Ion Antonescu

prime minister of Romania during World War II, executed for war crimes (1882–1946)

Ion Victor Antonescu (15 June 1882 – 1 June 1946) was a Nazi-allied Prime Minister of Romania, who called himself Conducător and ruled from 4 September 1940[1] until 23 August 1944,[2] when he was toppled in a coup. He was executed for war crimes in 1946.[3]

Ion Victor Antonescu
Ion Antonescu
Prime Minister of Romania
In office
September 4, 1940 – August 23, 1944
Preceded byIon Gigurtu
Succeeded byConstantin Sănătescu
Conducător of Romania
In office
September 6, 1940 – August 23, 1944
Preceded byCarol II (as King of Romania)
Succeeded byNone
Personal details
Born
Ion Victor Antonescu

June 15, 1882
Piteşti, Romania
DiedJune 1, 1946(1946-06-01) (aged 63)
Jilava, Romania
NationalityRomanian
Political partyNone, formally allied with the Iron Guard
Spouse(s)Raşela Mendel (div.)
Maria Antonescu
ProfessionSoldier
Military service
RankField Marshal

Role in the Holocaust

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When he was in charge of Romania and southern Ukraine, he actively facilitated[4] the Holocaust for Nazi Germany.[5] As many as 400,000 Jewish deaths could be attributed to his orders. Particularly, some considered the Odessa massacre, which killed as many as 100,000 Jews and reduced Odessa's Jews by 98.7%, as the worst massacre of Jews in the Romanian-occupied zone during WWII.[6]

The Holocaust in Romanian-occupied zone only stopped after he was toppled in a coup led by King Michael I of Romania on 23 August 1944.[7]

See also

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References

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    • Haynes, Rebecca (1993). "German Historians and the Romanian National Legionary State 1940-41". The Slavonic and East European Review. 71 (4). Modern Humanities Research Association: 676–683. JSTOR stable/4211380. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
    • "Antonescu and the National Legionary State". Hitler's Forgotten Ally: Ion Antonescu and his Regime, Romania 1940-1944. Palgrave USA. 2006. pp. 52–68. ISBN 9781403993410. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
    • Platon, Mircea (2012). "The Iron Guard and the 'Modern State'. Iron Guard Leaders Vasile Marin and Ion I. Moţa, and the 'New European Order'". Fascism. 1 (2). Brill: 65–90. doi:10.1163/22116257-00201002. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
    • "Staging Death: Christofascist Necropolitics during the National Legionary State in Romania, 1940–1941". Nationalities Papers. 49 (3). Cambridge University Press: 576–589. 2021. doi:10.1017/nps.2020.22. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
    • International Commission on the Holocaust in Romania. Final Report. President of the commission: Elie Wiesel. Edited by Tuvia Friling, Radu Ioanid, and Mihail E. Ionescu. Iași: Polirom, 2004.
    • Ioanid, Radu. The Holocaust in Romania: The Destruction of Jews and Roma under the Antonescu Regime, 1940–1944. Second edition. Published in association with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2022.
    • Kruglov, Aleksander, and Kiril Feferman. “Bloody Snow: The Mass Slaughter of Odessa Jews in Berezovka Uezd in the First Half of 1941.” Yad Vashem Studies 47, no. 2 (2019): 15.
    • Solonari, Vladimir. A Satellite Empire: Romanian Rule in Southwestern Ukraine, 1941–1944. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2019.
    • Zipperstein, Steven J. The Jews of Odessa: A Cultural History, 1794–1881. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1985.
  1. "Working Definition Of Antisemitism". World Jewish Congress. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
    IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism :