III. The Jews from
Romania in the Period Beginning with
the Outbreak of the War Against the Soviet Union and
Until the Deportations to Transnistria
(22 June 1941-September 1941)
On June 22nd, 1941, Nazi Germany
unleashed the war against the Soviet Union in which, on
the insistence of Antonescu, Romania also takes part.
In the previous period and after
the starting of the war, tens of thousands of Jews living
in rural zones and smaller cities were dislocated and
concentrated in the district residences.
Some of them are confined in the
camps at Târgu-Jiu and Craiova.
After the outbreak of the war,
the German and Romanian armies liberate in a relatively
short time, Basarabia, Northern Bucovina and the Hertza
region. Subsequently, based on the Tighina Pact, on
August 19th, 1941 Romania passes under its authority the
Ukrainian territory between the rivers Bug and Dnestr,
known under the name "Transnistria."
In this context the territory
under Romanian authority, namely under the Antonescu
government, extends from Arad to the Bug and includes
Southern Transylvania, the Old Kingdom, Northern and
Southern Bucovina, Basarabia and Transnistria.
The total number of Jews
living in the territories under Romanian authority will
reach 675,000, from which 540,000 from former Greater
Romania and 135.000 Ukrainian Transnistrian Jews.
1)
In this number, the Jews from
Northern Transylvania and the Cadrilater are not
included. In exchange the local Ukrainian Jews from
Transnistria are included.
This number does not include
about 100,000 Romanian Jews from Basarabia, Northern
Bucovina and the Hertza region, number that
comprises:
Jews deported by the
soviet authorities to Siberia
Jews who withdrew being
forced or freely withdrew with the Soviet
authorities
Jews incorporated in the
Soviet Army
Jews who had been killed
in bombardments and massacred by the Einsatz gruppe D
(special German troops)
Basarabian Jews, who took
refuge in Odessa, and died during the long siege of this
city, etc.
The well-known researcher Raul
Hilberg asserts that the number of deported or evacuated
Jews by the Soviets was above 100,000
persons.2)W. Filderman and Sabin Manuila back
up the number of 100,000 -- and other researchers
considered almost the same number.
Further, veridical conclusions
are analyzed and presented concerning the fate of the
675,000 Jews living in the territories under Romanian
authority, i.e., under Antonescu government.
After the breaking out of the
war, the Jews' situation under the Antonescu authority
gets worse because of the approval and the applying of
new anti-Jewish laws.
The government lays down, that
for the covering of war expenses, Jews should pay
supplementary taxes in kind and in money, by far over the
possibilities.
On December, 16, 1941, the
Federation of the Unions of Jewish Communities in Romania
is dissolved and it's replaced by the Jews' Head Office
in Romania that will have the part to apply exactly the
racist laws laid down by the government.
During the period between the
outbreak of the war with the Soviet Union and the
beginning of deportations to Transnistria two major
events had a particular effect upon the whole Jewish
community in Romania: the pogrom in Iasi, the death
trains from Iasi, and the massacres of Jews from
Basarabia, Northern Bucovina and the Hertza
region.
1)
See, Table
No. 2, p.23
2)
See, Raul Hilberg: "The Extermination of Jews in
Europe," vol. I, p. 676
Hasefer Publishing House, 1997