Only one-third of the 750,000 Jews in Rumania (which figure included those living in Bessarabia and Bukovina and excluded those in the portions of Transylvania ceded to Hungary) remain in the country, it was stated today by a broadcaster on the official German radio.
The Nazi announcer stated that 270,000 Jews are now living in Rumania. Previous reports from Bucharest stated that over 200,000 Jews had been deported to Transnistria, the Rumanian-held section of the Soviet Ukraine. Today’s announcement would indicate, therefore, that about a quarter of a million Rumanian Jews have been exterminated by the Antonescu regime and the Nazi military authorities in Rumania.
A threat that the remaining Jews will be deported is contained in an official statement issued by the Rumanian Government, copies of which were received here today. In it the Jews are charged with violating practically all of the wartime regulations and are warned that they and their families will be deported Eastward if they are found to be evading service in the labor camps, leaving their authorized residences, hoarding food, medicine and “continuing subversive propaganda.”
At the same time, the German broadcaster confirmed the report that the Zionist Federation of Rumania has been liquidated by the Commissioner for Jewish Affairs.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.