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

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and “civilized means” promised by Antonescu were no less abusive in terms <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> dispossession <strong>of</strong> Jewish property and rights. The Racial Nature <strong>of</strong> Anti-Jewish Legislation Passed between 1940 and 1944 The first law to frame <strong>the</strong> new legal status <strong>of</strong> Jews in Romania and express integral nationalism and Nazi-style political racism was signed on August 8, 1940, by King Carol II, Ion Gigurtu, president <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Council <strong>of</strong> Ministers, and I.V. Gruia, Minister <strong>of</strong> Justice and Law pr<strong>of</strong>essor at <strong>the</strong> University <strong>of</strong> Bucharest. This decree-law excluded <strong>the</strong> Jews from many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> benefits <strong>of</strong> citizenship granted to <strong>the</strong>m by <strong>the</strong> 1923 Constitution by legally and politically distinguishing between “Romanians by blood” (romani de sange) and “Romanian citizens.” Emphasizing <strong>the</strong> significance <strong>of</strong> “blood” and “race” to <strong>the</strong> nation and state was a basic principle <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Nazi worldview. According to this first law, “The concept <strong>of</strong> nation can now be construed less as a legal or political community and more as an organic, cultural community based on <strong>the</strong> law <strong>of</strong> blood, from which an entire hierarchy <strong>of</strong> political rights emerges; for <strong>the</strong> law <strong>of</strong> blood contains all cultural, spiritual and ethical opportunities…The defense <strong>of</strong> Romanian blood constitutes <strong>the</strong> moral guarantee for <strong>the</strong> acknowledgement <strong>of</strong> supreme political rights.” In <strong>the</strong> Romanian context, <strong>the</strong> “laws <strong>of</strong> blood” referred to ethical, spiritual, and cultural characteristics, ra<strong>the</strong>r than to physical characteristics. On <strong>the</strong> basis <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se general considerations, <strong>the</strong> law regulated <strong>the</strong> legal status <strong>of</strong> Jews in Romania with regard to <strong>the</strong>ir participation in religious, political, and economic life. It did not attempt to deprive <strong>the</strong> Jews <strong>of</strong> citizenship, since in <strong>the</strong> new context Romanian citizenship was irrelevant. The Classification <strong>of</strong> Jews in Romania The August 8, 1940, law placed Jews into three categories. The first category included Jews who had entered Romania after December 30, 1918; <strong>the</strong>se Jews were subject to major prohibitions. The second category was comprised <strong>of</strong> those Jews who had served in <strong>the</strong> army in ei<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong> 1877-1878 war <strong>of</strong> independence or World War I, war orphans, and <strong>the</strong> descendents <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> excepted categories <strong>of</strong> Jews. But Jews in nei<strong>the</strong>r <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se categories were considered to be part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> national community, and <strong>the</strong>y were subject to restrictions on owning property in rural areas and in qualifying for public service jobs. Most Jews in Romania fell into <strong>the</strong> third category . These were <strong>the</strong> Jews who had become citizens according to decree-laws <strong>of</strong> 1919. Jews in <strong>the</strong> first and <strong>the</strong> third categories were prohibited from taking public service jobs, buying property, pursuing military careers, becoming lawyers or notaries public, being appointed members <strong>of</strong> a corporate board, owning businesses in rural areas, liquor stores, movie <strong>the</strong>aters, publishing houses, publications, and Romanian media outlets. All Jews were prohibited to take Romanian names. Jewish religion and spiritual life were not considered to be integrated into <strong>the</strong> Romanian religious and spiritual community to which Jews were ordered to pay respect. The law defined Jews by merging—in <strong>the</strong> spirit <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Nuremberg laws—<strong>the</strong> dual criteria <strong>of</strong> ritual and ancestry: a person was considered to be a Jew if he or she practiced Judaism or was born to parents <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Judaic faith, even if <strong>the</strong> same person had converted to Christianity or was an a<strong>the</strong>ist. One could be considered Christian only if his or her parents had converted prior to <strong>the</strong> birth <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> child. The Antonescu Regime and <strong>the</strong> Jews Although hostile to <strong>the</strong> regime <strong>of</strong> Carol II, Antonescu’s regime did not abrogate this 1940 law. On <strong>the</strong> contrary, he used its principles as <strong>the</strong> ideological foundation for its anti-Jewish laws. Moreover, defining <strong>the</strong> Jew remained an essential problem in <strong>the</strong> context <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> anti-Jewish legislation under Antonescu, too, even though that definition ultimately changed. For example, <strong>the</strong> new regime decreed that a person with even one Jewish parent, irrespective <strong>of</strong> whe<strong>the</strong>r that parent had converted to Christianity before <strong>the</strong>
child’s birth, would be considered a Jew, as “<strong>the</strong> mystery <strong>of</strong> baptism could not change <strong>the</strong> destiny <strong>of</strong> Jewish blood.” Under Antonescu, every law included a special article on <strong>the</strong> definition <strong>of</strong> a Jew, and <strong>the</strong> criteria varied from one law to <strong>the</strong> next. The criterion <strong>of</strong> having at least one Jewish parent (regardless <strong>of</strong> whe<strong>the</strong>r one or both parents were Christians at <strong>the</strong> time <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> child’s birth) was preserved in <strong>the</strong> law nationalizing urban buildings and Jewish rural property. According to <strong>the</strong> laws on <strong>the</strong> situation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jews in <strong>the</strong> educational system and <strong>the</strong> Romanianization <strong>of</strong> forced labor in industrial enterprises, persons born to both Jewish parents or only a Jewish fa<strong>the</strong>r were defined as Jewish, whereas <strong>the</strong> decree-law on doctors’ pr<strong>of</strong>essional associations defined Jews as an “ethnic group <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Mosaic religion or converts to Christianity.” In contrast, <strong>the</strong> law on military obligations <strong>of</strong> Jews preserved <strong>the</strong> definition from <strong>the</strong> August 8, 1940, law, which held that Jews were those born to Jewish parents or a Jewish fa<strong>the</strong>r, while <strong>the</strong> Decree-law annulling apprenticeship contracts deemed a person Jewish simply by virtue <strong>of</strong> having only one Jewish grandparent—ei<strong>the</strong>r maternal or paternal (i.e., <strong>the</strong> grandparent practiced Judaism or married into a family that did). By defining Jewishness in different laws, <strong>the</strong> Romanian government demonstrated that political racism was at <strong>the</strong> heart <strong>of</strong> anti-Jewish legislation. Jews were not punished for what <strong>the</strong>y did, but for what <strong>the</strong>y were. Jewishness itself was <strong>the</strong> mark <strong>of</strong> inferiority and having it was criminalized. Accordingly, <strong>the</strong> government adopted measures to exclude Jews from Romanian society and defend <strong>the</strong> “Romanian blood.” In order to ensure that this “defense” would have a real effect, <strong>the</strong> Antonescu regimes prohibited marriage between “Romanians by blood” and those whom it defined as “Jews.” Also, Jews were prohibited from conversion to <strong>the</strong> Christian faith. These measures were taken because “<strong>the</strong> ethnic being <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Romanian nation must be protected against mixing with Jewish blood.” The same motivation was used to prohibit Jews from hiring Romanian servants. On December 16, 1941, Ion Antonescu signed <strong>the</strong> law mandating a census <strong>of</strong> ethnic Jews. This law ordered that <strong>the</strong> Jews be counted in order to provide <strong>the</strong> government with a complete statistical picture <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jewish presence in all domains <strong>of</strong> life and to enable a comprehensive definition <strong>of</strong> Jewishness—one that would conform to Romania’s national interest and racial principles. These examples show that <strong>the</strong> racial character <strong>of</strong> anti-Jewish measures was present not only in <strong>the</strong> laws that expressly provided for <strong>the</strong> defense <strong>of</strong> “Romanian blood,” but also in regulations on <strong>the</strong> definition <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jew and <strong>the</strong> discrimination <strong>of</strong> Jews relative to o<strong>the</strong>r ethnic groups in Romania. This body <strong>of</strong> laws adopted by <strong>the</strong> Antonescu regimes fit <strong>the</strong> framework <strong>of</strong> racial laws that entered into force at <strong>the</strong> beginning <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 1940s in those European countries that became part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> political system <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> continental Holocaust. Statutory Exclusion <strong>of</strong> Jews from <strong>the</strong> Economic, Cultural, and Public Life in Romania Propaganda supporting <strong>the</strong> exclusion <strong>of</strong> Jews from Romanian society increased tremendously during <strong>the</strong> early 1930s. Extremist journals, such as Sfarma Piatra or Porunca Vremii, continuously denounced <strong>the</strong> Jewish “invasion” in various domains <strong>of</strong> life and exposed Jews who adopted Romanian names or pseudonyms. Never<strong>the</strong>less, at <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> 1937 antisemitic propaganda was not a state endeavor. It would become so only during <strong>the</strong> Goga government (December 1937-February 1938). The Gigurtu government passed <strong>the</strong> first law that was based on <strong>the</strong> principles <strong>of</strong> Nazi-style political racism in August 1940. The proclamation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> National Legionary State in Romania in September 1940 led to <strong>the</strong> promulgation <strong>of</strong> Romanianization laws. During <strong>the</strong> period when Ion Antonescu governed with <strong>the</strong> Iron Guard (September 1940-January 1941), acts <strong>of</strong> terror against <strong>the</strong> Jewish population and extensive <strong>the</strong>ft <strong>of</strong> Jewish property by <strong>the</strong> Legionnaires accompanied <strong>the</strong> anti-Jewish legislation.
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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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attraction, many Jews resettled in
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to defend itself; hence its support
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about the Holocaus
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Nichifor Crainic, “Dupa douazeci
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Isaia Tolan, “Revizuirea incetate
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X. Y. Z., “Rezolvarea problemei e
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andom searches and arrests, robberi
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Bucharest Prefectura. Almost two th
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epression was not ordered by Antone
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from villages and small towns. On J
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Page 133 and 134: Carp, Cartea neagra, vol. 3: pp. 30
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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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