Romania & the Holocaust
Rare VoMi issued SS Kommandobuch.
When one tries to learn about the Holocaust in Europe, there is a clear distinction that has to be made between Axis satellites and states that were entirely dependent on the support from Germany, the occupied territories under the latter and independent states that were not under occupational control. This can be clearly seen when we venture into the historical role and part of Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania in the war and the atrocities that were committed by those three allies.
Romania’s case was different and unique. It was one of the few countries that did not have SS troops roam freely inside its borders hunting down Jews and it had an independent say, in some ways, when it came to its old traditional borders and the Jews residing in them (the country’s oil fields and production put it in a good position where it could apply leverage on its ally in the west).
Marshal Ion Antonescu was the country’s military dictator from the time joining forces with Hitler in 1940 up to his toppling by the Romanian King Michael I on August 23rd 1944, on the eve of the Red Army invasion and occupation.
The authority’s unwillingness to deal with its own Jewish population was not because of their deep affections or sudden overwhelming moral change of heart: the events of 1942, consisting of practical fear of the economic collapse of the country should the Jews be deported to their deaths in occupied Poland and of the events that took place that year and in 1943: the sudden realization that Nazi Germany could lose the war and the harsh reprisals that would be awaiting anyone that contributed to war crimes that were perpetrated during the war: Romania, as the other Axis states, would begin to look for ways to reach the Western Allies and hopefully to reach peace agreements with them.
During the early stages of the war, Romania’s government, the National Legionary State (period of September 6, 1940 to January 23, 1941), issued 80 anti-Jewish decrees and the 1940 Ion Gigurtu cabinet used a very similar set of rules, close to the 1935 German Nuremberg Laws.
Though the country has always held anti-Semitic tendencies and sentiments, those were radicalized immensely during the war: up to 1939 the country had over 700,000 Jews, whereas over 300,000 were systematically murdered during the war, with the killings reaching their peak between 1941-1942 following the German invasion into the Soviet Union in June of 1941 (close to 600,000 Romanian soldiers were sent to fight alongside the Wehrmacht during Operation Barbarossa), and with territories that were annexed by its Romanian ally the same year: Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina (placed in South-Western Ukraine) and Transnistria: land that the Soviet Union acquired in 1940 and fell under German or Romanian control, part of the extermination of its Jewish population was committed jointly by the Romanian army and the notorious German death squad unit Einsatzgruppe D. One of the earliest massacres was the Iași pogrom.
Sonderkommando R:
As the territory was hand over, the Einsatzgruppen D unit was sent west, pulled out, and a new fresher unit was formed under Himmler’s orders and it entered instead. It’s purpose was to act as a liaison between the local German ethnic population and give assistance in material, training, re-assimilation later on into the German population in Nazi Germany when the time would arise and also form a local militia that would participate later on in the elimination of unwanted elements in the region. This special new unit was the Sonderkommando R (Russland): its was headed by SS – Brigadeführer Horst Hoffmeyer who by fall of 1941 was based in Transnistria. It also participated in activity in the Crimea. Close to 500 members made up this special unit, mostly of SS men sent from Berlin (SS VoMi was headed by Werner Lorenz), the NSKK, the National Socialist Motor Corps and some Red Cross nurses as well. The Sonderkommando Russland was made up of 11 smaller units, each one headed by an SS officer, NSKK higher official who took charge of the vehicle pool. By 1942 the local ethnic German militia was responsible for the murder of close to 28,000 Jews from the region and those deported by the Romanians as well. Though smaller that its predecessor, its ruthlessness and murderous activities would not shy them. As the war progressed and got worse for the Third Reich, the special unit began to send West the ethnic Germans from Odessa and the Black Sea area, preventing them from falling in Soviet hands. An estimate of 150,000 were transported back to Germany, I added images of an example ID issued to an immigrant and also a special service orange ID issued to an NSKK leader of a small unit: his Kommandobuch, ID and another example of a smaller units SS leader as well.
Like most Axis states, 1943 was a stunning wake-up call, a turning point with regards to their support of the war on Germany’s side: the defeats of 1942 culminating with the destruction of the Sixth Army at Stalingrad demonstrated not only to them but to the whole world that tide has shifted and it was the beginning of the end of Nazi Germany and all who dared to follow her. From this point onwards, all would scramble hard to abandon the sinking ship and try to find refuge at the shores of the winning allied side.
We must not forget, though all Axis sides participated in their own way to the destruction of their Jewish population during the war, still, when it comes to Bulgaria and Romania, these 2 countries Jewish citizens suffered the least and nearly all of them were forcibly immigrated to the State of Israel after 1948.
Thank you for reading “Our Passports”.
