Romania's Holy War: From Operation Barbarossa to Iaşi-Chişinău Offensive

[@catalincatalin4512]

My grandfather was a romanian seargent, he passed away when I was still a kid, so I don't have much information. He said he was on the eastern front, and when he was at home, in a permission, the front turned and he had to fight against germans. He was captured by the german army along with other romanian soldiers and imprisoned somewhere in Austria. He managed to escape, with a few soldiers and went back at home on foot, at some point paying a hungarian to cross them the Danube with a boat. Thats all I know, I would liked to be able to question him more about the war.

[@saganenzenieer6785]

I imagine the surprise of majority when they realize that Romania was a more important ally of Germany than Italy :)

[@CFS-nq7nc]

The Romanians were and will always be an interesting nation at least for me and here I am referring positively.....A Latin country surrounded by Slavic people who have resisted all invasions for hundreds of years defending their country's culture and traditional values.....Respect 👍👍👍

[@costibosneag]

If you want to know more, ask me.

[@HareK0nnen]

Wouldn't exactly say they resisted all invasions. Most of the country was under Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian rule for almost 500 years. Sure, they haven't been completely occupied by the Ottomans like Bulgaria was, for instance, but they weren't exactly free and independent either.

[@kevingates503]

Romania isn't Latin it's orthodox. They hate the latins

[@AndreLuis-gw5ox]

​@@HareK0nnen at very least the fact they never lost their unique language and culture when many diffent cultures strolled around the region erradicating locals is a testament to their resilience

[@tarotarani3709]

Which nation are you from?

[@raducristea4116]

Fun fact, the Romanian army reached the furthest point of the axis advance when they captured the city of Nalchik

[@nextaxprorescuefromirsrock1191]

Depends upon whether you're talking about the farthest easternmost point, or, the farthest southernmost point. Furthermore, we need confirmation that the Romanian Army served, there. They were around Kalach. Additionally, the Romanians didn't have modern equipment.

[@raducristea4116]

@@nextaxprorescuefromirsrock1191 yeah sorry i didnt make it very clear, the romanian army had the furthest axis advance in the caucases and there is confirmation as brugadier general Ioan Dumitrache captyred the city on 2nd november 1942 which got him the iron cross, and the fact that romania didnt have a lot of modern equipment doesnt have anything to do with capturing a city

[@jimwatts5192]

Hello folks. Great presentation that you’ll never see anywhere but WW2TV. Outstanding. Thanks Grant and Woody.

[@thomasmadden8412]

Excellent program, good introduction to Romania's military role in WW2, I learned a great deal.

[@colinlove5062]

I really enjoyed this I’m surprised I only came across it now. A true picture of Romania’s involvement in WW2 has started to take shape in the west over the past few years albeit mostly centered around Stalingrad. Very informative count me in as one of those eastern front aficionados who learned a tremendous amount.

[@mybrotherkeeper1484]

Great research and, might I add, a very plausible interpretation of Romanian motivations.

[@geoffwhite4530]

Fascinating piece of history. Thanks Grant and Paul.

[@KevinJones-yh2jb]

Thanks to Grant and Paul, as I missed the start of the presentation yesterday, re watching it now this morning, it’s a fascinating subject. Grants stream, is riveting, praise to him for his study and passion for this subject. The run up to this show has made me understand the Romanian links to the Axis in WW2. Thank you both

[@sparkey6746]

Excellent presentation gentlemen, thank you both.

[@WW2TV]

Thank you kindly!

[@adamwarne1807]

Excellent presentation! It's so important that the whole of the axis forces are included in the historiography of the war.

[@joeyj6808]

Really interesting subject, presented well. Fascinating, and until now, this was all just vaguely known. Great presentation, gentlemen! Thank you.

[@davidk7324]

Enjoyed this greatly. Thank you, Grant. It is apparent that you paid attention during your MTC language classes :)

[@stephenconroy5908]

On your thanks at the end; thank YOU for all your work. Started following the channel when you did Burma week and never looked back. How very lucky we all are to be able to learn more about this conflict in so many diverse ways. I loved The World at War, and WW2 in Colour, and the multitude of books of the general history of the war, but this is another level entirely as to the "new" stories we get to learn about. As well as the content, your empathy in presentation is just wonderful. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[@WW2TV]

You are very welcome Stephen. It's been a learning curve for me in hosting. Some people say I talk too little, some too much. I try and ask questions the viewers would ask, and connect the dots with other shows

[@pippohispano]

Very interesting presentation of a not so well known subject. Kudos to the guest for the study he conducted, giving us so much information that clearly deserves to be dissecated into further episodes.

[@jamesholden6661]

Very interesting, lots of information that was new to me. Keep up the good work.

[@valentinovali2575]

Wow what a documentary..the quality is mindblowing. Guys you were Spot on with this Awesome material. I’m looking forward on seeing more stories on this topic... God bless you guys, for making some light in the dark... GLORIE ETERNA EROILOR ROMANI !!! 🙏🌈🇹🇩

[@mihaelafilipescu5818]

Gloria eternă eroilor români? What glorie. They where bloody criminals murders, the Romanian they kept this away from us. And the King Michael of România never bothered to take action until the communist party interven and 23 August did happen. We let the Germans comming to Romania in 1940, we lost North of Transilvania Bucovina and Basarabia and again in 1947 again we lost Bucovina and Basarabia and in the South Balchic in resort of Black Sea today is in Bulgaria

[@AdamBuxton2]

Really insightful! Great presentation

[@evanwain1471]

This was an excellent presentation. I want to purchase his book. Thank you!

[@nickhomyak6128]

Thank-You for this Historical Knowledge..You're a great person in your research..

[@WW2TV]

Our pleasure Nick

[@iancarr8682]

Fascinating coverage of a subject I knew too little about. Not much covered in English.

[@dand7763]

Romania is that one dude who did a lot in a group work but often overlooked because they aren't part of the "cool" guys.

[@theDexMcHenry]

Another excellent deep dive into a (relatively) unknown aspect of the period. Absolutely fascinating.

[@Albert-Arthur-Wison225]

I adore the Romanian helmets of the period. It’s a toss-up between the Danes and the Romanians, I’d say, as to which military sported helmets most proximate to those worn by Death Star personnel.

[@sdssds1086]

It was the Dutch helmet M34, imported before and during the war.

[@daverhoades5596]

Another great show.First learned about Romania by watching Anthony Quinn in”The 25th Hour “, a1967 movie

[@zoompt-lm5xw]

Great movie

[@johndconstantine]

Damn, I need to subscribe, thank you!

[@WW2TV]

Welcome aboard

[@redsquirrel1917]

I'm glad to hear more about the early Soviet Bessarabia campaign. It gets a brief mention in Rokossvsky's memoirs as his first posting after his sojourn in Sochi (or recovering from imprisonment). He acted as an inspector of troops and when he got back from the 'liberation campaign' was given command of the 9th mechanized corps. Great presentation, thank you. Hope to hear more about the Romanians in the Don bend.

[@thcdreams654]

Masterful work as usual. This is amazing content you cannot get anywhere else. Thanks.

[@virgild1386]

Really interesting video, thank you!

[@WW2TV]

Thank you. Grant is an excellent guest

[@nonamesplease6288]

This video filled in a lot of missing spaces. I am something of a student of the Eastern Front, but I've never gotten this much information on the Romanians. What a rich, brutal, heartbreaking, and truly astonishing story. Thank you for this video. I can always count on this channel to present the best WWII history.

[@jessewood3410]

Brilliant presentation on a brilliant channel

[@WW2TV]

Thank you

[@johnappleby405]

Very interesting piece breaks new ground which is a real plus. Bucharest is worth a visit particularly the army museum the air museum and the holocaust museum. For a personal view from someone who lived in Romania 39-40 ,read Olivia Manning's Balkan Trilogy

[@Sugarmountaincondo]

At 1:19:40 if you ever want to identify any Romanian aircraft that fought on the Eastern Front, the #1 thing you should look for is the yellow band that was painted on all aircraft that fought there, no matter the nationality be it Finns or Hungarians or Romanian German, the yellow band signifies service on that front. The #2 thing you need to look for is the Romanian Airforce cross insignia that is also shown on the tail and just out of view on the wings. The Romanian Airforce used many types including indigenously built as well as imported versions and also Polish aircraft that were captured in 1939. Since most WW2 pictures are in B&W, this makes it easier to pick out the Romanian ones. Ironically the Allies copied the German yellow band tactic to prevent accidental shoot downs by friendly forces and painted the 3 white bands on their planes for D-Day.

[@michaelfleming6420]

Great presentation.

[@patm8622]

We rarely hear about the nations in the East who were involved in the war, Romania being a good example. This very well made, very well researched presentation was informative, insightful and fascinating. Well worth watching.

[@costibosneag]

In order to better understand the conditions in which the Romanian soldiers fought at the Don Bend, the following details must be known: the supply of the Romanian troops was assumed by the Germans, who did not deliver heavy weapons, anti-tank ammunition, anti-personnel or anti-tank mines except in very small quantities and very late. Specifically, some anti-personnel mines were delivered just hours before the Soviet offensive began. At the same time, the winter equipment had not been fully delivered to the troops who had been there in the trenches since the end of August, it was now already November 19th. In that area the weather has temperature extremes with minimums of -40 degrees Celsius at night or when the steppe wind blows. Building materials for bunkers or shelters did not exist, food did not constantly reach those on the front lines. The worst reason for the tragedy suffered by the Romanian royal army was that the Germans did not believe the information about the enemy and the troop movements they were making, considering that the Soviets no longer had reserves or technique for a large-scale offensive. However, as it later turned out, the Soviets had a spy named Richard Sorge who had infiltrated the German staff at the Tokyo embassy and who had definitely learned that the Japanese did not intend to attack the Soviets with troops from Manchuria, but wanted to attack America. Thus, Stalin moved over 1 million troops stationed in that area bringing them to the front from the Don Bend - Stalingrad and the Kalmyk Steppe. To these were added more than 3000 tanks, 12000 artillery guns and 1400 fighter planes and bombers. Most of the 86 infantry divisions, the soviets brought over, were from Siberia and were used to the harsh conditions of the Russian winter that had begun.The force ratio was 1 Romanian soldier to 5 or 6 Soviets. The front sector that a Romanian division had to cover was far beyond the possibilities of defense. As an example, in the Calmucă Stepa, if one Romanian soldier was placed next to another in a continuous line necessary to cover the front sector, the space between the two soldiers could vary from 30 to 60 meters. And, despite all these difficult conditions, the Romanian army fought bravely, destroying 229 tanks on the first day of the Soviet offensive. I forgot to mention the Soviet losses. At the end of the battle the total amount of losses from the Soviets mount to approximate 478,000.

[@benedeknagy8497]

The Italian and Hungarian army at the Don had similar conditions. For example the Germans promised modern guns and anti tank weapons, but delivered captured surplus weapons from France, Belgium, and Czechoslovakia. 37 and 47mm AT guns, first world war artilery pieces, and next to no ammunition.

[@davidlavigne207]

As the late Radio Host Paul Harvey would say, "And now for the rest of the story." Grant has done a wealth of work in enlightening us with many of the little known facts of Romania's WWII political and military history. The one thing that the Germans never were able to provide the Romanian Army with was modern tanks, assault guns, anti aircraft and anti tank guns. The Romanians were always asking for these weapons, but never could get enough. Had they been provided with more of this equipment I have always felt that they would have been more successful. Thanks for the very educational 1 hour and 54 minutes Paul and Grant. (Very insightful questions by our gallant host!)

[@mybrotherkeeper1484]

It certainly seems they had more motivation than the Italians

[@McMinderbinder]

That does point out that countries that can't produce their own weapons don't fare as well in war.

[@davidlavigne207]

@@McMinderbinder A very good observation, as the history of warfare is full of examples. Happy Christmas BTW , and a prosperous New Year! Cheers.

[@countdemoney9598]

they had the best looking planes during the war. IAR 80 beautiful things

[@lancegoodthrust546]

Seriously fascinating. Sick to shit of reading about Normandy to the point of being allergic. This looting and stealing of Romanian soldiers as they were being disarmed by the Soviets but by the LOCAL population is interesting. Again, I love the attention to detail about this.

[@mightymuzrub]

Very interesting

[@Scranton0]

I knew a Rumanian Sergeant that fought in the Don Bend.

[@nicholasperry2380]

What a great overview of a relatively unknown subject. Just ordered the book. I expect many more myths to be busted when it arrives.

[@alistairclarke6726]

Would sure like to hear more on this subject. So virtually unknown outside of the country itself

[@WW2TV]

We did a week of shows about Romania - check the playlists

[@Sugarmountaincondo]

Where is the link to the previous video he did with you about Odessa? I don't see it here in the description nor do I see it in your Romanian Folder of 7-Episodes. Did it fall under a different category?

[@WW2TV]

It is in the Romania at war playlist, but here you go kzbin.infoBDENmpcuM3s

[@Sugarmountaincondo]

@@WW2TV Thank You Sir 👍👍

[@costibosneag]

However, despite some mistakes that I have tried to explain, I want to thank Mr. Grant for bringing to light many of the facts that happened there by explaining in simple terms and intelligible to all some events and the reasons behind them. Also, his opinion is more listened to in the western audience and believed than my opinion. Accordingly, Mr. Grant, I thank you! I also thank Mr. Paul for his initiative. Chapeau!

[@ilnigromante666]

His thesis is superb!

[@iulicacristinica543]

I m Romanian and my grandfather s told me a lot of war stories,specialy about big difference btw rusian and germans....

[@JFB-Haninge]

Good Stuff.. 👍👍👍👍😁😁😁😁

[@WW2TV]

Thanks for the nice comment Hans, and if you haven't already, please make sure you subscribe to WW2TV and perhaps consider becoming a member? kzbin.info/door/UC1nmJGHmiKtlkpA6SJMeAjoin

[@NaturalLanguageLearning]

Where can I find Romanian language sources? Would love to read them.

[@costibosneag]

I have two or three more observations on Mr. Grant's statements. The first of them was how Romania made territorial concessions so that it could join the Axis. Nothing more false in this statement. I don't think there is any country in this world that says "you take pieces of my territory, let's say, about a third, and then let me join you!" At the same time, Mr. Grant makes the statement that the Soviets, in the battles given in 1941 by the Romanian royal army for the recovery of Bessarabia, would have crossed the Prut river in Romania several times. I am asking Mr. Grant to show me where and when this happened.

[@daniel.popa.2267]

Foarte buna observație.

[@PalleRasmussen]

Balck had *NOTHING* good to say about Hungarians, but praised the Romanians.

[@dave3156]

Great job by Grant researching this complex operation and assembling it in a way that was more easily understood. My apology to him for calling him Brian in the sidebar--not sure where that came from. Much easier subject matter to sit through than the painful ones the last couple days. Excellent job!!! Thanks for all your hard work in putting together these great authors/historians/subject matter experts Paul!! Thx!!

[@donaldmcmillan512]

Shut up 😊

[@donaldmcmillan512]

What a boring vid shut up plz

[@costibosneag]

Many people know nothing about Romania or Romanians. And then it's hard in just a few words or phrases to explain the actions of a nation. But for those interested in knowing, you can ask me and I will try to enlighten you. Now, I would like to correct Mr. Grant when, following his statements, he implies that after the First World War, Romania increased its territory by force of arms. This statement gives the wrong impression that Romania conquered new territory, which is false. All those territories added were Romanian territories from centuries ago, inhabited by a majority of Romanians. We merely liberated them from the occupation of those empires that collapsed with the end of the war. Two decades later, following the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, in which Hitler and Stalin divided Poland between themselves, Romania was also forced to cede a third of its territory. The eastern part of Moldova called Bessarabia was taken by the Russians along with northern Bukovina. Northern Transylvania was given to Hungary, and Cadrilaterland to Bulgaria. Thus, in a few months we lost 33% of the country's territory and about 6 million citizens. This was the reason why Romania entered the war in 1941: to recover the lost territories.

[@WW2TV]

That sounds dangerously like what the Russians are saying about Ukraine

[@costibosneag]

I will be honest with you: it is and it isn't. Now, that's not easy to explain and it requires a lot of knowledge of local hystory. Also, I want to mention that I'm not a fan of Russia or either Ukraine for that matter. If you want me to explain it in details, well it will take a lot a space here.@@WW2TV

[@daniel.popa.2267]

Foarte buna observație.

[@nervgear2254]

What the hell you talking about ? Democratic goverment after the war ?? It was communist run by the Soviets up till the 60's when there were romanian communists. Americans don't know much about this so I expect them to congratulate you ,but really for people who know a lot more,you haven't done your job that well at all!

[@WW2TV]

Thanks for the feedback

[@mybrotherkeeper1484]

The Eastern European nations did NOT embrace communism right after the war. The communists had to resort to infiltrating the other parties through intimidation and bribery to finally win free elections. THEN the communists finally took over these countries for good. They Always had control over the guns, however. So even though they lost the early, free elections, the people could not boot them out.

[@mybrotherkeeper1484]

Check out Anne Applebaum’s book, “The Crushing of Eastern Europe.” History repeats itself.

[@ionpopescu3969]

his whole thesis is oversimplified and terribly biased...

[@mailman63155]

And there was a significant amount of German investment in România which made them a bit more sympathetic to Germany.

[@andrewlane4766]

13 minutes into the vid our expert says that the fascists never took over in Romania and thatr there were very few workers in the country. What a shame. This should have been fascinating but how can I then take anything he says seriously?

[@valentinovali2575]

Regarding this topic, please allow me to translate the order given on the 22.06.1941 by General Antonescu, God rest his soul, and of all romanian heroes that fought in every battle in history, because they laughed in the face of death for a greater cause. “Soldiers, I promised you from the first day of the new Lord and of my national struggle to lead you to victory; to wipe away the stain of shame from the book of the nation and the shadow of humiliation on your foreheads and shoulders. Today, the hour of the holiest battle has arrived, the fight for ancestral rights and the Church, the fight for the everlasting Romanian hearths and altars. Soldiers, I command you: Cross the Prut! Crush the enemies of the east and the north. Deliver our invading brethren from the red yoke of Bolshevism. Fill in the body of the country the ancestral glory of the Bessarabians and the voivodal forests of Bukovina, your fields and lands. Soldiers, Go today on the road to the victories of Stephen the Great in order to comprehend with your sacrifice what our ancestors subjected to their struggle. Before. Be proud that the ages have left us here the guard of justice and the wall of the Christian city. Be worthy of the Romanian past. Soldiers, Before. Fight for the glory of the nation. Die for the hearth of your parents and children. To honor through your bravery the memory of Mihai Vodă and of Ştefan cel Mare, of the martyrs and heroes who fell in the land of our eternity with the aim of God. Fight for the liberation of our brethren, of Bessarabia and Bukovina, for the honor of the churches, life, and homes mocked by the invading pagans. Fight to avenge our humiliation and injustice. Your people, the King and your General ask for it. Soldiers, The victory will be ours. At fight. With God ahead! General Ion Antonescu June 22, 1941 ”

[@WW2TV]

Thanks for sharing

[@mihaelafilipescu5818]

This post make me sik. Still people crying about Ion Antonescu.

[@Cipricus]

After taking Bessarabia went ahead and lost 300 000 Romanian soldiers when the Germans were basically resigned to Romanians staying behind. And without any Hitler's pressure killed 300 000 Jews. That's your hero. To understand how could he be like that one has to understand he was just a soldier taking for granted the most basic nationalism and easily dominated by the prestige of Germany. He was improvising, getting to a position of power much above his stature -- in that very much similar to Ceausescu, an ignorant man without any true moral compass (North Korean model went to Ceausescu's head in much the same way Hitlerism mesmerized Antonescu). He had no need to kill so many Jews. Unlike Mussolini and Horthy he was completely overwhelmed with enthusiasm for an invincible Hitler, and thus based all his patriotic strategy on this mad dream. A very weak political mind trying to become a great man by becoming a big criminal.

[@Cipricus]

@@mihaelafilipescu5818 These people do not even watch the videos, not to mention reading the books. Their patriotism is of the kind that cannot thrive but in the very sparse atmosphere within their heads. They are not looking for knowledge, but for a sleeping pill. And they have that already.

[@Cipricus]

@@WW2TV You don't have to do that. This is an antisemitic Antonescu worshiper, for him that speech is not propaganda, is religious text.

[@kartoffeljager7609]

1:44:00 the morale was so bad that even in a Romanian WW2 movie called Noi cei din linia intai (We, those in the first line) which was a communist made propaganda movie in the 80s it was shown in a scene that Romanian soldiers were very angry and felt betrayed for being switched to Slovakia after almost reaching Danube in Budapest

[@costibosneag]

From here on, Mr. Grant has some information correct and some incomplete or wrong. The question why the Romanian army had to cross the Dniester and then the Bug rivers is equivalent and has the same answer as the question why did the allied, American, British or French forces cross the Rhine river? I think the answer is obvious, namely you have to fight a war to the point where the enemy admits defeat and has no strength to come back. Another of Mr. Grant's misinformation is found in the figure for the losses of the Royal Romanian Army in the Battle of Stalingrad. Instead of 109,000 soldiers, Romania then lost 158,854 personnel. The vast majority of them being taken prisoners of war only 1 in 12 returning years later to their country. The Germans had 95,000 soldiers taken prisoner, only 5-6,000 returned to Germany after 7-8 years of captivity.

[@mimisor66]

Interesting and well documented video, I found it very educative. However, you seem to gloss over the danger of bolshevism, and imply , by saying "jewish bolshevism" that the fear of bolshevism was antisemitic in nature. While many jews supported bolshevism, the doctrine in itself has been proved as criminal. By that time Romanians already knew that. History unfortunately has proven that. But in your video you make it sound just paranoic without cause to fear bolshevism.

[@Odysseus88]

Good stuff! Anyone who fought against the Soviets in WWII, I salute you! 🙋🏻‍♂️ It makes me sick thinking this all led to failure. wtf

[@bobbowie5334]

Having the Rumanians guard your flanks was like leaving Gomer Pyle in charge of the nukes.

[@dand7763]

they don't have anti tank weapons !!! at all ! just guns, grenades and some artillery , that was the mistake of germans , despite romanians asked many weeks for these anti-tank weapons , the germans don't listen! they said "hold there on the flanks , if it is a problem, we will intervene" but they don't do that, and the result was obvious... because russians started counter-offensive at Don Bend, ATTACKING MASSIVE with tanks - hordes of T-34, They KNEW that romanians lack anti-tank weapons

[@valentinovidiucornea4525]

Are you an American or just idiot like an American?

[@Page-Hendryx]

TL;DR - I'm looking on Google Books, as well as Amazon reviews, and it seems that the book is mostly about Romania's participation in the holocaust...

[@WW2TV]

It covers that subject, but much more

[@MsCristea]

At the risk of angering the masses by saying something bad about the God's chosen people, I have to say that many jews were indeed 5th columnists and communists. This is still the case in the Republic of Moldova which covers most of Bessarabia. This does not excuse however the later rampant antisemitism. These days most jews have migrated to Israel, others are a lot more integrated with the locals, plus their own persecution by the Russians during communism taught them a lesson.

[@catalincatalin4512]

I find it very interesting how secular jews were seduced by communism. Maybe, by rejecting their religious upbringing, which was in a great measure isolating (something peculiar to jews in all times, due to monoteism and not mixing with the pagan nations), they sought to integrate themselves in a non-national society, which was the ideology of communism.

[@qwertyuiopasdfghj001]

it does

[@nervgear2254]

Two words : Study more ! You mix antisemitism with communism a lot and historically is not true. Before the war there wasn't even a major pro-fascist group like the Iron Guard to have any political power. They never had any dispite the propaganda, for a few weeks they tried to overthrow the power in Romania wich was held by Antonescu and the military and failed. Soviet Union was never viewd as jewish, in fact if you know a bit of history the Soviet Union was mostly antisemite,despite what propaganda they do in Russia. The decisions in 1940 were still hold up by political parties,mainly the liberal party and 20% I would say by the Monarhical Institution, who by that time the King was more or less a figurehead. There was no way for Romania to ally itself to the Soviets at the start of the war when they were set on conquest, meanwhile Germany was not in the sphere of influence of Romania and in truth didn't care about conquering it if they could get the oil, wich is what they needed diplomaticaly.

[@WW2TV]

Thanks for your comment, I disagree but thanks for engaging

[@nervgear2254]

@@WW2TV Those things are separate, just because there was an antisemite propaganda doesn't mean it was corelated to communism and the overall war. There were publications and papers that linked them but they weren't read at the time by the actual citizens. Later,some historians and foreigners gave too much importance to these because of the Holocaust subject wich foreigners are most interested in when they talk about Romania in WW2. You just have to look at the statistics and numbers. Further, you have to explain what fascism really was in Romania and what was it based on. If you look closely you will find that it very much differed from Nazism or Italian Fascism and was more linked to a nationalism based on religion and the lower class, the peasants who had deep roots in tradition,old nationalistic customs and were deeply religious. Romanian fascism never had a racial element to it added in the 40's, the antisemitism was there since 12'th century if you will. There was antisemitism in Europe since medieval ages that never disapeared, especially in rural areas! Nazism hated religion and hated the romanian so called fascists. The second lider of the Iron Guard, Horia Sima was imprisoned by the germans and sent to a labour camp btw. The Romanian nobles,political class and the Monarchy oposed the war and Antonescu from the begining and took stepts to shelter jews and others. You can watch King Michael I video in US, done some years ago in english where he speaks about the war. He worked as a broker on Wall Street after he was deposed by the communists btw, because Romania didn't had a democratic goverment after the war ended ! All this you failed to mention. The fact that the Soviet Union was deeply antisemite also isn't showed. Russia, today is a perfect example of how that antisemitism from USSR has survived. And is absurd to think Romania or even Germany was fighting the Soviets because of they thought it represented the jews. Of course there was propaganda that linked the jews to everything, but the State, the military , the people never linked them togheter and it's absurd to do so. We knew very well why we fought the russians and that was 2 reasons: communism and proactive war in defending our borders!

[@nervgear2254]

@@WW2TV It's like 100 years from now I show you proof that US was anti science and deeply racist, antisemite by quoting from Alex Jones videos. Well,actually Alex Jones has more viewers than those papers had back in the day for romanians and it's not a joke. You can find antisemitism in every country today,including Romania. But, in today's Romania the antisemitism is very very low, analogus to two drunken people saying stuff in a bar somewhere. Plus,there is more to studying history related to today's world..It's about understanding real politik and considerations of social implications. If you pop up videos about how Romania genocide jews left and right and focus on that aspect like many american historians do, what do you think it will happen? Do you think the population is more likely to support jewish people? No , it will create a problem where there were none before, people will start hating jewish people because of unwanted criticism against them. Do you think people will support US anymore when in academic circles and socially they think Romania commited genocide? Of course not. And these things are today's real concern,not speculative. Romanians today believe in individualism more than any ideology but it takes very little for us to become nationalistic if push come to shove. You have to understand that Romania even before it was called Romania always had an inferiority complex , aggravated by westerners and imperial powers over centuries. So, it has received a lot of disrespect that is still going today and people hold that in the back of their minds, though they do not say it to you or show it.

[@nervgear2254]

@@WW2TV So do your homework if you want to have a broader view and a deep understanding of this region. See how in Bessarabia, modern Republic MD jews were treated under the Soviets since the Tzarist Regime in the 1800's and compare that to Interbelic Romania. The same jews were brainwashed by the soviets during the war to fight against us by whatever means,including what we call acts of terrorism today. Just like they are brainwashing moldovans from rural areas now since the 50's to be anti-romanian and you can see this still in Moldova politics, some of the rural moldovans are deeply uneducated,many don't know even to read or never learned the state language, and even though Russia never offered them anything financially or bettered their lives they are pro-russians. Because Russia always disliked the ideea of Bessarabia to be pro-romanian , they broke it in 3 pices in Stalin's time and gave two to Ukraine while offering Transnistria,a deeply pro-russian and poor land in exchange. It's not so hard for americans to understand now , when you know about Donbass war in 2014 and today, is it?!

[@WW2TV]

@@nervgear2254 Okay so clearly you have an axe to grind with me. Answer me these questions please? 1) Did you watch Dr Harward's first show about Odessa kzbin.info/www/bejne/eHWof6CmmNqAadU , 2) How many other English language WW2 channels have even attempted to discuss Romania's complicated wartime history and 3) Did you watch the shows with Vladimir Solonari, Marius Turda and Adrian Cioflânca 4) What is your background on this subject please? It's all very well saying Dr Harward is wrong (he is a qualified historian who has studied in Romania). What is your experience? Can you point me in the direction of your blogs, books and study. I would also like to say that is always more to be said about these subjects. I will be returning to the subject in the future and have other guests lined up.

[@costibosneag]

Now, I've been watching this interview with mr. Grant, and my opinion is, somehow, divided. While he get some true facts, for which I do thank him, also he had some views over certain facts that either were not true, either not fully documented. In other words, I could say that everything he says is half true and half false or misleading. With your permission, I could come here with counter evidence to what I think is a wrong statement by Mr Grant. But I want to state at the outset that this will take up quite a lot of space. However, I think these details are extremely important in the overall context of the situation of Romania and its population at the beginning of the Second World War. For example, the overall image of Romania was, and sometimes still is, that it is a poor and underdeveloped country. Nothing could be further from the truth. Romania was, is and will be a country extremely rich in natural resources. As an example, Romania was the first country in the world to have the first oil well in operation in 1857. Two years later, in 1859, it appeared in the USA and only in 1863 in Russia. The world's first oil refinery also appeared in Romania in 1857. Bucharest, Romania's capital, is the first city in the world to be lit by kerosene, also in 1857.The first country in the world to register and export oil was Romania. At that time, the best engineers and oil workers from all over the world came to Romania to learn the trade. As a result, a whole stream of foreign emigrants was coming to Romania. They were joined by many young people from the Romanian countryside who wanted a life in the city. The standard of living in interwar Romania was far higher than in Western Europe or even America, which were then in the midst of the famous economic crisis. At that time the exchange rate was 1US$ = 0.462Lei (Romanian currency). Basically, 1 Leu was worth just over 2 US dollars. So Mr Grant's claim that there were few workers for the oil industry or the railways is totally wrong. Everything I've told you so far is easy to check online. Therefore, if you wish, I can provide more explanation where I think Mr Grant is wrong.

[@costibosneag]

To continue with some of Mr. Grant's statements, with which I do not agree, regarding the Romanian propaganda presented by him as something bad. I am not commenting on the posters themselves that were presented, but I want to emphasize that at that time all the countries involved in the conflict were using the same methods and ideas. To convince yourself, look for posters from the Soviet Union, Great Britain, France, America, etc. As for flogging or the death penalty that were used in the Romanian royal army, they were applied only in extreme cases. For example, most cases of flogging were applied to rapists and those who looted civilians in the occupied zones. The death penalty was carried out after the defendant had been found guilty by a Court Martial of treason or desertion to the enemy. Many of the armies of those times had similar or even more drastic punishments. In other words, nothing new or extraordinary here.

[@zizzyballuba4373]

communists were almost exclusively jewish in romania. there's was no anti-communism possible in other way.

[@mathewkelly9968]

Its always been a mystery to me why Romania joined the Axis , especially after Germany carved up their country . Blaming that on 'the jews' isn't as big a mystery .

[@Cipricus]

That they joined the Axis could be explained on geopolitical basis after the fall of France and the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact. But that (unlike Mussolini and Horthy) Antonescu went beyond antisemitic policies to mass-murder cannot be explained but by an unusual submission or mimetism in relation to Hitlerism. I think Antonescu's personality counts a lot here. Romanian society was shocked and paranoic, and that didn't came out of nowhere: that was the result of multiple trauma. First there was the URSS-Germany alliance, then the fall of France (that cannot be overstated! - even Antonescu was a "francophile" - everybody was!) and then the obvious fact that an Anglo-American victory (which some considered unavoidable) would mean Soviet occupation in eastern Europe. But even so, without a man like Antonescu tens of thousands of Jews could have been saved in Basarabia. Antonescu had the means to save them, just like Horthy and Mussolini had (and did) - by simply not murdering them.

[@bluedeamon11]

@@Cipricus this is only propaganda, the president of Israel give thanks to antonescu and Romanians because we save more then 400.000 jews 10 august 2010 . this is a new way to make money on Romanians backs .

[@bluedeamon11]

@@Cipricus we have a book by Alexandru Șafran As chief rabbi of Romania (1940-1948). Read it because when he died Mossad agents took his personal writings in Swiss because he told the truth about Jews in Roumania. After all, we don't kill them. In Basseradia, we only kill the Jews which was demonstrated 1 year before when we retreated from Bessarabia and Moldova they attacked the Ro Army and refugees ( also if you search we have many writers that explain this fact Nicolae Iorga -De unde atat ura ? translated From where so much hatred ?) also in Odessa yes we kill jews BUT ALL THESE WERE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE RULES OF WAR, namely THE RETALIATIONS BECAUSE THEY BLOWN UP A BUILDING IN WHICH THE ROMANIAN ARMY STAFF WAS SITUATED.

[@daniel.popa.2267]

Asa este în 2010 președintele Israelului, a mulțumit Românie și implicit mareșalului Ion Antonescu pentru salvarea a peste 400000 de evrei , iar astăzi a

[@Cipricus]

Sadly, many Romanians still admire Antonescu. The reason is simply ignorance, lack of access to information in mainstream media, but also the simplistic idea that a "great leader" must have been a great character, for good or for worse. But Antonescu, beyond some level of shrewdness and ruthlessness, was just improvising and, basically ignorant and rudimentary in his patriotism, would have probably been a much “normal” (and better) leader were it not for the fact that he was also a highly suggestible individual. Lacking the means for his ambition, he became enraptured by Hitler’s greatness. He was not just a “big patriot” - that would have never lead to burning women and children in tens of thousands (although we can imagine the Germans would have killed them anyway: but Antonescu or somebody else in his position had the means to save them!). Hitlerism mesmerized Antonescu very much like the North Korean model went to Ceausescu's head 30 years later or so… The contemporary Romanian antisemitism was a factor but it was not greater than in Hungary or Poland - or Ukraine, or Russia: Antonescu was no more an unavoidable phenomenon than Ceausescu was. In a sense antisemitic policies and communism were trends of history that weak (or "exposed") states and societies like Romania could have hardly avoided. But that Romania had to have an Antonescu instead of a Horthy and a Ceausescu instead of a Zhivkov is making me crazy. Cultural, moral, institutional fragility is exposed by this bad luck.

[@mirceapintelie361]

you know nothing about the subject

[@Cipricus]

@@mirceapintelie361 What part is it that I ignore? - I am only interested in discussing here as a means to access more knowledge sources, like books and articles, and I'm not posting hazardous opinions. - Provide me with some titles that I should read or otherwise access if you are up to a discussion. - I am Romanian, I lived under Ceausescu, studied in Romania afterwards and I am familiar with the crimes of communisms, and the literature on that. While theoretically aware of Romania's participation to the Holocaust I have only recently felt the need for a more profound study of this part of my nation's history, hidden by the communists and only slowly accessible to the larger public. It is a very bitter cup to swallow indeed, but one that I am not ready to leave aside anymore. I feel that morally and intellectually - but also politically - ignorance on the matter is suffocating and infantile.

[@ionionescu6777]

@@Cipricus partea care arata ca esti un pupincurist idiot

[@moraruadi4368]

Go to sleep, litle ignorant poor man!

[@moraruadi4368]

Hero General Ion Antonescu!

[@bikesnippets]

However we try and dress it up, both Soviet and German records show open disdain for Romanian troops and equipment. There record of atrocities is also terrible.

[@catalincatalin4512]

Thats a gross generalization. Yes, the state of the Romanian troops and equipment was generally poor. But there are also some testimonies, especially from German officers, which state that if better equiped and with proper training, the niveaux of the romanian army could have been higher.

[@JohnSmith-un9jm]

Romania lost the first world war against Germany and then lost the second world war allied to Germany!

[@mihaelac2472]

They were victorious in WW1, as a result of which the Greater Romania was created. Yes, the Germans occupied Bucharest, as Romania was attacked from all sides, Russian allied army was in revolt and of no use, but the end result is what matters. Germany lost WW1, for your information.

[@nicolaeadrian7882]

they didinbt lost the first one ... russia left the war and romania was next to do it but the king never signet any armistice so they joined again close to the end and push up into austro-hungary

[@thieph]

😂😂😂 mcdonalds history

[@underworld9491]

Yes...we suffered allot back then because of the Bolsheviks and we hated them! And we still do it today. My grandfather and 3 of his brothers died in Odessa and Crimea. My grandma took care of her 6 children by herself. And she still remembered the hunger and all the hard work that she had to go through. I personally believe that Adi H must have won the war! And onestly I believe that this would have happened if American's wouldn't enter the war

[@underworld9491]

Because it's America and Britain that supplied Russia with weapons and ammunition and helped the with air support etc