Antisemitism in Romania manifested in the country's legislation during its early times following
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
's foundation as a modern state in the mid-19th century. Antisemitism increased considerably in
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
in the late-1930s and the 1940s, culminating with
The Holocaust in Romania
The Holocaust saw the genocide of Jews in the Kingdom of Romania and in Romanian-controlled territories of the Soviet Union between 1940 and 1944. While historically part of The Holocaust, these actions were mostly independent from the similar a ...
.
The Danubian Principalities
Sporadic antisemitic legislation existed in
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...
and
Moldavia
Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...
, the predecessors of the Romanian state, since the settlement of Jews in the area. As a non-Christian people coming mostly from the Ottoman Empire (almost all Jews in Wallachia were Sephardi at the time), their allegiance was considered dubious. Nevertheless, their community was usually given a large amount of autonomy.
[Radu Ioanid, ''The Holocaust in Romania'': , at the Romanian Jewish Community]
The Russian-imposed quasi-constitutional document
Regulamentul Organic
''Regulamentul Organic'' (, ; ; )The name also has plural versions in all languages concerned, referring to the dual nature of the document; however, the singular version is usually preferred. The text was originally written in French, submitt ...
demanded Jews to register with the local authority, specifying their occupation, so that the Jews who "cannot demonstrate their usefulness" could be identified and expelled.
During the
Wallachian Revolution of 1848
The Wallachian Revolution of 1848 was a Romanian liberal and nationalist uprising in the Principality of Wallachia. Part of the Revolutions of 1848, and closely connected with the unsuccessful revolt in the Principality of Moldavia, it sough ...
, the
Proclamation of Islaz demanded the emancipation of the Jews, but the eventual defeat of the revolution meant that its clauses were not applied.
Pre-WWI Kingdom of Romania
Citizenship
When Romania was formed by the
unification of Moldavia and Wallachia
The unification of Moldavia and Wallachia (), also known as the unification of the Romanian Principalities () or as the Little Union (), happened in 1859 following the election of Alexandru Ioan Cuza as prince of both the Principality of Moldavi ...
, Jewish residents did not become citizens of the new state. Prince
Alexandru Ioan Cuza
Alexandru Ioan Cuza (, or Alexandru Ioan I, also Anglicised as Alexander John Cuza; 20 March 1820 – 15 May 1873) was the first ''domnitor'' (prince) of the Romanian Principalities through his double election as List of monarchs of Moldavia ...
announced in 1865 a project which would lead to the "gradual emancipation of the people of Mosaic faith", however, all the plans were canceled as Cuza was deposed the following year.
[Hitchins, p. 165] After Cuza was deposed, Article 7 of the
1866 Constitution of Romania
The 1866 Constitution of Romania was the fundamental law that capped a period of nation-building in the Danubian Principalities, which had united in 1859. Drafted in a short time and closely modeled on the 1831 Constitution of Belgium, then con ...
did not allow non-Christians to become citizens of the United Principalities of Romania,
[Hitchins, p. 16] so Jews could not become citizens unless they converted to Christianity.
The change in outlook can be explained by the weakening of the
liberalism
Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...
which led to the 1848 Revolution and its replacement with
nationalism
Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...
.
As a result of the
Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)
The Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) was a conflict between the Ottoman Empire and a coalition led by the Russian Empire which included United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, Romania, Principality of Serbia, Serbia, and Principality of ...
, Romania gained its independence and at the
Congress of Berlin
At the Congress of Berlin (13 June – 13 July 1878), the major European powers revised the territorial and political terms imposed by the Russian Empire on the Ottoman Empire by the Treaty of San Stefano (March 1878), which had ended the Rus ...
of 1878, the nations of Europe recognized it, with the condition of making all citizens, regardless of ethnic origin or religious beliefs, equal under law.
In 1879, the Parliament of Romania grudgingly removed the constitution article which barred Jews from becoming citizens. However naturalization was still a cumbersome process requiring a personal petition and the approval of the Parliament on individual cases.
The result was that very few Jews were naturalized: between 1866 and 1904, only 2000 people of Jewish faith were naturalized, of which 888 were granted citizenship for their participation in the Russo-Turkish War.
Economic discrimination
The Prince and later King of Romania,
Carol I
Carol I or Charles I of Romania (born Karl Eitel Friedrich Zephyrinus Ludwig von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen; 20 April 1839 – ), was the monarch of Romania from 1866 to his death in 1914, ruling as Prince (''Domnitor'') from 1866 to 1881, and as ...
was an antisemite and the Liberal Interior Minister
Ion Brătianu
An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by convent ...
began some tightening of policies against Jews. In 1867 he demanded the
prefects
Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area.
A prefect' ...
to enforce the regulations about the "Jewish vagabonds" and therefore stop the Jewish immigration into Romania and prevent their settlement into villages.
One year later, the Chamber of Deputies received a draft law project that would attempt to eliminate the Jews from economic activity in the villages.
The policies of the other major party, the
Conservative Party, regarding the Jews were similar to those of the Liberals. For instance, in 1873, the
Lascăr Catargiu
Lascăr Catargiu ( or Lascăr Catargi; 1 November 1823 – ) was a Romanian conservative statesman born in Moldavia. He belonged to an ancient Wallachian family, one of whose members had been banished in the 17th century by Prince Matei Basarab, ...
government introduced a law regarding the sale of alcoholic beverages which tried to remove the near-monopoly Jews had on these products.
The Jews of Romania protested against the economic and political discrimination they faced and gained support from Western European Jewish organizations such as the Paris-based
Alliance Israélite Universelle
The Alliance israélite universelle (AIU; ; ) is a Paris-based international Jewish organization founded in 1860 with the purpose of safeguarding human rights for Jews around the world. It promotes the ideals of Jewish self-defense and self-suffi ...
, which attempted to put pressure on Romania with the help of sympathetic politicians.
Romanian legislation generally discriminated against the people who were not citizens of Romania (such as were most Jews) and as such, Jews were not allowed to hold certain offices.
Interwar Romania
Citizenship
Several laws from 1919-1924 granted Jews in Romania Romanian citizenship, although the restrictive conditions excluded some from citizen rights. The effects of these laws were cancelled from 1936. In early 1938, the far-right
Goga cabinet started a systematic "revision" of citizenship rights, which was continued by
King Carol II
Carol II (4 April 1953) was King of Romania from 8 June 1930, until his forced abdication on 6 September 1940. As the eldest son of King Ferdinand I, he became crown prince upon the death of his grand-uncle, King Carol I, in 1914. He was the f ...
after his coup of February 10, 1938. It left about 36% of the "revised" Jews without citizenship and, due to heavy taxes imposed on them, without access to work. The antisemitic laws of August 1940 did not distinguish any more between Jews with or without citizenship.
The laws of August 1940
Already in June 1940, Jews had been banned from Carol II's single party. After the cession of
Bessarabia
Bessarabia () 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 Bessarabia lies within modern-day Moldova, with the Budjak region covering the southern coa ...
and
Northern Bukovina
Bukovina or ; ; ; ; , ; see also other languages. is a historical region at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. It is located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains, today divided betwe ...
to the
USSR
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
later that month, antisemitism was used to divert from this disaster. In July 1940, Carol II's regime issued a first definition of "Jew". On August 9, 1940, two antisemitic laws were published, which were based on the Hungarian and Italian law. The people whom the laws defined as "Jews" were divided into three categories. Most Jews lost their right to work in a series of professions. Jews were banned from non Jewish schools. Marriages between ethnic Romanians and Jews were forbidden.
[Philippe Henri Blasen: ''La « primauté de la nation roumaine » et les « étrangers ». Les minorités et leur liberté du travail sous le cabinet Goga et la dictature royale (décembre 1937 – septembre 1940)'' (Cluj-Napoca: Casa Cărții de Știință, 2022), 222-245; Philippe Henri Blasen: "L'évacuation de la Bessarabie et de la Bucovine du Nord (juin-juillet 1940): la création d'un cliché antisémite roumain," ''Revista de istorie a evreilor din România'', 2019, 271-310.]
Antonescu government
Holocaust in Romania
See also
*
History of the Jews in Romania
The history of the Jews in Romania concerns the Jews both of Romania and of Romanian origins, from their first mention on what is present-day Romanian territory. Minimal until the 18th century, the size of the Jewish population increased after ...
Notes
References
*Radu Ioanid, ''The Holocaust in Romania: The Destruction of Jews and Gypsies Under the Antonescu Regime, 1940-1944'',
*
{{Europe in topic, Antisemitism in
Israel–Romania relations
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
Racism in Romania
Jews and Judaism in Romania
Jewish Romanian history