Final Report of the International Commission on the - Minority Rights ...

assassination was such that peasants would approach a gendarme in <strong>the</strong> escort, indicate a Jew with
attractive clothing or footwear, and propose a price, usually 1,000-2,000 lei. After briefly haggling, <strong>the</strong>
gendarme would shoot <strong>the</strong> Jew, and <strong>the</strong> peasant would pay <strong>the</strong> agreed amount and quickly strip <strong>the</strong> body.
The <strong>of</strong>ficial plundering <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jews was ordered by Antonescu and facilitated by <strong>the</strong> National Bank <strong>of</strong>
Romania. On October 5, <strong>the</strong> Marshal demanded “<strong>the</strong> exchange <strong>of</strong> all jewelry and precious metals owned
by <strong>the</strong> Jews vacating Bessarabia and Bukovina [emphasis added].” O<strong>the</strong>r orders provided for <strong>the</strong>
“exchange” <strong>of</strong> Jewish-owned lei into rubles, <strong>the</strong>n German occupation marks (RKKS). On November 17,
after <strong>the</strong> first phase <strong>of</strong> this plunder, <strong>the</strong> National Bank hastened to inform <strong>the</strong> finance minister: “As <strong>the</strong>
seizure <strong>of</strong> valuables from <strong>the</strong> Jews <strong>of</strong> Bessarabia and Bukovina is over, please dispatch your delegate to
witness <strong>the</strong> opening <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> boxes containing <strong>the</strong>se objects in view <strong>of</strong> taking <strong>the</strong>ir inventory.”
Antonescu’s handling <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jews did not escape Hitler’s attention. Several days before <strong>the</strong> signing <strong>of</strong>
<strong>the</strong> Tighina Agreement on August 30, he told Goebbels: “Regarding <strong>the</strong> Jewish problem, it can be
established that a man like Antonescu acts in this field in a more extremist manner than we have done so
far.” According to reports, 91,845 Jews were deported from Bukovina, 55,867 from Bessarabia, and 9,367
from Dorohoi. The Germans caught 11,000 Jews in Transnistria, who had tried to flee <strong>the</strong> Romanian and
German armies. The rest were slaughtered, mainly by German soldiers.
In <strong>the</strong> meantime, <strong>the</strong> Romanian authorities did <strong>the</strong>ir best to mislead Western powers about <strong>the</strong>ir ethnic
cleansing. On November 4, after meeting with Ion Antonescu and Mihai Antonescu and protesting <strong>the</strong>
anti-Jewish atrocities, U.S. ambassador Franklin Mott Gun<strong>the</strong>r reported to <strong>the</strong> State Department in
Washington:
I have constantly and persistently drawn <strong>the</strong> attention <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> highest Romanian authorities to <strong>the</strong>
inevitable reaction <strong>of</strong> my government and <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> American people to such an inhuman treatment,
including <strong>the</strong> unlawful killing <strong>of</strong> innocent and defenseless people, by describing in detail <strong>the</strong> atrocities
perpetrated against <strong>the</strong> Jews <strong>of</strong> Romania. My observations triggered expressions <strong>of</strong> regret from Marshal
Antonescu and <strong>the</strong> ad-interim PM, Mihai Antonescu, for <strong>the</strong> excesses committed “by mistake” or “by
irresponsible elements” and [promises] <strong>of</strong> future temperance….The systematic extermination program
continues, though, and I don’t see any hope for Romanian Jews as long as <strong>the</strong> current regime controlled
by <strong>the</strong> Germans stays in place.
Transnistria: Ethnic Dumping Ground
The territory between <strong>the</strong> Dniester and <strong>the</strong> Bug, with which Hitler rewarded Antonescu for Romania’s
participation in <strong>the</strong> war against <strong>the</strong> Soviet Union, was dubbed “Transnistria.” According to <strong>the</strong> Soviet
census <strong>of</strong> 1939, <strong>the</strong> area’s population exceeded three million people comprised mostly <strong>of</strong> Ukrainians and
Russians, about 300,000 Moldavians (Romanians), 331,000 Jews, and 125,000 Germans. Jewish men,
who for <strong>the</strong> most part did not think <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>mselves as Soviet citizens, had been drafted into <strong>the</strong> Soviet
army, but not all had reached <strong>the</strong>ir units. Part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jewish population did not evacuate or run <strong>of</strong>f with <strong>the</strong>
Soviet forces, although doing so would have increased <strong>the</strong>ir chances <strong>of</strong> survival. But, <strong>the</strong>y knew little
about <strong>the</strong> Nazi persecution <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jews, and <strong>the</strong> Germans’ swift advance from Lvov to <strong>the</strong> Black Sea
prevented a number <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m from escaping.
The occupation regime (excluding not-yet-occupied Odessa) was inaugurated at Tiraspol on August 9,
1941. Heading <strong>the</strong> government was law pr<strong>of</strong>essor Gheorghe Alexianu, a friend and former colleague <strong>of</strong>
Mihai Antonescu and well-known antisemite. Transnistria was divided into thirteen districts, each run by
a prefect; all prefects were colonels or lieutenant colonels in <strong>the</strong> army or gendarmerie. These counties
encompassed sixty-four counties, each administered by a pretor. At <strong>the</strong> beginning <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> war, Antonescu