Corneliu Calotescu (November 19, 1889 – October 17, 1970) was a

Romanian 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, traditional ...

major-general in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was born in

Pitești Pitești () is a city in Romania, located on the river Argeș (river), Argeș. The capital and largest city of Argeș County, it is an important commercial and industrial center, as well as the home of two universities. Pitești is situated in th ...

, the son of Constantin and Felicia Calotescu. Following into his father footsteps, he chose to go into a military career and enrolled in 1908 in the

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Military School. He graduated in 1910 with the rank of second lieutenant and joined the 30th ''Dorobanți Muscel'' Regiment. After Romania entered

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in August 1916 on the side of the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

, Calotescu, by then a captain, fought at the

Battle of Mărăști The Battle of Mărăști () was one of the main battles to take place on Kingdom of Romania, Romanian soil in World War I. It was fought between 22 July and 1 August 1917, and was an offensive operation of the Romanian Land Forces, Romanian and Mi ...

in the summer of 1917, and was subsequently decorated with the

Order of Michael the Brave The Order of Michael the Brave () is Romania's highest military decoration, instituted by King of Romania, King Ferdinand I of Romania, Ferdinand I during the early stages of the Romanian Campaign (World War I), Romanian Campaign of the World War I ...

, Third Class. Calotescu advanced in rank to lieutenant colonel in 1927 and colonel in 1934. From 1934 to 1934 he commanded the 4th ''Dorobanți Argeș'' Infantry Regiment, and in October 1939 he was promoted to brigadier general. He served as Secretary-General to the Under-Secretary of State of Land Forces in 1940. In June 1940 he was awarder the Order of the Crown, Commander class.Decretul Regal nr. 1.906 din 8 iunie 1940 pentru numiri de membri ai ordinului "Coroana României", publicat în ''

Monitorul Oficial ''Monitorul Oficial al României'' is the official government gazette, gazette of Romania, in which all the promulgation, promulgated bills, President of Romania, presidential decrees, Government of Romania, governmental ordinances and other m ...

'', anul CVIII, nr. 131 din 8 iunie 1940, partea I-a, p. 2.789. From 30 August 1941, he was Deputy Governor-General of

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 ...

, and then Governor-General of Bukovina; he served in this position from 5 September 1941 to 20 March 1943. At the urging of military dictator

Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and Mareșal (Romania), marshal who presided over two successive Romania during World War II, wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister of Romania, Prime Minister and ''Conduc� ...

, Calotescu announced on October 10, 1941, his decision that all the Jews of

Cernăuți Chernivtsi (, ; , ;, , see also #Names, other names) is a city in southwestern Ukraine on the upper course of the Prut River. Formerly the capital of the historic region of Bukovina, which is now divided between Romania and Ukraine, Chernivt ...

must be

deported Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its Sovereignty, sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or ...

Transnistria Transnistria, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and locally as Pridnestrovie, is a Landlocked country, landlocked Transnistria conflict#International recognition of Transnistria, breakaway state internationally recogn ...

. After Traian Popovici, the Mayor of Cernăuți, intervened, Calotescu agreed that Popovici would be allowed to nominate 200 Jews who were to be exempted from deportation; the number grew to 20,000 after Popovici appealed directly to Antonescu. After being promoted to major general on 25 October 1942, Calotescu took command of the 3rd Infantry Division on 21 March 1943. After the

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

of 23 August 1944, he was named commander of the 2nd ''

Vânători de munte The ''vânători de munte'' (, ) are the elite mountain troops of the Romanian Land Forces. They were first established as an independent Army Corps in 1916 during World War I, and became operational in 1917 under ''Corpul de Munte'' designati ...

'' Division, with which he fought in

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

until October 12, 1944, when he went into the reserves. On 22 March 1945, Calotescu was put into retirement by the Petru Groza government. In May 1945 he was tried by the Bucharest People's Tribunal; found guilty of crimes perpetrated during the 1941 Odessa massacre, he was condemned to death. Later that year his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, and he was sent to Aiud Prison. In June 1956 he was pardoned and released. He returned to Pitești, where he died in 1970.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Calotescu, Corneliu 1889 births 1970 deaths People from Pitești Romanian military personnel of World War I Romanian military personnel of World War II Romanian Land Forces generals Holocaust perpetrators in Romania Romanian people convicted of war crimes Romanian prisoners sentenced to death Inmates of Aiud prison People detained by the Securitate Prisoners sentenced to death by Romania Recipients of the Order of Michael the Brave Commanders of the Order of the Crown (Romania)