Constantin Eftimiu (28 June 1893 – 19 September 1950) was a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed t ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and Minister for Public Works and Communications in the

First Sănătescu cabinet The first cabinet of Constantin Sănătescu was the government of Romania from 23 August 1944 to 3 November 1944. During this period, Romania left the Axis powers and joined the Allies of World War II. Ministers The ministers of the cabinet were a ...

Biography

Early years

He was born in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north ...

in 1893. After attending the Artillery Military School from 1912 to 1914, he graduated with the rank of second lieutenant. Once Romania entered

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

on the side of the Entente, Eftimiu fought as a platoon commander, advancing to lieutenant in November 1916 and to captain in September 1917. After the war, he attended the

Higher War School The National Defence University of Warsaw ( – AON) was the civil-military highest defence academic institution in Poland, located in Warszawa–Rembertów. In 2016 it was succeeded by the War Studies University. The National Defence Universit ...

from 1924 to 1926, after which he was promoted to major. He advanced in rank to lieutenant in colonel in 1934, and to colonel in 1938. On 8 June 1940 he was awarded the

Order of the Star of Romania The Order of the Star of Romania (Romanian: ''Ordinul Steaua României'') is Romania's highest civil Order and second highest State decoration after the defunct Order of Michael the Brave. It is awarded by the President of Romania. It has five ...

, officer rank.

World War II

Romania joined

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named afte ...

on 22 June 1941 in order to reclaim the lost territories of

Bessarabia Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of ...

and

Northern Bukovina Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter Berger ...

, which had been annexed by the Soviet Union in June 1940. At the start of the war, Eftimiu was Chief of Operations Section for the 4th Army. He crossed the

Prut River The Prut (also spelled in English as Pruth; , uk, Прут) is a long river in Eastern Europe. It is a left tributary of the Danube. In part of its course it forms Romania's border with Moldova and Ukraine. Characteristics The Prut originates ...

at Bogdănești on 22 June, and in mid-July he took part in

Operation München Operation München ( ro, Operațiunea München) was the Romanian codename of a joint German-Romanian offensive during the German invasion of the Soviet Union in World War II, with the primary objective of recapturing Bessarabia, Northern Bukov ...

, leading a detachment which advanced from the Hîncești forest to

Tighina Bender (, Moldovan Cyrillic: Бендер) or Bendery (russian: Бендеры, , uk, Бендери), also known as Tighina ( ro, Tighina), is a city within the internationally recognized borders of Moldova under ''de facto'' control of the u ...

. From 26 August to 26 October he was Commanding Officer of Detachment "Eftimiu"; during the

Siege of Odessa The siege of Odessa, known to the Soviets as the defence of Odessa, lasted from 8 August until 16 October 1941, during the early phase of Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II. Odessa was a port on the ...

, he fought at Frantzfeld. For his actions, Eftimiu was decorated on November 7, 1941, with the Order of the Crown with swords in the rank of Commander,Decretul Regal nr. 3.063 din 7 noiembrie 1941 pentru decorațiuni de războiu, publicat în ''

Monitorul Oficial ''Monitorul Oficial al României'' is the official gazette of Romania, in which all the promulgated bills, presidential decrees, governmental A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, genera ...

'', anul CIX, nr. 273 din 17 noiembrie 1941, partea I-a, p. 7.157. and on 12 February 1942 with the Order of Michael the Brave, 3rd class.Decretul Regal nr. 445 din 12 februarie 1942 pentru conferiri de decorații, publicat în ''Monitorul Oficial'', anul CX, nr. 45 din 21 februarie 1942, partea I-a, p. 1.186. He then returned to Bucharest, where he was named Director of Studies at the Higher War School. In June 1942 he became Vice Chief of Staff for General Petre Dumitrescu's 3rd Army, which fought at the

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later re ...

later that year. In April 1943, Eftimiu returned from the front and was appointed commander of Signals Headquarters. In March 1944 he was promoted to brigadier general. After the coup d'état of 23 August, he served until 3 November as Minister of State Secretary for the Department of Public Works and Communications in the first Government of Constantin Sănătescu. He then returned to the Signals Command, after which he served as Vice Chief of the General Staff from January to July 1945.

Final years

Together with General

Aurel Aldea Aurel Aldea (18 March 1887 – 17 October 1949) was a Romanian general, Interior Minister, and anti-communist resistance leader. Education Aurel Aldea was born in Slatina, Olt County on 28 March 1887. He graduated from the Artillery and Engineer ...

(with whom he had served in the Sănătescu cabinet) and Admiral

Horia Macellariu Horia Macellariu (10 May 1894, Craiova – 11 July 1989, Bucharest) was a Romanian rear admiral, commander of the Royal Romanian Navy's Black Sea Fleet during the Second World War. Early life Horia Ion Pompiliu Macellariu was born in Craiova on ...

, he sought to form a National Resistance Movement, in order to oversee the disparate anti-communist resistance groups and to organize an armed insurrection. In this framework, Eftimiu helped initiate the resistance movement in the mountain passes of the

Eastern Carpathians Divisions of the Carpathians are a categorization of the Carpathian mountains system. Below is a detailed overview of the major subdivisions and ranges of the Carpathian Mountains. The Carpathians are a "subsystem" of a bigger Alps-Himalaya Sy ...

. He was arrested in May 1946, and tried for conspiracy and rebellion by the Bucharest Military Tribunal. The presiding judge was General

Vasile Atanasiu Vasile Atanasiu (April 25, 1886 – June 6, 1964) was a Romanian general in World War II. Biography He was born in Târgoviște, Romania in 1886, in a Greek-Romanian family, the son of Ștefan and Paulina Atanasiu. He graduated from the "Milit ...

; other judges included generals

Mihail Lascăr Mihail Lascăr (; November 8, 1889 – July 24, 1959) was a Romanian general during World War II and Romania's Minister of Defense from 1946 to 1947. He was born in Târgu Jiu, Gorj County, Kingdom of Romania, and graduated from the Infantry ...

, Ilie Crețulescu, and Constantin Argeșanu. Condemned to life in prison and hard labor on 18 November 1946, he died at

Aiud Prison Aiud Prison is a prison complex in Aiud, Alba County, located in central Transylvania, Romania. It is infamous for the treatment of its political inmates, especially during World War II under the rule of Ion Antonescu, and later under the Commu ...

in September 1950 of an

intracerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eftimiu, Constantin 1893 births 1950 deaths Military personnel from Bucharest Carol I National Defence University alumni Romanian military personnel of World War I Romanian military personnel of World War II Romanian Land Forces generals Romanian Ministers of Communications Romanian Ministers of Public Works Officers of the Order of the Star of Romania Commanders of the Order of the Crown (Romania) Recipients of the Order of Michael the Brave Members of the Romanian anti-communist resistance movement Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Romania Inmates of Aiud prison Romanian people who died in prison custody Prisoners who died in Securitate custody