Books by Stefan C. C Ionescu
In order to create a productive middle class part of an ideal society based on ethno-nationalism,... more In order to create a productive middle class part of an ideal society based on ethno-nationalism, the Antonescu regime (1940-1944) pursued Romanianization – a policy of excluding 'foreigners,' especially Jews and Roma/Gypsies from the economic sphere through property and business seizure and exclusion from employment. Taking an inter-disciplinary approach and drawing on a variety of official and personal documents, Ionescu investigates Romanianization and the patterns of responses to that policy by gentile and Jewish inhabitants of Bucharest. Ionescu argues that, though by the end of the Antonescu regime Romanianization had taken a harsh toll on Jews and Roma – houses had been expropriated, owners evicted, building and companies sold to gentiles, and employees fired – the authorities had failed to achieve complete Romanianization of real estate, businesses, and jobs. A crucial reason for this failure was the illegal (sabotage) and legal resistance conducted by Jews and Roma.
Papers by Stefan C. C Ionescu
Rechtsgeschichte – Legal History, 2023
This article investigates the post-war life trajectories
and careers of eight Aryanization (»Roma... more 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 postwar
transitional years, the connections between the
two ideologically different authoritarian regimes –
fascist and communist – continued on various
levels, including the bureaucratic one.
Keywords: Aryanization bureaucrats, Holocaust,
Romania, transitional justice
Yad Vashem Studies, 2023
One of the most interesting cases of political instrumentalization, selectiveness, and distortion... more One of the most interesting cases of political instrumentalization, selectiveness, and distortion of historical memory under the Romanian Communist regime was the case of the public remembrance of the Fascist/Nazi era and its atrocities in conjunction with the over-emphasis on the Communist resistance to it. The authors examine these aspects by means of Jewish Communist Matei Gall’s autobiographic narratives focusing on World War II violence over a forty-year time span. These include Masacrul, published as a novel in 1956, in Communist Romania, based on two articles that initially appeared in the Communist party’s newspaper România liberă in September 1944; and Eclipsa, published as a memoir in post-Communist Romania in 1997. The authors also consider two interviews Gall gave in 2009, and what they added to his previous life narratives as well as how generally his narratives, spanning from the immediate postwar context to the 2000s, contribute to Communist and post-Communist mnemonic frameworks of the Holocaust in Romania.
Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs , 2022
Jan Lanicek and Jan Lambertz (eds.), More Than Parcels: Wartime Aid for Jews in Nazi-Era Camps and Ghettos , 2022
Jewish Resistance to Romanianization, 1940-44, 2015
Revista de Istorie a Evreilor din Romania, 2020
This article offers an overview of the advantages, uses, and abuses of oral history as a method o... more This article offers an overview of the advantages, uses, and abuses of oral history as a method of historical investigation, by focusing on major traumatic events, such as the Holocaust. It argues that, in spite of some of its shortcomings, oral history has become an important and widespread method of historical investigation that gathers valuable primary sources – useful for reconstructing historical events, but especially for the meanings revealed even in the case of erroneous recollections and what they tell about the interviewees and their interests. Oral history seems to be especially useful in cases of marginalized and under-represented groups and cases of mass violence that leave no, very few, or distorted documents.
Thomas Pegelow Kaplan and Wolf Gruner and (eds.), Resisting Persecution: Jews and Their Petitions during the Holocaust (Berghahn), 2020
This chapter examines the role of the Jewish leader Wilhelm Filderman in resisting the antisemiti... more This chapter examines the role of the Jewish leader Wilhelm Filderman in resisting the antisemitic policies of the Antonescu regime during the Holocaust in Romania. Based on the recently published memoirs and diaries of Filderman and other Jewish leaders as well as archival documents, this chapter argues that, faced with Antonescu’s antisemitic policies, Filderman and his collaborators pursued a sophisticated, persistent strategy of non-violent legal resistance to the Holocaust through petitioning local authorities, courts, and foreign diplomats. This petitioning strategy was partially successful in reversing some antisemitic measures and thus contributed – together with other factors – to saving Jewish lives.
Journal of Romanian Studies, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2020
This article examines how legality was perceived by the highest officials of Romania’s pro-Nazi I... more This article examines how legality was perceived by the highest officials of Romania’s pro-Nazi Ion Antonescu regime and by a group of in- tellectuals (mostly jurists) closely connected with the judiciary. For Anton- escu, legality meant a new type of authoritarian understanding of the role of the law in a state and its subordination to the will of the ruler; for him, legality mainly had an instrumental role. He understood his power to be dis- cretionary and, usually, not bound by the extant law, even though he some- times referred to the idea of constitutional order (a convenient source of legitimacy). Intellectuals, including jurists, harbored a diversity of opinions regarding legality. Some jurists supported the regime’s authoritarian legal- ism, or at least accepted it, while others, especially those with a more dem- ocratic mindset or belonging to minorities, perceived legality differently than Antonescu, and favored a liberal democratic version of legality involv- ing the rule of law.
Holocaust and Genocide Studies, 2020
Many Jewish and non-Jewish Romanians seriously considered and debated the reversal of Romanian se... more Many Jewish and non-Jewish Romanians seriously considered and debated the reversal of Romanian seizures of Jewish property (Romanianization) during the Antonescu regime. While the former hoped for full restitution, the majority of the latter opposed the return of Romanianized property. In particular, beneficiaries of Romanianization feared losing their recent acquisitions. Nonetheless, some Jews managed to recover property during the Antonescu regime after petitioning the courts and administrative offices. As a radical antisemite, Antonescu was not motivated by a desire to help the Jews, but rather by concerns about budgetary losses, economic collapse, growing dis- trust in the security of property rights, and the prospect of postwar peace negotiations. Wartime debates by Jews, non-Jews, and government officials reveal that from 1940 to 1944, the restitution of “illegally” seized property became, in some circumstances, an accepted practice.
Thomas Kühne and Mary Jane Rein (eds.), Agency and the Holocaust: Essays in Honor of Debórah Dwork (Palgrave Macmillan), 2020
After the collapse of the Antonescu regime (on 23 August 1944), the restitution of jobs—together ... more After the collapse of the Antonescu regime (on 23 August 1944), the restitution of jobs—together with the restitution of property—emerged as a major aspect of the process to reestablish justice. This involved righting the wrongs perpetrated against Jews during the antisemitic policy of Romanianization (1940–1944), the replacement of Jewish employees with ethnic Romanians and the transfer of Jewish property to gentiles. This chapter explores the restitution of jobs to former Jewish holders in post-Antonescu Romania. It focuses on the implementation of the restitution law no. 641/1944, on the ways local Jews pursued their labor rights, and on the reactions of gentile citizens to this process of restitution. Antisemitism continued to run strong in Romanian society and, sometimes, gentile managers or fellow workers resented the return of their Jewish colleagues. The restitution of Romanianized jobs proved to be a difficult and complex process—especially until the adoption of the restitution law (in December 1944)—that encountered the opposition of various categories of coworkers and public opinion. Nonetheless, thanks to active and sustained petitioning and lobbying from Jews who were affected, it was often successful during the first postwar years. Eventually, communist nationalization and repressive policies affected the livelihoods of many Jews, especially entrepreneurs, artisans, and liberal professionals. These developments, together with other factors, influenced the emigration of a majority of the Romanian Jews.
Nationalities Papers: The Journal fo Nationalism and Ethnicity , 2019
Abstract
This article examines the main theorists of economic nationalism (Romanianization) and t... more Abstract
This article examines the main theorists of economic nationalism (Romanianization) and their ideas promoting protectionism and anti-Semitism in 1930s–1940s Romania. Trying to offer a rational scientific
justification for excluding foreigners, especially Jews, and increasing the role of ethnic Romanians in the economy, major scholars of economics offered solutions toward successful Romanianization. Because some of these economists were also influential politicians and public intellectuals, their investigations and blueprints for the project gained wide publicity and provided steps for achieving it rapidly and thoroughly. These economists disseminated their theoretical and empirical constructions of Romanianization in university courses, public lectures, and publications. Some were important scholars; among them, Virgil Madgearu, Mihail Manoilescu, Gheorghe N. Leon, Ion Răducanu, and D. R. Ioaniţescu, They
examined Romanianization of the economy from the 1930s to the 1940s and influenced the agenda of local elites and the general public, due to their prestigious positions as politicians, public intellectuals, and professors at local universities.
Keywords: economic nationalism; protectionism; Romanianization; anti-Semitism; nation building
Holocaust Studies: A Journal of Culture and History, 2010
Journal of Genocide Research , 2017
Abstract: In this article Ionescu examines the beneficiaries of the Antonescu regime’s Romanianiz... more Abstract: In this article Ionescu examines the beneficiaries of the Antonescu regime’s Romanianization of Bukovina in general, and of the city of Czernowitz in particular (described during that era as Romania’s “California”), between 1941 and 1943. Using untapped Romanian archival documents and gentile and Jewish testimonies, Ionescu finds that Romanianization triggered a sharp competition among would-be gentile profiteers aiming to acquire Jewish assets, especially between local ethnic Romanians and incoming colonists brought from various parts of Romania. Aiming to get rich quickly and obtain exemptions from army mobilization (and thus to avoid the Eastern front), these ethnic Romanian beneficiaries acquired a reputation for greed, corruption, and ruthlessness. At the same time, some of these Romanianizers collaborated with local Jewish entrepreneurs and skilled workers to run their new businesses, which allowed the Jews to stay in the natal city as indispensable specialists and thus increase their chances of survival.
Sen and Wagner (2009) advance the thesis of the centrality of fundamentalist belief systems in vi... more Sen and Wagner (2009) advance the thesis of the centrality of fundamentalist belief systems in violence. I provide further explication of their thesis by looking at the Romanian case. The explosion of violence around 1940–41, the years when Romania joined the Axis and entered the second world war cannot be understood without taking into account the historical, political, social, and cultural factors that created the radical atmosphere of xenophobia, mass psychosis, and mobilization against Others. Rumors emerge as the most powerful psychological means of spreading the official master narrative of 'domestic Jewish treason'. Reinterpretation of various cultural symbols also played an important role in excluding the Jewish Other from the national community.
Book Reviews by Stefan C. C Ionescu
Quest. Issues in Contemporary Jewish History, 2024
The Slavonic and East European Review, 2024
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Books by Stefan C. C Ionescu
Papers by Stefan C. C Ionescu
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 postwar
transitional years, the connections between the
two ideologically different authoritarian regimes –
fascist and communist – continued on various
levels, including the bureaucratic one.
Keywords: Aryanization bureaucrats, Holocaust,
Romania, transitional justice
This article examines the main theorists of economic nationalism (Romanianization) and their ideas promoting protectionism and anti-Semitism in 1930s–1940s Romania. Trying to offer a rational scientific
justification for excluding foreigners, especially Jews, and increasing the role of ethnic Romanians in the economy, major scholars of economics offered solutions toward successful Romanianization. Because some of these economists were also influential politicians and public intellectuals, their investigations and blueprints for the project gained wide publicity and provided steps for achieving it rapidly and thoroughly. These economists disseminated their theoretical and empirical constructions of Romanianization in university courses, public lectures, and publications. Some were important scholars; among them, Virgil Madgearu, Mihail Manoilescu, Gheorghe N. Leon, Ion Răducanu, and D. R. Ioaniţescu, They
examined Romanianization of the economy from the 1930s to the 1940s and influenced the agenda of local elites and the general public, due to their prestigious positions as politicians, public intellectuals, and professors at local universities.
Keywords: economic nationalism; protectionism; Romanianization; anti-Semitism; nation building
Book Reviews by Stefan C. C Ionescu
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 postwar
transitional years, the connections between the
two ideologically different authoritarian regimes –
fascist and communist – continued on various
levels, including the bureaucratic one.
Keywords: Aryanization bureaucrats, Holocaust,
Romania, transitional justice
This article examines the main theorists of economic nationalism (Romanianization) and their ideas promoting protectionism and anti-Semitism in 1930s–1940s Romania. Trying to offer a rational scientific
justification for excluding foreigners, especially Jews, and increasing the role of ethnic Romanians in the economy, major scholars of economics offered solutions toward successful Romanianization. Because some of these economists were also influential politicians and public intellectuals, their investigations and blueprints for the project gained wide publicity and provided steps for achieving it rapidly and thoroughly. These economists disseminated their theoretical and empirical constructions of Romanianization in university courses, public lectures, and publications. Some were important scholars; among them, Virgil Madgearu, Mihail Manoilescu, Gheorghe N. Leon, Ion Răducanu, and D. R. Ioaniţescu, They
examined Romanianization of the economy from the 1930s to the 1940s and influenced the agenda of local elites and the general public, due to their prestigious positions as politicians, public intellectuals, and professors at local universities.
Keywords: economic nationalism; protectionism; Romanianization; anti-Semitism; nation building