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

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government tried to subdue <strong>the</strong> antisemitic violence that had been unleashed under Goga and Cuza, but did not alter <strong>the</strong> antisemitic legislation <strong>the</strong>y had introduced (see below). Thus Crainic’s philosophy fit well within <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>ological-political stance <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Church. Crainic had a long association with Cuza. He served as Secretary General <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> League <strong>of</strong> National Christian Defense and <strong>the</strong>n, after its merger with Goga’s National Agrarian Party, fulfilled <strong>the</strong> same function for <strong>the</strong> National Christian Party. After <strong>the</strong> brief government <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> National Christian Party fell from power, Crainic became Minister <strong>of</strong> National Propaganda in <strong>the</strong> pro-Nazi Government <strong>of</strong> Ion Gigurtu (July 4-September 3, 1940), <strong>the</strong> last government <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Royal Dictatorship and <strong>the</strong> first in which a number <strong>of</strong> Iron Guard ministers participated. Days later, Crainic hailed <strong>the</strong> arrival <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> National Legionary State as a passage from “death to resurrection.” In addition to playing a traditional political role, <strong>the</strong> League <strong>of</strong> National Cristian Defense organized militant student groups, led initially by Codreanu, and blue-shirted paramilitary units called Lancieri that disrupted university life, terrorized <strong>the</strong> country's Jews, and contributed to <strong>the</strong> street violence that became increasingly prevalent as <strong>the</strong> interwar years progressed. The League’s electoral strength in <strong>the</strong> 1920s never exceeded 4.76 percent <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> vote. It fell to less than <strong>the</strong> 2 percent required by law for parliamentary representation in <strong>the</strong> 1927 and 1928 elections after Codreanu had broken away from <strong>the</strong> League to found his own movement, <strong>the</strong> Iron Guard. But by <strong>the</strong> 1933 elections <strong>the</strong> League had recovered to 4.47 percent <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> vote, and Cuza’s party acquired nine seats in <strong>the</strong> Chamber <strong>of</strong> Deputies. While <strong>the</strong> party was an influential voice <strong>of</strong> uncompromising antisemitism and was feared on <strong>the</strong> streets, it was losing influence to <strong>the</strong> youthful Iron Guard, and <strong>the</strong> likelihood that it would achieve political power was remote. With encouragement from <strong>the</strong> Royal Palace, Crainic appears to have played a critical role in organizing <strong>the</strong> merger <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> National Agrarian Party and <strong>the</strong> League <strong>of</strong> National Christian Defense to form <strong>the</strong> National Christian Party (PNC). The merger took place on July 16, 1935. Cuza, 78 years old, was elected “supreme chief” <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> new party, while Goga, at 53, became its president and de facto leader. Crainic became secretary general. The new party pooled <strong>the</strong> parliamentary seats <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> separate Goga and Cuza parties, giving <strong>the</strong> PNC a total <strong>of</strong> eighteen seats. The League’s swastika was adopted as <strong>the</strong> <strong>of</strong>ficial symbol <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> new party. Goga's newspaper Ţara Noastră (Our Country) became <strong>the</strong> <strong>of</strong>ficial party newspaper. Goga and Cuza were quick to associate <strong>the</strong> PNC with international fascist causes and retained <strong>the</strong> Lăncieri as <strong>the</strong>ir paramilitary force. Between 1935 and 1937, <strong>the</strong> Lancieri were responsible for Jewbaiting and brutality that rivaled that perpetrated by <strong>the</strong> Iron Guard. Clashes between <strong>the</strong> Lăncieri and Iron Guard units were not unusual and were <strong>of</strong>ten bloody . Imitating Hitler and Mussolini, Goga and Cuza organized massive displays <strong>of</strong> disciplined manpower in an effort to establish a claim to power. They assembled 200,000 blue-shirted men in Bucharest on November 8, 1936, on <strong>the</strong> occasion <strong>of</strong> a PNC congress . The platform <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> PNC included <strong>the</strong> antisemitic positions that had been in <strong>the</strong> platforms <strong>of</strong> Goga and Cuza’s pre-merger parties. They were pro-monarchy, but advocated modifications <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 1923 Constitution to ensure ethnic Romanian domination in all areas <strong>of</strong> national life. They sought to guarantee <strong>the</strong> “national character” <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> press and all cultural activity. The numerus clausus was to be imposed on <strong>the</strong> Jews. They wanted to expel Jews if <strong>the</strong>y or <strong>the</strong>ir ancestors had entered <strong>the</strong> country “by fraud” or “after <strong>the</strong> signing <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> peace treaty.” In addition to <strong>the</strong> numerus clausus, Jews who remained in <strong>the</strong> country were to be excluded from all public <strong>of</strong>fices and <strong>the</strong> civil service . Unlike <strong>the</strong> Iron Guard, Goga and Cuza did not call for regime change, but <strong>the</strong>y were anxious to assume <strong>the</strong> reins <strong>of</strong> government in order to implement <strong>the</strong> antisemitic measures <strong>the</strong>y had advocated for decades. Goga and Cuza wanted to establish closer relations with Germany, but not at <strong>the</strong> risk <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> country’s borders. They had been actively courted by elements <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Nazi regime. As early as 1934 Alfred Rosenberg and Arno Schickedanz <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Nazi Party’s Aussenpolitisches Amt settled on Goga as <strong>the</strong> most
promising leader <strong>of</strong> any future Volksbewegung in Romania: A basically sound antisemitic tendency existed in [Romania]. But in spite <strong>of</strong> repeated efforts this tendency had never risen above <strong>the</strong> limitations <strong>of</strong> a club because <strong>of</strong> scientific [academic] doctrinaire leadership. What was lacking was <strong>the</strong> guiding leadership <strong>of</strong> a political personality. After manifold, groping trials, <strong>the</strong> Bureau believed to have found such a personality--<strong>the</strong> former minister and poet, Octavian Goga. From 1934 on, Goga was <strong>the</strong>ir principal Romanian client, and <strong>the</strong>y provided him with both material and advisory assistance . The king's objections to German involvement in Romania's domestic politics kept <strong>the</strong> PNC far from <strong>the</strong> reins <strong>of</strong> power until 1937. The December elections <strong>of</strong> that year, however, resulted in a dramatic change <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> party’s fortunes. Precipitated by <strong>the</strong> expiration <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> four-year term <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Parliament elected in December 1933, <strong>the</strong> elections represented <strong>the</strong> first and last time in interwar Romania that <strong>the</strong> party that organized <strong>the</strong> elections did not secure a parliamentary majority . The National Peasant Party, Iron Guard and Gheorghe Bratianu’s “Young Liberal” Party concluded an “electoral non-aggression pact” to combat governmental manipulation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> elections, but in <strong>the</strong> process <strong>the</strong> National Peasant Party and <strong>the</strong> Young Liberals eliminated <strong>the</strong>mselves from suitability to govern in <strong>the</strong> king’s eyes. The election campaign was marked by violent armed clashes between <strong>the</strong> PNC’s Lancieri and <strong>the</strong> Iron Guard . The Aussenpolitisches Amt tried to arrange an alliance between <strong>the</strong> PNC and <strong>the</strong> Iron Guard, but failed . Codreanu saw <strong>the</strong> PNC as simply a different face <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> established regime, and instructed his followers not to vote for PNC candidates under any circumstances, even in districts where no Iron Guard candidate was running. The PNC ran an independent list <strong>of</strong> candidates in <strong>the</strong> elections. The German Minister in Bucharest gave <strong>the</strong>m little chance <strong>of</strong> success, and recommended to <strong>the</strong> German Foreign Ministry that Germany not endorse any right-wing party, but count on <strong>the</strong> victory <strong>of</strong> Tatarescu’s Liberal Party, which was “increasingly antisemitic, increasingly willing to deal with Germany [and prepared] to protect <strong>the</strong> German minority.” When voting took place on December 20, 1937, <strong>the</strong> PNC received only 9.15 percent <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> vote, barely more than <strong>the</strong> combined 8.56 percent <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> vote Goga and Cuza, running separately, had attracted in 1933. Significant support for <strong>the</strong> party existed only in Nor<strong>the</strong>rn Moldavia and Bessarabia– Cuza’s traditional base. In all o<strong>the</strong>r parts <strong>of</strong> Romania <strong>the</strong> Iron Guard was clearly <strong>the</strong> dominant party <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> political Right . Despite this poor showing in <strong>the</strong> elections, within a matter <strong>of</strong> days Octavian Goga was Prime Minister. Because <strong>the</strong> Liberal Party failed to achieve a parliamentary majority even while organizing <strong>the</strong> elections, and because <strong>of</strong> his strained relations with <strong>the</strong> leadership <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> National Peasant Party, King Carol’s choices were actually limited. He feared that <strong>the</strong> Iron Guard might try to topple him from <strong>the</strong> throne, or move <strong>the</strong> country abruptly closer to Germany and Italy diplomatically, or simply bring chaos. In <strong>the</strong> PNC’s favor, <strong>the</strong> party leadership did not appear to constitute a threat to <strong>the</strong> king’s authority. With limited popular support, <strong>the</strong> PNC might prove a pliant tool for Carol’s achievement <strong>of</strong> his own authoritarian goals. The appointment <strong>of</strong> Goga might appease <strong>the</strong> Nazis without undermining Romania’s security arrangements with Britain and France, to which <strong>the</strong> king gave great significance. Carol might have been trying to steal <strong>the</strong> thunder <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> more threatening Iron Guard by calling on <strong>the</strong> right-wing, conservative, but vociferously antisemitic PNC. The king may have viewed summoning Goga and Cuza to govern as simply an interim step toward new elections or a calculated maneuver to demonstrate that parliamentary democracy could no longer function in Romania. Whatever <strong>the</strong> king’s motivation, a nominally National Christian Party government took <strong>of</strong>fice on December 28, 1937. Cuza became Minister
Page 1 and 2: Final Repo
Page 3 and 4: Germany’s war against the
Page 5 and 6: which includes reputed experts led
Page 7 and 8: BACKGROUND AND PRECURSORS TO THE HO
Page 9 and 10: against which antisemites in <stron
Page 11 and 12: declaring in the p
Page 13 and 14: them. Thus, he con
Page 15 and 16: We must organize ourselves for a wa
Page 17 and 18: ureaucracy of wart
Page 19: this direction by Nicolae C. Paules
Page 23 and 24: organized a tariff and tax strike.
Page 25 and 26: Legion of
Page 27 and 28: less so in Romanian society as a wh
Page 29 and 30: This ambiguous, self-contradictory
Page 31 and 32: The Gigurtu government began to con
Page 33 and 34: The Case of Român
Page 35 and 36: Cuza’s argument that it is possib
Page 37 and 38: Românesc,” Sociologie Româneasc
Page 39 and 40: ole in the early 1
Page 41 and 42: European states, notably Romania an
Page 43 and 44: Germany's immediate interests at <s
Page 45 and 46: eligious communities, the</
Page 47 and 48: counterpart, “when [he] first met
Page 49 and 50: de Istorie şi Arheologie, “A. D.
Page 51 and 52: Romania. Muler to Luthe</st
Page 53 and 54: demands on territorial revisions an
Page 55 and 56: military mission to come to Romania
Page 57 and 58: High Command, informing the
Page 59 and 60: The Jews and the R
Page 61 and 62: Romanian army. Thus, in Ciudei in <
Page 63 and 64: antisemitism in Romanian society an
Page 65 and 66: Ibid., fond Micro-films, roll I.II,
Page 67 and 68: manifestations of
Page 69 and 70: 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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give up any radios able to send and
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Conclusions The anti-Jewish legisla
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L.A., no. 99, p. 344. Trei ani de g
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moral, social, and intellectual nee
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gradually, in reality the</
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except being defined as a Jew. I be
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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
Page 293 and 294:
After deploring the</strong
Page 295 and 296:
Michael Shafir, “Ex Occidente Obs
Page 297 and 298:
See, for example, Giurescu who make
Page 299 and 300:
Randolph L. Braham, Romanian Nation
Page 301 and 302:
Mediafax, March 18, 2002, Monitorul
Page 303 and 304:
See Ibidem, pp. 3, 54-55. Ibidem, p
Page 305 and 306:
Radu Theodoru, Mareşalul, Editura
Page 307 and 308:
egained from the U
Page 309 and 310:
was a record of an
Page 311 and 312:
secondary school use. Those institu
Page 313:
including erecting statues, mountin
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