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

Conclusions
The anti-Jewish legislation and administrative measures taken by <strong>the</strong> Antonescu regimes are
characteristic <strong>of</strong> an extremist, totalitarian policy toward a minority ethnic group—in this case, <strong>the</strong>
Jewish minority. Romanianization policies clearly evinced an ethnic restructuring <strong>of</strong> Romanian
society to <strong>the</strong> exclusive advantage <strong>of</strong> ethnic Romanians. The emphasis on “blood” arguments was
emblematic <strong>of</strong> a structurally racist regime, and <strong>the</strong> emergency laws and portrayal <strong>of</strong> Jews as
internal enemies laid <strong>the</strong> foundation for <strong>the</strong> large-scale repression <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jewish minority and <strong>the</strong>
legitimization <strong>of</strong> this repression as an actual war.
This legislation, along with <strong>the</strong> policy that inspired it, reveals <strong>the</strong> intentions <strong>of</strong> Antonescu and
<strong>the</strong> state apparatus. Considering <strong>the</strong> particular weight given to anti-Jewish legislation, it is obvious
that <strong>the</strong> so-called Jewish issue was a principal preoccupation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Marshal and <strong>of</strong> his circle, and
<strong>the</strong>ir means <strong>of</strong> dealing with this issue imprinted a racial and discriminatory brand on <strong>the</strong>
Antonescu totalitarian regime. <strong>Final</strong>ly, <strong>the</strong> enforcement <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> anti-Jewish legislation led to <strong>the</strong>
legal and political segregation <strong>of</strong> Jews from <strong>the</strong> rest <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> population. Jews were placed outside <strong>of</strong>
legal provisions that ordinarily guarantee <strong>the</strong> safety <strong>of</strong> daily life in a modern state. Jews were
exposed to abusive ad-hoc measures adopted by <strong>the</strong> state’s repressive organs and were completely
deprived <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> right to use <strong>the</strong> judicial system to defend <strong>the</strong>mselves.
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Monitorul Oficial (hereafter: Official Gazette), no. 206, September 6, 1940, p. 5114.
Mihai A. Antonescu, Doi ani de guvernare. 6 septembrie 1940 - 6 septembrie 1942 (Dacia Traiana:
Editura Nationala) p. 150.
Ion Antonescu, Declaratiile domnului General Ion Antonescu facute presei (Bucharest: Tipografia
MAN, 1941), p. 15.
Stenograma Consiliului de Cabinet <strong>of</strong> February 7, 1941, in Evreii din România între anii 1940-1944,
vol. I, Legislatia antievreiasca, ed. Lya Benjamin (Bucharest: Hasefer, 1993), no. 92, p. 291 (hereafter
L.A.).
Ibid.
Decree-law no. 2650 in L.A., no. 3, pp. 37-50.
Lucy S. Dawidowicz, Războiul împotriva evreilor. 1933-1945, trans. Carmen Patac (Bucharest:
Hasefer, 1999), p. 83.
See footnote 6.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ioan Cezar Duma, “Criteriul sângelui,” Pandectele românizarii vol. 1, no.10 (November 8, 1941): p.
306.
Decree-law no. 711, March 7, 1941, in L.A., no. 33, p. 120.
Decree-law no. 504, March 8, 1944, in L.A., p. 262.
Arhiva Naţională Istorică Centrală (ANIC), fond Preşedenţia Consiliului de Miniştri, Cabinet, file
107/1991, p. 161.
Decree-law no. 169, January 21, 1938, in L.A., no. 1, pp. 21-32.
Decree-law no. 2650, August 8, 1940, in L.A., no. 3, pp. 37-50.
Decree-law no. 3347, October 4, 1940, in L.A., no. 18, pp. 82-84; Decree-law no. 1120, May 2, 1941;