Romania in World War II Through the Eyes of a Young Romanian
Turk
Dr. Burak S. Gülboy
Ass. Prof. Nevin Yurdsever Ateş
World War II, the depiction of a blood-stained period
from 1939 through 1945, manifests itself within the world’s
history as the war with highest numbers of bloodshed and most
profoundly to jeopardize the economical conditions of the
nations involved, and still remains a subject most intensely
studied.
It remains in general consent that the series of events
leading to World War II began taking shape at of the end of
World War I, the other grand battle of 20th century. World war
I was meant as a “war to end all wars”. However, in the year
1919, an assembly of winning nations gathering in Paris,
attempted to reconstruct the international system. Mistakes
that were made in this configuration and the imprints of these
errors on peace treaties determined a new world order resting
on an unesay piece.
Upon reading through the topics of Versaille Peace
Treaty, French General Ferdinand Foch said at the Paris
Congress, “This is not a treaty for peace but a truce to last
twenty years.” General Foch had been proved right, and Paris
rearrangements –along with the negative economical
İstanbul University, Faculty of Economics, ınternational Relations Department, Research Assistant İstanbul Bilgi University, Faculty Member
1
repercussions of Great Depression in 1929- resulted in the
raise of Fascism in Europe, and the emerging of revisionist
nations, all of which demanded alterations of existing
political borders. At the point where political paths came to a
dead-end and revisionist nations forced their ways into
altering national borders by force, the biggest battle in
history began.
The objective of this paper is to study the social and
political changes that took place from 1919 to 1945, and
attempt, in the end, to examine World War II specific to
Romania as well as through the eyes of a Romanian Turk. What
has been depicted is directed towards shedding light on the
destruction and transformation in this region through the
perception of a young person, rather than providing an outline
of Romania in political, social and economical terms in those
difficult times.
Sabri Feyzullah:
Sabri Feyzullah is a Turk traced back to Crimean
Tartars, born in 1923 in Mangolia, a town that is located in
the Black Sea shore of Romania. He spent his childhood
peacefully in the stable atmosphere in Romania in the 1920s,
his youth in the turbulent rising of fascism to bring Romania
under its influence, and with the difficulties of World War II
2
that finally took effect. He began his military education when
he was an 18 year-old junior tailor; was enlisted in the army
1944, was sent to the war field afterwards, and went to war, at
first on side with Germans. With his country switching sides in
August 23, 1944, he then fought with Russians. In the last few
months of the war he was found in Hungary and Czechoslovakia
and returned home safe and sound, this followed by marriage,
resuming his profession, communism years and finally moving
back to Turkey. Sabri Feyzullah’s life is full of anecdotes to
shed light on many turns in the history of Romania. The subject
matter of this study is World War II and Romania at the time.
Anecdotes of Sabri Feyzullah are not the only ones of his own.
The recollection of his father’s memories are still fresh in
his memory. What his father went through in World War I highly
matters within the texture of this study.
Romania went to war in 1916 on the side of Entente nations, but
was occupied by Axis forces and most of Romanian army was held
hostage after the occupation. Before reminiscing his own, Sabri
Feyzullah gives an account of an interesting journey of his
father’s, who was a soldier in the defeated Romanian army and
who experienced the war in this period, from being a hostage to
being a soldier in Turkish War of Liberation:
“My father is Yahya Feyzullah. He fell captive to the Bulgarian, in 1916. After that, the
Bulgarians held him prisoner of war for a year, or eight months. Then they handed
all the Muslims to the Turkish soldiers, to the Ottomans. Because, the Germans, the
Bulgarians and the Turkish were allies. They loboured in Eskisehir, these captives,
only for food. Then in 1919 Ataturk announces, if this kind of hostages go and fight
3
for a year with Turkish army, they will go back home after a year. And so they went.
My father and his friends, all of them, joined Kuvva-i Milliye. He told much of
Afyonkarahisar, I don’t know where it is. Afyonkarahisar battle, and Sakarya battle…”
“They came to Istanbul from Sakarya. It means they are entitled to go back to their
hometowns. Four companions they went to a mosque when they came to Istanbul
on a bayram day. They had nowhere to go once they were out of the mosque. They
were left out on the street. Then and there, they decidde that they would be going
back. One or two of them stayed. One of them got married here.”
The experiences of Sabri Feyzullah’s father bear
significance in the sense that they can be regarded as a
starting point for a prospective study on captives and non-
Turkish soldiers within Turkish army in the Turkish War of
Liberation. As a new era took its course after the end of World
War I, Sabri Feyzullah was born, in 1923. And as major changes
took place in social and political terms, especially in Eastern
Europe, Sabri Feyzullah’s Romania was one of the countries that
sustained the deeper marks of change.
A New Romania:
When Sabri Feyzullah was born, Romania was in a new
process of restructuring itself, right after World War I. In
1918 when the war ended with the victory of Entente nations;
while Romania regained its independency, it also pushed its
borders forward, acquiring Transylvania from Hungary, Dobrudja
from Bulgaria, and from Former Russian Empire’s state
Baserabia, thanks to the Paris rearrangements of 1919. Romania,
which was a country of unity in terms of nationality until
4
1918, became a country of many minorities as a consequence of
the land acquisitions mentioned above. In the census of 1930,
Romania’s population showed 18,5 million people while 4,5
million of this count consisted of minorities.1 The numbers
related to the census in 1930 are approximately the same in
Keith Hitchins and George Clenton Roggio. Hitchins gives the
figure of total population of Romania as 18.052.896. 2 He
states that this number is over the approximated population by
2,5 million people, while Roggio gives a figure of 18.025.237
corresponding the total population. 3 Total population
portioned to states is given as follows;
Wallachia 5,542,467
Moldovia 2,413,123
Baserabia 2,865,506
Bucovina 845,903
Dobrudja 811,332
Transylvania 3,217,149
Maramuresh and Krishna 1,387,675
Banat 942,072
Total 18,025,237
Going back to the subject of minorities in Romania, Roggio4
states that the 1930 count did not provide details regarding
1 Herbert Von Moos, Büyük Dünya Olayı, Istanbul, Kara Kuvvetleri KomutanlığıIstanbul Military Print, 1952, Volume 1, p 3092 Keith Hitchins, Romania, Claredon Pres, Oxford,1994, p.335-3363 George Clenton Roggio, Romania Its History, Politics and Economics, Manchester Sherratt & Hughes, 1932. p.1094Id., p.110
5
national minorities, but more reliable approximate numbers are
provided by Winkler’s “Racial Statistics”;
Germans 713,564
Russians 174,293
Jews 778,094
Hungarians 1,463,373
Bulgarians 351,328
Yugoslavians 52,570
Czechs 31,884
Ukranians 500,484
Others 404,104
Total 4,469,694
Similarly, according to the Castellan 1930 population count,
the population of minorities along with the Romanians is
provided as 18 million people. 5 The number of Romanians in
this figure is 12,985,000. The minority figures are;
Hungarians 1,426,000
Germans 740,000
Jews 722,000
Ukranians 577,000
Russians 415,000
Bulgarians 361,000
Gypsies 270,000
5 Georges Castellan, Balkanların Tarihi 14-20. yüzyıl, Tr: Dr. Ayşegül Yaraman Başbuğu, İstanbul, Milliyet Printing House, 2nd print, 1995, p.432
6
Turks/Tartars 180,000
Polish 54,000
Serbian/Hırvat 52,000
This complex structure of the population as a result of
the rearrangements of 1919 was reflected in the different
expression of different cultures in Romania at the time. Even
though Sabri Feyzullah’s Mangolia was a small town, its
structural weave reflected this cultural diversity. Sabri
Feyzullah remembers rather clearly the cultural and ethnic
diversity that dominated life in his hometown. Sabri Feyzullah
defines the aforementioned diversity in terms of different
identities and cultural differences:
“There were many Germans in our town Mangolia. We had two churches. There was
one German church, and one Orthodox. There was Sarıgol; a German village... They
used to call the inhabitants Whitehead… That village was very organized. If you
looked from afar you would know where the Turks lived. But where German lived,
their houses were clean, painted in grey… Everything they had was organized, neat, I
must admit. If a chimney on a house was crooked they would tell a Muslim lived
there. The front door of a German would be like a palace… their gardens so neat.”
“There were seperate little towns in the same town. There were the Laz people. There
was the Laz ward, called the Laz village… They had come from Black Sea coast ( of
Anatolia) , they spoke Turkish, and very fluent Turkish. There were Jews too but
few of them. I heard the Armenians in Kostence were many… They were Turkish
citizens, too. There were Turkish citizens both from Armenians and the Romanians…”
Social Configuration of Romania:
7
Along with welcoming many different ethnic roots,
Romania was one of the rare countries to succeed in living with
the ethnicity in 1920s, such as Czechoslovakia and Estonia.6 In
Sabri Feyzullah’s words:
“Everyone prayed in their own religious way, they were free. Then after communism
came on, after 1945, they put some bans. Only retired people could go and pray.
Surely you couldn’t drop work and go on the Friday prayer. No one here walks by
without a greeting, no matter if you knew them or not, they greeted you… Typical
Balkanic, right? People from all nations. Such a universal place. That is why the
people who live there have different perspectives. Their perception of life is not the
same as others.”
There is no doubt that the phenomenon of a different
perception of life in Romania is offered to the people of
Balkans by the geography. As underlined by Stefanos Yerasimos,
the geographical structure of mountains blocking between plains
prevented the mixing of Balkan people and each people in the
region managed to protect their identities. Following the rule
of Roman Empire in the region, Balkans were both dominated by
multinational empires such as Ottomans, Habsburgs and formed a
transition path between Eastern and Western civilizations. Even
the renewed political borders that apportioned the Balkans in
the 19th and 20th centuries could not hurt ethnic and cultural
diversity in the region, and the cultural differences of Balkan
peoples are preserved until today.7 Even though the picture
depicted by Sabri Feyzullah is the prevailing scene in the6 George Clenton Roggio, id, p. 64
8
Balkans, it should be duly stated that the flip side of the
coin is a darker one. In the light of George Clenton Roggio’s
1932 data, it is clear to us that Romania experienced trouble
with its etnicity policies in Transylvania, which was acquired
after 1919, and especially Dobrudja.8 The dispersion of
minorities within the country was the most significant reason
for contradictions. As a consequence of the demographic
division of the population after the annexations of 1919, most
of the minorities within the country lived in the recently
annexed regions. In order to balance out the population in the
annexed lands, Romanian governments attempted for placement of
people throughout the 1920s. Sabri Feyzullah recalls the
placement in Mangolia:
“We had many Romanians. There had been none before. They arrived at our town in
1924. A few families who had thousands of sheep, farmers, that is. But where did
those clonishes (colonizers) come from? So they were clonized. That is, they were
brought from another place in another country, to a certain place in Mangolia,
somewhere out of the city, they were clonized in there. They were called the clonishes.
Can you imagine, there were so few Romanians in their own land… There were few of
them because the land used to be Otoman Empire, that’s why… And there were 5 or 6
of us kids…Our mothers would get together in town, to see the Romanians…There
were folk dances…On Sundays. It was far too, but we’d go anyway…They would take
us. Sure their district was seperate, ours was in the downtown. Each seperate, each
district...”
7 Stefanos Yearsimos, Milliyetler ve Sınırlar, İstanbul, İletişim Printing House, 1994, p. 17-208 Roggio, Id., pp 66-69, 70-73
9
Sabri Feyzullah’s recollection of his school years is revealing
about the development of multi-ethnicity in Romania in late
1920s, and that the state provided a living environment in
harmony:
“Religious holidays were celebrated seperately. Everyone would celebrate their own
religious holidays. There was no official pressure. Even the Romanians, neighbors,
they would come and we would celebrate together. They have their Christmas and
Easter. We would celebrate altogether. Neighbors… The Germans, Orthodoxes,
Catholics. Such an interesting thing, small place is our town…We had a number of
holidays in a year and everyone was celebrating…May 10 was a national holiday.
Romania became independent in 1877, in the Turco-Russian war…We would get in
line after school, then go to church. Then we would go to the mosque. And we would
shout in the mosque, “God bless our King Carol II, God bless him”… On our way out,
they would give out candies to us. And in religious holidays people would celebrate
with their families and neighbors. We would visit our Muslim neighbors, kiss their
hands; and they would give us nuts.”
Political Change in Romania:
No doubt the peace and harmony described by Sabri
Feyzullah had to do with the democratic experience Romania was
going through. As a matter of fact, Romania was going to prove
one of the Eastern European countries to protect its democratic
institutions with utmost care, until mid-1930s. Right after
German forces pulled back, who had only occupied the land in
1919, King Ferdinand returned and Liberal government led by
Ionel Bratianu came to the power. Because the winds of
10
revolutionary change prevailed in Romania as well as Eastern
Europe, Liberal government was favored by a large portion of
society, supporters of the system.9 Until 1928, Romania was
governed by coalition companies led by center parties. In the
late 1920s, economic difficulties and the land reform still not
having been fully applied, resulted in decline of popular
support towards the governments in question. Iuliu Maniu, whose
efforts for reform could not bring forward the anticipated
improvement, had established the cabinet in November 1928.
Starting from beginning of 1930s on, the democracy in Romania
started to lose its stability. After Carol II returned from his
exile in 1930, frequently changing coalition cabinets lost
popular support, and fascist movement began to gain power on
the road to rapid institutionalization.
In the mid-1930s, the influence of fascism got under way
in Eastern Europe, as well as being on the rise in Germany and
Italy. Romania had got its fair share of the rise of fascism,
too. The Liberal and National Labor Parties that used to be the
driving force of Romanian parlimentary structure, lost the
enthusiasm that they used to stage. Since the influence of the
Great Depression of 1929 had started to prevail in both cities
and the country, the back up behind the former political
parties diminished. While the newly crowned King Carol II took
his opportunity to limit parliementary power tools and unlimit
his own, the present situation did best to those who
represented extreme rightwing and differentiated themselves
9 Keith Hittchins, id, p 405
11
with fascist tendencies, namely, Iron Guardians or Legionnaires
movement.10
The repercussions of 1929 depression in Romania
constituted plenty of reasons for the unfastening in the
political system. The country’s national income decreased by 45
per cent between 1929 and 1932. Export figures that showed 29
billion Ley in 1929 sharply declined to 14 billion Ley in 1933.
The prices of agricultural products, which had an important
share in the country’s economy, had gone significantly low
down. Goverment investment had gone down from 36 billion Ley in
1929 to 18 billion Ley in 1933.11
Sabri Feyzullah finished his education in the recession
time of Romania, and was given as an apprentice to a tailor to
acquire a profession of his own. He remembers going to a notary
with his father and the tailor to sign a contract when he was
13. according to this contract, his master gave his guarantee
that he was going to be an assistant in three years’ time. This
way, Sabri Feyzullah acquired his first social guarantee in his
professional life. This very first step, whice makes Sabri
Feyzullah smile to recall, may be considered as an indication
that, despite the economical recession that enveloped Romania
after the Great Depression of 1929, the state still carried out
the regulations in business life.
When Sabri Feyzullah first took up his profession,
Romania went under a major change as well. Economical problems
and inconsistent cabinets around mid-1930s resulted in changing
10 Id., p 41611 Nicholas m. Nagy-Talavera, The Green Shirts and Others, A History ofFascism in Hungary and Romania, Stanford, Hoover Institute Press, 1970, p269
12
of the political equilibrium. Fascism rising especially in
Italy and Germany, affected Romania as well, powering fascist
Legionnaires, who took their shape as an oppression group in
1928 and who rapidly became a political party.12 Especially
along with the support from Hitler in power in Germany,
Legionnaire movement gained strength in Romanian political
scene; and West European democracies, France in particular,
worried that Romania would slip onto the fascist side. In 1932
elections, Legionnaires significantly raised their share of
total votes, actively demonstrating their antagonism towards
Jews and minorities at the same time, representing an
oppressive force upon the society. On the other hand, the
Liberal government was disturbed by this increasingly
stregthening power. I. Duca formed the government after the
elections of 1932, and assured the French that he would take
precautions against the fascist movement in his visit to France
in 1933. Following this visit, the Legionnaires were forced
with more and more oppression. They would not be allowed to
take part in the 1933 elections, and many of the active
followers of the movement were subjected to legal proceedings
by the police force. The backlash from the Legionnaires came in
the form of assasination of the Duca in December 1933.13
12 In the beginning of 1930s, the Legionnaire movement getting organizedwith the leadership of Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, was equipped with anti-semitic and anti-communist ideas. The movement was able to gather muchsupport within the country from students, academicians, young militaryofficers and young priests. It did not take long for them to centralize allaround Romania and form secret cells within the army, police force andcourts, and start printing newspapers and periodicals of their own. See.Reuben Markham, Romania under the Soviet Yoke, Boston, Meador PublishingCompany, 1949, pp 96, 98 13Nagy-Talavera, Id, p 274
13
Sabri Feyzullah tells us about the gaining power of
Legionnaires and the assasination of the Duca:
“All the students were Legionnaires. The faculty youth loved this idea. They wore
German Swastikka. The nationals always wore uniforms and all. Iin 1933, French call
the Romanian prime minister... and he went to Paris, and promises then and there
that they will do away with this party. Then the prime minister came back to Sinaia,
and the Legionnaires surrounded him... They killed both the prime minister and his
bodyguards. They were caught on the second they, they did not escape, they got
caught. On the second day, right there, where the Duca was killed, six Legionnaires
were killed. This happened in 1933. We were too young by then but we saw the
pictures on the papers. And then the politics were a mess... So bit by bit... One party
came in power, for four-five months, did not even last a year, and then came
another. This is how it went on.”
The political crisis in Romania followed an increasing
trend until the end of 1930s. The shortcomings of Liberal
governments and the rapid acceleration of the Legionnaires in
the late 30s resulted in the proper functioning of Romanian
democratic institutions coming to a halt. On the other hand,
one other factor playing role in the formation of the path-
defining political structure in Romania in early 1940s was the
changes in the political geography where the country was
located.
Approaching War and Changing Borders:
14
Since as early as the 1920s, Romania had defined the
core of its foreign policy as military and political
coordination with France. In spite of this, Romania was left on
its own as a consequence of the political events of the late
30s and the fading of the color of France in Eastern Europe. In
the frame of all this, Romania was left with nothing but
standing on the right side of the scales to protect the borders
it extended in 1919. The weaker finances of the country proved
limiting on the procurement of military needs. The partition of
Czechoslovakia in not less than a year after the Munich
Regulations of 1938, and the overlooking attitude of England
and France, added to the probability that Romania would be
facing a similar situation, too. Besides, increasing pressure
from Hungary in demand of more land, and the finally-
disintegrated Czechoslovakia’s acquisition of southern regions,
were disturbing developments. In response to Italy’s occupation
of Albania, England and France reassured Romania and Greece in
April 1939; and promised that the protection would come in the
form of arms and weapons.
The nonaggession pact signed by Germany and USSR
confirmed Romania’s worries, and subsequently, Romania gave
permission to the Polish government, Poland’s gold reserves and
100.000 Polish soldiers to pass through Romanian land. When
France was defeated by Germany and England withdrew from the
continent, Romania lost its most important allies. Sabri
Feyzullah talks about the activation of the materializing war
in Romania:
15
“In 1938 it was doubted that Hitler would be coming up with something...
Then the war started in less than a year, in 1939... Hitler demanded Danzig from
Poland, Poland held out, did not give in. Then the war started. Then Hitler’s army
trespassed Poland border on September 1939, and Stalin’s army marched in on the
east. They tore Poland in two. Because it’s Stalin’s plan, not to let Hitler too close to
the Russian border. The German got half of it and Russians got the other half... when
the winter came, the battles stopped. The French and the German would fight
incessantly, but on the border... Hitler attacked with tanks when the spring of 1940
came. The French had their Livya Majino (The Majino Line)... Hitler could not
break that. A few times he tried but he could not break. We would see it in the
papers. We were young back then. They would show us pictures on the papers. Then,
after a while, Hitler invades Holland and Belgium. He goes through the Belgium
border and enters France. He couldn’t enter Livyo Majino, that’s why... And then we
still can’t read in French, we saw the pictures on the paper, French soldiers were
writing on train windows, –how did it go- “what are we fighting for”... In fifteen days,
the German invaded France. And they handed in Paris with no fight, so it wouldn’t be
ruined.”
After France’s surrender in June 22, 1940, the challenge
for Romania began. Romania represented the very last element of
the system regulated in Paris Congress in 1919 in Eastern
Europe, and that system was about to come to an end. Therefore,
it was finally Romania’s turn to be dissected. On June 28,
Russia gave a diplomatic note and demanded that Baserabia and
North Bucinova be surrendered to her. Russia’s demand was
assented. After Russia, Hungary gave a diplomatic note to
Romania this time around, and demanded that the Romanian land
that belonged to them before 1919 handed back to Hungary. Since
16
the discussions between Hungary and Romania failed to come to a
conclusion, the two countries decided that the problem would be
solved through the arbirtation of Germany and Italy. The
discussions, which proceeded in the presence of four countries,
continued until August 30 in Vienna, and as the arbitration
decree dictated, Romania had to leave a significant part of
Transilvannia to Hungary. Eventually, in the beginning of
September, Romania had no choice but to leave Dobrudja to
Bulgaria.14
As a result of the latest adjustments of its borders,
the land of Romania shrank by one third, losing 100.000 square
kilometers of land and 6 million of its population. Since the
change of borders resulted in alarming immigration, Romania had
to face serious problems.
Sabri Feyzullah was only 17 when the borders were
changed, but he remembers the entirety of what happened
clearly, even today. He is still perfectly able to point out
the changes in borders in detail. The fact that a 17-year-old
teenager is affected so deeply by it is an indication rather
suggestive regarding the motives of Romaina entering the war
later on. Sabri Feyzullah talks about the changes applied on
national borders:
“They took Romania’s land. Russians took Baserabia, Hungarians took Transylvania,
Bulgarians took two provinces in Dobrudja... Dobrudja is only four provinces anyway.
They took two of four. Romanians that were left in Bulgarian acquisition withdrew to
Romania. Bulgarians in Romania moved to Bulgarian land. They exchanged both
14 For detailed information on the division of Romania, see. Von Moos, Id., Volume 1, p 306-314
17
houses and people... The lands the Bulgarian took were close to us. Silistre is a
Muslim town, Pazarcık is a Muslim town, Balchık is a Muslim town... Balchık is in the
Black Sea coast, Pazarcık is in the middle, it has nothing to do with the sea, Silistre is
by the Danube... Immigrants arrived at where we lived, mostly Macedonians.
Muslims came. Long before in Balkan war, in 1913, Romania had taken these two
towns from the Bulgarians, they used to belong to the Bulgarians these two towns.
They passed over to the Romanians in 1913 but Bulgarians retook them in 1940.”
Romania Under German Influence:
It did not take long for the loss of land in Romania to
deepen the political instability. King Carol II15, accused to
handing in a third of the country’s land to foreigners, was
forced to abandon his throne on September 6, 1940, while his
son Michael took the crown. As soon as he landed on the throne,
Micheal overauthorized General Ion Antescu, who was the prime
minister at the time. General Antescu rapidly monopolized the
administration of the country and formed a cabinet that based
on the political wing of the Legionnaire movement: the Iron
Guardians. On September 12, German troops arrived in Romania
in an attempt to protect the petroleum wells and refineries in
the country. On November 23, Romania signed the Axis alliance.
15 Romanian King Carol II visited Turkey with his private boat namedLuceafarol in June 1938. In this unofficial trip, Prime Minister CelâlBayar and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tevfik Rüştü Aras welcomed him nearBuyukdere and accompanied him to Istanbul. Carol II got together withAtaturk the next day (June 19) at the Savanora boat and afterwards, steppedon the land and visited various parts of the city. They met in DolmabahcePalace the next day. On the same day towards noon, Mustafa Kemal returnedthe visit. Both leaders stressed that the meetings were of the `privatekind`. (See. Akşam 21 June 1938, Son Posta 21 June 1938)Despite Romaniasunfriendly neighbours, Romanian-Tukish relations were in good mood untillthe communists took the government in the end of the Second World War.
18
The German military presence in Romanian territory was on a
steep increase towards 370.000 by the spring of 1941. In Sabri
Feyzullah words, those days and how the German troops entered
his country:
“In November 1940, at the beginning of autumn, the cold days started. The
Germans gave an ultimatum to Romania, because they shared neighboring borders
after they took Poland. And so everyone was surprised. Romanian military, top-level
military, said that everyone from this age to this age will be going to the barracks. All
the men went to the barracks, my father went too. We were still young, 17-18 years
old, we stayed home. They went and came back in three-four hours. They said the
King surrendered himself, Romania was surrendered to the Germans. Then the
Germans entered Romania. They were not resisted. Liberal Party, Labor Party
resisted a little... Then the Germans were all around... Very orderly came their armies,
very clean they were and there was nothing they did to anybody. They would buy
chickens, they would buy eggs all the time. German soldiers were all after eggs, they
loved it. And then Hitler called back the Germans populated in Romania. He
announced, that the Germans who wished to go back had the right to sell their
houses, he had the possessions loaded in vagons, he had them carried to Germany.
Who stayed in our Mangolia? Only Victoria had stayed. And then she left too. There
were many Germans in our place, two churches we had. A few hundreds of Germans
were there I suppose. All of them left.”
On the other hand, although the Legionnaires tried to
take over the government by overthrowing Antonescu in the
beginning of 1941, Antonescu gained the support of the military
and suppressed the Legion movement by way of killing or
19
imprisoning most of its followers. With the demolishing of the
Legionnaires, Antonescu announced his dictatorship in Romania.
Romania’s Involvement in World War II:
Although Romania was with the Axis nations, it did not
actively participate in the invasion of Yugoslovia and Greece,
but still allowed its bases would be put into military use.
Therefore, it deserved its active involvement in the Barbarossa
operation against USSR in 1941. After Romanian forces retook
Basserabia, they continued fighting as part of the south wing
of German army. They played an important role in Crimea’s
invasin in 1942; but after the defeat in Stalingrad, loosing
great numbers of men and material, the Romanian contribution in
German army started to decline sharply. Following Soviet
advancement in 1944, the war came closer to the Romanian
border. Sabri Feyzullah informs us on those times:
“Romania did not take part in the occupation of Yugoslavia and Greece, but joined
the war against Russia; because Baserabia was our land. Marshal Antonsecu said
one day that there is a river called Prut here, you will take the homeland. Romanians
took Baserabia in two months. They proceeded a long mile too. They took Odessa,
Sivastapol, but they lost many lives. Then in 1943 the Russians started to move
forward. They came and entered Romania. When they didn’t stop, we joined the army
too, in 1944...”
Sabri Feyzullah’s recollection of Mangolia in the time of war:
20
“The war started, the town went silent. All the men went to war. War gave everyone
sorrow. All the houses in town were painted grey. You couldn’t paint it white. Russian
planes would fly over us, hitting even our town. Our Mangolia is a small town... there
were people who died, people who got hurt. They dropped bombs. They dropped
small bombs. Russian planes were quite weak. Russian planes dropped bombs to
Kostence. They mostly came fromover Black sea, from Sivastapol they came, from
Crimea over to us; because we were close to the border.. From the south, from above
Bulgaria, they flew over Kostence regularly. Kostence is close to us, 40 kilometres
away. There is a harbor in Kostence, petrol tanks, oil tanks, they used to bomb
those.”
Since he was yet to reach military age, Sabri Feyzullah,
did not participate in the Russian front. From his
recollections, we learn that conscription age in Romania was
21. However, within Romanian military frame, Sabri Feyzullah
began his military training in 1941, when he was 18.
“Once a week, only on sundays, there was military training from eight in the morning
until noon. We practiced in Mangolia. There was one officer and two corporals, they
were training us. They gave us weapons too but empty ones. We weredressed in
civilian clothes, not uniforms... This training went on until you are enlisted at the age
of 21. I gave complete reports each year. That means I attended without ever failing
to.. Back the, completing the training without a miss, you had the opportunity to
choose what class you would like to be, where ever you want to go.”
Sabri Feyzullah was enlisted in the army when he was 21:
21
“In 1943 they examined our health. You go artillery you are infantry, they seperated
us. In Spring 1944, they conscripted us to the army. We went to Kostence. Since
Kostence is a Province, soldiers from each and every land go there and join. This one
goes to Ploesti, this one goes to Brashow, this one goes to Bucharest... Soldiers
collected us and brought there. We are civilian young men. They brought us to
Brashow, to man anti-airplane weapons. We didn’t even see them up close in
Brashow. They didn’t let us. After we stayed there for a month, they brought the anti-
airplane cannons to Pozsi. We practice-trained there for a year. We would stand by
the artillery but when the planes came the soldiers would takeover. We would go to
the trenches, and look down. One month later they brought us by the cannons, that
was how we carried on.”
Air Battles in Romanian Skies:
Sabri Feyzullah begins his military service in the anti-
aircraft unit in Brashow. When asked, he says it was called the
1st Brashow Anti-aircraft Regiment and remembers that the anti-
aircraft artillery in use were 75mm cannons manufactured by
Vickers/Rosita. When we examine the dispersion of Romanian
anti-aircraft units, we find out that the 1st Anti-aircraft
Regiment was under the 3rd anti-aircraft Brigade and located in
Bucharest.16
From the beginning of 1944 on, English and American
airforces began attacking Romania. English airforce undertook
night-time raids, American air forces carried on daytime raids.
In March 1944, since Soviet army was close to Romanian border,
the Soviet air movement above Romania was on the rise. Soviet
16 For more information on Romanian anti-aircraft units and the weapons usedSee. Offline: www.worldwar2.ro , last updated: March 2005
22
army approached Romanian border in March 1944, therefore
increasingly activating Soviet airforce in Romanian skies.
Romanian airforces were supported by the Germans, and they were
fighting with all their might, stirring it up for Romania above
the land. Romanian industrial and petroleum facilities were
given vital importance by Germany, the full support of whom
made Romania one of the strongest air-defence territories in
Europe. Ploesti region, which was crucial in petroleum
production, was especially one of the most important areas of
defense, thanks to the German 5th Anti-aircraft division
residing here. Allies suffered massive losses fighting against
this defense. Romanian anti-aircraft units hit 245 American and
82 Russian airplanes within the first eight months of 1944.
Combatting above Romania took away 7 per cent of the Allied air
power assigned, the actual loss of 3.5 percent of the Allied
air power on the west front indicates of how strong Romanian
air defense had been.17
Despite the strength of Romanian air defense, the air
would not clear up until the middle of 1944. Sabri Feyzullah
recalls:
“The English and the Americans would come flyingin mass formation, and we would
look up from below, just like that. That was not how the Russian came, only a few
Russian planes at a time would approach. The English and Americans would come up
in lines of 50, 60, in lines of no end. Fighterr planes flew lower, 100 metres of so,
hitting the soldiers manning the anti-aircraft artillery.”
17 Denes Bernad, Romanian Air Force, The Prime Decade 1938-1947, Carrolton, Squadron/Signal Publications, 1999, p 9-10
23
However deep was Romania in the heat of war, the progression of
the war was undermining the side it was on. Axis countries
suffered defeats from 1943 on, in Stalingrad, Kursk Battles and
loss of North Africa. Soviet armies began advancing on the East
front, approaching Romanian border. This was also a time for
Romania to question its loyalties to the Axis side. The
observations of a young Turkish diplomat stationed in Bucharest
at the time reveal significant information regarding Romania’s
weakening loyalties:
“Romanians had seperate feelings for each of the three combatants. They would
detest the Germans despite –and right because of- their alliance. They were scared of
the Russians. They would like the Anglosaxons, especially the Americans, to the point
of admiration. After the crushing defeats in Stalingrad and North Africa, they had
come to understand that the tables had turned in favor of the Allies. Russian armies
were on a fast march towards Romanian border. It looked clear that the country
would soon be occupied by Russia. Rumaian people, save for a small class of people,
had intense worries. In the eyes of many Romanians, the way out of this peril was to
for the English to invade Romania before the Russian did. And –again Romanians
thought- the English would have to do this through Turkey, with the help of Turkish
army... The course of military operations and the policy of Allies led all hopes astray.
The first stroke to blow the reality on the face of Romania had been the bombing of
Bucharest. The bombings destroyed the spirits of the people, the opportunity of
which had been the cue for Germans to create enmity in Romanian hearts against
Anglosaxons. In vain. In spite of all the destruction the air attacks had given, the
people’s warm feelings for Anglosaxon pilots were never less.”18
18 Zeki Kuneralp, Sadece Diplomat Anılar-Belgeler, İstanbul, İsis Ltd, 1999 p 33-34
24
Romania Switches Sides:
In March 1944, with Soviet forces closer than ever to
Romanian border, and Axis armies weak against the Soviet
marching forward, destroyed the popularity of General
Antonescu. Along with this, former political forces –namely the
liberals and labor partisans- were still alive. The name
written in bold letters in this opposition was a former prime
minister, Maniu. A Maniu-led opposition coordinated people
support, while getting in contact with the Allies at the end of
1943. From November 1943 on, Maniu sent Prince Stirbey to
Turkey as a messenger, who deliberated with English authorities
in Ankara. However, both presence of Antonescu on top of the
government, and the German military in the country, blocked the
way for Romania to make peace with the Allies. In August 1944,
Romania overthrew the present situation via an abrupt change of
cabinet. King Michael cooperated with the oppsition, taking
Antonescu down, and establishing a new cabinet of opposition
leaders. Right after this, the King announced on August 23 that
there would be an instant truce with the Allies, that all bonds
with the Axis nations would be broken, and that the peace pact
with the Allies was on the way. Germany reacted rather harshly
towards Romania switching sides. Many German troops were
located on Romanian ground before the outbreak of war, and
Romanian government suggested that the troops withdrew without
skirmish, but German troops took off to get hold of vital spots
and rob Romanian troops off arms. German airforce planes
25
started to bomb Bucharest on August 24. Subsequently, Romania
declared war on Germany.19
Sabri Feyzullah recalls August 23 and the following days with
excitement:
“All the soldiers are so tired. Each cannon fired 140-150 rounds, you couldn’t walk on
the ground because it was so hot it burned your feet, and they gave us rags to put on
our feet. On August 23, a friend came over at night. He told me we were to be
figthing against the Germans now. He was assisting the major, he had overheard
him talking on the phone. And we were the 3 muslim ones among 125 soldiers. So he
came to me and told me. The sirens went off while we were talking. We all gathered.
They said that we were against the Germans from that time on. And the Germans
soldiers were very near us... Like five hundred meters, a kilometer away from us.
They had their artillery like we had our own. Even among us there was a German
oriented soldier. We were told there was no sleep until the morning. You won’t even
give warning anyone, you’ll fire when you see some one. These were the orders we
were told.”
“We were at a hilltop looking down to Bucharest. Bucharet were looking very
beautiful from up there. We heard planes flying at dawn. Then the major said, take a
look at the telemetrics now, let’s see what kind of planes these are. He looked, said
these were German planes. They flew around and around, and the dawn broke soon.
They started to bomb Bucharest. They continued until late evening. Then German
soldiers, many of them up north... Where the many oil wells are. German soldiers
entered the city from up there. They couldn’t reach our battery. They couldn’t reach.
Then came the Romanian soldiers. Many battles were fought. Three days later, the
Germans withdrew. Towars far away. Towards Brashow, Erdel they went. August
24,25,26 they fought incessantly in Bucharest...”19 Markham, Id., p 174-190, Von Moos, id., Volume 6, p 42-46
26
Meanwhile, an amusing memory of Sabri Feyzullah comes up:
“While our guys were patrolling, they caught two German soldiers. Poorguys, they
had thrown away their shirts, they had no caps. Only their pants showed whether
they are German. They brought the guys to our battery, put them to where we
cooked, to a room in kitchen. The major told us not to tell anyone, he said let them
go after dark. What are we going to get out of killing them. We fed them, and
released the poor things after dark. We never found out whether or not they made it
back home.”
Romania with the Soviets:
German troops, trying to take hold of Bucharest with no
success, began their fast withdraw from Romania, while Soviet
troops began their marching on Romanian ground. Since Romania
was on the Allies side, they started to fight side by side with
the Russian army. Sabri Feyzullah’s first impression on Russian
soldiers:
“A few days after the Germans withdrew, the Russians came to enter
Bucharest. The major said no one would leave the place. On some sundays we would
get permission to go into town, before the bombing, but the major said no leaving
anymore. Everyone take care of thier own, there’s no playing with Russians, they are
so badly on their own. Horses, women, men... All drunk soldiers. They would snatch
things from Romanians, even on the streets. Pigs, chicken, whatever was available,
they would take all what people had...”
27
Zeki Kuneralp, who had been in Bucharest at the time, reflects
similar comments:
“Romanian people welcomed Russian army with worries coated with a false joy. The
conduct of the new ally did not lessen the worry but increased it. Witnessing
confiscations by Soviet invaders, plunders and violations by Soviet soldiers,
Romanians started to think that the replacement had not been that beneficial at all.
But when they heard about how their neighbor Hungary ended up, they understood
they got away with little harm.” 20
Reuben Markham recollects how the Soviets confiscated
possessions and properties, and took to arresting, accusing
many people of “war guilt”; along with campaigning against the
King and his government in order to upset his power.21
Right after the Soviet army entering Romania, they
started fighting side by side. According to Sabri Feyzullah,
Romanian army had not been under Russian control in this period
of time, they merely fought on their side and the Russian
influence on Romanian army only began to increase at the end of
1945.22 In Sabri Feyzullah’s words, before he marched out of
Romanian border with the Soviet army:
20 Kuneralp, id., p 34-3521 Markham states that especially the newspaper called “Graiul Nou” (the NewLanguage) that was printed by the Soviets in Romanian campaigned in favorof communism and against the King, and that the communist newspaper“Scanteia”, the newspapers “Izvetsia”, “Pravda”, and “Red Star” and finallyMoscow radio broadcasting in the whole world would take part in thecampaign. Markham, Id., p 19422 When Romania switched sides with the Allies, fifteen divisions were sentin order to fight together with the Russians on Hungarian andCzechoslovakian soil. Besides this, all the resources of the country wereoffered to the service of Allies –in reality, Russians-. Id., p 193
28
“They give us bread, half a kilo of bread. The bread was baked in 1941, we’re eating it
in 1944-45. You put it in tea, it softens. There were some soldiers, who ate it all up.
There were huge soldiers. Then after you cross the border, they call it “solda”, they
give you money, they give stipend to the soldiers. When you’re in your land they give
you 60 Ley, after you cross the border they give you 120 Ley... We would buy eggs,
bread rolls and all, kids were selling them in train stations. And they gave us
tobacco. Fifteen packs a month. I never smoked. I would take it, give some to friends
and sell the rest”
End of the War:
Soviet army entered Hungary through Romania after
September, and so did Sabri Feyzullah’s battery. He was sent to
Czechoslovakia after Hungary, where he first heard that the war
was over:
“After the Russians arrived in Bucharest, within one months, they loaded us into
wagons and took us west, to the front. We advanced for two or three days, then
arrived Albayuli; a Romanian town. The front went through it. Russians and
Romanians pushed Germans west. After that we came to Arat. Arat’s a large town.
Russians told us to protect their airport. Russians had a military airport. Budapest
was not far. Because when we would keep watch at night, it was November, we
would hear the bombings out there. All the way from where we were. The battle in
Budapest lasted too long. I guess they said 120 days. Capital of Hungary. The
Danube runs through it. As soon as summer began, they loaded us to wagons again.
Off we went to Hungary, arrived Budapest. Germans had withdrawn from Budapest.
There were Hungarian soldiers, some on the Germans’ side, some on the Russians’s
29
side. All people were mixed. We didn’t stay there either. Then we went to Bratislava.
Capital of Slovakians. To our surprise the next day, they don’t care about the people
at all. 50-60 people, women and children, lived in trash. They ate what they found in
there. They don’t look at your face, so wild. We were so surprised. We stayed there for
a few days. They said we were going to proceed further, and we did. They said Prag
was close. We went close by Prag but we didn’t see it. Then we withdrew to Brno.
When we arrived Brno the Russians came and took us down, took over our wagons.
All our cannons, chests, ammunituion, all were left there. We stayed there for a week.
And you have to be in constant watch, you have to watch your stuff. You cannot leave
the place, there’s no leaving. We stayed in Brno until August. In May, if only for a few
months, they gave us houses. They were empty houses. Ten soldiers would sleep here
and ten would sleep there. Brno is where we heard that the war was over. It must be
May 7th or 8th. Soldiers hear it from each other. While Russians were leaving in
trains, they started to throw away guns, shout out loud, Hitler beaten, Hitler beaten...
We thought the war is over. And you get happy, you think the war is over, it’s time to
go home. There would be people who cried. The war is over but you get letters from
home. Their houses got bombed, their houses were destroyed.”
Sabri Feyzullah recalls that the Russians were too cruel
against Germans and those who were of German origin:
“It was September or October, year 1944, Russians demanded the German
orients among our troops. Where ever there was a Romanian German soldier, they
had to be informed. We had one inour battery, Jacob Shultz. We were good friends,
that’s why I still remember after 60 years. He was from Timesvar. Timesvar is on
Yugoslavian border. He was well-off, very rich. Russians took him away. They handed
him to the Russians. He was a good guy, too. A few days later the Russians came and
30
took him away. They said they were going to make him work. We never found out
what happened next.”
“When they got us off the train in Brno, they took away the wagons. They needed
them, so they said. And the wagons would pass by so frequently at daytime, from
Germany, off to Russia. The trains were long, 70-80 cars. All flat, all loaded up at the
top. They dismantled all the factories and they were taking them to Russia. And they
would carry people too. They were in closed cars. You could not breathe in while they
passed. So filthy that if it stopped for half an hour, the railway would be lost in dirt.
Women and men were in seperate cars. Then the Germans would ask for cigarettes
through the windows. Romanian soldiers would give. Russians saw though, they were
hard on us, said we could not give anything. When Russian soldiers opened the
doors, the wagons stinked. All those people were stark naked. Russian soldiers bring
food, feed them with large ladles. They snatch the food containers rightaway. Every
half an hours wagons would arrive. From Germany to Russia. They are carrying
people to Russia. They gave the reason as having broken places fixed. We couldn’t go
back to Romania because there was no train left for us.”
Sabri Feyzullah was finally able to make it back to Romania
towards the end of 1945:
“It was the beginning of August. We loaded up everything and travelled for a
few days to get to Romania. People cheer up, throw flowers at our wagons. We
arrived at Tirnova, we stayed there for two days. It was not known to us where we are
going to be taken to. That place is at crossroads. Then we took off for Kuluc. We
stayed there for a year. We stayed until February 1946. They gave us off days
sometimes. We stayed at the barracks. We were free in February of 46, and we were
able to go home then.”
31
After the War:
Upon returning home, Sabri Feyzullah gets married to
Şevkiye hanım whom he has known since he was young, and resumes
his occupation as a tailor. But the Romania he knew was left
far behind.
After the war ended, Romania remains under Soviet Union
influence. As early as 1944, negotiations between England, USA
and USSR settled the apportionments, and Romania was left under
Soviet control. When the war ended, Soviet-aided communists
overthrew the King and his government on August 23, 1944, 185
days after Romania sided with the Allies.23
At the end of the war, Romania lost Baserabia and
Dobrudja it had annexed in 1919 due to amendments of borders,
and in return was entitled to keep some portion of
Transylvania. Sabri Feyzullah recalls the chaos caused by the
amendments of border since he was still at military service in
Kuluc:
“When the war is over Romania takes Transylvania from Hungarians. It was
clear after the new year’s on 45-46. Russians gave it to Romanians. Hungarians and
Romanians killed too many of each other then. Foot soldiers came. They arrived after
we did. They would make a parade through Kuluc. While they walked through, they
fired at them, killed some. They survived the frontline, they got killed at the parade.
So many battles were fought. Then they banned us from going out into the street. No
Romanian soldier was able to go out into town.”
23 Markham, Id., p 204- 206
32
Forfeiting a significant portion of the land acquired in
1919, Romania constituted, in real terms, the fourth biggest
power –quantitative of soldiers- among the nations fighting
with the ally nations. Subsequently, it became a part of
Eastern Europe under Russian control, after the Soviet-powered
communist government was elected. Despite maintaining close
relations with Russia throughout the communist years that came
to a halt at the end of the 90s, Romania never became a Soviet
satellite.
World War II brought massive destruction to the world as
a whole, and especially to Europe, imposing radical changes on
the international framework. This particular study was aimed at
discussing the continuum leading to, and the progression of,
the World War II on a specific scale to Romania through the
eyes of a young Romanian.
Sabri Feyzullah is living in Istanbul at the present. He
immigrated to Turkey with his family in 1986, and carried on
his profession in Istanbul. He still visits Mangolia a few
times a year. As somebody who experienced the war, he puts on a
despising face when asked his opinions of “war”:
“War is injustice, to kill people, or be in doubt. That one has this, this one has that.
This one fattacks at that one, another attacks at this one. And still women and chilren
who did no wrong are being beaten and murdered. It’s a shame.”
33