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

<strong>the</strong> Ministry <strong>of</strong> Interior was distributed in limited-edition brochures entitled, “Guidelines and Instructions
for <strong>the</strong> Liberation Administration.” Guideline 10 revealed <strong>the</strong> regime’s intentions regarding <strong>the</strong> Jews:
“This is <strong>the</strong>...most favorable opportunity in our history…for cleansing our people <strong>of</strong> all those elements
foreign to its soul, which have grown like weeds to darken its future.” He elaborated on this <strong>the</strong>me during
<strong>the</strong> cabinet session <strong>of</strong> July 8, 1941:
At <strong>the</strong> risk <strong>of</strong> not being understood by traditionalists…I am all for <strong>the</strong> forced migration <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> entire
Jewish element <strong>of</strong> Bessarabia and Bukovina, which must be dumped across <strong>the</strong> border….You must be
merciless to <strong>the</strong>m….I don’t know how many centuries will pass before <strong>the</strong> Romanian people meet again
with such total liberty <strong>of</strong> action, such opportunity for ethnic cleansing and national revision….This is a
time when we are masters on our land. Let’s use it. If necessary, shoot your machine guns. I couldn’t care
less if history will recall us as barbarians….I take formal responsibility and tell you <strong>the</strong>re is no law….So,
no formalities, complete freedom.
Policies and Implementation <strong>of</strong> Ethnic Cleansing in Bessarabia and Bukovina
The order to exterminate part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jews <strong>of</strong> Bessarabia and Bukovina and deport <strong>the</strong> rest was given
by Ion Antonescu <strong>of</strong> his own accord under no German pressure. To carry out this task he chose <strong>the</strong>
gendarmerie and <strong>the</strong> army, particularly <strong>the</strong> pretorate, <strong>the</strong> military body in charge with <strong>the</strong> temporary
administration <strong>of</strong> a territory. Iosif Iacobici, <strong>the</strong> chief <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> General Staff, ordered <strong>the</strong> commander <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
General Staff’s Second Section, Lt. Col. Alexandru Ionescu, to implement a plan “for <strong>the</strong> removal <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
Judaic element from <strong>the</strong> Bessarabian territory […] by organizing teams to act in advance <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Romanian
troops.” Implementation began July 9. “The mission <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se teams is to create in villages an unfavorable
atmosphere towards <strong>the</strong> Judaic elements, <strong>the</strong>reby encouraging <strong>the</strong> population to…remove <strong>the</strong>m on its
own, by whatever means it finds most appropriate and suited to <strong>the</strong> circumstances. At <strong>the</strong> arrival <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
Romanian troops, <strong>the</strong> feeling must already be in place and even acted upon.” Sent by <strong>the</strong> General Staff,
<strong>the</strong>se teams indeed instigated Romanian peasants, as many Jewish survivors, astonished that old friends
and neighbors had turned against <strong>the</strong>m, later testified. The army received “special orders” via General Ilie
Şteflea, and its pretor, General Ion Topor, was in charge <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir execution.
The special orders were reiterated every time military or civil authorities avoided liquidating Jews for
fear <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> consequences or because <strong>the</strong>y did not believe such orders existed. In Cetatea Albă, for
example, Major Frigan <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> local garrison requested written instructions to execute <strong>the</strong> Jews. The Third
Army pretor, Colonel Marcel Petală, traveled to Cetatea Albă to inform <strong>the</strong> Major <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> provisions
regarding <strong>the</strong> Jews in <strong>the</strong> ghetto. The next day, 3,500 were killed.
The Romanian Army
The first troops to enter Bukovina were primarily combat units: a cavalry brigade as well as <strong>the</strong> 9th,
10th and 16th elite infantry battalions (Vanatori), followed immediately by <strong>the</strong> Seventh Infantry Division
under General Olimpiu Stavrat. The route <strong>the</strong>se units followed was crucial to <strong>the</strong> fate <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jews in
nor<strong>the</strong>rn Romania, where some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> largest Jewish settlements—Herta, Noua Sulita, Hotin and
Lipcani—comprising thousands <strong>of</strong> inhabitants, were concentrated. The execution <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> special orders
was carried out by only a very small number <strong>of</strong> soldiers under Pretor Vartic’s command. These actions
were recorded by Dumitru Hatmanu, <strong>the</strong> pretor’s secretary who accompanied <strong>the</strong> unit, and can thus be
retold with great precision.
The first killings took place at Siret (sou<strong>the</strong>rn Bukovina), five kilometers from <strong>the</strong> new border with
<strong>the</strong> Soviets. The Jews <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> town were deported on foot to Dorneti, twelve kilometers away. Dozens <strong>of</strong>
Jews who were not able to walk—<strong>the</strong> elderly and some crippled—remained behind with a few women to