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270,000 Jewish Romanians were killed due to the mistreatment of the holocaust. The Jewish population in Romania before this atrocity was 728,115.

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Antonescu began liberating the Jews in April 1943. No one knows why but historians believe it may have something to do with outside force protests such as those of the foreign diplomats of neutral countries, representatives of International Red Cross, Romanian church, the Queen Helena, and other Romanian political parties. However Antonescu claims their liberation was an "accident" and halts them a month later. It was later continued through the Red Army, as the Soviet Union pushed into Romanian territory.

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Three biggest camps:
1. Bogdanovka: 54,000 prisoners
2. Domanevka: 20,000 prisoners
3. Akhmetchetka: 18,000 prisoners

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The ghetto was split into two, the “Big ghetto” and the “Small ghetto”. Both were overcrowded, each person had an average of less than 10 square feet of living space. On October 4th 1941 the Germans destroyed the small ghetto, killing and wounding many of its inhabitants. On October 29th Romanian officials shot 9,200 Jews from the Big ghetto.

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A survivor story

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Manhunt for Jews in Odessa During the Holocaust

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Naum Krimer, who was born in Odessa in 1928, testifies about the hunting down and murder of the Jews in Odessa during the Holocaust. Krimer describes how the Jews, including his parents and brother, were taken to an artillery depot in Dalnik, a suburb of Odessa, and were burnt alive there.

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Odessa had a population of 600,000 people, and180,000 of them were Jewish (about 30%). Romanian army units assembled 19,000 Jews and publically shot them after Soviet Union bombed Romanian headquarters. The same night 20,000 Jews were taken to a prison outside Odessa. In early November, Romania ordered 35,000 Jews into two ghettos, either Dalnik or Slobodka.

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Deportation of Jews from Balti, Bessarabia

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The Romanian government was allied with Nazi Germany, but it generally did not deport Romanian Jews to German-occupied territory. Instead, Romania systematically concentrated and deported the Jews of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina to Romanian-occupied areas of the Ukraine. Here, Jews from the Bessarabian town of Balti are assembled in collection camps during the deportations.

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“We walked. We walked for close to three weeks. Some nights we slept under the stars. As the days passed, the escorting guards grew more and more impatient, and began beating us with clubs and even shooting those lagging behind. Those that collapsed were left at the side of the road, and anyone that tried to help them was shot too. Slowly we began to notice what looked like people sleeping in the ditches at the sides of the road. But they were not sleeping – most of them had died and next to them were small packages.”

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Bălti was located in Bessarabia. Antonescu gave General Torpor the orders to exile all the Communists and to “exterminate” all Jews in Romanian territories. Captain Ion Gradu brought 3,000 Jews to a camp in the Răuţel Forest 12km from the town, where they were imprisoned.  They were then transferred to the Mărculeşti Camp along with 6,000 other Bălti Jews. They walked 40km to the camp under close watch of guards. They were given no food and the guards forbade villagers who offered them water. At Mărculeşti they awaited to be sent to Transnistria. During that time they were forced to dig up gravestones in a Jewish cemetery in order to pave a road.  When transportations to Transnistria began families were torn apart. Some were sent to Cosăuţi in the North, while others were sent to Rezina in the South. They marched 30km each day without rest or water.

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The railcars were only able to hold 40 people. However Romanians would stuff up to 200 people per railcar. They would then nail shut the narrow slots where air was able to pass in. Many ended up suffocating or starving since they weren't given any food or water.

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Iași is a town located in Transnistria. It was known for it's large and influential Jewish community.Jews made up a total of 30% of the population totaling 35,465 people in the 1930s. On March 27th 1941 Antonescu ordered the extermination of the Jewish population in Iași.  False allegations were made that Jews were conspiring with the Soviet Union. 8,000 were taken to the police headquarters, all were shot and beat. Only 4,000 survived. Another 3,000 were pushed into a crowded train car where they were suffocated. A total of 900 people made it out of the train alive.

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Largest gained territory located in Western Ukraine. It was conquered from the Soviet Union. Germany gave Transnistria to the Romanians as a thanks for their loyalty. Transnistria was used as a dumping ground for Jews living in other Romanian territories such as Bessarabia, Bukovina, and the Northern Moldova regions. The deportations began on September 15th 1941.

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On November 23rd 1940 Romania joined the Axis powers. They went into war with the Soviet Union.

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Sephardic synagogue burned down during Bucharest Pogrom

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Sephardic synagogue burned down during Bucharest Pogrom

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The Bucharest Pogrom occurred during the Legionnaire rebellion. It began on January 20th 1941 and lasted three days. Synagogues were destroyed, Jewish stores were ruined, Romanians broke into Jewish homes. Hundreds were kidnapped and tortured in sadistic ways. The safe place for Jews, the building of the Federation of the Union of Jewish communities was completely destroyed. Twenty-five synagogues were burned down along with everything inside then. 121 were identified dead, and 400 were missing.

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The Iron Guard was becoming careless and power crazed. They were shutting down Jewish businesses, not thinking of the effect it would have on the economy. Several disputes led to a major rift between Iron Guard and Antonescu. After a three day civil war Antonescu wins after Nazi support from Germany.

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After King Carol II's dethroning Ion Antonescu and Iron Guard quickly gained power. They formed a coalition government where both had a huge representation in the government's actions.

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King Carol feels pressure and produces antisemitic laws depriving Jews of their rights.

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Ion Antonescu was a war general who shared the same beliefs as Nazis. King Carol II was loosing popularity after giving away Transylvania to Hungary. He appointed Antonescu as prime minister on September 2nd 1940, as an attempt to save his crown. The regime believed that Antonescu had enough connection with the Iron Guard to keep the people satisfied but wouldn't turn on them since he was a well respected member of the
elite

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A fascist Right-wing revolutionary movement founded by Cornelia Zelea Codreanu and Horia Sima. Having a similar ideology as Nazis, they wanted to remove all Jews from Romania. They opposed the Romanian government and led violent protests starting in 1927.

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Romania has territorial conflicts with the Soviet Union and Hungary.

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The treaties following World War I more than doubled the population and territory of Romania. Along with new population came a larger Jewish population.

Bessarabia had 207,000 Jews (7.2% of population)

Bukovina had 93,000 Jews (10.9% of population)

Transylvania had 193,000 Jews (3.5% of population)