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

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In Gendarmerie District X, <strong>the</strong> cities <strong>of</strong> Reghin, Sfântu Gheorghe, and Târgu Mureş were selected as <strong>the</strong> major concentration centers. The last major item on <strong>the</strong> conferees’ agenda for this district meeting was <strong>the</strong> composition <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> various ghettoization commissions, i.e., <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>of</strong>ficers and <strong>of</strong>ficials in charge <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> anti-Jewish operations, and <strong>the</strong> specification <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> geographic areas from which <strong>the</strong> Jews would be transferred to <strong>the</strong> major ghetto centers. Since most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se ghettos were in <strong>the</strong> county seats, <strong>the</strong>y were designated as <strong>the</strong> assembly and entrainment centers for <strong>the</strong> Jews in <strong>the</strong> various counties. The Ghettoization Drive In accordance with <strong>the</strong> decree and <strong>the</strong> oral instructions communicated at <strong>the</strong> two conferences, <strong>the</strong> chief executive for all <strong>the</strong> measures relating to <strong>the</strong> ghettoization <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jews was <strong>the</strong> principal administrator <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> locality or area. Under Hungarian law <strong>the</strong>n in effect, this meant <strong>the</strong> mayor for cities, towns, and municipalities, and <strong>the</strong> deputy prefect <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> county for rural areas. The organs <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> police and gendarmerie as well as <strong>the</strong> auxiliary civil service organs <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> cities, including <strong>the</strong> public notary and health units, were to be directly involved in <strong>the</strong> roundup and transfer <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jews into ghettos. The mayors, acting in cooperation with <strong>the</strong> subordinated agency heads, were empowered not only to direct and supervise <strong>the</strong> ghettoization operations but also to determine <strong>the</strong> location <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ghettos and to screen <strong>the</strong> Jews applying for exemption. They were also responsible for seeing to <strong>the</strong> maintenance <strong>of</strong> essential services in <strong>the</strong> ghettos. A few days before <strong>the</strong> scheduled May 3 start <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ghettoization drive in Nor<strong>the</strong>rn Transylvania, <strong>the</strong> special commissions for <strong>the</strong> various cities and towns held meetings to determine <strong>the</strong> location <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ghettos and settle <strong>the</strong> logistics relating to <strong>the</strong> roundup <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jews. The commissions were normally composed <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> mayors, deputy prefects, and heads <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> local gendarmerie and police units. While nearly <strong>the</strong> same procedure was followed almost everywhere, <strong>the</strong> severity with which <strong>the</strong> ghettoization was carried out and <strong>the</strong> location <strong>of</strong> and <strong>the</strong> conditions within <strong>the</strong> ghetto depended upon <strong>the</strong> attitude <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> particular mayors and <strong>the</strong>ir subordinates. Thus in cities such as Oradea and Satu Mare, <strong>the</strong> ghettos were set up in <strong>the</strong> poorer, mostly Jewish-inhabited sections; in o<strong>the</strong>rs, such as Bistriţa, Cluj, Reghin, Şimleu Silvaniei, and Târgu Mureş, <strong>the</strong> ghettos were set up in brickyards. The ghetto <strong>of</strong> Dej was situated in <strong>the</strong> Bungur, a forest, where some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jews were put up in makeshift barracks and <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs under <strong>the</strong> open sky. Late on May 2, on <strong>the</strong> eve <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ghettoization, <strong>the</strong> mayors issued special instructions to <strong>the</strong> Jews and had <strong>the</strong>m posted in all areas under <strong>the</strong>ir jurisdiction. The text followed <strong>the</strong> directives <strong>of</strong> Decree No. 6163/1944, though it varied in nuances from city to city. The ghettoization <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> close to 160,000 Jews <strong>of</strong> Nor<strong>the</strong>rn Transylvania began on May 3 at 5:00 a.m. The roundup <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jews was carried out under <strong>the</strong> provisions <strong>of</strong> Decree No. 6163/1944 as amplified by <strong>the</strong> oral instructions given by Endre and his associates at <strong>the</strong> two conferences on ghettoization plans in <strong>the</strong> region. The Jews were rounded up by squads that were usually set up by <strong>the</strong> local mayor’s <strong>of</strong>fice. These were usually composed <strong>of</strong> civil servants, usually including local primary and high school teachers, gendarmes, and policemen, as well as Nyilas volunteers. The units were organized by <strong>the</strong> mayoral commissions and operated under <strong>the</strong>ir jurisdiction. The ghettoization drive was directed by a field dejewification unit headquartered in Cluj. This unit was headed by Ferenczy and operated under <strong>the</strong> guidance <strong>of</strong> several representatives <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Eichmann- Sonderkommando. Contact between <strong>the</strong> dejewification field <strong>of</strong>fices in Nor<strong>the</strong>rn Transylvania and <strong>the</strong> central command in Budapest was provided by two special gendarmerie courier cars that traveled daily in opposite directions, meeting in Oradea--<strong>the</strong> midpoint between <strong>the</strong> capital and Cluj. Immediate operational
command over <strong>the</strong> ghettoization process in Nor<strong>the</strong>rn Transylvania was exercised by Gendarmerie Col. Tibor Paksy-Kiss, who delegated special powers in Oradea to Lt. Col. Jenõ Péterffy, his personal friend and ideological colleague. The Jews <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> rural communities were first assembled in <strong>the</strong> local synagogues and/or Jewish community buildings. In some cities, <strong>the</strong> Jews were concentrated at smaller collection points prior to <strong>the</strong>ir transfer to <strong>the</strong> main ghetto. At each stage <strong>the</strong>y were subjected to an expropriation process that assumed an increasingly barbaric character. The ghettoization <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jews <strong>of</strong> Nor<strong>the</strong>rn Transylvania, as in <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r parts <strong>of</strong> Hungary, was carried out smoothly, without known incidents <strong>of</strong> resistance on <strong>the</strong> part <strong>of</strong> ei<strong>the</strong>r Jews or Christians. The Jewish masses, unaware <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> realities <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Final</strong> Solution program, went to <strong>the</strong> ghettos resigned to a disagreeable but presumably non-lethal fate. Some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m rationalized <strong>the</strong>ir “isolation” as a logical step before <strong>the</strong>ir territory became a battle zone. O<strong>the</strong>rs believed <strong>the</strong> rumors spread by Gendarmerie and police <strong>of</strong>ficials as well as some Jewish leaders that <strong>the</strong>y were merely being resettled at Kenyérmezõ in Transdanubia, where <strong>the</strong>y would be doing agricultural work until <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> war. Still o<strong>the</strong>rs sustained <strong>the</strong> hope that <strong>the</strong> Red Army was not very far and that <strong>the</strong>ir concentration would be relatively short-lived. The Christians, even those friendly to <strong>the</strong> Jews, were mostly passive. Many cooperated with <strong>the</strong> authorities on ideological grounds or in <strong>the</strong> expectation <strong>of</strong> quick material rewards in <strong>the</strong> form <strong>of</strong> properties confiscated from <strong>the</strong> Jews. The smoothness with which <strong>the</strong> anti-Jewish campaign was carried out in Nor<strong>the</strong>rn Transylvania, as elsewhere, also can be attributed in part to <strong>the</strong> absence <strong>of</strong> a meaningful resistance movement, let alone general opposition to <strong>the</strong> persecution <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jews. Neutrality and passivity were <strong>the</strong> characteristic attitudes <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> heads <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Christian churches in Nor<strong>the</strong>rn Transylvania, as reflected in <strong>the</strong> behavior <strong>of</strong> János Vásárhelyi, <strong>the</strong> Calvinist bishop, and Miklós Józan, <strong>the</strong> Unitarian bishop. The exemplary exception was Aron Márton, <strong>the</strong> Catholic Bishop <strong>of</strong> Transylvania, whose <strong>of</strong>ficial residence was in Alba-Iulia, in <strong>the</strong> Romanian part <strong>of</strong> Transylvania. The ghettoization drive in Nor<strong>the</strong>rn Transylvania was generally completed within one week. During <strong>the</strong> first day <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> campaign close to 8,000 Jews were rounded up. By noon <strong>of</strong> May 5, <strong>the</strong>ir number increased to 16,144, by May 6 to 72,382, and by May 10 to 98,000. The procedures for rounding up, interrogating, and expropriating property <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jews, as well as <strong>the</strong> organization and administration <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ghetto, were basically <strong>the</strong> same in every county in Nor<strong>the</strong>rn Transylvania. The Jews were rounded up at great speed, given only a few minutes to pack, and driven into <strong>the</strong> ghettos on foot. The internal administration <strong>of</strong> each ghetto was entrusted to a Jewish Council, usually consisting <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> traditional leaders <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> local Jewish community. The living conditions in <strong>the</strong> North Transylvanian ghettos were similar to those that prevailed elsewhere (see above). Conditions in <strong>the</strong> Ghettos The conditions under which <strong>the</strong> Jews <strong>of</strong> Nor<strong>the</strong>rn Transylvania lived in <strong>the</strong> ghettos prior to <strong>the</strong>ir deportation were fairly typical <strong>of</strong> conditions in all <strong>the</strong> ghettos <strong>of</strong> Hungary. In <strong>the</strong> assembly centers - <strong>the</strong> county ghettos - <strong>the</strong> feeding <strong>of</strong> all Jews, including those transferred from neighboring communities, became <strong>the</strong> responsibility <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> local Jewish Councils. The main and frequently only meal consisted primarily <strong>of</strong> a little potato soup. Even with <strong>the</strong>se meager rations, though, <strong>the</strong> feeding problem became acute after <strong>the</strong> first few days, when <strong>the</strong> supplies <strong>the</strong> rural Jews had brought along were used up. The living conditions in <strong>the</strong> ghettos were extremely harsh, and <strong>of</strong>ten brutally inhumane. The terrible overcrowding in <strong>the</strong> apartments within <strong>the</strong> ghettos, with totally inadequate cooking, bathing, and sanitary facilities, created intolerable hardships as well as tension among <strong>the</strong> inhabitants. But deplorable as conditions were in <strong>the</strong> city ghettos, <strong>the</strong>y could not compare to <strong>the</strong> cruel conditions that prevailed in <strong>the</strong> brickyards and <strong>the</strong> woods, where many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jews were kept for several weeks under <strong>the</strong> open skies. Inadequate nutrition,
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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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accident; it was contrived by <stro
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The second train to leave Iasi for
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care of th
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"premilitary," were also placed at
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according to the o
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Tighina Agreement On August 30, Tra
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elieved Transnistria would be occup
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the 331,000 Ukrain
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those inside to take the</s
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[longer] move.” After several wee
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eappear a few seconds later and sig
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operation and that “some
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Bukovina and Bessarabia. Einsatzkom
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other things, <str
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Berezovka district and burn <strong
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them in exchange f
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transport of 2,000
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Bulgarian, Turkish, Italian, or Swi
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were at least 122,000 Jews. Bukovin
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Wilhelm Hoettl, The Secret Front: T
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Ancel, Documents, vol. 2: no. 136,
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Carp, Cartea neagra, vol. 3: pp. 30
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Gosudartsveni Archiv Odeskoi Oblast
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Cable from the Mil
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1-1087, p. 114; list of</st
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Ibid. “Rezolvarea problemei evrei
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child’s birth, would be considere
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Indeed, the system
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Romanianization instead of<
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The Cultural Ghettoization
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The Status of Jewi
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Page 155 and 156: Conclusions The anti-Jewish legisla
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Page 185 and 186: in Romania. History and Contemporar
Page 187 and 188: THE ROLE OF ION ANTONESCU IN THE PL
Page 189 and 190: December 16, 1941, meeting
Page 191 and 192: me from carrying out the</s
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Page 197 and 198: THE HOLOCAUST IN NORTHERN TRANSYLVA
Page 199 and 200: Others 22 968 Magy
Page 201 and 202: ultimatum but also consented to <st
Page 203: military, political, and psychologi
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Page 247 and 248: Ibid., pp. 224-225. Ibid., pp. 46-4
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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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