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Holocaust in Romania - Corvinus Library - Hungarian History

Holocaust in Romania - Corvinus Library - Hungarian History

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October 19, 1941Marshal Antonescu , the Leader of the State, replies <strong>in</strong> a letter to Dr. W.Filderman , President of the Union of Jewish Religious Communities forthe two petitions he submitted on the issue of deportation campaigns fromBessarabia and Bucov<strong>in</strong>a .The let ter is ob vi ously of po lit i cal char ac ter. The de por ta tion is pre sentedas a de served action for all that the citizens had committed there <strong>in</strong> 1940,dur <strong>in</strong>g the withdrawal of the Ro ma nian army, and un der Soviet rule. Heat tempts to justify the measures with the atroc i ties com mit ted by So -viet-Jew ish com mis sars at the front. /.../The let ter, dated Oc to ber 19, and re ceived on Oc to ber 20, also appeared<strong>in</strong> the news pa pers on Oc to ber 27, 1941, serv <strong>in</strong>g as an ex cuse for an or ga -nized ghastly and base press cam paign. War-time anti-Se mitic hatredreached its psychological peak at this time. The pub li ca tion of the let terand the press cam paign took place after the terrible ex plo sion <strong>in</strong> Odessa,when a great num ber of Ro ma nian high-rank <strong>in</strong>g of fi cers were killed due tocare less ness.Not a s<strong>in</strong>gle l<strong>in</strong>e was written about the explosion. Still, it became knownthrough the public and rumurs started to be whispered. The Marshal’sletter and the anti-Semitic campaign were used to deceive the public. /.../October 27, 1941The march<strong>in</strong>g column of Jews collected from the surround<strong>in</strong>gs ofChernovitz arrives <strong>in</strong> the forest of Cosauti , where they discover hundredsof Jewish corpses ly<strong>in</strong>g on the ground everywhere. The Gendarmes arerobb<strong>in</strong>g their victims with <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>gly more barbaric means. On the roadfrom Marculesti towards the Dniester , several Jews are taken out of themarch<strong>in</strong>g columns, and sold to peasants. The price is between1,500-2,000 lei depend<strong>in</strong>g on the quality of the victim’s cloth<strong>in</strong>g. After theGendarme received the money, he shot the Jew, and gave the corpse to thepeasant so that he could pull the clothes off it. After march<strong>in</strong>g for two daysthe columns crossed the Dniester near lampol on a narrow bridge while192

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