In the Second World War, there were many different countries that found themselves at war with
the Nazis, collaborating with them or occupied by them.
One country that worked alongside the German Army was Romania, and their country turned
into a dictatorship following a coup by Ion Antonescu.
The regime instilled then outlined their support for the Germans, and officially joined the
Axis powers.
Romania were involved in the Invasion of the Soviet Union, and in Operation Barbarossa,
but their soldiers were also known for horrific persecution and massacre also.
Some historians see their contribution to the Axis powers as only secondary to Germany
itself.
But as the war turned against the Allies, the country found itself heavily bombed and
eventually overtaken by the advancing Red Army.
But for the prime minister Antonescu, his time was up.
So join us today as we look at, ‘The Execution of Ion Antonescu, the Prime Minister of Romania.’
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Ion Antonescu was born into a bourgeois family which had some military background.
He was born in 1882, and was a student of at a number of military schools within Romania.
He was a keen student and graduated in Cavalry school as top of his class.
He did not shy away from conflict, as he made a name for himself during the 1907 peasants
revolt in which he was in charge of a cavalry unit, and it was said that he was violent
in quashing the revolt with his unit.
He managed to subdue the revolt in one city, and was praised by the King and prince for
his efforts.
Antonescu was promoted a number of times, but when Romania entered the First World War
in 1916, he was the Chief of Staff for General Constantin Prezan.
In this, he played a key role in Romania’s successful defence against German soldiers,
but after the war he was also part of a military attache in Paris and London.
He continued to rise throughout different positions, and gained more authority upon
his return to romania, before becoming the Defence Minister in 1937.
He then in September 1940, rose to the position of Prime Minister.
King Carol’s popularity at the time was a record low, and Antonescu was appointed
to help sort out the crisis.
However, within 2 days of being in the position of Prime Minister, Antonescu transferred most
of his dictatorial powers to him, and with this Antonescu became the dictator of Romania.
He had forced the King off the throne, and his son did succeed him, but Michael was a
puppet for Antonescu’s regime.
At the time in Europe, war was very much underway.
But Romania found themselves surrounded by two huge foreign powers, and Antonescu then
had to make the decision as to form an alliance with one of them to protect Romania and the
interests of the country.
He chose to side with Nazi Germany, and he hoped that by joining an alliance with them
that Romania would be protected.
At the time the Germans were aggressively expanding into new lands, and were occupying
large swathes of Europe.
He hoped that Romania could be of use for Hitler and Nazi Germany, and Hitler saw the
country as a valuable resource due to the oil inside of the nation, and he thought this
would be useful to the German war effort.
He also built an alliance with the revolutionary facist party of the Iron Guard, and these
were a strongly anti communist and anti semitic group within Romania.
Antoinescu when he came into power brought the Iron Guard with him, but he later was
forced to destroy the movement after the Legionnaires rebellion.
Their leader Sima argued constantly with Antonescu, and Sima thought that the economic policy
of Romania should be worked out with Germany, but Antonescu saw him as a threat.
He gained Hitler’s support and the support of the Army to launch a 3 day civil war against
the Iron Guard and he won decisively with the Romanian and Germany Army backing him.
At one point during the crisis, the Iron Guard were involved in instigating deadly and savage
attacks on the Jews, with many being executed publicly and mutilated.
The Iron Guard party were smashed, but more bloodshed would come.
In June 1941, Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa, and Antonescu sent his troops with them as
well.
Romanian units served with German units, and initially it was thought by the Germans that
the Romanian army was poorly equipped and had insufficient armour and training.
Antonescu ordered without the Germans for the Romanian Army to maintain a two months
siege of Odessa, and the 4th army suffered heavy losses of around 100,000 men.
In Odessa there were large scale massacres of the Jewish population, and this was allegedly
ordered by Antonescu in reprisal.
He was in regular meetings with Hitler and his German military commanders, and Field
Marshal Wilhelm Keitel described him as, ‘a capable soldier, dedicated to his mission
in life, open-hearted and forthright but uncommunicative and often blunt.’
With the Germans, the Romanians fought deep into the Soviet Union, and following the Battle
of Moscow, they were asked to provide more soldiers for the German War effort.
Antonescu was briefed on the planned battle of the Caucases, and for committing his soldiers,
Antonescu was given a car from Hitler.
After the attack on Pearl Harbour, Romania also declared war on America, but everything
changed following the Battle of Stalingrad.
During the horrific fighting around the city, Romania lost around 150,000 men and more than
half of their divisions were wiped out.
They continued to lose many soldiers throughout the following months as the Soviets advanced,
retaking their land from the Germans and Axis invaders.
His time as the dictator of Romania saw him oversee a number of massacres of Jews, in
which his soldiers slaughtered thousands.
In the final weeks of December 1941, his soldiers killed around 70,000 Jews at the Bogdanovca
camp, and Antonescu justified it as a necessary evil to stop typhus spreading because of the
poor conditions there.
As mentioned earlier, the Odessa Massacre was an act of punishment carried out by the
Romanian Army, and it’s estimated that over 50,000 Jewish people were killed in this.
It’s been alleged to have been the largest single massacre of Jews in the Second World
War, and they were shot, hanged and some were even burned alive.
Antonescu claimed the events were merely reprisals and not war crimes, and dozens of thoudanss
more people were forced out of the Odessa area.
Antonescu stated, ‘pack them into the catacombs, throw them in the Black Sea, but get them
out of Odessa.
I don’t want to know, a hundred can die, a thousand can die, all of them can die, but
I don’t want a single Romanian officer to die.’
Following the loss of Stalingrad, Antonescu’s popularity dwindled, and in April 1944 the
Russian soldiers ordered the Romanians to surrender.
Antonescu refused to do so remaining stern in his support for Hitler, and in Spring 1944
large scale allied bombing raids took place in Bucharest.
The battle for Romania began in the summer, however as the Romanian’s were losing heavily,
the opportunity to overthrow Antonescu came, and the Royal Coup of the 23rd August occurred
in which Antonescu was removed from power, and King Michael I of Romania who led the
coup place Antonescu under arrest, and then switched sides joining with the Allies and
abandoning the Axis cause and also declaring war on Germany.
Ion Antonescu was placed in the custody of PCR militants, and he was held in a number
of different places.
He was later handed over to the Soviets who transferred him to Moscow, and was then held
in rather luxuirious mansions in the city, but were kept under house arrest.
He was guarded by SMERSH, but after the end of the Second World War in Europe, he was
moved to Lubyanka Prison.
Here he was interrogated by the secret services, and he was seen as a key perpetrator of the
Holocaust as his Romanian soldiers were known for performing genocide and organising mass
shootings.
Whilst he was held in prison, he tried to take his own life, but then he was returned
to Romania and Bucharest.
He was imprisoned in Jilaca prison, and was interrogated but during this he complained
about his treatment in prison back home.
He complained about the conditions and that he was vegetarian and had not been given a
special diet.
In May 1946, Antonescu was prosecuted and was charged with Crimes against peace, treason
and war crimes.
He was represented by two public defenders, and they failed to establish his defence that
he had no say in the war and in fact was over-ruled by Germany, and that he was forced to pick
a side between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.
Much evidence at his trial was uncovered about the massacres oversaw in his time overseeing
the war effort.
Ion Antonescu was found guilty of the charges put before him, and he tried to appeal twice
however they were both rejected and he was subsequently sentenced to death.
He tried to appeal to the King for clemency, but nothing happened with regards to this.
On the 1st June 1946, he was led out of his prison to an execution site near to the Jilava
Prison.
A firing squad had been gathered to execute the former prime minister of Romania, and
Antonescu was led out to face them.
In a clearing, he was accompanied to his execution by 4 other men who were dying that day, and
Antonescu was the most high profile one to be executed.
He was tied to a stake to ensure that he could not move, and images show him stood rather
nonchalantly with his arms crossed and his palms clasped in his final moments.
The charges and the confirmation of death was read, before shortly after the firing
squad were readied.
They were told to aim, and then quickly they fired upon the men including Antonescu who
was killed instantly.
He refused to wear a blindfold facing his executioners, and he raised his hat in a salute
once the order to fire was given.
At the end of a firing squad, Ion Antonescu had his final moments.
He was seen as a war monger who had overseen barbaric massacres in the course of the Second
World War.
By choosing to site with Hitler he nailed his flag to the post and was willing to send
his country into the Axis alliance alongside Hitler.
He is regarded as a perpetrator of the Holocaust, and through his policies he was responsible
for the deaths of around 400,000 people including Bessarabian, Romanian and Ukranian Jews, as
well as the Romani.
His execution for many was seen as a necessary thing for Romania to move on following the
Second World War.
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