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

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soldiers,” deserters, “degenerate elements in <strong>the</strong> police force,” Legionnaires and “inebriated civilians.” d) Unlike in <strong>the</strong> 1950s and 1960s, <strong>the</strong> 1970s and particularly <strong>the</strong> early 1980s mark a qualitative separation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Legionary and Antonescu regimes respectively, with a severe bias against <strong>the</strong> former. The Legionnaires are depicted through <strong>the</strong> usage <strong>of</strong> adjectives that evoke marginality and unrepresentativeness: “bandits,” “hooligans,” “robbers,” “murderers,” “terrorists,” “traitors,” “fifth column <strong>of</strong> Hitlerism.” The authors insist that for <strong>the</strong> Legionnaires ideology was nothing but an “excuse” for <strong>the</strong>ir reprehensible deeds. By contrast, Antonescu appears less bloodthirsty and irresponsible, although mention is made <strong>of</strong> some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> crimes committed under his command. While <strong>the</strong> deeds <strong>of</strong> Legionnaires are depicted as being committed out <strong>of</strong> a gratuitous propensity to kill, <strong>the</strong> crimes committed during Antonescu’s dictatorship are placed in <strong>the</strong> context <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> state <strong>of</strong> emergency, which intimates that <strong>the</strong> Conducator had limited freedom <strong>of</strong> action and that his decisions were motivated by <strong>the</strong> war as well as domestic and international circumstances. e) Antisemitism is only seldom presented as an ingredient <strong>of</strong> fascism. For example, in <strong>the</strong> book on <strong>the</strong> Legion, antisemitism is mentioned last among a long list <strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r defining features <strong>of</strong> fascism; it is listed only after anticommunism, hostility to democracy, irrationality, mysticism, anti-national character, hostility to <strong>the</strong> working class, <strong>the</strong> cult <strong>of</strong> death, anti-intellectualism, and <strong>the</strong> apology <strong>of</strong> war. Even when mention is made <strong>of</strong> antisemitism, <strong>the</strong> trait is depicted as being aimed at “concealing <strong>the</strong> real causes <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> economic, social and political crises <strong>of</strong> those years” and at “diverting <strong>the</strong> attention <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> working class from its struggle against exploiters.” In <strong>the</strong> book on <strong>the</strong> Iaşi pogrom, <strong>the</strong> two authors claim that it is “simplistic” and “mystifying” to speak <strong>of</strong> “Romanian antisemitism” at all; <strong>the</strong>n, in a sententious note, <strong>the</strong>y conclude that “unlike in many parts <strong>of</strong> East-Central Europe, <strong>the</strong> Romanian land did not prove fertile to <strong>the</strong> poisoned seeds <strong>of</strong> hate.” On most occasions, even when mentioned antisemitism is not explained, but only inserted into an enumeration <strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r traits <strong>of</strong> fascism. Among <strong>the</strong> books surveyed, only one analyzes antisemitism as a form <strong>of</strong> racism and lists <strong>the</strong> antisemitic measures <strong>of</strong> that time. This volume also admits that antisemitism “became state policy as early as <strong>the</strong> times <strong>of</strong> Carol II.” f) Just as <strong>the</strong>y strive to diminish <strong>the</strong> importance <strong>of</strong> antisemitism in <strong>the</strong> fascist credo, <strong>the</strong> authors minimize Jewish suffering and narrow <strong>the</strong> scope <strong>of</strong> Jewish tragedy. For example, <strong>the</strong> History <strong>of</strong> Romanians mentions only <strong>the</strong> Legion’s “pressures and brutalities against Jews.” After first referring to <strong>the</strong> fate <strong>of</strong> imprisoned or executed communists and antifascists, The Compendium notes: “To <strong>the</strong> series <strong>of</strong> murders committed during <strong>the</strong> Antonescu dictatorship one can add <strong>the</strong> pogrom organized in Iaşi, in which 2,000 people, most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m Jews, were murdered. Many o<strong>the</strong>r citizens <strong>of</strong> various nationalities, most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m Jews, were interned in labor camps [and threatened with] extermination through various means.” In Garda de Fier, mention is made <strong>of</strong> a well-known and well-documented incident in January 1941, during which 200 Jews were locked in a Legionary headquarters in Bucharest during <strong>the</strong> Iron Guard’s uprising, and ninety <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m were later shot in <strong>the</strong> nearby Jilava forest. The two authors, historians Mihai Fătu and Ion Spălăţelu, cite Carp’s Cartea neagră, but in <strong>the</strong>ir version <strong>the</strong> 200 Jews are turned into “200 citizens.” A few pages on, however, Fătu and Spălăţelu cite Carp correctly, mentioning <strong>the</strong> number <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> pogrom’s victims as 120. The Contributions <strong>of</strong>fers <strong>the</strong> most information about <strong>the</strong> regime’s antisemitic policies and mentions <strong>the</strong> Transnistria deportations, which is rare. Still, <strong>the</strong> terminology employed for this purpose remains ambiguous and is inaccurate: “One <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> forms <strong>of</strong> repression used against <strong>the</strong> Jewish population was <strong>the</strong> internment <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> people regarded as ‘dangerous to <strong>the</strong> security <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> state,’ which usually meant communists or antifascists, in concentration camps in Transnistria (Râbniţa, Vapniarca, and o<strong>the</strong>rs).” In Bloody Days, <strong>the</strong> authors cite one <strong>of</strong> Ceauşescu’s well-known references to <strong>the</strong> Iaşi pogrom: “Immediately after <strong>the</strong> beginning <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> anti-Soviet war, a true pogrom was organized against antifascist forces, during which 2,000 people were killed in Iaşi.” The authors conclude that 3,233 Jews died during <strong>the</strong> pogrom, although <strong>the</strong> documents cited (to which <strong>the</strong> authors had privileged access at a time when
such access was strictly supervised) indicate much higher figures. In <strong>the</strong> preface to <strong>the</strong> book, Nicolae Minei inserts a footnote on <strong>the</strong> Transnistria deportations, yet <strong>the</strong> purpose <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> footnote is to distort reality and deflect guilt. <strong>Final</strong>ly, The Participation <strong>of</strong> Romania in <strong>the</strong> Victory over Nazi Germany <strong>of</strong>fers information unavailable elsewhere in <strong>the</strong> volumes examined. First, <strong>the</strong> involvement <strong>of</strong> Romanian troops in atrocities committed on “territories where combat occurred” is acknowledged. It is fur<strong>the</strong>rmore stated that “Romanian gendarmerie units that participated in combat and some troops from <strong>the</strong> Second and Fourth Armies joined <strong>the</strong> acts <strong>of</strong> cruelty begun by <strong>the</strong> German Fourth Army, led by Colonel General Ritter von Schobert, as well as by SS troops.” The volume also lists several “labor camps in Chişinău, Făleşti, Limbienii Noi and Bălţi, in which about 5,000 Jews were interned in early July 1941.” Mention is also made <strong>of</strong> 115,520 Jews “deported eastward,” <strong>of</strong> which just 50,741 survived; <strong>the</strong> rest, it is stated, were murdered by <strong>the</strong> Nazis, by epidemic, by malnutrition and by harsh work conditions. <strong>Final</strong>ly, <strong>the</strong> authors acknowledge that nomadic Roma were subjected to <strong>the</strong> same measures. In brief, although Gheorghe Zaharia and Ion Cupşa underestimate <strong>the</strong> number <strong>of</strong> victims and <strong>the</strong> depiction <strong>of</strong> events is inaccurate and distorted, this book is an exception to Communist-era historiography. Zaharia and Cupşa’s example was not heeded by o<strong>the</strong>rs. The three-volume study on Romania during <strong>the</strong> Second World War has only two paragraphs on <strong>the</strong> victims <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Antonescu regime and even those provide meager information. The first paragraph argues that <strong>the</strong> RCP was <strong>the</strong> main target <strong>of</strong> repression by Antonescu’s regime, that “numerous” communists were executed, and that o<strong>the</strong>r communists were “interned in camps, in order to isolate <strong>the</strong>m from society.” The o<strong>the</strong>r paragraph states only that Jews were subjected to “discriminating policies.” When <strong>the</strong> third volume addresses Nazi concentration and extermination camps, Jews are not identified as <strong>the</strong>ir victims. Nei<strong>the</strong>r does The Military History <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Romanian People do a better job. Readers would never learn from this volume that during <strong>the</strong> war Jews perished at <strong>the</strong> hand <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Antonescu regime. Its sixth volume mentions only “<strong>the</strong> policy <strong>of</strong> systematic reprisals against <strong>the</strong> Romanian Communist Party.” The Great Conflagration exacerbates this type <strong>of</strong> historic distortion. After enumerating <strong>the</strong> Nazi labor camps, its authors claim that: “In <strong>the</strong>se camps <strong>the</strong>re were communists and o<strong>the</strong>r antifascists, partisans and [French] Resistance fighters, Polish, French, Yugoslav, Dutch, Belgian and Soviet war prisoners, in all several millions <strong>of</strong> people. Their fate was sealed: exhausting labor, starvation, misery, filth, followed by <strong>the</strong> gas chamber and mass graves.” Surprisingly, <strong>the</strong> volume mentions <strong>the</strong> Odessa massacre, which all o<strong>the</strong>r texts reviewed here avoid. Not even now, however, are <strong>the</strong> Jews depicted as its victims: “The Field Gendarmerie executed civilians. Romanian public opinion was outraged and rejected with disgust and with anger such criminal acts. This was also <strong>the</strong> mood <strong>of</strong> a majority among <strong>the</strong> Romanian military.” g) The books analyzed insist on <strong>the</strong> differences between Nazi Germany and Antonescu’s Romania as well as on <strong>the</strong> alleged Romanian exceptionalism in <strong>the</strong> [delete discussion substitute implementation] <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Final</strong> Solution. A section in Contribution to <strong>the</strong> Study <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Romanian Political Regime reads: “Historical reality has sanctioned <strong>the</strong> truth that ins<strong>of</strong>ar as Romania is concerned, <strong>the</strong> regime established in September 1940 did not elevate political violence to <strong>the</strong> same level <strong>of</strong> intensity as that encountered in Nazi Germany, Horthy’s Hungary, or in o<strong>the</strong>r countries…After <strong>the</strong> January 1941[Iron Guard] rebellion, physical violence and terror did not become <strong>the</strong> main practice and means <strong>of</strong> exercising state power; <strong>the</strong> regime’s primary instruments <strong>of</strong> rule were <strong>the</strong> dictatorial and military methods, as well as political, judicial and economic repression stemming from, and determined by <strong>the</strong> fascist ideology.” Mihai Fătu, <strong>the</strong> books, author, fur<strong>the</strong>rmore claims that “Antonescu was not prepared to follow <strong>the</strong> Nazi model <strong>of</strong> repression <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jewish population” and deems <strong>the</strong> Marshal’s policy towards that population to have been “a lot more moderate” than that <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Nazis. Herein apparently lies <strong>the</strong> key for understanding <strong>the</strong> terminological shift that would occur in <strong>the</strong> 1970s, which turned Antonescu’s “fascist dictatorship” (as his rule was designated in <strong>the</strong> first communist
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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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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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Page 221 and 222: Rona de Sus Felsöróna Rozavica Ro
Page 223 and 224: Bözödújfalu Bezidu Nou Budfalva
Page 225 and 226: Nagysajó Şieu (Bistrita-Nasaud Co
Page 227 and 228: (Indictment of Naz
Page 229 and 230: Randolph L. Braham, comp. and ed. (
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Page 239 and 240: We have been informed that various
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Page 243 and 244: Mitropolit pleaded with Mihai Anton
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Page 247 and 248: Ibid., pp. 224-225. Ibid., pp. 46-4
Page 249 and 250: the examined cases
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Page 253 and 254: immense scale, enslaved millions <s
Page 255 and 256: means. The “ethnic Christian stat
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Page 259 and 260: face să pară evident că victimel
Page 261 and 262: viaţă, 100 milioane lei amendă
Page 263 and 264: Articolul 15 al Convenţiei de armi
Page 265 and 266: members accepted as authoritative s
Page 267 and 268: camp in January 1945, for several m
Page 269: Beginning in the 1
Page 273 and 274: enefit from translation into Englis
Page 275 and 276: furthermore, he ha
Page 277 and 278: lucrative Jewish business ever,”
Page 279 and 280: deaths of thousand
Page 281 and 282: Treptow who was residing in Romania
Page 283 and 284: Finally, it must b
Page 285 and 286: A.) Integral Negationism Although <
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Page 289 and 290: mankind, such as wars; the<
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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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