Prime Minister Venizelos appoints Kazantzakis Director General of the Ministry of Welfare , with the specific mission of repatriating 150.000 Greeks who are being persecuted by the Bolsheviks in the Caucasus . In July Kazantzakis departs with his team , which includes Stavridakis and Zorbas . In August he travels to Versailles to report to Venizelos , then participating in the negotiations for the peace treaty . Afterwards , Kazantzakis proceeds to Macedonia and Thrace to oversee the installation of the refugees in villages there . These experiences are used much later in Christ Recrucified ( The Greek Passion )