Constantin Tobescu (January 28, 1893 – December 2, 1951) 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 ...

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

of the

Romanian Gendarmerie The ''Jandarmeria Română'' () is the national Gendarmerie force of Romania, tasked with high-risk and specialized law enforcement duties. It is one of the two main police forces in Romania (the other being the Romanian Police - a civilian forc ...

(''Jandarmeria'') 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 ...

, deserter during the

King Michael's Coup King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the t ...

of August 23, 1944, one of the principal executors of

Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and marshal who presided over two successive wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister and '' Conducător'' during most of World War II. A Romanian Army career officer who ma ...

racial purity The term racial hygiene was used to describe an approach to eugenics in the early 20th century, which found its most extensive implementation in Nazi Germany (Nazi eugenics). It was marked by efforts to avoid miscegenation, analogous to an animal ...

policies.

Youth and studies

Constantin Tobescu was born in 1893 in the village of Comani,

Olt County Olt County () is a county ( județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in the historical regions of Oltenia and Muntenia (the regions are separated by the Olt river). The capital city is Slatina. History On 24 August 2017, the Olt Co ...

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania ( ro, Regatul României) was a constitutional monarchy that existed in Romania from 13 March ( O.S.) / 25 March 1881 with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian ...

. In 1911, after completing 7 years of high school, Tobescu enrolled in the Military School for Infantry, which he completed in 1913, being promoted 2nd lieutenant. He immediately took part in the operations of the

Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict which broke out when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Serbia and Greece, on 16 ( O.S.) / 29 (N.S.) June 1913. Serbian and Greek armies r ...

The First World War

In 1916, a short time after he had been promoted to the rank of lieutenant, 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

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. He was in command of a Company when he was wounded on September 4, 1916, but returned to the front line in December of the same year. In 1917 he was promoted captain and was awarded the Order of the Crown with swords.

Career in the Romanian Gendarmerie

At the end of the war, on December 19, 1918, Constantin Tobescu was transferred to the Gendarmerie and appointed commander of the company of

Romanați County Romanați County was a county ( Romanian: ''județ'') in the Kingdom of Romania, in southeastern part of the historical region of Oltenia. The county seat was Caracal. The county was located in the southwestern part of Romania, in the southeaster ...

. In 1920 he received special training in gendarmerie procedures, following which he was permanently transferred to the Gendarmes' Corps and promoted major. In 1929, the Romanian Gendarmerie was reorganized and Tobescu moved to the Gendarmerie Inspectorate 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 ...

. During the 1930s he held various responsibilities, being also in charge of international contacts with the Gendarmerie corps of friendly nations. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel in 1932 and colonel in 1938. On September 4, 1940, when general

took power, Tobescu was appointed to the General Inspectorate of the Gendarmerie. However, because of his conflict with the legionnaires of the right-wing

Iron Guard The Iron Guard ( ro, Garda de Fier) was a Romanian militant revolutionary fascist movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel Michael () or the Legionnaire Movement (). It was strong ...

, he resigned on December 31, 1940 and took refuge in

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

, returning to Romania on January 24, 1941, after the quelling of the Legionnaires' rebellion.

World War II

On June 22, 1941, when Romania entered

on the side of the

Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis * Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...

, Tobescu was recalled to active duty. His responsibilities were focused on the execution — as one of the principal executors — of Antonescu's

policies: deportation to

Transnistria Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...

of 25,000 of

Romanian Romani people Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...

(11,000 deaths, most of them children), massacres (

1941 Odessa massacre The Odessa massacre was the mass murder of the Jewish population of Odessa and surrounding towns in the Transnistria Governorate during the autumn of 1941 and the winter of 1942 while it was under Romanian control. It was one of the worst ma ...

), concentration camps for members of the Romanian Jewish community, etc. For example, in October 1941, the Romanian authorities established a detention camp in

Vapniarka Vapniarka ( uk, Вапнярка), also known as Vapniarca, Vapnyarka, Wapnjarka or Wapniarka, is an urban-type settlement in Tulchyn Raion, Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine, known since 1870 as a railroad station. Its name from the Ukrainian language t ...

. One thousand Jews were brought to the site that month, mostly from the city of

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrat ...

. Some two hundred died in a

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

epidemic; the others were taken out of the camp in two batches, guarded by soldiers of the

, and shot to death. Achim, Viorel & Iordachi, Constantin (coord.): ''România și Transnistria: Problema Holocaustului. Perspective istorice și comparative'', pp. 201-233, București:

Curtea Veche Curtea Veche (the Old Princely Court) was built as a palace or residence during the rule of Vlad III Dracula in 1459. Archaeological excavations started in 1953, and now the site is operated by the ''Muzeul Municipiului București'' in the histor ...

, 2004. While his initiatives to prevent sabotage were mostly successful, he is also remembered for the special treatment he gave American and British paratroopers that were captured in Romania. He organized special camps where they were treated as prisoners of war, refusing to hand them over to the Germans, or even to allow them to be interrogated by the German authorities. He was involved in

Operation Autonomous Operation Autonomous was a clandestine operation carried out on the territory of Romania by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) set up by Winston Churchill for the duration of World War II to assist local Resistance movements. Participants In ...

when a special group of 3 British secret agents were parachuted in Romania in 1943. In order to protect them, he made arrangements to have them kept in an apartment in the building of the Romanian Gendarmerie, under his own special protection, putting his subordinate, lieutenant-colonel

Constantin C. Roșescu Constantin is an Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian and Romanian male given name. It can also be a surname. For a list of notable people called Constantin, see Constantine (name). See also * Constantine (name) Constantine ( or ; Latin: ''Cōnstan ...

(then a Major) in charge as special liaison agent. The two officers conveyed the information which the agents had brought to their destination and concealed their presence from the Germans. The agents were released immediately after August 23, 1944, when Romania switched sides (''see

1944 Romanian coup d'état The 1944 Romanian coup d'état, better known in Romanian historiography as the Act of 23 August ( ro, Actul de la 23 August), was a coup d'état led by King Michael I of Romania during World War II on 23 August 1944. With the support of several ...

'').

The trial

Tobescu was judged by the Bucharest Military Tribunal on January 19, 1949, for war crimes and desertion in time of war and found guilty of the charges, convicted to 5 years detention and stripped of all military ranks and honours for 5 years. After the appeal, the conviction was increased to 10 years. He died in the

Târgu Ocna Prison Târgu Ocna Prison is a prison located in Târgu Ocna, Bacău County, Romania. History Early years In 1851, when Prince Grigore Alexandru Ghica visited the area, he was impressed by the poor conditions in which detainees worked at the local ...

in 1951.

Decorations and awards

* Order of the Crown (Romania) ** Knight rank with swords, 3 July 1918 ** Officer rank, 23 January 1933 ** Commander rank, 1942 *

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 ...

** Knight rank, 13 January 1927 ** Officer rank, 1940 * Commemorative Cross of the War 1916-1919 * World War I Victory Medal * Medal for 25 Years of Service * Medical Merit Cross * Commander of the Order of Military Merit (Bulgaria) * King Carol I Centennial Medal * Order of Agricultural Merit

References

Ivor Porter Ivor Forsyth Porter CMG, OBE (12 November 1913 – 29 May 2012) was a British Ambassador and author. Education Porter was brought up in the Lake District and educated at Barrow-in-Furness Grammar School and Leeds University where he studied ...

, "Operation Autonomous: With SOE In Wartime Romania",

Chatto & Windus Chatto & Windus is an imprint of Penguin Random House that was formerly an independent book publishing company founded in London in 1855 by John Camden Hotten. Following Hotten's death, the firm would reorganize under the names of his busines ...

, 1898 * Alesandru Duțu, Florica Dobre, Andrei Șiperco, "Pagini dintr-o istorie nescrisă: 1941–1945. Prizonieri de război în România

in ''

Magazin Istoric ''Magazin Istoric'' ( en, The Historical Magazine) is a Romanian monthly magazine. Overview ''Magazin Istoric'' was started in 1967. The first issue appeared in April 1967. The headquarters is in Bucharest. The monthly magazine contains articles ...

'', March 1997 * Alexandru Racovitză, "Mărturii despre Operațiunea Autonomus", in ''Clopotul Bucovinei'' nr. 16(42), 2007 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tobescu, Constantin 1893 births 1951 deaths People from Drăgănești-Olt Romanian Gendarmerie generals Romanian military personnel of the Second Balkan War Romanian military personnel of World War I Eastern Orthodox Christians from Romania Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church Commanders of the Order of the Crown (Romania) Officers of the Order of the Star of Romania Recipients of the Order of Military Merit (Bulgaria) Holocaust perpetrators in Romania Romanian people convicted of war crimes Antiziganism in Romania History of the Romani people during World War II Romanian collaborators with Nazi Germany Romanian prisoners of war World War II prisoners of war held by the Soviet Union Prisoners who died in Romanian detention Romanian people who died in prison custody Inmates of Târgu Ocna Prison