Aryanization Bureaucrats in Post-Holocaust Romania

This article investigates the post-war life trajectories and careers of eight Aryanization (»Romanianization«) bureaucrats who were involved in the persecution and dispossession of Jews during the pro-Nazi Antonescu regime (September 1940–August 1944). While many of them were removed from the civil...

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Main Author: Stefan Cristian Ionescu
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory 2023-09-01
Series:Rechtsgeschichte - Legal History
Subjects:
Online Access:https://proceedings.hpsg.xyz/index.php/rg/article/view/1994
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author Stefan Cristian Ionescu
author_facet Stefan Cristian Ionescu
author_sort Stefan Cristian Ionescu
collection DOAJ
description This article investigates the post-war life trajectories and careers of eight Aryanization (»Romanianization«) bureaucrats who were involved in the persecution and dispossession of Jews during the pro-Nazi Antonescu regime (September 1940–August 1944). While many of them were removed from the civil service, became unemployed, went into hiding, or were arrested, others thrived – at least temporarily – thanks to their skilful navigation of the post-Antonescu transition, their highlevel connections with the political establishment, and the ability to claim certain merits for their behavior before August 1944, either as victims of or by resisting against the Antonescu regime. However, most of these opportunistic bureaucrats were successful only in the short term; eventually their past caught up with them, and they were imprisoned by the communist authorities or had to flee the country to escape arrest. The article shows that the communist revolution was not as radical as the communist leaders liked to boast and that it did not immediately bring a complete transformation of the state, its institutions, and employees holding crucial positions. Especially during the first post-war transitional years, the connections between the two ideologically different authoritarian regimes – fascist and communist – continued on various levels, including the bureaucratic one.
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institution Kabale University
issn 1619-4993
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language deu
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publisher Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory
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series Rechtsgeschichte - Legal History
spelling doaj-art-d2a7e69f97b44f73b5fb46bce372a12b2025-02-11T06:07:15ZdeuMax Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal TheoryRechtsgeschichte - Legal History1619-49932195-96172023-09-0131Aryanization Bureaucrats in Post-Holocaust RomaniaStefan Cristian Ionescu0Northwestern University, Evanston (Illinois) This article investigates the post-war life trajectories and careers of eight Aryanization (»Romanianization«) bureaucrats who were involved in the persecution and dispossession of Jews during the pro-Nazi Antonescu regime (September 1940–August 1944). While many of them were removed from the civil service, became unemployed, went into hiding, or were arrested, others thrived – at least temporarily – thanks to their skilful navigation of the post-Antonescu transition, their highlevel connections with the political establishment, and the ability to claim certain merits for their behavior before August 1944, either as victims of or by resisting against the Antonescu regime. However, most of these opportunistic bureaucrats were successful only in the short term; eventually their past caught up with them, and they were imprisoned by the communist authorities or had to flee the country to escape arrest. The article shows that the communist revolution was not as radical as the communist leaders liked to boast and that it did not immediately bring a complete transformation of the state, its institutions, and employees holding crucial positions. Especially during the first post-war transitional years, the connections between the two ideologically different authoritarian regimes – fascist and communist – continued on various levels, including the bureaucratic one. https://proceedings.hpsg.xyz/index.php/rg/article/view/1994Aryanization bureaucratsHolocaustRomaniatransitional justice
spellingShingle Stefan Cristian Ionescu
Aryanization Bureaucrats in Post-Holocaust Romania
Rechtsgeschichte - Legal History
Aryanization bureaucrats
Holocaust
Romania
transitional justice
title Aryanization Bureaucrats in Post-Holocaust Romania
title_full Aryanization Bureaucrats in Post-Holocaust Romania
title_fullStr Aryanization Bureaucrats in Post-Holocaust Romania
title_full_unstemmed Aryanization Bureaucrats in Post-Holocaust Romania
title_short Aryanization Bureaucrats in Post-Holocaust Romania
title_sort aryanization bureaucrats in post holocaust romania
topic Aryanization bureaucrats
Holocaust
Romania
transitional justice
url https://proceedings.hpsg.xyz/index.php/rg/article/view/1994
work_keys_str_mv AT stefancristianionescu aryanizationbureaucratsinpostholocaustromania