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

memorial literature has been left by Iron Guard leaders, members, sympathizers and exiles. Among <strong>the</strong>
more important scholarly analyses are Armin Heinen, Die Legion Erzengel Michael in Rumanien—
Soziale Bewegung und politische Organisation (Munich, R. Oldenbourg Verlag, 1986); Radu Ioanid, The
Sword <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Archangel—Fascist Ideology in România (Boulder, East European Monographs, 1990);
Francisco Viega, La Mistica del Ultranacionalismo—Historia de la Guardia de Hierro (Barcelona,
Bellaterra, 1989); Eugen Weber, “The Men <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Archangel,” in George L. Mosse, Ed., <strong>International</strong>
Fascism (London and Beverly Hills, Sage, 1979), pp.317-343; Eugen Weber, “România” in Rogger and
Weber, Eds., op.cit.; and Nagy-Talavera, op.cit.
Codreanu, For My Legionaries, op.cit., p.45, 48.
The relationship between <strong>the</strong> two men and <strong>the</strong> issues around which it developed and faltered are
described in Codreanu’s autobiographical statement <strong>of</strong> purpose, Pentru Legionari (For My Legionaries),
first published in 1936. For Cuza’s defense <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> student movement before <strong>the</strong> resignation <strong>of</strong> Codreanu
from <strong>the</strong> League <strong>of</strong> National Christian Defense, see Miscarile studentesti şi cauzele lor--Declaraţie făcută
înaintea comisiunei de anchetă de A.C. Cuza (Bucureşti, Tipografia Deleormanul, 1925).
Codreanu, Circulări si Manifeste, op.cit., p.199.
Codreanu, For My Legionaries, op.cit., p.103, 222-24.
Ibid., pp.125-127, 213-214. The first passage relates how <strong>the</strong> saint’s name day and an icon <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
Archangel Michael, which Codreanu and his colleagues viewed while imprisoned in Vacaresti Monastery
in1923, provided inspiration for naming <strong>the</strong> new youth movement <strong>the</strong>y planned--<strong>the</strong> Legion <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
Archangel Michael. Saintly purity, <strong>the</strong> sword, and <strong>the</strong> battle against satan were central concepts. The
second passage, subtitled “Matter versus Spirit” by Codreanu, cited “moral strength,” “unshaken faith,”
and “matter’s subordination to <strong>the</strong> spirit” as <strong>the</strong> guarantors <strong>of</strong> victory over <strong>the</strong> “satanic forces coalesced
with <strong>the</strong> purpose <strong>of</strong> destroying us.”
Ibid., p.118.
Comandantul Militar al Capitalei, Asasinatele dela Jilava...Snagov si Strejnicul–26-27 Noemvrie
1940 (Bucureşti, Monitorul Oficial si Imprimeriile Statului, 1941); Preşedinţia Consiliului de Miniştri,
Pe Marginea Prăpastiei–21-23 Ianuarie 1941, 2 Vols. (Bucureşti, Monitorul Oficial si Imprimeriile
Statului, 1942); and Matatias Carp, Cartea Neagra–Fapte sii Documente–Suferinţele Evreilor din
România, 1940-1944, Vol.I–Legionarii şi Rebeliunea (Bucureşti, SOCEC, 1946).
Codreanu, For My Legionaries, op.cit., p.106.
See “La Icoana,” Pământul Strămoşesc, August 1, 1927, in Ion Moţa, Cranii de lemn–Articole 1922-
1936, 3rd Ed. (Bucureşti, Editura Totul Pentru Ţară, 1937), pp.19-22. On this elite group, see Gh. Gh.
Istrate, Frăţia de Cruce (Colectia Omul Nou, 1952), originally published in 1935. Banica Dobre,
Crucificaţii (Colectia Omul Nou, 1951), originally published in 1937.
Eugen Weber, “România,” loc.cit., p.534.
Codreanu, For My Legionaries, op.cit., p.126-27.
For numerous examples <strong>of</strong> Codreanu’s use <strong>of</strong> related language, see Codreanu, Circulări si Manifeste,
op.cit. See Corneliu Zelea Codreanu–Douăzeci de ani dela moarte (Madrid, Editura Carpatii, 1958), p.
27. Also, <strong>the</strong> poem by Radu Gyr on p. 9: “Mormantul tau e numai Inviere/Prin tine luminam de
Vesnicie.” Ion Tolescu’s article in <strong>the</strong> same volume, pp.175-182, draws an explicit parallel between
Codreanu and Jesus, closing with a drawing <strong>of</strong> an unidentified figure carrying a cross on his back.
Nicolae Roşu, Orientari în Veac (Bucureşti, Editura Cugetarea, 1937), and Dialectica
Naţionalismului (Bucureşti, Editura Cultura Naţională, 1935); and Vasile Marin, Crez de generaţie
(Bucureşti, Editura Bucovina, 1937).
On <strong>the</strong> intellectual ferment on <strong>the</strong> Right in <strong>the</strong> 1930s, see Ornea, op.cit. and Volovici, op.cit. On <strong>the</strong>
“young generation” in particular, see Ornea, pp.146-220, and Volovici, pp.70-94. On Iorga’s political