The jews of bessarabia the holocaust period

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THE JEWS OF BESSARABIA 

THE HOLOCAUST PERIOD 

 

RETREAT OF THE ROMANIAN ARMY FROM BESSARABIA (1940) 

 

There were two phases before the Holocaust period in Bessarabia which provided a 

hint to the future that was to come:  the German army retreated from Bessarabia at the 

end of June 1940 and the Soviets immediately conquered the area for the first time.  

There are not many details available about these events simply because there is a lack 

of documentation.  After the war, during trials of war criminals in Romania, many of 

the cruel deeds and murders committed by Romanian soldiers during their retreat 

came to light.  There were also some books published in Romanian which give a 

description of what had happened. 

These phases are somewhat complemented by the testimonies of those who went 

through the horrors, but only a few of them survived.  There are many locations in 

Bessarabia where not one Jew remained alive.  Those who were able to save themselves 

did so by crossing the Dniester much earlier. 

When it comes to various actions by the Romanian units during their retreat, we have a 

general picture based on comparison with what happened in villages near the border in 

Bucovina and northern Moldova. 

The slaughter committed by the soldiers of the Romanian army was justified by rumors 

spread by the public asserting that the Jews received the Red Army with open arms and 

even attacked Romanian soldiers during the retreat.  Even the authorities believed 

these rumors.  General Ion Antonescu, the leader of Romania, wrote a letter about this 

matter.  It was distributed by the Germans in order to rile the Romanian public against 

the Jews. 

The Romanian press did its share in this tale of denunciation by publishing articles full 

of venom against the “Turncoat Jews”.  Several Romanian authors, such as K. 

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Ghiorghiu, wrote books in which they gave exaggerated descriptions of the despicable 

and miserable Jews.  These authors also openly accused the Jews of espionage and 

other evil deeds.  No wonder that the brainwashing rampant in all communication 

channels, whether public or private, caused the cruel murders of Jews by Romanian 

soldiers during their retreat from Bessarabia. 

 

ENTRY OF THE SOVIET ARMY 

The Soviet Union published an official pronouncement in which it demanded that 

Romania begin negotiations on returning the province (June 1940).  The government of 

Romania announced its intention to enter these negotiations and the German 

authorities even agreed to Soviet terms.  Immediately afterwards, the Soviet Union sent 

an ultimatum to Romania ordering the Romanian army to retreat from Bessarabia and 

northern Bucovina within 4 days, starting on June 28.  On the evening of June 27 the 

Romanian government accepted the Soviet ultimatum and on the following day units of 

the Soviet army began to move towards Bessarabia.  In many case, the Soviet units 

arrived in some locations before the Romanians had left.  As a rule, the Soviets 

conquered these areas within 48 hours of the announcement of the ultimatum. 

The Romanian units were given orders to retreat, but many soldiers had deserted even 

before that.  At that point the incitement against the Jews proved its influence and the 

road of retreat was strewn with Jewish victims.  This happened in villages such as 

Mihorent (Dorohoi district), Chiudei and Strozhnits district; in villages in the Suchieva 

district- Sherbautz, Costina, Zakhareshti, Guarani, etc.  Jews were tortured and 

massacred. Even in Dorohoi in the Ragat district 63 Jews were murdered by the army. 

During the retreat from Bessarabia Romanian soldiers behaved in a similar way, but not 

much information is available about it.  The massacre in Secureni is well-known and 

went on during the three days of retreat.  There were many cases where Romanian 

soldiers threw Jews off the trains they were riding and so killed them. 

 

 

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PREPARATIONS FOR WAR AGAINST THE SOVIET UNION 

Romania gave up Bessarabia in June 1940 after pressure exerted by Germany.  On June 

25 Ribbentrop told Molotov that Germany accepted the Soviet ultimatum, but he added 

that Germany kept the right to intervene on behalf of Romania in economic matters.  

Molotov accepted these conditions and as a result of these negotiations Germany 

advised Romania to surrender on June 27 and to retreat from Bessarabia within 4 days. 

The surrender caused great disappointment in Romania and there was resentment 

against the Germans.  However, the Germans managed to direct this resentment 

against the Jews.   

Soon Romania moved towards joining the Berlin-Rome axis pact.  On June 27 the first 

representative of the Fascist Iron Guard joined the government and on July 2 a German 

army commission was invited.  It appointed a pro-German government headed by 

Gigurtu who announced his joining the Axis. Romania left the League of Nations on 

July 11 and on September 6, 1940 Antonescu, the leader of the Iron Guard, came to 

power with the help of the Germans. In this manner, Romania became a satellite of 

Germany-as a result of a pact between Antonescu and Hitler.  There was no formal 

agreement between the two nations.  This will become an important fact in view of 

what happened later in Bessarabia.  Germany never included Romania in its military 

plans and definitely not in its intention to break the entente with the Soviet Union. 

SITUATION OF THE JEWS OF BESSARABIA WHO REMAINED IN RAGAT  

When Romania ceded Bessarabia to the Soviet Union there were many Bessarabian Jews 

in Ragat- some due to business dealings and others because they had settled there 

many years earlier.  They were allowed to return during a short interval, but many of 

them did not make it in time.  Those who requested to return to Bessarabia were 

placed in camps.  A year later, when war broke out between Germany and the Soviet 

Union, they were all taken to Transnistria. 

The fate of the Jews who did go back to Bessarabia was not any better.  The transfer 

was done under difficult conditions.  Although there was an agreement with the Soviet 

Union for their return, the border authorities had not been informed and many of the 

Jews were shot by Russian soldiers when they tried to cross the border.  Some died 

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