Marshal Ion Antonescu

You cannot compare Stefan cel Mare's regime with that of Antonescu. For the subjects of Stefan cel Mare, autocracy was the only possible way to achieve success. For the citizen of 1940, dictatorship was a simple turning back to 100 years of history.

The question is whether Antonescu was a bad person or not. Personally, from the point of view of his own individual existence, he was nice. But his acts suffer from such an ignorant view on life that one has to wonder whether Antonescu was in his right mind.

For a man that thought he should lead the romanian people to a better future, Antonescu showed incredible practical stupidity, letting himself to be fooled by obvious false facts and false comintments. He never admitted his mistakes and the human suffering he caused to his flock!

This photos is great,
What neckbadge is?Order of Carol or Order of Star?
Mihai

Alexandru, care to develop this a bit ?

something's wrong with the poll!

138 %?!?!?! say....doen't matter what..

This happened to all the polls of the old forum. You should take in consideration only the number of votes.

You know only lies about our great hero and martyr, for you words like Basarabia, Bucovina, Herta mean nothing, but for us, the Romanians, mean everything: the lands where our forefathers are buried, lands for wich our ancestors fought and died, lands now where our Brothers live under slavic rule - our lands, Romanian lands.

I see that you know nothing about fascism - it was in Italy, only in Italy: in Germany there was nazism, in parts related to fascism, Antonescu couldn't have been fascist or nazi 'cause he wasn't copying those regimes.

It it wasn't for him I would have written in russian this lines.

This post has been edited by Le_Conducator on January 18, 2005 02:06 am

He was a dictator acting in the interest of Romania.

Why was he a dictator in the first place?

Did he go against the people at any point in his career?
Were the decisions he took not supported by the vast majority of Romanians?

(He made people vote on his policies every once in a while, he never took decisions that were against the interests of Romanians.) (And romanians voted and showed their support overwhelmingly).
He also did not terrorize people that much at all.
Power was not 100% entirely his. If it was, he would not have been arrested and deported to moscow by the king.
He was a military man that also had to make some political decisions, I think the two don't go well together.

More of a dictator seems to me, King Michael and his father. Because of their 'royal blood' they suddenly are holy, and everyone must bow his head down to them. With 23 August the King signed his own death wish, because and a few years later after the war he was replaced by a fully communist regime, and this marked the end of the romanian royalty once and for all.

I wouldn't say, for example, that continuing the military operations beyond the Dniester on Soviet territory was supported by the vast majority of Romanians.

What chances was to stop? I had at home 2 volumes of a book with letters, telegrams and converstions between Antonescu and Hitler, and some others. I dont imagine:

- Mein fuhrer, we (romanians) decide to stop at Dniester, because is not in our interest to follow your army, for now on!

What answer can give Hitler to this? I do not have time and skills (english) to write his possible answer, extended on 2-3 or maybe more hours. Maybe he may use Transilvania problem, for sure he may present his victorys, glorious army, the mighty of german types of weapons and superiority of arians and/like Messerschimitts ... , the mighty future of the Reich, and at 60 or 80 % of his speach, at the right momment he can use some promises of lands from Russia, and after that (when he seen this had no effect) he can promise more weapons to glorious romanian soldier who figths like his army but with less fire power and modern weapons...

Maybe, Alexandru H. can give some help here. I dont want to upset him with that, but... He had english skills, speach, and with some imagination can write something good / strong.
( Alexandru H. don't take this in a wrong way. You believe hard in some things, and you sustain that things... I think is easy for you to play in skin of a polithical personage)

Iama

Iamandi, Hitler did not put conditions so as the Romanian troops had to continue the war along German troops (in fact not even for the opening stage of Barbarossa, in Bessarabia and Bukovine, he merely asked permission for deployment of German troops on Romanian territory), the full responsibility for continuing the war beyond the Dniester falls entirely on Antonescu's shoulders.

And you think Hitler may not tryed to convince Antonescu to follow him deep in russian land? And, lets be sincere - maybe promises like Transilvania and ohter teritory, convinced Antonescu. Maybe he beleieve in a new future, a new world. Maybe he wants for Romania to be a prime-hand allied nation with the winner, and for the first time in history a powerful Romania, whitout fear of russians, and in alliance with other neighbors.

Iama

Question: what was the atitude of romanian leaders when Germany occupied Czechoslovakia, and Poland, and when Russia enter in Poland?
Thanks.

Florin,
Leave teh Jews alone. They were robbed, persecuted, deported (to Trans-Dnestra), exterminated. During Communism, the Holocaust was censored. They didn't say for nothing: Comrade don't be sad, the Guard continues with the Communist Party.
I don't realize if out of cinism or lack of knowledge you rhetorically ask about the errection of Antronescu's statue in Tel-Aviv.
Unlike Mussolini (and Franco), the main ally of Hitler, who avoided sending troops to fight, Antonescu was totally engaged with the German war machine. From November 1940 to 5 August 1944 (thge last)!!! Antonescu had 12 meetings with Hitler. To you and others who think like you I recommend the book:ION ANTONESCU,ROMANII,origina,trecutul, sacrificiile si drepturile lor(editura CLIO 1990).
Draming at Greater Romania (from the Dnister to the Tisza), because of Antonescu, around 400,000 Romanians were butchered at Stalingrad and on other fronts. The UK lost only 290,000, Italy some 300,000 and France 330,000, the latter having twice the population of Romania. Spain only lost several hundread soldiers, although Franco came to power following the civil war, because of the help received from Hitler and Mussolini. Unfortunately, in those times, Romania had a antonescu and not a I.C.Bratianu or a Titulescu.

Emil H.

***translated by admin***

Emil, write your messages only in English (read the forum rules). I will leave your previous message for a while, to have time to translate it, then it will be deleted.

Welcome to the forum !

Why do you write Antonescu in that way "antonescu", and up in your text you write Hitler, Franco, Mussolini? You think they are better persons?

Iama

ANTONESCU WAS THERE!

You can see in the Jewish cemetery in Bucharest(Giurgiului) ,tombe stones robbed
by the glorious antonescu's army from jewish cemetirys in Ukraine
and droped there after the war .

World War II in Ukraine:
Jewish Holocaust in Ukraine


by
Andrew Gregorovich


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Jewish Holocaust in Ukraine

"ANNOUNCEMENT ... Sentenced to Death:" Ten Ukrainian victims of the German occupation of which number 7, Stefan Zubovich, was executed "for helping Jews." Issued in Sambir, March 1, 1944 by the "SS and Head of Police for the District of Galicia." In 1939 the Jewish population of Ukraine was 1.5 million (1,532,776) or 3% of the total population of Ukraine. When the War started on June 22, 1941 the Soviet Government first of all ordered the execution of all 19,000 Ukrainian political prisoners in western Ukraine (750,000 had already been killed or exiled to Siberia) and then the evacuation of 3.5 million key personnel to the east, to Russia. These evacuees included many Jews who were highly educated, and were scientists, skilled workers, Communist bureacrats, and NKVD secret police. The total evacuated was estimated to be about one-half to two-thirds of the total Jewish population of Ukraine (Reitlinger p. 251).

As the German Army swept east across Ukraine it included German Einsatzgruppen with 500 to 1,000 men which were special mobile killing squads ordered to carry out "The Final Solution" of killing all Jews. Ukraine had been the major part of the Jewish Pale of Settlement in the Russian Empire and in the 19th century probably had the most Jews of any country in the world. Within a few days of capturing Ukrainian cities like Lutsk, Zhitomir and Berdichev in the Summer of 1941 thousands of Jews were killed. A total of 600,000 Ukrainian Jews perished. Most of these executions were carried out by the SS Standartfuehrer Paul Blobel who was the officer of the Sonderkommando 4A, Einsatzgruppe C. Only German personnel, no Ukrainians, were members of the Einsatzgruppe C and D which were assigned to Ukraine.

Blobel commanded the killing of the Ukrainian Jews of Kiev at Babyn Yar (Babi Yar) on September 29-30, 1941. Blobel's unit killed 33,771 Jews in less than two days which was not equaled in Auschwitz or any other death camp. Babyn Yar was commemorated on its 50th Anniversary in 1991 by the Government of Ukraine which has also built two monuments for the victims of Babyn Yar. Blobel was tried at Nuremberg and hanged on June 8, 1951 in Landsberg Prison in Bavaria, Germany.

In all the countries of Europe the Nazis found collaborators willing to help in their crimes and Ukraine was no exception. These collaborators were criminal elements who constituted only a tiny fraction of a few thousand in a total population of 40 million. Ukrainians had proportionately the smallest number of collaborators of all 14 East European countries and most of them were caught and executed at the end of the War. All WW II war criminals should be brought to justice.

Moscow saw an opportunity to sow discord in Ukraine and its propaganda accused the UPA, other Ukrainian nationalists and the "Ukrainian" Police of anti-Jewish crimes and other crimes. But the "Ukrainian" Police, (Ukrainische Hilfungspolizei/Ukrainian Auxiliary Police) were often not Ukrainians by origin at all, but represented many nationalities. For instance, Poles, Volksdeutsche (local Germans) and even Russians speaking the Russian language were often called "Ukrainian" Police.

Emil H.
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