The Rumanian Government, spurring a drastic drive against subversive elements, today made public new details of the sweeping espionage system assertedly organized by the pro-Fascist Iron Guard. Simultaneously, military tribunals sentenced 17 Iron Guard leaders on minor charges to prison terms ranging from one to six months. Their offenses involved illegal carrying of arms and distribution of seditious pamphlets.
In an extensive search of the homes of Iron Guard leaders and party headquarters, Government agents found documents revealing that Corneliu Codreanu, imprisoned party leader, had set up an intricate espionage system which had military secrets among its principal objectives. Officials announced that Codreanu directed the system under his real name of Zilenski and had a large number of secret agents under his direct command.
Codreanu, it was said, carefully instructed the agents on their duties and praised as “good Rumanians” those who fulfilled their task efficiently. The secret informants of the banned Fascist group, accused of plotting against the security of the State, were active in all public bureaus, including Federal and local police headquarters. Systematic espionage in armament plants, particularly aviation factories, also was carried on by the group, it was charged.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
