persons of Greek descent, secondarily. Father of the plan is William Hells, Greek Consul at New Orleans, and wealthy oil operator. Hells, it is understood, stands ready to contribute $100,000 toward a proposed $."100,000 fund for establishment of the project for boys, orphan girls, old men, and old women. From there, the project would be permitted to grow in proportion to its ability to sustain itself. Leaders said that once the war had stopped and the project no longer was required for Greek use alone, it probably would be turned over to the government for Americans generally. It was also expected that government officials would be invited to sit on the board Immediately. The plan calls for conducting the project In a manner similar to the town of boys originated by the Catholic priest. After upon The plan calls for creation of a Greece {illegible} after the war.
AHEPA succeeded 3 years later and founded their orphanage in NY “St Basil’s Academy”
http://www.stbasil.goarch.org/about_us/
Archbishop Athenagoras, of Blessed Memory, founded Saint Basil Academy in 1944 with the valuable assistance of the Greek Orthodox Ladies Philoptochos Society. On March 15, 1944, the Philoptochos purchased the 400-acre Jacob Ruppert estate in Garrison New York, on the shores of the Hudson River, overlooking West Point Academy for only $55,000. It was an era when many large estates were put on the market because of the ever-increasing property taxes. In 1976, a parcel of land encompassing 250 acres (primarily marshland) was sold to the Audobon Society. The Archbishop dreamed of establishing an orphanage or children's home ever since his arrival in the United States in 1931. The Philoptochos purchased the Ruppert estate with the proceeds of two years of the Vasilopita celebrations. The Academy, as envisioned by the late Patriarch Athenagoras, has expanded in scope to be a well equipped Residential Child Care Center, with modern dormitories, a gymnasium/auditorium, indoor swimming pool, beautiful chapel, library and all the necessary comforts of a loving home. The Academy was named for Saint Basil, who was the founder of many orphanages, hospitals, and homes for the elderly in fourth century Caesarea, Asia Minor. He is considered one of the greatest philanthropists of the Church and founder of the modern-day hospital concept.
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NOMOCHOMO ago
Did it ever get turned over to the US government? HA! Instead…..
St. Basil’s Academy flouts NY adoption/orphanage laws. http://www.orthodoxchristianity.net/forum/index.php?topic=2857.0
GARRISON, NY — In a letter dated January 2, the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) formerly notified St. Basil Academy Executive Director Fr. Constantine Sitaras that the institution had been denied an operating certificate. While the property continues to be owned by National Philoptochos, the archdiocese has long administered the academy as one of its ministries. In recent years, St. Basil has transformed itself from being a boarding school to providing residential care for an estimated 24 children. In denying the application for an operating license, the State of New York cited a number of reasons for its decision, including “a history of unlicensed operation” beginning in 1997. Once St. Basil ceased operation of its educational program, it was no longer exempt from compliance with New York’s Interstate Compact in the Placement of Children (ICPC). Nevertheless, according to the State of NY’s document denying certification, St. Basil continued to accept placement of children from outside New York state without first going through ICPC. The question concerning financial responsibility for the support of those children has resulted. Because St. Basil no longer operates as a boarding school for instruction in elementary subjects, “it has no authority to provide residential care for children outside the context of a boarding school.” According to the State of New York, “St. Basil has not taken steps to ensure that children in their care receive an appropriate education in accordance with the requirements of education law.” While in recent years the children of St. Basil would receive their education in the Highland Falls school district, that school has now refused to accept the children due to the institution’s alleged failure to pay more than $236,000 in tuition costs owed to the district. In September 2003, St. Basil then sought to enroll the children in the Garrison school district without payment of $46,000 in tuition costs to date, which the district said it is owed. As a result, the State of New York alleges in its denial for certification “St. Basil failed to meet its financial obligations, which calls into question the willingness of the agency to make the financial resources available to properly operate the program.” While St. Basil has 60 days within which to challenge the state’s denial of certification, the NY Division of Development and Prevention Services has directed the institution to “cease and desist any further operation for the residential care of children by January 31.”
ST. BASIL ACADEMY TO CLOSE DAVID NOVICH THE JOURNAL NEWS (January 6, 2004) “St. Basil officials have said the children have no parents to care for them and have made the academy and the school district their home. But Garrison officials disagree and have said the children go home for the summer, make telephone calls to their parents and are covered by their medical insurance. Garrison Schools Superintendent Ellen Bergman had mixed feelings about the denial of the license. She said St. Basil students have done well at the school but have been a heavy expense for the district. Last month, school officials had to borrow $410,000 to cover the costs of the St. Basil students. In 1997, the academy stopped educating its children because of a lack of funds and started sending them to the neighboring Highland Falls-Fort Montgomery schools in Orange County and paying tuition. In addition, the academy was chartered as a boarding school, not as a residential-care facility.”
https://www.law.com/almID/1163671526261/?hubtype=ProBono&id=1163671526261&slreturn=20180923215416 Pro Bono Effort Thwarts State Attempt to Decertify Orphanage: The latest development in a long-running legal battle between a Hudson Valley orphanage and a public school district that has resisted accepting some two dozen orphans into its classrooms involves the claim by a state agency that the institution is “HARBORING” an ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT. On Nov. 3, an administrative law judge in Albany shot down the claim – advanced by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services – as arbitrary and capricious. The state licensing agency had attempted to withhold operating certification for the orphanage, Saint Basil Academy in Garrison, which has been operated since 1944 by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese. At issue was the presence of a 14-year-old resident – “K.T.” as she is known in documents submitted to Administrative Law Judge William B. Day – who was ABANDONED in New York City four years ago by her MOTHER, a Greek national. According to legal papers, K.T. WAS BROUGHT TO NY AT AGE 10 AS A POSSIBLE ORGAN DONER for her 20-year-old brother, who later died at Sloan-Kettering Memorial Hospital. DISTRAUGHT AT HER SONS DEATH, THE MOTHER LEFT “KT” TO THE CHURCH AND RETURNED TO GREECE. “St. Basil is not ‘harboring’ K.T. as an illegal alien, as her presence in this country and her whereabouts have been made known to appropriate federal officials at all relevant times,” the decision said. “No action has been taken by those federal authorities or any other law enforcement entity against St. Basil in connection with their continued efforts to keep K.T. in their facility while seeking to resolve the child’s immigration status.” Lawyers for the Office of Children and Family Services did not appear at the Nov. 3 hearing, nor did they file documents challenging the position of K.T.’s attorney – James M. Stillwaggon, of counsel at White & Case and chairman of its pro bono committee. Previous attempts by counsel for the Garrison school district to intervene on behalf of the state agency’s earlier attempts to decertify Saint Basil, in 2004 and 2005, were rejected on grounds of improper standing. Attorneys for both sides declined to comment on why the state agency has been so insistent in attempting to decertify the orphanage.
Does that make sense to you? The son dies, so the mother abandons her remaining child in a foreign country?
More interesting breadcrumbs:
2004 Study https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15163080 Organ transplantation has been commonplace over the last decade but Greece still remains the lowest numerically among European countries in this field because of the lack of organ donation although it is highest in traffic accidents. Despite this, the legal framework regulating transplantation was enacted late in comparison to other European countries, and was not the only obstacle to the development of organ donation. Several other factors such as philosophy, culture, traditional and religious attitudes, lack of public information and lack of the relevant social fabric, have all contributed to the current sad situation. This article aims to present a critical view on the evolution of the legal framework in the field of tissue and organ transplantation in Greece. Issues that still deter organ donation are discussed along with an insight into the current situation in the Greek social context in order to make a constructive contribution to future perspectives.
2013 greece changed from opt-in Organ Donor system to Opt-Out http://www.medsci.org/v10p1547.htm New legislation in Greece towards presumed consent for organ donation, effective as of June 2013, has come at a critical moment. This pilot study aims to explore awareness, specific concerns and intentions about the new organ donation framework among patients attending Greek general practices in a rural and urban setting. Only 2.6% of respondents had a donor card, a mere 9.6% was aware of new legislation, whereas only 3.8% considered that the public had been adequately informed. Higher income respondents were more likely to be aware that they would be considered organ donors upon death, unless declared differently. Urban practice respondents were less likely to have previously discussed with a significant other their intentions in regards to presumed consent. One quarter of all respondents (22.4%) intended to carry out their right to prohibit organ removal upon death. Survey results reveal that organ donation reform has yet to be disseminated by the Greek society, underscoring the urgency for targeted information campaigns.
2016 Organ Donation during the financial crisis in Greece (the Lancet) https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(16)30130-1/fulltext