Daily life in Bucharest during '42

Hi gentlemen, newbie here. Great to meet you!

I'm very pleased to have found this site here, in fact, because it's something I've been looking for for a long time. I'll explain why in a minute, but first, my question to Dragos. Everybody knows about the June 1942 American bombing -- they make such a big song and dance about it -- but as far as I know, there was also the September 14th 1942 bombing of "Steaua Română" by the Russians. They failed to damage the refinery but did some damage to the pipes system. Do you, Dragos, or somebody else know anything about it?

Why I'm so interested in it: I'm currently working on a fiction book about the WWII, and part of the story takes place in Romania. In fact, I want to make both 1942 bombings part of the book's setting. And thus, another question: do you guys know any Internet site where I could find some detailed information not about the military action (I'm sure I can find everything I need on your great site!), but about everyday life in 1942 Bucharest? Any kind of info would be appreciated, all sorts of daily life trivia, including maps of the war-time Bucharest and Romania. Do you know where I could get all this? Maybe you know a veteran or history teacher I could contact?

Thanks a lot again! Keep up the great job, your site is very useful and important to all history lovers.

Cheers,

Roone

This post has been edited by Roone on February 17, 2005 03:16 pm

i know one...

www.google.com

Weekly rations in Bucharest in the summer of 1942:
-bread: 750g (1,500g for workers with physically demanding jobs)
-corn flower: 1,600g (3,200g for workers with physically demanding jobs)
-pork and beef: 250g (lamb and veal meat wasn't rationalized)
-butter and vegetable oil: 350g
-sugar: 150g

Milk and dairy products, eggs, chickens, vegetables weren't rationalized, but that doesn't mean that they were always available on the market, but one could find almost anything on the black market if one could afford it. In the summer of 1943 the food was more plentiful due to the very good 1943 harvest (for example white bread wasn't rationalized, just the brown bread was).

The attitude of many Romanians, even in 1943, after the horrible losses at Stalingrad, was like there was no immediate danger to the country. Constantin Radulescu-Motru was writing in August 1943:

Did you check the life in Bucharest (WWII) pictures on this thread ?


http://www.worldwar2.ro/forum/index.php?showtopic=1736

Thank you very very much, people! You're great!

Indrid, you think I didn't try to Google all sorts of stuff? It's not so easy to find, the info on the war in Romania. A lot of people, when they learned that I wanted to set part of my book in Romania, told me, "Why won't you use Hungary instead, it's much more eventful!" I completely disagree. That's apart from the fact that the book is based on a true biography and the hero indeed lived in Bucharest in 1942-43. That's why I really need to do my homework and show Romania in this book as beautiful and true to life as possible.

Cantacuzino, thanks for the link! The picks are great -- I could almost swear I saw my hero on one of them I still read the site so I haven't gotten to them yet.

Victor, this is a really valuable load of information, thanks a lot!

And special thanks to Dragos for moving my post here.

Cheers,

Roone

This post has been edited by Roone on February 18, 2005 05:21 pm

Sorry to bother you with these non-military subjects, guys, but maybe someone would be so kind to tell me what kind of identity papers people used to have and carry around during the war? Was it a passport, or was it replaced with some kind of a war-time identity document? Where would people go to get their passport or other identity papers from (police or other institution)? What other documents could they have or carry?

Thanks a lot!

Roone

PS yes, because I've just been Googling for hours but all I've come across is wording like "necessary identity papers", "acquired identity papers" but what those bloody identity papers exactly consisted of, nobody bothers to mention!

This post has been edited by Roone on February 19, 2005 04:53 pm

1941 Driving Licence (from eBay)

Attached Image

Carol, wow! Thank you very much!

Hm, I'll try eBay too. People sell all sorts of weird things.

My respects,

Roone

I know some old jokes from my grandfather who was in Bucharest as a young man working at a printingpress that sometimes did works for the military.

Vine bomba,
Dam cu tunu',
Dar tot noi f****m in c** nebunu'

Aproximative translation:

The bomb comes,
We shoot the gun
But we still f**k the crazyman in the a*s.

De la Nistru pan' la Don,
Davai ceas davai palton.

From the Dniestr to the Don,
Davai watch davai greatcoat.

This joke bellongs to Constantin Tanase, a great commediant during the between war and wartime period. The comedy-vodevil theatre bares his name today.

HONOR ET PATRIA

Ml. B.

P. S. I hope I will not be banned from the forum for the trivialities above.

this evening is a film on B1Tv about Constantin Tanase's life with Toma Caragiu

If I'm not mistaken ,Constantin Tanase was killed by comunists ,that didn't like his jokes about them...

Great stuff, guys, thanks! I get Romanian TV so although I haven't watched that particular film, I've watched a few others. And the jokes are priceless, history-wise.

Another question, if anyone would be so kind to enlighten me, in my research I've come across the name of a teenage guerilla fighter who seems to have operated in Romania in 1939-1941. The name is Ion Vetrile (spelling?). He seems to have knocked together a well-organised guerilla group. They were all consequently killed as they tried to protect the Jews during the January 22-23 1941 pogrom. Anyone heard anything about it? I've got only one source that confirms this info so I'd hate to make a mistake in the book.

And maybe you know something else about any Resistance groups in Romania and especially Bucharest? We all know one side of the story, but I'm constantly being told that there were many armed guerrila groups, especially amongst Gypsies, that operated in the mountains. Do you have any hints for me? Thanks a lot!

You're a great group, really. A bloody interesting forum.

This post has been edited by Roone on May 04, 2005 06:52 pm

Resistence groups in Romania in '39-'41 ??? Against what ? Maybe it's about sabotage actions of comunist party members ( few in Bucharest) ? I never heard about gypsies resistence ( armed) in the mountains. There were people ( romanians) who help jews to escape outside the country during WWII but not necesary armed groups. Also i never heard about Ion Vetrile.

The only mountains resistence armed groups (waiting for americans to come !!!) were after 1945-'46 against the comunist governement .

This post has been edited by Cantacuzino on May 06, 2005 06:33 am

Resistence groups in Romania in '39-'41 ??? Against what ? Maybe it's about sabotage actions of comunist party members ( few in Bucharest) ? I never heard about gypsies resistence ( armed) in the mountains. There were people ( romanians) who help jews to escape outside the country during WWII but not necesary armed groups. Also i never heard about Ion Vetrile.

The only mountains resistence armed groups (waiting for americans to come !!!) were after 1945-'46 against the comunist governement .

This is very interesting because that's what I heard from a British war specialist. He said, sort of, that the Carpathians were alive with gypsy guerillas that were quite active in the mountains. Well, that's what he said, I just repeat his words.

Still, no organized anti-Antonescu activity at all? I'm not interested in Communists -- how about other groups of population? Those that tried to save the Jews, you say? That sounds very interesting. They don't necessarily have to be armed, I'm more interested in unaggressive organised underground groups -- rebellious students, intellectuals, this sort of thing. Nothing at all?

Thank you! This bit is very important to me. Romania only takes a small part of my story (in case you wondered why I attempt to write about something I know little about), so I absolutely need to get all the facts right. The hero is a secret agent (a true life character whom I used to know very well, so in many ways it's a fictitionalized true-life story) who is on a mission in that part of the world. Unfortunately, he's already dead so I can't discuss all the details with him. And there's nothing I hate more than when a writer attempts to write about little-known places or periods thinking it gives him or her a license to make up whatever he doesn't know. The results of such ignorance are, normally, devastating.

Well, Antonescu was all the time a controversal man, at the begin of his rule he made a compromise with "Iron Guard", but later in 1940 he defeat the "Legiunea" rebelion (despite Nazzies suport). Hitler need it Antonescu army (on the est front) more than small legion armed group to rule in Romania.
Antonescu was not liked by King Michael and ofcourse by the jewish community from Romania.
The comunist ( with soviets conections) made some limited sabotage actions against german war machine.
A lot of "Legiunea" members ( with leaders in Germany) and some politicians ( one of them Iuliu Maniu) were organized anti-Antonescu activity mostly after 1943.

Sorry, i can not help you with more info .