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Ion
Antonescu, dictator of Romania, issued a secret order: Before the
Germans and Romanians invaded the Soviet Union, all Jews in
Bessarabian villages were to be murdered on the spot; Jews in the
towns removed to ghettos; and anyone who served the Soviets during
the year of Soviet rule was to be executed after being found guilty.
A special unit was established as a spin-off of the Security Police,
patterned after the Einsatzgruppen units, and placed under the
command of Deputy Premier Mihai Antonescu. The unit was assisted by
the Romanian army, and both of these agencies collaborated with the
corresponding German entities. Some 150,000-200,000 Jews were
murdered in July-August, mostly by Romanians. |
