Max Goldstein (1898–1924), also known as Coca, was a

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

n revolutionary, variously described as a

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

and an

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessar ...

. Born in

Bârlad Bârlad () is a municipiu, city in Vaslui County, Romania. It lies on the banks of the river Bârlad (river), Bârlad, which waters the high plains of Western Moldavia. At Bârlad the railway from Iași diverges, one branch skirting the river S ...

to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family, he worked as a clerk for two years. He later moved to

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 o ...

in 1916, where he became a Communist sympathizer. Sentenced to 10 years in prison, he escaped and fled to

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 administrativ ...

(part of

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. The ...

at the time), returning with money and new instructions. He lost a hand, presumably while doing experiments with explosives, and replaced it with a hook, being known to the police as the "man with the hook"."Atentatul de la Senatul României, o piesă in dosarul comuniştilor"
("Assassination at the Romanian Senate, an item in the dossier of the Communists"), '' Jurnalul Naţional'', 20 October 2004 On 17 November 1920, Max Goldstein attempted to kill the

Minister of Internal Affairs Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

Constantin Argetoianu Constantin Argetoianu ( – 6 February 1955) was a Romanian politician, one of the best-known personalities of interwar Greater Romania, who served as the Prime Minister between 28 September and 23 November 1939. His memoirs, ''Memorii. Pentr ...

, who was Romania's most vocal anti-Communist politician. The attempt, however, failed: the bomb placed under Argetoianu's train coach destroyed the empty half of the coach. On 8 December 1920, Goldstein, with the support Leon Lichtblau and Saul Ozias, organized another politically motivated bombing. Their

improvised explosive device An improvised explosive device (IED) is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. It may be constructed of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery shell, attached to a detonating mecha ...

, made from an unexploded

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

76 mm

artillery shell A shell, in a military context, is a projectile whose payload contains an explosive, incendiary, or other chemical filling. Originally it was called a bombshell, but "shell" has come to be unambiguous in a military context. Modern usage so ...

from

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, ...

, and placed in front of the Romanian Senate, killed Minister of Justice Dimitrie Greceanu and two senators (

Demetriu Radu Demetriu Radu (26 October 1861 – 8 December 1920) was between 1897 and 1903 the Greek Catholic Roman Catholic Diocese of Lugo, Bishop of Lugoj, and from 1903 to 1920 the Greek Catholic Romanian Catholic Eparchy of Oradea Mare, Bishop of Orad ...

and

Spirea Gheorghiu ''Spiraea'' , sometimes spelled spirea in common names, and commonly known as meadowsweets or steeplebushes, is a genus of about 80 to 100 species

), and wounded the president of the Senate,

Constantin Coandă Constantin Coandă (4 March 1857 – 30 September 1932) was a Romanian soldier and politician. Biography Constantin Coandă was born in Craiova. He reached the rank of general in the Romanian Army, and later became a mathematics profess ...

. The government alleged that their group did not act alone, and that it would have had among its accomplices

Alecu Constantinescu Alexandru "Alecu" Constantinescu (March 10, 1872 – March 28, 1949) was Romanian trade unionist, journalist and socialist and pacifist militant, one of the major advocates of the transformation of the Romanian socialist movement into a communist ...

, a leader of the left group of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of ...

, which in 1921 split and formed the

Romanian Communist Party The Romanian Communist Party ( ro, Partidul Comunist Român, , PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that wo ...

(under the provisional name of ''Socialist-Communist Party''). Procesul comunistior Max Goldstein communist terrorist

The bombing was used by the Romanian government as an excuse to put into custody all known communists, who were implicated in the

Dealul Spirii Trial Dealul Spirii Trial (Romanian language, Romanian: ''Procesul din Dealul Spirii'') was a political trial conducted by a military tribunal in the Kingdom of Romania. 271 members of the Communist Party of Romania were accused of treason after voting f ...

(named after

Dealul Spirii Dealul Spirii (, ''Spirea's Hill'') is a hill in Bucharest, Romania, upon which the Palace of the Parliament (formerly known as ''House of the People'') is now located. Spirii Hill Initially a vineyard known as ''Dealul Lupeștilor'', the hill ...

, the hill on which the Senate building stood), and ban communist political activity. Communist leader

Gheorghe Cristescu Gheorghe Cristescu (October 10, 1882 in Copaciu, Giurgiu County – November 29, 1973 in Timișoara) was a Romanian socialist and, for a part of his life, communist militant. Nicknamed "Plăpumarul" ("The Blanket Maker"), he is also occasionall ...

rejected all accusations of

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agr ...

, and the matter of the Party's involvement is still unclear. During his stand on trial, Cristescu argued that Goldstein's actions were inspired by

Anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

more than anything else. Right after the December 1920 bombing, Goldstein fled to

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

. In October 1921, he was arrested while trying to enter Romania from

Ruse Ruse may refer to: Places *Ruse, Bulgaria, a major city of Bulgaria **Ruse Municipality **Ruse Province ** 19th MMC – Ruse, a constituency *Ruše, a town and municipality in north-eastern Slovenia * Ruše, Žalec, a small settlement in east-cen ...

, and sentenced to life imprisonment. He died in 1924 in

Doftana prison Doftana was a Romanian prison, sometimes referred to as "the Romanian Bastille". Built in 1895 in connection with the nearby salt mines, from 1921 it began to be used to detain political prisoners, among them Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, who was the P ...

following a 32 day

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldstein, Max 1898 births 1924 deaths Dealul Spirii Trial Inmates of Doftana prison People convicted of murder by Romania People from Bârlad People imprisoned on charges of terrorism People who died on hunger strike Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Romania Prisoners who died in Romanian detention Romanian amputees Romanian anarchists Romanian assassins Romanian communists Romanian Jews Romanian people convicted of murder Romanian people who died in prison custody Romanian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Romanian revolutionaries Terrorism in Romania 1920 murders in Romania