Iași pogrom

Iași pogrom^[a] was an antisemitic pogrom^[b] that happened in Romania under the rule of the pro-Nazi dictator Ion Antonescu between 28 and 30 June 1941. The pogrom, which killed 13,266 Jews, was part of the Holocaust in Romania.^[3][4]

Jewish dead bodies in public on June 29, 1941.

Jewish dead bodies dumped from a train along the route from Iași to either Călărași or Podul IIoaei.

Background

Further information: History of Jews in Romania

In 1940, Ion Antonescu became the Prime Minister of Romania as an Iron Guard member and began the Holocaust in Romania alongside Adolf Hitler.^[3]

Iron Guard

Main article: Iron Guard

The Iron Guard (Romanian: Garda de Fier) was a pro-Nazi militant group founded by Romanian ultranationalist Corneliu Zelea Codreanu.^[5]

Massacre

Aided by Romanian civilians, who included recently released Iron Guard's members, German and Romanian troops killed 13,266 Jews across Iași between 28 and 30 June 1944.^[4] Many Romanian soldiers reportedly believed that all the Jews were communists or Freemasons who deserved their fate.^[3] A former professor, a priest and a railroad worker sacrificed when they were shot by Romanian soldiers for trying to save Jews under attack.

When shooting the former professor, a Romanian soldier reportedly yelled,^[3]

You dog, die with the kike you are defending!

4,300 Jews were deported elsewhere by train, 2,600 of whom died on the way.^[3]

Aftermath

Odessa massacre

Main article: Odessa massacre (1941)

The Holocaust in Romania intensified after the Iași pogrom. Four months later, Romanian troops, also under Ion Antonescu's order, killed as many as 100,000 Jews in Romanian-occupied Odessa, causing Odessa to lose 98.7% of her pre-war Jews.^[6] Between 1941 and Ion Antonescu's overthrow in the 23 August coup in 1944 led by King Michael I, as many as 400,000 Romanian Jews were killed, amounting to 52.8% of pre-war Romanian Jews.^[7]

War crimes trials

57 persons were convicted of war crimes for their role in the Iași pogrom, most of whom were sentenced to life in jail, while some were acquitted in 1997 under the democratic Romanian government.^[8] Ion Antonescu was executed.

Related pages

• Lviv pogroms
• Odessa massacre
• Jedwabne pogrom
• Szczuczyn pogrom
• Rhineland massacres

Footnotes

1. Romanian: Pogromul de la Iași
2. A pogrom is a form of riot that targets an ethnic or a religious group. It is derived from the Russian word погром ("pogrom"); from "громить" IPA: [grʌˈmitʲ] ‒ to wreak havoc, to demolish violently.^[1][2]