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

staff and commander <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Fourth Army, to “take drastic punitive measures.” That night, Iacobici cabled
Antonescu’s military cabinet, informing <strong>the</strong>m that he had begun to act: “As a retaliatory measure, and as
an example for <strong>the</strong> population, I have taken steps to hang a number <strong>of</strong> suspected Jews and Communists in
<strong>the</strong> town squares.” That same night, Iacobici sent General Nicolae Macici, commander <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Fourth
Army’s Second Army Corps to Odessa. General Tataranu’s deputy, Colonel Stanculescu, delivered
Antonescu’s Order no. 302.826 to Trestioreanu demanding “immediate retaliatory action, including <strong>the</strong>
liquidation <strong>of</strong> 18,000 Jews in <strong>the</strong> ghettos and <strong>the</strong> hanging in <strong>the</strong> town squares <strong>of</strong> at least 100 Jews for
every regimental sector….”
At noon, Stanculescu again cabled Tataranu, reporting about <strong>the</strong> punitive measures: “Retaliatory
action has been taken within <strong>the</strong> city via shooting [and] hanging, and notices warning against terrorist acts
have been posted. The execution <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jews in <strong>the</strong> ghettos is well under way….” Jews were rounded up
and brought to <strong>the</strong>se sites by <strong>the</strong> army, <strong>the</strong> gendarmerie, and <strong>the</strong> police (who had come from Romania).
The major executions were carried out in neighboring Dalnic or enroute to Dalnic; tens <strong>of</strong> thousands <strong>of</strong>
Jews were brought <strong>the</strong>re for this purpose. Although <strong>the</strong> Germans had <strong>of</strong>fered to send in an SS battalion to
assist in “dismantling mines” and ridding Odessa “<strong>of</strong> Jews and Bolsheviks,” <strong>the</strong> Romanian authorities
chose to act alone. The executed, including hostages and locals who had disobeyed orders, were given no
trial and were hanged from balconies overlooking <strong>the</strong> main streets. After <strong>the</strong> explosion, long lines <strong>of</strong>
poles were erected along <strong>the</strong> trolley tracks leading out <strong>of</strong> town. Some 10,000 Jews who were arrested
were jailed, but not immediately executed. General Iacobici hastened to send <strong>the</strong> Military Cabinet a status
report detailing <strong>the</strong> retaliatory actions taken, which included “executions by shooting and by hanging, and
<strong>the</strong> posting <strong>of</strong> notices warning anyone who would dare attempt such acts <strong>of</strong> terrorism.” By <strong>the</strong> next
morning, hundreds <strong>of</strong> Jewish corpses hung in <strong>the</strong> town squares and at intersections.
The carnage did not end <strong>the</strong>re. At least 25,000 Jews were driven into fields by gendarmes. One <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
few survivors <strong>of</strong> this trek, <strong>the</strong>n a girl <strong>of</strong> sixteen, reported that her convoy was so huge that she could not
see “its beginning or its end.” Some 22,000 Jews <strong>of</strong> all ages were packed into nine warehouses in Dalnic,
a suburb <strong>of</strong> Odessa, an operation that continued past nightfall on October 23. The massacre proceeded as
follows:
One by one, <strong>the</strong> warehouses were riddled with machine gun and rifle fire, doused with gasoline and
ignited, except for <strong>the</strong> last warehouse, which was blown up. The chaos and <strong>the</strong> horrifying sights that
followed cannot be described: wounded people burning alive, women with <strong>the</strong>ir hair aflame coming out
through <strong>the</strong> ro<strong>of</strong> or through openings in <strong>the</strong> burning storehouses in a crazed search for salvation. But <strong>the</strong>
warehouse[s were] surrounded on all sides by soldiers, <strong>the</strong>ir rifles cocked. They had been ordered not to
let a single civilian escape. The horror was so great that it deeply shocked everyone <strong>the</strong>re, soldiers and
<strong>of</strong>ficers alike.
Trucks carrying gasoline and kerosene were parked outside <strong>the</strong> warehouses. These buildings were
ignited quickly, one after <strong>the</strong> next, since <strong>the</strong> soldiers had to be protected. The troops <strong>the</strong>n retreated about
50 meters (about 55 yards) and encircled <strong>the</strong> area to prevent escape. A Romanian <strong>of</strong>ficer described what
he saw:
When <strong>the</strong> fire broke out, some <strong>of</strong> those in <strong>the</strong> warehouse who were lightly wounded or still unharmed
tried to escape by jumping out <strong>the</strong> window or exiting through <strong>the</strong> ro<strong>of</strong>. The soldiers were ordered to
immediately shoot at anyone who emerged. In an attempt to escape <strong>the</strong> agonies <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> fire, some appeared
at <strong>the</strong> windows and signaled to <strong>the</strong> soldiers to shoot <strong>the</strong>m, pointing to <strong>the</strong>ir heads and hearts. But when
<strong>the</strong>y saw <strong>the</strong> guns pointed at <strong>the</strong>m, <strong>the</strong>y disappeared from <strong>the</strong> window for a brief moment, only to