Trudy Gold
Romania: Heroes and Villains

Trudy Gold - Romania: Heroes and Villains

- Well, good evening everyone, and welcome. And this week, of course, finalises our fortnight on Romania. And next week, we will be beginning a very long series on Germany when all of our key, all our core presenters will be presenting on different aspects of German history, literature, culture. But, of course, we will have many of our guests looking at different subjects. And I also want to mention, of course, today, we have a huge honour that Margareta, who is the custodian of the Romanian crown, will be talking to us about her grandmother, Queen Helen of Romania, who was, of course, honoured by Yad Vashem as a Righteous Amongst the Nations. So, okay. So, thank you. And can we have the first slide, please? Because today is about heroes and villains. And, of course, when we are looking at the heroes and villains, remember we are looking at an incredibly acute time in history where people are tested in many ways as they’ve never been tested before. And here we come to a man who I will definitely put into the category of villain. And what an extraordinarily charismatic, good-looking man he was. So, Corneliu Zelea Codreanu. He, in fact, was the leader of the Iron Guard, also known as the Knights of the Archangel Michael. He was an incredibly, fanatically religious Christian, a orthodox Christian, and he was a fanatical Jew hater, and he’s going to achieve a lot of power. He came from a nationalist family, his father was a German teacher, and he had himself been associated.

You’ll remember last time, I talked about Cuza, who was professor at the University of Iasi. And, of course, Cuza was very much into the German race theory. He was a bit too young to fight in World War I. He had an absolute horror of Bolshevism which he believed. He saw it, that the Bolshevik agitation in Moldavia where he lived. He already had this strong anti-Semitic streak through his father And he came to believe that the whole notion of Jews and Bolshevism. We must never underestimate this when we look at the rise of anti-Semitism. And as I’ve said to you many times, until I’m blue in the face, the majority of Jews were never communists. But because of the preponderance of Jews in the leadership or, should I say, people of Jewish birth, because they themselves renounced their Jewishness. They were internationalists. It stuck. And if you remember, the great historian Graetz, what did he say? That’s going to do far more danger to the Jews than anything else, this equation of the Jews with communism. He was a very, very charismatic figure. And as you can see how good-looking he was, they called him the captain. And this is a quote by one of his women followers. “The captain came from a world of good, a prince of light, a mediaeval light, a martyr, a hero. He was the man who had come to save Romania.” He’d studied law at Iasi, He became very close to Cuza, the man who’d influenced his father. And already, as a student, he began campaigning against what he saw as the Jewish threat to Romanian nationalism.

This is one of the problems of the completely dislocated world of Europe and Eastern Europe, post-First World War, because in that terrible chaos, who were the group that were not seen by extreme nationalists as part of them? Tragically, it was the Jews. He was always an obsessive anti-Semite. He then studied in Berlin and he developed an appalling hatred for Weimar. As far as he was concerned, Weimar was weak, it was decadent, and it was Jewish. And another thing, he swallowed that notorious forgery, “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” absolutely whole. And he organised a league. He organised a league of the National-Christian Defence League. And when he came back to Romania, remember, Jews had been granted full citizenship in 1923. That was part of the Treaty of Paris. And the group actually raided the Jewish quarter in Iasi because they were so angry that Jews could dare consider themselves citizens of Romania. He drafted death lists. He was a terrorist. He used terror. He actually did clash with Cuza because Cuza wanted to use the argument. He was a huge anti-Semite but Codreanu wanted to use the fist. He was often accused of political assassination, but he was so popular, he was acquitted. He married in 1925, and it was almost in pseudo royal style. It was attended by thousands, a huge media following. And then in 1927, he had a vision. He proclaimed that the Archangel Michael had chosen him to be Romania saviour.

And what he had to do was to regenerate the nation, regenerate Romania. And he actually introduced orthodox rituals at political rallies, strong links with member of the right-wing clergy. And he said this, “the historic mission of our generation is the resolution of the kike problem.” He accused the Jews of trying to break the link between the Romanian people and the Almighty. And he said, “There is no connection at all with the Old Testament,” which, of course, they called the Hebrew Bible “and the Jews of today, completely irrelevant.” And he also hit out at the liberal Romanian intelligence, which there was. Remember how much they turned to France? Not many of the Romanian intellectuals were very much in favour of the greatness of France. You know, we’ve often talked about the duality of France. You know, one of the problems of teaching Jewish history, we have to spend so much time looking at what’s going on in a country. All the Jews can really do is react. And here you have many Romanian intellectuals loving French ideals and the France of the Enlightenment. By 1927, he’s openly advocating the destruction of the Jewish people. And his group burnt a synagogue in Oradea. So these are terrorists, and this is an essay of his from 1936, “We are up against a full…” This is interesting. “We are up against a full-fledged Jewish state, an entire army, which has set its sights on conquest. In all probability…” Remember this is “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.” “The Great Jewish Council is planning the creation of a new Palestine as a strip of land, starting out into the Baltic, embracing part of Poland and Czechoslovakia, half of Romania, right across to the Black Sea.”

So here is this man, looking at Eastern Europe and the Jewish population, many of whom were dirt poor, so many of whom have been persecuted, but he doesn’t see it like that. He sees it as part of the Jewish conspiracy to take over the world. And why should we be shocked by this? Today, we are in the midst of many ridiculous conspiracy theories. Whenever times are hard, people look for the scapegoat. And next week, I’m actually going to address the whole issue of the longest hatred. I’m going to look at the roots of what I call Jew hatred. I think it’s very important. We actually set our parameters once and for all. This is what he said. “They are seizing the riches and possessions of our nation, destroying the Romanian middle class, swamping our schools and liberal professions, they are condemning us racially.” He hated into marriage because they are polluting Romanian blood. And, of course, he toured the countryside, this good-looking charismatic, with his huge army, the Iron Guard. They addressed the church, going in literate peasants with sermons. They dressed in long white robes. They must have been absolutely horrific. And during the 1937 elections, he actually pulled 15% of the vote. And we’ve already discussed this. This is where King Carol managed to block him. And in the end, in 1938, he was actually imprisoned by the king and was, along with 14 other of his leaders, he was executed in 1938 by a group of Gendarmerie.

Can we come to his follower? Another nasty piece of work. God, I’m being judgmental today, aren’t I? Here we have Horia Sima. He was born in Transylvania, he studied philosophy at the University of Bucharest. Never think that because people have appalling ideas, they have a lack of education. We always have to knock that one on the head. He became the head of the National Union of Christian students. In 1932, he becomes a high school teacher. He teaches logic, Latin, and philosophy. And he joined the Iron Guard. He joined the Iron Guard. And in late 1938, he becomes… Beg your pardon. In the ‘37, he joins the Iron Guard. And in '38, also hugely charismatic, he becomes the commander after its leader was imprisoned. Now in 1939, he flees to Germany. He’s involved in all sorts of political infighting. The Iron Guard were a very sinister group. And he actually organised… He comes back, he’s involved in a coup against King Carol in August of 1940. We’ve already referred to that. September, 1940, he begins an alliance with Antonescu, more about that in a minute. But he becomes deputy prime minister and is responsible some appalling pogroms I’m going to discuss. But Antonescu wanted to get rid of him. He set the time for order and legality. And the other point about Sima, he never really won the support of German allies. And in fact, when there was an infighting between Antonescu and Sima, he was summoned by Hitler. And Antonescu, although these people were more fanatical, it was Antonescu who won Hitler’s support. And in January, 1941, he’d led a rebellion against Antonescu. And that led to the most appalling murder and mayhem of the Jews.

The revolt was suppressed. He escaped imprisonment and fled to Italy. He was actually extradited because the Duce didn’t want friction with Antonescu. And he was then sent to, quote, unquote, “the humane section of Buchenwald.” And when Romania changed sides because of King Michael, more about that later, in August, 1940, similar released to… He wanted to create a pro-Nazi puppet government in Vienna. But the Soviets were unstoppable. He fled to Paris and finally to Spain. He was actually sentenced in absentia in 1946, but he is never brought to trial. He spends the rest of his time in Spain under Franco, publishing anti-Semitic, anti-communist books, and he dies in his bed in 1993 in Madrid. So many of these ex-Nazis and fellow travellers finished up in Spain, South America. There was a brilliant programme on British television about… Of course, we’ve had so many programmes on the show the past week, just looking at how few of the major perpetrators were brought to justice. Anyway, can we see the next slide, please? There is Octavian Goga, another character, another intellectual, a poet, a playwright, a journalist, a translator, and then a politician. And he, very much in his youth, an active member of the Romanian nationalist movements in Transylvania. Prior to World War I, he was arrested by the Hungarians. He flees to Romania, escaping a Hungarian death sentence. He was a very, very religious member of the Romanian Orthodox faith and he was one of the founders of the Nationalist Agrarian Party.

And he then becomes part of the Christian Defence League. And in 1937, when Codreanu won 15% of the vote, he comes to power and he becomes the prime minister. And what happens is the king miscalculated the importance of anti-Semitism to his government. And tragically, it’s this late stage, they begin to introduce terrible anti-Semitic policies, which, of course, was the revision of Romanian citizenship, which led to the denaturalization of a quarter of a million Jews, approximately one-third of the Jewish population. But he did refuse to participate in the national unity government. He withdrew to his estates in Transylvania. But this is him in a press interview. “The Jewish problem is an old one here, and it’s a Romanian tragedy. Briefly, we have far too many Jews.” So what I’m trying to show you is the rights that took power was deeply, deeply anti-Semitic. And then, of course, we come to another of the terrible villains of the peace, Marshal Antonescu. The next slide please, Norm. Here, you see. What a hard face. He also came from a very upper-middle class background. You are talking at a right-wing group who are well-educated. He comes from a upper-middle class military family. His father divorced his mother and married a Jewish woman who converted to orthodoxy. And obviously, there was a personal issue here. He joined the Romanian army. And, of course, in the first World War, Romania in 1916 was on the side of the Allies. He participated at the Paris Peace Conference and he was a man of huge mood swings.

This is what he said in September 28th, 1940, this is an interview in “La Stampa” about the Jews. “The Jews formed the greatest obstacle to the expansion of the Romanian economy. We need to replace Jews with Romanians.” And at a grassroots level, he had absolutely no problem, and, not even more than that, he was part of the attack on the Jews. And what happens with him is that King… What happens with Romania? Romania King Carol is deposed in 1942. Antonescu, very important, very popular military leader, leads a revolt against King Carol in September, 1942. It had a lot to do with what had happened to Romania. When war was declared… Remember, Romania was a Francophile country, that the Romanians hoped that the French and the British would come to their aid, think where they are politically, but it didn’t happen. And then, of course, they weren’t aware of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact. So the Soviet Union then seizes huge amount of land, which is Romanian territory. And that is, of course, when Antonescu stages his coup d'etat on the 23rd of November, 1940. And then he’s going to join the Axis, he’s actually going to join with Nazi Germany, and was very important. Now that when Hitler decides to go against the Soviets Operation Barbarossa in June, 1942… Beg your pardon, in June, 1941, the Romanians are with him, and they were incredibly important to the Nazis in the war. Why? Think about the Ploiesti oil fields. Romania had a currency, but the Germans desperately needed oil. It was oil equipment and he played a huge role in the army. The Romanians had the third largest army in the Axis Powers and they were very important in Operation Barbarossa.

Now, there was a brief period in January '42 when the Iron Guard staged a coup. But it’s interesting, Hitler decides to back Antonescu and the Germans put Hitler’s troops at Antonescu’s disposal. And February, 1942, the German ambassador reported Antonescu is in total control. Now, so in the political crisis of 1940, he established the Legionary State. As I said, he had an uneasy partnership. But then after he enters into a partnership with Hitler, he manages to eliminate the guards. during the rebellion. He becomes prime minister, foreign minister, and defence minister. And in return for being part of the Axis Army, he receives territory. This is what they wanted. They got back Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina, and he becomes Marshal of Romania. So from a Romanian point of view, he has been successful. But this is the man… When I talked about villains, he was responsible for the deaths of nearly 400,000 people in Bessarabian, Ukrainian, and Romanian Jews, as well as the Roma population, pogroms, deportations to Transnistria. He was in charge at the time. However, there were inconsistencies, having said he was this appalling monster and yet he’s going to be persuaded to deal more leniently with Jews in the Old Kingdom. And basically, the one of the problems today, what happens is, after the collapse, after, of course, he is finally arrested in August, 1944 because of the incredible bravery of the Romanian royal family. And then Romania joins the Allies. He’s arrested as a war criminal and he is executed.

One of the problems of today is he’s being somewhat repatriated. After communism fell… You’ve got to remember what happened under communism. After communism fell to some right-wing Romanians, he is a hero. And it was actually the Elie Wiesel report of 2004 where really we get the real truth about Romania and he was in charge. Can we see the next slide, please? At the time of the terrible pogrom in Iasi. Now, this is when Romania has joined Hitler. This is the 29th of June to the 6th of July, 1941. This is when the… What you’ve got to understand, the German army enters Russia on a huge front with Romanian troops at their side, following the German army go the Einsatzgruppen. And they are to murder the Jews of Eastern Europe by bullets. And this is the Iasi pogrom where over 13,000 Jews were murdered. And why did it happen? Because the propaganda was the Jews were a fifth column. To facilitate it, the police actually released imprisoned members of the Iron Guard who’ve been held since the failed coup of 1941. It was a terrible, bloody, unbelievably cruel pogrom. And it was… What can I say? The people had been led to believe that communism was a Jewish disease. Iasi was a city on the Soviet border with a huge Jewish population. Will they be a fifth column? Mid-June '41, this is what Antonescu ordered. “All Judeo-Communist coffee shops be closed down, all kikes, communist agents and sympathisers be identified by religion.” On the 21st of June '41, this is just before Barbarossa, he signed the day before, he signed an order, that all Jews who lived between the Siret and Pruth rivers be deported to concentration camps in the south of Romania. “You cannot trust these people. These people will be a fifth column.”

And so the perpetrators, one of the tragedies of Iasi, it wasn’t just the Iron Guard. Neighbours, students, low-level officials, railway workers, craftsmen, white-collar workers, military veterans, it’s like all the disease and all the evil came to the surface, and over 8,000 people were brutally murdered. And from eyewitnesses, and there were people who tried to stop it. Eyewitnesses said that anyone who tried to intervene was murdered along with them, and we know that were some incredibly brave people. There was a member of the faculty at Iasi University, he tried to stop it, he was murdered. We knew that they were ordinary folk who couldn’t take it. They were murdered, the bloodletting. You know, what does it take for civilization to wither away? And then, of course, there was another reporting pogrom in Odessa. Can we see the next slide, please? Odessa. Beautiful, beautiful Odessa. What a strange, strange history it’s had. Odessa, once a third Jewish, the centre of so many Jewish movements, the society for the promotion of culture amongst the Jews of Russia, the centre of Zionism, and the centre of Buddhism, the centre of one of the most exciting cities in the world, the port city. And between October the 22nd and October the 24th, 1941, 34,000 Jews were shot or burnt by German and Romanian troops. The Romanians, the Einsatzgruppen, and the ethnic Germans, the police. And what had happened was, on October the 22nd, the Romanian commander’s office had been bombed, a mine had been exploded, laid by the Soviet troops who were fleeing. And over 16 officers were killed, including the military governor of the city.

And the responsibility, of course, was placed on the Jews and the communists. And it was Antonescu who ordered the immediate reprisals. And after the war, thousands of bodies have been found in a mass grave. And it’s an absolute… What can I say? They also sent Jews away in the death trains. They were to carry 5,000. Of the first death train, they left the Southern Romania. 5,000 in it, only 1,000 reached the destination alive. Another train to Podu, which is only 15 kilometres from Iasi. 2,700 from… Sorry, this is in the Iasi pogrom. 2,700 on deportation, only 700 made it. So you are looking at the most terrible, terrible time. And actually, in the war crimes tribunal, 57 people were tried for the Iasi pogrom. eight came from the highest military echelons, the prefect of the Iasi County, the mayor of Iasi, four military figures, 21 civilians, and 167 survivors were witness. And they were tried, and some of eight of them were executed. But again, can there ever be real justice? Let’s have a look at another villain. Gustav Richter, yes, the Nazi in Romania. He was a lawyer, he was a member of the SS and he was one of Eichmann’s aides. April '41, he was sent to Romania to guide the government in anti-Jewish legislation. Most of the time, he was actually in Romania until the Romania surrenders and joins the Allies in August '44. He was head of Jewish affairs, a man called Radu Lecca, a bit about him in a moment, who was also his personal friend.

And his pressure led to the disbanding of the Union of Jewish communities, the establishment of the Judenberater, and, actually, he did receive written approval for the deportation of the rest of Romanian Jewry to Belzec death camp, but it didn’t happen. Even though this is in the Regnatz, in the old Romania, the Romanian government, they despoiled Jewish communities, property, they completely mistreated their Jewish community. And some 40,000 Jews were evicted from the villages. But despite preparation, ghettos were not established except in Bessarabia. And I’m going to talk about why, and it’s got a lot to do with some extraordinary individuals who are going to bring huge pressure to bear on Antonescu. And in fact, they also managed to stop immigration. But the problem was this Richter was an absolute fanatic and he did manage to stop the immigration of orphans to Palestine, particularly the Transnistria orphans. You see, this was on strict instructions from Eichmann, but he does get stopped many times. Now in August '44, after the king takes over the government, the German embassy staff are seized by the Romanians and handed to the Soviets. And in 1958, he’s sentenced to 10 years, this man who was Eichmann’s person. He was given 10 years in prison and he returns to Germany that he’s wanted by people like Wiesenthal. They track him down.

The trial in Germany was begun for 1961, but it didn’t open for 20 years. And the basis was he had himself prepared the deportation of Romanian Jewry. In early '82, he was sentenced to four years in prison, which he served. But what is most interesting about this monster is that on the 21st of January, 1945, when he was in Soviet custody, he actually shared a cell with the extraordinary Raoul Wallenberg, of course, one of the great heroes. And Raoul Wallenberg, he was probably the last person who made it to the West to see Wallenberg alive. You know, the scales of justice, this man finally died in his bed. Whereas Wallenberg, one of the greatest heroes, he dies at the hands of the Soviets as an agent of the joint. Another villain, please. The next slide. This is Radu Lecca. He came from a land-owning family, educated in Vienna, journalist, civil servant, World War I veteran. He became very close to the Nazi chief, he was close to Antonescu, and he was actually the Romanian tasked with solving the Jewish question. And he established the central office for Jewish immigration in inverted commas, “in Romania.” In 1944, he was arrested and transferred to the Soviet Union. I’ve lost the picture. Thank you. His sentence was later reduced and he later wrote his memoirs, which minimised his blame and that of Antonescu. Enough of the villains. What can we say about the villains I’ve talked about? They were all the leadership, were incredibly well-educated. If we are looking for reason, you won’t find it. We have to go into other depths of, tragically, the human psyche. So can we look at some of the heroes, please? Dr. Wilhelm Filderman.

He’s got a wonderful face and, what a friend of mine calls, 2,000-year-old eyes. He was born in Bucharest, he took his PhD in Paris in 1909. Remember Romania, France? He returned to Romania. He taught for two years at the high school of the Jewish community of Bucharest, became a lawyer. He was very involved in Jewish affairs, he was elected to the Central committee of the Union of Romanian Jews, and 1913, leader of the organisation after the war. And he became an officer in the Romanian army in the war. He was the representative of the native-born Jews at the Paris Peace Conference. And it was he who pushed the emancipation of the Jews was inalienable right. Think of the Minorities Treaty. He became a representative, the extraordinary joint. In 1920, he becomes the president of the Union of Romanian Jews, member of the Romanian parliament, also president of the Jewish community in Bucharest. He was what we were called a mucker. He also took over all the functions of the political representation of Jews after the dissolution of all the political parties in 1939. He spent much of his time fighting anti-Semitism. He published many books. He also organised the campaign on behalf of foreign Jews who had fled to Romania from the Nazis.

Think Nazis coming to power, Jews trying to get anywhere. He had been a classmate of Antonescu and actually had a relationship with him. And he, along with a representative, one of the most important rabbis, Alexandre Safran, and a representative of the Orthodox Church, made huge appeals to both Queen Helen and King Michael, and had a lot to do with the fact that although over 400,000 Jews were murdered, over 50% of Romanian Jews survived. I mean, it’s extraordinary when we were talking in these terms. I sometimes try and deal with numbers. I don’t know. Think I know a thousand people. There’s a thousand of you online. You know, these numbers are beyond imagination. So, after the Soviet conquest, he led the struggle to reclaim Jewish property, he refused to support the communists, and he joined the Democratic Jewish Committee. He was an incredibly, incredibly brave man. As I said, he managed to meet with Queen Helen and he was very close, as I said, to Alexandre Safran, the other great Jewish leader. In January '48, after the communist takeover, he fled Romania to Paris because he was informed he would be arrested as a British spy by the communist. He lived in Paris until his death, age 81. And at his wish, all his papers were transferred to Yad Vashem. So he was a great hero on behalf of these people.

And of course, Yad Vashem will not honour Jews. They only honour non-Jews. Now let’s turn to Alexandre Safran, the rabbi who was so important. He had a doctorate from the University of Vienna. And in 1940, he becomes the chief rabbi of Romania, the youngest chief rabbi in the world. And it was in 1941, he and the patriarch of the Orthodox Church managed to persuade Queen Helen to put pressure on Antonescu to revoke the wearing of the yellow badge in Bucharest. And after the dissolution of all the Jewish organisations, he formed an underground Jewish council and he was close to Queen Helen and Andrea Cassulo, the papal nuncio, and they managed to persuade Antonescu to not give into the Nazi demands for the deportation of the Jews in the Regnatz. And he worked for the return of Jews from Transnistria. And you can make the case that about 57% of Romanian Jews did survive because of the efforts of these extraordinary people. In 1945… And these people, of course, it’s important to read more about them. He worked with the composer, George Enescu, to raise relief funds to alleviate the Romanian famine. He made a tour of the US. He refused to cooperate with the communist government. And in 1947, he went into exile in Switzerland where he became the chief rabbi of Geneva and worked with the Red Cross and other organisations to improve human rights. He wrote several books including “Resisting the Storm.” After the fall of communism, he was made an honouring member of the Romanian Academy, and he is buried in Israel in Jerusalem, alongside his wife Sarah.

A righteous Gentile, Andrea Cassulo. Can we see the next slide? He had been the apostolic delegate to Egypt and then to Canada. And in 1944, he was actually praised by Rabbi Safran, officially, for his help on behalf of Jewry. He was recognised by Yad Vashem. But there’s a bit of a question mark about him because did he only help baptise Jews? But he did make protest to Antonescu. And so he’s slightly complicated, but on the other hand, he did help in terms of protesting to Antonescu. And then of course, let’s have a look at the picture of the incredible Queen Helen of Romania. Now as you already know, she was the daughter of Constantine of Greece and Sophia of Prussia. She was exiled to Switzerland after World War I. In 1920, she met and married King Carol. Tragically, it was a very bad marriage. He went off with his Jewish mistress. And in 1925, Carol had renounced the throne. And Prince Michael, her only son, comes to the throne as a child under his uncle, Nicholas. Helen becomes queen mother of Romania. But it’s very, very unstable. Her husband comes back in 1930 and, again, Helen goes into exile, only allowed to see her son two months of the year. Now World War II, the dismemberment of Greater Romania, when Carol is disposed, she comes back to be with her young son. She had to deal with Antonescu, and encouraged Michael, the young Michael, to stand up to him. And she worked with Antonescu’s opponents.

She maintained contact with the royal court and all sorts of political and social organisations that were against Antonescu. When Rabbi Safran and the head of the Orthodox Church, they appealed to her, in the end, for help. She did appeal to Antonescu and she managed to stop some of the deportations. And at the end of '41, as the plight of the Jews in Transnistria worsened again, Safran appeals, and, again, she turns to Antonescu, and she persuades him to allow Jewish relief organisations to send food and medical supplies and clothing to Transnistria. So she sent an aid to inform Safran of what she was trying to do. She took a lot of risks and she did everything she could to stop the deportation of Jews from the Regnat. And there’s a letter of Richter complaining to Eichmann that she was using a lot of influence on her son to shore him up to protest against Antonescu. And, of course, in 1944, Prince Michael, the young… Beg your pardon, King Michael, the young king, what happens is Antonescu is about to go to the front to review some regiments when he is arrested by the king. And such was the power of the queen mother and the king that everybody fell into line and the king changed sides. And actually, most historians believe that this changing of sides saved the Allies months of battle.

So what happened was she was actually recognised by Yad Vashem as Righteous Amongst the Nations. In 1947, after the communist takeover, she was exiled and she died in Switzerland. And then, of course, her only son, King Michael of Romania. And just think about it, when he was 22 years old, he had the audacity to arrest the country’s dictator, when his powers were seen as largely ceremonial. So I think both the queen and King Michael, extraordinary people. I’d like again to thank my friend Andrew Popper, for all the help he has given in preparing this interview with her granddaughter. And also, may I recommend Mihail Sebastian? He was a Romanian Jewish novelist and playwright. His book, “Diary of the War, the Fascist Years,” is extraordinary reading. So now what I propose to do is we will hear the address from Margareta and then we will take questions after that. So if you don’t mind, Lauren, can we turn to the address, please?

• It is with much emotion that I address you today as part of Lockdown University’s series of lectures about Romania and the fate of the Jewish population there during World War II. Today, we highlight the role played by the Romanian royal family in opposing the persecution of the Jews, and, particularly, that of my grandmother, Queen Mother Helen, whose courageous efforts saved thousands of Jewish lives. It is so uplifting to talk about Queen Helen. Her contribution to contemporary history and the values and principles in which she believed all her life will remain a symbol of Romania and a European example. My grandmother emerged victorious in the battle with time, with destiny, with history. Her power lay in her faith and in the human qualities with which God endowed her. Queen Helen guided the steps of her son, King Michael, and, years later, guided mine. For two successive generations of the royal house and family, she was a beacon and a North Star. The queen mother also played a concrete vital role in World War II, fostering all that is good and just in the face of overwhelming evil inside and outside the country. She confronted dictators, inhumanity, and brutal nationalism out of respect for human values and out of faith in God. She maintained her courage even after enduring enforced exiles so many times, events which would’ve broken a less determined, less spiritual woman.

Her involvement in saving the lives of many Jews during the dictatorship of Ion Antonescu was formally recognised as Yad Vashem posthumously named her a Righteous Among the Nations. I will remember her and my father describing to us their fight against the oppression and the deportation of Romanian co-nationals of Jewish faith and origin. I also recollect the many uplifting meetings we had with Rabbi Safran when we all lived in Switzerland and when he spoke to us of his affection and respect for my grandmother. It was very moving to see the king and the rabbi in deep, deep conversation in our family sitting room. This simple yet meaningful image has always been for us like a door, opened to the past, and showing the strong bond that existed between these two extraordinary human beings. Queen Helen loved Romania and her people, her nature, and her history. She always saw what was best in our people. She believed in the place of our country in Europe. That is why Romania and the whole continent have a duty to learn from the humanity of this queen. My grandmother always thought of the good of future generations. She wished for a dignified and courageous Romania. Thanks to her, our country has been more respected in the world. This is the deep meaning of the queen mother’s legacy. It is our duty to continue her legacy. Building a Romania that cultivates respect for one’s neighbour, trust between people, a society that uses its energy for the common good, a country in which our young generations want to live. Thank you all.

• Thank you very much for sharing that, Lauren, and also our deep gratitude to the Romanian royal family and also to their staff for creating that lovely presentation for us, which, of course, you see the honour being awarded posthumously to Queen Helen. So let’s have a look at… Was I muted? I beg your pardon. I just gave my thanks to everyone and to the office of the royal family for creating this lovely video for us, and our grateful thanks. And let’s have a look at questions.

Q&A and Comments:

Q: “In what languages did Sima’s books get published when living in Spain?”

A: I’m not sure about that, Margaret.

Q: This is from Val. “Trudy, please, the name and channel of the TV programme.”

A: It was on More4, BBC, on the number of Nazis who escaped justice. I cannot remember the name of it. I should, because my son-in-law is in it. But I’ll get it for you for next time. Thank you. Why do I even bother?

Harry Levin, “The programme is 'Getting Away with Murder’ on More4, on Freeview 18, a brilliant but deserving programme.” Thank you, Harry. I mean, you know, that’s what I say. And there were two instalments. Yes, it’s a very long film, but it’s very interesting. And there’ve been so many films on this.

Judy, “In 1941, my whole family was saved by a mistake. The Legionnaires’ Iron Guard had a wrong address. As our home was in a very quiet area, the whole family, my mother’s sister, and my father’s sister and brothers were there, so my family was saved. My parents very late told me this.” Oh, Judy, the accidents of history. You know, I’ve been talking to Wendy and we are trying to think of what to do with so many of the extraordinary stories you send us. I mean, we would like to, I think, eventually publish a volume. So if you write to us, I’d like to think that we have permission to publish. Perhaps, in the future, if when you’re telling us memoirs like this, you would put a little note on it.

This is Karen. “A great uncle died during the Iasi pogrom on a train. , and his wife said, ‘Don’t go to shore,’ but he wouldn’t listen.” Oh, my God, that terrible pogrom. Michelle Enroe, “Karen, I also had a great uncle who lived in Iasi who was murdered. Do you have any further information about what happened? Can you contact me? Rodney Berkeley. And I hope you’ve got that number.

This is Rodney. Michelle to Karen.” And perhaps, I think, if you put your number on, then Lauren can put you in touch.

This is somebody else who’s not giving a name. “Sadly, my great-grandmother was killed at Odessa by Germans, Romanians. She refused to evacuate from Odessa, the city she passionately loved. There’s a song about Odessa occupation and then liberation. Jews were kissing the earth here.” Odessa was an extraordinary, extraordinary city. I was lucky enough to visit it twice. We went to the opera house. And don’t forget, Jabotinsky wrote some of his stories in the opera house. He was a man of Odessa. So was Trotsky.

Q: James, “Do we have any information about Mircea Eliade? Student of mythology, wound up at the University of Chicago.”

A: I don’t. Has anyone online?

Yes, Marion, I said that. Rabbi Alexandre Safran, he became the chief rabbi of Geneva. And, of course, the Romanian royal family went to exile in Geneva, and that close friendship stayed.

Q: Lorna, “Have you any got any ideas on how anti-Semitism could be ended? My grandson says education or do Jews actually have to say?”

A: Lorna, because it’s about time I do it, I’m actually going to try to approach that whole issue. Anti-Semitism is not a Jewish problem, it’s a Christian problem, but we are the victims and we have to do some… You know, so I am going to spend quite a lot of time next week. When we begin our history of Germany, I’ve decided to actually address the theological roots of anti-Judaism. So I think it will give us answers, but what we do about it is another thing. It’s manifesting itself a lot. You see there are three stages, anti-Judaism, racial anti-Semitism, and now the hatred faced, focused on Israel. And I don’t want to get involved in the policies of the government of Israel. That’s not the point. But I think everyone would agree that they have disproportionate antagonism. There was even a question in parliament yesterday that has put a lot of egg on a lot of people’s faces.

This is from No Mecca. “Rabbi Safran married us in Geneva 50 years ago. He was a lovely man. You can see that from his eyes.” Oh, how wonderful. This is what makes our Lockdown so special. “I’m currently…”

This is Mary. “I’m currently reading an excellent novel, ‘Eugenia,’ by Lionel Duroy. Mihail Sebastian is a main figure, Unfortunately in French, not translated yet into English.” I know that a lot of Mihail Sebastian’s work has been translated because I was told that yesterday by the Poppers. This is My Family. “I’m from Switzerland and remember Rabbi Safran very well.”

Q: This is from Rita to Lorna, “Do Jews actually have to change? Change to what? To whom? Anti-Semite, so invested in their myopic hatred. Have to do the changing. Sometimes education has the propensity to reinforce already closed health values.”

A: Look, the problem is education does not civilise. Education, as we know it, does not civilise. I believe we have to rethink what we mean by education. You know, there’s intellectual intelligence and there’s also emotional intelligence.

That’s lovely, Rita. Thank you.

Q: Tanya, “These photos of Queen Helen and her husband have an aura of goodness, humanity and respect. Is it the queen and her son, Michael?”

A: Yes, Vicky, it is. And he died quite recently.

“This is not a question, but I want to say I was born in Arad, in Transylvania, where the whole Jewish community was saved by the actions.” Yes. That’s very important. I thought we made that clear. If not, thank you for that, Veronica. “Romanian army was started at Stalingrad.” Yes.

Now, Stephen, “My grandfather was born in,” I hope I’m going to pronounce this properly, “Zolotonosha, a few hours from Odessa, which he visited, and said it was even more beautiful than Paris with its wide tree-lined roads in the 1890s.” Odessa was created by Catherine the Great of Russia. And she employed an architect called de Richelieu to create it as a French city, and it has an opera house, it has beautiful hotels. The best hotel was called the Londonskaya. And just think about the characters who wandered the streets of Odessa. You know, Trotsky and Jabotinsky, I always bring those two together because I think they were quite alike in personality. One wanted to save the Jews, the other saved the Jewish world. Their dates almost coincide. But think about Pinsker, think about Ahad Ha'am, think about the great Zionist leaders, think about the Bundist, think about the great… The Ephrussi family originally came from Odessa. A third Jewish, the great seaport, a fascinating city. I actually did a session on Odessa about… You know, we’re coming up for our third anniversary and I did a session on Odessa quite near the beginning. I don’t know if we’ve managed to retrieve sessions that have been on webinar, but not on Zoom. So if we haven’t, I will redo that because it’s important.

“Rodney, this is Karen. Rodney, send me your email. He was put on a train, which shuffled back and forth between towns until everyone died.”

This is from Karen in Toronto. Oy, those trains.

Maxine, “It’s racism supported by declare.”

For James, Wagman, “Mircea Eliade has a long article in Wikipedia.” Thank you.

Q: “I’m sorry. How did queen help?”

A: She put pressure on Antonescu, basically. And he was a bit of an ambivalent figure. Yes, he was a monster, but he didn’t, in the end, want to go against her. There must have been something about her.

Anyway, I want to stop tonight now. Why? Because we have a very exciting session at 7:00 when Helen Fry will be talking about the SAS and I think is, actually, interviewing a former colonel of the SAS. So we do try and give you a huge variety on Lockdown. And let me reiterate my thanks to my friends, the Poppers, for everything they did to facilitate that extraordinary interview.

And goodnight, everybody, and I will see you next week, and God bless.