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

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to <strong>the</strong> Mostovoye-Veselyevo [Veselinovo] region, in <strong>the</strong> Berezovka district. From <strong>the</strong> Berezovka station, <strong>the</strong>y are escorted to <strong>the</strong> relocation area. To date, 6,000 have been evacuated, and <strong>the</strong> transports are continuing daily. It is very difficult to find shelter for <strong>the</strong>m in <strong>the</strong> relocation villages, since <strong>the</strong> Ukrainian population does not accept <strong>the</strong>m; consequently, many end up in <strong>the</strong> stables <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> collective farms. Because <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> freezing temperatures (which sometimes reach -20˚C) and <strong>the</strong> lack <strong>of</strong> food, and [because <strong>of</strong>] <strong>the</strong>ir age and miserable condition, many die along <strong>the</strong> way and freeze where <strong>the</strong>y fall. The Berezovka [gendarmerie] legion has been recruited for this operation, but due to <strong>the</strong> severe cold, <strong>the</strong> escort personnel must change <strong>of</strong>f frequently. Bodies are strewn along <strong>the</strong> route [and] buried in antitank trenches. We are rarely able to recruit local people to bury <strong>the</strong> bodies, since [<strong>the</strong> locals] try as much as possible to avoid such operations. We shall continue reporting on <strong>the</strong> progress <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> operation. Gendarmerie headquarters repeated <strong>the</strong> above almost verbatim in its first summary report on <strong>the</strong> operation, updating only <strong>the</strong> number <strong>of</strong> deportees: “As <strong>of</strong> January 22, 12,234 Jews have been evacuated out <strong>of</strong> a total <strong>of</strong> 40,000.” The depleted convoys proceeded to various destinations. An estimated 4,000-5,000 Jews were sent to Bogdanovka, where <strong>the</strong> liquidation operation had been completed but <strong>the</strong> body burnings were still at <strong>the</strong>ir height. Some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> new arrivals were taken straight to <strong>the</strong> pit, shot, and burned. O<strong>the</strong>r Jews were brought to Domanovka, where Padure was conducting selections and separating out <strong>the</strong> “expert craftsmen.” Tens <strong>of</strong> thousands <strong>of</strong> Odessa Jews brought to <strong>the</strong>se two camps in November 1941 had already been slaughtered. At Domanovka, <strong>the</strong> liquidations continued, and <strong>the</strong> latest convoys met <strong>the</strong> same fate as those before. Several transports were directed to <strong>the</strong> local state farms, which had passed into Romanian hands wherever uninhabited by German villagers. The bulk <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> convoys, however, were led to improvised camps in ethnic-German villages in Berezovka. The march to <strong>the</strong>se camps was prolonged in order to thin <strong>the</strong> ranks along <strong>the</strong> way, or, as one survivor put it, so as many as possible would die a “natural death.” Convoys sent to camps 18 kilometers (11 miles) from <strong>the</strong> Berezovka train station were walked in circles for three days in <strong>the</strong> frozen, snow-covered wasteland, with most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> exhausted adults and children expiring in <strong>the</strong> fields. Each convoy was robbed by <strong>the</strong> gendarmes, who seized anything that appeared valuable: “They took our last possessions from us. By <strong>the</strong> time we reached Domanovka, we were paupers.” The Berezovka Massacres Transnistria contained <strong>the</strong> largest concentration <strong>of</strong> Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans) in <strong>the</strong> Ukraine. A census conducted by <strong>the</strong> Nazis in early 1943 registered 130,866 Germans living in <strong>the</strong> region, compared with 169,074 in <strong>the</strong> entire Reichskommissariat Ukraine. Some 100,000 <strong>of</strong> those in Transnistria were scattered among <strong>the</strong> villages and towns ringing Odessa. Under <strong>the</strong> Soviets, Greater Odessa had encompassed almost all <strong>of</strong> sou<strong>the</strong>rn Transnistria. The local Germans in <strong>the</strong> Odessa area constituted some forty percent <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Soviet Germans under Nazi occupation. Based on <strong>the</strong> Nazis’ wartime figures, Transnistria comprised more than thirty German villages whose populations exceeded 1,000 each. Convoys <strong>of</strong> Jews from Bessarabia were marched past German villages north <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Dniester estuary, northwest <strong>of</strong> Odessa and east <strong>of</strong> Tiraspol. Likewise, convoys deported on foot from sou<strong>the</strong>rn Transnistria to <strong>the</strong> county <strong>of</strong> Golta passed dozens <strong>of</strong> German communities. One witness described <strong>the</strong> thirst for Jewish blood among <strong>the</strong> SS’s new German recruits, who shot into crowds <strong>of</strong> Jews. Ano<strong>the</strong>r Nazi body operating among <strong>the</strong> ethnic Germans in and around Odessa was Einsatzgruppe D, numbering some 500 men. Secondary units reached <strong>the</strong> area in late August 1941 after conducting extermination campaigns in
Bukovina and Bessarabia. Einsatzkommando 12 terrorized <strong>the</strong> regions <strong>of</strong> Bergdorf-Glückstahl, east <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> town <strong>of</strong> Dubossary; H<strong>of</strong>fnungstal, in <strong>the</strong> counties <strong>of</strong> Tiraspol and Ananyev, north <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> town <strong>of</strong> Katarzi; and Speyer-Landau, in <strong>the</strong> eastern section <strong>of</strong> Berezovka County, near <strong>the</strong> Bug. Einsatzkommando 11b operated in <strong>the</strong> Seltz region (sou<strong>the</strong>ast <strong>of</strong> Tiraspol, near <strong>the</strong> Dniester); in <strong>the</strong> German-populated area known as Kutshurgan, south and southwest <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Ukrainian town <strong>of</strong> Rasdelnia, on both sides <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> railroad tracks leading <strong>the</strong>re; in <strong>the</strong> Gross-Liebenthal region, southwest <strong>of</strong> Odessa, near <strong>the</strong> border with Bessarabia; and around occupied Odessa. As shown above, Odessa itself was left to <strong>the</strong> Romanians. The Einsatzgruppen quickly moved on to Simferopol and <strong>the</strong> Crimea. While still in <strong>the</strong> vicinity, though, <strong>the</strong> Einsatzgruppen organized <strong>the</strong> new administration, handled matters <strong>of</strong> health and education, and issued certificates attesting to German bloodlines. In October, Einsatzgruppe D departed from most <strong>of</strong> Transnistria and moved on to <strong>the</strong> Crimea, but <strong>the</strong> Dubossary area retained a small secondary unit, known as Nachkommando SS, to continue liquidating <strong>the</strong> Jewish population. A third Nazi body operating in <strong>the</strong> region was <strong>the</strong> Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle (VoMi), which served as a “liaison <strong>of</strong>fice for ethnic-German affairs.” The VoMi organized <strong>the</strong> local Germans into cogs in <strong>the</strong> extermination apparatus. Heinrich Himmler instructed <strong>the</strong> VoMi to “exercise control over <strong>the</strong> local Germans in <strong>the</strong> occupied areas <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> USSR.” In Transnistria, <strong>the</strong> VoMi set up <strong>the</strong> Sonderkommando Russland (SkR), an extermination unit composed <strong>of</strong> local German SS men. SS Oberführer (Commander) Horst H<strong>of</strong>fmeyer, who was promoted to Brigadierführer (SS brigade commander) on November 9, 1943, set up headquarters in <strong>the</strong> German town <strong>of</strong> Landau, in Berezovka County. Landau was situated in <strong>the</strong> middle <strong>of</strong> a densely German region near <strong>the</strong> Bug. Secondary units moved into Halberstadt, a German village east <strong>of</strong> Landau on <strong>the</strong> Bug, and elsewhere. The original VoMi was comprised <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> eighty men who founded <strong>the</strong> SkR; but, by late 1942 <strong>the</strong>ir ranks had swelled to 160—all SS agents. The German areas were divided into eighteen sub-regions, each headed by an SS man assisted by at least three SkR members. The SkR began operating in Transnistria on September 20, 1941. Even before any agreements had been signed with <strong>the</strong> Romanian authorities, <strong>the</strong> unit set up a state-within-a-state and recruited <strong>the</strong> local population for service to <strong>the</strong> Reich. Aside from <strong>the</strong>ir patrols, even <strong>the</strong> Romanian gendarmes had no access to <strong>the</strong> region under SkR control. This territory was in addition to <strong>the</strong> German villages and towns, since <strong>the</strong> Germans had seized—or demanded and received—some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> land that had been <strong>the</strong>irs prior to <strong>the</strong> Bolshevik Revolution. For this reason, <strong>the</strong> German villages (actually a minority within a large Ukrainian area) dominated more than <strong>the</strong>ir actual territory and created German “pockets” where Himmler’s henchmen reigned. The county Berezovka was comprised <strong>of</strong> forty-two such villages—including twelve in <strong>the</strong> Berezovka subdistrict, thirteen in Mostovoye, and twelve in Landau—that numbered some 16,200 Germans. The status <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> German communities in Transnistria was negotiated in Bucharest and Odessa. Correspondence between <strong>the</strong> German ambassador, Manfred von Killinger, and Antonescu in November 1941 made it clear to <strong>the</strong> Romanians that <strong>the</strong> VoMi alone would represent <strong>the</strong> ethnic Germans in Transnistria. Alexianu and his prefects were to cooperate with H<strong>of</strong>fmeyer and <strong>the</strong> sub-regional commanders regarding <strong>the</strong> Germans. Alexianu and H<strong>of</strong>fmeyer met on December 8 in Odessa, and on December 13 in Tiraspol <strong>the</strong>y <strong>of</strong>ficially established <strong>the</strong> state-within-a-state already operating in Transnistria. In <strong>the</strong> end, <strong>the</strong> Romanian government recognized <strong>the</strong> self-defense units “armed and trained by <strong>the</strong> SS headquarters <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> VoMi and subject solely to its orders.” With <strong>the</strong> opening <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> archives <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> former Soviet Union, an exchange <strong>of</strong> letters between <strong>the</strong> Transnistrian administration and <strong>the</strong> Gebietskommissar (county head) in Nikolaev was revealed. Contrary to what was previously believed, <strong>the</strong> convoys transported mainly from Odessa to Berezovka and Veselinovo were not directed immediately to <strong>the</strong> German villages <strong>the</strong>re; ra<strong>the</strong>r, <strong>the</strong>se Jews were marched
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Final Repo
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Germany’s war against the
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which includes reputed experts led
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BACKGROUND AND PRECURSORS TO THE HO
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against which antisemites in <stron
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declaring in the p
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them. Thus, he con
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We must organize ourselves for a wa
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ureaucracy of wart
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this direction by Nicolae C. Paules
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promising leader of</strong
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organized a tariff and tax strike.
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Legion of
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less so in Romanian society as a wh
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This ambiguous, self-contradictory
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The Gigurtu government began to con
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The Case of Român
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Cuza’s argument that it is possib
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Românesc,” Sociologie Româneasc
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ole in the early 1
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European states, notably Romania an
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Germany's immediate interests at <s
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eligious communities, the</
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counterpart, “when [he] first met
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de Istorie şi Arheologie, “A. D.
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Romania. Muler to Luthe</st
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demands on territorial revisions an
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military mission to come to Romania
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High Command, informing the
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The Jews and the R
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Romanian army. Thus, in Ciudei in <
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Page 65 and 66: Ibid., fond Micro-films, roll I.II,
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Page 77 and 78: Nichifor Crainic, “Dupa douazeci
Page 79 and 80: Isaia Tolan, “Revizuirea incetate
Page 81 and 82: X. Y. Z., “Rezolvarea problemei e
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Page 85 and 86: Bucharest Prefectura. Almost two th
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Page 91 and 92: accident; it was contrived by <stro
Page 93 and 94: The second train to leave Iasi for
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Page 109 and 110: [longer] move.” After several wee
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Page 121 and 122: them in exchange f
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Page 125 and 126: Bulgarian, Turkish, Italian, or Swi
Page 127 and 128: were at least 122,000 Jews. Bukovin
Page 129 and 130: Wilhelm Hoettl, The Secret Front: T
Page 131 and 132: Ancel, Documents, vol. 2: no. 136,
Page 133 and 134: Carp, Cartea neagra, vol. 3: pp. 30
Page 135 and 136: Gosudartsveni Archiv Odeskoi Oblast
Page 137 and 138: Cable from the Mil
Page 139 and 140: 1-1087, p. 114; list of</st
Page 141 and 142: Ibid. “Rezolvarea problemei evrei
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Page 149 and 150: The Cultural Ghettoization
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Page 155 and 156: Conclusions The anti-Jewish legisla
Page 157 and 158: L.A., no. 99, p. 344. Trei ani de g
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egulate and authorize, under <stron
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y Lecca: Jews were privileged, and
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through the activi
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oth as a cry of re
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After coming to power, the<
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and then to send <
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their non-evacuate
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villages of <stron
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Return of Roma Sur
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(in many cases, the</strong
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in Romania. History and Contemporar
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THE ROLE OF ION ANTONESCU IN THE PL
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December 16, 1941, meeting
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me from carrying out the</s
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did not do it because…the
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more ironically, this leader’s wa
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THE HOLOCAUST IN NORTHERN TRANSYLVA
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Others 22 968 Magy
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ultimatum but also consented to <st
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military, political, and psychologi
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command over the g
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Huedin. The Jews of</strong
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authorities set up two ghettos in <
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Secuilor counties was carried out i
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the procedure foll
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deportation trains per day. While E
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Deportation Trains from Nor
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Câtcău Kackó Ciuc Csík Ciucea C
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Rona de Sus Felsöróna Rozavica Ro
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Bözödújfalu Bezidu Nou Budfalva
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Nagysajó Şieu (Bistrita-Nasaud Co
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(Indictment of Naz
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Randolph L. Braham, comp. and ed. (
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perceived by a significant part <st
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Romanian government not to adopt <s
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still alive in the
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the Jews who worke
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We have been informed that various
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church bells announce the</
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Mitropolit pleaded with Mihai Anton
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Pozdnyakova, Yefrosiniya Starostina
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Ibid., pp. 224-225. Ibid., pp. 46-4
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the examined cases
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escape with negligible punishment;
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immense scale, enslaved millions <s
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means. The “ethnic Christian stat
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it is evident that the</str
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face să pară evident că victimel
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viaţă, 100 milioane lei amendă
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Articolul 15 al Convenţiei de armi
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members accepted as authoritative s
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camp in January 1945, for several m
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Beginning in the 1
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such access was strictly supervised
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enefit from translation into Englis
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furthermore, he ha
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lucrative Jewish business ever,”
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deaths of thousand
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Treptow who was residing in Romania
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Finally, it must b
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A.) Integral Negationism Although <
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other genocides re
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mankind, such as wars; the<
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age of 44, only on
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After deploring the</strong
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Michael Shafir, “Ex Occidente Obs
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See, for example, Giurescu who make
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Randolph L. Braham, Romanian Nation
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Mediafax, March 18, 2002, Monitorul
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See Ibidem, pp. 3, 54-55. Ibidem, p
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Radu Theodoru, Mareşalul, Editura
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egained from the U
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was a record of an
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secondary school use. Those institu
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including erecting statues, mountin
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