| Transnistria Governorate Guvernământul Transnistriei | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governorate ofRomania | |||||||||||||||
| 1941–1944 | |||||||||||||||
 Administrative map of the Transnistria Governorate | |||||||||||||||
| Capital | Odesa | ||||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||||
| 39,733 km2 (15,341 sq mi) | |||||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||||
| 2,326,226 | |||||||||||||||
| Government | |||||||||||||||
| • Type | Military–civilian administration | ||||||||||||||
| Governor | |||||||||||||||
• 1941–1944 | Gheorghe Alexianu | ||||||||||||||
• 1944 | Gheorghe Potopeanu | ||||||||||||||
| Historical era | World War II | ||||||||||||||
• Established | 19 August 1941 | ||||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1 April 1944 | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Today part of | Moldova (Transnistria) Ukraine | ||||||||||||||
TheTransnistria Governorate (Romanian:Guvernământul Transnistriei) was aRomanian-administered territory between theDniester andSouthern Bug, conquered by theAxis powers from theSoviet Union duringOperation Barbarossa. A Romanian civilian administration governed the territory from 19 August 1941 to 29 January 1944. A brief military administration followed, during which the Romanians withdrew from the region by late March 1944. German control became official on 1 April 1944.
Limited in the west by the Dniester river (separating it fromBessarabia), in the east by the Southern Bug river (separating it from the GermanReichskommissariat Ukraine), and in the south by theBlack Sea, it comprised the present-day region ofTransnistria (which compared to the World War II in whole is only a small strip along the bank of the Dniester) and territories further east (modernOdesa Oblast eastward of the Dniester, southernVinnytsia Oblast and a small part ofMykolaiv Oblast), including the Black Sea port ofOdesa, which became the administrative capital of Transnistria during World War II.
In World War II, theKingdom of Romania, persuaded and aided byNazi Germany, took control of Transnistria for the first time in history. In August 1941,Adolf Hitler persuadedIon Antonescu to take control of the territory as a substitute forNorthern Transylvania, occupied byMiklós Horthy'sHungary following theSecond Vienna Award. Despite the Romanian administration, the Kingdom of Romania did not formally incorporate Transnistria into its administrative framework for reasons explained below.
Following theSoviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, a strong concentration of Soviet troops became present on the border with Romania.Nazi Germany wanted Romania as an ally in the war against the Soviet Union for fear that the Soviets were a threat to the Romanian oilfields.[3] Romania in turn aligned their foreign policy with Germany for an assurance against the Soviet Union.[4] With regards toOperation Barbarossa, Antonescu accepted Hitler's ideas that the conflict was a "race war" between the Aryans, represented by the Nordic Germans and Latin Romanians on the Axis side vs. the Slavs and Asians, commanded by the Jews on the Soviet side.[5] Romania in turn committed two armies for the invasion of the Soviet Union, totaling over 300,000 troops between them.[6] For their commitment, Romania was promised Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina and the area between Dniester and Southern Bug.[7] On 19 August 1941, Germany and Romania signedan agreement placing Transnistria under the authority of the latter. Altogether, the area amounted to 39,733 square km.[8]
The creation of a separate Romanian occupation area was Ion Antonescu's initiative. German leadership was divided about allowing Romania such privilege. Even Hitler, who encouraged Romanian eastward expansion, originally meant to award eastern territories after the war. However, Antonescu's stubborn insistence eventually swayed the Germans. While refusing to declare Transnistria's annexation, Antonescu instructed its Governor to work in Transnistria "as if Romania had been installed in those territories for two million years". Part of Romania's grand strategy was to use Transnistria as a bargaining chip at the end of the war to obtain various gains, from Russia or Ukraine or possibly from Germany and Hungary. Romania's immediate aims, however, stemmed from Ion Antonescu's acute inferiority complex. His perception was that his beloved country was being looked down upon by other European countries. From his perspective, raising Romania's ranking required it ruling over other peoples, in an orderly, efficient and "civilized" manner, comparable to how other European states ruled over their Asian and African subjects. According to Antonescu's own words: "Yes. The whole prestige of this country is engaged in Transnistria. We have to demonstrate that we are able to administer a larger country.". Civil service in Transnistria would paradoxically surpass in quality its counterpart within Romania itself. On 19 August 1941, Antonescu decreed the creation of the Romanian Administration in Transnistria.[9]
During the first week of the advance, in mid-August 1941, Romanian forces took over all of the region, except for a small area aroundOdessa, without a fight. At the time, the Romanians had 60,000 soldiers to conquer the city from its 34,000 defenders. However, the organization was so poor, and the command was so superficial, that the initial assault on the city failed,resulting in a siege.[10] Exploiting this success, the Soviets bolstered the cities defenses with naval marines, warships and paratroopers.[11] Multiple attempts by the RomanianFourth Army failed and a siege ensured.[12] German forces were brought into the reinforce the attackers and eventually in October 1941 after two months of fighting, the Romanian army took control of the city. Casualties were significant with Romanian losses standing at 90,020 casualties.[13]
Once Romanian troops entered Odessa, they established the headquarters of two of their divisions in the localNKVD building. However, the building was mined by the Soviets, who blew it up, killing over 61 troops, including 16 officers and one general.[14] In reprisal, Ion Antonescu ordered the arrest and massacre of civilians suspected of aiding the Red Army. When it became clear that identifying individuals directly responsible for the incident would be almost impossible, Antonescu ordered the shooting of Jews. Themassacre that followed resulted in 100,000 civilians killed, the majority of whom had nothing to do with the military action. A further number of Odessa Jews were deported to ghettos and concentration camps in the northern half of the region.[15]
A Soviet partisan movement was active in theOdessa catacombs from October 1941 to 1944 with varying levels of activity. Romanian troops attempted to flush the partisans out withchemical weapons and by sealing off as many exits as they could. The catacombs were never completely cleared, however the impact of these partisan movements were not significant.[16][17]
The borders of Transnistria were for the most part natural and self-evident: the Black Sea (south) along with the rivers Bug (east) and Nistru (west). The problem of Transnistria's northern border caused some friction between the Germans and Romanians. The latter wanted to push the border north of the town ofZhmerynka (Romanian: Jmerinca), a strategically important railway hub. The Germans resisted at first, but ultimately conceded. Another point of contention was Antonescu's decision to create a civil administration for the region, directly subordinated to himself. This effectively removed the region's administration fromWehrmacht control. Although consternated, the Germans could only acquiesce. Initially, the railways in the region remained under German control. After months of negotiations, the railways were taken over by the Romanian State in March 1942. The Romanians initially agreed to leave the port of Odessa under German control. This was because there were not enough Romanian engineers to repair the Soviet-inflicted damage. According to Antonescu, Hitler asked his permission to let the Germans use the port, implying recognition for Romania's sovereignty. On 10 June 1942, the Romanians gained control of the port of Odessa from the Germans. From early October 1942 to the end of their rule over the region, the Romanians had no major problems with the Germans.[18]
Albeit not annexing the region outright, the Romanian Antonescu government organized the territory in theGuvernământul Transnistriei under Romanian governor,Gheorghe Alexianu.[19]
According to Trașcă, the Nazi-allied Antonescu government hoped to annex the territory eventually, but developments on the Eastern Front precluded it.[19] Axworthy, on the other hand, writes that Hitler "tried repeatedly" to convince Antonescu to annex the territory as a substitute forNorthern Transylvania, but the Romanian wartime leader refused to do so until the war was over and a plebiscite had been held. Antonescu's policy was to refuse German-awarded territories that did not have a large enough Romanian population (Romanians composed only 11% of Transnistria's), as he had previously done withTranscarpathia andWestern Banat. According to Axworthy, Romania refused a German offer to annex part of Transcarpathia after theoccupation of Czechoslovakia and another offer to occupy Western Banat during theinvasion of Yugoslavia. Antonescu's primary interest in Transnistria was to use it as a bargaining counter for the return of Northern Transylvania to Romania, having Hungary receiveGalicia as compensation and Germany occupy Transnistria. Germany rejected the offer.[20]
Romanian opposition parties were against Romanian operations beyond Bessarabia and Bukovina.[19] Two eminent political figures of the day,Iuliu Maniu andConstantin Brătianu, declared that "the Romanian people will never consent to the continuation of the struggle beyond our national borders."[21]
The territory was divided into 13 counties (Romanian:județe). Their subdivisions were namedmunicipiu ("municipality"),oraș ("city") andraion ("raion").
In December, 1941 Romanian authorities conducteda census in Transnistria and the ethnic structure was as follows:[34]
| Ethnicity | Number | % | Rural | Urban |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ukrainians | 1,775,273 | 76.3 | 79.9 | 57.4 |
| Romanians | 197,685 | 8.4 | 9.3 | 4.4 |
| Russians | 150,842 | 6.5 | 2.4 | 27.9 |
| Germans (namelyBlack Sea Germans) | 126,464 | 5.4 | 5.9 | 2.7 |
| Bulgarians | 27,638 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.4 |
| Jews | 21,852 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 2.0 |
| Poles | 13,969 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 2.3 |
| Lipovans | 968 | – | – | 0.1 |
| Tatars | 900 | – | – | 0.1 |
| Others | 10,628 | 0.5 | 10.2 | 1.7 |
| Total | 2,326,224* | 100 | 1,956,557 | 369,669 |
| Name[35] | Status | Total population | Romanian population | Romanian proportion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moghilău | town | 13,131 | 61 | 0.5% |
| Șmerinca | town | 10,502 | 29 | 0.3% |
| Iampol | town | 5,075 | 20 | 0.4% |
| Tulcin | town | 3,833 | 5 | 0.1% |
| Bârzula | town | 8,812 | 314 | 3.6% |
| Rîbnița | town | 6,998 | 1,575 | 22.5% |
| Balta | town | 9,538 | 156 | 1.6% |
| Berșad | town | 4,361 | 1 | nil% |
| Dubăsari | town | 4,033 | 1,165 | 28.9% |
| Grigoriopol | town | 8,553 | 6,182 | 72.3% |
| Ananiev | town | 11,562 | 1,963 | 17.0% |
| Golta | town | 6,436 | 61 | 0.9% |
| Tiraspol | city | 17,014 | 1,285 | 7.6% |
| Ovidiopol | town | 4,324 | 106 | 2.5% |
| Odesa | city | 244,572 | 3,224 | 1.1% |
| Berezovca | town | 6,090 | 72 | 1.2% |
| Oceacov | town | 4,835 | 4 | 0.1% |
| Total | – | 369,669 | 16,223 | 4.4% |
| Name[36] | Total population | Romanian population | Romanian proportion |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moghilău | 293,884 | 176 | 0.1% |
| Jugastru | 240,406 | 74 | nil% |
| Tulcin | 147,184 | 11 | nil% |
| Râbnița | 217,403 | 54,660 | 25.1% |
| Balta | 255,107 | 1,111 | 0.4% |
| Dubăsari | 138,861 | 56,257 | 40.5% |
| Ananiev | 142,401 | 19,748 | 13.9% |
| Golta | 139,013 | 4,621 | 3.6% |
| Tiraspol | 189,809 | 48,427 | 25.5% |
| Ovidiopol | 64,576 | 6,036 | 9.4% |
| Odesa | 331,369 | 3,543 | 1.1% |
| Berezovca | 89,156 | 2,820 | 3.2% |
| Oceacov | 76,822 | 203 | 0.3% |
Romanian authorities used Transnistria as an "ethnic dump" for Jews andRoma from other regions of the country. Beginning in June 1942, Romanian authorities deported over 25,000 ethnic Roma from Bessarabia and Romania proper to Transnistria. During this same time period, over 90,000 Jews were deported from Bessarabia to Transnistria.[37][38]
The Romanian administration of Transnistria attempted to stabilize the situation in the region during the occupation. To this end, it opened all churches, previously closed down by the Soviets. During 1942–1943, 2,200 primary schools were organized in the region, including 1,677 Ukrainian, 311 Romanian, 150 Russian, 70 German, and 6 Bulgarian. 117 middle and high schools were opened, including 65 middle schools, 29 technical high schools, and 23 academic high schools. Theaters were opened in Odessa and Tiraspol, as well as several museums, libraries, and cinemas throughout the region. On 7 December 1941, the University of Odessa was reopened with 6 faculties – medicine, polytechnical, law, sciences, languages and agricultural engineering.[39]
The Romanian policy of security during 1942–1943 was successful in keeping Transnistria pacified. The ruthless methods applied by the Germans elsewhere were less successful, as evidenced by the attempts of refugees to escape from German to Romanian jurisdiction. Romanian policies in Transnistria amounted to the best food, health and education situation within Axis-occupied Eastern Europe. Under Romanian rule, religious and cultural revivals were permitted, prisoners of war were released and many local Communists were amnestied. This leniency eased local hostility to Romanian occupation after the terror of 1941, also undermining Soviet attempts to recruit partisans. Even while the retreating Romanians were looting Transnistria in March 1944, the local partisans were unable to mobilize civilian support.[40]
Orthodox churches of Transnistria fell into the jurisdiction of theRomanian Orthodox Church. Under the leadership ofMetropolitan bishopVisarion Puiu, the Romanian Orthodox Church in addition to opening all churches closed by Soviet authorities, set up three hundred new churches across Transnistria.[41] Romanian clergy removed allChurch Slavonic material and implemented therevised Julian calendar.[42]
The uncertain political status of Transnistria throughout the Romanian occupation meant no clear economic policy was implemented across Transnistria. In addition to the looting of industrial and agricultural resources, Transnistria served as a colony for cheap labor to be used in mines and to rebuild destroyed infrastructure.[43][44]
In spite of popular demand, the Romanian administration, following the German example, refused to disband the reviledkolkhozes. Nevertheless, former de-kulakized peasants did get back their houses, although in the cities real estate was not returned to its previous owners. The kolkhoz was renamedobște, and thesovkhozes were renamed "ferme de stat" (state farms). Most of Transnistria's agricultural output was produced by the kolkhozes. Roughly 53,000 railway cars of grain were brought from Transnistria to Romania between September 1942 and June 1943. Without these, as Ion Antonescu admitted, Romania "would have had an enormous crisis". By the end of March 1944, the Romanian administration had reopened 335 of the 946 prewar factories, their products being directed primarily towards the Romanian war effort. By the fall of 1943, a total of 1,593 km (990 miles) of railway tracks had been restored. The Romanian policy encouraged private enterprise. By 31 August 1943, Odessa alone had issued 8,610 licenses for economic activity, including: 1,256 groceries, 1,062 restaurants/cafes and 171 "small industries" such as soap factories. An Odessan named Mikhail Dmitrievich Manuilov was a financial specialist employed by the Soviets and Romanians alike. Although he despised both, he asserted in his postwar memoirs that "life in Odessa gradually improved and its situation was in stark contrast to the situation in the other cities, which were under the German occupation". In their zones of occupation, the Germans practiced a policy of isolating bigger cities from the countryside. This had the dual purpose of increasing German military supplies and depriving millions of supposedly racially inferior Eastern Europeans. The Romanians never even thought along these lines. Odessa was never cut off from its rural hinterland.[45] Such abundance relative to German-occupied areas was not necessarily limited to Odessa. In early January 1944,Tiger Tank Battalion 503 assembled atZhmerynka, a town in Transnistria. The Germans were pleasantly surprised to find beer in the local bazaar, along with other wares that they had not seen in a long time.[46] In 1943, Transnistrian factories, located mainly in and around Odessa, reported a 76% increase in their industrial output. Roughly 37% of this industry wasprivatized. A shortage of cash along with inflation resulted in the emergence of barter as the primary form of trade.[47]
On 14 August 1941, Hitler wrote to Antonescu, asking the latter to take over the administration between the Dniester and theDnieper. Antonescu replied three days later, stating that he could only assume responsibility for the area between the Dniester and the Bug, due to lacking "the means and trained staff". The Romanian leader was however willing to supply security troops for the area between the Bug and the Dnieper. The German-Romanian agreement for the creation of Transnistria was signed on 19 August, atTiraspol. It is known as theTiraspol Agreement.[48] This treaty was consolidated by a convention signed at Tighina on 30 August (theTighina Agreement), which however did not clearly define the northern borders of Transnistria. Antonescu claimed the northern towns ofMohyliv-Podilskyi,Zhmerynka andTulchyn, a request to which Hitler acceded. The final borders were recognized on 4 September, in a German order establishing a boundary between Transnistria and the rear of Army Group South.[49] The resulting territory was divided into 13 counties, each ruled by a high-ranking officer with the role of prefect. A county was further divided into raions, each raion being ruled by a praetor (pretor), who had much broader powers than the prefect. The entire region, forming a single Governorate, was led by one Governor, Gheorghe Alexianu. Transnistria's administrative configuration was only settled fully in November 1941. For two months (3 August to 28 October), all ofPervomaisk was under German occupation. On 28 October, Romania took over the part of Pervomaisk located on the western bank of the river Bug and restored its old name (Golta). In November, the seat of Golta County was moved fromKryve Ozero to Golta.[50]
On 17 August 1941, when Ion Antonescu announced Hitler he would only administer the territory between the Dniester and Bug, Romania's Deputy Prime MinisterMihai Antonescu had a discussion with the former before the response was sent to the GermanFührer. He proposed Romania's wartime leader to reflect upon the possible advantages of taking over the administration of the entire territory Hitler had originally proposed, from the Dniester to the Dnieper. Mihai Antonescu believed that, by doing so, ethnic Romanians that were scattered throughout Ukraine beyond the Bug could have been moved to Romania. Additionally, he stated that, after an eventual Soviet defeat, Romania could have become a maritime power of the Black Sea, or at least establish a separate state in the region that was to be under Romania's protection and influence.[51]
Transnistria had budgetary autonomy and as such made use of its own aircraft, separate from the rest of theRoyal Romanian Air Force. The following aircraft comprised the Transnistrian air section:[52]
| Model | Origin | Number |
|---|---|---|
| Fw 58 |  Germany | 1 |
| SET 7K |  Romania | 3 |
| RWD 13 |  Poland | 5 |
| Ju 52 | Germany | 2 |
Responsibility for the Holocaust in Odessa and Transnistria at large was squarely Romania's, the only country aside from Germany to administer a major Soviet city during World War II. Odessa – at the time, one of the greatest centers of Jewish life and culture in Europe – had been rendered virtuallyjudenrein, despite its population being one third Jewish at the start of World War II.[53]
ManyJews were deported to Transnistria fromBessarabia andBukovina.[54][55] During the period 1941–1944, 200,000Romani people and Jews became victims[56] of the Romanian occupation of Transnistria.[57] Not being Romanian territory, Transnistria was used as akilling field for the extermination of Jews. Survivors say that in comparison withthe Holocaust ofNazi Germany, where deportations were carefully planned, the Romanian government did not prepare to house thousands of people in Transnistria, where the deportees stayed. The people were instead placed in crude barracks without running water, electricity or latrines. Those who could not walk were simply left to die.[58] In total, around 150 ghettos and camps functioned in Transnistria.[59]
In Odessa, between 80,000 and 90,000 of the city's roughly 180,000 Jews remained at the time the Germans and Romanians captured the city on October 16, 1941. Six days later, a bomb exploded in the Romanian military headquarters in Odessa, prompting a massacre of Jews; many were burned alive. In October and November 1941 alone, Romanian troops in Odessa killed about 30,000 Jews.[60] Transnistria was the site of two concentration camps and severalde facto ghettos (which the Romanian wartime government referred to as "colonies").[61] In addition, most of the remaining Jews in Bessarabia (84,000 of 105,000) and northern Bukovina (36,000 of 60,000) were herded into these as well.[62] A striking paradox is the fact that most of Romanian Jews (375,000) under Antonescu regime survived WW2.[63] TheHolocaust Encyclopedia (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) writes that "Among the most notorious of these ghettos… wasBogdanovka, on the west bank of the Bug River… In December 1941, Romanian troops, together with Ukrainian auxiliaries, massacred almost all the Jews in Bogdanovka; shootings continued for more than a week." Similar events occurred at theDomanovka andAkmechetka [uk] camps, and (quoting the same source) "typhus-devastated Jews were crowded into the 'colony' inMohyliv-Podilskyi." Other camps, also with very high death rates, were atPechora andVapniarka, the latter reserved for Jewish political prisoners deported from Romania proper.[61][64] Many Jews died of exposure, starvation, or disease during the deportations to Transnistria or after arrival. Others were murdered by Romanian or German units, either in Transnistria or after being driven across the Bug River into the German-occupied Ukraine. Most of the Jews who were sent to the camps in Transnistria never returned. Those who survived, around 70,000, returned to Romania in 1945 to find that they had lost their houses.[58]
Even for the general population, food in Transnistria was very scarce, through lack of Romanian planning.[58] According to one survivor's account, people would gather outside a slaughterhouse and wait for scraps of meat, skin and bones to be thrown out of the slaughterhouse after the cleaning each morning. He remembers that they were fighting for the bones "just like dogs would" and that people were starving to death.[58] Among the survivors wereLiviu Librescu[65] andNorman Manea.
Antonescu, in a government meeting showed intentions to deport all Jews behind theUral Mountains if it would be possible: "I have about 10,000 Jews left in Bessarabia, who in a few days will be taken across the Dniester, and if circumstances will allow, they will be taken beyond the Urals".[66]
The process of disintegration of Romanian rule in Transnistria started to unfold almost as soon as 1944 began. German operative troops entered northern Transnistria in January 1944. By the end of the month, the Romanians had lost control over the region's northern counties. Partisans, along with the Germans and their Cossack auxiliaries, frequently attacked Romanian officials of all ranks and commandeered their vehicles. Romanian gendarmes, severely outnumbered and in fear for their lives, remained in their quarters. Thepretor ofTrostineț raion was killed by German soldiers. On 29 January 1944, on account of Transnistria's transformation into ade factomilitary rear area, Ion Antonescu ended the civilian administration of the region and dismissed Governor Alexianu. At the same time or roughly two weeks later (15 February 1944[67]), the very name "Transnistria" was dropped; the region – now under General Gheorghe Potopeanu (from 1 February 1944[68]) – officially became a territory under military administration. On 15 March 1944, Potopeanu ordered the withdrawal of all remaining personnel from the region.[69] The last Romanian-perpetrated massacre during the Holocaust in Transnistria also took place on 15 March 1944, when Romanian gendarmes killed 4 Jews inSlobidka.[70] Shortly before being liberated by the Red Army, Transnistria's urban centers were transferred from Romanian to German control: Bershad roughly 1 week before its liberation,[71] Balta and Zhmerynka both on 16 March[72][73] and Tiraspol on 19 March.[74] The Romanian mayor of Odessa was deposed by the Germans on 24 March, being replaced by a Russian engineer and German collaborator named Petrushkov.[75] The Germans officially took over the region on 1 April 1944.[76]
The Red Army entered Transnistria on 14 March 1944, taking the town ofBershad.Tulchyn followed on 15 March,Mohyliv-Podilskyi on 20 March,Balta on 29 March andRîbnița on 30 March.[77]Yampil was liberated on 17 March 1944.[78]Zhmerynka was liberated by the Red Army on 21 March.[79]Pervomaisk (of which Golta was a part) was taken on 22 March, followed byOchakiv on 31 March.[80] The Soviets reachedBerezivka on 31 March.[81] On 1 April, Governor Potopeanu was deposed by the Germans and what remained of Transnistria (the 5 administrative centers not yet liberated by the Red Army as of 1 April:Ananiv,Odessa,Ovidiopol,Tiraspol andDubăsari[82][83]) came under official German control.[84][76]
On March 28, the Red Army took Nikolaev and the next day crossed the lower Bug river in force. On April 5, Razdelnaia fell, and therewith the Odessa-Tiraspol highway was cut. On the 19th, after a brief but bitter fight, the Red Army re-entered Odessa. On the April 12,Tiraspol was occupied, and four days later all Transnistria was again in Soviet hands. During the final days, the Germans concentrated on destruction in Odessa, since evacuation was impossible. Port installations, some industrial facilities, and transportation junctions were blown up (even the electric power plant, various mills, stores of bread, sugar, and other foods were destroyed). Of Odessa's population, scarcely 200,000 remained; many had hidden in the vicinity while some had sought safety in the countryside. And some had left westward with the Romanians and Germans: only those most compromised had left; the bulk of the residents had stayed in the region. People feared Soviet repressions, but "there was no other way out", according to German sources.[85] It is worth noting however, that there was still a very small piece of Transnistrian territory still left under Romanian rule as late as August 1944, according to anOKH map depicting the situation on the Romanian front as of 20 August. This area comprised a Westwards salient created by the Dniester river, centered aroundCoșnița (today part of theDubăsari District of theRepublic of Moldova).[86]
Today east of the Dniester there are only 237,785Romanian-speaking residents left, a small percentage of the overall population of the region, most of whom live in the actualTransnistria break-away republic. But historically they were the majority: according to the results of the Russian census (quoted in Romanian sources) of 1793, 49 villages out of 67 between the Dniester and theSouthern Bug were Romanian.[87]
And further east of the Transnistria Governorate there were many neo-Latin communities: indeed the Romanians/Moldavians in Ukraine – east of the Bug river – were calculated by a German census to be nearly 780.000 (probably an excessive number),[citation needed] and were made plans to move them to Transnistria in 1942/43. But nothing was done.
A far more likely figure was that given by a Romanian daily in March 1943. It reported that, as of the summer of 1942, 23,000 Moldavian families had been located in Soviet territory east of the Bug (under German occupation). A group of these had been made to make records of their folk music "in order to preserve proof of the permanence of the Romanian element in the distant East" (Universul, March 15, 1943).[88]
Indeed, when the Soviet Union regained the area in spring 1944, and theSoviet Army advanced into the territory driving out theAxis forces, many thousands of Romanians/Vlachs of Transnistria were killed in those months and deported togulags in the following years.[89] So, a political campaign was directed towards the rich Moldavian peasant families, which were deported toKazakhstan andSiberia as well. For instance, in just two days, July 6 and July 7, 1949, over 11,342 Moldavian families (more than 40,000 inhabitants of Ukraine Oblasts) were deported by the order of the Minister of State Security, I. L. Mordovets, under a plan named "Operation South".[90]
The Census statistics forRomanian-speaking population in territories east of the Dniester river are the following:
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