Ion Antonescu

Ion Antonescu (/ˌæntəˈnɛskuː/; Romanian: [i'on antoˈnesku] (listen); 14 June [O.S. 2 June] 1882 – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and marshal who presided over two successive wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister and Conducător during most of World War II. Having been responsible for facilitating the Holocaust in Romania, he was tried for war crimes and executed in 1946.

Marshal Ion Antonescu
Ion Antonescu's portrait
Conducător of Romania
In office 6 September 1940 – 23 August 1944
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Position abolished
43rd Prime Minister of Romania
In office 5 September 1940 – 23 August 1944
Monarchs	Carol II Michael I
Deputy	Horia Sima (1940–1941) Mihai Antonescu (1941–1944)
Preceded by	Ion Gigurtu
Succeeded by	Constantin Sănătescu
Additional positions held in the Government Minister of War In office 22 September 1941 – 23 January 1942 Prime Minister Himself Preceded by Iosif Iacobici [ro] Succeeded by Constantin Pantazi [ro] In office 4 September 1940 – 27 January 1941 Prime Minister Himself Preceded by Constantin Nicolescu Succeeded by Iosif Iacobici [ro] In office 28 December 1937 – 31 March 1938 Prime Minister Octavian Goga Miron Cristea Preceded by Constantin Ilasievici [ro] Succeeded by Gheorghe Argeșanu Minister of Culture and Religious Affairs (Acting) In office 11 November 1941 – 5 December 1941 Prime Minister Himself Preceded by Radu R. Rosetti Succeeded by Ion Petrovici Minister of Foreign Affairs (Acting) In office 27 January 1941 – 29 June 1941 Prime Minister Himself Preceded by Mihail R. Sturdza Succeeded by Mihai Antonescu Minister of Air Transport and Marine (Acting) In office 10 February 1938 – 30 March 1938 Prime Minister Miron Cristea Preceded by Radu Irimescu Succeeded by Paul Teodorescu [ro]
Chief of the Romanian General Staff
In office 1 December 1933 – 11 December 1934
Monarch	Carol II
Preceded by	Constantin Lăzărescu [ro]
Succeeded by	Nicolae Samsonovici
Personal details
Born	(1882-06-14)14 June 1882[1] Pitești, Argeș County, Kingdom of Romania
Died	1 June 1946(1946-06-01) (aged 63) Jilava, Ilfov County, Kingdom of Romania
Cause of death	Execution by firing squad
Political party	None[a]
Spouse	Maria Antonescu ​ ​ (m. 1927⁠–⁠1946)​
Profession	Soldier
Known for	Recapture of Bessarabia and Bukovina
Religion	Romanian Orthodox
Nickname	Câinele Roșu ("Red Dog")
Military service
Allegiance	Romania
Branch/service	Romanian Land Forces
Years of service	1904–1944
Rank	Marshal of Romania
Commands	Commander-in-Chief of the Romanian Armed Forces
Battles/wars	See list 1907 Peasants' Revolt 2nd Balkan War Southern Dobruja Offensive World War I Moldavian Defensive Battle of Mărășești Hungarian-Romanian War World War II Legionary rebellion Eastern Front Operation Barbarossa Operation München Siege of Odessa Jassy–Kishinev Operation
Awards	See list Military Virtue Medal Order of Michael the Brave Pilot/Observer Badge Iron Cross Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Order of the White Rose of Finland Crimea Shield
Criminal conviction
Criminal status	Executed
Conviction(s)	War crimes Crimes against peace Crimes against humanity Treason
Trial	Romanian People's Tribunals
Criminal penalty	Death
Details
Victims	Romanian Jews Ukrainian Jews Romani people
a. ^ Formally allied with the Iron Guard (1940–41)

Part of a series on
Fascism in Romania
Organizations MNFIR (1921) Fascio (1921) LANC (1923) MNF (1923) Romanian Action (1924) Iron Guard (1927) Citizen Bloc (1932) PNSR (1932) Iron Guard death squads (1933) Crusade of Romanianism (1934) FR (1935) PNC (1935) PPGR (1935) CML (1936) FRN (1938) MTR (1942)
Leaders Antonescu Bacaloglu Bonfert Cantacuzino Codreanu Crainic Cuza Forțu Goga Lăzurică Manoilescu Sima Stelescu Tătărescu Vaida Vifor
Periodicals Cuvântul Gândirea Sfarmă-Piatră Țara Noastră
Ideology The Orthodox Church and the Iron Guard National Legionary State For My Legionaries Neo-Legionarism
Events Moța–Marin funerals (1937) Jilava massacre (1940) Legionnaires' rebellion and Bucharest pogrom (1941)
v t e

A Romanian Army career officer who made his name during the 1907 peasants' revolt and the World War I Romanian Campaign, the antisemitic Antonescu sympathized with the far-right and fascist National Christian and Iron Guard groups for much of the interwar period. He was a military attaché to France and later Chief of the General Staff, briefly serving as Defense Minister in the National Christian cabinet of Octavian Goga as well as the subsequent First Cristea cabinet, in which he also served as Air and Marine Minister. During the late 1930s, his political stance brought him into conflict with King Carol II and led to his detainment. Antonescu nevertheless rose to political prominence during the political crisis of 1940, and established the National Legionary State, an uneasy partnership with the Iron Guard's leader Horia Sima. After entering Romania into an alliance with Nazi Germany and ensuring Adolf Hitler's confidence, he eliminated the Guard during the Legionary Rebellion of 1941. In addition to being Prime Minister, he served as his own Foreign Minister and Defense Minister. Soon after Romania joined the Axis in Operation Barbarossa, recovering Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, Antonescu also became Marshal of Romania.

An atypical figure among Holocaust perpetrators, Antonescu enforced policies independently responsible for the deaths of as many as 400,000 people, most of them Bessarabian, Ukrainian and Romanian Jews, as well as Romanian Romani. The regime's complicity in the Holocaust combined pogroms and mass murders such as the Odessa massacre with ethnic cleansing, and systematic deportations to occupied Transnistria. The system in place was nevertheless characterized by singular inconsistencies, prioritizing plunder over killing, showing leniency toward most Jews in the Old Kingdom, and ultimately refusing to adopt the Final Solution as applied throughout Nazi-occupied Europe. This was made possible by the fact that Romania, as a junior ally of Nazi Germany, was able to avoid being occupied by the Wehrmacht and preserve a degree of political autonomy.

Aerial attacks on Romania by the Allies occurred in 1944 and Romanian troops suffered heavy casualties on the Eastern Front, prompting Antonescu to open peace negotiations with the Allies, ending with inconclusive results. On 23 August 1944, the king Michael I led a coup d'état against Antonescu, who was arrested; after the war he was convicted of war crimes, and executed in June 1946. His involvement in the Holocaust was officially reasserted and condemned following the 2003 Wiesel Commission report.