by Alesandru Dutu

By accepting, on July 31, 1941, Hitler's demand to participate with the Romanian troops in the military actions beyond Dniester, Ion Antonescu had in his view the consolidation of the eastern border of the country and to obtain Germany's support for liberating the North-Western part of Romania, that was occupied by Hungary as a result of the Vienna Diktat on August 30,1940.

"In today's international given circumstances - was asking Marshal in the meeting of the Council of Ministers on September 5, 1940 - what can we take as a base for our situation? The Germans. We do not accept Germany's support, we'll be torn to pieces... And, in the fight we are putting up today, could I, while the Russians and the Germans were striking each other, after we took back Bessarabia, could I have stopped myself?... Could I told that: I've already took my share, here I'll stop?... So, how can anyone ask me for doing this, as concerns the military domain? That would meant to dishonour the Army and the Romanian people for ever. It would have been a dishonour for us all if we had stopped at the bank of the Dniester river, then having told to Germans: Goodbye".

Being animated by the achievement of the historical desideratum of restoring the integrity of the country in its western borders too, Ion Antonescu delivered on September 12, 1941 the following message to the Transylvanian Romanians: "It won't be forgotten not even a single Romanian slice. It woun't remain unpunished not even a single humiliation. The sacrifices at Odessa have not been done only for the eastern border, but also for the fulfilment of all the rights and of the hopes of our people". Unceasingly condemning the Vienna Diktat — which he considered as being devoid of any historical, political and moral basis, the leader of the Romanian State has repeatedly declared to Hitler that the main goal of the Romanian policy was to realize the unity of the Romanian land, that, the objective of Romania's fight in the East was "also, the recover of our rights on the Northern Transylvania", that "we rather should die in a righteous fight, if 17 millions of Romanians woun't be able to liberate from under slavery 1,500,000 Romanians". By protesting against the ambiguous German policy as concerned the territorial rape made by Hungary in 1940, Ion Antonescu emphasized that "the Romanian people cannot ever betray their right for the Northern Transylvania, by whom all the goals of the Romanian life are tightly linked and that anyone — I repeat, anyone, no matter how high or how low rank he may have would ever abandon, he would be nothing else but a coward". "Transylvania — explained the Romanian Marshal to Hitler in another occasion — means our duty to ourselves and no Romanian will be found not to die for it".

In accordance with this view, in the same time with the carrying out of the war on the Eastern-European front, Ion Antonescu disposed that operations plans should be concluded, also concrete measures should be taken, initially for the defence, than for the liberating offensive in Transylvania, fact that contributed to the establishing of a concret plan and of the deeds necessary for liberating through fight the brothers which were under Hungarian occupation since four years, both at the disposal of Romania in the summer of 1944.