The Sword of the Archangel

Surveys Romanian studies on the native fascist movement and the Holocaust period, and remarks on distorted interpretations in Romanian official historiography. Tracing the evolution of nationalist and extreme-right ideologies, focuses on the antisemitic theories in the writings of A.C. Cuza, N. Crainic, and Nae Ionescu. On pp. 116-131 emphasizes the importance of antisemitism and racism in the ideology of the Iron Guard, and the influence of Nazi ideology. Examines the anti-Jewish policy of Antonescu's regime and Iron Guard violence, especially the Bucharest pogrom in January 1941. Ch. 6 (pp. 199-234), "Administering the Physical Extermination of the Rumanian Jews", gives details and statistics (see also annexed tables, on pp. 296-320) concerning the Jassy pogrom (June 1941), the massacres of the Jews in Bessarabia, Bukovina, and Odessa, and the deportation to Transnistria. Discusses the German project of total deportation of Romanian Jews in 1942, finally rejected by Romanian authorities. The 36 pages at the end of the book contain photographs.