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Gheorghe Alexianu | |
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| Governor ofTransnistria | |
| In office 19 August 1941 – 26 January 1944 | |
| Conducător | Ion Antonescu |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Gheorghe Potopeanu |
| Governor ofȚinutul Bucegi | |
| In office 1 February 1939 – 6 September 1940 | |
| Monarch | Carol II |
| Preceded by | Alexandru N. Gane |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Governor ofȚinutul Suceava | |
| In office 29 August 1938 – 31 January 1939 | |
| Monarch | Carol II |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Gheorghe Flondor |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1897-01-01)1 January 1897 Străoane,Putna County,Kingdom of Romania |
| Died | 1 June 1946(1946-06-01) (aged 49) Jilava Prison,Ilfov County,Kingdom of Romania |
| Cause of death | Execution by firing squad |
| Alma mater | University of Bucharest |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Known for | Odessa massacre |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Kingdom of Romania |
| Branch/service |  Royal Romanian Army |
| Years of service | 1916–1918 |
| Battles/wars | World War I World War II |
| Criminal conviction | |
| Convictions | War crimes Crimes against peace Crimes against humanity |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
| Details | |
| Victims | Ukrainian Jews |
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Gheorghe Alexianu (January 1, 1897 – 1 June 1946) was aRomanian lawyer, high school teacher and associate professor who served as governor ofTransnistria between 1941 and 1944. In 1946, he was accused and convicted ofwar crimes,crimes against peace andcrimes against humanity; he was sentenced to death by theBucharest People's Tribunal (sentence reconfirmed in the appeals of 2006 and 2008), and was executed on June 1, 1946, by shooting.
Gheorghe Alexianu was born inStrăoane,Putna County;[1] he was the eldest son of anAromanian shepherd fromPindus, Ovanez Alexean, a refugee inWallachia to escape the forcedislamization undertaken by theTurks in the second half of the 19th century. Ovanez arrived with herds of sheep inMoldavia, in thePanciu area, where he settled after a short time.
In 1915 Alexianu began his law studies at theUniversity of Bucharest. After Romania enteredWorld War I, he enlisted voluntarily in theRomanian Army in December 1916. In1918 he left the army and resumed his studies at theUniversity of Bucharest. After graduation he was for a year professor ofphilosophy andhistory at a high school inRâmnicu Vâlcea. He then attended doctoral courses at theUniversity of Bucharest and obtained the title of doctor in legal sciences in 1925. From 1927 he held the position of associate professor of public law at theUniversity of Cernăuți, where he worked until 1938.
Alexianu began his administrative career with his appointment as a governor (Romanian: "rezident regal", literally meaning "royal resident") ofȚinutul Suceava (with the capital atCernăuți) on August 29, 1938. On December 1, 1938, the decree-law no. 169/1938 for the “citizenship review”, was issued by thegovernment, with the aim of revoking thecitizenship ofJewish citizens. Alexianu applied this decree-law abusively, with personal additions. Among other things, he ordered Jewish citizens, deprived of their Romanian citizenship, to register and also "suggested" that they should sell their properties and businesses within 14 days. On January 31, 1939, he was removed from the position of royal resident of Ținutul Suceava due to the inability to solve the social and political problems ofBukovina, and was replaced byGheorghe Flondor. Alexianu was then appointed as a royal resident ofȚinutul Bucegi (with the capital atBucharest). He held this position until September 1940.
On June 19, 1941, Alexianu attended the meeting of theAntonescu Government when it was decided to declare war on theSoviet Union. On August 19, he was appointed byIon Antonescu as governor ofTransnistria. In this position, Alexianu was an "ex officio" member of theCouncil of Ministers.
Following a bomb attack launched on the evening of October 22, 1941 bySoviet partisans against the Romanian Army located inOdessa, Alexianu, as a government representative, ordered and supervised the retaliation and massacre of November 1941.
As governor of Transnistria, Alexianu organizedghettos andconcentration camps to place the deported Romanian and UkrainianJews and 25,000Gypsies. He ordered endless marches in which Jews and Romas (including women, elders and even children) were forced to walk through the huge frozen steppes, leaving behind rows of corpses; he also enforced compulsory work for every "undesirable".[2] By Ordinance no. 35 of January 2, 1942 Alexianu ordered the deportation of all Jews fromOdessa to theBerezivka region, where they were massacred.
According to the historianRaul Hilberg, Antonescu's orders required German interventions:"There were situations in which the Germans would intervene to restrict and slowdown the Romanian measures. At that time, the Romanians were moving too fast for the German bureaucracy."[3]
About half of the 25,000Roma deported to Transnistria were killed.[4]
Alexianu administratively divided the occupied territories of Transnistria into counties, demanded the sending of a Romanian Orthodox Mission to this territory and re-established churches that have been previously transformed into grain depots or cattle stables by the soviet authorities. On December 7, 1941, on Alexianu's initiative, a university inOdessa was reorganized and reopened in place of the old University that had been evacuated to the east during the war by the Soviet authorities.
Although in Transnistria the majority population was Ukrainian, during Alexianu's administration, priority was given to Romanian schools. There were then 57 high schools (26 Romanian, 13 Ukrainian, 18 Russian), of which 34 practical high schools (5 Romanian, 13 Ukrainian, 16 Russian) and 23 theoretical-practical high schools (21 Romanian and two Russian).
On January 26, 1944, Alexianu was replaced as governor of Transnistria by GeneralGheorghe Potopeanu. On February 5, the newOdessa University awarded Alexianu the title of "doctor honoris causa", "as a gratitude of the support given to higher education in Odessa during his administration." On this occasion, the university assumed municipal positions and granted Alexianu a municipal title: "On behalf of the University of Odessa, we, the Faculty Council, unanimously declare you Honorary Citizen of Odessa".[5]
Alexianu was arrested in August 1944 and sent toMoscow alongsideIon Antonescu andMihai Antonescu. He was given back to the Romanian authorities in April 1946. He was tried and convicted for war crimes, and was executed on June 1, 1946, atJilava Prison.[6]
The charges brought against Alexianu and the sentences proposed for each one of them were the following:
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