The jews of bessarabia the holocaust period

 

 

or deported.  No one thought about the morals involved.  “If we do not take, someone 

else will”- this is how the thieves calmed their conscience. 

After the war there were trials in Romania of war criminals, military and civil, who 

operated in Bessarabia.  As in other countries, so too in Romania – it took some time to 

arrest all the criminals.  The legal system was full of anti-Semites and some of the 

accused did not come to trial until 1948 or 1949.  In 1955 all the killers received a 

general pardon given to all war criminals.  Obviously not all the guilty were brought to 

justice and the truth was not really known among the general public.  After Romania 

surrendered it turned against Germany and fought along Russia on August 24, 1944.  

Many soldiers and officers who had been guilty of robbery and murder in Bessarabia 

were now considered to be war heroes and were not sent to trial for their deeds.  The 

Romanian army that had fought in Stalingrad alongside the Germans now became their 

enemy and chased them to Czechoslovakia.  There were enough reasons to forget the 

years 1941-1944 and to only remember the 260 days that followed.  

Many Romanians believe that what their army accomplished in Eastern Europe is grand.  

They know the war against Communism was actually against the Jews and this is why 

the terrible massacre in Bessarabia is justified.  For that reason alone we must discuss 

the role of the Romanian army in the blood bath of Bessarabia. 

ROLE OF THE GERMANS IN THE DESTRUCTION OF THE JEWS OF BESSARABIA 

In addition to their direct role in the killing spree the Germans had another one in the 

fact that they guided the Romanian army in the massacre and led by example.  At the 

beginning the Romanian military and civil leaders were disappointed and confused by 

the horrible deeds performed by the special German units. However, they very quickly 

learned the job and imitated the Germans quite successfully. 

There are Romanian documents which describe some of the atrocities committed by 

the Germans:  420 Jewish intellectuals were taken out of the Kishinev ghetto and shot 

by the Germans; 187 Jews from Mostovoi were killed by the SS, etc.  Several 

testimonies by Romanians about German atrocities were given during trials of war 

criminals.  One testimony was a description of the massacre committed by the 

Germans on 8,000 Jews in Cetatea-Alba. 

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The Germans themselves also left some documents from which the general framework 

of their activities can be observed.  Many details are written in reports by the 

Einzatzgruppe- the infamous murder groups.  

In the first volume about Romania, in the introduction to the Province of Transnistria, 

there is a detailed account of the “Final Solution” and how it was done.  What follows 

are some facts that deal with atrocities in Bessarabia. 

The commander of the SS unit in Bessarabia was Ohlendorf.  In the Nuremberg trials he 

clearly mentioned that he was told, orally, to eliminate the Jews.  When he was asked 

what “eliminate” meant he replied: “To eliminate means to kill”.  The German 

commanders not only knew about the killings, but were given orders to help with 

them. 

The Einzatzgruppe D functioned in Bessarabia and had 5 commando units:  10a 

headed by Setchen, 10-Forester, 11a- Zapp, 11b-Muller, Werner Braune, P. Schultz 

and 12a – Gustav Nuska and later Muller. 

During the Nuremberg trials Ohlendorf described the technique used to commit the 

atrocities:  there were secondary units for some of the activities.  When forces arrived 

in a settlement they immediately gathered all the Jews in order to deport them.  The 

Jews had to turn over to the commander all jewellery and valuables in their possession.  

Before they were executed they also had to remove their clothes.  Men, women and 

children were usually brought to an antitank trench where they were shot.  The bodies 

were thrown into the trenches.  Ohlendorf emphasized that the executions were done 

by specific units so that there was no personal responsibility.  He added that 90,000 

men, women and children – mostly Jews were so killed.  The actual number is most 

probably even higher. 

There are detailed reports about the events with descriptions by the perpetrators in 

different town in Bessarabia.  In Khotin -commando unit 10b, in Balti- commando unit 

10a were in charge.  It turned out these reports did not always give the full picture and 

the number of people massacred was actually higher. 

A report from August 7, 1941, written by the officer in charge of commando 11 in 

Kishinev, says the following: “Up to now 551 Jews have been eliminated.  Of these, 151 

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had participated in sabotage and 400 in retaliation for shots on military ambulances 

and signals to Russian airplanes.  The Jews have been placed in the ghetto so they 

would not escape”.  In other locations in Bessarabia the Jews were accused of spying 

for the Russians and in Bucharest there almost was a pogrom for this reason.  

However, Antonescu himself denied the accusations and announced that it was the 

Romanian anti-aircraft defenders that had sent up flares.   

In the reports by the commando it was written that the Russians had left in place 

people loyal to them, members of the NKVD and KGB.  They were given specific tasks 

such as signaling the Russian pilots and small sabotage.  They were given light arms, 

hand grenades, demolition equipment.  This explanation was necessary since it is 

difficult to understand how anyone not knowing the compass could signal pilots.  It is 

impossible to do sabotage without appropriate equipment.  It is not easy to believe 

that the Russians chose only Jews for these tasks.  Bessarabia had only been annexed a 

year earlier.  Even the names mentioned, except for one, were not Jewish. 

In another report it is mentioned that a ghetto had been set up in Kishinev with 9,000 

Jews.  They were organized into work details and were at the ready for different units 

of the Romanian and German armies to clear ruins, etc.  When Kishinev was conquered 

there were only 4,000 Jews left from the 60-80,000 who had lived there earlier.  The 

explanation that the remainder had escaped with the Russians does not make sense.  It 

is only to be used to camouflage the massacres.  In addition, there were 9,000 Jews in 

the ghetto, i.e. 5,000 more than there had been when the army conquered the city.  

This can be explained by the fact that Jews came from other places, but probably not 

of their own free will.  They were brought to be locked up in the ghetto. 

The German historian Brozati points out that in relations between the Romanian 

authorities in Bessarabia and the commandos of Ohlendorf the Germans always had 

the upper hand and they were the ones who decided what the Romanians would do.  

The Germans forced their collaborators to use harsh methods against the Jews and 

were not really content with way the Romanians executed the “final solution”.  Even the 

infamous SS General Reinhardt Heidrich complained during his visit to Bessarabia that 

the Romanians were too friendly with the Jews.  This complaint served the general 

purpose of Germany that wished to make Bessarabia into a German territory and to 

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