Persons Accused of Crimes Against Jews Will Be First Rumanian War Criminals to Be Tried

Rumanians charged with the persecution and murder of hundreds of thousands of Jews will be tried before any other war criminals, Minister of Justice Lucretiu Patrascanu told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency today in an exclusive interview. The trials will begin as soon as preliminary examinations, before which survivors of Transnistrian camps are testifying, are completed.

At the same time, Mr. Patrascanu assured the JTA correspondent that houses and apartments from which Jews were ousted during the Antonescu regime will be returned to them on April 23, in accordance with the decree on restoration of property issued several months ago.

Referring to a recent decree which divided offenders into two categories, “war criminals” and those accused of being “responsible for the disaster of the country,” the minister said persons charged with establishing ghettos and consentration campe for Jews, although falling into the latter category, for which milder punishments are usually provided, will be liable to the death sentence.

The trials will take place before the new Peoples’ Tribunals, consisting of a magistrate and six civilians representing all sections of the population. Those charged with initiating and organizing the pogram in Jassy, in 1941, during which thousands of Jews were murdered, will be tried in Bucharest, while those who carried out the orders will be sent to Jassy for trial in accordance with the desires of the city’s population.

Mr. Patrascanu blamed the long delay in bringing these criminals to justice on sabotage by members of the National Peasant and National Liberal perties who were in the previous cabinets.