Ion Antonescu

[Michal78]

Ion Antonescu portrait.
Michal

[Michal78]

With A.Hitler...
Michal

[Michal78]

With H. Göring.
Michal

[Eclipsse]

The real name is Ion Antonescu ,not Antonecsu

[tigre]

Hello to all ; a complement: AH-Antonescu: almost a friendship.
Since his accession to power, the conducator had been keeping constant interviews with the Führer, and these contacts had soon given way in the German dictator's mind to an appreciation of the Romanian general, both personally and militarily and politically. Throughout the months preceding the invasion of Soviet territory, the treatment between the two dictators is narrowing. Of all the leaders that Hitler maintained at the head of the allied countries of the Third Reich, it was with Antonescu that he preferred to relate, even ahead of Mussolini.
Sources: La experiencia fascista de Rumania (1927-1944).
http://mariahshaddai.com.mx/es/1559--co ... macht.html

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more: AH-Antonescu: almost a friendship.
Antonescu himself, pushed by his own personal inclinations, abandons his army general's uniform to wear the green uniform of the legionaries..
Sources: La experiencia fascista de Rumania (1927-1944).
https://www.gettyimages.es/fotos/horia- ... ction=true

Cheers. Raúl M .

[steppewolf]

Could you please correct his name in the title of the thread? Is ANTONESCU not Antonecsu

Thanks!

[J. Duncan]

I think the above photo with Horia Sima was taken during a period in which Antonescu was showing solidarity with Iron Guardists during their brief collaboration in circa 1940 / 41. Photo is still from a rally in Bucharest in honor of Codreanu who was murdered several years back by King Carol. Later Antonescu purged them and Sima had to flee to Germany in a move similar to Hitler’s purge of the Brownshirts. I think Hitler sided with Antonescu in this move because he didn’t want disturbances there as he relied on Rumanian oil and support for the Axis. Rumania politically was a complex soup of factions but Antonescu impressed Hitler with holding it together. He was a “strong man” who took decisive measures (from Hitler’s point of view)

[Sid Guttridge]

Hi J Duncan,

Antonescu purged the Iron Guard because, encouraged by Himmler, they mounted a coup against him in early 1941. Many Jews were killed during the attempt. However, Hitler, who was preparing to invade the USSR and needed the Romanian Army as an ally, sided with the efficient soldier Antonescu, and over rode any ideological preferences he may have had for the Iron Guard.

The inadvertent bi-product of this was that the Jews of pre-1918 Romania escaped later deportation to the extermination camps and were the largest Jewish community in Europe to survive the war largely intact. The Iron Guard, which was violently anti-Semitic, would undoubtedly have sent them.

This is not to say that Antonescu was a protector of Jews per se. It was more that he resented any foreign interference, even by the Germans, in what he considered Romania's internal affairs. Jewish communities who had not been in Romania before 1918 (i.e in Basarabia and Transnistria) suffered far more heavily under his regime.

Cheers,

Sid.

[J. Duncan]

Thanks Sid. That’s interesting. I only know this history in a general way. From what I’ve read Hitler genuinely liked the “Conducator” but their conversations had to be translated from Antonescu’s French through interpreter Schmidt.

[Sid Guttridge]

Hi J. Duncan,

I would recommend getting Third Axis, Fourth Ally by Axworthy, if you can find a copy at a reasonable price. It'll answer almost any question you might have on any subject regarding Romania in WWII. It is about 25 years old but hasn't even been approached, let alone bettered, in English.

Cheers,

Sid.

[J. Duncan]

Thanks Sid for the book recommendation. I’ll look for that one. I have the bio on A by Deletant
(“Hitlers Forgotten Ally”) and several on the Iron
Guard but not the book you mentioned. I’m sure it has a more comprehensive viewpoint and I tend to value the more dated studies anyway.

Ps - yeah, it’s pricey (a few copies just under $100) but what the heck. What’s another 100 dollars for a good book right? I’ve spent so much money on books over the years - better than blowing it on golf (Lol)

[Sid Guttridge]

Hi J. Duncan,

I have the same problem with the Deletant book - it has been too pricey to buy.

My fall-back in these cases is interlibrary loan and selective photocopying.

Deletant is a linguist specialising in the Romanian language. On the subject of Antonescu himself, he is likely to be the more accurate. However, on wider military matters I would go with Axworthy, whose book is very comprehensive.

They disagree on one point, I recall. Axworthy describes Mihai Antonescu, the Foreign Minister, as a distant cousin of Ion Antonescu. However, the relationship, if it existed, was apparently so distant as to be untraceable according to Deletant.

For the Romanian Air Force Denes Bernad, who used to post here, is very well informed. There is also the Romanian Military History Forum on-line in English.

Cheers,

Sid.

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more: July 1941: visit to the front of General Ion Antonescu.

Sources: SIGNAL Magazine. Number 16 of 1941.

Cheers. Raúl M .

[CNE503]

I think the above photo with Horia Sima was taken during a period in which Antonescu was showing solidarity with Iron Guardists during their brief collaboration in circa 1940 / 41. Photo is still from a rally in Bucharest in honor of Codreanu who was murdered several years back by King Carol. Later Antonescu purged them and Sima had to flee to Germany in a move similar to Hitler’s purge of the Brownshirts. I think Hitler sided with Antonescu in this move because he didn’t want disturbances there as he relied on Rumanian oil and support for the Axis. Rumania politically was a complex soup of factions but Antonescu impressed Hitler with holding it together. He was a “strong man” who took decisive measures (from Hitler’s point of view)

Hello,

Yes, it was obviously taken somewhen between September 5th, 1940 and January 19th, 1941.
These two dates are: the day Antonescu was called by king Carol II as Prime minister of Romania and the start of the "Iron Guard" Coup attempt.
Considering the way people surrounding the car are dressed, it was probably taken in late Summer or early Fall 1940 (September or October 1940).

CNE503