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

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exchange <strong>of</strong> merchandise and on <strong>the</strong> new German business initiatives.” The German Legation acted immediately, and about a week after Antonescu gave his order to concentrate and deport 60,000 Jews, Mihai Antonescu was asked “to work toward removing <strong>the</strong> Jewish elements only in a slow, systematic manner.” Unsigned editorials reflecting <strong>the</strong> <strong>of</strong>ficial government position appeared in <strong>the</strong> Romanian press at <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> October 1941. They informed Romanians that “<strong>the</strong> Jewish question had entered <strong>the</strong> final stage <strong>of</strong> solution, and no one in <strong>the</strong> world nor any miracle could prevent its solution.” The government announced that Romania “is counted among <strong>the</strong> nations prepared to cooperate resolutely in <strong>the</strong> <strong>Final</strong> Solution <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jewish problem—not only <strong>the</strong> local one, but also <strong>the</strong> European one.” Antonescu pledged to expel every Jew from Romania: “No one and nothing can stop me, as long as I live, from carrying out <strong>the</strong> task <strong>of</strong> purifying [ourselves]” from <strong>the</strong> Jews. Speaking to his ministers, he summarized <strong>the</strong> war’s internal goals: “Gentlemen, as you know, one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> battles that I have promised to wage is that <strong>of</strong> changing <strong>the</strong> face <strong>of</strong> this nation. I will turn this nation into a homogeneous group. Anything foreign must leave slowly…any dubious Jewish element, all <strong>the</strong> Jewish communists, are destined to go back where <strong>the</strong>y came from. I will push <strong>the</strong>m to <strong>the</strong> Bug and from <strong>the</strong>re <strong>the</strong>y will move on.…” In mid-1942, Antonescu truly believed that victory would be achieved that very year and that at issue was <strong>the</strong> final, large-scale effort to bring about <strong>the</strong> collapse <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> USSR. His policy toward <strong>the</strong> Jews stemmed from this belief. He wanted to succeed in making Romania homogeneous, as he had promised <strong>the</strong> ministers; this included not only <strong>the</strong> Jews, but also <strong>the</strong> Gypsies, though <strong>the</strong> Jews were his greatest concern. Toward <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> that summer he began to prepare <strong>the</strong> plan to deport all <strong>the</strong> Jews <strong>of</strong> sou<strong>the</strong>rn Transylvania. On 10 July 1942, <strong>the</strong> head <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Conducator’s military cabinet presented to <strong>the</strong> Minister <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Interior Antonescu’s decision that in order “to make space, to <strong>of</strong>fer shelter, and to house <strong>the</strong> Romanian refugees from Nor<strong>the</strong>rn Transylvania,” <strong>the</strong> government should prepare an estimate <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jews currently living in sou<strong>the</strong>rn Transylvania and “to investigate <strong>the</strong> sending to <strong>the</strong> Bug all <strong>the</strong> Jews <strong>of</strong> [sou<strong>the</strong>rn] Transylvania, with <strong>the</strong> exception <strong>of</strong> intellectuals essential for our needs (physicians, engineers, and <strong>the</strong> like) and <strong>of</strong> industrialists required for running various industrial installations.” In summer and autumn 1942, <strong>the</strong> following groups were on <strong>the</strong> verge <strong>of</strong> deportation: most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> remaining Jews in Cernauti and sou<strong>the</strong>rn Transylvania; people who had broken <strong>the</strong> laws and orders <strong>of</strong> forced labor; Jewish communists, or whoever <strong>the</strong> regime defined as such, and <strong>the</strong>ir sympathizers; new converts to Christianity; Jews who had requested in autumn/winter 1942 to be repatriated to Bessarabia after <strong>the</strong> region had be forcibly annexed to <strong>the</strong> USSR; and <strong>the</strong> Roma. Thus, some 95,000–100,000 Jews were destined for Transnistria. This plan, however, was not implemented. Simultaneously, negotiations with Gustav Richter and <strong>the</strong> German government on <strong>the</strong> general deportation <strong>of</strong> Romanian Jewry to <strong>the</strong> Belzec camp in Poland were nearing <strong>the</strong>ir conclusion. These negotiations were held in secret to avoid arousing panic among <strong>the</strong> Jews and to keep from opposition circles—particularly from <strong>the</strong> chairman <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Romanian National Peasant Party, Iuliu Maniu, and his colleagues—any hint <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> negotiations on <strong>the</strong> deportation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jewish population. When <strong>the</strong> impending deportation became publicly known, Maniu did indeed intervene to prevent it. <strong>Final</strong> destination: Belzec The extermination camp Belzec in <strong>the</strong> Lublin district <strong>of</strong> Poland, in which Jews were killed by means <strong>of</strong> a diesel engine that issued carbon monoxide, had been selected by <strong>the</strong> RSHA and <strong>the</strong> German Foreign Ministry to serve as a mass grave for Romanian Jewry. In June 1942 <strong>the</strong> camp was refurbished, and its capacity for extermination was enhanced with <strong>the</strong> construction <strong>of</strong> six gas chambers larger than <strong>the</strong> previous three; <strong>the</strong>y could now hold 1,000–1,200 victims at a time (half <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> daily transport <strong>of</strong> 2,000 people) and kill <strong>the</strong>m in 20–30 minutes. By September 1942 it was possible to exterminate a daily
transport <strong>of</strong> 2,000 Romanian Jews in about three hours. Richter was not aware that Ion Antonescu had been told directly by Hitler about <strong>the</strong> <strong>Final</strong> Solution, or that he and Mihai Antonescu as well as all Romanian diplomatic missions in <strong>the</strong> Reich and Germanoccupied countries knew <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> extermination camps in Poland. The Romanian concept for deportation to Transnistria disturbed Richter and ruined his plan and that <strong>of</strong> his superiors, since it agitated <strong>the</strong> Jews and propelled <strong>the</strong>m to turn for help to Romanian statesmen who had served in previous administrations. The first notice about Romanian agreement for deportation to Belzec is dated July 26, 1942. The chief <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Gestapo and head <strong>of</strong> Section IV <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> RSHA, Gustav Müller, informed Undersecretary Martin Lu<strong>the</strong>r <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Foreign Ministry that <strong>the</strong> deportation <strong>of</strong> Romanian Jews in special trains “to <strong>the</strong> East” was about to begin on September 10, 1942. Müller expressed <strong>the</strong> hope that <strong>the</strong>re would be no opposition from <strong>the</strong> Foreign Ministry to this action. During his interrogation in Jerusalem, Eichmann confessed that he had personally worded <strong>the</strong> letter bearing <strong>the</strong> signature <strong>of</strong> his superior, Müller. On August 11, Lu<strong>the</strong>r indicated to Müller that <strong>the</strong> Foreign Ministry had no opposition to <strong>the</strong> deportation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Romanian Jews to <strong>the</strong> East and that <strong>the</strong> person handling Jewish problems in Bucharest, Radu Lecca, would be coming to Berlin to discuss in person “<strong>the</strong> conditions for <strong>the</strong> planned deportation.” Lu<strong>the</strong>r also noted: “Mihai Antonescu agreed, in accordance with <strong>the</strong> will <strong>of</strong> Marshal Antonescu, that <strong>the</strong> German authorities will carry out <strong>the</strong> evacuation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jews from Romania and immediately begin <strong>the</strong> transports from <strong>the</strong> counties <strong>of</strong> Arad, Timisoara, and Turda.” This is <strong>the</strong> first mention <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> existence <strong>of</strong> a written commitment that Mihai Antonescu wrote on behalf <strong>of</strong> Ion Antonescu. At <strong>the</strong> same time Emil von Rintelen <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> German Foreign Ministry wrote a memorandum to his superior, Lu<strong>the</strong>r, about <strong>the</strong> preparations for <strong>the</strong> deportation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Romanian Jews. In accordance with RSHA instructions, Mihai Antonescu sent his agreement to <strong>the</strong> deportations in writing, and Rintelen added a photocopy <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> agreement. During Adolf Eichmann’s trial in Jerusalem, he stated that Richter had received instructions to obtain such a commitment in writing. On August 23, Eichmann summoned Richter to Berlin to participate in a meeting that would take place on August 29 at RSHA headquarters. The President <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Council <strong>of</strong> Ministers prepared a detailed plan regarding <strong>the</strong> deportation operations, “which should include <strong>the</strong> entire Jewish population,” stipulating very few exceptions. The deportation was ordered by Antonescu and mapped out “in <strong>the</strong> minutest detail by <strong>the</strong> Ministry <strong>of</strong> Interior, based on <strong>the</strong> indications given by Mr. Mihai Antonescu.” Radu Lecca succinctly summarized <strong>the</strong> Antonescu regime’s intention: “to evacuate all Jews found to be useless in <strong>the</strong> field <strong>of</strong> national work to Poland.” Thus, <strong>the</strong> Romanianization Ministry eagerly anticipated <strong>the</strong> lodgings it would obtain following <strong>the</strong> “decongestion <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> capital, i.e., <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jewish lodgings emptied by expulsions and emigrations.” Except for 17,000 Jews considered “useful” to <strong>the</strong> national economy or possessing special privileges, <strong>the</strong> Antonescu regime agreed to <strong>the</strong> deportation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> entire Jewish minority <strong>of</strong> Romania—292,149 people, according to a May 1942 census—to <strong>the</strong> Belzec death camp. While <strong>the</strong> Romanian press was completely silent about anything related to <strong>the</strong> deportation <strong>of</strong> Jews, <strong>the</strong> German press was not. It must be noted that local commanders <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> police as well as <strong>the</strong> Sigurantza pointed out that <strong>the</strong> deportation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jews would ultimately be harmful to Romanian interests in Transylvania. The Sigurantza in Timisoara reported that <strong>the</strong> city’s Jews had been in a panic and had been preparing to sell property from <strong>the</strong> moment <strong>the</strong>y learned <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> possible deportation. On September 22, Mihai Antonescu left to meet with Hitler, Ribbentrop, and German army commanders in Vinnitsa. These meetings were decisive, as it turned out, for <strong>the</strong> fate <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Romanian Jews. In September 1942 Mihai Antonescu feared not only for <strong>the</strong> fate <strong>of</strong> Nor<strong>the</strong>rn Transylvania, but for <strong>the</strong> Antonescu regime in general. He had come to Vinnitsa to ask Hitler for “political guarantees” (<strong>the</strong> return <strong>of</strong> Nor<strong>the</strong>rn Transylvania) and <strong>the</strong> completion <strong>of</strong> equipping <strong>the</strong> Romanian divisions with arms. All
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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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antisemitism in Romanian society an
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Ibid., fond Micro-films, roll I.II,
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manifestations of
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power, as this power colonized West
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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
Page 83 and 84: andom searches and arrests, robberi
Page 85 and 86: Bucharest Prefectura. Almost two th
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Page 89 and 90: from villages and small towns. On J
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 97 and 98: "premilitary," were also placed at
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Page 101 and 102: Tighina Agreement On August 30, Tra
Page 103 and 104: elieved Transnistria would be occup
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Page 107 and 108: those inside to take the</s
Page 109 and 110: [longer] move.” After several wee
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Page 121: them in exchange f
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
Page 143 and 144: child’s birth, would be considere
Page 145 and 146: Indeed, the system
Page 147 and 148: Romanianization instead of<
Page 149 and 150: The Cultural Ghettoization
Page 151 and 152: The Status of Jewi
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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
Page 159 and 160: moral, social, and intellectual nee
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Page 167 and 168: y Lecca: Jews were privileged, and
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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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