Holocaust in Romania - Corvinus Library - Hungarian History

forged to assist the final aim: Iron Guard control of state administrationand regulatory forces.Naturally, power seized by Iron Guard members was at the expense of theJews. The fight was very easy, and the rewards for both the Iron Guard andindividuals were well worth the trouble. It seems that the signal for theoutbreak of terror was given on November 1. Firstly, all kinds of thugswere allowed to operate freely, at most, they had to take into account localinitiatives and instructions. This was how Iron Guard leaders tested theresistance of Jews and the possible reactions of the Leader of the State. Theevents of the first eight days, though characterized by violence, at timesfatal, were nonetheless incoherent. In Turda a few Jews were tortured inorder to acquire a long-envied distillery; in Caracal and Corabia a fewshops were looted and the victims evicted; in Gaesti an attempt was madeto violently acquire a few businesses; in Bucharest arrests became more andmore widespread, beatings grew increasingly savage, etc. The first case ofmartyrdom occurred during these days: a child in Bucharest was torturedto death at the central police station.The lead er ship of the Iron Guard saw that the vic tims were not showingsigns of re sis tance, and the Leader of the State merely de liv ered a paternalslap on the wrist during a cabinet meet ing; it was at this point that it wasde cided to commence with or ga nized ter ror. An historical date was chosenfor this purpose, one which held a long tra di tion for the Ro ma nian po lice.The an ni ver sary of the Rus sian Rev o lu tion had al ways provided an oc ca -sion for Jew-bait ing. Around November 7 po lice and Iron Guard unitswent on patrol ran domly arresting Jews that crossed their path. In Bu cha -rest hun dreds of Jews were dragged off to po lice cells or Iron Guard cen -ters. The most horrifying tor ture centers were at the Bu cha rest PoliceHead quar ters and the Iron Guard cen ters in Traian Street, Cercului Streetand Roma Street. With nei ther pretext nor reason they tor tured, tor -mented and mugged the in car cer ated Jews, later re leas ing them to makeroom for new ones.The catastrophic earthquake that struck the country the following nightwas not in the least perceived as a sign from heaven by those who haddecorated their barbarity with mysticism and sanctimoniousness; on thecontrary, it offered a fresh opportunity for persecution and terrorization.In Panciu , close to the epicenter of the quake, Jews were evicted from the69