EAM refused to release the hostages it had taken, which led Damaskinos in a press statement to state: "I deeply regret that during the negotiations for a truce it was not made possible to settle the question of the hostages". A conference at Varkiza to settle the conflict opened on 2 February 1945, where it was agreed on 11 February after much difficult negotiation that EAM would release its hostages and disarm in exchange for an amnesty, the end of martial law, and a promise to purge from the civil service those Greeks who had collaborated with the Germans. On 12 February 1945, the Treaty of Varkiza as the peace agreement was signed. On 14 February, Churchill visited Athens on his way home from the Yalta conference, and rode in an open car with Damaskinos through the streets of Athens being loudly cheered by 40,000 Athenians. He relinquished his position after fighting began to die down and recalled the king formally on September 28, 1946. On 5 July 1947, Damaskinos become a founding member of the Queen's Fund (Vasiliki Pronia) charity founded by Queen Frederica to assist with the children left homeless by the Greek Civil War. He died in Athens in 1949. Notes Sources External links The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation:Archbishop Damaskinos Damaskinos of Athens – his activity to save Jews' lives during the Holocaust, at Yad Vashem website 1891 births 1949 deaths 20th-century Eastern Orthodox bishops 20th-century Eastern Orthodox archbishops 20th-century regents of Greece 20th-century prime ministers of Greece People from Nafpaktia Prime Ministers of Greece World War II political leaders Archbishops of Athens and All Greece Eastern Orthodox Christians from Greece Eastern Orthodox Righteous Among the Nations Greek Righteous Among the Nations Eastern Orthodox Christians opposed to Nazi Germany Regents of Greece Greek military personnel of the Balkan Wars Greek anti-communists Orthodox bishops of Corinth