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

forced upon <strong>the</strong> convoys <strong>of</strong> Jews on <strong>the</strong>ir way to <strong>the</strong> Chestura. The perpetrators included neighbors <strong>of</strong>
Jews, known and lesser-known supporters <strong>of</strong> antisemitic movements, students, poorly paid, low-level
<strong>of</strong>ficials, railway workers, craftsmen frustrated by Jewish competition, “white-collar” workers, retirees
and military veterans. The extent to which <strong>the</strong>y enlisted in <strong>the</strong> cause <strong>of</strong> “thinning” Iasi’s Jewish
population—as <strong>the</strong> pogrom was described at a Cabinet meeting in Bucharest —is a topic in and <strong>of</strong> itself,
and worthy <strong>of</strong> separate study. War criminals among Romanians numbered in <strong>the</strong> hundreds, and not all <strong>of</strong>
<strong>the</strong>m were located and identified after <strong>the</strong> war.
The idea <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> pogrom crystallized in <strong>the</strong> headquarters <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> General Staff and its secret branch,
Section Two, and in <strong>the</strong> SSI. These <strong>of</strong>fices collaborated with <strong>the</strong> Wehrmacht in Romania and <strong>the</strong>
headquarters <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> German 30th Army Corps in Iasi. During <strong>the</strong> course <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> pogrom, Romanian
authorities lost control <strong>of</strong> events, and <strong>the</strong> city <strong>of</strong> Iasi became a huge area in which <strong>the</strong> soldiers <strong>of</strong> both
armies, <strong>the</strong> gendarmes, and Romanian policemen and civilians—organized and unorganized—hunted
down Jews, robbed <strong>the</strong>m, and killed <strong>the</strong>m. This temporary loss <strong>of</strong> control and <strong>the</strong> fear <strong>of</strong> Antonescu’s
reaction to it led <strong>the</strong> various branches <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Romanian regime to fabricate excuses for <strong>the</strong>ir
ineffectiveness in <strong>the</strong> final hours <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> mayhem, casting <strong>the</strong> blame on each o<strong>the</strong>r and, toge<strong>the</strong>r, on <strong>the</strong>
Germans.
The German soldiers in Iasi acted on <strong>the</strong> basis <strong>of</strong> an understanding with <strong>the</strong> Romanian army. They
were divided into cells and sent out to arrest Jews, assigned to escort convoys, and stationed at <strong>the</strong>
entrance to <strong>the</strong> Chestura. They, too, broke into homes—ei<strong>the</strong>r with Romanian soldiers or alone—and
tormented Jews <strong>the</strong>re and during <strong>the</strong> forced march to Chestura. They shot into crowds <strong>of</strong> Jews and
committed <strong>the</strong> same acts as <strong>the</strong>ir Romanian counterparts. In addition, <strong>the</strong>y photographed <strong>the</strong> pogrom,
even going so far as to stage scenes. It is important to note here that <strong>the</strong> units <strong>of</strong> Einsatzgruppe D,
although <strong>the</strong>y operated in territories reclaimed by Romania after June 22, 1941, did not operate in
Romania itself—and thus did not participate in <strong>the</strong> Iasi pogrom—nor did any o<strong>the</strong>r SS unit.
Antonescu’s administration did not allow <strong>the</strong> SS or Gestapo to operate on Romanian territory after <strong>the</strong>
Legionnaires’ revolt. The representatives <strong>of</strong> Himmler and <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Foreign Department <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Nazi Party
were forced to leave Romania in April 1941; <strong>the</strong>y were joined, at Antonescu’s request, by <strong>the</strong> known
Gestapo agents in Romania.
The Iasi Death Trains
On June 29, 1941, Mihai Antonescu ordered <strong>the</strong> deportation <strong>of</strong> all Jews from Iasi, including women
and children. The surviving Jews were taken to <strong>the</strong> railway station and were beaten, robbed, and
humiliated along <strong>the</strong> way. Moreover, <strong>the</strong> Iasi sidewalks were piled with dead bodies, and <strong>the</strong> deportees
had to walk over some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m along <strong>the</strong> street leading to <strong>the</strong> station. Once <strong>the</strong>y were at <strong>the</strong> station, <strong>the</strong>
deportees were forced to lie face-down on <strong>the</strong> platform and in <strong>the</strong> square in front <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> station. Romanian
travelers stepped on <strong>the</strong>m as Romanian and German soldiers yelled that anyone raising his or her head
would be shot. <strong>Final</strong>ly, Jews were forced into freight train cars under a volley <strong>of</strong> blows, bayonet cuts,
clubbings and insults. Many railway workers joined <strong>the</strong> pandemonium, hitting <strong>the</strong> deportees with <strong>the</strong>ir
hammers.
The intention <strong>of</strong> extermination was clear from <strong>the</strong> very beginning. As it was later established in <strong>the</strong>
Iasi trials, <strong>the</strong> train cars in which Jews were forced had been used for <strong>the</strong> transport <strong>of</strong> carbide and
<strong>the</strong>refore emitted a stifling odor. In addition, although no car could accommodate more than forty people,
between 120 and 150 Jews—many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m wounded—were forcibly crammed inside. After <strong>the</strong> doors
were safely locked behind <strong>the</strong>m, all windows and cracks were sealed. “Because <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> summer heat and
<strong>the</strong> lack <strong>of</strong> air, people would first go mad and <strong>the</strong>n perish,” according to a survivor. The deportation train
would ride on <strong>the</strong> same route several times.